I figured if i did a minime i would do a full obd 2 conversion. I've got the y8 ecu and for the in-dash and engine harness i say that'd be about 250 and a head for about 200 and i could use my existing dizzy and fuel injectors and stuff. So totaling something around 500-600 dollars and get about 130 hp with something close to 11:1 cr. Or i could take my non vtec sohc and put in some high comp pistons (11:1) and for about 450-500 dollars i could have about 130 hp (i figure this because i set up a ratio between my current c/r and hp and new c/r to figure out new hp). So why would i want to do a vtec head swap if i can in theory pull the same numbers with less work? Am i missing something?

 

do what you want. im building a d16a6 with d16a1 pistons and a wicked cam, gonna cost under $300

 

not too shabby, what cam are you using? what do the pistons bring your cr upto?

 

highest profile gude cam

d16a1 pistons in a d16a6 block with a d16z6 head gasket bring the CR to 11.3 to 1

 

is that 92 octane material? Now that im almost set up on not going vtec Im thinking about stage four crane cam with a low spooling turbo

 

ill be running on 91 octane, i honestly dont know too much about forced induction, im a NA guy

 

yeah i figured i'd just do it for some low end power too, we'll have to see how that works out with 11:1 cr if i decided to do it. thanks for the info

 

that is like the same setup im gonna build, what all are you doing to the motor, bearings etc...... are you getting oversized pistons and are you upgrading your valve train?????

 

Yes, this is what you are missing.
You cannot use your current distributor, you will need an OBDI or OBD2 distributor.
you will also need 92+ civic injectors since the OBD2 ECU won't work with the ones you have. You will also ned to find two 4 wire O2 sensors and wire them to the ECU. OBD2 needs both O2 sensors, one before the cat and another one after the cat. 4 wire O2 sensors are expensive. Plus you will need a harness from a OBD2 car to get all the plugs you will need to rewire the extra stuff.
Nothing impossible to solve, but worth considering.

 

yeah i've decided to go for high comp pistons and stage 4 crane cam. I really hope to turn my wagon into an all out race car. I figure by the time the whole obd2 conversion is done and the head is on there i ccould have one mean setup sans vtec. bah, vtec is ricer speed

 

rule of OBD's

u can go foward on OBD electronics... u can go back
u cant also jump 2 generations of OBD without being a royal bitch!!
i agree with everything spaceball said...
u seen the car harness on a OBDII car?? i had a 00 EX for any part i needed when i first started swaping....
on our cars... right at the ecu the harness splits into the dash, and engine compartment... and after engien it returns to the inside tru the drivers side..
on OBDII (00 EX for this example) the harness goes directyl from ecu to engine compartment, then to the inside tru the driver side.. u will need to rewire ur whole car... wich its A LOT OF WORK, and waste of money when u got better chances and options....

 

i dont really see the advantage of doing it as long as you have it tuned with the ecu your runningi would stick non obd run a non obd teg ecu

 

Yeah i got ya. I was certainly prepared to rewire my stuff with the obd 2. I had my ETM (electronic troubleshooting manual) for my wagon and i was going to get one for a 6th gen vtec civic and rewire accordingly. I was also under the impression the obd2 was setup like the obd0.

 

Yeah but what im asking is what would the point be of doing the head swap if you get the same upgraded performance with high comp pistons? I mean you end up with virtually the same compression ratio. and yield just about the same hp and trq gains. So why wouldn't someone just buy high comp pistons which would cost less in the long run, you would just up the air/fuel ratio and leave it and you wouldn't have to have something that changes it back and forth.