Can someone recommend some performance options for a 91 Civic DX Hatchback, with a 1.5L SOHC Engine ? My son's first car, and he has about $1000 to spend...ideas ?

Thanks,

Craig

 

I'd say if he's just starting out, the basic boltons will do. Get a nice Intake and exhaust, maybe a header. Or just save that money and later on swap a b18 in there for a better base to work off of.

 

I would not worry about performance options yet...

Full tune-up When was the timing belt changed?
Get the brakes checked Both pads and master cylinder.
How are the tires?
Clutch and axles, Does it click around tight corners?
How are the bushings? as in the rear trailing arm?
Full fluid change Brakes, tranny, coolant, oil.

Get the car in good driving condition first before any performance options SAFETY FIRST!!!!
If this is your sons car?

Performance wise, an MPFI swap from the DPFI manifold and throttle body
Then a header and full exhaust. If you have the money a motor swap of your liking.

A good name brand struts and springs. You can lower it a bit if you want here.
Performance tires and rims

And by the way This is the 1988 and older forum. AKA: Classic's forum. You should post in the CRX forum.

 

WOW...EXCELLENT ! Thanks for all the tips. YES...ABSOLUTELY "SAFETY FIRST" ! Especially when it comes to my son. We have already changed to new rims and tires, new brake rotors / pads, brakes shoes, struts / springs are good, steering and lights are good. Replaced the front windshield, and general cleaning and lube where necessary. CV joints don't make any noise and feel tight. Tranny is tight as well, and clutch doesn't slip under a load (although that is next on my list for replacement...just because).

I was just trying to get an idea of potential add-ons, or replacement items for a little "boost" in performance so I could show him an idea of cost and hopefully he could prioritize "needs" vs "wants". But to the 16-year-old brain, he could give a sh_t...he just wants FAST LOL !

In another forum, I'm troubleshooting a rough idle at low RPM problem. When we get that figured out and fixed, and if there is any money left, I think we'll go with an exhaust and air intake system first. But you mentioned a MPFI...is there a bolt-on system to replace the stock DPFI ? Do you know if the later model 1.6L that already has the MPFI will fit ? Also, when swapping engines, what kind of mod is required for the 1.8L upgrade ?

Thanks for the advice and help.

Craig

 

going for a good exhaust and intake should be the first thing after the basic brakes, suspension have been handled. again as mentioned above the safety feature should be the first. you would not want a car which is pushing to 120-130mph with poor handling. i myself did a bit of a tuning in my 91 civic. you have so many options in these cars that you are actually spoiled. i would be posting pics of my final tuning in a few days.

 

Try posting in the correct forum...

 

First, post in the correct forum please this is for classic pre-88 hondas.

Second, dont even think about swapping engines. Its his first car, just do normal stuff...intake header exhaust. There are MANY MANY MANY people on this forum who should not be giving advice....

 

No there is not a direct "bolt on" system to change this. The easiest way for you to do this would be to get an intake manifold, throttle body, fuel rail, and ecu from an 88-91 civic/crx si. Then you need to convert your factory engine and chassis wiring harness.

If you look in the FAQ's there is a lot of info that will cover most of your questions. Here is the link that shows how to do the dpfi-mpfi conversion.

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=639552

Good luck.

 

this section is for 88-91




Id start by doing whats called a MPFI swap.

A new intake manifold, switch from 2 injectors to the nnormal 4, and the result is a faster motor, better gas mileage at cruising, and it lets the car breathe and sound better.

 

the original post was in the pre 88 forum. it was later moved to the ef forum.

 

oh

most mods/admins post they did as such

 

as was said, no direct-bolt on kit persay, but it is fairly simple to do.

http://hondaswap.com/swap-articles/d...writeup-49557/

https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-crx-ef-civic-1988-1991-3/detailed-b-series-into-crx-ef-civic-parts-list-more-2769325/

the 1.8l engines are referred to as b18's because there block stamps say b18 and a letter and number combo that follows. the cheapest and most common b-series swap is a b18a1 or b18b1 swap, aka ls swap. they are cheap in comparison to a gsr engine (b18c1) or type r engine (b18c5).

