94 Civic Si

My Civic got pasted by a Jeep last November, and now I should be able to spend a little time to get her back on the road.

I got my Si back in '97 and love it. The clutch started slipping @ ~140k miles back in 2002, and I had been reading up on the B18C1 swap, so I went for it.

Now she has ~266k on her, and I can tell the B18 is feeling tired, and the exhaust smells a little bit.

Funds are limited - I set the goal of completing the re-fresh with only the funds from the accident, but I think I can do it!

In my mind, the re-fresh has 3 components:
1) Basic engine rebuild. I intend to pull the head and send it out to the machine shop for surfacing and valve job. I will also tap out the rods and throw new pistons and rings on them.
2) Replace front end sheet metal - hood, both fenders, bumper skin. I think I will need to play with the radiator cross-member as well to get hood latch in proper location, hard to tell with mangled hood.
3) Replace passenger side knuckle as alignment shop can no longer get camber set on pass side after the accident.

Here is the fun picture of what happened:

94 Civic Si

For the basic engine rebuild, I was going to purchase OEM pistons, rings, timing belt, water pump and tensioner.

First (of many) question, it looks like I need to order many gaskets separately for this rebuild. Does anyone have a part number list of all the Honda gaskets required?
I think I need to order the following:

-Head gasket
-Cylinder head ("head cover") kit
-VTEC solenoid gaskets
-Intake manifold
-Exhaust manifold
-Water pump gasket (may be included with pump?)
-Oil pan gasket

What am I missing? Do I need distributor gasket(s)?

Thank you!

94 Civic Si

Doesn't look like too many are interested in this topic, but I will go ahead and post up as I go through the project if it can help anyone else.

I plan on running a compression test before I tear the engine down, as it seems low on power these days.

My plates expire this month, so I had to take it in for an emissions test, and she passed with flying colors:

HC - 0.2569/1.2000
CO - 3.2713/15.0000
CO2 - 272.1080
NOx - 0.5636/3.0000

eHMxhACk

iTrader: (17)

If you want OEM, I recommend Acura Parts | OEM Acura Parts | Factory Acura Parts

Choose a GSR year between 94-01 and start ordering parts.





eH.

eghatch9295

iTrader: (1)

your gasket kit did not include seals, cam crank, front main, etc. replace them. axle seals as well.

deschlong

iTrader: (8)

Wow, what part of the Jeep hit you?

94 Civic Si

Axle seals in the tranny? Thanks!

94 Civic Si

And just to confirm, there are no kits, you have to order all these pieces individually?

94 Civic Si

His lower control arm mount (on the bottom of the axle) sliced the hood. It was messed up as well, his front axle was no longer pointing straight forward...

94 Civic Si

Creeping ever so slowly towards this project.

It looks like to remove crank pulley, the driver side wheel/tire needs to come off, so I cannot use ramps. Is the best place to position jack stands where the lower control arms insert into the bushings?

94 Civic Si

Also, when I got the swap done, the shop that did this said they had to replace the distributor, and all I remember about the conversation is that they used a dizzy with a smaller cap, as it was more readily available, and less expensive.

Any reason to seek out the GSR dizzy my engine used to have?

What is the best place to get a distributor? Is there a reputable rebuilder in the community?

Thanks!

Matt_EH3

Is your car running OBDII or OBDI?

That will make a difference on which distributor you will need. I was in a hurry to get my car running when I got mine (after swapping) and bought a brand new one from the parts store and they cost a pretty penny, so just changing the cap and rotor yourself would probably be a better option.

By the way, how can you tell if your car is "tired". Have you had the car dyno'ed or had a compression and leakdown test? Just to be sure you spend your time and hard earned money on useful stuff...

Good luck on the car refresh.

94 Civic Si

Ah, good question! I believe I am OBDI, as body is a '94. Engine is from a '96, so I think swap shop converted connectors.

And very good point on compression test. I need to do this.

I can change the cap and rotor in my existing distributor, but I am curious, if my current dizzy is say from a LX, would there be any performance benefit to getting a GSR dizzy?

94 Civic Si

Adding TomCat's guidance from thread here: https://honda-tech.com/honda-civic-d...-ring-3279534/

TomCat39

Just did a quick read through your post.

May have missed replies already saying these things but here they are again anyway.

Gasket kit... You can tend to find these kits on ebay, they are not OEM but it is typically how to get the majority of gaskets you need in one shot and cheaper. Sometimes cheaper quality too though.

