Yo Techies
Please be kind I need your advice.
I have an 88 HF new to me burning oil at 250k not the valve seals

I LOVE THE HF AND THE MILAGE! I don't need lots of HP but a few extra would be ok

option A
hone cylinders , new rings , and go
option B
drop in a d16a6 (needs work to be ready to drop in must change crank everything else is new)
Option C
drop in a d15b7 with 145K
change the diz and Go

A Mechanic friend told me long ago to keep the hf engine if i ever got one because the technology was so good in them.? but it seems to me there is no t much to loose by putting in B or C , i gain lots of HP over the 62 that the d15b6 came with , yet i am nostalgic and kind of want to fix it as is original.
In my mind either swap would not add any weight, and as long as I have the HF tranny my mileage should remain high. correct?

Cost is an issue for me but see few expenses on any of these options.

please let me know what you think
God Bless
Brian

 

an ls with an ls tranny gets about 39 for me but then the b16 went in and droped to like 28 lol

 

i'm not following, did you mean a si w si tranny?
why the big drop?

 

i would stick with the hf engine if you arent going to change the transmission. that hf trans combo'd with any engine will still be slow.
btw you would lose mileage once you drop in either engine. (hf = 8valve as for dx/si = 16valve)

 

So you are saying at least some of the economy is tied to the head/16v more in more out = less efficient.! I was trying to figure out if that was indeed true? It probably would then have much to do w how it was driven?
Brian

 

well let me tell u ...

u will get some more power from the a6... but u will lose that mileage but not by alot...

i am not accurate with my mileage... but when i had my b18a1 in my hf ... i filled up the tank which is 10 gallons i believe? 24$

went down to omaha... a 4 hour drive... i arrive with over half a tank of gas which is probably 6-7

so wat im trying to say is... if you put a good mileage motor, but yet alot more stronger... it takes less load, and by load i mean less gas useage to get up to speed. which willl get you to your destination without burning as much fuel as it would be needed in the original car

 

I had an 89 Hf getting about 45 city and a lil over 50 highway and burning oil. Had some issues, and dropped in a d16a6 in great shape and get about mid 30's freeway and city. Had a d15b7 in a 95 civic 4 door with boltons, a chip and cam; was getting high 30's freeway.

I now have a 91 HF and 89 HF with a d16a6. The D16a6 is of course faster, but I use the HF for most of my daily driving, it has plenty of spunk for its 180,000 after its original 62 hp rating.

39 mpg's with an ls or get slightly less mpg's with a d16a6 than the d15b6, is great for you guys. But a note to the OP that these are most likely not your normal results.

Also, you're gonna need a new ecu if you swap motors. It'll run like **** with an HF computer and should throw egr codes, you'll also need to change out the sensor on the firewall for the d16a6. For a d15b7 you will at the least need to do the same, and I have no idea how that will run. And like said before running the hf tranny will most likely be VERY sluggish.

 

Thanks SOHCwarrior
Good info, I didn't factor in the ecu change, that weighs heavy on my decision, it's probably no prob for most of you guys , but i don't want to complicate matters past my ability. nice to find someone who has done my exact options, Thanks
GB
Brian

 

no an b18a with an ls tranny which is what comes stock in tegs then i put a b16 in and the mpg droped

 

I agree with ef yu. Anything that you put in that car even with the HF trans is not going to get you the mileage of a D15B6. I have a 91 HF and I get about 47 around town with ethanol free gas and tires slightly overinflated, while last time I took a trip down to portland and back I achieved a panty dropping 64.1 MPGs. Yes, all the girls are impressed with my mpgs.

but if you put a warm air intake on your HF you would get a couple more HPs and might even boost your MPGs too. I am not talking about a short ram but a Warm air intake. Also if you put some lightweight wheels on (I don't know if anything is lighter than the stock HF wheels but I may be wrong) and some goodyear fuelmax tires, and then also went with ethanol free gas you would have more power without sacrificing the MPGs. Now I am not gonna BS you and say that it will kick you back in your seat or anything like that, but it will be slightly better.

 

do they even make e85 free gas anymore?

 

99.9% of the stations on the US are laced with 10% ethanol. Now the EPA is trying to get gas to go up to 15% ethanol. If you go to puregas.org you can select your state and you can find some stations that still carry ethanol-free gas. I have to drive 15 miles outside of town just to get it but it is worth it. My mileage in my CRX and my Kia both went up.

 

OK theft24 I get you now thanks

 

forgot to mention that i had a 89 hf with a 90 D15b2 engine. getting about 33-35mpg city+highway on the d15b2/hf trans

 

THANKS ef yu AND CRXREFIC AND vg_Ace
So new rings it is, thanks for th input!
now
The tech in HF's is not new but was advanced for the day and different enough that i have been told to double check when getting many hf parts because they are different from the DX-SI majority out there. the right rings were hard to find, but Rod bearings seem to be harder to find (at least hard to find a parts store that will say 100% that these are the right ones) , and i want to be sure!

Does any one know a good source for rings and rod bearings?
Thanks Brian

 

mini-me ftw!!! i have one in my 88 CRX and love it...kind a of a bastard child D15B7 bottom with Z6 head and Y8 intake mani with a tuned P28. she runs great and gets great gas mileage.

 

Option A!

Before my hf engine died (310k) i was getting 45mpg with an si tranny. Before the hf tranny died (285k) i was getting around 50mpg city&highway.

 

if youd like to keep the mpg up as much as possible with a slight accel increase, rebuild the original motor and swap in a dx transmission. if you short shift, you could emulate your gearing in the hf trans and get the same mileage around town. your 5th gear would jump to .771 from.694, and final drive would change to 3.8 from 2.9 (49 state) or 3.2(cali). i dont know if you would be able to keep it in lean burn mode (below 2500 rpm) at highway speeds though which accounts for so much of this cars mpg.

 

well I would suggest going by a machine shop. When i was rebuilding my HF motor I could not find bearings or rings at ANY major parts stores. Autozone, cut rate, schucks, all of them could not find the right part. Their computers told them that the DX and HF bearings and rings were the same, NOT TRUE. They are different. I eventually had to go back to the machine shop and order the right ones. Go to a machine shop and then if you still can't find the right ones PM me and I will call my machine shop guy and ask him if he still has my info in the system. If so I can tell you what part numbers and where to order them.

 

HF is nice but if you are going to do a engine swap you might as well just drop a 2.0 in it with a turbo if you can find one and go to town... heh

 

I LOVE THE HF AND THE MILAGE! I don't need lots of HP but a few extra would be ok.
This was in the first post by the OP.
A B20 with a turbo is not a few extra HP...(especially when stepping up from 62)
Hooked on phonics helps with reading comprehension I've heard.....