Bimmermonkey

Hi guys,

New poster with very little Honda knowledge. Mostly a mid 80's BMW guy. Bear with a lengthy post. I'm looking for advice on where to go with this fun little car.

I bought a 94 Del Sol a few years ago because I liked the look and heard about the great mileage. I didn't realize that the previous owner had swapped in a B18A1. I never got anywhere near the mileage that I expected. The transmission made a bit of a clunk going into 4th, but other than that things were pretty good.

So it was my daily driver for a couple of years and then had a bit of a meltdown. Long story short - the transmission falls out of several gears and still clunks into 4th. The engine was throwing an error code and upon investigation, we found out that I'm only running on 2 cylinders. (Probably why I got **** mileage)

I would like to fix the car and sell it. Probably after having a few fun weeks in it.

After looking for inexpensive swap options, it seems like the mini me is an affordable way to go, but I am uncertain if I will need more parts than the "D15 SOHC VTEC Mini-Me : Massive Write-Up" lists because of the previous (B18A1) swap?
Axles different, engine mounts etc.?

I have found a local mini me on craigslist, but no transmission etc. I would love to find someone in the twin cities area to talk about good places for parts, advice, help etc. to try and accomplish this without spending much. I don't want to throw $1000 at this to turn around and sell the car for $1800 ya know?

So
1. Do you think that going forward with a mini me is probably the cheapest way to get this back on the road?
2. If not, what would you recommend?
3. If so, what additional stuff will i need that the D15 SOHC VTEC Mini-Me : Massive Write-Up doesn't list/assumes I have?
4. Anybody in the Minneapolis area willing to be my Honda guide?

Thanks in advance for helpful advice,
Eric

Texas4door

A B18A1 isn't that bad of a motor. In fact, if it's from a 92-93 Integra, it actually makes a much HP and TQ as a B18B1 from a newer Integra, so you've got a good base to build on here.
Before you swap anything, there are a few questions to answer:

Do you want to get good gas mileage or HP?
Because a B18A1 is capable of both, though not as good MPG as a D15 (the tradeoff is more more TQ and more HP)
The other thing to consider is that D15's are getting hella hard to find in good working condition, and therefore command a premium price.
What I'm getting at here is that you might be better off figuring out why your motor is only running on two cylinders instead of all four.
Most likely much cheaper than hunting down a D15 because then you'll have to find an ECU, wiring, transmission, etc.

SO, my suggestion:
Figure out why the motor is only running on two cylinders; could be bad spark plugs, burned points in the distributor cap, bad wires, or bad fuel injectors/fuel injector wiring, or ECU issue.
Hell, even if the rings are fried in the unworking pistons, those are still likely cheaper to fix than finding a D15

Pull the trans and replace the broken parts.
Manual transmissions Hondas are a relative cakewalk, especially compared to the BMW's you're used to ^^

SO....in closing
If you can, keep the motor you have-it's a damn good one and a good base to build on if you decide to go turbo or something else down the road and will take a HELL of a lot more than a D15 can.

Hope this helps.
And we can help you troubleshoot the motor from here as best as we can as well, starting with: what was the code being thrown?
Cylinder Misfire, most likely?
^^

Red_Army

i'll take your engine off your hands if you go through with this. im in the twin cities surrounding area.
if you want if you fix the engine(just that i have a trans so you can sell yours seperately) i'll give you a d16z6 195k from a cali car(things spotless). i can go into better detail in PM's.

if not i'll still help you get done what needs doing.

honda auto motive parts.com for OEM parts. little spendy but totally worth it.

as for what to do. if you think you'd like the b18 then keep it and fix it shouldn't be TOO hard.
if you want a different motor a straight d16z6/y8/y7 whatever should only be like 700 bucks if you can install it yourself which can be done in a couple days on your own or a few hours with help.

Bimmermonkey

Bimmermonkey

Hey Red
Maybe I could trade you the B18 for a D series tranny that would fit? Or maybe give it to you for help with the removal and install if the mini me swap moves forward?

Do you know if I can use the same axles that I have now? Are the bolt patterns, length etc the same from a B series as a D series?

Red_Army

check your PM's i'll continue this in there just for safety's sake.