Alright I got my money. Now what? I've got myself an '88 Honda CRX Si and am ready for an engine swap. I've decided to stray from the incredibly popular (and incredibly torqueless) B16 Swap for my car. I say


"You can always find horsepower, but you can't buy torque in a magazine"


Based on numerous factors such as price, difficulty, horsepwer, torque, accesories, boostability (not a word), appearance, tunabilty and availability I've decided to go with either:

CRV B20B w/ Civic B16A1 VTEC Head

or

Integra B18B1 w/ Civic B16A1 VTEC Head

I've been looking around and can safely say I can find either longblock for 850. I've got 2000 for the swap and am expecting to spend it all or a little more if need be to do the swap. Does anyone out there have any opinions on this swap? Input would be really appreciated especially if you've already done this or are thinking about it yourself. Thanks for help in advance.

 

if ur going turbo then go with b16, i know u dont want to but for turbo they will be the best,especially for the cheapness of one. if going n/a then go b20 vtec, and i suggest a gsr head for more compression.

 

The B16A1 has 160hp and 111 lb/tq. Civics in general have no torque. That's why I'm interested in the B18/B20 Block. What happens when I race someguy with B16 and I've got 30 more pounds of torque that he does? Yeah, that's what I thought.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by knwldge54 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Yeah, that's what I thought.</TD></TR></TABLE>

You don't have to flame him for his opinion.

As for what swap you are going to do. Since you are at a 2k limit, I am going to say B18 because if you go with the B20 you are going to want to rev it higher, and the B20 has weak *** engine sleeves. <U>So I say LS/VTEC.</U>

 

2000 is just a ballpark figure. I'm definetely willing to spend the cheese for for THE POWER!

 

ls/vtec has incredible power. it has the torque of a b18b and the sweet hp and vtec of the b16. i would do the ls/vtec hands down if i were you. im going to be doing that soon and my friend just did it. LS/VTEC ALL THE WAY!

 

on your remark about the torque, yes it's true. that low end tq on the b20 is killer, and by the time the b16 catches up to u, u guys would be doing bout 85mph (that's with a non vtec b20).
my input would be
- all motor = b20/vtec
- boost = ls/vtec

the sleeves are fine on the b20 for all motor, just get some nice rods and balance/polish the crank

but they are a lil scary when it comes to boost. So I would suggest the ls/vtec for boost applications

 

The B20 sleeves do not like boost. There have been many cases of cracked b20 sleeves. Like the other guy said:

b18 block for boost

b20 block for all motor

For even more torque sleeve and bore the b18 block to 83 or 84.5mm.

b18a sleeved and bored to 83mm=1926 cc
b18a sleeved and bored to 84.5mm=1996 cc

Plus the b18a1 blocks are cheap and easy to obtain.

 

i say ls/vtec.... the sleeves on stock b20 are weaker than b18...

 

hey i need the stock block if it is still good

 

Alright B18B1 Block w/ B16A Head it is! Any suggestions on the best way to go about it?

Would it be better to buy a B16 Swap, B18 Block and then find associated parts?

or

Buy A B18B1 Swap, B16A Head and then find associated parts?

I'm leaning towars the second option more because the B18 Swaps are usually cheaper and I'm thinking the excess cash could be used for on the spot engine upgrades.

 

the b18b sucked because the seals leaked...and u would get better power out of the b20..and that was only the b18b block that the seals leaked...and if u r gonna go w/ a VTEC head...go w/ the b20...only because it will hold that higher RPM friction...and its uBer strong...and the reason i know that the seals leak in the b18b is because i work for acura..and its a common problem on the LS tegs...so b20 b18b ..what ever ur decision is..good luck

 

and i am gonna use that one line in my sig...w/ the boostability...its ******* greatl..lol

 

If the B20B block is better than the B18B block, then why does it seem to be almiost normal to use to a B18A or B as opposed to a B20? I've read a lot of posts and it seems like the B18A/B can hold up better with a turbo? Any comment?

