Hey guys, this is my first post here so go easy on me. Here's what I've got, it aint much.

1996 Honda civic(duh) DX Sedan. When I bought it it came with a generic intake. There was a hole in the exhaust manifold. My moto tends to be "never replace a part with stock if you can avoid it." so I bought a 4-2-1 header off ebay. Nice thing about living in northern Maine I can get away with not having a cat. So that's about it. They add some pep and gas mileage but I'm looking to see how much I can squeeze out of this little mill before it dies.

What are my best options? FI is not on the table at this point. The engine has 190,000 miles but has been well cared for so that doesn't bug me. What do you think? Cam gear? pulleys? ignition & wires? What's a good next step that won't cost me my first born child?

Thanks.

 

The question is. Whats your budget?How much hp are you wanting? And do you really want to stay with the d-series?

 

i live in maine too, so my cat is straight threw. get an exhaust then start saving for a b series or turbo.

 

1. Unbolt and remove engine

2. Install engine of your choice so long as it's not a D16Y7, D15 anything, or D16Y5

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by yoffer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The question is. Whats your budget?</TD></TR></TABLE>
Budget is low for now(paying off debt but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel) so mods under $150 if they exist. and stuff I can do one at a time. I'm a bargain hunter and know a good salvage yard or two.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by yoffer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">How much hp are you wanting? </TD></TR></TABLE>
I figure with the intake and header I must be somewhere in the 105-110 range. I think a realistic number would be 125. Is that an atainable goal?


<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by yoffer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">And do you really want to stay with the d-series?</TD></TR></TABLE>
For now. I'll be debt free in a year or two so when the engine gets old enough it will be getting tossed in favor of a B18 of some sort. But until then I still need to wrench on something.

 

not sure how credible it really is..but someone posted on here like a month or 2 ago about how he did intake, header, catback exhaust and made 131whp (i THINK thats what it was) - he got it tuned by some shop and apparently it made a difference so 125whp may not be to much of a stretch although paying for a tune for those mods is pretty ridiculous

 

I would keep getting the bolt ons you want, then down the road when you can't stand driving a D15 anymore, or it simply stops running, get your hands on a D16Y8, and all the bolt ons you bought for your old D15 will bolt right up. Other than wiring the VTEC, everything else is plug and play since you're remaining OBD2.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Rok_Stok &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">when you can't stand driving a D15 anymore</TD></TR></TABLE>

1996 DX = D16Y7

No D15 here. What are the pro's/cons of an intake manifold? Saw a OBX on Ebay. Shipped was about $150. Would I see noticable gains? They boast 10-15 hp but we all know that's

 

im not 100% on this but if the intake manifolds are different...the d16y8 intake manifold would be a good investment - not sure of the gains but im pretty sure its the best OEM intake manifold for a D series

 

y8 intake manifold
If it were me, I would find a y8 head and slap it on the y7 block. You get a small bump in power, and you also get vtec. Wiring a dx for vtec is relatively easy.

 

Hands down the best thing you can do in that price range is swap to a Y8 transmission.
A VTEC head, exhaust, blah blah blah...all fine stuff but won't increase the fun factor of your car like the trans upgrade, and nothing else will make you quicker in every gear @ any rpm especially off the line and going into 2nd gear. The Y7 trans is the buzz killer of your other mods.

After the tranny, start saving for the Y8 intake manifold. That will increase your top end breathing and the sound is nice too.

 

?<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by klungemonger &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Hands down the best thing you can do in that price range is swap to a Y8 transmission.
A VTEC head, exhaust, blah blah blah...all fine stuff but won't increase the fun factor of your car like the trans upgrade, and nothing else will make you quicker in every gear @ any rpm especially off the line and going into 2nd gear. The Y7 trans is the buzz killer of your other mods.

After the tranny, start saving for the Y8 intake manifold. That will increase your top end breathing and the sound is nice too.</TD></TR></TABLE>

What's a good price range so I know what to look for. That's the same as any manual tranny form a 96-00 EX right

 

you can get your hands on an EX trans (make sure its a y8 trans) for like 250-300 bucks

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bline &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Hey guys, this is my first post here so go easy on me. Here's what I've got, it aint much.

1996 Honda civic(duh) DX Sedan. When I bought it it came with a generic intake. There was a hole in the exhaust manifold. My moto tends to be "never replace a part with stock if you can avoid it." so I bought a 4-2-1 header off ebay. Nice thing about living in northern Maine I can get away with not having a cat. So that's about it. They add some pep and gas mileage but I'm looking to see how much I can squeeze out of this little mill before it dies.

