Prelude Tranny Swap Complete!

[2ndGenGuy]

Yeah! So I finally got the Prelude tranny installed! Never realized just how worn out and noisy my old transmission was. The car is incredibly quiet now. The new gear ratios are great! Makes the car pull much better, and keeps power on-tap when you want it. This is probably the best mod I have ever done!

Along with the tranny swap, I bolted in my new 9lb flywheel and ClutchNet clutch and pressure plate. Amazing stuff! I don't see why you would not want a flywheel like this in your car. As far as I can tell, the driveability is exactly the same, if not improved. I haven't had any trouble with stalling or anything like that... Shifting is sooo smooth and precise, but that could also be due to the good transmission. Also, the car revs much quicker, great for downshifting.

Here's a before video with the stock flywheel of how the car revs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiVogr160Mk

And here's with the nice light flywheel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lbZscGhdps

And here's a few pics for fun:

[Ichiban]

Sweet! Love the faster revving!

It looks like the new clutch disk has more surface area than the original. You went with all green parts right? Hows the pedal feel and engagement? Lower gears help you cook the tires? Better shifting? You need the 2 liter!!

[Hazwan]

man thats quick!

now post vids with the car doing 0-100kmh!

[MessyHonda]

i thought the flywheel is 12lbs.

[87LXiR]

YEAH!!! sweet dude thats awesome! So hows the acceleration. And how does the clutch feel when engaged is it like GRIP! And how are the gear ratios

Oh and nice tires btw. They yokohamas?

[2ndGenGuy]

Yeah, all green parts. I figure when I get the A20 in, it will be pissed enough that I'll do some yellow, maybe red parts then. Pedal feel with this clutch setup is really smooth. I mean like butter. My old clutch had some nasty shudder.

I haven't really tested the grip yet of that clutch. I'm trying to keep the revs down under 3500 between shifts for about a week while driving around. I wanna give the clutch some good time to break in properly. I'll get a video of my 0-60 (or higher) when it's ready.

I will say though, that I love the ratios! I love how close the shifts are. When cruising up the freeway in 5th, the car actually has some power. It runs about 3000rpm at 60mph, whereas before it was around 2300. I guess we'll see what that does to mileage.

About the weight of the flywheel... Someone noted in another thread that they had called ClutchNet, and they told him that the website was wrong. They said the flywheel was actually 9lbs and not 12. Well, I put my flywheel on a scale, and found it to be true. It really does only weigh 9lbs. But I can't see ANY downside to it! It's awesome!

And yeah those are Yokohama YK420's. I think that they're the same as the Avid somethingorothers, but specially branded for Discount Tire. They're grippy as fuck in the dry, but are frightening in the wet. And they have barely lasted me a year. They're almost shot!

[offthahook]

Man, that is sweet. I like how you're breaking in the clutch parts before you go hard them. Smart move there. Awesome work man.

[Ichiban]

I wonder if you can start in 2nd now?

[2ndGenGuy]

I wonder if you can start in 2nd now?

Damn near. I haven't tried yet, don't wanna fry the new clutch, but I've gone REALLY slow in 2nd gear. Like damn near stopped, and it goes just fine. Tons of freeway power too. Really, if you're into any kind of spirited driving, the 'lude tranny swap is the only way to go. I've had so much more fun in my car than I've ever had...

[MessyHonda]

sweet i might get that same flywheel clutch combo....and good deal on the 9 lbs fly.....the stock one is like 23 pounds thats not bad at all.

[carotman]

yes, shorter gears make a whole difference!

Did you replace the rear main seal at the same time you did the tranny swap?

[2ndGenGuy]

Oh yeah. I replaced that leaky-ass mofo. I couldn't time the ignition because the old flywheel was caked in oil and grease. The timing marks were completely invisible until I pulled out the old flywheel and scrubbed it off. I transferred the timing marks to the new flywheel, ordered the rubber cap for the timing window to keep anything else out, and put a new o-ring in the dizzy (the o-ring was missing completely!). Should be a nice to get rid of all that leaky mess.

[carotman]

Glad you replaced it! I could see it leaking in the picture and I just hoped you replaced that thing while everything was apart. It's a bitch to replace when everything is reassembled.

