d16 motor choice for 1990 crx si

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vince90crxsi

New Member
ok so right now i have a blown sohc zc motor which ive been told is the equivelent to the d16a6. tomorrow im hoping to drive to a city near by and pick up and engine swap as ive done in the past but im short on time and have to make a 900 mile trip in a week. my father wants me to buy another d16a6 so that we dont have to worry about changing anything and there lies my question. are there any other d16's that are vtec that will require no modifications to the set up in my engine bay already. I've only done a few swaps but nothing crazy only just replacing the motor that was in there. I dont mind the a6 because to be honest the only difference between my car and my buddies s2k when racing is his vtec and i really miss having a vtec motor. so if there are any d16's that are vtec and wont require changing any wiring or anything which ones would those be and which ones have to most tourqe and power? it sucks to do this now because i was going to save up for a few more months and completely do a b16 swap but i dont have the time or money right now so i just wanted a cheap engine that was fun to drive and i could be content with for about another 6-12 months. please if anyone has this knowledge i could really use a helping hand right now.
 
shortest answer to this is no. If you could find a D16Z6, you could use that, but youd still need the ecu, an ecu jumper harness, I believe an OBD1 distributor w/ a jumper harness, a 4 wire O2 sensor, and you'd still have to wire in vtec, or get a vtec jumper harness from hasport
 
ok thank you so much. do you know which exactly the sohc zc motor is? because all it says is zc on the motor. i mean the upside is the d16a6 (if thats what it is) is a great bottom end for the mini me swap lol
 
Any of the ZC's will work with minimal changes.
 
How bad is the original engine? Short block wasted? Head too? Depending upon the condition, you could have it gone through by a machine shop for $1k to $1.5k. Have flywheel lightened up a bit, amd bring the head down to 10.5:1 compression, do the exhaust and it will run way better than stock.

Then you can turn your attention and limited budget to the rest of the car. Bushings, strut tower braces, struts, brakes, wheels, tires, and so on.
 
well according to the first post, he eventually wants to go b series, with a $1500 budget, he could probably find a complete b16 swap if he looks hard enough, personally i'd stick with the zc if it's repairable, if I could go back I def would've kept my rex single cam
 
i wish i could but i have a giant house that i have to help pack and i have to do this swap in a couple of days, basically i think the crank shaft is screwed because the shop i took it to drained the oil when working on it and never replaced it and sent me on my way. i dont have time to dive into anything else but putting the motor and trans in as quickly as possible. i have to make it from south nc to cape cod ma august 6th. and after reading i realized the only thing to do is put another zc sohc non vtec ob0. but my problem is i wont know untill tomorrow if the shop in raliegh has one laying around. ive already spent 3k on fixing this engine just so i could get to work and back and trust me if i had the 3k at the start i wouldve just b swap it and called it a day but i had no idea things were going to keep breaking on it nor did i expect a honda specialist shop to screw my engine up. and with my limited time swaping it would be the best route i just dont know what motor would be the second easiest to install if i cant get the exact zc motor
 
oh and the pervious owner ran this thing into the ground so most of the short block is junk and the head isnt much better and ive spent to much time and money on this engine and am just swaping it. fixing it is not an option at this point and mikey bottles there are ton of b16 swaps for only like 2,300 shipped to my door and im ok with that lol
 
and my limited budget is only because im being loaned the money and its not exactly up to me which motor i can put in at this point. i just need to know which would be the easiest other than the exact motor i have because going vtec or changing wiring is not really an option considering im only a begginer at this and i dont have a great knowledge about it. basically im just trying to stick something in there that plug and play and when i move to boston where i have massive garages and countless people who've been building engines and cars for 20 plus years all at my finger tips so that'll be the time to dive into changes and rewiring things besides the fact that ill soon be going to school for this but unfortunatly right now i dont have the time and my father whos been and engineer for 30 plus years doesnt have time to spend in our garage building this with me
 
mikey bottles said:
well according to the first post, he eventually wants to go b series, with a $1500 budget, he could probably find a complete b16 swap if he looks hard enough, personally i'd stick with the zc if it's repairable, if I could go back I def would've kept my rex single cam
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why would you keep a zc sohc? just wondering what is so great about it? i can hardly find and info on it and if i do its on the dohc. not to say i wasnt impressed with the motor when i ran side by side with and s2k and only when his vtec kicked in did he inch away and then the distance stayed the same untill vtec kicked in again lol.
 
vince90crxsi said:
why would you keep a zc sohc? just wondering what is so great about it? i can hardly find and info on it and if i do its on the dohc. not to say i wasnt impressed with the motor when i ran side by side with and s2k and only when his vtec kicked in did he inch away and then the distance stayed the same untill vtec kicked in again lol.
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Sounds like he sucked at shifting if he was falling out of VTEC...
 
IMO, start planning on renting a uhaul trailer and tow the car to your new house. rushing a swap and moving within a week is just asking for a disaster to happen one way or another.
 
yea but we found 1 sohc zc obo engine and have it on the way and got the move date moved back a few days so the engine and tranny should be here by thursday the latest and that gives me 5 days to put it in and with my fathers help whos been a mechanic for over 30 years we'll have that engine bay waiting for new motor and trans. thank you to everyone who gave me advice and helped you have no idea how much i apperciate it!!!!
 
vince90crxsi said:
why would you keep a zc sohc? just wondering what is so great about it? i can hardly find and info on it and if i do its on the dohc. not to say i wasnt impressed with the motor when i ran side by side with and s2k and only when his vtec kicked in did he inch away and then the distance stayed the same untill vtec kicked in again lol.
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The B16 was really more than I needed, I was running my crx in autocross and the swap put me into a modified class that it was almost impossible for me to compete in, plus you can still make decent power with some of the single cams, and theyre easier to find quickly if you end up needing another engine, good luck with everything man!
 
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