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Knight

Junior Member
A 90 Si, everthing stock in motor except for a "mild" cam (about the cam...don't ask!). This engine has just over 185K miles on it. This little 5 spd monster is lots of fun. I am willing to keep it for another 10 years.

The entire exhaust was modified; 4-2-1 headers, high flow cat. and muffler, connected with 1 3/4 inch S.S. pipe. This gave significant performance gains even though mostly at the top end.

Possibly due to high milage and my "spirited" driving I find black soot-like deposits accumulating around my tail pipe. I am now considering the big swap. I want good bottom to mirange performance...I dont have too many chances to run at 250 mph. Need some real world experience...the shops around here are afraid as soon as I mention swap. :(

I have gone through the FAQs and realated Articles and I am now alot more educated but lacking direction. Any advice would be appreciated!
 
IMO the B16A would be the cheapest and easiest swap to do for that car. A full swap won't cost you that much. How much are you willing to spend.

Was the high flo cat a real catalytic converter or just a test pipe?
 
The cat. is a real...the honey comb style made by Magnaflow I think. In fact I have had to replace it after 13 month for failing emissions...turns out it was partially clogged. This is why am considering the swap.

As for my budget...as low as possible. Some where in the $500.00 range is where I would like to stay without going the el cheapo route.

On a separate but realated issue the emission Technician got nasty about my O2 sensor ( 6 mnths old ) being only on the #4 cyclinder, he claimed that it was giving the ecu false readings causing the engine to run too rich resulting in high Hydro Carbon emissions. Any thoughts?

Thanks
 
You are not going to do an engine swap for $500. There is no way.

Is your O2 sensor only hooked to cylinder 4?
 
$500.00 is where I start. I'm new to this arena. Let me put it this way if it is going to cost me over 2G's then I am going to start looking at other options. But I like this car....
 
For the engine I was talking about go here. They sell the swap for $1150 + shipping. You would probably need a few hundred more for misc parts. I think that you need a mount kit (my experience is with Integras so I am not 100% sure on Civic stuff) and I know you need shift linkage. Beyond that this swap should cost you less the $2k if you do the work yourself.
 
talk to hybrid revolution (they are the white banner circulating at the top of the screen) There prices look alot better than hmotors.com
 
Lsvtec is right,that is the motor you want.Add around 300 for shipping and 400 for mounts add a little more for miscellaneous problems and there you go.
 
The header is a 4-2-1. Each of the 4 runners go under the engine then into 2 towards the back of the engine. The sensor has a single wire (not a heated sensor) so it has to be positioned where the exhaust gases are hottest to get a good reading. The header only has one opening and it's on the runner going to the #4 cyclinder. I've been told that it is the best spot for it becasuse the #4 cyclinder is the hottest.

About that swap; is the B18 C an option? Keep in mind this car is NOT for the track.
 
well, IMO, if u wanna do a cheap swap. go ZC, it has alot better top end performance as the Si, and a few more ft lb's of torque, but it relatively cheap. use stock Si tranny and everything. stock Si is 108 hp the ZC is 130. get some decent cams, i/h/e a clutch and lightened flywheel and a little bit bigger sized exhaust i reccomend 2 1/2 or 2 1/4, then ull start to notice some real gains. should run mid 15's or so with good driving at sea level. or go b18a1 like me, alot of torque but more pricey. mine costed 1800 Canadian. 1000 USD and i get 142 hp 121 trq. these are the 2 cheapest and easiest swaps out there, b/c u dont need to much wiring like a vtec would b and ease of finding parts. The only difference is b18b u need tranny ecu mounts shift linkage and axels. which is the costly part. For u just getting started id reccomend getting ZC, then upgrading, its a great started engine b/c its cheap and decent power for $$. only problem is finding parts. but if u get it ull b pleasently supprised.
 
Maybe I am missing something, but wouldn't I get more hp from the B16A than the B18A1 that is putting out approximatley 140 hp. These change over kits from Hmotor sound simple. pull my engine and tranny and put in the monts and adapters and you're done.
 
Originally posted by Knight@Jan 23 2003, 11:02 PM
Maybe I am missing something, but wouldn't I get more hp from the B16A than the B18A1 that is putting out approximatley 140 hp. These change over kits from Hmotor sound simple. pull my engine and tranny and put in the monts and adapters and you're done.

it's the torque that you wanna look at. it makes a huge difference, somthing you gotta feel i guess.
 
