Hello all I just purchased my first Honda and I have a few questions. First off it's a 1990 Civic DX hatch with only 52,500 miles on it. I got it off an old Chinese lady for $600. There's no rust whatsoever anywhere, which I thought was pretty amazing for a 18 yr old Honda. But I have a question, the only downside to this car is that it's an auto... And I am asking how much work would it be to swap in a 5 speed? Is it a direct bolt up setup? I just want the car to be a bit more fun to drive for the time being before I do the motor swap among other upgrades... That leads me to my other question, what's a better motor to swap in, a B16 or the LS/VTEC? Any input would be awesome!

 

http://www.gassavers.org/showthread.php?t=1033

here is a link for the auto to 5 speed.

as far as what's a better motor, that all depends on you. it depends on what your looking for out of a swap. cost effective, power, ease of install, reliability, ect...

 

no rust on it in rochester that is amazing usually there all rusty around here.

as for a engine what is your budget and what are you looking to gain in hp?

 

i know right? budget for just the motor/tranny is like $2500... i am willing to shoe out some cash for the parts and stuff, plus i want a lower mileage engine with a LSD trans. i've done the research on both and i am kinda leaning towards the b16 because i dont have a garage with all the tools to do a head swap. I plan on having the motor professionally installed, because again no tools... but i just want opinions from ppl on here on what is the most cost effective motor out of the two...

 

Most cost effective would be the b16. To do a proper LS/Vtec with LSD you will be spending a decent chunk of change to get it all done by a shop. Do a little searching in the FAQ at the top of the thread list and do a decent amount of general research on the B-swap. It will make life a lot easier.

Oh, and welcome to the forum. Nice to have a new member who types correctly and uses punctuation!!

 

i have a 90 hatch dx and i plan on doing an ls swap, i got two motors and two trannys for 550 bucks, just look around for deals, and it helps if you have friends that are into tuning cars also. all i need is a jumper harness for my ecu, send my harness off to rywire to get it converted and i can swap my stuff in. Less than 1,000 dollars and i have a 90 hatch with ls swap

 

Thanks guys for the input. I have plenty of friends that are into the "modification" of cars, thanks in part to the Exton, PA campus of UTI. My old roommate (who's also on here) had the LS swap in his EG. I agree with Gator on the $$ amount that I would spend for the LS swap in a shop. So I will do my research on the B16 and see where I end up.

 

^^just a plain LS swap isnt hard, its when you throw vtec in the mix is when it starts getting hard

 

Well I want the VTEC, so I think I'll just stick with the B16 for now, unless I change my mind, which is a good possibility...

 

I think you should put in a b20, b16 is torque less, i mean torque less... I go to UTI in Exton and my friend has a 92 Si with a b16 in it and I have an 89 Si with a 96 b18b (ls) and he started catching up in 4th.... depressing. the b20 swap is cheaper than a b16, you can use a b16 tranny with the lsd option and in the future when you put a vtec head in you'll beat b18a/b ls/vtec's because of your bigger displacement. there's a dude in my school who has a b20/vtec in his ek, he's an ******* and i don't really like him or his car but the motor is tight.

 

Thanks dude for the input on the B20...I haven't really thought about that motor, and it doesn't sound like a bad idea...

 

b20 with a b16 head and your looking at one nice motor. my buddy is currently doing this in his 96 integra. it like taking a d series engine and replacing it with a v6, when swapping in the b20. i love my gutless d15y7(d15b2 bottem end/y7 head), decent gas millage for an untuned 10.7:1 cr engine. no torque ftw!!!