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Old 09-20-2007, 04:14 PM   #1
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Cool some advice

Hi guys. I just got an 89 CRX HF with a blown motor. I got it really cheap and I wanted to be a DD because of the great gas millage. Now I found myself in a battle between my Go Fast ego & my Save Money On Gas side. I have been looking into the swaps treads and I think the CZ engine will give this turtle a little "kick".
What do you guys think? Any advice on the swap, or I should jut find an HF anemic engine and replace the stock with stock? Is the gas millage going to go down the toilet if I do the swap, or is the great millage on the HF more influenced by the long ratio transmission? thanks.
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Old 09-20-2007, 05:50 PM   #2
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depends on your financial situation. there really are more important things in life retirement, homeownership, college, paying off debt, ect
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Old 09-20-2007, 07:24 PM   #3
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Originally Posted by nootrac22 View Post
depends on your financial situation. there really are more important things in life retirement, homeownership, college, paying off debt, ect
ok.... thanks for your answer, but I was more concerned about finding out how much performance will I get with a swap without sacrificing much of the MPG of the CRX HF. I don't want it to be a race car, I'm going to be using it to replace my current working car for pizza delivery. that is why I want to get some performance to be able to be faster with some of the benefits of an economic car.
On another note, my life is under control, I just don't want to expend too much money into this thing, I asked because I could get a CZ engine for around the same price of a used junkyard HF and we all know jdm engines will be less abused than here on the States. I do all the work on my cars, so I want to be informed and get feed back from people who has done this.

Last edited by maykelcj; 09-20-2007 at 07:35 PM.
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Old 10-03-2007, 02:20 PM   #4
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any one?
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Old 10-03-2007, 04:46 PM   #5
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depends on you and how you drive
the hf gets something like 50mpg but it's balls slow
people who swap in stock B16's (160hp) are pretty fast in that light of a car and still get 22-24 mpg city and around 30-32mpg on the highway. It really all depends on how you drive
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Old 10-03-2007, 06:22 PM   #6
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could always put in a d16z6 sohc vtec, good on gas and will put some pep to your step, i think the zc is the same hp and will also good on gas
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Old 10-03-2007, 07:10 PM   #7
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tanks guys, that is what I wanted to know.
...so most of the HF's good gas mileage comes from its gears? right?
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Old 10-03-2007, 07:25 PM   #8
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thank you guys for your replays
Quote:
Originally Posted by khrisb View Post
depends on you and how you drive
the hf gets something like 50mpg but it's balls slow
people who swap in stock B16's (160hp) are pretty fast in that light of a car and still get 22-24 mpg city and around 30-32mpg on the highway. It really all depends on how you drive
I don't want to get into a swap to get a fast car (already have one), but if I take away the only advantage of the HF over other cars, then is nothing. I just realize that I don't want a balls slow car.
almost forgot to answer...Yes, I do have a lead foot !

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Originally Posted by file-error View Post
could always put in a d16z6 sohc vtec, good on gas and will put some pep to your step, i think the zc is the same hp and will also good on gas
this is what I have been looking at. I can't decide which engine I want. which one do you think will be the easiest to swap? ...and do you know which one will be nice to give this car a slap in the face to wake it up without killing the mileage?
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Old 10-03-2007, 07:35 PM   #9
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good thing about the d16z6 is that your not really changing the stock weight of the car any

the b16 weighs a bit more then the d16z6, the d16 is a direct bolt in and would be a much cheaper swap,
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Last edited by file-error; 10-03-2007 at 07:37 PM.
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Old 10-03-2007, 07:44 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by file-error View Post
good thing about the d16z6 is that your not really changing the stock weight of the car any

the b16 weighs a bit more then the d16z6, the d16 is a direct bolt in and would be a much cheaper swap,
I heard that the ZC is only like 20-30lb more, so no biggie.I just wonder if the low end torque of the ZC will be better over the fuel saver Vtec on the d16z6. I think I will need some torque to move this long ratio transmission.
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Old 10-03-2007, 08:56 PM   #11
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the hf gets good gas mileage because of the gears, carb and ecu
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Old 10-03-2007, 08:57 PM   #12
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i got a z6 head on my a6 block with a light weight flywheel , stage 1 clutch , and 11.5 cr pistons. my gears move just fine......lol
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Old 10-03-2007, 09:26 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by khrisb View Post
the hf gets good gas mileage because of the gears, carb and ecu
sorry no carb in this one. its fuel injected
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Old 10-03-2007, 09:34 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by file-error View Post
i got a z6 head on my a6 block with a light weight flywheel , stage 1 clutch , and 11.5 cr pistons. my gears move just fine......lol
I bet it moved with that much compression, but I'm done with high compression cars. I want to be able to use low grade 87oc.
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Old 10-03-2007, 11:15 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by khrisb View Post
the hf gets good gas mileage because of the gears, carb and ecu
Your thinking 84-87 HF with the carbs.....


