1982 civic swap. help!
 

Hi my name is Josh and I have a 1982 Honda civic with a 1.5. The car runs great and I love this car but it just doesn't have the power that most people need to go up a hill. I travel a lot in this car because of its great reliability and great MPG. Now I'm wanting to swap the engine and transmission because they are getting to be on the last legs. I don't know what will fit and I can't seem to find anything about it. I've seen b18b threads but they all seem so mix matched some say extreme mods others say minimal. Anyways I just need help to know what will fit without extreme modifications to axles or firewall. Thanks for all your help.
Josh.

Re: 1982 civic swap. help!
 

Do you have a stock carb?

Re: 1982 civic swap. help!
 

Yes I have a stock carb. The whole car is bone stock right now.

Re: 1982 civic swap. help!
 

Easiest and cheapest swap for you if your just looking to keep good mpg but add a bit of power would be a D16z6/y8 single cam VTEC and a D series Ex/SI trans (S1 etc.) a single cam VTEC will offer nearly double the power of your current engine, and the gearing of the ex/SI tranny will make acceleration worlds better. In an early 80s chassis like yours it would be a cool little beater. Also you could score a well maintained full swap for under a grand. Engine, trans, harness, ecu, etc. And the install would not be super intense.

Re: 1982 civic swap. help!
 

Honestly, I think you'd benefit the most from maybe refreshing your stock engine and installing a Weber 32/36DGEV carburetor. It removes the emissions equipment, all the vacuum line mess under the hood, is more reliable, gives better fuel economy if you stay out of the pedal, more power if you get in the pedal, and the cold start and throttle response are so much better you'll wonder why you didn't do it sooner.

The only thing with swapping engines in these cars is, you can't just buy stuff to make it work, there is a certain level of fabrication involved. Some people will agree and some won't, but those are great engines. It really takes away from the driving experience with these cars when you drop in a newer fuel injected setup IMO.

Re: 1982 civic swap. help!
 

Thank you for the reply. where do you recommend I look for the engine and trans? EBay? I don't know anything about the jdm engine depot place and was curious if that is a good place to look. But thanks again I really appreciate it.

Re: 1982 civic swap. help!
 

I had thought about doing that but decided not to because the engine or trans hasn't had the best care in the past years and is starting to go.
I Don't plan on getting rid of my engine after the swap so I may rebuild it and throw a Weber on it.
Thank you for your reply.

Re: 1982 civic swap. help!
 

If you want to get really simple, the 1.8L EK1, out of an 80s Accord/Prelude will practically bolt right in.

Re: 1982 civic swap. help!
 

Www.Hmotorsonline.com is where we usually get our swaps from. They don't have as huge of an inventory as JDM depot but they have never let me down and have always sent me exactly what was described and paid for. I have personally known people over the years to use JDM engine depot with good success as well as JDMShit.com, but have never personally dealt with them. To save yourself shipping costs though, check your local junkyard first. Single cam D series are very plentiful and usually parts and whole drivetrains are easy to find.

Re: 1982 civic swap. help!
 

Also to give you an idea of potential, my first build in the Honda world back in the day was a D16Z6 and for about $900 including the price of the engine itself I made just under 160whp and like 118tq with a very simple Mostly OEM Honda parts setup. That would move your car very nicely and still pull 35mpg or more when you stay off the throttle.

Re: 1982 civic swap. help!
 

Wow. That's awesome. 160Hp sounds like a lot of fun in my little beater. I'll be looking into that website as well as the junkyard. Thanks again for your help. You have saved me a lot of research time. And thanks to everyone else who posted byouve given me great idea's.

Re: 1982 civic swap. help!
 

Yessir, my D16 single cam build made equal hp and more useable TQ than almost every similarly modified B16 I have seen and was very simple. I averaged 33mpg and broke 14s in the 1/4 in a stock chassis EJ, which is a heftier ride than your body for sure. It was a d16z6 block, Rods, and crank, P29
(89 Integra) stock Pistons, stock d16y8 head and intake manifold, Zex cam, AEM cold air, DC header, 2.5" mandrel exhaust, Hondata S100 tuned. As you can see nothing outrageous as far as the build goes, and it was all very inexpensive. Also I believe swapping to a D16 would be more simple than getting a DOHC into the bay of your 82 as well, not to mention less than half the cost.

Re: 1982 civic swap. help!
 

Even if you just drop in a bone stock D16 and S1 trans it would still feel amazingly more powerful than your current dricetrain. With basic bolt ons and a tune you could still see 130ish HP without ever opening the engine, and that would still effectively double your current power output while offering 50 more lb/ft of TQ to get up those hills you mentioned etc, and if you chose to build for more power later, you always have the option as there are a lot more performance options for a fuel injected setup than your current platform.

Re: 1982 civic swap. help!
 

That sounds like what I want to do and later on down the road do some more work to the engine. Like I said I like to travel a lot and with that setup I would have no problems getting over hills. A thanks again b20villian. I never expect such a fast and knowledgable reply and thank you for your patience. Hopefully someday I can help someone out like you have me.

Re: 1982 civic swap. help!
 

Absolutely..... Even stock a single cam VTEC will feel like you have two of your old carb'd 1.5s and the EX/Si D series trans have decent ratios that will definately make it fun in that early 80s Civic. Plus you have the option of having a real LSD differential with the S1 trans as well which will help in certain weather conditions and up windy inclines etc. There are a lot of options. Good luck with the swap!

Re: 1982 civic swap. help!
 

Just out of curiosity how hard will it be to get that d series to bolt into my civic..

Re: 1982 civic swap. help!
 

It will be easier than doing a B series DOHC swap. You shouldn't have to cut or modify anything, just need a set of correct engine mounts and then your complete D series swap (I.e. Engine with all accessories, trans with all components like axles, clutch, flywheel, shifter assembly etc, wiring harness and ecu etc.) can probably reuse your current radiator, but If its old and banged up might as well grab the rad and fan setup from an EJ or whatever. Will be dirt cheap and depending where you source your parts a lot of yards would throw something like that on top of everything else for free. After you get all your parts together, sit down with a Chiltons/Haynes manual or equivalent and familiarize yourself with it as you did assemble the old drivetrain and remove. The install will essentially be this same process in reverse, save for a few differences but no insanely wild fabrication or custom work is necessary and it will be pretty straightforward.

Re: 1982 civic swap. help!
 

Basically if your capable of removing and replacing an engine and transmission in the Vehicle in general, than you are capable to do this swap. Especially since your just going stock, you don't have to open the engine at all, your just going be bolting her in and making all of the connections. Also definately Make sure whatever engine you buy is from a reputable supplier or do a compression test and leak down test yourself if your buying one from local seller/classifieds. And another common sense kinda thing, but in addition to all the parts listed above you will obviously need the basics too such as all new fluids (oil, coolant, etc.) new filters (oil, air, fuel etc) belts for accessories and timing belt and it is also advisable to put in a new water pump at time of swap as well so you don't have to worry about it later. I would also buy new spark plugs and wires for the new engine as well, again not a dire necessity, but I just always like to do some maintenance ahead of time while a new engine is easily accessible out of the car to save time and potential headaches down the road.

Re: 1982 civic swap. help!
 

you will need, axles, shift linkage,custom motor mounts,custom wiring, fuel pump, new fuel lines. and thats about it.

Re: 1982 civic swap. help!
 

would you need to get different hubs or would the d16 axles work