Hi everyone,
I'm new to the board and a noob to cars. My name is Shaunie, I'm 27 years old and I am a girl from Hampton Roads, VA. I have a '91 Si which I have had for 6 years, died two months ago; the engine just all of a sudden locked up but it had been having burning oil problems for a while so imagine it finally caught up with it.

But all is not so sad. I don't want to buy a new car right now because if I buy one, it would be a Honda and I am sad to say that I am disappointed of the output Honda has been doing on their recent line of cars. I don't like the way they look or the measely 115hp it comes with so I am hanging on until 2006 when they put out their new line.

But anyway, my engine blowing up gives me an excuse to finally do the B16a swap. I have done some reading up on it over the last few weeks but I have no experience on cars so some of the stuff is kind of difficult to understand. But I want to learn so I thought this swap would be a great way to learn the innards of a car.

I am prepared to put in $3000 for the budget of the entire swap including the labor charge of a technician friend of mine is putting it in for $500 who is always more than happy to explain "car stuff" to me as he goes along so I feel the $500 will be well worth it. I figure a lot of people just send their car to a shop and let them "handle it" but at least I will be getting some brain food while I am paying him. I chose him because he runs a mobile car shop so I don't have to tow my car; he comes to my house, and because he spends his time making over cars into hot rods I feel confident he can do the swap, He's a funny guy, honest, well-known in the neighborhood, trust-worthy and he knows I want to learn. In the past he has also let me help out so I am really looking forward to it.

I am the only driver so this car will primarily be used to transport back and forth to school and work but I would like to upgrade the car. I do get an occasional "adrenaline rush" late at night where I just get in with no destination and drive really fast on open road through the country and trip out on the feel of inertia on curves. But nothing other than that. I do plan on adding a turbo and some other things on my own in the future so I can learn to work on cars myself but that won't be until I buy another car as a backup.

I have been searching around the net for motors and have run into many choices, so this is where I was hoping you all could help. All of the motors I am looking into will fit within my $3000 budget I am prepared to put into it but like I said, this is going to be an everyday, average driver car, so I don't want to over-spend for what it's going to be used for. In addition, since I am without transportation, I don't want it to be a complex swap. in other words, I want the upgrade but I don't want to spend money on stuff that can be added later or aren't a necessity for my usage. I realize that there are some things such as the 90-91 axles that I will need, as well as the mounts, ECU, harness, etc. It's just that I have noticed that on these packages I have looked through the price ranges depend on other stuff they add to it, however some come with axles and some don't, but I figure I could just head over to my local AutoZone and grab those if need be.

My confusion comes in as to what package I should consider. I know this post is already long enough but I wanted to introduce myself and provide a thorough background of what I am trying to do. I was hoping someone would take the time out to look through the sites I have provided below to help me make a good educated buying decision.

Thanks so much in advance,
Shaunie

I have tried to deep link directly to the motors so you won't have to search but a few of the web sites have a bunch of flash and other things where I could not.

http://www.sunrisejdmmotors.com/honda.php
http://www.osakajdmmotors.com/codes/hondaB16A1.htm
http://www.japandomesticmotor.com/
http://www.naganojapanese.com/jdm_b16ag1.htm
http://hmotorsonline.com/shop/...30001
http://www.hmotorsonline.com/s...30002
http://www.jaydm.com/jdm.htm
http://www.ardperformance.com/...al=25
http://www.tempestracing.com/engchange.htm
http://www.jspecautosports.com..._id=1
http://www.jspecautosports.com...d=159
http://www.noyanusa.com/enginelist.html

 

Well welcome to the forums. There is a ton of useful information in this place, so just search away.

I dont understand the exact thing you are asking with your post, but I think it's along the lines of what is needed for a B16.

To simplify things, here's your complete resource:

http://www.crxresource.org/mod...d=134

In all reality if you want something cheap and easy (since the B16 isnt just drop-in), I'd look into a ZC swap. Cheap motors (less than $800), compatible with a stock D-series transmission and ECU, and only a 2-wire conversion to use. Otherwise just plug and play and you're up and running. And you'll get a nice 130hp (rounded) to boot. It will leave some nice money for modifications. Just my $.02.

 

Oh, and of all the sites you listed, HMotors, ImportAutoSalvage, PasswordJDM, and JDMSource.ca are some of the highest recommended. Just do some research around here because losing $1500 to a bad seller will leave a bitter taste in your mouth.

 

Purchase your b16a from Steve at H motors, I have purchased alot of full swaps from him and everyone has been perfect. He will also give you a good deal on Hasport engine mounts when you buy a swap. The wiring is very simple as you already have an si, You can also purchase a sub harness from hasport if you dont feel like cutting, soldering and extending wires for the knoch sensor ,2nd 02, vtec selenoid and oil pressure switch. Good luck with your project.

 

Hi,
Actually he was on the top of my list after I read the ever-so-popular Brandon's instruction on doing a swap. At the time though the motors were out of stock but I see that Hmotors must have gotten a new shipment in the last two weeks. I was trying to debate on his or Ard Performance but H Motors seems to have such a good reputation I will go with their Complete Package.

Thanks for responding.
I will let you all know how it all goes.
I do have a web site where I will be keeping track of everything if anyone cares to check it out.
http://honda.xekes.com

 

hey get one from rob at http://www.jdmcars.com, he is in va, too you can pick up save on shipping talk to a guy called rob gordon- good guy he hooked me up, if you pay cash there will probably be a discount from what is listed in the website

 

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1193782
there you go.. everything you need to know on how to swap the engine w/ pics. search button does wonders
next time have cliff notes at the bottom of your post no one here likes to read for some reason lol

 

That's the same guide that my link is going to.