Hello all. I am new to this forum and ave a few questions.

I own a 1998 Honda Civic 4 door automatic. I am bored as all hell with automatic and the lack of horsepower it has. I really want to do a swap. Here are my questions:

Should I change the trany to manual and add a SOHC head to my D16?
Should I swap a B16 into it?

This is my first car, and I don't have any experience with stick, nor do I have any friends willing to let me learn stick in their cars (they dont want me to fry a clutch or grind gears in their babies which is understandable). My reason for wanting to do a swap instead of buying a new car is that my car is still in mint condition (1998 with 101,000 miles) and anything I can find in my price range will not be as clean.

I am a Honda lover, and have grown up all around them (oldest bro went through buying and racing frenzy in the 90's; now owns a clean type-s RSX).

My concerns are that I am new to stick, but I know I can pick it up fast due to complete understanding of how it works as well as a good teacher. My other concern is the gain of horsepower. I have driven many cars with higher horsepower then mine (GS300s, V6 Camrys, ex). Would a B16 be to much power, or the perfect amount? I have 2 and a half years of driving under my belt. (legally that is...)

My budget will be about $1500-$2400 foir anything I do.

 

You need to do a LOT more re-search. b16 to much power ? that just proves it. you'll need to do auto to manual for a vtec b series. you might be able to get a decent b18c1 for 2.4K but then you'r out of you'r budget for the auto to manual and other little things. A b16 feels like a D down low imo and is overrated. you might just want to keep saving till you have 3.5-4K

 

Thanks for the reply. Keep in mind the only car I have experience with is a D16 civic automatic, so going up that much horsepower is somewhat of a concern, but not much (I understand the b16 is far from a K series). Also, I have been seeing tons of b16 swaps with tranny for around $2000 or less with under 100,000 on them. The cost of labor isn't an issue either.

I will look into the b18c1 though.

 

Some Civics came with B16s.

And none of this is serious horsepower.

 

After a little more research, I am not concerned with the horsepower that the B16 makes. My question still stands though; SOHC conversion with manual trans, or B16 Swap with manual trans? B16 = more hp, but larger price. SOHC cheaper, and still can learn stick, yet has way less hp.

 

You answered your own question. Which can you afford and how much horsepower will you settle for? We cannot answer that for you.

 

b16 over a stock sohc any day. ive driven both, numerous different swaps. i personally think b16's are underrated and written off by most of the swap snobs. for a daily driver, it is pretty fun, and there is a TON of aftermarket go fast stuff for it. the head is pretty awesome untouched, but a set of type-r cams sets it off. comes to your budget and how good you are at sourcing good deals.

 

i should add- if all you do is convert to manual, dont waste your time on a y8 head swap. the ex trans is the way to go, hands down, but a mini me is a ton of work for minimal gains.

 

^

Thank you. That is what I figured, but wanted more peoples input. I will probably go the B16 rout.

Now its time to find a good deal on a B16 swap... Ebay had a clean one for $1750, which is the lowest price I have seen so far. Hopefully I can find a better deal in the next 5 months...

eghatch9295, you for your input.

 

So after you buy the swap, you understand how much fun you are going to have converting it to manual right?

 

Im in the same situation you are man as in swapin b series an coverting to manual from auto. Im going b18c1 ive already taken out all d16 an jusr waiting on few more parts then il be swappin the gsr in. If I were you just do research on all swaps to get a good idea of everything and all the possiblities from b18, b16, b20v, lsv, etc. Do something your gonna love cuz your the one driving it. If your doing a b series swap coverting to stick wont be as rough so id suggest doing both b swap an manual swap good luck on your project

 

tigerjapanese.com or hmo are both reputable. auto to manual is not that hard, ignore everyone saying it is. youll probably save money buying a trans locally and ordering a motor.

 

There is a Honda salvage yard just down the street from my work (Blue Motors) so I will be getting a lot of my stuff there. Most of my brothers friends either still work on Hondas, or have all the tools/knowledge required, so I'm not stressing on the labor end.

I'm thinking of piecing together the swap slowly, to get the best deals on parts. That should be the best way to stay within my budget.