rustyshark

Hey all,
My name is Jerry, this is my first post on honda tech.
I just acquired a 1997 Honda Del Sol VTEC. This is my first Honda. Prior to this I used to be really heavily involved in the Import Tuner scene with a GSX Eclipse and a Hyundai Tiburon GT but have been out of the game since around 2007. Ive been wanting to get back in and I decided I wanted to finally go with a Honda.
I just got this car last Friday and plan on fixing it up. Got a great deal on it in good shape and everything works like its supposed to.
I will start this by saying I have no prior experience with Hondas so these questions may seem dumb to you more experienced folks. Just assume for right now that I am clueless with what I am about to ask.
Here is the kicker. At some point someone swapped the motor out. It came with a D16y7 in it. My plans for this car is to either do a mini me swap to a D16 vtec head, or get a b16 back in it and either option I am going to go Turbo.
Here is my question. I don't know what all exactly was swapped and I don't know what all to look for. I am attaching a few pics and maybe someone can tell me the answers here.
First off, I know this was an OBD2 car with it being a 1997. Does it look like it is still an OBD2 or is it possible when the engine was swapped it was converted to OBD1? I am clueless on this all of my cars have always been after 1998 models. How can I check or is it not even possible to switch. Like I said this may be a dumb question but I have no idea lol.
Can someone tell me what all I would need to do to to put a B16 back in. I am assuming a full swap, engine tranny and ecu but I am not sure. I am assuming the stock axles are still in the car would these be ok with dropping a b16 back in or how would I even know.
Ive tried researching a little bit but am just really learning about hondas and the swaps you can do. Any insight would be great.
Thanks
Jerry

ek9_beast

Who said it came with a b16? It definitely has some odd extra wiring with the many orange connections throughout. Anyway,Is it an si? That motor is a d16y7 with a y8 intake manifold, which is similar to a d16y8 but your y7 does not have vtec. You can put the y8 head on as a direct swap and run vtec wires to a vtec ecu and that is done very simple. Most likely your running obd2. Running obd1 is a matter of switching to a p28 ecu with a jumper harness. Obd1 is tunable, obd2 is not so if you want to turbo go with a p28 or similar. I'm a dseries guru so I say build the block you got with forged internals, build a y8 head and boost the **** out of it all the way up to 450whp. If you want more than 450 the B series is for u. Otherwise I have three built d16y8 with 302whp to 426whp so let me know if you wanna go d cuz I can guide you well.

Also, your trans is the long geared y7 trans as well. I don't kno of too many cars who purposely went through the trouble to downgrade to a y7 from a b16

rustyshark

well the vin number states it is a Del Sol VTEC model. which is why I said VTEC in the thread title. From what I know the VTEC came with the B16 did it not?

rustyshark

thats why i posted pictures as well. its got a P28 box on the strut tower, but I have no clue what I am looking at really with these Honda motors.

rustyshark

I am thinking what happened was someone swapped the B16 out with a Civic and put the civic motor in this car. It also has Civic SI seats out of a 92-95 from the looks of it

eghatch9295

iTrader: (1)

del sol vtec came with the b16 in it, that one has been swapped with a (clean) d16y7. OP- you'll need mounts, ecu, harness, engine, trans, axles, del sol b series specific shift linkage.

ek9_beast

Some del sol vtec came with the d16z6 so no they aren't all b16. But yours is a 97 so it came b16a2 and it's exactly what I said it was I just know there were 2 del sol si. One had b16 and other had vtec d16. It seems you have the larger dual core radiator that come with the b16 model

There are 3 del sol types
Del sol s-no vtec
Del sol si-sohc vtec
Del sol dohc vtec-dohc vtec

HondaPartsHero

You first need to look up your VIN and see what VTEC model it was from the start. Any one can swap engines, radiators, etc but the only way to truly know is to search the VIN.

rustyshark

thanks for the replies. this is definately the dohc vtec car originally i do know that much vin number supports that. what I don't know is what all was swapped in to put this d16 in it. i don't know the full history of the car or anything. it could have been the original motor blew up and this was the cheaper alternative for the person to get it back on the road, it could have been whenever the car was being sold the owner swapped with someone else to make a little money. could be that some guy conned his girlfriend into letting him swap it with his motor, no idea. I purchased from a used car dealer.
the only thing that don't work on the car is the cruise control.

