Swap advice for a 91 EF hatch

[EF no limit hatchback]

I dont have a lot of experience with working on hondas, i usually stick to toyota's and mazda rotary, but recently i decided to build one. i have accquired a 91 hatch that has a perfect body no scratches ,no dents ,and not rust. unfortunately its D15 has seen better days. not to mention its relatively powerless. I am aware these cars in japan had B16a's in them and with little alteration would swap easily into the cars. but I have read that you can put B18's or an H22 with a lot more modification. I've also seen a kit for a K swap. I dont know honda's that well so i dont know how far horsepower will actually go in this chassis. I was wanting to build somthing fun to drive with good balance not neccesarily a power demon. any advice would be awesome.

 

[blasterman87]

i would say stock with b series, like b16- or b18 gsr, either one is about the same to swap, if you want to do the simple swap go with a integra ls b18, its non v-tec so theres a few less wires

 

[EF no limit hatchback]

yeah ive heard you can turbo the LS engine right outta the box with low boost but they start with relatively low horsepower to

 

[blasterman87]

add the normal mods intake/exha/header and your pushing 140 to the wheels according to superstreet mag, they just did an integra build.

 

[EF no limit hatchback]

yeah but the cost of the transplant is a little pricey for the end result dont you think

 

[blasterman87]

its cheap compared to a b16, say you find an integra at a junk yard, buy the engine/tranny and axles for around 600 bucks, then get mounts for around 150, and linkage for 100 or modify the ls linkage youve got around 1,000 in the swap total, and a b16 is 1500 for just the engine/tranny, plus shipping..i just did a b16 swap into my hatch and stuff adds up

 

[turbo94eg]

Yea Go With The B

 

[EF no limit hatchback]

b16 or b18?

 

[phyregod]

B18c1 (integra GSR) has more a little more power and quite a bit more torque. About the same price.

B18c5 (integra type R) has even more hp and torque, but costs alot more than the others.

 

[EF no limit hatchback]

i'd like to go with the b18c5 but how difficult will the wiring harness issues be and what not

 

[Dark93DX]

First off, what is your budget like? that will be the determining factor.

B18A LS integra engine will be relatively cheap, 140hp & decent Torque in a light CRX. Great for a daily driver.

The B18C1/5 will swap in the same as the B18A, but they are much more expensive to buy then the non-VTEC B18a and you will have to deal with OBD & VTEC wiring issues. The wiring isn't hard though, its just a little more work, but the VTEC motors will be be much quicker.

K20 in a CRX will be very fast, but also very expensive.

A good place to start ---> https://hondaswap.com/swap-articles/engine-swaps-101-a-29052/

 

[hondamanshawn]

I would say go with the ls if you are just looking to build a daily driver on the cheap, then you can run an turbo kit with a tune in the future if you want more power or even cheaper is a $300 nos sniper kit that you can strap on and call it a day!

 

[SLOWdelawareEG]

I dont have a lot of experience with working on hondas, i usually stick to toyota's and mazda rotary, but recently i decided to build one. i have accquired a 91 hatch that has a perfect body no scratches ,no dents ,and not rust. unfortunately its D15 has seen better days. not to mention its relatively powerless. I am aware these cars in japan had B16a's in them and with little alteration would swap easily into the cars. but I have read that you can put B18's or an H22 with a lot more modification. I've also seen a kit for a K swap. I dont know honda's that well so i dont know how far horsepower will actually go in this chassis. I was wanting to build somthing fun to drive with good balance not neccesarily a power demon. any advice would be awesome.

make a decision on power goals and set a budget and decide if it will be your dd or not. from there u can decide if u need to go b or d series. and since u mentioned boost, definitely consider a turbo d16 swap on the same labor/cost scale as a b series swap. for the cost of a b18c motor alone, u can make WAAAAAY more power with a boosted d setup(200+whp)

oh and btw, we should catch up and cruise sometime. im right over the bridge in hilton head. youre the first one ive seen from our area on here

 

[EF no limit hatchback]

i was reading and i might do a mini me build for the time being if i can find a head but i dont know if my d15's bottom end would hold up it does have 200,000k on it. but if i could find the head cheap it would be a short term power solution. I think i might go with a b16a swap or a b18c1 swap in the future though. I think with a b18c1 in the car with a few weight reductions and the normal bolt ons (header, exaust, test pipe, and intake) is should be able to smoke stock subaru's and lancer's ya think

