steronz

i just picked up a complete d16y8 longblock that i plan to rebuild as a learning experience. i want to keep costs in mind, but i'd also like to see maybe 130-140 whp all motor out of it. it'll be going in an EF civic with a 90-91 civic si cable tranny, and most likely converted to obd-1. here's what i'm thinking:

block, crank, rods, head - stock y8
pistons - a6
head gasket - 2 layer y8
cam - ???

i'm really having trouble wading through the search results trying to find a decent cheap cam that's good for all motor with a stock valvetrain. does anyone have any suggestions?

also, will the crank and rods be ok? is there anything better you all can suggest? the compression calculator shows that this setup will yield about 10.6:1, but i'd be comfortable with about 11:1... i just couldn't find any pistons that would get me close to that number, even with super thick a6 head gasket. it seems like 10.6:1 is the highest you can go with OEM pistons before hitting 13:1 with the a1/zc pistons.

jlacoy82

Do the a6 pistons, and when the head is pulled, have someone mill .010 or .020 off and have them clean up the intake runners as well while they have it. Just a simple deck and cleanup could be found for fairly cheap, would help bump your CR and also help flow a bit better with the cleaned up ports.

I'm building my y8 N/A style too, for the learning experience as well. However mine is a daily driver which I plan on keeping awhile, so I'm doing it correctly so it will remain as reliable as possible, and I will tell you right now........building a D n/a is NOT cheap. It probably wont even yeild me incredibly impressive HP numbers, but thats fine with me. Granted I'm shooting for 150+ on stock bottom end, but thats to be seen.

I'm doing it for the mechanical experience mostly. Spending 3-4K now and having the tools and knowledge to completely tear down and rebuild a motor/any part on my car will surely pay for itself time and time again later on in life when not having to pay a mechanic to change out your shocks or replace a HG for you.

DIY'er!

steronz

i was hoping to get away with doing my own port work and not having the head milled, but we'll see how it looks when i rip it apart. my goal is to have the whole thing cost under $1000, and i've already spent $100 on the long block, $100 for the rebuilt tranny, and $150 for an exedy full face organic clutch, so i've got to get some deals on the rest of the stuff if. thanks for the advice, though.

RedDC5

im not too deep into building my D series yet, but i can vouch for homeboy when he says that building a D N/a is a bitch on the wallet. I can say that the setup your looking at seems to be very reliable and those numbers you want to achieve are in reach. I was actually wondering if one of yall knew how much it would be to get the head milled and runners cleaned? im looking into doing that myself. Also, do yall have any advice, im kinda new at this.

steronz

bump for some cam suggestions.

sinister6

guysm im thinking about the same, to build a D to 150ish whp..
now im in a point of giving up..

for cam question, exo is pretty good..

steronz

cool... bump one more time for some more input?

RedEK

i personally for my y8 am going with the zex stg.2 cam

RedDC5

how much do you expect to gain with this cam and how much does it cost? Sorry, im a bit inquistive about D motor upgrades.