Currently I have a stock D15B7 in my del sol and it burns oil really bad. Right now it gets me around so Im not complaining, but I know eventually I will lose the engine.

So I bought another D15B7 engine and a Z6 head and my plans are to rebuild the bottom end of the D15B7 and put the Z6 head on it to make it VTEC.

My main goal is to have a freshly rebuilt engine with VTEC. And since I am rebuilding the engine any little thing I can do along the way to give me a perofrmance gain I will be doing as well. I am well aware that if I want performance the best thing to do would be to go DOHC with performance cams and all that other crazy ****. I am NOT interested in going DOHC so dont waste time trying to convince me. I have already made up my mind just to do a simple mini me and rebuild the bottom end of the B7.

My only questions are about whether or not buying and installing some performance parts would be worth it. Considering the price I would be paying and the performance I would be gaining. Remember, this car is just going to be a daily driver with an occasional speeding in the fast lane.

1. Is a performance cam worth paying for? Or should I stick with the stock cam? Cheapest one I could find is like $300. And if I bought a performance cam would I have to replace all of the other internals in the head as well?

2. What about all of the other internals in the head such as the valves, valve springs, and retainers? Is replacing all of that with performance aftermarket worth the hundreds of dollars I would be spending on it and would it give me a significant gain?

Is there anything else I should consider for a performance gain that wouldnt cost me a fortune?

My budget for the complete engine rebuild is 3k. And I will be doing most of the work except for the machine work so most of that could be spent on parts.

 

An N/A build on a single cam to make power is EXPENSIVE. You really have no idea HOW expensive. And since I notice that you were sweating a $300 price for a cam, which is not unusual, you might want to re-think what you're doing.

You could build that up, spend THOUSANDS, and someone can come along with a low budget turbo build and blow you out of the water.

Take that $3k do an FJT Vitara build and a pieced together turbo kit with a tune and you'll be more than happy.

 

Okay. What exactly is a "FJT Vitara build"?

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=FJT+...ient=firefox-a
http://fjdistributors.com/index.php

 

If you're going with a Z6 head you should just go with a Z6 everything.

 

read my build thread lol

https://honda-tech.com/forums/all-motor-naturally-aspirated-44/gsr-build-questions-about-clearances-power-cams-2794034/

dont know if i mentioned but my starting budget was 1200 lol

but if you already got a z6 head migh tas well get a 1.6 instead of 1.5 that .01liter still makes a difference.

bigger displacement engines respond better to upgrades like turbo and supercharger, unless youre boosting the sht out of it or revving up to 10-15k theres not muc power.
just because speedfactory set a record on single cam doesnt mean your single cam gonna be fast.

you should see how much it cost them and what they had to do to get there.

 

can i ask whats the reason for staying with single cam?

cuz b16 engine is not that expensive and will still be more fun to drive than d16.

 

1.5 rods are weak. That's your weak point in this motor. I'm not going to try and convince you to go B-series but if you've ever sat in a Civic with even just an LS B18, you'll slap yourself for going D-series.

Turbo is probably the cheapest way to go fast but I'd go with 1.6 bottom end for strength. If you plan to stay N/A, put some rod bolts in that 1.5, cam, springs, retainers, IM, header, exhaust and tune the hell out of it. Make sure you have an EX tranny so it will be more fun to drive.

 

not for nothing here, but Im rebuilding a motor at present...D16 nothing special, just doing a rebuild for my cuz as a first car.

I went with doing it correctly, new OEM honda parts (bought off places like majestic, and ebay etc) not at the stealership.

Anyhow...it turns out EVERYONE was right. By the time I get done replacing the bare minimum---Ill be over the cost of just buying a JDM swap. And buying the JDM swap would take me 1/4 of the time to install.

My reasons for staying AWAY from the B-series was simple....my cuz is irresponsible and doesn't need any faster of a car. So, I kept it D series for reliability and MPG.

My problem is now...I have as much money into a EJ as I would if I had a b16 swap in it.

Regardless though, theoretically I'll have a strong running motor for another 200k in there, and theres not much to go wrong.

I think of it like having a brand new car, disguised in a 15 year old car body. Im sure a 16 year old doesnt though.

Either way, moral of the story...if you want Cheap + Fast....D series isn't that. I understand you said for no-one to convince you to go B series....Let me scream this from the roof top.........to achieve what you want...your going to NEED to go B series. Buy a Cheap B18 from a LS out of a wrecking yard, and toss that in...it'll be under a 1,000. D series under 1k for any performance doesnt exist. Believe me...if you want Ill send you my reciepts....and the car isn't fast. If your belly-aching over a 300 cam...you need to rethink your "performance" anyhow.

On a side note...whenever you buy anything for your car....YOU SHOULD NEVER GO WITH THE CHEAPEST. From oil, to gaskets, to tires, to cams...and everything inbetween......Cheapest just ends up costing you more when you have to rebuy the part and re install it...and therefore buying it 2x.

 

For me it's what I had. If I had money for a swap and boost back then I would have. Now if I had the choice I would have gone H2B.

 

Oh, and just to clarify.....Id stick with the D series as well personally. SOHC are easy to work on...cheaper to replace, theres A TON of parts available.

Just that SOHC dseries and performance aren't in the same stadium.

I think my other car 00 civic ex with stock Y8 is good enough. I mean, Im not making 200hp or anything...but it does 85 mph on the highway no problem...gets on and off Interstates with ease...etc. And gets me 30+ mpg everyday.... and NEVER has a problem.

It isn't Performance in ANYWAY though, lol.

 

I'd have to disagree with this. IMHO the D-series has some really aggravating attributes. Block girdle makes getting at the bottom end a real pain, especially in the car. In my neck of the woods the d-series motors are getting harder to find, unless they're blown up and still inside of a car. B-series are getting just as cheap as d-series, except the transmissions.

