Questions for 3.2 / 3.5 swap owners

619rcr

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Hey all,

I have done several h swap/builds into 6th gens and have recently jumped on the J bandwagon:

Here's what I got so far.

03 Acura CL type S 6 speed (full car)
05 Acura RL J35A8 motor
01 4 cyl Coupe (for body & interior parts)

Orginally, I was thinking to do a 3.5 build for my 03 acura CL-S, but it has a few drawbacks that are making me consider buying a 3.0 AT body & doing a J32A2/J35A8 hybrid swap.

#1 the CLS MT won't bolt up to the J35A8 motor as a direct drop in.
#2 The CLS is heavier than a CG
#3 Replacement body parts are high priced or hard to find.


Questions:

What major obstacles should I expect, aside from wiring?

Is anyone running full standalone, besides AEM EMS 2?

What headers, are you using?
 

RedRyder

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The Accord you are swapping everything into may or may not have the imprint for the master cylinder in it, some 6GA's do & some don't. Working that out and actually drilling the firewall for it can be a pain. Also mounting/reinforcing the clutch pedal is a bear, we welded a steel pipe to a fabricated bracket to reinforce my clutch pedal. It was a bitch but a solid solution that I'll never have to worry about. The CL-S clutch pedal bracket is like $400 or something stupid, I wasn't about to pay that. If you are using Innovative mounts, check the bolt lengths first - we had to find longer hard grade bolts as the ones that came with the mounts were not long enough. Putting J series into a 4cyl car means lots of things will need moved around since they are on opposite sides in i4 vs V6 cars...so that is something you will have to work out as you go I guess.

Couple pointers. You can save yourself some trouble by cutting the auto brake pedal down instead of mounting a manual brake pedal, just harder to make it look finished but saves a lot of time and cost. I would recommend using the TL SH-AWD J37 IM to avoid having to run subframe or hood spacers. I'd replace the Accord axles with CL-S axles while you have everything apart, the CL-S axles are thicker and have harmonic balancers, and the CV boots have more ribs. Obviously put all new timing components on whatever motor you put in, and new clutch kit and flywheel (or resurfaced flywheel) in the trans. Have a second car readily available to make parts/tool runs lol. Having the full donor CL-S car will be hugely helpful for you.

My swap is still being run by Rich's harness. As for headers I am using Comptechs. Just make sure whichever ones you end up with have the 6spd bend in the rear header.
 

619rcr

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thanks for the quick response.

thankfully I have exp with at to mt conversion from one of my previous H builds.

I'm still looking for 6cyl shell. hoping that will make things easier than 4 to 6 cyl conversion

i have 5 cars at the moment, so one more won't hurt. lol

some peeps on another site said my 03 j32a2 mt trans has a ckp sensor that is unique to the cls. i also saw aem ems j swap harness is only for select 4cyl or auto v6. is there anything special about the AT harness that makes it work with j32/35 swaps?
 
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98V6Accord

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I used my headers for the v6 auto. I grinded the rear mount bracket a bit to make it fit. I don't have an after pic, but you can see where it hits. I grinded it so it comes in and out with no issues.
20190401-235048.jpg
 
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