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Best swap for the money?

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Old Oct 17, 2008 | 09:48 AM
  #1  
faxshatch's Avatar
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Default Best swap for the money?

Okay heres my situation, ive got a 99 civic cx with a y7/y8 mini me done by myself. It is gettin to be in rough shape(burns oil , bad tranny,and i think the headgasket is leaking a little). Now i know that i want to upgrade. I will have around 1300.00 come febuary saved for this and i would appreciate some opions on what to do. I almost want to just do a complete rebuild but have longed for a dohc for a while. But what could i honestly get for only 1300.00 bucks? I will do the swap myself so labor fee would be at myown expense. Thanks
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Old Oct 17, 2008 | 09:59 AM
  #2  
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Default Re: Best swap for the money? (faxshatch)

LS motor. dohc and 1.8 liters. good torque and power but no vtec. can be had for cheap too.
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Old Oct 17, 2008 | 10:01 AM
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you can do an ls or b20 swap
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Old Oct 17, 2008 | 10:01 AM
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Default Re: Best swap for the money? (faxshatch)

For that money, you could go with the simple vanilla flavored B18B, and get a GSR or SI transmission. You can keep that for a bit until you may get tired of 130HP and have money by then to get a little turbo kit. You could also get a D15B VTEC, but that's SOHC and you said you wanted to go dual soon.
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Old Oct 17, 2008 | 10:04 AM
  #5  
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Default Re: Best swap for the money? (BlackoutVTi)

Thanks guys. i was thinkin about an ls swap, would a b18 c be my best bet for an ls swap?
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Old Oct 17, 2008 | 10:27 AM
  #6  
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Default Re: Best swap for the money? (davefromPA)

LS or B20. I see B20 longblocks going for under $1000 pretty often, although you'll still have to source a transmission and some other stuff. Honestly, when I was looking for my swap though, I couldn't find anyone selling B18bs for any kind of reasonable price.

Really though, if you're willing to wait, keep looking, and save a little more, you can get someone's B16 or gsr swap reasonable from the marketplace. I was seriously considering doing a HMO B20 swap because I thought I couldn't afford a B18C until I found another h-t member selling a 99% complete, lower mileage B18C/b16 trans swap for $2000. I had to drive to Chicago to get it, but it still beat shipping costs quite a bit.

So, using ballpark figures: a B20a has an estimated 127HP at the crank, and costs about $1000 shipped. You'll still have to buy a B series transmission (say $400), and an intake manifold (about $200). Plus various odds and ends mounts, etc that you'll find needs replacing. Say, $1700, possibly more. That's $13.30 per 1 HP.

Using mine as an example: $2K for the complete swap - a USDM gsr rated at 170 crank HP. I had to buy replacement axles ($100), flywheel resurface ($40), and a clutch ($90), for a total of $2230. That comes out to 13.11 per 1 HP. About the same as a B20. Of course, you might find a B20 cheaper in the marketplace.

The moral of the story is that the best bang for the buck is to either look for a deal on someone else's swap, or go B20 IMO. I don't think that it's possible to do a DOHC swap for $1300, but if you were going to, it would be LS or B20, and I think the B20 has more NA fun factor because of the higher torque.
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Old Oct 17, 2008 | 01:01 PM
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that's true, if you wait and keep saving your money, you'll come up on the perfect deal. i waited for my h22 swap and paid a grand total of 1800 after everything was said and done. It also helps if you have good hook up's at a shop as well.
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Old Oct 17, 2008 | 01:07 PM
  #8  
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Default Re: (rpared01)

Wow! You know i mite have to do that, i work for cianbro during the summer i mite be able to really save up some money towards this! But i gota make payments on student loans too hope its worth it in the long run lol Ill do sum research thanks again guys!
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Old Oct 17, 2008 | 02:21 PM
  #9  
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Default Re: (faxshatch)

pm'ed you
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Old Oct 17, 2008 | 05:12 PM
  #10  
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I traded my Z6 swap and $1100 for my H22 swap with new (previously owned but unused) axles and mounts.

Save your $$$, and wait for the right deal to come along. When someone drops it in your lap, be ready with the cash

Good luck with the build
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