Recent content on Eddie Abbondanzio
It’s 2026 and the Civic is midway through it’s third season of autocross. I run in XB (mainly due to the engine swap) and have been enjoying competing locally even though I’m currently getting my butt handed to me by three boosted Miatas.
My first XJ is no more. I feel bad that I was unable to finish it after all the time and effort I put into fixing the rust it had but the project stopped being enjoyable and I had to be realistic with myself that it was not going to be finished in a timely manner.
At this point the B20V should be ready to drop in. There’s no special steps required to install it in your car and it can be treated like any other B-series engine. If you’re installing your engine into a chassis that previously had a non-VTEC engine you’ll need to buy the connectors and run two extra wires to the ECU (A4, and D6) and there’s already guides available online…
For engine accessories such as the power steering pump, alternator, or AC (I’m not using AC) you can mostly treat a B20V like a regular B20. The power steering pump is the only accessory that’ll require special attention since it mounts to both the head and the block instead of just the block like the alternator or AC compressor.
When you slap a VTEC head on a non-VTEC block you need to have a plan for how to allow crankcase pressure to escape while the engine is running. On a B20B (or LS) the PCV valve is located on the head but for the GSR or B16 engine the PCV valve is on the block and that’s a problem.
Installing an intake manifold and fuel rail / injectors on a b20v is the same as any other VTEC head. The main things to be mindful of are matching the intake manifold to the head (ex: GSR head requires a GSR intake) and that longer intake manifold studs may be necessary when using an aftermarket manifold, or thicker gasket.
The B20V is on the homestretch at this point. The internals are all set and now its time to start spending more time on everything outside of the block.
The TD-68U and TD-84U distributors found in OBD1 and OBD2 94-01 Integra GSRs are different in size than other B-Series distributors and require a special distributor cap. 
 I’m currently building a B20V with a GSR head and had a lot of trouble sourcing the correct distributor cap because of this. There’s several aftermarket brands out there that claim to fit but the only cap that…
The block’s finally ready for the head to be torqued down and finished up now that all the clearances (v2v, p2v) checked out.
Building a custom engine is basically 80% measuring and double checking things. Every time you think your done measuring there’s another thing you need to check. I’ve got my GSR head and B20 block ready to go but they can’t be bolted together until I double check my valve to valve clearance, and piston to valve clearance.
Let’s shift focus to the head now that the block’s ready to go. Like mentioned earlier, I’m using a GSR head and it’s fully stock but has had some work done to it by the previous owner including milling it flat.
I run a CoreBoxx on one of my Prusa Core Ones and overall I’ve been happy with it but for awhile I kept running into issues with the MMU3 jamming when attempting to unload the filament at the end of a print.
Having the ability to run a higher extrusion multiplier on the first layer can be handy for getting a better finish. I print a lot of PETG on the textured plate and a higher multiplier helps ensure the first layer flows out nice and doesn’t leave any tiny holes or outlines between lines.
I primarily print single color prints but I have a MMU3 installed atop my Core One via a CoreBoxx because I like to use it as a color selector for keeping 5 of my most used filaments loaded.
 
 
 
 

I’ve come to the realization that unless a body panel is covered in epoxy primer and in good enough shape that you could start on body filler then the metalwork isn’t actually done. The XJ is still a long ways away from being ready for filler but asking myself this question when working on each panel has been a handy litmus test for me to tell when it’s actually…
With my side gig of selling 3d printed parts slowly taking off, I figured it was time to pick up a thermal printer for making shipping labels. I was worried this be easier said than done since I run Pop!_OS on my laptop but as it turns out Rollo (one of the popular budget friendly printer manufacturers out there) has full linux support and even offers official drivers.
I’ve been having some fun dipping my toes into the realm of homelabbing and decided it was time to build a proper NAS. I used to back up my data between my two laptops using Syncthing and I felt fairly safe with that setup because if one laptop died I’d still have all the data on the other laptop.
It’s taken much longer than anticipated but with the outer quarter panel welded in I was finally ready to install the 2x6 rocker. Back in May of 2024 I did most of the prep work so all I really had to do now was the final steps of welding in the 2x6.
 
 
 
 

