ok i just bought myself a 96 hx. been reading up on the motor and build-ability of it and more than likely decided i'm gonna just swap the motor. but not sure what to get im probably going to a b18b1 if i go dohc and if i stick to sohc not sure on whats the best decision on the motor i should build. Basically im not sure in what direction to take this and the things needed for a swap so figured id get some different points of views on this.

thanks

 

I don't get it. Why'd you buy an HX in the first place if you wanted a fast car? I would have bought a shell instead. Those things are gold right now for mileage. I wouldn't touch it.

If you insist on the swap maybe you better give more details about the use you have for it other than you want to "build it". If you don't know what goes into a swap then check the FAQs.

 

x2

 

well my point exactly the motor in it isn't much of a build me up motor and as far as buying an hx i didnt want a sunroof and didnt want a dx cause i didnt want convert the manual windows to power and put in power stearing and get a new cluster and all that bs. so i figured ill get an hx i would get a y8 head if i didnt swap the motor completely and then put in a turbo after i get all the parts i need to safely turbo it without blowing anything, my goal is to have a strong legit turbo'd civic. and my question was mainly to see what is the best candidate for single cam to put in.

 

youre not going to have strong legit turbo'd civic unless you rebuild the bottom end and the head... a "Legit" turbo would cost 2000+ in the end with a tune with all the work done even on a single cam

buying an HX and swapping it is dumb im sorry but you could sell that thing for more than its worth and could of bought a shell like they said its not that hard to put power locks and windows me and my friend got a set of doors from a civic EX and the cabin harness for it and it didnt take us that long to install everything...

 

Quit telling him what to do with his car. I have an hx and i swapped to a b18c. First off, Do you have the automatic or the manual? I think theres some sort of different mount welded in on the automatic version that makes things very difficult. If you have the manual version like i did you can use all oem mounts and every thing lines up.

The next biggest hurdle is that the HX uses a weird two piece harness, one side for the car and one side for the engine, i believe the integras and other civic models use a three piece harness. This was a huge problem for me, i had to go through the diagrams for the hx plus the diagrams for the b18c and manually figure out where EVERY wire went. If that didnt work i had to trace them with a meter. If you are going to swap it don't do that, its a pain in the ***. I think some one makes some sort of jumper harness for the HX, or you could get a whole new harness. Rywire or Chasebays could help you out.

As far as choosing which motor to go with there not much point in switching to another D series IMO. The HX motor has potential to be fast when turboed. If you want to boost your stock motor Build the bottom end mildly (rings, rods, low comp pistons, headstuds, bearings, port your oil pump, etc). Work on getting your head to flow better and get a custom cam made from somewhere like crower (it will be expensive). The HX has roller rockers which from what i read will allow you to run a very aggressive cam. From what i've read it seems like turbo HX's usually make more torque than power which is interesting. Also your HX has long gears in its transmission if you want accelerate quicker you could get an EX or Si trans, if you really wanted to you could swap the HX 5th gear i believe which would be good for highway cruising.

Also if you swap it then when your done sell your motor to one of these mpg freaks for "lots of gold yo"

 

with a good tune you can make a d series reliable with 200hp daily driven. i had a turbo Z6 for 3 yrs (daily driven)with no problems just keeping up on maintenance is the main thing to keeping it reliable. keeping up on tune ups, oil changes , etcc...Also if u buy a reliable turbo kit will help from replacing parts int he future. i ran the edelbrock turbo kit on mine another turbo kit that wont break the bank would be to look into Goautoworks.com. you don't have to build the bottom end if ur only looking for 200hp the d series motor's are a dime a dozen.

 

If I'm not mistaken he ASKED for opinions on what to do with his car. Just because you don't get all the answers you want doesn't make any of these responses less valid. If he, or YOU, doesn't want to hear it then disregard what was said and substitute it with your own. But don't tell anyone not to respond.

 

my having an Hx set aside whats a good single cam motor to build is my main question. what is a good single cam worth putting the money into i guess that a more valid question?

 

Z6/Y8.

 

its a manual btw

 

Z6/Y8. If you swap the Y8 I would port and shim the oil pump.

 

k so if i go for the y8 can i just put the y8 head on my y5 block? would it take any special modifications?

 

It's called a mini-me. Check the FAqs.

 

If you want to do a sohc turbo setup, here is what I would do:

z6 block
y8 head
y8 IM
Delta 272-2 cam
supertech ti springs/retainers
p&p
3-angle valve job
fj distributors vitara bottom end rebuild
port/shim the stock z6 oil pump
home made turbo kit with the parts you want

tune on s300 and rock out with your **** out

 

It's not just the pump, or the pump at all.

Y8's have 1 oil jounral and the Z6 has 2.



I would not do a single cam at all, but lets not turn this into a debate about which is better.

 

Heck, if it were me I would d a k swap and call it good.

 

D16A
better than the y8/z6
also has VTEC

 

In what way? I wish people would elaborate instead of getting on and essentially say nothing.

 

The d16a only a has a few HP more then a Z6. 3-5 at crank? Doubfull there is that much of a difference at the wheels.

From everything I can find they are bascily the same engine, (d16a,z6).

 

d16A6 has a steel girdle vs all other d series having an aluminum one. as noted above its not the oil pump that spins the bearings its because the y7/y8/y5 only have one oiling hole for the rod bearings as the older D series had 2 oil galleries in the rod journal. ive ran a y8 oil pump un shimmed for 3 yrs with no oil pressure problems for 3 yrs on a z6. the D series is not a weak motor when built correctly it isnt like a D series hasnt went 9's before or pushed over 500hp. its a good motor to build when on a budjet.

 

shell? maybe he needs to be able to drive it as a daily?
like you i got really into the idea of a swap now i have a b18b1...not in the car just sittin in the shed swaps have alot of hidden headaches.
just turbo your D but dont forget to upgrade the internals, buy the time the swap is all said and done (time and money) you could have a pretty respectable and reliable D, and it'll prolly have better numbers that a stock B swap
BUT that only if you do it RIGHT the first time, spoonfedcivic has a pretty solid build plan id prolly go down that road(if i didnt already spend 1200 on parts sittin in storage)

 

Keep HX stock! go buy a fast and furious shell and ruin that.

 

so using the y5 block is probably a no go?

 

haha im good on the whole "fast and the furious" shell idea and if its fast and the furious'd out by my standards its already ruined.