NEWBIE TO HONDAS

[88HB4speed]

Well i just totalled my 88 325 Super Eta BMW and bought an 88 hatchback 4 speed manual, with manual steering, from an old lady. The thing is in mint condition it only has 55,000 miles , but its slow. I know it has a D series engine but im not sure which one, and im looking to bolt in a bigger better mtor such as the d16z6 v tec or maybe a ZC. But are there any other motor options that will bolt to the d sereies tranny other than the d sereies motors? If someone could let me know what they think is a good option that would be great? And i apologize if this is a prediscussed topic im no good at searching lol.

 

[civicious]

Only D-series motors will bolt to D-series transmissions.

 

[88HB4speed]

if it helps with motor decisions, i do plan on turboing it.



also....i have a rare AWD civic wagon(has a d16a6) but its a rust bucket, is the wheel base the same from the hatch to the Wagon in other words could i make my hatch AWD?

 

[reckedracing]

sounds like you have dual point fuel injection DPFI, so the first thing you need to do is swap over to MPFI, multi port/point fuel injection...

you are limited to any D series engine by your d series trans, but the gearing on the 4 speeds sucks balls, so you are gonna wanna do a whole motor/trans swap combo deal...

D series are rather limited...
you can do a D16Z6 swap for sohc vtec and get 130 ish horse, but will require conversion to OBD1, or use of a vafc, or an obd0 vtec ecu

or you can do the dohc ZC swap for 140 ish horse, no vtec, but still need the MPFI swap...

or if you have the funds you can move up to b series swaps...

whats your goals and budget?

i believe the wheel bases are diffrent, and the wagon only sends 10% of the power to the rear wheels so its really not worth the fab work for 4wd...

 

[88HB4speed]

wow, good to know the facts, ok well im lokoing to do it for under the 1500 bucks i have left from my totalled car and the turbo/performance parts i took off it, and i can converto MPFI pretty easy from the wagon parts, and would like to see this in the 14's as soon as possible, my BMW was a low 14 car and i miss it horribly

I was also told that i may want to go the way of OBD 1 casue its easier to tune and work with turbos? is that true

 

[reckedracing]

ok, 1500 bucks...
lets see what we can do...
when are you planning to go turbo? and is that included in the 1500 bucks?

i think you first step should be to drop the D16A6 from the civic wagon into your hatch with a 5 speed... 5 speed cable tranny's can be had pretty damn cheap for hondas...

cable = clutch operated via cable
hydro = clutch operated by hydrolics and slave cylinder... 92+ = hydro 91- = cable...

ok, so you take the d16a6, and drop that in for 110 hp and the 5 speed trans...
this might get you to 16 or high 15's? it would basically be an SI hatchback at this point...

so we've spent maybe 100 bucks for the trans...

so 1400 left...

this all goes towards turbo parts...
homemadeturbo.com is your best friend now...
you want to read through their site as it has some very useful information on cheap turbo setups...

you can use an HF civic manifold with an adapter plate to mount all sorts of turbos to this car...

there are all sorts of cheapo tuning programs out there, i know uberdata and crome are both obd1... i think turboedit supports obd0 ecu's
but i know for a fact that if you took the remaining 1400 and used it for a decent turbo setup you could prob hit high 12's, but you could def pull 14's

manifold = 40 ish
turbo = 100 ish
downpipe = muffler shop
intercooler = 50 ish eclipse intercooler is often used
bov = eclipse or any dsm bov
injectors from eclipse
oil feed and return

and then for tuning you would use an obd0 tuning program to burn a chip for the ecu, and the dsm injectors should be able to provide enough fuel with a high flow high pressure fuel pump...

