Integra ZC Engine Swap Into Honda CRX - Second Wind

Engine Removal
Remove the battery, raise the car, and support it on jackstands. Pull off the front driver-side wheel. Remove the front caliper by unbolting the two bolts. Though the caliper is small, it's a good idea to support the caliper rather than having its weight pulling on the brake line.

Remove the screws from the brake rotor. Given the age of the vehicle, these might be hard to remove. Insert a bolt into the pre-drilled hole on the rotor and tighten the bolt to pop off the rotor from the hub. Remove the big spindle nut.

Compress the suspension with a floor jack. Loosen the lower ball joint nut (19mm). One option for disconnecting the ball joint is to use a ball joint puller. Rather than risk damaging the rubber boot, Raceline tapped it with a hammer. Keep the nut on to avoid damaging the threads. Once loose, completely disconnect the ball joint.

Pull out the cotter pin for the tie rod bolt. Use a 17mm wrench to remove the bolt. Tech tip: You should never reuse cotter pins. Have a supply of new ones on hand for reinstallation.

Remove the upper spindle bolt that connects the spindle to the strut (17mm). The strut fits tightly in the spindle. Raceline carefully tapped the spindle with a hammer to pull it off from the strut.

Repeat steps 1-5 for the passenger-side suspension. Drain the transmission oil. Using a prybar, carefully pop out the driveshafts from the transmission.

Underneath the vehicle, unbolt the exhaust manifold from the catalytic converter. Also disconnect the shift rod and shift extension bars from the transmission. Drain the coolant and unhook the radiator hoses. Remove the air intake system from the throttle body.

Depressurize the fuel system and carefully pull off the fuel hoses. Remember: Open flame makes gas go boom! Disconnect the engine wiring harness from all of its connection points on the engine. Disconnect the emissions control box and vacuum lines, the throttle cable, the speedometer cable, the brake booster, and the clutch cable.

Hook up the engine to an engine hoist and make sure the chain is long enough to lower the engine. Unbolt the driver-side mount by removing the small screw, the top plate, and the two bolts. One of the bolts must be removed from the top and the other from underneath the car.

Remove the transmission-side mount by unbolting the two 14mm bolts. Remember that the hoist should be supporting the weight of the engine.

Remove the rear engine mount. Raceline says it's actually easier to remove the engine mount from the subframe. This is done by taking out the three 17mm bolts.

There are two options here: pull the engine up or drop it down. Raceline chose to drop it down. This is why you'll need a long engine hoist chain. Carefully lower the engine, watching the clearances between the engine and the car.