[2ndGenGuy]

Oh yes, no better time to replace it than when you've got the flywheel off. I'll probably replace the other end soon when I do the timing belt.

[HondaBoy]

that is great man. that was a mod i really wanted to do, but i love my automatic for city driving. cant wait to see some vids of your car with the new trans.

[offthahook]

Couple questions...

Is that rubber plug you ordered for the timing window OEM?
How many hours in all and I assume you just had air and hand tools? NO Honda specific tools like at the dealer.
PLEASE tell me you cleaned the bellhousing of the engine when you put in the new tranny!
You can still use your old starter with the new flywheel, right?

And I should know this but... did you have the Lude tranny worked over by a shop or was it just a drop in from a salvaged Lude?

Of course you did your main seal. Sad thing is, there are people who wouldn't or would try to pound the old one in farther. Your attention to detail + Chilton + Helm= Teh win. That engine swap or rebuild or whatever you put in there will compliment that tranny sumin' fierce son.

[2ndGenGuy]

Couple questions...
Is that rubber plug you ordered for the timing window OEM?
How many hours in all and I assume you just had air and hand tools? NO Honda specific tools like at the dealer.
PLEASE tell me you cleaned the bellhousing of the engine when you put in the new tranny!
You can still use your old starter with the new flywheel, right?
And I should know this but... did you have the Lude tranny worked over by a shop or was it just a drop in from a salvaged Lude?
Of course you did your main seal. Sad thing is, there are people who wouldn't or would try to pound the old one in farther. Your attention to detail + Chilton + Helm= Teh win. That engine swap or rebuild or whatever you put in there will compliment that tranny sumin' fierce son.

Yeah that plug I ordered is from the Honda dealer. He said it would be in tomorrow. So, I'll find out for sure if it's the right part or not when I head in there. More than one occasion I've asked for a part, and not used the right term and received something unexpected. If I do get it, you want me to ask for another one?

It was done all in a weekend. Didn't work on it Friday, just Saturday morning about 10:00am til about 8:00pm at night, then Sunday for about 3 more hours. The most challenging part is finding all the bolts. They're tucked away and hidden really well.

I tried to order the Honda-specific tool that was listed for the job; the flywheel ring gear holder. It's that guy that bolts onto the block and keeps the flywheel from spinning while you're unbolting the pressure plate and flywheel bolts. They, of course, discontinued that and don't have it anymore.

Since the crank pulley on the other side of the engine has no holes in it to put a screwdriver through, I had to find a way to hold the motor. I actually wound up putting a screwdriver through the water pump pulley when I was unbolting and bolting on the pressure plate to hold everything.

When I unbolted the flywheel bolts, I simply used an impact gun with a regular 12-point socket on it. Maybe not a good idea, but it did the trick without ruining anything. Sockets are always replaceable if it decided to shatter. To bolt the flywheel back on, I slowly went around in a pattern and tightened everything to about 9 lb-ft, after that, it would move. So since it was evenly secured on the crank, I stuck a punch through one of the holes where the pressure plate bolts on. The punch stopped on one of the ribs on the engine block, and allowed me to easily tighten the rest of the flywheel bolts down to spec.

And yeah, I cleaned the bellhousing on the engine. It was so nasty. I went through about 5 rags and a good amount of degreaser. It wasn't brand new looking, but it was much better.

Also, the old starter bolted right on. The Prelude 1.8 and the Accord both used the same size flywheel. Also, the tranny housings are the same and everything. It's a total bolt-on affair. I was pleasently pleased to not run into some crazy issue, or need any wierd parts or fabrication.

I didn't mention where I got the tranny. I actually picked it up salvage from Craigslist. I met some kids dad at his night-shift job at like 11:00 at night. Got it for $100 with the handshake guarantee that it was in good working order. Of course, I still took it to a shop to have it looked over. They disassembeled it and gave it the okay. Completely resealed it (with RTV though and not gaskets to my dismay) installed all new seals gave it back with a good bill of health. It was expensive as hell just to have it looked at, but was good peace of mind that it wasn't going to throw a shaft or be noisy like the old tranny was. I think it's in better condition than the Accord tranny was when I bought it 6 or 7 years ago.

