I am new to the Honda Scene. I Recently purchased an 89 CRX and I love it.
However... It has a 1.5 ltr. w/auto trans. Small children on bicycles can outrun me. I would like to build this car to reach 13sec. 1/4 mile times. I need advice on the best combo to get there. Money is an issue

Can my current engine be modified to reach this goal w/ turbo and such?

Is there a cheaper swap than the VTECH that would be worthwhile?

I have an F22A1 2.2 LTR. from an Accord, I thought about adapting it to a
CRX 5 SPD. would this be stupid???

fabrication is not a problem, and you can hit me with the technical stuff I'll understand. Thanks for any help. My background is in Modifying Jeeps for Off-road use. I am way out of my comfort zone.

I

 

Well, i used to have the 1.5ltr in my sedan but i just recently swapped it out for 1.6 dohc zc motor. It is pretty fast right now..It dropped me from running 17.6 in the quarter mile to running 15's. I have all the bolt on's and an upgrded ecu. IMO the 1.5 will take more money to get in the 13's than the money you would spend on the swap and turbo. Just my opinion.

 

Turbo an LS motor (B18B), cams and a few mods would be the cheapest/ easiest way.

A GSR motor (B18C1) would be nice, but they cost a lot more.

Good luck!

 

hmmm.. where do i start....
id get a b16 and nos it.. barring the nos route.. b18b with an aggressive tranny and turbo, or b16 and turbo..
dont fool with any d series motors or the zc.. to hit 13's in those on street tires wont be easy.. or cheap..
you could get that thing into 13's for about 3 grand.. 2300 for swap installed and 400 for the nos.. the rest can buy you a used i/e ..
goodluck

 

Accord 2.2 will NOT! work. I considered this swap in my 85 a while back...bad idea. The front will be really heavy I guess and it wont corner for beans.
You will need to swap that motor. You can go for a b16a Which is V-TEC, that is the most common swap. Low 13's Hmmm...mabye, 14's..easy. (with the B16)
The ZC is the next best thing. Its imported from Japan, DOHC non V-tec, Accepts most DOHC parts from the early Teg mills, depending on the year of both motors.
I have a 1.5L that should run a 14 flat all motor, but..you said price is an issue I wont even begin to tell you how much I got into it. More work that money I guess, but do a search and find this post..
"c-rex is back" you will see the list of mods there.
You really need to ditch that auto. Put that high on the "to-do" list. Try to find an Si mill you can dump in there with the Si trans. This will give you an excellent platform to start with. Are you DX or HF? Multi port or Dual point? Let me know further by IM or e-mail I have lots of Info you might be interested in. Good Luck!
~C~
Crx Moderator
MC moderator

 

Hmm Id say get a B16A but Im biased , Actually there are a couple of guys on the crx resource forum running supercharged ZCs and I believe theyre in the 13s. Since money is an issue, you might want to consider a B18B, CRXGurl ran a 13.9x in a gutted 88 HF with I/H/E on slicks. How about a B18B mated to a Greddy SOHC turbo kit for the Civic? I believe the kit goes for $1500 new, but its a small turbo. Guys correct me if Im wrong..

 

Let's qualify the customer. Speed costs, how fast do you want to go?
Ditch the 1.5, auto trans, harness and ecu. Go find a 92--95 ex or si that has been totaled. Do swap, go fast, have fun. I just did one for a customer of mine. 92 cx, now it has 94 vtec , 1.6.
Talked to him today, three people in the car, 135mph. Yes I scolded him for this, but we were both happy with the end result.Have not been to dragstrip yet, but soon. The mtr. had a D.C. header on it when I bought it.
No I did not charge him for the header. KId got the swap he wanted, I made a few bucks, and he was out the door for under 2 grand, parts and labor. Shop for a whole swap in your situiation, you will need lots of nickle and dime parts. Good luck. OBD1

 

i had an 89 1.5 with an auto once, and then i also had a 1.5 with a 5 speed. the auto sucks the soul from the car. The first thing i would do would be to convert it to a 5 speed and get an ef Si transmision-you will see a night and day difference. for me it was the difference between being able to actually drive and enjoy the car vs. being afraid to merge onto highways for fear of being rear-ended.
also, when you do finally decide what swap you want to do, its already converted.

