Need some sort of Direction With My Civic

[Coxinator]

Hello there!

I recently just purchased a 95 Civic DX 2dr coupe from my older brother for the price the junkyard would have given him for scrapping it... Has a blown motor, since this is my first honda, and first car for that matter, i was wondering what type of motor would be nice to put in it... also, where to get a decent engine with ecu, if necessary, hopefully with decent mileage as well. but yeah, where should i start with this POS? lol... im fairly positive it doesnt have vtec so i would need a new ecu most likely... but please help me out with some info here guys!!!

 

[ekcoope]

If u want a direct drop in get a d16y8 out an ex and just wire vtec or get a b series but that will be more expensive search swaps

 

[Coxinator]

as i said i am new to hondas so i would need a place to start searching, if you have any suggestions, please share.

 

[mal2000si]

To be honest with you man, YouTube and google are your friends. I learned a lot about swaps and whatnot there and that's how I decided that I wanted a b swapped car. Depends all on your income, your power goals, if your looking for direct bolt in, looking to spend a little extra cash for something more rare, gas mileage ect.

This is a great forum to browse through though to find reliable information!

 

[Coxinator]

preferrably would like a direct bolt in... i am definitely on a very very strict budget... so easiest/cheapest swap that could possibly happen quickest... then i can work and save money to eventually get a something a little more "rare" as you said.

 

[emerican]

easiest cheapest swap that would go in is the stock motor.
However since its a dx then its a very low hp non vtec motor
D16y8 or z6 are the ex motors and will be a little bit more expensive but a much better platofrm then stock motor. With these you will need ecu to engage vtec.
B series is gonna run you prolly around 2 grand and will take alot more mechanical knowledge as alot more has to be changed out. If you are on a really strict budget either swap in the y8 or z6 or do a mini me swap on it.
mini me= The stock motor that should goes in there bottom end and a vtec head off a y8 or z6 still an upgrade over stock you will have vtec etc the possibties are endless just dpends on what you wanna do with it

 

[Coxinator]

so a d16 will fit in there with no new motor mounts? id just need an ecu it has a 5spd tranny right now, would i need a new one or no?

 

[barrett]

hondaswap.com is a great website i used for researching my swap.

i may have gotten a killer deal, but a b swap for 2 grand? maybe little high. i got mine for lots less.

the difficulty of the swap depends on what exactly you want, how much you wanna spend, and how much time you have. I've never done a swap before in my life and a b18b1 to replace my d16z6 has been a piece of cake.

 

[Coxinator]

i want to keep it as cheap as possible... i know a guy that will put the motor in for me... but i want to keep it as simple as possible.. with buying the least amount of parts... as i said its a 95 DX 5spd.. looking for something to just throw right in there and go... ecu is cool too, id like to get a vtec, so a d16 i suppose.. dont have money for a b right now

 

[barrett]

yep then a D with vtec is the way to go for you bud.

 

[antie22]

yep then a D with vtec is the way to go for you bud.

x2

 

[jsanders85]

I have the same motor in my Del Sol as you do in your DX Civic. First off, what is "blown" on your motor? Depending on what is wrong with your current d15b7 things can be had for a lot cheaper. If it's your head, then I would do a mini-me swap for sure. You can get everything you need for a lot cheaper than a motor swap, you would need the following:

d16z6 head $100
d16z6 dizzy $90
d16z6 VTEC solenoid $60
d16z6 intake manifold $50
d16z6 throttle body $40
p28 ECU $100
d16y8 3 layer head gasket $30

And if needed:

VTEC solenoid gasket $15
Intake manifold gasket $15

Total: $500

I priced everything on the higher side, if you look around you can get everything I listed above a lot cheaper. Or maybe go to a junk yard and pick up everything off of a wrecked car for dirt cheap. I was able to pick up everything listed above from a friend for $200. It's all about searching around on ebay, craigslist, and car related forums with classifieds.

Also the reason I listed the d16y8 head gasket is because one they are cheaper than the z6 head gasket, and two you can remove the center layer to make it a 2 layer. I like the "mini-me" swap over a complete motor swap because you will go from a 9.2:1 compression ratio with your stock d15b7 to 10.55:1 with the swap I listed above. Of course that means you will have to run higher than 87 octane fuel or else you risk detonation. But where as a stock z6/y8 is around 125hp with a proper mini-me swap your looking at over 130hp because of the higher compression.

