my little build-up

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Dasfinc

New Member
If you just wanna know whats up, Skip the next Paragraph.


I'd like to start off by Thanking everybody that has helped this project so-far, Including but not limited to; The boys at Honda-Tech.com for explaining to my dumb-ass what parts I needed to use to make ANY power out of one of the lowest HP blocks honda has ever manufactored, Ryan Ango (syP), Paul Fielder (LedZepp) for lugging my car back out to Plano and taking good care of it while it was in Pauls possesion, Zack Vaughn (Father Time) For dealing with that goddamn hood latch cable, Kyle Coglanises *Definatly mispelled, but he's definatly a goon anyways* and George Meyerholz *GF's Father who has turned MANY wrenches in his day, and got off of work, and literally attacked my car with tools.


Last night I finally got my the parts together to get my little build-up project going for my 1992 Honda Civic Hatchback. A little bit of Background on the car is this is the car my Mother and Dad bought BRAND NEW off the lot back in 92 with the money my mother had recieved from her father passing away before they divorced, and was the car that picked me up on weekends for Countless years. My father claimed bankruptcy back in 05 and the IRS had been after the Hatch for nearly 2 years now, and he gave me the car in late 06 so it could stay in the family, and the government couldn't take it...


The car was the bottom of the line CX Hatchback, Manual everything 70hp, only feature is A/C. Last night we tore the 8 Valve head off the motor, Replaced a rusted-out door, Replaced a broken hood-latch cable, Added a working Tachometer and Speedometer, Put a SI Camshaft into a 16 Valve Honda head and Adjusted its lash *Paul and George rocked this out* so ALL thats left is to pickup a Used intake mani off a 92-95 Civic DX/LX an Intake Mani Gasket, and new head Bolts and it will all come together!!! This swap has been done before and with the more aggressive cam, and the longer stroke of the 8 valve block has dynoed 127hp on another car with the same setup as mine *This is not a ricer number, this is a proven dyno sheet with this weird-ass Franken swap*

Again, I'd like to thank everyone who helped, and here are the pics of the Tear/down and swap progress. I will post Dyno numbers and Track numbers when I hit the Dyno/Track.

The16valvehead.jpg

The8valvehead.jpg

MyD15B8Block.jpg

BlockShot.jpg
 
WOW, TOTALLY forgot to mention, D16A6 SI Camshaft out of an 89-91 SI, My bad. and the Cam Gear attached to that is from a 96-00 CX/DX/LX 1.6 *I pryed mine out of a 97 4 door LX* also, I have a P06 Manual ECU in the car as well *Kinda important*

Also,

Also, if anyone else wants to try this swap once I have it all buttoned up, Be aware that to my understanding honda has 4 valve blocks only for 92 and 93 Honda Civic CX's, and 94+95s do NOT have the 4 valve releifs like my block does.
 
Awesome info. Good job on the conversion! When are you hitting the dyno?
 
Calesta said:
Awesome info. Good job on the conversion! When are you hitting the dyno?
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Its nice to hear, Honda-Tech is filled with alot of Flamers sadly, and alot of very good information. Most people just ask why I'm messing with a crappy motor :(

The car should be 100% Together by next weekend, and There will be some more pics as it comes together, and hopefully some brief videos of what it sounds like, and how it runs. I'm a member of a few local car clubs that go to the track and dyno usually once every 3 months, so soon hopefully!!!

If anyone has a Used 92-95 DX or LX Intake Mani and TB they could ship and sell ASAP to me It would be VERY much appreciated, I live in northern IL. I didn't realize how freaking small a CX TB is untill I put it next to the LX one I had *Kinda hoped they used the same intake mani and just diffrent TB's BOOOYYYY was I wrong, Throttle body is litterally HALF THE SIZE of an LX TB I have and so is the intake mani behind it :(. No EGR on the car *Incase anyone has an intake mani laying around*
 
hey thats looking nice bro....looking forward to some vids and a dyno run :D

and yes hondatech is full of ricers and ricers who went bought new motors and got emo....
 
Dasfinc said:
Its nice to hear, Honda-Tech is filled with alot of Flamers sadly, and alot of very good information. Most people just ask why I'm messing with a crappy motor :(

The car should be 100% Together by next weekend, and There will be some more pics as it comes together, and hopefully some brief videos of what it sounds like, and how it runs. I'm a member of a few local car clubs that go to the track and dyno usually once every 3 months, so soon hopefully!!!

