fairly new to acurazine, 99 TL engine/trans swap.
10-17-2018, 02:03 AM
#1
fairly new to acurazine, 99 TL engine/trans swap.
So im fairly new to acurazine and to working on cars in general and ive been looking around the forums for a bit now trying to see if anyone has done what im planning and ive found a few threads but id love more info if anyone can help. I drive a 99 acura TL j32 auto, and the transmission is showing the signs just like other auto trans' from this era. On top of multiple other problems in the front end the trans is the biggest price tag, a rebuild ive seen quotes for $2000+, reman for $800+, or the scrap yard.
Ive been trying to figure out a 4th option, my plan is to get a salvage title 2005+ J series donor for $1200-$1800 + a tow home, and to take as much of the front clip as possible and to fit it in my current TL. Id like to go the extra mile and replace the engine and trans and as many other parts as i can with newer up to date parts. Ive seen some people go the route of keeping their original 2G subframes and getting custom mounts to accommodate the new engine&trans, i would be ok with this route but i was wondering if i could take the engine and "cradle" ( axles, subframes, struts, trans, ect. all together just like how honda assembles these cars in-factory) and put it in place of my current front end parts. I know this wont be a direct bolt up but ive gotta believe the Jseries platform has enough similarities among generations to make it close enough. My first assumption is that the wheelbases and strut mounts are generally close to the same through out the years, or at least close enough to make it work without too much issue. One thing i have no idea about is subframe mounts and how their configurations have changed over the model years.
The most tedious part of this whole process i imagine will be the electronics, ill have to replace the complete system from stem to stern with little to no exceptions, or at least thats what ive read on some other threads. tedious but not impossible or too expensive. The real killer with ambitious swaps like this are going to be custom parts i imagine, i can afford a certain amount IE custom mounts, but at a certain point i can only throw so much money at a problem for now.
Aside from being a very labor intensive project that is also very tedious, id love to hear what holes people can poke in my pipe dream before i go spending any real amounts of money. Also if anyone knows of any similar threads i would appreciate a link! I dont have ambitions of this becoming a race car, this is my first car and my daily driver, its given me tons of problems but i love it all the same and id like to keep it alive so any and all tips and advice are welcome and appreciated.
Ive been trying to figure out a 4th option, my plan is to get a salvage title 2005+ J series donor for $1200-$1800 + a tow home, and to take as much of the front clip as possible and to fit it in my current TL. Id like to go the extra mile and replace the engine and trans and as many other parts as i can with newer up to date parts. Ive seen some people go the route of keeping their original 2G subframes and getting custom mounts to accommodate the new engine&trans, i would be ok with this route but i was wondering if i could take the engine and "cradle" ( axles, subframes, struts, trans, ect. all together just like how honda assembles these cars in-factory) and put it in place of my current front end parts. I know this wont be a direct bolt up but ive gotta believe the Jseries platform has enough similarities among generations to make it close enough. My first assumption is that the wheelbases and strut mounts are generally close to the same through out the years, or at least close enough to make it work without too much issue. One thing i have no idea about is subframe mounts and how their configurations have changed over the model years.
The most tedious part of this whole process i imagine will be the electronics, ill have to replace the complete system from stem to stern with little to no exceptions, or at least thats what ive read on some other threads. tedious but not impossible or too expensive. The real killer with ambitious swaps like this are going to be custom parts i imagine, i can afford a certain amount IE custom mounts, but at a certain point i can only throw so much money at a problem for now.
Aside from being a very labor intensive project that is also very tedious, id love to hear what holes people can poke in my pipe dream before i go spending any real amounts of money. Also if anyone knows of any similar threads i would appreciate a link! I dont have ambitions of this becoming a race car, this is my first car and my daily driver, its given me tons of problems but i love it all the same and id like to keep it alive so any and all tips and advice are welcome and appreciated.
10-18-2018, 07:59 AM
#2
Oh boy. It's clear you have little to no experience with this platform, or maybe swaps in general. Your talking about a bunch of things that you will never accomplish, and shouldn't want to anyways. There is no reason to swap the cradle. There's no reason to redo the electronics of the entire car. Honestly, I don't even know what you're trying to achieve, so I'll just let you know what is feasible.
If you want to get a more reliable auto trans, you can do the AV6 swap. You can find all that info in the AV6 swap thread. If you want a manual trans, you can do a 6 speed swap.
If you want a better engine, you can get a J32A2 or a J35A3. These would just drop in. No need for rewiring and stuff.
If you want to get a more reliable auto trans, you can do the AV6 swap. You can find all that info in the AV6 swap thread. If you want a manual trans, you can do a 6 speed swap.
If you want a better engine, you can get a J32A2 or a J35A3. These would just drop in. No need for rewiring and stuff.
The following users liked this post:
Connor Sarlson (10-18-2018)
10-18-2018, 04:36 PM
#3
Oh boy. It's clear you have little to no experience with this platform, or maybe swaps in general. Your talking about a bunch of things that you will never accomplish, and shouldn't want to anyways. There is no reason to swap the cradle. There's no reason to redo the electronics of the entire car. Honestly, I don't even know what you're trying to achieve, so I'll just let you know what is feasible.
If you want to get a more reliable auto trans, you can do the AV6 swap. You can find all that info in the AV6 swap thread. If you want a manual trans, you can do a 6 speed swap.
If you want a better engine, you can get a J32A2 or a J35A3. These would just drop in. No need for rewiring and stuff.
If you want to get a more reliable auto trans, you can do the AV6 swap. You can find all that info in the AV6 swap thread. If you want a manual trans, you can do a 6 speed swap.
If you want a better engine, you can get a J32A2 or a J35A3. These would just drop in. No need for rewiring and stuff.
Thats fair, i dont have any experience with swaps, this would by far be the most ambitious thing ive ever done to my car. the reason id like to replace certain parts like subframes is because my car has a fair amount of rust and i know parts are bound to break sometime soon. however if a drop in is available that would make my job much easier, thank you!
im not sure if this is the thread you were talking about for the av6 swap, regardless it says the av6 will only bolt directly up to 00+ models since the 99 has a 4 speed. heres a direct quote "First, this only bolts on to a 00-03 TL, the 99 has a 4 speed trans and totally different wiring harnesses and ECU. *IF* you wanted it to work on a 99, you would have to change out the engine/trans wiring harnesses, dashboard harnesses and ECU..... At that point you may as well swap in a 6mt for negligibly more $$$." https://acurazine.com/forums/second-...n-swap-905115/
do you know if i would run into sizing and fitment issues with the 1999 body, if i did take on the av6 swap, since mine is the 99 with 4 speed, also would i need custom mounts, axles, ect? so since i would have to deal with alot of wiring anyway... would it just be easier for me to keep the donor engine and trans together along with the wiring and not even have to worry about splicing wrong wires together and fucking something up? plus im sure my old 1999 engine has lost some horses since production anyway, the j30a5 in the 06-07 accord with the av6 has more hp but slightly less tq. from factory, but honestly that wouldnt be the biggest deal to me even if it had alittle less power.
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