HHCHunter

Hey Evo M,

As a owner of a 8.

I feel sad for not having MIVEC and I want to go beyond 400+ tq/hp so the problem of building an engine has come about...

A few questions:

1. In AUD / USD, how financially unwise am I for wanting to initiate this process?
2. Could it be possible for an engine builder to re-use my 8 Block for a 9 2.0L build?
3. My tuner Tokyo Motorsports mentioned that the definite weak internal is the rods, however if I'm rebuilding the Engine, could I re-use the stock 8 crank or possibly more?
4. Is there anything more than the oil feed for Mivec than the 8/9 swap would need? I can think of maybe the ECU for MIVEC control, and maybe the associated harness.
5. Am I going insane for wanting to initiate this process?

kikiturbo

MIVEC will give you a bit better and smoother spool up, with a slightly wider powerband. It will also allow you to run more agressive cams while having normal idle.
E8 block is ok, you will need to fabricate a mivec oil line... otherwise you do need e9 head with all mivec gear (cam gear, sensors, mivec oil solenoid) and E9 ECU / ROM...

Getting a whole E9 engine is not bad idea as the heads alone tend to be rare..

1. it depends... is 300 RPM earlier spool worth a few thousand dollars ?
2. YES
3. stock crank is perfectly fine for everything
4. you got it right
5. as I have a 9 I am biased and think that mivec is great... would I do it if I had a 8? Probably not.. doing a 2.3 engine is probably better value for money..

Biggiesacks

From a cost to gain perspective it doesn't make a lot of sense to convert to a mivec setup. IMO the money would be better spent upgrading other parts of the car. There are certainly contexts where it would make sense though, say you needed a new head and you have a hookup on all the parts you would need, or maybe you want to daily with a wild cam and that improvement in low end could help that experience. It's something I want to do some day if the stars align.

LetsGetThisDone

iTrader: (1)

I did a Mivec a conversion on my 8. Definitely worth it IMO.

You need these parts from an Evo9- engine control wiring harness, the small sub harness for the trans (has the speed sensor and reverse switch on it), head, cams, intake cam sensor housing/trigger wheel/sensor, Mivec gear, Mivec solenoid, Mivec oil feed line, valvecover, and ECU.

You can reuse your 8 water pump and cut the alternator bracket to clear the Mivec line, or you can get a 9 water pump and 9 alternator bracket.

Biggiesacks

I think its worth point out that You did the conversion. That's no small thing. Paying and dealing with a shop doing the conversion, on top of everything else, is a bit different. At least I'm assuming OP would be farming it out. Your feedback is definitely moving this up my priority list.

I'm actually really curious what a shop might quote this job. As in I just show up with my car and ask them to do a Mivec conversion. Anyone know?

LetsGetThisDone

iTrader: (1)

The only real additional work above a normal engine build would be changing the harness and ECU. That took ~3hrs. Makes it much easier to have the engine out so it's a good time to do it. If I was a shop I'd probably bill 6-8hrs for the conversion with an engine build to account for any issues that may come up, and the additional work. In the grand scheme of paying a shop to remove, build and install an engine it wouldn't be much extra money.

Biggiesacks

how do you see it going as far as parts though? Would you only do it if the customer was supplying the parts, would you make them buy new parts, or would you source them for the customer and mark them up? 6 to 8 hours seems pretty reasonable. So thats like 700-900ish bucks for labor, but you still have to buy all the parts. Personally I would want to start with new engine parts, but that might make it too cost prohibitive.

2006EvoIXer

iTrader: (1)

Aren't the evo 8 and 9 harnesses similar where you can switch pin locations in the connectors and run new wires and connector for the MIVEC solenoid?

LetsGetThisDone

iTrader: (1)

That would depend on the shop I guess. A used head would be fine because it's going to the machine shop anyways. He could probably work a deal with the shop to exchange his Evo8 harness and head, etc. It obviously adds expense, how much is hard to say. I would be fine with letting a customer brings used parts, they just have to know that diag and replacement of say a bad mivec solenoid or came sensor or mivec gear will cost extra..

Not even close. THe 9 ECU is 3 plugs, 8 ECU is 4 plugs.

Pal215

iTrader: (12)

In theory this is possible if the connectors at the end of the ecu harnesses have empty terminals that correspond to the right pins of an EVO 9 ECU, but the headers will need swapping. Then there is that trans sub harness. This thread makes me optimistic about my Mivec 2.4LR XD. I like Mivec mostly for the heavy cam stock idle trick. As you know, Cam loop is a dead give away and burnt as !@#$ in CA

Biggiesacks

if you really wanted to you could buy the correct connectors and re-pin stuff. I think spoolinup sells the stuff you would need. Just to visualize the difference, here is the evo 9 ecu header

https://www.spoolinup.com/Evo-9-ECU-Header_p_101.html

and the evo 8

https://www.spoolinup.com/Evo2G-DSM-...ader_p_93.html

Pal215

iTrader: (12)

Nice find! Looks like they are different headers after all.

Biggiesacks

I hear yah, it depends. I'll be doing the work (minus the head machining) so its not so much a factor to me. I think its good idea for anyone looking to have this job done to be thinking about these things.

Biggiesacks

but spoolinup does sell all the connectors for the evo 9 header, so it is possible to do, just a headache. Would you could also do is buy the evo 8 header and the 9 connectors and pins and make yourself a patch harness

LetsGetThisDone

iTrader: (1)

You cant use Evo8 pins in the Evo9 ECU connectors, and no one sells the Evo9 pins. You have to order them in bulk (like manufacturing bulk, like, 1000's at a time). So, there is no "adapting" the 8 harness into the 9 ecu. On top of that, you still have to run wiring for the mivec solenoid and cam sensor if you were to for some reason adapt the 8 harness. It is 100% worth it to just buy a 9 harness, because A- its not possible to make the 8 harness work without big monetary investment and time, B- Then you know you won't have any issues. And C- you can sell your 8 harness for about what the 9 harness cost.