I have a 97 civic coupe that I have totally gutted, repainting everything, and pretty much building from the ground up on a budget. I dd a 98 crv so I can take my time on the coupe, anyways I've been looking at engine swaps and I'd love a b18c type r swap with the lsd but I've been looking on craigslist and Hmotorsonline and everything I see is out of my price range, I'm looking for something I can possibly push 225whp out of but if its lower it's not a big deal, I'm keeping it na becusse I want a reliable build that I can drive in the summer and not worry about something happening. this guy gave me a deal on a b16a2 block and tranny for $450. I could find a head and everything else I need used for cheap. would a b16a2 be a good swap for a reliable summer car that I can beat on and have some fun with? I'm not looking for anything competitive just having fun is all. I've heard the trannys are terrible on the highway as well, is that true? this is my first swap and I'm pretty new to the honda game... I just want to do it right the first time and be happy with it. any suggestions? any help is appreciated

 

its boring if you don't build it, and since you don't have a budget for a b18c motor I"m not sure what it is you really want.

 

im willing to build the b16, I would love to have a b18c but I don't have the money for that and the b16 block and tranny for $450 is a good deal in my opinion. I would keep it non turbo just do forged internals and Bolt ons, my main concern is the tranny... I don't want to get the b16 tranny if its going to be annoying to drive after awhile. I don't have a loud exhaust so noise won't be an issue

 

Then on the other hand I can get a full d16y8 swap from my local scrap yard and have enough money to build that, I just want something that gets up and goes when I want to have some fun. I'm not into crazy k swaps or anything I just like cruising the curvy backroads..

 

Not going to happen, my man. I'm sorry.

Could you build a 225WHP b-series? Yes.
Will be it cheap? Not even a chance.
Will it be reliable? Depends on your definition of reliable.
Will it need race gas or E85? Likely.
Will it run and drive like a normal motor when you're just cruising? No.

I think you've set you goals far beyond what you think is needed or possible for a street-driven Honda. Sure, the internet is rife with 210+ whp NA b-series cars, but I'll let you in a on a secret: they suck to drive in all but a ***** out manner. They idle like ****, they suck at low rpm, they're loud, they run hot, the require custom tunes and retunes all the time. It's just not worth it. I think for most people in most NORMAL driving situations, a near stock B16A to B18C1 in a civic is plenty fun, quick and reliable. Maybe drive a mildly or even stock swapped civic before you set your sights beyond 200whp.

My current swapped civic is a B16A2 from a 2000 Si in my 97 LX I built. It's virtually stock including cat converter and running a stock OBD2a P30 ECU. Only mods are an ARC intake, Apex WSII exhaust and Koyorad dual core radiator. It's by far the most reliable swapped civic I've ever owned. It doesn't skip a beat no matter how hard I drive it even with the A/C on in 95º weather. For daily driving, it's perfectly reliable and quick enough to have a lot of fun in the twists on the way home. If I had to guess, it's probably putting at most 140-145hp to the wheels.

All I'm saying is build what you really want, for sure. Understand that 225 on an NA b-series is a lot to ask for reliably and is a TON of power for a light, swapped civic on the street.

 

that sounds perfect to me, maybe 225hp is to much to ask, your totally right. how is your b16a2? it sounds like you like it... is it okay on the highway with the trannys having short gearing? also did you convert to lsd or fully stock tranny? what your explaining sounds perfect for what im looking for. just a reliable, quick car for back roads. also what kind ofd fuel do you use? 93 pump gas? also is your block fully stock and you beat on it? if i go with the b16a2 should i upgrade to forged internals while its all apart? thanks for your response as well.

 

This is my 7th swapped civic and fourth B16A over the last ~22 years so know what to expect with most swaps. I love the B16A. It's the least powerful of the B series VTEC engines, but it's a super fun engine to wind out.