I'll give you this though. If you want to go VTEC, D-series is waaaaay easier and cheaper.

 

This. You can buy LS engines for next to nothing, but transmissions still cost money.

I dunno about easier, but it sure is cheaper.

Op I would seriously suggest you look into a low mileage JDM swap before you start building the D-series (even if you buy a JDM D-series) you'll spend less money and be just as far ahead.

 

Honestly I am considering going B series. I figured there was alot more work involved though and alot more expense.

 

For now I am just rebuilding an engine and just for kicks throwing a Z6 head on it because I had one. Like I said my engine is about to die out pretty soon. I think in the long run I will want to go b series but the time and budget I have now wont permit that. And I dont know squat about b series engines.

 

Thanks for the insight. I am doing pretty much exactly what you did. Not only am I wanting a fresh engine to take me another 200k but I also want performance. And thanks to you and the other people who replied I now understand that Im just not going to get the performance aspect out of a d series engine.

 

b 16s are sold for about 1200 bucks

and can be found under a 1000 dollars for complete swap.

not unless you go turbo with d series theres just not as much support in aftermarket parts as for b series.. im sure if you grind a custom profile cam and do headwork you can get it close to b16 numbers since its still a 1.6 both of them but is it worth it.

just make sure you calculate every small part that you gonna use.
down to spark plugs and wires

because it might all add up to alot after all is done lol mine was around 5500 bucks just for parts and thats far from my 1200 dollar budget...

 

What about B18? How much could I expect to pay for a complete swap?

And how does B16 and B18 compare? I read that the B16 head flows better but the B18 block is better for turbo.

 

More displacement, more power. Period.

 

B18 swaps are around 500-800 in NY. Older LS's like pre 95, go for 500 or under. Newer LS's after 95, get up around 800. While you got it out, change the timing belt/water pump (ebay $70) Throw a new headgasket in ($30) get those other gaskets out of the way while its out ($50) valve cover/oil pan/etc...so so so much easier when the engine is out.

Then routine maint (spark plugs/wires/cap rotor/fuel filter...yada yada) and your still under 1k...but damn close.

If you can do the work yourself or with a friend, just factor in 50-100 for beer and pizza to do it, and your at 1100. Thats 1/3 of the 3k you had budgeted. If you change your mind later, you can just toss on a VTEC head for more performance later on.

Truth be told, Im kicking myself for NOT going this route. Now I got a brand new rebuilt D series, thats worth pennies on the dollar. I estimate Ill be into it about 1100 when done. Like I said, I really went all out, and sent it to the machine shop/went with all OEM, yada yada. If I was going to sell it, Id be lucky to get 500 out of it, or.....take a 50 percent loss. If I had went B series, Im sure I could recoup my money.

Oh well....next time. Im sure Ill get another civic, lol.

 

Another thing really that should be done is.....try to meet up with someone that has the same car and the engine you want and go for a ride even as a passenger to make up your mind.

The moment I knew I screwed up was when I went for a ride with a JRSC'ed EJ and realized, how slow the car really was. I think I had the thought that a new "freshened" up motor would somehow be faster then it really was. Not that a y8 is fast in any case, I figured a EJ would be faster if it had a newly rebuilt motor.

It wasn't. 120 hp is 120 hp, even at 100k + miles. The SOHC honda motors are great on gas/reliable as stone/ but man they are dead. My gf had a mazda speed 3 that made my civic feel like she was driving a ferrari. 100hp extra makes a HUGE difference though.

Testing out the cars will save you time and energy. If a b18 isnt enough, maybe a b16 will be, if not...b18c1..etc etc.

 

My personal opinion on this subject stems from doing it myself......
First and foremost, if you are going to use the B7 block, don't bother building it for performance. A simple rebuild for reliability would suffice and not cost anywhere near $3k. I rebuilt a B7 and head and replace everything under the hood (hoses, belts, etc) and it cost me $1500. The mini-me is as far as I would go in regards to upgrading a B7.
Now if you can find a Z6 block to rebuild, that changes everything. There are many more upgrades for a Z6. Even with this, plan what you want to do and build accordingly. No need to put bad *** rods in if you're not doing FI, etc, and vice versa, if you're going FI, look into rods and cupped pistons, etc.
Again, my opinion is to build for reliability unless you're building a track car. That's just me.

 

indeed

if you just gonna rebuild a motor to get by. ebay will be ok(but still expect shitty parts)
my oil pump studs broke when i was tightening them to OEM specs from ebay oil pump.

but if you are building a performance engine stay away from ebay parts.
you might get away with ebay if it doesnt have any moving parts lol, but then it most likely not fit right.
personal experience. i rebuilt 4 engines within last year and definitely a difference between ebay parts and OEM quality parts. had to do same job twice sometimes cuz ebay parts failed.

 

There is no sense in an NA D series build. The only worthwhile D series build is an Eagle/FJT and Vitara turbo setup. There are various other forged pistons, but those are all overkill for most daily drivers.

Another good option is a to swap an LS or LS/VTEC. Either route is fairly inexpensive and delivers a lot more punch than a D series; however, for the price of an LS swap, you could simply turbo your stock D series. In stock form, provided its healthy, you could safely push your stock engine into the 220-240whp range. A simple turbo setup after tuning and everything would run ~$2500-3000 unless you shop around for bargains.

 

So I will do a stock rebuild for the D15B7 engine so that I dont have to worry about my current engine giving out on me.

And then sell my current engine that burns oil really bad.

Then get a B18C1 and rebuild that for performance.

Where is a good place to get good performance parts?