Hello Gentlemen

As you can see by my post count, I’m a pretty new to the forums but not to the car community. I’m seeking a little bit of knowledge and info, I recently had this 1997 Civic Honda DX inherited to me. Instead of selling I thought I make a fun daily driver car to enjoy myself. The car has 340,000 miles and needs a new headgasket.

My goal is to get atleast a USDM B16a2 with w/ Hydraulic Tranny.
My concerns are where would be a reliable place to source the engine and trans (located in Socal)
What would be the a bark park price to get the motor and tranny swapped, including parts and labor.
Here are a few pictures of the car.
Its not the best looking car, but with time I plan to revive this car.





And just for fun, here is a pic of my current pride and joy.


All useful help is appreciated.

Thank you in advance
Jesse

 

Get a B18c1 a lot better than a b16 the b16 has 3-4 more ftlbs of tq then a d-series motor. Price range for a gsr is about 2K gice or take for a healthy one. as for labour i'd say DIY, swapping one in is very simple assuming you do your own work on your Subaru. but HMO is a good place to get engine from or a local importer

 

Thank you for your opinion I will consider a B18c1 I've done the most of the work on my WRX myself. My concern is the wiring harness and ECU would it be straight plug and play? or do I have to splice wires and make new harnesses?

 

Won't be plug and play but for the wiring
https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-civic-del-sol-1992-2000-1/92-00-honda-engine-swap-wiring-guide-vtec-non-vtec-2987229/

 

Thanks for the link, defiantly some info I'll have to go over.

 

socal, why bother with a swap, from being on this board itseems like cops just want to take civics in socal.

i'd go for a b20z, they seem like fun.

 

thats a pretty clean looking bodyshell...I guess white paint is just harder and longer lasting, no clear coat to peel.

 

I believe that is sorta of a misconception, I believe if your attract yourself to get the cops attention you will (e.i fartcan exhaust, poping vtec, burnouts, loud music), I've my WRX for 6 years, running a full turboback exhaust and I've never been pulled over or have been sent to a refer for inspection. I'll be looking out for thieves than cops.

B20 is a good motor, but its a bit of a overkill for what I need. Thanks for the suggestion.


Yes its in great shape, its a one owner car from a older lady. It just needs a better motor, bushing and suspension upgrades.

 

Here is a shop in so cal that has a good rep.
If you want them to do it for you then you'll pay for the work done.
They have been around a while now and I have never seen a car come out of there that isnt 100%

http://www.swapshopracing.com/contents/en-us/d982.html

 

Thanks for recommendation, I just sent them an e-mail.

 

I am just a little concerned....I always thought if you did a swap you can only have it pass smog if the engine was same year or newer, and in the case of B16A it was not sold in 96 and up USDM civics...so how do you plan to have it pass smog?

 

B20B from HMotorsOnline with an LS tranny. These are great for DD status and you wont have to wire anything.

Motor is $650
timing belt kit with every gasket and seal plus water pump and tensioner
Tranny can be had for around $500
Fidanza flywheel, Exedy clutch around $300 for the pair
LS intake manifold you can find used for between 50 and 75 and in most cases they will have good injectors, the throttle body and the IACV on them.
header take your pick man, any LS compatible one will do, with the DX the CAT is in the header so you will need the CAT from an LS integra or EX Civic and the entire exhaust from an EX Sedan or coupe. (Si will work as well)
Mounts Avis are OK but if I had it to do all over again I would just go with Hasport.
Axles. If you go with an LS tranny you will need LS half shaft and axles GSR is slightly different just match axles and half shaft to tranny


The plugs on the B20B with that head all match what you will find on the DX harness. So that is a no brainer. Don't worry about the lower mounts on the front of the block and tranny. If you use stiff motor mounts like AVID or Hasport you don't need the front ones. If you want to keep your AC you will need the bracket out of a Del Sol that had a B16. This will mate to your Civic compressor. You can also use the power steering pump from an integra with the lines form your civic.

you will also need and Integra or Civic Si shift linkage.

Aside from just buying a full swap setup form an LS this is the easiest and IMO best route to go. you can use a P75 OBD2a ECU, all the plugs match.

My got t boned and now sits in my buddy's garage while I finish this deployment. The plan was to get an OBD1 jumper harness and get it mildly tunes to get a touch more power and be done with it. Then when its inspection time just slap the OEM P75 back in.

Even OEM this feels great on the highway. Great torque compared to other B series motors and the longer gearing of the LS trans helped with four gear passing on two lanes.

I have a build thread on here that covers some of this. It also cover some Auto to Manual wiring I had to do on mine.

Also I'm in North Carolina so while we do have to pass emissions testing we don't have a lot of the freaky rules you guys do. Make sure you can even mate that motor to that chassis first.

 

Motor
http://www.hmotorsonline.com/shop/sc...age&item=30028
Del Sol AC Bracket
http://compare.ebay.com/like/120432017574?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbaryou will also need an Si rear "t" bracket for what ever route you choose I forgot about that
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Genuine-OEM-...907#vi-content
Mounts
http://hasport.com/store/index.php/ekstk.html

The other thing to remember is the flywheel and flex-plate bolts. I bought new ARP ones. If there is a flex plate on the motor when you get it you can't use those bolts to mount the flywheel to the crank. they are a different length.

This is alot of info at once but I researched for awhile and got bad info and bought **** I didn't need when I did mine. Just trying to save you the heart ache if you choose to go this route.

 

we have visual inspection...it would be hard if the tech noticed a b20 in a civic since b20 is a light truck engine........

http://forums.g2ic.com/showthread.ph...-legal-in-cali

 

Someone correct me if im wrong, but you can use older B16A motor is you get the all the correct sensors working in order.

 

Well **** that then. Sorry. You can do the same for the B18B though and still drop it in and use P75 ECU without wiring anything.