91CivicSi

Here's the score:
I have a 91 Civic HB in desperate need of a swap. I also have a 91 CRX w/ B16, Y1, ZDYNE 1 wire, and more. The rings in the B16 are crap so it's going to have to be rebuilt before I can put it in the Civic.

Today a buddy of mine offered to sell me a 95 B18C1 (90000 miles, new timing belt) for [what I think is] a pretty good price. After trading him my B16A head and my used ZEX kit I can get the motor for around ~$600. Should I go ahead and get myself an early Christmas present, or is this swap more trouble than it's worth?

Can I use my Y1 tranny (w/Zex fw and ACT clutch) with this GSR? How about my ZDYNE 1wire ecu (w/ B16 fuel maps)? Will I have to accomodate for any new sensors or anything of that nature?

Also, I would be keeping my B16 intake manifold..would it be better than the GSR manifold?

Any and all advice is appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Aaron

bojangs

b16 mani won't bolt to a gsr head.. lower bolts on the flange don't line up.. just get a skunk2 mani and run your y1 tranny and zdyne.. no prob..

B18C5-EH2

My friend bought my B18C1 off of me and my shop dropped it in his 1989 hatch, and it runs great.

You will only run into a few problems with the GS-R motor in the EF-style Civics.

1. The B18C1 is taller than the B16A. It will rub your stock hood even with a HASport kit.
2. How do you intend to activate the secondary butterfly manifold? I say scrap it for the Skunk2 like the other guy said.
3. The PR3 or PWO ECU will run it fine, but optimally you'll want a V-AFC or re-chip to get the PERFECT fuel/timing curves for your B18C1.
4. Distributor? You'll need the pre-OBD B16A distributor off of your old motor.
5. Exhaust will possibly have to be modified. (No biggie, depends on which cat you run.)

That's about it off the top of my head. I would do it. you can always trim your hood or buy an SiR-style carbon hood. His car runs great, and once he's got his Skunk2 manifold and VTEC controller hooked up to tune the fuel and such, it will HAUL ***.

91CivicSi

[QUOTE]
1. The B18C1 is taller than the B16A. It will rub your stock hood even with a HASport kit.
2. How do you intend to activate the secondary butterfly manifold? I say scrap it for the Skunk2 like the other guy said.
3. The PR3 or PWO ECU will run it fine, but optimally you'll want a V-AFC or re-chip to get the PERFECT fuel/timing curves for your B18C1.
4. Distributor? You'll need the pre-OBD B16A distributor off of your old motor.
5. Exhaust will possibly have to be modified. (No biggie, depends on which cat you run.)

Did it rub on the hood supports or the hood istelf? I have a CF hood right now..it has no support in the area surrounding the valve cover..think it would be alright?
What is a secondary butterfly manifold? What does it do? (sorry, I've never even considered a GSR swap before so I don't know much about them..always thought B16) Is it on the intake mani. on the driver's side? I was looking at the motor today and he was showing me this plate kinda thing between the two sections of the manifold saying that I should take that off for clearance and performance issues.
I intend to get a VAFC a little further down the road..for now I've got a few gauges that should keep me out of trouble.
My B16A is running a 91 Integra distributor right now..will this work fine in the GSR?
About the exhaust..should I expect any ground clearance issues from the bigger motor? Is the extra block height protruding into the engine bay or going towards the ground?

Also, my friend said something about reversing the gas feed nozzle? (He has an 11second drag CRX with a GSR motor, so he's definately familiar with the swap) Know anything about that?

Thanks,
Aaron

B18C5-EH2

Okay, your hood shouldn't be aproblem then - pretty sure about that.

The distributor thing? I can only tell you that the 1st-gen B16A distributor works fine with the B18C1 from experience, but if your motor runs fine now, then the distributor you have should work fine too.