Pulley and supporting the car... The jack stand goes to the car's jacking point which is the metal plate right behind the front wheel well. That is one of 7 jacking points on the car. And actually the tow hook on the rear of the car I am not sure is considered a jacking point but I have used it once in awhile (very rarely) so there may only be 6 official jacking points, 2 up front and 2 on each side.

In reality you should have two factory service manuals you are looking through. One is the 92-95 civic manual or the specific 94 civic si helms manual if you go and buy it from helmsinc.com then the second manual would be for the 94-01 acura integra gsr someone else mentioned. That one is for the motor.

In both manuals you will be able to get all the information you need for specs, jacking points, etc etc.

It won't help you with the body work though, that is the body manual from helmsinc.com for the 94 civic. It's one manual I've not ogled yet but just may get someday for my cars.

Best of luck.

94 Civic Si

What is the spec for compression test?

94 Civic Si

Thank you TomCat, can you elaborate on the jacking points? I have used the rear tow hook, and the area on the front radiator crossmember. I am with you on the 2 jacking points per side, but what are the 2 up front?

Are there any links to Helms manuals here in the forum?

Thank you,

94 Civic Si

Now I think I remember the shop saying they used an older distributor from a '94 B18 on my '96 engine, as they said these are less expensive. Does this make sense? OBD1 dizzy into an OBD2 B18C1? Any problems with continuing to do this?

I had one distributor fail back in the day, still have it. Does anyone rebuild these?

94 Civic Si

I also need to figure out what hoses to buy for replacement of old hoses.

My car has radiator for a Del Sol VTEC in it, so it fits the Civic body, but has the larger openings. Last time I replaced the radiator hoses, the Del Sol VTEC hoses were not the correct application for top or bottom.

Am I correct that all the hoses on the block should be good ordering for '96 GSR?

Heater hoses - order for a '94-'97 Del Sol VTEC?

Thanks for your help!

TomCat39

You have two plates on the front, one to the left and one to the right. Two metal plates with a hole in it sticking down. I use that to jack up the front all the time to put my jack stand on the side.

Here is a pic of mine on the passenger side from a 95 civic hatch:




And yes, I believe you have the B16A2 motor so need B-series radiator hoses as the B-series is a touch larger.

94EG8

Not really, all the components inside the distributor at the same. Actually all the electronics inside are the same between B and D series, even OBD1 and OBD2 are the same internally, the only thing that changed was the connector(s).

If there's nothing actually wrong with I'd leave it alone. The aftermarket units aren't much good. If you really need one you can buy the housing which comes with the bearing and the CKP/CYP/TDC sensors from Honda.

Thanks![/QUOTE]

94 Civic Si

Thanks TomCat - gratitude.

I am running a B18C1 in my '94 Si. I know the last time I went to replace radiator hoses the Del Sol VTEC rad hoses did not work for both top and bottom. I think I took notes on this, so I will check.

Do you know what heater hoses work for B18/EG? I want to replace while I have intake off and head out...

94 Civic Si

Thank you! I have one dizzy that is completely dead, so I was wondering about getting that rebuilt so I have a spare on the shelf. If there are no rebuilders, I can dig in and troubleshoot components. Any favorite threads on troubleshooting these when they fail?

94 Civic Si

Also, some questions about shifters... With the B swap, my shifter moved forward a noticeable amount. I have always wanted to shorten it up a touch to bring it back to stock placement for the Si. Has anyone done so? Favorite place to take out the extra length?

I think the angle the shifter is at with the extra length causes rattles in 3rd and 5th. No rattles in 4th.

I looked up some threads on this and it sounds like folks prefer I start a new thread. Other forums I frequent often chastise the newb for starting a new thread when they should have searched, the thinking being that the information had already been put out. I will accommodate the New Thread preference here though.

TomCat39

Your thread here is fine actually. Your title is a generic title for your specific car. Refresh, can be anything from rebuilding, to replacing to troubleshooting for fixing etc. You can post just about any problem with your car in your thread here.

The reason for new threads instead of bumping really old threads is that every car is different. What applied in the old thread may not be your same situation, especially as easy as it is to swap and modify Honda's.

You simply reference the threads/posts you found and then ask in your thread clarifying questions as it applies to your vehicle.

Hope that makes sense and is helpful to you.