would it be better to do a mini me swap at this point or try and find a b16a2? id prefer the b16 but i know there isn't really a huge gain between a b16 and a d16y8 stock. plus i plan on turboing which ever motor will eventually go in. Or would it even be best just to keep what I have in there and go that route? I'm guessing i would have to get something that is obd2 compliant? any idea on where i could find these at a reasonable cost with everything i need? i plan on researching a lot more and doing the swap myself.
thanks

rustyshark

ok here is another question, if i were to get a b16 obd1 motor, would i just need a conversion piece like this to make it work? if so that would make this hella easy lol.

tony_2018

I'm sure the del sol vtec was suppose to come with a b16a3 or a2. The del sol si should be the one that comes with a d16z6 or y8 running a p28/p2p.

ek9_beast

You need obd1 to be able to tune when you turbo

eghatch9295

iTrader: (1)

yup, same thing i said. vtec model was dohc only.

rustyshark

Here is a question. Maybe a dumb question. Is it possible that this motor has already had a mini me swap at some point? I was looking at d16y8 heads online and some have the same valve cover as I do. Is it possible and how would I be able to tell? Reason I ask is the car has pretty good pickup on it. Just curious.

rustyshark

looking at pictures, isn't that a y8 intake manifold on my car already?

ek9_beast

Yes I said that in post #2. U have a y7 trans, block and head with a y8 intake manifold

To diagnose your car as obd1 or obd2 m look at your ecu. Can u hook up a code reader and actually connect? If so its obd2. If not its obd1

rustyshark

yes you sure did lol. i just saw that part of your post. doesn't a y7 and y8 head look alike? so if I did get a y8 head which it looks like i can get pretty decent ones for like 300 on ebay, it should just swap right over and run the wiring and be done?

tony_2018

concur. The seller did a number on you OP.

ek9_beast

Yes the y8 head is a direct swap just do studs when you swap. It's sooooo easy and well worth it. Then you'll just wire in vtec which is two wires. Lastly, you need a 2 wire iacv if you don't already. DO IT buddy

rustyshark

Well I got the car knowing it wasn't the original motor. I only paid 1500 it runs great works and looks good. Just trying to figure out what all I have in this motor.

ek9_beast

U got a good deal from the looks of the motor but read my last post about the y8 head swap. It's super easy and your motor looks super clean. It's got potential with the dseries. Look below at my signature. Those all started as d16y7 motors but they're of course built now

tony_2018

What all you have in this motor? I don't understand that but what you have is a y7 motor, non-vtec. Thats that.

ek9_beast

He's saying the motor was swapped from a b16a2 to a d16y7 and were telling him it's a stock y7 motor and trans other than a y8 intake manifold

rustyshark

ok I've finally made it home and able to investigate a little further with the info I got from you guys. my daily driver is a 2015 chevy silverado LTZ so the del sol is just going to be a play car. i took the number off the head its p2f ha 5 so i looked that up its the y7 head. also pulled the carpet back on the passenger side to look at the ecu its a 37820-p2e-a01 so after looking that up it appears to be out of a 96-98 civic. attached are some pics of the car as well. i feel i did good on it, its pretty much unmolested except it has a kenwood cd player which I'm changing out the head unit this weekend and leather civic si seats which i plan on getting either s2000 or bride seats for it eventually. for what i paid, its paid for, the car drives great, clutch feels good, no major issues, body is in great shape, AC works, all power windows and locks work, clean inside and out, roof doesn't leak, the only thing I have to figure out is why the cruise control don't work. it has its share of typical del sol issues like the wrinkles on the door panels, but all in all good shape.

so if i wanted to swap out to the y8 head, i know i would need the head, and vtec solenoid, but would i need a new ecu like a p2p? if so should i get a factory ecu or a chipped one? what else would i really need since I already have the y8 IM on the car.
you guys have been a lot of help to a honda newb here so far and I thank you.

NotARaCist

iTrader: (1)

<p>You lucked out and got a pretty well done swap. &nbsp;A P2P ECU, Y8 head, knock/CFK sensors, and you should be good to go for the mini-me. &nbsp;Realistically, though, you'd get more pep out of it (for less work, and less money) by getting a 92-00 EX, or 92-95 SI transmission. &nbsp;The shorter gears will definitely liven the car up a bit.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>A mini-me is easy. &nbsp;You can find the necessary information for that in the FAQ sticky.</p>