And not to confuse you, you can get a y8 top end. You will just have to convert your OBD1 distributor connection to an OBD2 connection. Which is not that hard at all, and you will then have a newer motor, and the y8 on a b7 will give you 11:1 compression ratio which is not going to be noticeable from the .05 difference with the z6 head.

After you do the mini-me swap if you go that way I would start looking for an EX/Si transmission you can identify one of these as being an s20 B000 from the 92-95 Si/EX Civic or the s40 B000 from the 96-00 EX Civics. These transmissions are a bit stronger than the A000 versions, and they have shorter gears which will help you accelerate quicker. It's a great upgrade to do on our cars, and will be a huge improvement if doing a mini-me swap.

Also it would be a good idea while doing your mini-me swap to upgrade your exhaust manifold to a header, and your stock exhaust to a 2.25"-2.50" mandrel bent exhaust system. Throw in a K&N filter in your stock induction system and you should be pretty close to the 140hp range on that setup. And if you chip/socket your p28 ECU and find a hell of a tuner for CROME or Hondata I would not be surprised if you could reach over 140hp on this setup.

If I'm wrong about anything I've said please correct me so I'm not giving this young fellow false information. Thanks.

 

[CustomCreations]

Hey Hondas are fun as far as I know if you take it off this honda you can put it on that honda, if you cant somebody found a way to. If your looking for power definatly a H swap or B swap. Personally I love the B18c1 engine plenty of power and a good engine to hold boost. But if your like alot including myself money is tight and I would look for a D series engine to do a direct bolt up. If you want to build the D series engine their not bad, thats what im rolling with. Definatly not the best but mine is pretty much stock and it holds its own on v6 engines. lol gotta give honda props

 

[dj_hallucn8]

Sounds good so far, I would do a D series with a y8 head & get an ecu that works with v-tec, need to see how bad your current engine is, may just need a head job, how many miles are on it?

 

[CustomCreations]

Yea for sure agree... before buying a new engine check and see if your current one is salvageable and try and fix it before you put the money into buying a new one. And like dj_hallucn8 said... it could be as simple as a head job you never know.

 

[Coxinator]

thank you all! you've all been a huge help... i will get the car looked at once i bring it to my house... is currently still sitting in my brothers driveway. lol. but once i get it to my house ill have someone look at it and help me out... and hopefully i can just do a mini me swap like jsanders said.. thats the exact type of answer i was looking for man.... thanks a lot.... i knew if i came to a forum like this someone would eventually give me a legit answer..

 

[emerican]

hondaswap.com is a great website i used for researching my swap.

i may have gotten a killer deal, but a b swap for 2 grand? maybe little high. i got mine for lots less.

the difficulty of the swap depends on what exactly you want, how much you wanna spend, and how much time you have. I've never done a swap before in my life and a b18b1 to replace my d16z6 has been a piece of cake.

i got my buddies for alot cheaper onmly reason i said 2k is cause depedning on condition of the motor what all maitnece and regular replacment things will have to be done to it.
I got my buddy a b16 with a few mods for 800 bucks of cl low miles and dropped in perfect.
found another b series for another friend gsr motor for cheap, but guy lied about the miles and a ton of maitence had to be done on the motor. So it all depends

 

[jsanders85]

thank you all! you've all been a huge help... i will get the car looked at once i bring it to my house... is currently still sitting in my brothers driveway. lol. but once i get it to my house ill have someone look at it and help me out... and hopefully i can just do a mini me swap like jsanders said.. thats the exact type of answer i was looking for man.... thanks a lot.... i knew if i came to a forum like this someone would eventually give me a legit answer..

No problem I'm glad to of been able to answer your questions the way you wanted them answered. But I would still do your own research on websites such as:

www.d-series.org
www.honda-tech.com
www.hondaswap.com

Those are some good sites to start off with when doing your research. I was going to do a mini-me swap but I did a compression test on my b7 today, only to find out that my rings are fried. So I'm doing a full z6 swap now which in the end will yield better results over the mini-me swap. After I build it a little bit and get it tuned.