'97 EX Motor build: Y7 & Y8

[Mmo]

Hey guys so I'm building a engine with a stock rebuild. A little backstory so I was given. 1997 EX coupe with cracked block. Took the engine apart and found the crack. Could not find a y8 short block but was able to find 3 y7s for $100. So one of the 3 y7 blocks threw a rod so it's junk. One of the blocks was bare no crank rods or anything. The other one was complete with head. I will use the head on another build. So I dropped off the 2 good y7 blocks at my machinist and told him to inspect them and pick the best one to use for the build. Now I've googled and from what I've read the casting the same but the y8 and y7 have different pistons. I'm going to replace the pistons with y8 .30 oversize. I'm also most likely going to use the y7 bottom end assembly unless there's a reason not to. But what I couldn't find a definitive answer on is if the rods are the same? Can I put y8 pistons on a y7 rod? Also read that the y8 had better oil system is that true? I've tried reading up on this but everybody says something different. Any links or FAQ sheets would be appreciated. I will try to post pics with build status and updates. In the meantime here are some teaser pics.

 

[saquon]

Hey guys so I'm building a engine with a stock rebuild. A little backstory so I was given. 1997 EX coupe with cracked block. Took the engine apart and found the crack. Could not find a y8 short block but was able to find 3 y7s for $100. So one of the 3 y7 blocks threw a rod so it's junk. One of the blocks was bare no crank rods or anything. The other one was complete with head. I will use the head on another build. So I dropped off the 2 good y7 blocks at my machinist and told him to inspect them and pick the best one to use for the build. Now I've googled and from what I've read the casting the same but the y8 and y7 have different pistons. I'm going to replace the pistons with y8 .30 oversize. I'm also most likely going to use the y7 bottom end assembly unless there's a reason not to. But what I couldn't find a definitive answer on is if the rods are the same? Can I put y8 pistons on a y7 rod? Also read that the y8 had better oil system is that true? I've tried reading up on this but everybody says something different. Any links or FAQ sheets would be appreciated. I will try to post pics with build status and updates. In the meantime here are some teaser pics.

Yeah the y8 has a better oil system cause it has vtec I had a y8 in mine and it blew and it hard to find a good y8 block so I went with a full y7 with a z6 trans but being that there both "D16" I think they have the same pistons what you do is use the y7 block y7 Cam and cam gear put the y8 head on so you can have y7 with vtec

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[MotorMo]

Y7 camshaft wont fit into a Y8 head- VTEC vs non VTEC.
D16y7 short block with a D16y8 head is a straight forward swap. Not sure about the strength of the rods ( If at all different ), but due to similar horse power and red line, I would assume reusing the rods is a safe bet.
Dont forget to install the knock sensor from the y8 into the y7.