I just finished a d16z6 in my 91 civic si. Since I got the car with no engine this is what I could find cheap with low miles. I got all the obd1 stuff and a conversion harness. Everything plugged in nice (thanks rywire) and runs good. However when I took the car out for a spin the thing just feels slow. I thought it would feel a lot peppier. I can't hear vtec turn on. I did install a zex street cam and intake when I put the motor in so I figured I should be able to hear vtec. I think the vtec might not be turning on but at the same time I've heard you can't hear the changeover in a d series.

 

Install a vtec light and do a compression test on the engine

 

u got the car with no engine, did u get it with no trans? if u got it mated with a dx or bah even a hf trans then ur powned.

i have a d16z6 into my 90 hatch with si trans pulls good to me

 

longer gear ratio'd trannies, make vtec feel like.... bleh... if you Si tranny makes it feel 100x better.

 

Yes it has the si tranny. It feels pretty good until about 5000rpm's then it just seems to fall on it's face. Actually it seems to be about opposite of what I thought. I'll try the test light thing, thanks for the help.