What are my best options? FI is not on the table at this point. The engine has 190,000 miles but has been well cared for so that doesn't bug me. What do you think? Cam gear? pulleys? ignition & wires? What's a good next step that won't cost me my first born child?

Thanks. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Try a trans from a D16Z6. That will probably be the best bang for your buck. You're never going to make any NA power out of a D series. So just save up for a B series and never look back....except to make fun of the D series guys. A B series is the best mod for a D series.

 

hey man, there are some fast D series out there....with empty pockets cause they spent a ton to make 250-350whp, but they are out there!!

 

Okay first of all I'm not a B series **** - I may have a B18C5 swap in one of my cars, but my other daily driver has a semi-built 11:1CR D16A6 in it which i love dearly.

The problem with this particular situation is that the chassis is OBD2 which limits options and sucks *****, and the engine to start with sucks too.

Why?

First of all the intake manifold design is crap. Sure you can swap it out, but it's a headache and the power gains won't be anything spectacular.

Secondly the exhaust manifold/catalytic convertor design is ******* retarded. you want a header? sure an Ex one will bolt to the engine, but also plan on either unning a straight pipe or having to add an EX-style "under engine" convertor and lenghtening some o2 sensor wires in the process.

Thirdly the head isn't ideal for horsepower - it's got "quench zones" which are great for gas mileage, but suck *** for making power even with a good cam.

"Swap on a Y8 head"

Ummm...sure you can, but expect what, 127hp at most? Sorry but for the efforts I'd just swap the engine out entirely for a B of any kind and get noticable gains.

Fourthly the DX tranny sucks. An Ex one is better, but by the time you swap the head, IM, exhaust manifold/cat convertor, tranny, etc. etc. you should have swapped in a ******* b series for less effort and be done.

Lastly IMO all 96-00 D engines have shitty bottom ends. I have worked at my current honda/Acura only shop for 7 years, and in that time I have seen 5 times as many rod knocking 96-00 Civic D16Y7s and Y8s than any other D series engines combined - even the old-*** 88-91 ones. I think they either have an oiling issue, or just shitty rod bearings or caps.

You can waste time, effort, money, etc. all to have a mediocre engine that's destined to knock if you'd like to, but IMO save that money for a better engine to begin with. All of this "cheap" **** adds up quickly, and let's not forget the time and trouble these "easy" mods can give you.

Oh yeah and if there were an easy way to convert a D16Z6 to OBD2 (meaning if the OBD2 Y8 oil pump and CKF sensor would bolt up) then I'd suggest swapping in a D16Z6 if you just gotta have a D series. Actually IMO the very best D block is the 88-89 D16A6 with it's cast-iron/stronger main caps and seemingly bullet proof bottom end. Add the head of your choice and you've got a winner, but sadly enough it would never be OBD2/EK friendly due to a few reasons such as the CKf sensor.

Do what you want, but when you've got exhaust and vacuum leaks and you're still making 90whp don't say i didn't warn you first.

 

hmm... food for thought for sure. I appreciate the blunt to the point response and it seems you know your stuff. Guess maybe I should wait and go the b18 route. It's what i want eventually anyway. Thanks for the pointers guys. I've learned a lot and didn't get flamed to death either

Also I think this is my last post for today (first day signed up and all).

 

Except for the oil pump, the bottom end of the D16Y is basically identical to the D16Z. The oil pump is known to be the weak point so no purpose in switching an OBD2 pump onto the Z6 block! If you maintain the OBD2 ecu the CKF used to be the sticking point using OBD1 or JDM blocks but there is a bypass trick that is known now to bridge some signals across the CKP/CKF wires to trick the ecu and not install the CKF sensor.

I don't know about other peoples issues, but I beat down so hard on my Y7 every day and never, never had any problems with it, oiling or otherwise. In fact I went nearly 7000 miles between oil changes once, when I finally changed it there was only about 1/2 quart in the pan! It was running a bit rough but I was still redlining and banging gears all day long on it. I sold the longblock with 105K miles on it still running like a top, the buyer said the t-belt was in great shape and it ran so good he just drove it and didn't do any tune up or maintenance on it. My point is, I trust teh motor.

Also, I knew a dude a while back with a DX coupe with a mild all-motor Y7 he built himself running mid-14's. Not the fastest i town, but darn good for an EK coupe with an n/a sohc non-VTEC! Had a d-i-y pnp, Delta 272 cam, Y8 manifold & trans, A6 pistons, and some boltons like i/h/e. Spent less than an LS swap, for sure.