The manifold has 2 sets of runners. On lower RPMs, the air is forced through square runners to maximise velocity and give you extra low-end grunt. At 5800rpms they close off and bigger, round runners open up. This gives the engine MORE air to use, and since you're already at high RPMs, the need for the square velocity-inducing runners is not there.

Get it? Heres the deal though. The ECU flips the runners open, and that ECU would be the OBDI and OBDII P72 GS-R ECUs. Your 1st-gen B16A ECU will run the motor fine, but it will NOT open the seondaries as needed. It's not really a big deal, but for piece of mind to know the motor's running at FULL capacity you could use an RPM switch to open up the runners at a desired RPM.

If you simply remove the plate from the GS-R manifold, you'll be losing the low-rnd square runners, and thus lose some low-end grunt. If you're doing this, you might as well get the better-designed Skunk2.

My suggestion though? Ditch the dual-butterfly GS-R manifold and grab a Skunk2. There's a reason why the B18C5 has the manifold that it comes with, and I'm sure Honda would NOT have put it on the motor without knowing its benefits. The Skunk2 manifold is designed EXACTLY like the ITR manifold, so I'd get one.

You will probably lose a little low-end grunt with the Skunk2, but you will feel the benifits in the higher RPMs once you tune the motor and especially once you add big cams down the road.

And finally, gas feed nozzle? The guys here at the shop aren't quite sure what you're talking about. Perhaps it has a different name? And if so, I still don't remember reversing anything having to do with fuel delivery on my friend's B18C1-powered EF.

Hope that can help some. Someone correct me if you see any errors I might have typed. (Although I'm prety sure the info was correct.)


[Modified by B18C5-EG6, 1:43 PM 11/15/2001]

91CivicSi

What kind of times does you friend with the EF run? Any HP figures?

Thanks for your help. I'm seriously leaning towards buying the motor now. I can trade in my ZEX kit and B16A head and get it for around 600. Oh yea, how much should I sell a good B16A head for?

BTW, does your shop have a dyno or can you refer me to a good shop w/ a dyno close to Knoxville, TN? I'll have to tune this bad boy some day.

wuhungsixxx

i have a b18C in my ef...pulls hard...i have the hasport mounts...about the clearance of the hoof its just the supports under the hood that get in the way...i cut em out for now until i get a new hood...if u have a cf hood u will have no problem..even if its not the SIR version...i suggest u get the motor...the car will be alot faster than the b16 swap...yea nad i also have a skunk2 mani...not installed yet tho and im running a y1 tranny...gears are nice and short...if u want better gearing tho i heard the best cable tranny is the ys1 from the usdm 92-93 GSRs...hard to find tho...iv been told to expect times as low as high 13s with a good driver on street tires...on a stock motor too...i havnt run my car yet...still workin out some issues with it being street legal here in CA...but yea do the swap....u will like it to say the least....

B18C5-EH2

If you can find the y21, get it, but it's ultra RARE cause it's from the 92-93 GS-R - VERY limited run on that car. Find the more abundant J1 tranny -- GUARANTEED to have the 4.400 final with USDM ITR gearing too -- comes in the JDM-only Intagra XS-i.

His car has problems with his suspension - not related to swap - so he hasn't run it at the track yet. It pulls BAD-*** on the street, and I think 14's are a given. Tuned and running perfect, a GS-R swap with a J1 tranny in an EF should hit 14.00 I would think. Sis are heavier though, so keep that in mind when talking about power-to-weight.

DO it. The B16A is bad-***, but the deal you're getting is better. GS-R power is very nice.

91CivicSi

Do you have any firewall clearance problems? How close does that manifold come to it? Also, what kind of intake are you running?

My B16A has a DC 4-1 for a 99 Civic Si. It works OK except for the O2 sensor being in the wrong place. Will this header work w/ the B18C1? Your profile says you have a Comptech..how do you like it? It's designed for the GSR I assume?

If anybody has the hookup on JASMA headers, let me know.

TIA,
Aaron


[Modified by 91CivicSi, 4:30 AM 11/17/2001]