One of the last big TODOs left on the driver side was to rebuild the quarter panel. Welding a panel in is moderately easy but ensuring it’s properly aligned is hard. Since the driver side was also missing the inner wheel well / lower structure of the quarter I had less reference points to work with which made me slightly nervous.
Enough measuring for now, it’s time to do some assembly and get the crank, pistons, and rods installed. Overall assembly of the bottom end isn’t super complicated, but it’s important to be careful.
The ultimate list of torque specs for VTEC B-series engines such as the B16, B18C1 (GSR), B18C5 (USDM Type R), B18C (JDM Type R), etc… 
 Note : Non-VTEC engines have different torque specs available here .
With the bearing clearances dialed in, all that’s left to prep for installing the crank, pistons, and rods in the block is double checking the piston to wall clearance and setting the ring gaps.
Measuring bearing clearances isn’t what I’d call the most exciting step when it comes to building an engine but it’s an important one that can catch issues that will dramatically shorten your engine’s life. Simply put, bearing clearance is how much space exists between your crank journals and the main / rod bearings.
With the passenger side just about sorted out, the last panel that needed some attention before I switch over to the driver side was the front fender. 
 It wasn’t actually in that bad of shape relative to the rest of the Jeep but it did need a new mounting point down by the 2x6 rocker, and also had some rust in the lower front corner by the side marker.
The Prusa MK3.5S is a great printer but it’s definitely picky about it’s fans. I figured I’d write up some of the tricks I learned while tuning mine.
About a month back I was staying at an AirBnB with some buddies for an autocross event when one of them casually mentioned they had a friend with a broken down RSX type S sitting around and he was looking to sell it.
Easily convert spring rates from lb/in to kg/mm or vice versa
The Civic has completed almost two full seasons of auto cross without any major issues and has been an absolute blast to drive. I’ve been slowly making changes to it so I could see how each change feels and at this point I think it’s about perfect for my driving style.
With the XJ sitting on the chassis table I felt it was time to address the windshield pillars not lining up with the front doors. The pillars are almost touching the top corner of each door because back when I was replacing the drip rails I didn’t brace the roof enough and it shifted .
I recently built a mini bike and needed a way to haul it around with my 93 Civic hatch. Even though the bike is small enough that it’d fit inside the Civic, I’d have to lay it sideways and I didn’t like that because it could potentially leak oil or gas so I figured my best option would be to use a hitch cargo tray.
If you’re trying to install FreeCAD on Linux via an appimage and your running into a Squashfs image uses (null) compression, this version supports only xz, zlib error on startup it’s due to a bug in AppImageLauncher. This is a known bug that’s been fixed for a few months but at the time of writing this (2025-08-04) the fix hasn’t been included in any releases yet.
At some of the larger autocross venues I go to it can be a pain to walk around on foot because of how long it takes you to get from point A to B. To get around faster people usually bring an assortment of transporation mechanisms such as bicycles, e-bikes, drift trikes, or even ATVs to get around.
Syncthing rocks. I use it to keep my notes and docs synced between my two laptops and it’s never let me down. Recently one of my laptops went kaput after an OS upgrade and I was forced to set everything up from scratch (including Syncthing). Thankfully it’s pretty easy to set up.
Helpful calculator for comparing different b-series transmissions. Allows for custom gear ratios, and tire sizes.
I’ve made it pretty far on the metal work for my XJ without a chassis table but once I finish up the driver side I’ll need to start replacing the floor and frame rails so the rear suspension needs to come out and that means the XJ won’t have any wheels. That’s gonna be a problem because every so often I need to move the XJ around to make space for other projects like…
There’s several options for transfer cases when LS swapping an XJ. Two of the more popular options are running the stock NP231 / NP242 with an adapter so it’ll mate up to the GM transmission or use a GM transfer case such as the NP241 that can be adapted to work with the XJ’s driveshafts.
For the past year I’ve been daydreaming about a 6.0 LQ4 + 4L60E build but after seeing the prices of LQ4s I (the 6.0 tax is real) I decided to go with it’s little brother the 5.3 LM7.
I recently built a chassis table for [the XJ I’m restoring]({{ categoryref “LS XJ Build” }}) and figured I’d do a brief writeup. I’ve never built a chassis table before and from researching them online I quickly learned there’s no one size fits all solution.
Another year has come and gone and the XJ remains in pieces. I truly intended on starting to fix it last time I posted about the XJ but then I impulsively bought a second XJ and it needed some work of it’s own that ended up taking me almost a year to finish.
The OEM bell housing bolts are too short for an engine stand so you’ll need to pick up some longer bolts. 
 Every engine stand is a little different but for the HF engine stand I used:
Having just passed 215k miles, the XJ from Colorado has proven to be a reliable daily over the past few months. It did have a recent incident with the alternator intermittently failing where it’d just stop charging and the “check gauges” light would come on but that was an easy fix by swapping in the spare alternator I had laying around.
The Integra has been a fun project but after 4 years of ownership I decided it was time to sell and as of last weekend it’s no longer mine. For the past several months it hasn’t seen much use and I don’t see that changing as my XJ from Colorado is my new daily.
There’s two different versions of the transmission mount for XJs that came with the AW4 automatic transmission and they’re commonly referred to as centered, and offset. 
 
 
 
 
 
 The offset mount (top one in picture above) can be found in 1999 and older XJs. The centered mount (bottom one) can be found in 2000 or 2001 XJs. The main difference between the…
If you’re tired of the rear drum brakes on your XJ it’s easy to swap to rear disks using ZJ (93-98 Grand Cherokee) brakes. Just like some XJs, ZJs have a Dana 35 rear axle and some of the ZJs were built with rear disk brakes which is why the parts will bolt up.
Converting the interior lights of a 97-01 XJ to LEDs is easy since there’s only 12 bulbs to swap. Plus LEDs are drastically brighter than the stock incandescent bulbs so it’ll help improve visibility at night, and they won’t turn your interior plastic brittle or burn your fingers.
At this point the XJ was mechanically solid but in desperate need of some cosmetic work.
 
 
 
 
 
 It was hard deciding where to draw the line in terms of what I’d work on vs what I’d leave as-is but I settled on repairing both quarter panels, and the roof as they were the worst.
With a rough idea of what it’d take to fix up the damage I decided to switch focus and tackle all the mechanical / electrical issues before diving into the bodywork.
Back in June of 2024, the night before I was due to fly out to Colorado for a work trip I couldn’t resist sifting through the Denver Craigslist to see what I could find. I wasn’t actually in the market to buy anything, but whenever I’m traveling outside of the Northeast I always like to see whats for sale in the states that don’t have to deal with road salt.
I don’t use the locks on my HF 5 drawer carts and wanted to free up some extra space so I decided to delete them. This was a fairly easy mod to do since the parts are held in by small rivets that can be drilled out.
In order to hit my power goals of 200 - 225whp, the B20V is gonna need some mods to get there. Originally my block was a high compression B20B that had the better PHK pistons but the cylinders were out of round and had to be bored 0.5mm over (not to mention 1 piston was cracked) so I can’t use the stock internals.