The best engine for 88-91 crx?

[amadeos_2002]

I am thinking about doing an engine swap in a 88-91 crx and I was wondering what the best engine would be to put in the vehicle if I wanted to retain air conditioning and what the best engine would be without air conditioning.

I've looked for an article about this from pissedoffsol and some of the other moderators and haven't found anything by them.

 

[B16CRX]

What are your goals for the car? Turbo, nitrous, all motor? Tell us this and we can better help you. How is your budget? You can keep ac with any motor, but not any setup (if you go turbo). The best motor I have seen so far, are teh lsvtec motors.Get a B18A or B18B block,and put a B16A head on it. of course there are other things to be done to complete it. But these setups usually yield great results.

 

[Citizen_Insane]

With any swap short of the H-series and K-series you can keep your A/C. That means that with any b or d series motor you can stay nice and cool.

I will argue that the b16a SiR is the best motor for the 2nd gen CRX. That is because the motor comes stock in Japan and therefore is well balanced for the car. Sure its a torqueless wonder, but any large amount of torque in a CRX just means you'll be burning through tires. However, the main disadvantage of the b16 swap is the price. To get everything installed and finished I payed about $3000 for my swap. I would say the cheapest you could do it would be $2500. If you go this rout you'll need aftermarket mounts, and I STRONGLY suggest hasport (although Az Racing has some nice looking billet alluminum ripoffs of the hasports).

The second choice would be the b18b from the LS integra. No VTEC, but it does produce more torque and a pretty decent amount of HP. If you want to boost, this is the engine to go with. You should be albe to find one for arround $500 in a junk yard. You'll want to avoid the LS transmission however, because the gearing is really shittily long. I'd say, get a b16a tranny from a SiR and use that mated with the b18b for max potential. Since this is also a b-series swap you'll need mounts just like above.

The third choice is the ZC. Best one to get is the DOHC non VTEC, but it also comes in SOHC non VTEC and SOHC VTEC. The DOHC is the best motor though and provides the most tuning opportunities (independant intake and exhaust cams) if you want to go turbo. The best part about these engines is how cheap they are. You should be able to pick up a ZC engine and tranny for less than $1000. This swap doesn't require mounts and will drop right into your car.

Now, there will be some differences in how easy the swaps will be depending on whether or not you have a Dx, Si, or HF. Dx you'll need to convert from DPFI to MPFI, and with the HF you'll need new front hubs to fit the larger axles. For all the swaps you should be able to use 90-91 Integra LS axles and halfshaft.

 

[drpenguin]

plasma your old mounts off and re weld them. thats why i did. motor doesnt jump, hop, or skip.

 

[VTECPOWER]

Oh and if you did the zc swap, with the axles, they are not from a integra, you would need civic equal length axles with the half shaft, or use the stock axles in which one will be longer.

 

[amadeos_2002]

Thanks for the replies guys!

I have a friend that owns a 1991 crx si that has swaped out a B series motor. I'm not sure which motor it was but I believe it was the B18B... I know that he took the a/c out and that he has one problem with the suspension... Something about having to cut on something because the header hits the componet when hitting bumps as he is driving down the road.

He wants to sell the car for around 3000... does that sound like a good price?

Oh well... I'll keep you guys up on everything.

THANKS!

matt

 

[B16CRX]

3K is a good price if its a 91 in GREAT shape with no rust. Otherwise no. I paid 3K for my 91 Si with near perfect interior, no rust besides teh shitty sunroof, a nice cd player, B16 swap, 62mm BBK TB, AEM CAI, ACT clutch, rear lower tie bar, rims, steering wheel, dual bend shifter, and momo knob. Fairlywell moded for the price. a 91 si in the condition it is in is worth 3K to a lot of people. depending on how knowlegable they are. a rust free crx is HARD to come by.

 

[amadeos_2002]

I don't believe that there is any rust on the body. And from my memory the body was in good shape. The guy also told me that he built up the motor before installing it into the vehicle.

There were some problems with the car, though. There was something wrong with the linkage that goes to the transmission from the shifter... something about one of the metal pieces being shaved shorter that the other one. I've never heard of that kind of problem and some one told me that it could be a costly problem to fix.

There is also a tap from the head, I think that it is the lifters. The owner of the vehicle told me that it can be fixed by tightening them down.



Also, just remembered that the vtec is not hooked up and that it still needs to be wired but the car does run.

 

[B16CRX]

The shift linkage os from a 90 integra and has to shortened a specific length to work properly with a 88-91 with a b series. As for the ticking, I'm not sure....try to pinpoint where it is coming from, or tell him to have them tightened, then you will buy it. for all you know it could have rod knock.