Halive

Hello, I have a 97 civic ex with just the basic bolt ons(aem cai and pulleys, dc sport 4-1 header, thermal r&d cat back exhaust, 3 dc sport strut bars and springs). I would really like to avoid doing a engine swap. If I ended up doing a swap what parts installed on my car can I have work with a new engine? I may put some fi on in the future(like a year or something) but for right now I would just like to beef up my performance a bit. Can you tell me what my next couple of steps with my engine should be and a reasonable cost that they should cost. I have about 4000 to play with. I was thinking cams& gear(I already have a aem cam gear but am waiting till I get a shaft to put it on), valve springs, bigger throttle body with ported intake manifold, and Iam kinda lost from their. How much powr can I expect with the 4000 I have to spend. If you would insist on a motor swap what motor and what do you think it would cost. Thanks for all of your help!

Troy Halverson

Halive

I should also say Iam looking for about 200 hp at wheels and I need to keep it smog legal(I live in wisconsin). Another quick question is where is a good shop around my area(Ill drive to Minn, Mich, or Ill if I have to) Thanks for the help

DragII

turbocharge it.

Kamin

well heres my opinion
you can turbo it and get about 200whp.
if you want to spend more money heres what id do
b16a2 (civic si motor, 160hp)
turbo that.
the b16 will run about 2500-3000 for full swap
and a turbo can run 2500-4000 (the drag3 is 3200 at importparts right now)depending on what you want or where you look. but with that setup youll get closer to 300whp
if you dont want to swap at all, definatley just go for turbo. youll easially get 200+ whp


[Modified by KAMiN, 1:18 AM 9/19/2001]

3.3.3

a b16 swao dropped in would cost ya $2400 (hydro)...you still have a nice amount left over for bolt ons etc. b is the way to go.

Halive

I am not saying your prices are wrong but why the hell is the price for that swap so frigging expensive by me. Its almost 4 grand. I think I might just end up going with the swap. If I do the swap to the b16a motor and wanted to go all motor what could I do to reach my 200 hp at wheels goal. Also I have never ridden in a car that has swapped engines but I have heard from a couple friends that after swapping the engine the car runns really rough even though their is alot more power. One last question. Lets say I get the swap for around 2500 and have 1500 left. What mods should I then do? Opps one more can I have my aem cai modded to fit my b16a. Thanks for the help

Troy Halverson

Halive

Jeez sorry but one more question. I live in wisconsin and the only import shops that I know of are basically i/h/e shops. Do you guys know of any good shops in wis, ill, mich, or minn. Thanks again

DragII

I'd go turbo for now...save up for the b16 later,

Ok I'm just saying that because it's what I did

the MOST important question you need to answer is
what are your performance goals.

Once you have figured that out, ask us how to get there.

Halive

I stated some of my goals above. I want about 200 hp(wouldnt mind a tade more), be smog legal, and run like a mid 13 second 1/4

Halive

I have been told that somewhere lower 200s will get me in the 13s

maxim

if your goal is 200hp, just get a turbo kit for it. It's not hard to get that figure out of a good turbo kit like Drag or F-max. Might be cheaper for you too, depending on how far you want to go of course.

maxim

sorry, I just reread your second post...I guess Drag and F-max is out of the question unless you know somebody that will pass it for you, that's what I plan on doing when I get mine. Otherwise, you could go for a Greddy kit, but I don't think you will be able to get that figure. And a 13ish 1/4 mile is going to require you to strip the car down if your only goal is 200hp or a little more, in other words I don't think you can do it.

Halive

Well if I swapped in the b16 and then put a turbo kit on it like suggested eariler in the post by someone do you think then I might be able to hit a 13 without stripping my car down. I mean I want at least 200 hp but if it ends up being more and still being street leagal hey all for the better. Well thanks for the help.

Kamin

dude if you swap with a b16 and throw a turbo on it omg youll run low 13's
and as for bolt ons for the b16 if you decide to go NA instead of turbo (wll be cheaper)
id grab type r intake manifold (im 99% sure it fits), jun stage 3 cams, intake headers and exhaust it will push over 200whp.

VTC_CiViC

Well which is more important to you, whp or performance? I mean whp is nice but.. when you get your *** kicked up and down the track, who cares about whp right? Your D16 puts about about 107-108whp in stock trim, a B16 about 134-135whp also stock, so the difference isn't nearly as drastic as you may think. It's not untill you start modding the B16 that you tap it's potential. Either way, if you wanna keep a budget, throw N/A out the window. You can see 200whp from a B16 or even a D16, but the amount it will cost you will be MUCH larger than if you go Turbo. A good kit (Rev-Hard, F-Max, DRAG) on your D16 will push you to 200whp easily, but you won't be smog legal. A smaller GReddy TD04 will net you 200whp and be smog legal with the blue box, but you'll have to push it a little harder than you would a larger T3 and more than 8-9psi and the blue box becomes useless. IMO, just go Turbo, run a safe fuel setup to boost 8-10psi and be hapy with your high 13's.

Ales

A JUN 3 kit and bolt ons on a B16 will not get you 200 WHP. maybe 175-180 at the most. You'll need a a B18 bottom end and high compression pistons to get closer to the 200+ whp mark.

I hear of a lot of guys in Ex's with basic greddy kits runnin like 6 psi hittin mid 14's. So with a tad more boost, IC and good driving, you should be in high 13's.

fsp31

>>id grab type r intake manifold (im 99% sure it fits),<<

Yep. Fits great. Works great too. Especially in conjunction with cams, chip, exhaust, and AFC. Also combined with the fact that you can use a Type R tranny with those beautiful gear ratios...

I've ridden in a turbo'd D16 making close to 200 whp, and a civic hatch with a B16 and exactly the mods from above, probably making 160 whp. Crazy as it sounds, the NA car was a helluva lot more fun to drive (imo). Felt faster too, although I haven't seen time slips from either of them, but I'm more into road racing/autox anyway.

HXMan

My car does run very little rougher, only at idle, but that is because I installed nearly solid engine mounts. I suppose if a swap is done wrong it will run rough...plus, there is a certain order to tighting the engine mounts, and if that is not done, the manual says the car will be rough.

Oh, I don't think any of your engine mods will work...except for the exhuast. Maybe the intake will work, but the header will not.

Kamin

really? oops
i was told that it could add 30-40hp
sorry!