What to watch for when buyin an engine

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chumanga

Junior Member
my pops has a 93 civic ex, he overheated it and rather than rebuilding what he has i was just going to buy a working used engine and swap them out. i know its a d16z6 and i have found quite a few around my area, of course would like to start with the cheapest, but what do i need to look for so i dont buy a POS? are there any signs i should look for other than compression? and what kind of time do i get to look forward to spending swaping these out? yes im very capable of doing it and i have all the tools.

thanks
lance
 
swapping will be a breeze. its a direct bolt in. as far as lookin for motors just look for a clean one. i mean look around realy hard and see if there are any leaks and such.
 
FYI, the B16A is a dime a dozen now-a-days, and is a much bigger step up performance wise then a D series SOHC engine. As for the engine it self, make sure to do a compression and leak down test before shelling out any cash.
 
well this isnt for myself, my dad is not a racer =P he wants the cheapest repair possible, plus the car is a automatic. but thanks for the replies!!
 
You should be able to find another Z6 for less than $300. Have you checked out Craigslist yet?
 
well this isnt for myself, my dad is not a racer =P he wants the cheapest repair possible, plus the car is a automatic. but thanks for the replies!!

Racer or not the driveability of a higher HP engine is always nice to have on a daily driver. That being said a near stock b16 isn't anything close to "fast". its just not frozen dog turd slow. Of course I completely understand about the cost issue.
 
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im in the dallas area and im going to pick one up with a 30day warranty for 400 =)

ya i def wanted a honda to throw a turbo'd b16 sumthin in =P but after having a shifter kart and racing out on a track cars just dont seem to be fast anymore =) also had a buick grand national that had about 450 at the wheels and that thing was just a big lazy boy on wheels so comfortable, and so many stupid people that have know idea what they are to see the looks on their face when they get spanked by what they think is a granny car... always nice ;)
 
400 is for an engine with a warranty, i.e. 400 out the door with a 30 day warranty
 
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