Yes, I know this has been covered thousands of times. I just spent the last hour and a half looking through all the posts, archived too, none similar to this.

Situation: Got a 91 DX CRX for $500. He thinks the timing belt went, but it definatly dosnt run. Cranks, but no ignition. I havnt got time to look at it yet, since its not to my house yet. This engine is irrelivent at this time, although I was wondering if it was an interfierence engine, as if the timing belt went while it was running, the top end would go bye bye. I'm 17 and I live at home. I have a Camry for the time being, and will have it for about a year before I have to get rid of it for my sister. I have the CRX in the garage to work on for a year. I've read my *** off about swaps and hondas, but this will be my first time working on one.

Basically, for a first timer, is the B16 too much? I am mechanically inclined, but for never working on a car it seems it may be a bit much. I am leaning twords a DOHC ZC at the molment, but I cant decide. I fear getting in and 1, spending 4k because I dont have a wealder, and 2, getting in and having no knowlage of what goes where. I have the money, I just dont know if I have the /\/\4|) 5|<1||Z, y0.

 

well it depends if you take your time the b16 won't be bad and if your not comfterable with wiring it you could always have rywire do it although the dohc zc would be much easier only requiring the dpfi to mpfi conversion and i belive a pm4 ecu don't take my word for the ecu part tho but its not to difficult i guess truly i would recomend the dohc zc your tranny will bolt right up and you can use your stock mounts

DOHC ZC
ECU
MPFI WIRING


B16
ECU
B16 WIRING
MPFI WIRING
VTEC WIRING
TRANNY
AXELS
MOUNTS


i guess its just whatever its worth to you

 

The b16 won't neccesarily be too much work, but it will be more than a ZC. You'll have a harder time either finding a obd0/cable b16 in good condition, or doing an obd1/hydro swap instead. The ZC is mostly finding the right sensor connection & rewiring certain points (unless it's a mpfi crx hf).

My opinion is to take your budget, split it half, and do the swap that you can afford. If it's a 52-week project, it should be do-able unless you slack off. I do believe, however, that you should do a simple swap first to get the feel for it. Whatever engine you buy used can always be resold for nearly the same price later.

ATM I'm half way though what's technically my first honda swap, previous was doing V8's and replacing same-type honda trannies/motors. OBD1/D16z6 into a '90 LX (turbo in July ). So far the car's been in the air for a week (had 3 idle days waiting for lift), and it seems more like busy work more than not. Rewarding none the less. Easier to go the extra mile disasembling certain parts than having the bind & waste time. Its not difficult as long as you're armed with the knowledge of what's needed to be done, common problems with the swap type and a wifi laptop (saves me so much time walking)

 

Skinflute, cant you just burn the pm4 program and use the stock ECU?

What do you guys use to jack your car up? I have no access to a lift at the molment. I was thinking jackstands?

I was planning on letting Rwire do the wiring, but if its simple enough I guess I could take a shot at it. I just have to drive a half hour to find a good SI harness for parts at a junkyard.

 

not knowing much and how to do the swaps i my self would do the dohc zc reasons not as much stuff needs to be done but then again thats just my 2 cents
wish u luck on which ever one u do

 

The B16A is not really going to be a harder swap than a ZC (or other D-series motor). With either, you will find yourself pulling the old drivetrain out, dropping another one in, and doing some wiring. And with a typical mount kit, a B16A drivetrain drops right in as if it was stock anyway. Then there is the wiring. With ANY motor that you replace yours with, you will find yourself doing the MPFI conversion. The only difference with the B16A is that you will be adding a few wires for VTEC and such. All in all, I recommend the B16A. Sure, it costs more. But you won't outgrow it so quickly that you will be wanting more in a month.

As for time to swap, this can definitely be done in a year's time. Even if you are new to swapping and take your time, you can probably easily get it done within a month.

 

My concern is having to buy my way out of things (shift linkage, etc). With the ZC all I have to do is yank the engine and leave the stock transmission (or an Si one, if I can find it.)I think I'll go with the ZC for now, only because I havnt laid hands on a car yet (despite great efforts). Thanks for your help guys.

Still wondering about jacking it up though, any suggestions?

 

before i swapped the LS into my hatch the only thing mechanical i had done was brakes, its very easy i did 95% of the swap by myself. the only thing that might be a little confusing is how to position the engine when dropping it in.

on a scale of 1-10 i'd have to say 3.37415

 

yeah. if i were you, i'd keep on the lookout for anything cheap, i mean, if i got a cheap set of hasport mounts and matching linkage, i'd go with the b16, but if i didn't, i'd go with the zc.

when you get the zc, don't rev the hell out of it. i mean, revving it is all and good, but some people try to rev it like a b16, and that's why people will tell you that it's unreliable.

for jacking up the car, just use jackstands in the front and get a cherry picker (engine hoist) for lifting the engine out.

if you order the zc straight from japan-land, consider getting the zc tranny with it, because it's got good gear ratios for quickness and you can use an intermediate shaft.

 

I was goin with hmotors, but they dont have a package with a tranny ( http://www.hmotorsonline.com/s...30020 ) I'd almost perfer the SI tranny though, its got a better highway gear, which i will probably use often, and also i dont need new axles.

Anybody know the stock redline of the DOHC ZC?

When you said jackstans in front, you meant only in front? wont the car fall off? Sorry if it sounds noobish, but I am

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Voodooboy520 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

When you said jackstans in front, you meant only in front? wont the car fall off? Sorry if it sounds noobish, but I am</TD></TR></TABLE>

he means jaking up the front end of the car, like right behind the front wheels on both sides of the car, so when you take your wheels and hubs and axels and all off, its jacked up, with the rear wheels on the ground still.

 

Right, I got that part. My jackstans have a top that looks like this \_/, if you were looking down the drivers side twords the rear. I just figured the weight pressing on it diagonally (straight back, in the picture) might topple them. Plus, thier like 2 feet tall.

 

u wont topple them, if the ebrake is up all the way and on level ground. the only problem i have jacking up my rex is the fact that its hard to get the jack and the jackstand in there at the same time.....u will figure it out

go b series! my 2 cents