I want do a head swap to gain a bit more power but dont know what head to go with. The b16 or b18?

I have a
b20b
126 hp
133 torq
8.8-1 comp. ratio

What kind of gains can i expect with each one, and which head will be better for later preformance mods? a little help with this info please. thanks.

 

If you search you'll find quite a bit of information on b16 and gsr heads and also building a b20 vtec.


https://honda-tech.com/zerothread/1676914
Has a lot of good information in it that will help you out.

Basically it comes down to that, in stock form, the b16 head will flow better, but the gsr will yield slightly higher compression. If you plan on going all motor, you're going to want to look into aftermarket pistons because you're compression ratio will still be low with either head you choose and you wont be able to advance the cam timing much due to issues with the piston to valve clearances. RS Machines makes some nice b20 pistons, you might want to look into those.

 

i have read that thread i dont want to build a b20 vtec, way to complex for me. just want to make around 160 - 170hp

 

So what are you planning on building?
I assumed you meant swapping a b16 head or b18c1 gsr head onto your b20 block making it a b20-vtec, which is essentially an ls-vtec with a larger bore (84 instead of 81mm) since the stroke on both blocks are the same. Either way the head characteristics he describes in the thread apply regardless of what bottom block is used.

 

in keeping it a LS motor, i swap on a 1.8 LS head. what can i expect?

 

From what I know.. the LS and B20 heads are identical except for the intake and exhaust manifolds..so you won't notice any gain. The only big difference between the B20 and LS is that the B20 block has larger displacement due to the 84mm bore and pistons compared to the 81mm of the LS. Everything else including the head, cams, crank, etc are the same.

 

would i be able to use the b16 head and not hook up the vtec

 

If you're going to spend the money on the b16 head, you my as well hook up the vtec. All you have to do for it to work, all though I would recommend at least upgrading the water pump and rod bolts for higher revs to be safe, is to buy the vtec conversion kit which involves putting 2 dowel pins on the block, screwing in an oil line from the block to the head, and inserting a plug into the bottom of the head. Other than that you would just need a vtec ecu and to wire the vtec solenoid and pressure switch. Even if you could make the b16 head work without vtec, you would only use the primary lobe of the b16 cams and wouldn't make anymore power.

 

i here that OBO0 and OBD1 wiring and ecu's are the easiest to work with. i got the OBD2 in mine. is that going to be a bit more difficult to wire?