Wow long reply. :-P

[offthahook]

Yeah that plug I ordered is from the Honda dealer. He said it would be in tomorrow. So, I'll find out for sure if it's the right part or not when I head in there. More than one occasion I've asked for a part, and not used the right term and received something unexpected. If I do get it, you want me to ask for another one?
It was done all in a weekend. Didn't work on it Friday, just Saturday morning about 10:00am til about 8:00pm at night, then Sunday for about 3 more hours. The most challenging part is finding all the bolts. They're tucked away and hidden really well.
I tried to order the Honda-specific tool that was listed for the job; the flywheel ring gear holder. It's that guy that bolts onto the block and keeps the flywheel from spinning while you're unbolting the pressure plate and flywheel bolts. They, of course, discontinued that and don't have it anymore.
Since the crank pulley on the other side of the engine has no holes in it to put a screwdriver through, I had to find a way to hold the motor. I actually wound up putting a screwdriver through the water pump pulley when I was unbolting and bolting on the pressure plate to hold everything.
When I unbolted the flywheel bolts, I simply used an impact gun with a regular 12-point socket on it. Maybe not a good idea, but it did the trick without ruining anything. Sockets are always replaceable if it decided to shatter. To bolt the flywheel back on, I slowly went around in a pattern and tightened everything to about 9 lb-ft, after that, it would move. So since it was evenly secured on the crank, I stuck a punch through one of the holes where the pressure plate bolts on. The punch stopped on one of the ribs on the engine block, and allowed me to easily tighten the rest of the flywheel bolts down to spec.
And yeah, I cleaned the bellhousing on the engine. It was so nasty. I went through about 5 rags and a good amount of degreaser. It wasn't brand new looking, but it was much better.
Also, the old starter bolted right on. The Prelude 1.8 and the Accord both used the same size flywheel. Also, the tranny housings are the same and everything. It's a total bolt-on affair. I was pleasently pleased to not run into some crazy issue, or need any wierd parts or fabrication.
I didn't mention where I got the tranny. I actually picked it up salvage from Craigslist. I met some kids dad at his night-shift job at like 11:00 at night. Got it for $100 with the handshake guarantee that it was in good working order. Of course, I still took it to a shop to have it looked over. They disassembeled it and gave it the okay. Completely resealed it (with RTV though and not gaskets to my dismay) installed all new seals gave it back with a good bill of health. It was expensive as hell just to have it looked at, but was good peace of mind that it wasn't going to throw a shaft or be noisy like the old tranny was. I think it's in better condition than the Accord tranny was when I bought it 6 or 7 years ago.
Wow long reply. :-P

Yeah, just ask about that plug if you think of it and haven't been there already. If not, post up the OEM number if it is the right part. I know it should be on there, but I have a feeling a lot of us are missing them. Probably easy enough to make one, but if it weren't EXACTLY like OEM, look out. Might or might not do anything in there, but I'd rather not have any extra debris in that housing. Glad nothing unexpected popped up. The Prelude and Accord were pretty similar back then as far as engine and tranny SHAPES. I am disappointed that a shop that spcializes in trannies used RTV as a sealant on a Honda product period. The few trannies I've seen sealed that way were off the car if you know what I mean. What a mess. Maybe it's a high speed sealant, but I like the pre made stuff myself in these cases. Ya do what you can man... That's not as bad as the 1G Accord I saw WAY back in the day that had form a gasket used as a HEAD gasket. Believe it or not, that car was in a salvage yard sprayed with yellow soot from an engine fire. Pulled the head and saw blue sealant and no preformed gasket! Wonder why it caught fire? I bet they torqued it up to spec. and in the right order, too.

[forrest89sei]

WOW, Thats NICE!

[79cord]

Making me think I should have lightened the flywheel on my '81 Prelude when I turned it into a 5-speed...& maybe on my 79 Accord when it finally forces me to do its clutch (slipping away) -they're geared for 3K @ 100km/h already.

Wish I could lighten the flywheel on My CR-X SiR -so revvy often have to wait for them to drop -lest I abuse the g/box further, but close ratio box so 1st gear so high it's already hard to get off the line smoothly, quickly without looking like you're trying too hard (plenty of revs). Car really needs to loose weight I guess...1050kg according to Honda japan.