The best gas millage+ a little more torque...I would say the D15 from the DX civic. Just as much torque as the z6 but it stays flat and even and doesn't fall off becuase of v-tec. It, combined with the HF tranny, an intake and a better flowing muffler would net the best gas milage/daily driver with out having to drive the anemic HF engine and not dumping needless work and money into a bigger swap. Just ECU and motor then your ready to go.
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Old 10-04-2007, 12:20 AM   #16
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go with the d16z6. if your using it for a beat job like pizza delivery then the ZC wouldnt be a good choice. from what ive seen from some friends the parts for a zc arent easy to find of something breaks. but the d16z6, if something breaks, parts are readily available at a parts house.
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Old 10-04-2007, 12:34 AM   #17
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Originally Posted by invisibledemon View Post
go with the d16z6. if your using it for a beat job like pizza delivery then the ZC wouldnt be a good choice. from what ive seen from some friends the parts for a zc arent easy to find of something breaks. but the d16z6, if something breaks, parts are readily available at a parts house.
I'll look into that. It seems to be a good choice being cheaper engine to get and the vtec will help with the gas.
by any chance do you know were to get info on wiring the ecu and vtec to the HF harness?

Last edited by maykelcj; 10-04-2007 at 12:37 AM.
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Old 10-04-2007, 09:11 AM   #18
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i dont think vtec helps gas milage. the engine will still be easy on gas, hell my b16 gives me 30mpg in the city. but i wouldnt deliver pizza with it. and look in the reference section, and the swap section.
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Old 10-04-2007, 11:38 AM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by invisibledemon View Post
i dont think vtec helps gas milage. the engine will still be easy on gas, hell my b16 gives me 30mpg in the city. but i wouldnt deliver pizza with it. and look in the reference section, and the swap section.
in fact yes it helps the vtec keeps the cams in a low profile wile it is off making the car breath less air-fuel mix, after the vtec kicks in, the lift and duration of the cam gets bigger so the engine breaths more air-fuel mixture helping the engine increase the hp up top.
I have read almost everything there is to read in this place there is not much on low power swaps. It seems everybody goes for the Bs. I don't blame them, it makes more power, but that is out of my budget and honestly the conditions of this car is not the best. It would be a shame to expend 10 times what I paid for the car in a swap.
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Old 10-04-2007, 04:46 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by maykelcj View Post
in fact yes it helps the vtec keeps the cams in a low profile wile it is off making the car breath less air-fuel mix, after the vtec kicks in, the lift and duration of the cam gets bigger so the engine breaths more air-fuel mixture helping the engine increase the hp up top.
I have read almost everything there is to read in this place there is not much on low power swaps. It seems everybody goes for the Bs. I don't blame them, it makes more power, but that is out of my budget and honestly the conditions of this car is not the best. It would be a shame to expend 10 times what I paid for the car in a swap.
You're thinking of the v-tec-E motor found in the HX and some of the other over-seas models....it would be OBD2 I believe and wouldn't be lucrative for your situation. I would say a d16z6 would burn MORE gas than a non vtec motor but ONLY while in v-tec. At normall driving RPM's the motors perform identically except the DX motors tend to hold torque in the uper rev's becuase of the the non exsistent v-tec function.....which consumes more fuel. If you want that little extra kick in the pants go d16z6. Allthough, if your car isn't equiped with vtec allready, you will need to wire for it. Either isn't a bad choice, just more work with z6.

All of your other questions about wiring and ecu info you can find in the H.S. FAQ referance.

Last edited by FObangah; 10-04-2007 at 04:49 PM.
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Old 10-04-2007, 05:51 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FObangah View Post
You're thinking of the v-tec-E motor found in the HX and some of the other over-seas models....it would be OBD2 I believe and wouldn't be lucrative for your situation. I would say a d16z6 would burn MORE gas than a non vtec motor but ONLY while in v-tec. At normall driving RPM's the motors perform identically except the DX motors tend to hold torque in the uper rev's becuase of the the non exsistent v-tec function.....which consumes more fuel. If you want that little extra kick in the pants go d16z6. Allthough, if your car isn't equiped with vtec allready, you will need to wire for it. Either isn't a bad choice, just more work with z6.

All of your other questions about wiring and ecu info you can find in the H.S. FAQ referance.
If you keep the D16 out of the VTEC range you should get sweet gas mileage. I have a del so si (D16z stock with a short ram), I generally drive in the 3000 rpm range, and I get right around 38 mpg. Del Sol is ~ 500 lbs heavier, so you should get even better mileage.

On the other note, if I ever get a pizza smushed up against the side of teh box because you're leadfooting it around the corners, be warned...

John
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Old 10-04-2007, 06:04 PM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SolDriver View Post
On the other note, if I ever get a pizza smushed up against the side of teh box because you're leadfooting it around the corners, be warned...

John
been there once, but I try to be really careful with my deliveries.
usually you don't want to open my 2lters of coke right away.
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Old 10-04-2007, 07:40 PM   #23
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oh dang thats right. my friends crx was an 86 hf with a 3 barrel carb. wrong year model


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Old 10-05-2007, 02:38 AM   #24
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FObangah View Post
All of your other questions about wiring and ecu info you can find in the H.S. FAQ referance.
I tried all this in the FAQ and nothing came back
HF
CRX HF
swap
CIVIC CRX
ECU
what else is there anything on that search? it always comes back with SORRY
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Old 10-05-2007, 03:11 PM   #25
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