I recently acquired a 89 Civic Si for CHEAP. The head gasket blew and burnt a couple of valves.

So, anyway, the car has 325k on it, and the previous owner took the head off and didn't put oil on the sleeves so they are rusted now.

Would it be worth rebuilding, or should I just buy a ZC longblock from hmotors? I figure the cost will be roughly the same.

Any input is welcomed. I'm new to EF's.

 

A zc longbock from hmotors sounds like the best option. It has lower miles, more power, and nothing wrong with it to worry about. I got head damage from a broken timing belt and the problems kept coming.

If it were my choice, I would just go B series. It's the most common motor swap, but far more costly if done the right way.

 

Depends what you are trying to do.

If you are building a beater then toss whatever cheap motor you can.

If you want something that will be reliable for some time then rebuild whatever you go with.
The A6 might work just fine - have a machine shop check out the sleeves to see if the rust is deep and pitted or if they can bore/hone and save it.
The engines are 20 years old and all could use some freshening up.

Not even sure how B-series found it's way into the thread.

 

The car will basically just be daily driven, I want it to look stock-ish. Just lowered a tad with a nice set of wheels.

The motor in it now has already blown a headgasket and burn a couple valves. So a rebuild is the only option I see, but I don't feel like having the down time to do that.

Bseries is out of the picture. Too expensive for what I want to do with the car.

 

A6 now sounds like it's even more trashed.
I wouldn't bother trying to rebuild that.

Is OBD1 out of the question as well?
How about a z6, or the zc variant, with a refresh/rebuild?
Vtec (as played out as it sounds) adds a bit of fun to a rather lack-luster motor.

 

Thought about a z6, but not sure about all the extra wiring.

edit* Looks like RYwire makes a complete conversion kit and I found a low mile z6 longblock locally for $300. Might just go that route.

 

The extra wiring seems intimidating, but its really not.
Basically plug a "jumper" harness in to convert the wires from the OBD1 ECU to match up with the wires on the stock A6 engine harness.

Try messaging this guy
https://honda-tech.com/forums/members/crx_si-r-999500162/
He's legit and has helped quite a few people on this site with less expensive harnesses.

 

Thanks!

Also, does anyone know which bracket I will need to mount my AC Compressor? Would I just use the one on my a6 or the z6 one?

 

Which A/C compressor do you have?
Sanden or Matsushita?

Sanden compressor and bracket from A6 will bolt right up.
Not sure if the Matsushita does.

 

Good question. No clue! I'll look at it this weekend when I get back to my parents, where the car is parked.

 

I would say screw the ZC motor. If your going that route you might as well get a B18A1 swap and drop it in. Its still OBD0 and provides better torque and power than the ZC.

 

if it costs the same to buy a USED engine (even from a reputable vendor) or have your engine rebuilt with NEW bearings, rings, seals and gaskets....i would go with the rebuild, plus you can put some better pistons in there and so on...

 

oh yeah and your down time can be as little as week if you have a decent machine shop. i know the one i am going to use was telling me as little as 2-3 days for a shortblock build.

 

Dooooood rebuild the a6 pal.

We spent $400 rebuilding an a6 and it made 135whp.
Was pretty peppy and hold it's grown well with b16 & ls swapped civic.

honing, deck, 76mm p29, arp rod bolts, recondition rods ends, polished crank, new barings, seals, hg, oil pan, valve job, reface valve, adjustable cam gear, mild cam liked delta 272, rocket, bisi, exospeed , decent header and your good to go.

 

Seems like a lot more than $400 to do all that...I'm just going to go with a z6 longblock for now. It's just going to be a DD once I get it running.

I have a 93 DX HB that is my "fun" car.