CATEGORIES FOR ARTICLE LINKS BELOW

Pulling apart the Interior

I have started to pull apart the interior of the car while I wait for some parts to come to keep working on the front sub frame.  I have never pulled the dash off of a civic before, but boy was it easy.  I know newer cars are “so much better build”, but sometimes you got to just love the older cars simplicity.  Sure the dash board shakes and rattles at times because it doesn’t have 5,000 mounting places and a super complex sub frame to bolt to, but you know what……sometimes you don’t need all that.  It sure made it nice to take apart. 

Now let me give everyone an update on the thought process I am having for the build.  I recently picked up a 2013 Acura TL SH-AWD Manual 6 speed transmission.  As of now the build is going to go like this:

1.  Put the entire Acura RL swap in the civic and get it all up and running with its SH-AWD system and automatic transmission.

2.  Once vehicle is up and running with all the bugs worked out and everything running 100% pull the auto transmission and swap in the manual transmission and install all the turbo piping at the same time. (oh, did I not mention I’m going to turbo this thing?)  At this time I will switch to a 07-08 Acura TL manual trans ECU and see if it will run and communicate with the RL instrument cluster via CAN communication, which then through the CAN goes out to communicate with the rear AWD control ECU.  Remember, I am not just going for an AWD civic.  I am going for an SH-AWD civic.

3.  If the 07-08 TL Type-S ECU works than I will purchase a hondata flash pro and turbo the cars brains out.  If the 07-08 TL ECU doesn’t work, then I will have to bite the bullet and go with a full stand-alone and somehow figure out how I can engage the rear diff with some sort of logic behind it to make the car keep its amazing AWD system.  I hope to not have to go this route because while I might be able to control the AWD system, it will no where near be as adaptive and controlled as the SH (Super Handling) AWD system is with its ECU.

So this is where we are for now.  Hope to get all the parts in the mail this week to start on the rear front sub-frame mounts and then start attacking the rear of the civic.