If anyone has a Used 92-95 DX or LX Intake Mani and TB they could ship and sell ASAP to me It would be VERY much appreciated, I live in northern IL. I didn't realize how freaking small a CX TB is untill I put it next to the LX one I had *Kinda hoped they used the same intake mani and just diffrent TB's BOOOYYYY was I wrong, Throttle body is litterally HALF THE SIZE of an LX TB I have and so is the intake mani behind it :(. No EGR on the car *Incase anyone has an intake mani laying around*
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We have our share of flamers here too, unfortunately. Your mods and admins do generally have respect for all kinds of engine setups though, not just plug-in high power high dollar ones. I've thrown obscene amounts of money into multiple builds, but I'm just as interested (probably more so) in the budget builds that can churn out respectable amounts of power.

Sorry, no IM or TB here for you- at least not OBD1.
 
Suprisingly I found out today that a STOCK cx produces 92 ft-lbs of torque at 2000RPMs !?!? If this swap breaks 120hp, I will boost it in Fall :)

And yea, pretty much everyone on Honda Tech just said "Your motor is crap My JDM Swap is Tight Yo"

On person said the Exterior, motor, and interior were junk judging by the crappy oil in the 8 valve head, and the little picture of the bumper. that hurts my brain... how can you say the interior is junk judging by Motor pics?!

For those interested Here's a list of everything done to the car and prices I paid:
Egay Header/Cat/Catback Exhaust *City car, it all had rusted out before I even got it*
About $250 shipped
Egay Intake *Might as well* $22
Driver Side Door with Good glass, matching color, and no rust $75
OEM hood latch $15
OEM hood latch release Cable $12
D15B7 Head $35
D16A6 Cam *Shipped Packed in Oil* $25
D16Y7 Cam Gear *Local Junkyard off a 97 LX Sedan $10
P06A06 ECU *Any number less than 50 to the right of A means its a Stick, 50+ Means Auto* $25
D15B8 Headgasket *You can also get a D16Y8 for higher compression, but like I said, I'd like to boost it, so I'm sticking with the lower compression stocker $22
Intake Manifold Gasket $10
NGK Plugs $8.00
Bosch Wires $22
Cluster with a Tach $50 *Ripppppp Offfffff*
DX/LX Throttle Body $5
DX/LX Intake Mani - To be announced, Local Junkyard wants $50 X.X

Alot of people were bitching about doing the Z6 Swap, and saying I should have gone Vtec and blah blah blah for the same price. but it makes me feel good saying I paid less for my head, Cam, cam gear, and ECU than I paid for the freaking replacement door, while an ECU for a Z6 typically costs north of $100 to my understanding.
 
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Dasfinc said:
Suprisingly I found out today that a STOCK cx produces 92 ft-lbs of torque at 2000RPMs !?!? If this swap breaks 120hp, I will boost it in Fall :)

And yea, pretty much everyone on Honda Tech just said "Your motor is crap My JDM Swap is Tight Yo"

On person said the Exterior, motor, and interior were junk judging by the crappy oil in the 8 valve head, and the little picture of the bumper. that hurts my brain... how can you say the interior is junk judging by Motor pics?!
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It was definitely tuned for low rpm grunt to increase fuel economy. That's why it's still peppy to drive around town, even with the low horsepower number. If you're running a different ECU and manifold setup, your torque curve is going to look different from the stock CX too.
 
This is true, It'd be closer to a DX i'd imagine... Although I was told the B8 Block was a better block for torque out-put, thats why this combo is supposed to work quite well, because it should still retain alot of its low-end grunt, but the extra 8 valves and SI cam are supposed to kick up the topend. What kind of tools should I be looking to buy to tune this thing?
 
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Possibly- I'm going to guess that you'll have higher compression with the CX bottom under the DX head than a standard DX setup- which if it's true, will mean you'll have more power all through the rev range if you have the tuning to take advantage of it.

As far as tools, look into buying or borrowing a wideband O2 sensor, then ECU parts to modify yours to take a custom tune via Uberdata, Ghettodyne or any of the other self-tuning solutions.
 
