Possible SRS System install on '90 CB7?

[sparkles_n_shit]

Is it possible to use the SRS equipment from a 92-93 and install it in a '90?

If it is possible, would you have to install the SRS ECU and head unit?



Sorry if this is a stupid question, lol.

Just wondering considering this is my first car (I'm 16), and it'd make me feel safer in a car that has an airbag for inevitable crashes.


Thanks!

[ADD/Andy]

I would imagine so. I haven't compared my 90 and 92 to see, but the 92 and 93 civics' airbag system is completely stand alone. You'd need the harness(es), airbag controller, steering wheel, and steering column.

Honestly though, if you're that concerned about it, it would probably be cheaper/easier/safer to sell the 90 and buy a 92/93 or a car with them factory installed.

[XCRN]

Even if you got it all in place, there is really no way of telling if it worked except for crashing it.

[Dani Filth]

the amount of work to do it would be crazy. better to buy a 92-93. if you like the 90-91 style better, you could just swap over all the 90-91 specific parts

[TheFunk]

Rollbar, bucket seats, and 5 point harness.
Messing with airbags can be sketchy.

[ThatOneAccord]

From my understanding the airbags aren't really worth it in the CB as they seem to cause more damage than if you didn't have them. That's just for early airbag systems in general tho. The amount of force put out by early SRS systems was crazy, the CD accord and of course later generations are a lot better. I actually fear my airbag in my 93 coupe. I really don't want to be sucker punched in the face by it....

[Fleetw00d]

After my daughter's wreck in the 92 EX coupe last fall, my wife is pressuring me to sell Ruby because it has no air bag at all, but I've been driving her for 24 years and 300,000 miles - I don't really want to give her up. I guess I'd better start reading my service manual and figure out if this can be done; I should have all the parts from one's I've parted out.

[Grumpys93]

My thing is, do airbags have a service/shelf life?
Honda, is already calling our cars past their useful life. I bet airbags weren’t designed to be as effective 25-30 years down the road.

If I were to undergo this I would use the 92-93 harness for the dash, SRS and then see if you can mate it to a newer airbag. This would require adding a new steering wheel. Mark’s steering wheel comes to mind.

[Rilas]

Fleetwood the system is stand alone. So just bolting it in should just work. Although Nick might be right and a newer wheel wouldn't be a bad idea. Although the airbags in the jy's are still deployed so I'm wondering if they don't work just fine after all these years.

[cp[mike]]

I have an entire SE (dual airbag) SRS harness for sale. I was intending on installing it in my own car but I also worried about the future reliability of something so old that's been manipulated so much. I assume the airbags themselves work fine still (see many of them deployed in the jy, like Rilas said) but the old wiring might be questionable. Perhaps verifying the harness with a multimeter would be good peace of mind? Then the main control box should self-check and throw an SRS error light if anything internal was bad. Still a bit scary to only really find out for sure by being involved in an accident..........

While the system is generally standalone and "bolt in" (other than the power connector, really) I would be concerned about the following:
1. the impact sensors need to be rigidly mounted in a very specific direction. SRS cars had little "cups" welded into the firewall to accommodate these, not sure where you would mount them otherwise.
2. the control brain needs to be centered underneath the dashboard. Not sure if your car would have the right amount of space behind the shifter, so it may take some cutting, or a dashboard swap.
3. the steering column would need to be mostly swapped out, too, because of the wiring and mounting provisions for the updated cable reel. I would assume a newer one would be a direct swap, just annoying though.

At that point, you may want to consider a 94-95 setup. It is generally similar, but I think they did away with the bulky external impact sensors and embedded them directly into the control box. I could be wrong, but that would certainly make for an easier conversion. The steering column setup should be compatible too.

[Fleetw00d]

Thanks for the input. I think I have at least two airbags; I suppose I could test one and see if it actually works. I have a couple 92-93 dashboards, a steering column, and probably two sets of components.

[H311RA151N]

I'm sure you guys know this and probably more than I on the subject.

The steering column from 90/91 differs from 92/93 as do the headlight and wiper stalks. You'd have to use the 92/93 steering column with 90/91 stalk assemblies. The interior wire harness has different connectors on the stalk assemblies between 90/91 and 92/93.

As for everything else, I have no idea. But I know about the steering columns because I installed a Prelude wheel in a 93 lx I had.

Sounds fun given one has the time.

If the wires were extended somehow and the air bag set apart from the car at distance and in a safe manner one might be able to "test" the system once completely installed to verify operation. If the sensors can be set off manually without damaging them. Again, I don't know about SRS systems. It might be crude but it's an idea.