Trying to lose my STd's ;)

We may earn a small commission from affiliate links and paid advertisements. Terms

blackice90HB

Senior Member
what up guys, i have a 1990 Civic Hatch back STD, yes, the 4spd with 70 hp ( go ahead and get the giggles out now please........)

im a junior (senior in a few weeks) and this is my daily driver. i already have the looks planned out .honda Phantom black pearl, set of some pretty hard looking stock honda wheels from some car i saw lying around a local salvage yard or 17 in gunmetal RS limited Ricochets (preferably the 15inch honda wheels, they have a jdm style to them and the are 80 bucks for the four of em-better than paying 740 for a new set of wheels).

well, my lil problem is the D15b1 piece of garbage in my car is coming on 166,000 miles and only has 70 horses and a four speed-not cool, it pulls decent in 1st and 2nd, but lacks in power in 3rd and fourth (anyone else with a STD knows what im talking about). my dream motor is the b20Z motor, but ill have to get nu mounts that cost 350 bucks, and i'll need a new ECU. i also thought about switching the head to a d16a6 head and transmission, but i am not 100% sure all d- series motors are interchangable. i would like to have a obd-1 or 2 motor, though, because i would like to be able to use electronic scanners to analyse my motor to make sure every thing is going ok. i dunno, its just so much i can do with this car, i dont what i should get, keeping in mind i need this car as a daily driver to get from school and work and back home. i wanted to get a bigger motor (like the B20 with a ls vtec head) and have the ecu reflashed so i could run a 200hp car. i dunno, if any has any advice on swaps, i would greatly appreciate any help given.

thanks.....

(im really a nissan man, wanted a rps13 240sx se, but the civic was free and hondas are pretty bad when tuned the right way, not with dubs and APC eurolights and 6 foot spoilers and power robbing 7inch pipes. i know some basics about hondas, but not realy as much as the well seasoned honda tuners out there, so i would greatly appreciate any advice)

BTW, can the 4wd system from the wagon be swapped into a hatch? i've never seen it done, and i/ve been thinking about this for the past few weeks. a 4wd hatch would be a hard thing to hang with in the turns.....
 
Depends on how fast and how much you want to spend. You could swap in a dohc zc motor, thier cheap and make decent speed. Just need a motor, tranny, hubs, axels, ecu, and some wiring.
 
Im with Cheese on this one. My ZC has treated me well. I started my swap when I was a senior as well. Hmotorsonline.com has really good prices on a ZC. A side by side comperison with a ZC and b16 the b16 makes more power but like you already said you need the mount kit, shift linkage, ect. But with the ZC yeah you will have to get diffrent hubs axels that sorta thing but it is alot less of a pain then ZC. Im sorta biased toward the ZC and never done a b16 swap, but let me tell you somthin all these guys here on hondaswap know there stuff. More info on the ZC can be found here: www.thezcr.com there are a few guys there that have some big numbers with there ZC.
 
Originally posted by Drake@May 16 2005, 10:45 PM
Im with Cheese on this one. My ZC has treated me well. I started my swap when I was a senior as well. Hmotorsonline.com has really good prices on a ZC. A side by side comperison with a ZC and b16 the b16 makes more power but like you already said you need the mount kit, shift linkage, ect. But with the ZC yeah you will have to get diffrent hubs axels that sorta thing but it is alot less of a pain then ZC. Im sorta biased toward the ZC and never done a b16 swap, but let me tell you somthin all these guys here on hondaswap know there stuff. More info on the ZC can be found here: www.thezcr.com there are a few guys there that have some big numbers with there ZC.
[post=500364]Quoted post[/post]​



i had been looking into the zc for a little while, but its a jdm motor and i dont know how readily avalible maintenance parts are for it, like gaskets, timing belt, drive belts and other regular maintenance parts. thats the only factor keeping me from it. i mean,. if its not that hard to find parts for, then i will most definatley start saving for one. what really attracts me to this motor is the fact that i wont need to buy new motor mounts, mine are still in good condition (suprising since the car is so old).

i dont really mind having to switch the ECU cause id eventually end up doing so in converting from dual point injection to the intake manifold port fuel injection. what i am concerend with is the wiring. i am doing the swap myself, this will be my first complete swap (i've dropped 4 motors before, so i have a general idea of how it will work). for the wiring harness, does it replace all the stock wiring or just from the motor to the ECU? i also need to know which ECU is best to use. i dont really know alot about the different ECU's honda makes, but some told me that the p28 is a good one to use, but that dont make any sense to me because the p28 is the integra ecu. and will USDM Civic (any 88-91 civic with a tach) gauges work? sorry if i sound stupid or like a newbie, i just like to know what im getting my self into before i start something.

oh, my car dont have power steering, and i would like keep it that way. are there any ZC/s w/o power steering pumps?
thanks for the help guys......
 
The parts are easy to come by. Hondas are like chevys in the respect that the parts are very interchangeable. Almost all the parts on the zc are interchangeable from usdm d-series motors. Go to this site: dmoore, it has a list of interchangeable parts and what it takes to install the motor.
 
Every replacment part I have bought for my ZC was bought from shuckes or napa. Even the valve cover stud I busted I just went down to the Honda Dealership and bought a new one. Check this link out this is alot of the commin stuff you might replace on a DOHC ZC with Honda part numbers.

http://www.thezcr.com/html/partnums.php

As far as aftermarket parts go there are options on every thing. Sure there arnt 5 companies that make cams but there are companies that make cams. You can retrofit a 92-95? Greddy turbo kit. You can also get an adapter plate for a for a JR Supercharger and put that on your ZC.

Doing the wiring changes isnt all that bad. I did my swap my self, it was my very first one. I did the MPFI-DPFI and Auto to Manual all at the same time. It isnt that bad at all really. Just as long as you take your time and plan things out it goes pretty good. Hope this helps some. Good Luck.
 
when you ordered replacement parts, did you ask for d16a6 parts or did you ask for zc parts?
when you changed the wiring, you had to rewire the whole car, or just from the ecu to the motor?
you guys are a big help, thaks alot really. im going to start saving up now for a zc, if i have anymore questions, i'll be sure to post em. im gonna surf the sites you all gave me before i ask any more tho. thanks guys..........
 
My self the Napa that I went to where more into older cars so I didnt tell them that I needed say integra parts for a CRX cause they just look at you like a dumbass. I would just take the part number in and ask to order that. As for the wiring you just rewire from the ecu to the motor no need to re wire the whole car. But yeah when you go to order new parts dont really go into detail that you have a swap in your car because it confuses most.
 
Wiring isn't too bad, I think you have the old DPFI motor so you will have to wire in a couple of injectors, a resistor box, add some wires for a sensor (crank angle) the new motor has, flip around some wires on the tps, and a few odd and end things. What I did was printed out a diagram of the ecu and wrote down what had to go where and just followed the pinout on the ecu. Just ALWAYS solder your wiring, no splicing, if a splice went bad you would have no idea where it was months from now.

I got most of my parts at napa, autozone and a local junkyard. I went into autozone with a checklist of stuff I needed and just got a pile of stuff. Just go in with a list of what part and what year car it came out of, that should help you.
 
Back
Top