Here's a breakdown to your questions:

Gearing? It's short, very short. I'm running the stock 99-2000 Si trans. With a stock or near quiet exhaust, however, it's perfectly fine. You need to get used to the unnaturally feeling high RPMs, but once you realize that a B16A, and to a lesser extent the B18A/B/Cs, all have a very low rod:stroke ratio and are perfectly fine to sit at 3500-4500 on the freeway. In my late 30s now and not caring about .2 seconds at the drag strip so I've opted to gut my car, install heavy sound deadening and fully cover the inside with Dynamat then reinstall everything so the car on the freeway with the windows up is very quiet.

LSD? Not yet. I've been waiting for a good used Type R trans to pop up. For everyday regular driving I don't miss it, but in the bends, especially on corner exit, a good LSD is incredible.

Fuel? I run 92, which is what's available in Oregon. I've run B16As on anything from 87 to 100. So if you're in a place where 91 is all you get, that's perfectly fine.

Stock block? Yup, 100%. The B16A was a very well designed motor. Great rod:stoke ratio for low-stress high revving, piston skirt oil squirters, beefy little rods and well-cast pistons. All in all, if it was well taken care of a late 90s B16A it will still handle 8200rpm pulls daily without batting an eye.

If this is your first swap, I would start there. They're cheap and easy to swap and have virtually all the components required to making serious power down the road if you feel the need. Once you have it all in and running correctly, it's a very easy transition then to a LS / B20 VTEC, Poor Man's Type R etc.

 

i think im gonna go with it then, do you think $400 for a stock b16a2 block and tranny is a good deal? then i can get a head, ecu and harness elsewhere, this guy on craigslist said he would take $400 for the block and tranny i talked him down from $550. ive worked with the b series a good bit, ive done just about everything to my 98 honda crv, 206k miles still runs great lol the b16 sounds like a good, reliable, fun engine for beginners and people with more experience as well, if anyone has a head they are willing to sell im located in NY, also i have my car gutted at the moment and im installing all sound deading mats in the front of the car, roof, and doors, but i plan on keeping the back gutted. i know its totally unnecessary, im not doing it for performance purposes i just like the concept and the clean look of it

 

^^ also the block has the pistons, rods, crank, all that. regardless im still gonna rebuild it, new seals, rings, a good cleaning, maybe get a quote for a crank balance at the machine shop in my town

 

I mean, you have a few options.

What I would do is a buy the trans from the guy if you feel you can trust it's good.

Then I would just buy a full 96+ B16A. I would think after taking apart the B16A bottom end, buying new bearings, head, gasket set, head bolts, intake manifold, throttle body and all the various other sensors, nuts and bolts plus machine work for the block and head, you'd be way over the cost of just buying a good low-miles complete engine. Seriously. It'll be cheaper to just buy a motor complete and will probably be in better condition. It may honestly be cheaper to just buy a full swap than his $400 trans and a complete motor. When it comes to these swaps, it's WAY more cost effective to buy as a whole then piece things together.

A good swap will come with longblock, clutch, flywheel, transmission, intake manifold, throttle body, sensors, harness (can't be used if it's JDM/EDM but good for spares), mid-shaft, axels, ECU, starter, distributor, etc. All that stuff bought individually, even if used, will nickel and dime your project to death. It's best to just save and buy a whole swap later than jump in now and start piecing it together.

As for the harness, you can use your stock one if you get 96+ B16A. It will just need a few small modifications, but will mostly be plug and play.

 

okay, cool.. thanks for the pointers... is Hmotorsonline a reliable source? soo all together i would need a b16a2 jdm complete swap, then separately buy a harness and ecu? then what just do the timing belt/ water pump and get all new seals for it and clean it up real good before dropping it in? or is there more that i should do before putting it in? should i just get a new clutch while its out and save myself the frustration later down the road?

 

gsr block + b16 head= poorman's type r. b16 transmission is short, short but fun.

