D15b2 Rebuild

[DnB_Hippie]

Hi guys. I'm not at all new to the forum but this is my first post. My experience lacks with a wrench, but I have been working on my 89 civic dx for just over the 3 years I've had it fixing random crap that goes out like alternator, brakes, suspension, ect.

About a 2 and a half years ago I had a shop do a motor swap because I blew my head gasket and didn't know enough or had the tools to replace it myself. That shop ripped me off and gave me a bad motor which is already smoking.

In my studies with my own motor, and these forums, I have learned a lot, and I now have the help of somebody with more experience than I do with the actual internals of this motor as he dug around in his a little before he sold it.

Now, that said, our cumulative experience is still very little compared to some of you. This is why I have come to your for suggestions on what to do with my smoking D15b2.

My immediate inspiration was to sell this old thing while it still runs, and get a 5th gen civic since that's the shell I really like in the first place. This would require a loan to get what I want and I'm trying to avoid that. My next idea was to rebuild this motor since I already have the intake, exhaust, suspension, ect on this car and I don't want to have to start over, hence needing a loan to get the next gen model.

I would opt for a bigger motor, but I'm looking at 2k total in parts to rebuild this motor with hopefully better internals, maybe a better head, and an mpfi conversion. What I have now is 2 D15b2 motors, both aged, one for sure on its last leg, so at least I have a practice motor just to make sure we can tear it down and build it back up once or twice before we tackle the real deal.

What I'm kind of going for with this build is a high compression setup and while I know I need to upgrade the lower end internals, will that really be a waste of time? will the stock head handle high compression (domed pistons)?

Please school me, and know that I have been reading here for a while. A lot of you have some very knowledgeable things to say and I'm curious to hear your suggestions.

thanks!

 

[Luis998]

Try searching all motor builds. They will provide you with most of the information you will need. Good luck.

 

[INJEN78]

I have a D15B2 and I wouldn't waste any money rebuilding it. Not a penny.

If I were in your shoes, I'd get a D16A6 (from a '88-'91 Civic/CRX Si) and build that. Maybe even a D16Z6, if you're feeling really adventurous. Either engine should cost you less than $400. Built, OBDI converted, and tuned, my Z6 put down 135whp and 111wtq for right around your budget. The actual build was around $1500 and the rest was the tuning and OBDI conversion. If you've been lurking for a while you've undoubtedly seen me talk about it a time or two. Here's a link to my build topic: https://hondaswap.com/auto-multi-media/few-pic-s-my-build-67737/

Depending on what year your DX is, I can supply you with just about all of the wiring. PM me for details.

+1,,and with that said,for around the same amount of money you put into the N/a build,,you could get the same if not more power out of a forced induction build,the d16a6 holds up nicely to 200hp

 

[DnB_Hippie]

Thanks for that. I'll start shopping for a new motor. We have a pretty big pick n pull out here. I think I'm going to try to get out there mid next week and see what I can dig up.