love to hear that


So today i was bored and grabbed a JDM IRT cluster (98 spec) from HMO (they had a sale going on so it was only $90)! Had a lot of school work (still do...) so i didnt start putting it in till it was already dark out which made everything a little easier (sarcasm). Anyway here is before swap:





Get to those wires:


repin (not hard, just take your time):


it is alive!




Now to mount it.... used this much for the lower corners:






for the top i ended up only using half of this and mounting it only to the passenger side bracket since it wasnt doing that much support and was stopping the bezel from clicking in:


all mounted:


btw i finally ran out of green wire


okay so i get everything in the best i could, and it all works, im happy, BUT:
my biggest problem this doing this swap was knowing the mounts didnt fit... (money in someone making a custom bracket for this? lol) but i wanted to try it anyway cause a little sloppy and $220 less than the next cheapest cluster ($1220 less than the spoon one i want) cant be beat. But why would people say there are line up issues and not take pictures of it... WHY!?!?!? well i did it and i took actual pictures of the nasty gap (that is fixable) that is left with this swap....

the lower gap people emphasized wasnt even bad:


even up close.. maybe its the way i mounted it... wait till you see the top...


top:




from the passenger side...


A piece of black cloth or soft rubber will make the gap disappear in no time, not that i want to open everything back up again.... but take a look at these next few pictures and youll see how bad the lighting is, its really dark... not to mention that the bulbs in this one are wired via the soft plastic circuit board making splicing the oil pressure/voltage gauges into the dash lights slightly more challenging.

Regardless is looks way better than the EX cluster, so sick:


lights:


close up:


already ordered new LED red bulbs...
when i go to put those in i will also tap the voltage/oil pressure lights to the cluster wiring lights power instead of an accessory line like it is now temporarily (downside being they are always lit up when the keys are in...) and i will also be making something to cover that gap for my ocd.

marked the body and engine mileage down at this point for a reference vs the new clusters reading (which is 126kKm, yes kilometers, yes this is JDM and all metric, no its not that annoying (mph*1.609=kph [thus] kph/1.609=mph) i just add half of the MPH to itself and im close enough!) so i will still know miles on engine/body. Nothing else i want to do to the car right now (that i can afford) so my thread will probably be slowing down again. I plan on making a video of the exhaust (final repair with a new cata next tuesday) then an overall video of where the car is at now. After than im saving up for the 5lug swap, my brakes are starting to go bad, as are the tires and i refuse to look at the drums and why they make the noise they do when i reverse and brake... i hate drum brakes... i want those brakes and rims!!

(ps also looking for an ITR alternator, mine doesnt like all my electronics and i dont really wanna go after market)

 

When I was trying to fit an EK cluster in my car, I had similar gap issues, and gave up.

It looks really good from that one view. :P


As far as your alternator goes, could you not get yours rebuilt w/ a new voltage regulator? I was looking into it a while ago. Around here, there's a shop with new ones for 274 (aftermarket I believe) or they'll rebuild one for a price not exceeding 274. I was reading that the Civic puts out like 60amp and Integra is 70 while CRV is 80. Probably not the right numbers but basically the CRV outputs the most they say.

But if you get yours rebuilt with a new voltage regulator and stuff, they could make it a 100amp alternator or something.

Just things to consider.

Post lots of pictures!!!

 

Cluster looks good. There was a guy on here a while ago trying to sell a higher output amp. Addiction2Bass. That was the only one I have ever seen though.

 

if you plan on getting rid of that ex cluster, I might be interested. I'd like to swap clusters and get rid of my tach, but don't need an si cluster or anything fancy.

 

the LEDs came:


so much better, my iphone cant do justice for how nice it looks...




i was able to mount it much better this time (gap isnt noticeable enough for me to do anything more now):






Tuesday getting the exhaust fixed up with a new cata... I drove the car to san francisco this weekend (la-fs is about 400 miles each way) and drove about 1000 miles total, made a steady 33.5 MPG the entire time driving about 80(-90) (passing) most of the time on the i5. no oil leaks or smell or any issues at all (i brought most of my tools just incase though haha). ive gotten pretty quick at converting mph-kph and via versa

also...... it was raining really bad in SF......... and i guess my weather seals are pos....... so my mother board is fried and possibly the power supply............ gonna trouble shoot a little more tomorrow and possibly get a new mother board (i have more power supplies). will also stop at dealership for new weather seal...... inside of the car also got kinda wet. . . . . i know i need to adjust the windows and grease them but the driver side isnt even a civic regulator and i dont even wanna talk about it, and both sides need new inner panels anyway so im just lazy about it. but now i need to replace all the rubber seals and window seals (ect) before more expensive(er) electronics go bad in wet weather. also looking into this it seems civics are known to leak at the tail light seals so ill replace those also... other than that im broke i cant do anything to the car anymore...

EDIT:: So only some ram went bad in my CarPC and i got it working again... none the less the leak needs to be fixed, it was dumb luck this time that everything isnt ruined. there are 2 gaskets on each tail light, inner set is 15$ a pair and outer set is 35$ a pair... ill get on it before i drive anywhere again (luckily it never rains here like it did up north)...

11/29 EDIT:::: Raining again down here and PC is done, luckily i already got a new one ready to go, just gonna wait till i get new gaskets to put the new computer in.... the weather seal gaskets....

 

edit:: i have decided to sell the integra rear brake conversion instead of using it because i would rather just do the 5 lug swap than all this for such small brakes. PM if you might be interested in the set...

So I got a couple presents...

A little while ago the hommie hooked it up with 2 12" p2's in a special case made just for them, i was thinking about buying these and I am now 100% sure that i want them, they sound amazing. He is gonna want them when he gets a new car, whenever that might be...



Then today i was gifted some DA rear disc brakes! i can finally swap out my non-functional rear drums... i mean they kinda work... anyway here are some pics, ill swap them in after the new year (need rotors, pads, e-brake cable):







Still gonna do the 5 lug conversion but i feel like this buys me a little bit of time on that! Should look nicer too... Also here is my friends new little pitbull puppy....

 

Did valve adjustment today. Another thing I am now positive that the mechanic never did even though he said he did... The engine runs like it has never ran before, there is no roughness driving or idle, there is significantly less noise from the hood area (cant hear it in car anymore) and there is a noticeable power increase which makes it now very noticeable there is almost no tread left on my tires (at least with VTEC in turns, heh)... Was going to make sound files of before and after but I didnt... In retrospect i wish i did but oh well... Got a laptop now so i can bring my sound recording equipment with me places so I will get a good video of my exhaust pretty soon. Stacking up a little money and should have the 5 lug swap parts in my possession in about a month or two. I cant wait to have those 16" ITR rims on this car...

 

I hate to say it, but most all mechanics suck and they are stuck in the mindset of flat rate. Doing things as fast as they can so they can get paid for the time they "should" have spent on things. Drives me crazy that the only way you can know everything is done right is to do it yourself. Money can't buy a quality mechanic unfortunately.

Did you get an alignment after your swap?

 

SO TRUE!!!! This is why some of my friends ask me " why do you do your own work when you can afford to pay someone to do it?"

 

I no longer trust any mechanic, youre totally right about that flat rate crap. He started up an engine that sat for who knows how long without a valve adjustment or replacing any seals, who does that...

Thinking now I wonder if he even changed the timing belt, I get loud belt noise from the engine bay, hmm...

I have had the car aligned several times since the swap, but my year of free alignments wore out so now I am just waiting for the 5 lug swap until I get it aligned again.