 

 

i guess i have some thinking to do... one half of me wants to say f*** it and get a b18c swap but the responsible half of me is making me to build on a budget!! i already picked up some recaro sr3 confetti seats, that hurt my wallet a bit. i think the b16 will be good for me tho. im looking for compleat swaps on hmotorsonline right now

 

https://www.hmotorsonline.com/shop/b...-change-over-2

i might go with this i could get the optional LSD for $300 as well. i wish i could go pick it up but its way to far, i got my crv tranny at an importer in Maryland, i live about 5 hours away, maybe ill call and check there first.

 

Yeah, HMO is good. There are also some pretty solid sellers/prices on eBay as well for complete swaps with free shipping.

 

Most recommend replacing with a swap:

• Timing belt
• Waterpump
• Clutch / throwout bearing / pilot bearing / resurface flywheel
• Valve cover gasket, cam seals, cam plug, crank seal, rear main seal, oil pan gasket, VTEC solenoid screen/gasket
• Upper and lower radiator hoses, heater hoses

Most of this can be had from Honda for relatively cheap and will make the swap much more reliable, plus it a lot easier to do with the motor out obviously.

ECU, is really up to you. For ease and reliability, I prefer to use something that will plug right in without any jumper and will still be able to pull OBD2 codes. As I said, I run the USDM OBD2a P30 ECU from a 96+ B16A Del Sol VTEC. They're getting hard to find so when they pop up on eBay, I just buy them. I've got three now just in case. If you don't need to use an OBD2 scanner and don't need it to pass smog or emissions you can run the JDM computer that'll come with your swap so long as it's 96-98 (OBD2a). It'll plug right in.

Harness, there are a million options. If you get a 96-2000 B16A, you can use your harness that is running your current engine. If your current coupe is an EX with VTEC then you already have the wires for that. If it's not, you can buy a cheap VTEC sub-harness from Rywire that'll cover a few of the plugs. Google FF-Squad OBD2 swap. They've been the definitive go-to for step-by-step help with b-series swaps since the late 90s basically.

Other things to consider are air conditioning, power steering and exhaust. All of this is easy as well if you get a full swap and if you want to keep all of that it's just a matter of mixing and matching OEM honda parts to make it all work like factory.

 

I have a 97 DC coupe and it came stock with no ac or power steering so I dont have to worry about any of that, and yeah the only reason I want a usdm ecu is to pass nys inspection and emissions, but that's some really solid info right there, so if I go to my local scrap yard and pull an engine harness out of a 99 lx (d16y8) it will work in with a b16a2? if so that would be great I could get a harness for $20

 

DC or DX? dc= integra. obd-2 integra harnesses are two piece, civic are 1. if we're talking about a civic, you'll want one from a 96-98 EX, preferably manual, but auto can work too.

 

 

Firstly, only the EX cars in the US have the correct VTEC harness so a LX/DX/HX/CX etc will be no different than what you have now.

Just like eghatch9295 mentioned above, don't bother with Integra stuff as well. The harness will not work. The 96+ civics are a 1-piece harness, whereas the Integra is 2-piece, one part for engine bay and other for the inside of the car.

Again, if you've got even just a little bit of mechanical aptitude, modifying your DX harness correctly is really quite easy and there are a lot of resources online to help you. Again, lookup FF Squad. If you were so inclined, the absolute easiest would be to find a manual transmission 96-98 Civic EX w/VTEC coupe/sedan engine harness. That will eliminate the need to add VTEC wiring or do the IACV (Idle Air Control Valve) fix you'll read about, but you will be required you to add a secondary O2 Sensor plug and wire. No harness is perfect and you'll need to modify something, so might as save yourself some money and work with what you have. Once it's all out and in front of you, it'll all make sense. I promise. It's sounds daunting when you can't just see it in front of you, but it's really pretty easy.

Ultimately with your harness you'll need a modify a few things:

• Add a few VTEC wires
• Change to IACV from 3-wire plug to 2-wire plug
• Hookup the CKF sensor (Depending on where you get your engine, you might need to buy the sensor as well.)
• Extend your 02 sensor wires to reach behind the engine. You can also just un-loom your harness and re-wrap it to get the length you need without having to cut or extend anything, but it's a little more work.)
• Re-orient the fuel injector plug wires. They're long enough and will plug right in, but might need to fiddle with how they're run to make them reach correctly
• I think that's about it?