Shop around you can get the Y8 trans for $200-$250 tops.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by maynards_ek &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">y8 intake manifold
If it were me, I would find a y8 head and slap it on the y7 block. You get a small bump in power, and you also get vtec. Wiring a dx for vtec is relatively easy.</TD></TR></TABLE>

+1

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Probot &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you can get your hands on an EX trans (make sure its a y8 trans) for like 250-300 bucks</TD></TR></TABLE>

also true

the fact is that you can spend your time building this d-series motor, but at the end of it all, you are going to swap it to a b-series.

I am not an advocate of the d-series mini-me motor or anything, but it is an option. i was lucky enough to get my hands on a complete y8 swap with trans for next to nothing, so that was the route i took for my civic, although i had a b20vtec setup planned for it. if you want more information on the how to make power with a d-series check these links:
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1924483
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=735196

I know that there is a wealth of information on this type of build, search it and you'll find more

IMHO if you want a b series anyway, just be patient. Save the money that you would spend on your d-series mods, and in a few months, buy a b-swap and throw the bitch in. find a good running ls swap or something, and *POW* you just passed your 125hp goal, not to mention the torque gains that you will notice. For your budget this may be the way to go (a cheap ls or b20 swap)...... with this swap you'd have future options like: ls/vtec, turbo, or even supercharged..... you get the picture.

so see what deals you can find, and do what's best for YOU..... remember this is your car, so do with it what makes you happy. so good luck and keep us posted with your plans

 

I don't really understand this thread and why people are putting so much time into explaing what you could do for blah blah gains.

Your poor, not to be an ******* but if you don't have the money to spend, its not going to be fast, for that engine the only thing you can do to be even close to considered quick is FI.

A y8 intake and a y8 transmission... Please.. Its a waste of time, your not going to be blowing the doors off of any Mustangs anytime soon. I have a stock hatch with a b15b7 and a EX with a d16z6, I can't even feel the difference between the two, they are both terribly slow.

The intake and header gained you three horsepower, so not you have 109hp zomg

Save your money, enjoy the great fuel mileage and reliability of the ol' Honda.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by kuja396 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I don't really understand this thread and why people are putting so much time into explaing what you could do for blah blah gains. </TD></TR></TABLE>
Because that was the question asked in the thread. He didn't ask "What engine is more powerful than my Y7?", didn't ask "If this were your car what would you do?", didn't ask "How can I beat a Mustang with my Civic?". He just asked if there's anything in the $150 range that would impact the performance of his stock engine. To which the answer is yes, as has been explained.

 

Everyone is so hostile today, he asked, "What are my best options?"

With his budget in mind, the answer is simple...

Save your money, enjoy the great fuel mileage and reliability of the ol' Honda.

For $150, you can't do anything that will actually give a worthwhile gain...

 

not to dash your hopes but i wouldnt touch that motor. youd be better off swapping almost anything. also if you turbo your car there was no point in buying the header. it sounds like your kinda new to cars and modding. do some research. do go spend crazy just yet untill you know what you want and what your getting into. then have fun with it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bline &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Hey guys, this is my first post here so go easy on me. Here's what I've got, it aint much.

1996 Honda civic(duh) DX Sedan. When I bought it it came with a generic intake. There was a hole in the exhaust manifold. My moto tends to be "never replace a part with stock if you can avoid it." so I bought a 4-2-1 header off ebay. Nice thing about living in northern Maine I can get away with not having a cat. So that's about it. They add some pep and gas mileage but I'm looking to see how much I can squeeze out of this little mill before it dies.

What are my best options? FI is not on the table at this point. The engine has 190,000 miles but has been well cared for so that doesn't bug me. What do you think? Cam gear? pulleys? ignition & wires? What's a good next step that won't cost me my first born child?

Thanks. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Keep it stock or swap it... don't waste time putting on little add on crap to the engine...

If you really want to mod the car then mod the stuff that has nothign to do with the engine until you can afford a turbo setup or a swap (i'd def. lean towards the swap).

Upgrade your suspension and brakes etc... Don't waste money one bit at a time on stuff that's going to end up costing you more than it's worth and giving you less than you paid for.

Either don't buy anythign and save all the money you intend on spending on it now untill it's enough to buy what you REALLY want... or upgrade the rest of the car til you can afford to upgrade the engine/drivetrain.

I'd recomend ES bushing kit (although it's a huge headache to install) or a decent suspension.

You're just not going to make the car fast 1-300 bucks at a time no matter how often you throw 100-300 bucks at it.

 

for the love of god, read thread then reply.

the guy wants mods that he can get for around $150.
He also stated that he would like to be at around 125hp.
He also stated that eventually he wants do do a b-series swap.

result:
people are giving him information on how he can achieve his goals.

This is his car and his money. We should make him INFORMED of his options so he can make an INFORMED DECISION.