alphalanos

Im thinking of putting a B18C1 in my 96 civic 4dr. Its auto d16y7 with 166,000mi on it. I like it and have done a good amount of work to it. It just needs minor cosmetic work and I would like to increase the power and add life to it. For those of you who have built/rebuilt/swapped your daily cars, how long have you had the car after the swap? Basically I'm trying to decide if this is the right thing to do. Obviously to get my money out of it Ill need to keep it for some amount of time after the swap. I dont want to do the swap then regret it and wish I had just waited to get a newer/different car. If I do the swap its going to be done right with OEM parts where applicable and no shortcuts. Im looking to swap instead of buying a newer car to save some money. And also for the performance benefit, obviously. Swap= ~$3000, newer car= ~8-15k (fit, rsx-s, civic, etc.)

MATiC

i've had a b18c1 swap in my 93 coupe for 3 years now.
the longetivity of the swap depends on the maintenance and the condition of the motor itself prior to the swap. my particular swap was out of a wrecked 4 door gsr with roughly 65k on it.
prior to swapping it in, i had the head cleaned resurfaced and new valve seals put in, block decked, put a fresh head gasket on it, replaced the timing belt and water pump on it as well as misc gaskets.
it's been running like a champ with no problems but then again i never abuse it and perform routine maintenance on schedule.

alphalanos

Thats pretty much what I would do, upon getting the engine I would go through it and replace anything that needs it, check it all out and make sure its healthy. Ive had the car for 5 years, looking to get at least 3-5 more.

MATiC

well as long as you believe in "doing it right the first time," then there's no reason a correctly done and maintained swap shouldn't last u those 3-5 years. i figured at the price i got my swap for (which was dirt cheap after i parted out the wrecked gsr), i could do the maintenance on it and still have paid less than buying the swap off, say, hmotors.

300whpej

my b16 has been in my car for over a year. i dd it, and it has seen plenty of 8k pulls on the track and the streets. i keep the oil changed, plugs/wires changed, and try to find problems before they get major. ive also put about 30k on the motor since ive had it.

confidence

i've been clocking along for 8 years now and not a problem at all

JDMjUnKieKid

i've had my ef 4dr for three years and in the first year i swapped it and its still swapped to this day.

Lasky

been cruisin with a jdm b16 for over 3 years now.. only things ive had to do to it so far besides fluid changes is swap the cam seal out for a pw jdm one and replace the ignition control module.. still running like the day i put it in!

jhbknyc

I've had my swap for 3 months. The key to having longevity in any car swapped or not is preventative maintenance and fixing it right the first time with good quality parts.

NOFX

I don't feel right voting... I've had my swap just under a year and have logged about 40 miles on it so far. We suspect a seized caliper on the driver side rear caused by pads that were way too thick for some reason.

4cfdeg6

My EF had a swap 9 years ago, my EG had a swap 5 years ago, and my EM1 had a swap done 3 years ago. All are boosting and still running with no issues. Do it right the first time and maintain it and you should be good.

98civdx

Not mine, but 2 of my friends cars ( who can't post)

1 has got 3 years of daily driving on his k20a2, runs perfectly to this day, with absolutely no problems.

The other has 4-5 on his B16a. We swapped it our sophomore year of high school, it's still running great. It's needed nothing but regular maintenance work.

that_boy_sammy

A year and plan on more years to come!

SLVRBLLT22

3 years and 15k on my B18c1 motor & tranny. Mild build with type-r internals and Kaaz LSD tuned OBD1 on chrome. Pulled it all apart and used as much OEM as possible during the freshen/rebuild. Runs like a champ everyday. Been my daily driver and see's about 4 roadcourse events a year with no issues. I'm uber **** with maintenance and the motor has been great. Motor was dyno'd at 191/134 to the wheels and is great fun to drive daily. I'd definitely recommend the swap as it will be a great addition to your car and really liven up the car as a daily driver. Best of luck and have fun with the swap.

Libertariat

Just rebuild the GSR with high compression pistons, solid rods, and some good cams

alphalanos

lots of good swap with some time on them in here. looks like ill be going gsr as soon as i can afford it. just need to get the living situation sorted out and find some better paying work to save up more money.

Libertariat

Doh, I read that as you had a b18c1 and were looking for a swap.

drkstrs24

i have a b18b1 in my 93eg8. been driving it for 3 years now. the po that i got it from drove it swapped for 2 years prior to me getting it. i dd it and it runs great. i keep up on the maintenance. the only things i have done are change the cam seal and change the clutch

Tjesto

I have b18cr 96 in my 95 civic coupe dx been driving it for 8+ years now, didn't do anything to it yet. Old school racer here!

94EG8

4 years I think on my D15B vtec in my '94 sedan, it barely qualifies as a swap but i'm still not sorry I did it.

Also have a friend that's been running a JDM GS-R in a '92 Si hatch for about 5 years now, it's always been trouble free, no regrets there either, and it's daily driven/beat on all spring, summer and fall.

WhiteOnRice

I've gotten a few years on my eg swapped. I like it.

Salami

12 years this month. Same car and engine.

4doorteggy

exactly ive had my swap in for about 3 months (b16a) and it runs like a champ but i also spent around 500 dollars in new oem parts and other upgrades before i put it in...patience is key...just do it right the first time and be done with it

94EG8

Btw, coming from someone who has performed several swaps over the years the biggest thing is to make sure you do it once and do it right. The swap you're looking at as I'm sure you're aware bolts in with all OEM honda mounts and looks like it came that way. Because of how it fits perfectly and uses all off the shelf components it's every bit as reliable as a stock civic. So the main thing is to make sure you get a good engine and transmission and make sure you replace any suspect maintance parts before you drop it in, things like the timing belt, cam and crank seals, water pump and thermostat should all be done. Now is also a perfect time for a new clutch.

The other point I want to make is don't neglect the wiring harness like so many people do. People seem to make out that it's hard to make up a nice factory looking modified engine harness for a swap, it's not. Use the proper pins at the ECU, run the wires inside the factor loom for a clean OEM look, use heatshrink and solder for any splices and you shouldn't have any future wiring issues to deal with.

momonimill

i have a 95 civic sedan with a gsr swap and iv had it since jan. so far so good except for a few things iv ran across