If you're needing to pass inspection where they plug into your OBD2 port to check for evap/emissions "readiness" with no codes, you'll need to run a USDM ECU that's 96-98 and meant for a B16A only, which leaves only the 96+ Del Sol VTEC P30 ECU. No other ECU will work, not Integra, not a JDM civic, not aftermarket, not a OBD1 ECU with a jumper. Only the 96+ USDM OBD2a P30. You'll need to check your local emissions regulations to see what kind of testing they do for OBD2 cars. If it's just a tailpipe sniffer, you might be able to get away with a JDM P30 ecu, but you will not be able to read codes from it.

 

that's a lot of good info there.. I too might be looking to do a b16a jdm swap into my 97 hatch someday.. first thing I may look for now is an ecu lol.. thanks

 

it's been awhile lol I've been busy with work and getting stuff around with my car so after all, I went with a 2000 b16a2 block and tranny I picked up for $450 good condition, all interanals included, got a stock flywheel for $15, oil strainer, and oil pan off a b18b for $10 each from my local scrap yard, the block and tranny were missing it when I bought it used, then got a b16a sir head from 1989 off a guy for $450, used and he threw in shift linkage for b series becusse I didnt like the price but ended up paying it anyways becusse there isnt **** for b series anywhere near me, I really had no choice so I bought it, took it all to the machine shop and had the head compleatly rebuilt and cleaned, decked, he even threw in gsr springs for me for free, block was cleaned decked and honed, pistons and rods balanced and cleaned, crank cleaned, balanced and hot tanked, and the flywheel was resurfaced. so I got all that done for around $550 but this guy knows everything about hondas so I really trusted him to do the machine work. the b16a head was a jdm import off a crx and was converted to obd2. I'm waiting on bearings right now then I'm ready to assemble, arp head bolts, gates timing belt, skunk 2 drain plugs, that's about it. pretty basic build, hopefully it will be a reliable fun car when it's all said and done, I'm doing a bigger throttle body, a new intake box and full exhaust to. maybe cams eventually but over the winter I want to get hondata and start to learn about basic tuning. over all the machines said everything was in great condition so I'm pleased. my end goal is 200hp and the b16a makes roughly 170 stock I believe. doing body work currently. I will have it painted before cold New York weather hits, still looking for axels, ecu and harness. but that's not a huge concern to me right now. wish me luck, I'll need it lol

 

maybe I was wrong on the 170 stock hp and I wont achieve 200hp but I just want something reliable, fun, and something I can learn on which I've already learned so much.

 

That's great, man. You're coming along. Is the bottom end actually stamped "B16A2"? Basically what I'm asking is whether not it a JDM engine or from a North American Si/SiR. If it's stamped "B16A2" then it's most likely from a North American Si/SiR, which made only 160hp due to having lower compression pistons. The later model overseas engines, which were able to run on higher octane had slightly higher compression and made 170hp.

Definitely consider using GS-R cams. It's very possible that your '89 B16A head was from an automatic, which had the least aggressive cams of all the B-series VTEC engines. Many B16A brought to the US by importers were automatic. The B18C1/SIR-G/GS-R cams are slightly better than the best B16A cams and are a simple bolt-in affair and fairly cheap.

Even with a fresh rebuild, GS-R cams, intake, TB, header, exhaust and a tune, I wouldn't expect more than ~175-180bhp. You really need higher compression, headwork and at least CTR cams to start getting close to 200. That's still going to be a pretty fun little B16A and should be plenty reliable. Don't get hung up on numbers. Just built a solid foundation to work from later.

While you're in there, too, you can pop in a lighter flywheel as well. Don't go to crazy, but a 10lbs - 12lbs flywheel on B16A is a nice sweet spot for the street I've found.