 

if ur gonna take the time to bore and sleeve the ls why not bore and sleeve the b20 thus bringing u to 2100-2200cc
because the almighty golden rule is
displacement=torque
while ur at it go ahead and stroke it too, it may not rev out quite as fast but ill bet u that thing would pull like a beast
just stopped by to put in my .02
have fun

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 95accordsir-t &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">if ur gonna take the time to bore and sleeve the ls why not bore and sleeve the b20 thus bringing u to 2100-2200cc
because the almighty golden rule is
displacement=torque
while ur at it go ahead and stroke it too, it may not rev out quite as fast but ill bet u that thing would pull like a beast
just stopped by to put in my .02
have fun</TD></TR></TABLE> whammy...thats y...but hey the ultimate decision is obvously up to u...just remember my words when ur seals are leaking if u go w/ the LS block...just lookin out for a fellow frankenstein motor man...sorry if my words dont make sense i am a lil drunk now!

 

Don't go cheap with whatever you choose to do, one of my buddies bought a 91 integra with ls/vtec and the thing blew up in 3 days....he also drove the **** out of it, but the motor wasn't built at all. Try and get valvetrain and such. It will haul ***!

 

um... what would give ya more power, stock gsr engine or ls vtec with b16 head?

 

I believe the ls/vtec, but it's more work.

 

hmm.. well the ls vtec is more work, and more expensive. unless im missing something here, the ls block is 145 hp with 127 lbs of torque. the gsr engine is 180 hp with 126 lbs of torque, i dont see how a b16 head would make that engine better than gsr. um for either one.. what engine mounts would u need to fit that into a ef civic, and... how much total would it take to put either one into ur car if u do it urself? u just buy all the parts u need.

 

LS/VTEC is definetely not more expensive for a GSR engine/transmission/ecu is about $3000 not including anything else. The GSR probably has more power. Even if you got the best of both with 160hp from a B16 headand 127tq from the B18 Block, you'd still be about at least 20hp behind. The reason I'm doing this in leui of a GSR swap is because A: It's just to damn expensive and B: I forsee less complications. After I've done this swap i will put a listing of what it costs me.

 

k

well... the ls engine is like 2200, plus another like 1-2k to make it vtec (from what ive heard) and probly more **** to get it in ur damn car. for the gsr its like 3100 for a complete conversion and getting the mounts for ur car with some other **** that i dunno , from that info, thats why i said lsvtec is more expensive.. but for my 2nd engien after the b16, i would probly go b18c. um... is the b18c5r or w/e the type r engine worth its money? its only got 20 more hp than the b18c with about the same torque for like 1k more in cost. so ya.. any other input... id like to hear from the pros and not from my noobie mind

 

anyone else gonna add?

 

well in my experience with my b20 ef hatch, I must have had a gifted motor cuz the only swapped civic i couldn't beat was type r swapped eg hatch and he only beat me by a half a car length. I my self don't believe in the frankenstein motors cuz i had them all (ls/vtec w/skunk stg 2, skunk valve train, skunk IM,ect. same with b20). i go with the fact that if honda didnt make ls's or b20's vtec for a reason. my all motor b20 w/port/polish ls head all stock ran the best, and passed calf. emissions just as clean as a brand new civic at the dealer. All the power was always on tap. then i turbod the pos, but it costed me less than 2000 to have a swap that ripped not only on the freeway but all the time and amazed people cuz how fast it was for nothing special. if it was me go all motor b20.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bjorn20 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">k

well... the ls engine is like 2200, plus another like 1-2k to make it vtec (from what ive heard) and probly more **** to get it in ur damn car. for the gsr its like 3100 for a complete conversion and getting the mounts for ur car with some other **** that</TD></TR></TABLE>

B18B swaps are pretty costly. Personally, my method would be to get the whole OBD0 B16 Swap into my crx first. Then I can take as much time as I need to build up the block for all motor action or turbo (prefrebly). I added it up a few days ago pbased on common sense and some help frmo the tech pages of HASport.com. The B16 Swap will cost $2500. That's without me trying to figure out wiring details, using the right axles and not having my check engine light on. After my pockets have recovered frmo redline (hopefully not), I can work on a block that to stuff under the B16 head. That way I'm not looking around for a B18 longblock for too much money and the mounts for the B16 also fit the B18. Granted I know I have to change a bracket on the B18 but still. Does that still sound more expensive than the GSR swap?