 

If you want a bolt in style MPFI swap, you must find a 88-91 crx or civic SI.

They came with a d16a6 that had the traditional plenum style manifold with an injector for each cylinder.

The crx hf's came with mpfi, but the wiring pinouts are different, and can be difficult as one year was different from the next sometimes.


Starting with the ecu, work back to teh engine harness.

Its easier to find an SI chassis to yank everything from.

Wiring will fit in teh same locations as your DPFI equipped chassis.


I would estimate ecu + wiring + engine harness to be in teh neighborhood of 150 bucks from a honda person, or upwards of 500 from an ******* greedy junkyard


If you need an intake manifold, I have a d15b7 whihc is a close or exact match of the d16a6 manifold, and a d16z6 intake manifold that flows much better and is suited for performance over the gasping d15b7 manifold.

PM me if you have any more questions

If you wanna see parts orientation, or simply get a feel for the differences, here is a honda dealership website. I have bought parts from them in teh past, and I actually use their website quite often when I am helping people understand various differences

www. my honda parts store .com

REmove the spaces

 

My opinion.....

Assuming the car is a good and safe car to start with and you have $1000 to spend, i wouldn't put any money into the sohc engine

I would find a B18A from a 1990-91 Integra. Get the engine, transmission, ecu, axels and shift linkage. You can find setups like this for about $500

Spend the rest of the money on a set of engine mounts, new clutch, cap/rotor, plugs, mics gaskets

You will go from a torqueless 1.5L sohc with 91hp to a strong 1.8L dohc with 130hp and tq to back it up. There is no money you could spend on a sohc engine that would give even close to that much performance for your money spent

 

The b series motors have crappy combustion chamber design.

a d15b2/d15b7 blcok with stock flattop PM3 pistons, slightly shaved d16y8 head, d16y7 valvetrain, flatvalves,, mild turbo regrind, and d16z6 intake manifold with an ebay header and straight 2" exhaust netted me about 125whp

basically, headswap and valvetrain swap, no tuning.


Much more cost effective then a B series swap.

He will NEED to do the MPFI swap regardless.

That alone will satisfy his performance craze for a short time.

If a B series swap is gonan happen, here is how I would do it

90-2001 B18 non vtec. all the blocks are the same, minus the newer 92+ blocks being tapped for extra sensors.

ebay header

head shave

thinner headgasket

Brings that to around 120-130whp depending on health of motor.





(fun fact, which is cheaper? lol)

 

cant you also take the the dpfi from a 4 door civic? those also have the d16a6
you can also turbo your car(yeah i said it!)

 

only 4 dr civics that came with the d16 were the 90-91 4dr ex's, and they weren't dpfi they were mpfi. all others came with the dpfi d15's

 

save up for a ls b18a1 or b1 engine swap... not that much to spend on those swaps either!! but before then...

ur not going to get much performance out of that d15.. trust me i got proof of a stock dx hatch same motor that dyno at 44whp!

i say just get the car looking more clean then trying to try to make that 1.5L fast..

 

huh? please elaborate will you..

so it's like what, equivalent to a stock z6/y8 now? i think everyone would agree that they are not fast. and of course, you're still lacking in the torque category.

in what way? if you just want a little more power and don't feel like swapping then by all means doing a mini-me is a great idea. if however you want the best bang for your buck, i feel you'd be better off moving to a platform that makes more power stock, responds better to mods, and can handle a lot more power when boosted in stock trim.

i've done a mini-me swap, and i've also done an ls swap. looking back on it, i would not have wasted the time or effort on the d if i could do it over again. the money would have been better spent towards the b swap. that's my 2 cents anyway

 

im going to add in my 2 cents aswell... basic bolt ons on a non vtec(ls b18, a or b) will not give u 130whp... at the crank u will probaly get 140 most out of just basics.... now how much would u spend on that little singles of urs compare to just buying a ls motor and swap it in? where i live... its cheaper to swap in a ls motor then to try to build up a sohc to try to match it to stock b16 crank hp... and lacks the tq that a basic ls swap can give ya...


u got netted 125whp with all those mods? and how much did u spend on ur build? lol my ls can make lil over 125whp umder 200$ if not less in my lil crx

 

Im going to break this down

Doing a minime is better cost to performance then a B series.