 

[88HB4speed]

12/13's sounds amazing , the good news is that my BMW was a turbo so i know a fair deal about home made turbos and still have the still have the turbo(57 trim),wastegate(Tial 38mm), intercooler(its a small Sabb one though), and a 12:1 FMU from it. The bad news is i dont know how great the motor in that wagon is, its been sitting for quite awhile and i would bet the bottom end would take a bit of work to get it to turn. could i bolt the Si head to the engine in the car. With that in mind and the work in that would i be better off spending my money on a DOHC or a SOHC vtec, and slapping a manifold and my parts on that.


Also how cheap can a b series cable tranny be had for this car if a d series is that cheap?

 

[reckedracing]

lol

ok first off...
B series motor bolt to b series trans...
and d motors to d trans...
no switching between the 2

second... anything b series is going to cost you big time...
you could get an obd0 b16 complete changeover for 1500 bucks...
but then you need things on top of that...
cheapest possible b series cable trans will be from a 90ish integra that came with the 1.8 liter non vtec motor pushing around 130-140 horse... thats a B18A

you can bolt the SI head onto your block...
and do the MPFI and you should have a little over 100 hp...

sohc vtec can be had for fairly cheap...
you could even do the z6 head onto your block for a "mini-me" that should push approx 130 hp with the sohc vtec head, but the pricey part comes into making the vtec work and run

sohc vtec requires (to be done right) a P28 obd1 92-95 civic ecu, and an obd0->obd1 conversion harness
p28 costs maybe 100
plus 100 ish for the harness, jdmshit.com has em cheap, and someone on here was selling them too...

anything dohc vtec is going to cost you too much...

you could also do the ls b18 nonvtec motor swap... but mounts are gonna run you 350 ish, plus the motor swap will be expensive, best bet there would be to get a 90-91 integra thats wrecked and just use it as a donor, but even if you get one for 500 bucks, which is hard to find, then add on the 350 for mounts, axles, shift linkage, timing belt, water pump, etc maint... and you're over your budget...

MPFI swap, SI head swap, and home made turbo is gonna be the cheapest way to make that car go fast...

turbo, wastegate, intercooler, and FMU can all be used on the honda...
well, what size motor was the bmw and what size turbo?
the turbo might = huge lag time if its larger, but thats taken out of the picture when you launch at 4500 rpm's

 

[reckedracing]

so you have an externally wastegated turbo? is that correct?

if thats the case then you have 2 options now...
well 3 really

1, sell the turbo and wastegate and get one thats internally wastegated...
2, make a collector between the mounting plate and the turbo and have the wastegate flange welded into the collector
or 3, you're gonna need an aftermarket turbo manifold for the d series that will accept an external wastegate

d series turbo manifolds can be had for fairly cheap, but not cheap enough on a 1500 budget

 

[88HB4speed]

Thanks for all the facts man you have been super helpful, the turbo might be a little laggy its a 57 trim meant for my inline six(but it was only a 2.5L six) but it spools pretty quick, and id wait the extra 600 rpm for the extra 3lbs boost from the shity 7 to a solid 10 lol, and i might look into the SOHC vtec or that 90-91 b18 integra swap, i got junkyards all around and i kinda like the idea of either vtec or the option for the b series VTEC's(wow talk about expensive i just looked) if i ever swap the LS out again. Thanks again, tear it up man!

 

[reckedracing]

you should be able to find lots of write-ups on the ls b18 swap into the hatches...

check out hasport.com for the mount kit, hasport is one of the most recognized name for mounts in the honda swapping industry... check their site for the instructions too so you can see whats involved...
there are other cheaper alternatives such as hcp mounts as well... google search for hcp engineering, or hcp racing for their website..
ebay is also a great place to get info...

the b18 is so nice cause there is a cable trans for it, and the early b18 integras came in OBD0 i believe, making your swap easier...

the b18 nonvtec can always be mated with a b16 or b18 vtec head down the road...
not too difficult and it will get you that dohc vtec power you want...

and the ls block is said to be able to handle some serious boost with stock internals... read up on that as well...

post more questions if you want more answers

 

[sy_82_nj]

if you are trying to sell the engine holla at me