D16A1 engine swap, part 6

Overview
One of the benefits of the D16A1 engine swap is that you get to install the larger Integra brakes. People often spend a lot of time and money to make their cars go fast, but equally important is making sure that your car can slow down! The Integra brakes are 1/2" larger than the CRX brakes. It is possible to retain the stock CRX brakes (and hubs/knuckles), but doing so requires some custom axle work. You basically need the Integra CV joints on the tranny side and the CRX CV joints on the knuckle side. I strongly recommend just swapping in all of the Integra parts. In addition to the increased stopping power, you won't have to mess with any CV joint boots. If you ever have to replace an axle, no custom work will be needed.

Here's another look at the Integra axles, knuckles, and brakes. The Integra parts are on top. The Integra uses equal length 28mm axles and an intermediate shaft. The CRX uses unequal length 26mm axles. The Integra brakes are 9" in diameter. The CRX brakes are 8.5" in diameter. Swapping in the Integra parts adds about 20 lbs (ouch), but their added strength and stopping power make it worthwhile trade.



Here are the Integra brake calipers, ready for rebuild. To say that they were dirty would be an understatement. The pistons were jammed in the bores, so I ended up hooking the calipers up and pumping the brake pedal to force them out.



Here's a look at the parts needed for a rebuild. The pistons cleaned up very nicely with my wire wheel. The replacement piston seal and dust boot were purchased new from Acura. I didn't want take any chances with non-OEM parts.



It took me awhile to figure out the trick to getting the piston to go in without tearing the boot. Once the piston is near the bottom of the bore, the dust boot catches the groove at the top of the piston.



Here's the piston pressed all the way in. I lubed the sides of the piston with brake grease and was able to press it in by hand.



This is the caliper swap in progress. I zip-tied both calipers to the brake hose support bracket and then quickly moved the hose from the CRX caliper to the Integra caliper. This would definitely be easier to do with 2 people.



Here's the Integra setup ready to go on the passenger side. The yellow line was used for bleeding the system.



Pep Boys sells new spindle nuts for cheap. The old ones were pretty mangled, so this was cheap insurance. The shop manual calls for 138 ft-lb of torque on this nut!






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