 

[Bobby17772]

what I've always done, with any car I've had, be different, if people don't build that engine, build it yourself. do some research of curse no need to dump a thousand into a build and have little to no change in power. Like me I'm in the same boat as you, for right now I'm gonna build my d15 but also build an ls on the side, slowly of course. So that way you can show people what you got out of the stock engine, after a rebuild of course. I wouldn't advise a build on something with that many miles. but it's your choice in the end

 

[Dark93DX]

i was reading and i might do a mini me build for the time being if i can find a head but i dont know if my d15's bottom end would hold up it does have 200,000k on it. but if i could find the head cheap it would be a short term power solution. I think i might go with a b16a swap or a b18c1 swap in the future though. I think with a b18c1 in the car with a few weight reductions and the normal bolt ons (header, exaust, test pipe, and intake) is should be able to smoke stock subaru's and lancer's ya think

IMO I wouldn't bother with the mini me when your bottom end has 200,000km's on it and you're just gonna rip it out again anyway. Just save your money for the swap you really want.

 

[LST REX]

ok the b16 is overplayed in my opinion. I have a b18a in my rex now and that fucker pulls for an ls. the b16 has more rev limit considering the head flows better. But for the amount they want for a b16 and tranny you could turbo an ls with pretty much all supporting mods and be in the low 12's.

If you have the money then by all means grab a gsr or type r motor. If not then id stick towards the ls motor. there cheap and they run fairly great. The tq on the motors is crazy when there in an ef chassis.

K20 on the other hand is a complete monster and if money is of no concern step into the darkside of the k series.

 

[craftymatt]

My CRX HF was the first Honda I ever owned or ever even really worked on. About 2 months after getting it I did a B16 swap with no problems. I have had plenty of experience with other cars however, and turning bolts is the same whether it's Honda or anything else lol.

The LS engine is cheaper, but most of the cost of my swap was on misc things like mounts, shift linkage, trans, etc; not so much the engine itself. If I had more honda knowledge (like I've acquired in the 2 years since then) I could have done it cheaper, but that was how it went for me.

I've driven an LS CRX, and my B16 CRX (both have LS transmissions), and I don't think they're as different down low as most LS guys would like to think. Both are weak below 3500 rpm (as most small 4 cylinders are), then the LS starts making more torque a bit sooner than the B16, but runs out of rpm a lot sooner. Overall there probably isn't a gigantic difference in acceleration, but it's still fun to rev the piss out of the b16.

If you want to do crazy stuff in the future like turbos/etc then just go LS, but all I wanted was a reliable, solid, and quick CRX that I could drive every day so I went with a stock B16. Since I did the swap almost 2 years ago I've put around 10k miles on it and driven it daily in all weather conditions. The car gets 45 mpg average and has been totally reliable. I would not hesitate to take it across the country as long as the oil was fresh.

 

[blasterman87]

My CRX HF was the first Honda I ever owned or ever even really worked on. About 2 months after getting it I did a B16 swap with no problems. I have had plenty of experience with other cars however, and turning bolts is the same whether it's Honda or anything else lol.

The LS engine is cheaper, but most of the cost of my swap was on misc things like mounts, shift linkage, trans, etc; not so much the engine itself. If I had more honda knowledge (like I've acquired in the 2 years since then) I could have done it cheaper, but that was how it went for me.

I've driven an LS CRX, and my B16 CRX (both have LS transmissions), and I don't think they're as different down low as most LS guys would like to think. Both are weak below 3500 rpm (as most small 4 cylinders are), then the LS starts making more torque a bit sooner than the B16, but runs out of rpm a lot sooner. Overall there probably isn't a gigantic difference in acceleration, but it's still fun to rev the piss out of the b16.

If you want to do crazy stuff in the future like turbos/etc then just go LS, but all I wanted was a reliable, solid, and quick CRX that I could drive every day so I went with a stock B16. Since I did the swap almost 2 years ago I've put around 10k miles on it and driven it daily in all weather conditions. The car gets 45 mpg average and has been totally reliable. I would not hesitate to take it across the country as long as the oil was fresh.

thats good personal experience to go on, somwone who has driven both has the best advice imo.