TOTALLY unfamiliar with Tuning :( What exactly what I want if I am going to turbo this car down the road?
 
Looks like a great way to squeeze some extra power out of that D!

I just swapped for a b18b, but I'm considering building the d16y7 and dropping it into a crx or something, boosted :)
 
Got everything together on the swap finally! Car was Fired and running tonight!
Sounds mean as hell, but it has its bugs I need to figure out. Idling at 900rpm, and a CE light... CE I assume is the O2 isn't the O2 the ECU is looking for, but what is causing the 900RPM Idle? Would the intake manifold throttle cable bracket have an affect on a cars Idle RPM? or since there is no throttle being applied it has to be something diffrent?
 
:thumbsup:

Could just be your idle adjustment?

Check your ECU codes.
 
I assume the ECU codes are the O2 as its looking for a 4 wire, and not the CX 2 wire one that is on it. I think it may just be the idle adjustment as the CX THrottle cable BRACKET was reused on the LX Mani, and the LX Mani has diffrent mounting spots for it :p... It idles and sounds pretty fucking mean :)!
 
The the d series motors intrigue me more and more... especially after reading this thread! Makes me wanna throw the b7 back in the car and see what I can get out of it using honda parts. I think something creative like this is alot cooler than say a run of the mill gsr swap my car has.
 
99sidude said:
The the d series motors intrigue me more and more... especially after reading this thread! Makes me wanna throw the b7 back in the car and see what I can get out of it using honda parts. I think something creative like this is alot cooler than say a run of the mill gsr swap my car has.
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Trust me I was origionally just glad to See the car run the other night, let alone make any power out of this combination! That and its all a big educational experiance for me, this is the second time I've pulled the head off this car, and I've also replaced a Door, the hood, the Gauge cluster with one with a Tach, etc etc etc, and can now share my pool of knowledge with whoever wants to learn anything more about it!


Hehe, GSR > My Pocket Book... I got $526 worth of Car Payments and Insurance on my other vechile, let alone my Honda project so I gotta stick to the small stuff :p. The next project this winter will be Volvo Turbo project :) I am probably gonna push this motor till it Pops, but I've read some pretty incrediable stories about B8 Blocks surviving RETARDED circumstances... *Like how I drove it with a blown headgasket an hour and a half, nearly at Max temp the entire time, and it didn't even damage anything to get it to a garage to use* I'm feeling an 8PSI Volvo turbo with a stock CX Exhaust Mani *Lost mine, so if anyone has one to donate to this project it would be appreciated*. anyone think I can get away with the stock intake mani AND CX Exhaust mani with boost:confused:??? :D
 
For those interested in the swap. Complecations I have found are as follows:

When Removing the Stock B8 Head, be sure to keep the Head bolts, as they are Hardened bolts, and do not need to be replaced.

Be sure to label, or make note of the Throttle body sensor wire connections, as if you plug them in the wrong spots, the car will not run/idle properly.
*Same goes for Vac Lines, be sure you know where they go back to, as there is some small fabrication involved

the B7 Head I aquired was pretty much only the head... Cam/Tappets/valves, There are ALOT of little bits attached to the head, be sure to get as much as possible with the replacement head, or be sure to remove the components off the B8 head. *There is a small piece of plastic that attaches to the block behind the cam gear, and wasn't included on mine, so I have to take it all back off to put my old one on :(*

REPLACE YOUR SEALS! Valve Cover seal, Plug seals, and Cam Seal *Little seal around the Gear end of the Camshaft to keep oil in the top of the block* I tried getting away without replacing the Camshaft Seal when putting the D16A6 Cam, and It resulted in a large pool of oil under the car after I fired it up*

When Replacing the B7 Cam with the A6 Cam, Reshim everything, and be very careful when you tear it all apart, be sure to bring the motor to top dead center while you are working on the head so you can be sure everything lines up!!!

The Intake mani and TB I used was off a Automatic LX *EGR valve on it* and I had to By-Pass it, which I did with Plastic T-Connector and some fresh hosing.

If you have a No-Start condition, be sure you put the Distributor on the right way up...

Oh, and LX Cluster with a Tach plugs right into the CX with no custom wiring. If any part of the Cluster doesnt work, you can replace JUST that part *Ala speedo is dead, you can take out the speedo and replace it*

Any other questions, ASK!!! ^_^
 
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