prelude trans swap all messed up...

[dhcarss]

ok Im doing the swap and I got a trans out of a 85 or 86 not to shure but it was a 2.0si, but after installing it I realized that the axles from the accord will not work, has anyone had this problem and can you swap the hup on the end of the axle from the prelude axle to the accord axle? what years did they make the si prelude anyway, Im going to have to go back out there this sat to get the exact year and mabe the axles.. I do have a trans out of a 87 I think, I know the axles on that one are the same but the 5th gear is fried, Im thinking about taking the 5th out of the one I just got and putting it in the 87. what do you think.. thanks

[PhydeauX]

If the axles don't fit then it wasn't from an Si. The Si ran 86-87. You might be able to swap the prelude hubs on and run the prelude axles. Or you can try pulling the cv joints apart and hybriding the axles together. Hope that the trans came out of a 85 because you'd be better off with a lxi tranny then the 86-7 carbed prelude's.

andy

[dhcarss]

It was deffinatly a 2.0 si, Im just dont know the exact year, Im going to try and go out after work to day. I hope that the axle hubs can be swaped out .

[dhcarss]

Hey Phydeaux do you know if there is a way to find out what the trans came out of as in by a vin # or something... Im thinking that it might have been changed out by the previous owner and maybe thats all they had was a carb motor and they swaped the axles. Im going back out in about 2 hrs to look at the car. If you dont mind could you pm me with a # I could call and talk to you about these trans, you seem to know more about them than any trans shop around here..

[dhcarss]

This is kind of funny but then again it isnt, The car turned out to be a 2.0 look alike, I was in to much of a hurry to notice, owell Im in the process of changing the 5th gear from that trans to the trans I took out of the 87 prelude awhile back. You were right phydeaux. thanks for the info.

[PhydeauX]

Not trying to be the bearer of bad news but... an 85 5th gear wont work in an 87 case. Honda revised the design in 86. The gears and bearings on the 86+ tranies are slightly thicker and the tranny is slightly longer. You could theoreticaly get the 85 gear in there, but you're going to have to shim it to take out the slack and get the fork/slider to sit in the right place.

andy

[dhcarss]

HAHA Im starting to not like you!!!! j/k Well I already took the gear off, I guess if this is the case I will take the one out of the accord trans and put it in there. Man I love working on cars..

[toastyghost]

Phydeaux, maybe you should consider a name change.. like Balthasar for example.

[pric]

Why do you have to use the smaller fly wheel off the 1.8 on to the A20A3?

What is involved in swapping out the diff between the 84 and 87 so that the bigger axels will fit?

[PhydeauX]

The accord bell housing is longer then the prelude but about an inch. If you look at the flywheels next to each other you'll notice that the accord flywheel has a ridge around the out side, the prelude doesn't. The problem you'll have is in the release fork. Sean and I test fitted an accord housing on my prelude flywheel when we installed the Integra trans. The fork had to come out too far and the throwout bearing was percariously close to the edge of the snout that it slides on. An accord flywheel may work in the prelude houseing. It will be very close if it does. Most likely the throwout bearing will be pressed aginst the diaphragm and it will give a similiar result to constantly riding the clutch. The prelude fluwheel is about 2lb lighter anyway.

To swap the dif you need to take the trans just about all the way apart. Pick up a haynes manual, it has a section on how to do it.

andy

[dhcarss]

Im considering doing the final drive swap, but I dont want to put it in and it not work.. I have installed 84 prelude trans on the a20 before I realized the axle's wouldnt fit. the other thing is since the gears in the 84 are smaller(if they all are smaller like the 5th gear) do you think it would hold up to as much abuse as the 87 prelude or the accord trans?

[PhydeauX]

I don't think the gears are the weakest part of either trans. The diference is very slight. The 84 gears are only a hair thinner, just enough to make it not work.

[dhcarss]

Yea I noticed the diff between the 5th, so I took my 5th gear out of my accord trans and put it in my 87 si trans, well I got it installed on sat night and while it was idling it went into gear. I started it back up ran it through the gears let out the clutch and it was idling with the clutch out so I rev it up and next thing I know Im spinning the tires, that trans is fucked. so Im thinking about using the 84 trans and putting the 87 final drive in it but if my flywheel will not work I might wait. unless I can put the 87 bell housing on the 84 trans.. what do you think.

[PhydeauX]

You might be able to manage the 87 bell housing on the 84 trans. The bearing of the counter shaft is a mm or two talled on the 87. If it clears and the fd gears line up then it should work. Remember the 84 case is shorter so you need to keep that too. You can't swap the 87 final drive into the 84. Remeber the final drive has to stay with the counter shaft and pre 86 gears have to stay on a pre 86 shaft. You can swap the diff from the 87 into the 84, but you must use the 84's final drive gears.

andy

[pric]

Originally posted by PhydeauX
You might be able to manage the 87 bell housing on the 84 trans. The bearing of the counter shaft is a mm or two talled on the 87. If it clears and the fd gears line up then it should work. Remember the 84 case is shorter so you need to keep that too. You can't swap the 87 final drive into the 84. Remeber the final drive has to stay with the counter shaft and pre 86 gears have to stay on a pre 86 shaft. You can swap the diff from the 87 into the 84, but you must use the 84's final drive gears.

andy

Maybe I'm a little lost but could you explain that to me again. " You can't swap the 87 final drive into the 84. Remeber the final drive has to stay with the counter shaft and pre 86 gears have to stay on a pre 86 shaft. You can swap the diff from the 87 into the 84, but you must use the 84's final drive gears. "

I think I know what you are saying you can swap out the part that the axles go into the FD but you have to keep the FD gears to the trans.

[PhydeauX]

The diff and final drive are too diferent things. The final drive is refering to the ring and pinion. The pinion is cast on to the counter shaft, hence the final drive must stay with a particular gear set. When I said he can't swap the 87 final drive into the 84 I mean he can't use the 87 final drive with the 84 gear set. Assuming he wasn't also planning to swap the 87 gearset into the 84 trans because that would defeat the purpose of anything. The ring gear is bolted to the diff, you can just unbolt the ring gear and swap the diffs.

andy

[pric]

Thanks, That's what I thought you ment but was not sure. I tell d about it today so the trans he has will work he just has to do a little more work.