AE92 Blacktop swap (need advice)

[Duy-]

I tried to look up information about this but it doesn't seem to be all that popular. There's tons of DIY's and step by step guide for aw11 and ae86's but i cant find anything on the ae92. i have a friend who wants to do this swap but i have almost no information to give him. does anyone out there know a good site or walk through on how to do this? i heard it was fairly simple but he doesnt want to attempt it unless he knows what hes in for. any information would be helpful thanks in advance.

[Donald]

You might find the information you need at club4age.com.
It probably will be like what you found before, for the AW11 and AE86.
I doubt that it will be much different for the AE92.

The important things that you will need are wiring diagrams for both the car and the engine. Particularly the pin-outs for the ECU.

My best advice is contact Dr. Tweak at Pheonixtuning.com and have him make you a wire harness that will plug-and-play from the engine to the car. Then all you need to worry about, is the mechanical side of the swap.

[Duy-]

yeah i tried club4ag first but not too many fans of the fwd there. i was hoping this would be more precise and more people would know about it. im not doing it myself and the person doing the swap says wiring isnt a problem for him. he just needs to know what is needed for the swap to fit in the car and run properly.

[Donald]

I have see a few pictures of AE92s with Blacktops, but they don't seem to be that many on here.
The engine will bolt right in, so mechanically I think it should be pretty straight forward, with a few possible exceptions.

If you have a GT-S you will probably need to change your radiator because of the top pipe position.
Sedan or SR-5 shouldn't need to.

If you get an engine with a 6 spd gearbox (which would be my preference) you will need to modify your shifter bracket to be able to get all the gears, unless you get the 6spd shifter also.
Some 6spd gear boxes have a limited slip differential, so you might want to make sure you get the correct axle shafts with your engine/gearbox if you do get a 6 spd.
The 6 spd gearbox mount is slightly different to the 5 spd, so you might have to do some modification there (not sure).

Idealy you should get a complete front clip, so you should have all the little parts that might be a nightmare to find and or match, if you don't get them with your engine.

[Duy-]

I dont have the option of a complete clip right now but it is a 6 speed im looking at. i had no idea the lsd variation used a different drive axle. will this different drive axle fit my hub? is that axle available here in a different car or is it specifically a jdm part? the ae92 is a smallport gts btw.

[Donald]

Originally Posted by Duy-

I dont have the option of a complete clip right now but it is a 6 speed im looking at. i had no idea the lsd variation used a different drive axle. will this different drive axle fit my hub? is that axle available here in a different car or is it specifically a jdm part? the ae92 is a smallport gts btw.

I believe the axles are different, not sure, you need to check.
I don't know first hand but I believe it will fit your hub, and if not, you can swap the shaft ends.

Two possible sourses of the right answers are Dr. Tweak, or some guys that have a shop in Miami called Back Yard Productions.

If you have a small port GT-S, I would suggest you just swap the block for a 7A-FE block. That is supposed to give you close to the performance of the blacktop with a lot less hassle. The result is known as a 7A-GE. Do some research on that.

Essentially to do that mod, you will need to swap the 4A-GE pistons onto the 7A-FE connecting rods.
Put the 4A-GE head onto the 7A block using the 7A head gasket (thinner, more compression)
You will need adjustable cam gears, as the taller block will change the position of the cams in relation to the crank.
A timing belt from a Porsche 944 or 924.

You won't need to do any wiring.

[Duy-]

yeah i offered the idea of the 7age but he didnt want to mix and match. he doesnt consider wiring a problem if i can source out some diagrams. if the transmissions turn out to be a problem im thinking about the c56. that uses the same axles doesnt it? and you wouldnt have to worry about shift linkage right?

[4doorGTS]

The blacktop your looking at make sure it comes will everything there IAT sensor, map sensor, hopefully an o2 sensor and no cut harness. Using the c56 it will bolt-in using the 16v mounts and the shifter will hook up fine. you'll have to fab up a downpipe from the factory header unless it came with the downpipe which usually does not happen. And the wiring. Only issue in the ae92 is to retain your speedometer you have to use the mechanical sender from the gts in the c56 which eliminates the vss signal to the ecu. I have heard this does not allow the ecu to rev as high and keeps it in a limp mode. Or you can keep the original speed sensor for the blacktop and loose the speedometer, I'm not sure about this so do some research over at twincam.org lots of fwd guys over there.

[jmaz87]

mixing and matching parts available in the usa is still gonna be easier than any jdm swap...

where do you get a 20valve waterpump without bending over??? timing belt???

i made that decision a long time ago, besides you already have a small-port!!!! whats wrong with that? lots of potential right there

lower comp. pistons, thicker HG, 14psi later you won't be sorry!

[Duy-]

Originally Posted by 4doorGTS

The blacktop your looking at make sure it comes will everything there IAT sensor, map sensor, hopefully an o2 sensor and no cut harness. Using the c56 it will bolt-in using the 16v mounts and the shifter will hook up fine. you'll have to fab up a downpipe from the factory header unless it came with the downpipe which usually does not happen. And the wiring. Only issue in the ae92 is to retain your speedometer you have to use the mechanical sender from the gts in the c56 which eliminates the vss signal to the ecu. I have heard this does not allow the ecu to rev as high and keeps it in a limp mode. Or you can keep the original speed sensor for the blacktop and loose the speedometer, I'm not sure about this so do some research over at twincam.org lots of fwd guys over there.

Thanks for the info theres a lot of reading material there ill have to go through before asking more questions. As for jdm parts, we work at a dealership and theres a couple of sites where they list jdm part numbers. just gotta run them and if they're not in cali we'll have to get them through our sources in japan.

[gasman]

ive done the swap twice and it all bolts up apart from the exhaust. the only hard bit is the wiring, it takes a while and it make a lot easier if you have complete wiring diagrams for both engines.

using the 6 speed box you can use your original shifter just need to grind some bits off to allow it to shift left and right a bit more to get it into reverse.

the ae92 has the speed sensor signal coming in from the dash and is a puprle and white wire from memory.
unless your car was a carb like mine, in which case you will need to rig up some magnets and a magnetic reed switch to ur drive shaft as a subistitute for the speed signal.

[REN69]

Ichi from the old boro crew had a BT20V in his AE92, I don't think he had too many problems putting it together, he also used the C56 instead of the C160 6spd so it was pretty much drop in... he says the harness was made "from scratch" so I'm pretty sure one of the guys around the area most likely Ryan aka KPsxtyone put it together for him, Ryan is know around for his harness fabrication skills and actually has offered his services in the past.

Aside from his car I've seen at least 2 more AE92s with blacktops and a few with silvertops.

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/438047

[Blof-fan]

A friend of mine had one in his AE92 Hatchback...around here, it's a pretty common swap