Average B18 swap will be 500 bucks for nonvtec, 1500+ for vtec B series

He does the MPFI swap from the following cars

88-91 crx SI
88-91 CRX HF
88-91 civic SI
88-91 civic EX 4dr

now he will have an OBD0 d15b7 running jsut fine on a d16a6 ecu

He can swap in the camshaft from a d16a6

Now he is beating stock d16a6's due to having more compression. He will be making roughly 85whp

Do a mini me like me, I did a d16y8 hgead, with teh valvetrain of a d16y7. Now he has the compression benefit of 10.65 with a z6/y8 headgasket, or a lower 10.35 with a stock d15b7 headgasket

With teh d16y7 valvetrain, he wont have to **** with vtec, which is NOT a performance adder. vtec is simply a low and midrange helper THATS IT.

Head porting is ****ing stupid with stock cams, so he can simply port MATCH the gaskets

Now he will be sitting aroung 120 with the lower compression headgasket.


Break this down into a list


Stock d15b2 setup.

MPFI swap from above listed d16a6 vehicles

D16A6 camshaft form above vehicles, combine with d16y7 or d16y8 camgear for proper timing

D16y8 head from 96-00 civic EX and 96-97 del sol SI

D16y7 valvetrain, sourced from 96-00 civic DX and LX, and 96-97 del sol S

He can run it on teh stock d16a6 ecu, with some playing around with the distributor (movement changes mechanical timing) and run premium gas (91+ octane)


He can choose to run OBD1 for tuning options. 10-50 for a P06 ecu from any d15b7 equipped car. If he decides to go the vtec route with the d16y8 head, he can urun a P28

cost of conversion to OBD1 depends on ecu. with P06, expect around $200 bucks all said and done. P28s run more, so expect extra 40-50

Chgipping is 35 bucks, ecu sent to shop and shipped back chipped and stock basemap.

pay a tuner 50 bucks to make the motor reliable under the new higr compression

 

Prices from memory
MPFI SWAP:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
$25-75 D16a6 camshaft (OPTIONAL)

$50 d16a6 distributor

$0-150 all wiring from ecu to motor, including engine harness

$15-40 fully loaded intake manifold, fuel rail, injectors, everything associated

$10-40 d16a6 ecu

without cam, that is approx 75-280

with cam 100-335

These prices are very generous, meaning they are higehr then you would most likely pay.

JJunkyards are a hit or miss. sometimes they give you a fair price, otehrs will be dicks.

I had a junkyard tag 650 on a cable DX tranny for my first d15b2 equipped civic.

Ive had another charge me 50 for a si tranny from the d16a6 (GOOD FACTORY UPGRADE


SI trannies are great! must stay cable for ease of vbolt in ability

 

So let me get this right some of you are saying go with a B18 some say d15/with a vtec head=minime. if it were me go with the b18a case closed 1000 dollars can swap that motor in all day long. The reason I say B18a is because its a better platform to start with and it dosent have over heating problems like a minime swap plus you get about the same power as the minime with a stock motor and you can still up the performance on the b18a with simple bolt ons. And it looks bad *** compared to a sohc

 

b18 has more POTENTIAL

he still has tp spend money on the MPFI swap to even be able to swap

vtec heads are power adders ONLY becaust they have better flow and increase compression.

The vtec motors make compression with the ehad. the d15 makes compression with its piston (FLATTOP)

the combo means instead of stock 9.1 or 9.2 compression, you get 10:1 +

 

Your damn right it does! I can tell your a d series lover I had lots of them, more than you, a lot more! That being said though, the OP is better of with a swap to a better base....it is better in "every" way..........

-The engine design B18A is physically stronger than any d series, that why people love them for boost
- the dohc head, stock for stock against a sohc flows 30% more air! An engine is a big air pump, them more air you flow, the more power you make

- TORQUE!!!!!! I can't stress it enough, it's a good thing!

- the tranny uses a intermediate shaft design, allowing you to use "equal" length axles.....yup, less torque steer under load!!

As i mentioned earlier, a B18A swap can be had for as low as $500....it's one of the best deals out there for the $$