Getting Some Head
Integra Type R head swap

The parts required for the swap are as follows:

• P73 (ITR) cylinder head
• complete P73 valvetrain
• ITR intake manifold
• IAC from a 92-95 Civic Si/Ex, 96+ Civic HX/EX, 94+ Integra LS or the ITR
• New head gasket

• distributor
• fuel rail
• injectors
• throttle body
• all sensors except the IAC/EACV

The new head would reduce compression somewhat due to the larger combustion chamber volume. I opted to remedy this by changing out the pistons to US ITR pistons. And to get a little bit more compression I decided to make a thin head gasket from the stock gasket.

The process of the swap is quite straightforward and I'll outline some key points to watch out for along the way.

Starting Off

Loosen the cam pulley bolts a little so that you can remove the cams later. Next, remove the camshaft plates and holders. Loosen the outer bolts first and then work towards the middle. The cams can be easily removed now. Set them aside if you are going to reuse them (I reused my CTR cams).
 

Intake manifold

To make life easier, I also removed the throttle body from the intake manifold, giving more room to work. Next, start loosening the bolts that hold the intake manifold in place. Once all the bolts are off the manifold can be removed.

Proceed further by undoing all the exhaust manifold nuts and remove the exhaust header.
 

Removing the head

Once all the bolts are free, use a magnet to pull the bolts out of the bolt holes. The head is ready to come off.

With one swift move, lift the head straight up and away from the block. Be careful of oil dripping out from under the head.
 

Removing pistons

Turn the crank such that the pistons are away from the top of the deck. You will notice a brown ridge caused by carbon deposits. Clean it off with some fine grit steel wool and brake fluid.

The connecting rod nuts should be accessible from the bottom.Turn the crank to give yourself access to the bolts if necessary. Loosen the nuts and carefully remove the bearing caps and bearings one by one. Set them aside so you know which came from which cylinder. 

The pistons and rods can now be pushed pretty easily from underneath the block and should pop out from above. Do this carefully as you don't want to nick the crank journals. Mark each connecting rod as it comes out so as to be able to tell which belongs to which cylinder.

The block was in excellent shape for a 60-70k mile motor. The factory honing marks were still on the cylinder walls and everything was within brand new factory specs.
 

The little things

Locking the crank with a home made crank lock, the crank pulley bolt was removed to gain access to the bottom half of the timing belt cover.

The old water pump was then removed and the entire internal housing of the water pump was cleaned with (you guessed it) steel wool.
Finally flush out the housing and install a new water pump.

Replacing pistons

The new pistons are ready to go in. First arrange the new piston rings pointing 45 degrees or so to the intake side. Remember to stagger them. The oil control rings should be facing the exhaust side, also staggered.

Refer to the service manual if you are unsure about the ring placements. Oil the pistons and cylinders liberally before proceeding.

Next, compress the rings with a ring compressor and carefully tap the pistons into their respective cylinders one by one, taking care not to nick the crank journal. After making sure the big end bearing is seated right on the con rod, reinstall the big end bearing cap.

The bearing cap has to be torqued down in 2 stages, the first stage is 22Nm followed by a final tightening to 44Nm.

Finally replace the windage tray, oil pickup and then the oil pan. You should be done at the bottom now.
 

The fun stuff

Now grab the head gasket. You will notice that it comes in 3 layers. I opted to only use one of the three layers -- the bottom one. Be aware that you have to have an almost perfectly flat deck to do this (yes, I checked). In addition it takes very careful torquing down of the cylinder head to get a good seal with a thin head gasket.

Place the head gasket onto the block, making sure that it is the right way up and that it fits the dowels properly. Next lower the new head carefully onto the block so that the holes line up with the dowel pins and press it firmly down.

Place all the head bolts in and tighten them just enough that they just stop, Using a torque wrench, torque down the head evenly from the 2 middle bolts outwards. Tighten all the bolts in 3-4 torque increments, with the final torque set to 64Nm. The proper proceedure is also in your Helms manual.
 

Finishing up the head

I also took this opportunity to replace the stock cam gears with adjustable ones, which will be set on a dyno later.

Finally plug in all the sensors (transplant them from the old head) and connect up the heater hoses.

Intake installation

The IAC plug needs to be extended about 6 inches so that it will plug into the IAC on the ITR T/B. The rest of the sensors will plug in nicely. Install the fuel injectors and the fuel rail. Remember to connect the fuel return hose otherwise you'll have a major gas leak when the car is started.

The GSR throttle body needs to be modified to work properly. The stock pulley was replaced with a DX pulley and an adapter can be easily fabricated from a strip of aluminum.

Finishing up

With that completed, close up the valve cover and reinstall the distributor. Give everything a once-over, making sure that all hoses and tubes are connected to the correct places. 

Fill the motor up with oil and coolant and you're ready to start the car!