Maybe I should ask another question; I have $2K spend, what would be the simplest swap ( I don't want to be running around looking for conversion kits etc....) giving me the biggest bang for my $2000.00 bucks. What would you do if you were in my shoes.

Thanks for all your advice so far it is helping.
 
If you had $2000,hopefully more than that so you can still pay rent,IMO the B16A1(siR) you'd be hitting close to that after everything is said and done.
 
Originally posted by Knight@Jan 24 2003, 11:46 AM
Maybe I should ask another question; I have $2K spend, what would be the simplest swap ( I don't want to be running around looking for conversion kits etc....) giving me the biggest bang for my $2000.00 bucks. What would you do if you were in my shoes.

Thanks for all your advice so far it is helping.

$2000- I would really look at just getting a ZC swap. You could get a B16 for pretty cheap, but then you need to take into consideration things like wiring for VTEC, adding a VTEC controller or some way to control your fuel, getting a new ECU, getting a mount kit, axles... after "debugging" it, you'll probably be over $2000. Don't run your swap budget right up to your cash level- you always need more than you think once it's done. If you swap in a ZC, you'll have more power and more opportunities to build power than your D16A6, plus you'll have more cash left over to troubleshoot later on.

One other option is to swap your head for a VTEC head, like the one on the D16Z6 engine. The D16Z6 came standard in the 92-95 Civic EX and the 92-95 Civic Si, along with the 93-95 del Sol Si. Its power level isn't as high as the ZC, but it has more modification possibilities farther down the line. The D16Z6 head on the D16A6 with all stock internals will probably make something like 130hp, so it's still pretty close to the ZC in performance. You can still add a header/exhaust/intake to it, higher compression pistons (use the ZC pistons), and a more aggressive camshaft. Finding parts for the ZC head is near impossible... A "mini-me" setup will run you under $1000 complete, and still make good power. There's tons of information on the site about this setup, just look around for it- and if you can't find it, ask.

Just another option to think about...
 
dude for 2k i would go with the zc if you r able to find one for around $700 which i am sure u can u got 1300 left to spend and also with the zc everything u alrdy have will fit like i/h/e header needs to be port matched thoughi would then spray the hell out of it run low14s high 13s
 
$2000.... Hmmm...

That would probably cover a B16A swap.

Wouldn't be anything super happy fun JDM, but it would make it feel like a new car.

Also with 185k on it, I'd look into some new bushings to stiffen things back up to 180k ago. :)
 
For the price that you have to work with (2 grand) I would say a B20 swap, you can get cheap obd 0 stuff from an old integra (1990-1991) and still have money left over for some simple bolt-on's. You will have plenty of torque in mid range and low end. It won't be that much more than a B18 (if any more). Try to get a JDM B20b, it's cheap and a great motor, good luck :)
 
Just a thought. I put a D16Z6 in my car for $350 and change. It was a 95 ( I think) with about 60k on it. You could find one for this cheap too. Then you'd have 1700 for some springs/shocks/bushings, then you'd have maybe 1500 to turbo/nos/allmotor. Since you just want a swap, this would be pretty good. Ok, so its not a Bseries, but my rex, w/a z6 is damn quick. And with a little work, it can be a screamer too. However, if i was going to blow 2k, i'd get the Hmotorsonline B16 changeover, if your lucky and get one that came from a crx, not a 'teg, and it has the motor mounts, I believe you won't need an aftermarket mount kit, they you'd have enough for i/h. If not, spend the extra $$ on the mountkit/shift linkage, mod the wiring harness yourself (not really that hard if you take a little time, and its waaay cheaper), then buy some new gaskets/seals/waterpump.
Al
 
if i had 2000, i would definately go for a b16a swap. i would get the motor from hmotors online. i beleive its like $1100 for the complete swap, but you also need a hasport mount and shift linkage kit. hmotors online sells a package with the complete swap (about 1100), the hasport mounts ($350) and the shift linkage ($50), a total of $1500, which is a hell of a deal.

if i were you i'd stay away from a dseries motor. if you plan on going turbo, the d series rods can only handle about 215hp or so, which is pretty weak. then you have to buy forged rods, get the block notched and have the rods installed which may be expensive. the b series rods are much stronger.

if you got the b16a but in the future you decided to get something more powerful, like a b18c or c5, you would already have all the b series stuff you'd need. all you'd have to get is the motor, mounts, and maybe linkage.
 
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