 

Thanks for the help everyone, I am saving all the info. Keep it coming!

 

I believe the easiest and most economical swap is the twin cam black valve cover ZC. It is a direct bolt in, least expensive and has great potential. With proper tuning, cold air intake intake, small primary headers, bored throttle body, lightend stock flywheel and ZC trans you can expect to run mid 14s for about $3000.00 to $3500.00 having a comptetent shop doing the work or $2000.00 to $2500.00 if you do the work This price should include all the aforementioned bolt ons, new belts, water pump, completely serviced engine, redline libricants, rebuilt equal length axles etc.

With this set-up you can run with GSR,s etc. Later you can add an SC and roast GSR, Type R's etc.

Additionally, while I like VTEC technology it has its limitations and is over rated.

Be very sure that you purchase the correct series ZC engine. There are many variants that are marginal performers. (This is usually accomplished by purchasing your engine from a reliable shop experienced in the identification and installation of hybrid engine swaps.)

God Bless,

Semper Fi,

Angelo D. Roberson
http://www.holysmokeracing.com

 

post script,

Watch out the J G Luder cat he's a few cans shy of a full case. You know hoe those folks from Alabama are.

In your area I would recommend King Motorsports (Scott Zelner) for an engine source.

God Bless,

Semper Fi,

Angelo.

 

Cornsarch Alabama??????????????????

I should have known who you are ole great obd1canobie.

From: The real Robe' Juan or is that Robe' Man.

 

obd1canobie To perform the swap you mentioned..
What is the most I should expect to pay for engine, trans, and ecu ? So I know what price is reasonable.
Do I use shift linkage from a doner CRX or the Civic the engine comes from?
I am Honda Illiterate.



[Modified by CRXslow, 11:58 PM 5/18/2001]

 

HEY!!!! THAT AIN'T RIGHT!!!!

I mean, I'm not THAT bad.

*mumbling*
160 mph runs... bad? nah...

 

CRXslow....I am going to tell you somthing that no one else will agree with and may make a few people mad.
How about keeping the 1.5? You could hit 13's with it. Here is how.
Convert the DPFI to MPFI. You can find everything you need at a junk yard or just buying odd parts online. Next thing is to stregnthing the bottom end. Use pistons and rods for the 1.6 SOHC. Remember the 1.5 is just a destroked 1.6, Once the engine is bult up to run some boost then you'll leave alot of DOHC VTEC's in the dust. For a turbo kit you can make your own or buy a kit for a SOHC engine. FMAX, Drag, and Greddy make good kits for it. You can save alot of money and make your own kit though. For feul managment the thing I would do is shell out money for a Zdyne Gold SECU. Remember all the money you will save from not having to buy engine mounts, Engine, Tranny ect.. And SOHC parts are easy to find and cheaper. You can get rods and pistons used for a good price or look at some stregnthened LS rods too. I belave with good planing and smart buying you can get your 1.5 in the 13's. Good luck

 

I do not disagree with the 1.6 being a good contender. It is. However the 1.5 is not ust a destroked 1.5. While the block is basically the same, the head is not the same as the 1.6 and does not offer the same potential as the 1.6 does. The intake and exhaust port configuration is not the same as the 1.6.

However you can buy a used 1.6 with all the injection for about $400.00.
Put in a set of rings, a port Match, bowl blend, competion valves/multi angle valve job, bored throttle body, engine mangement up-grades etc. and you are ready for boost.

However I hate exhaust driven superchargers (turbos) for everyday drivers.. While I will install them if a customer insist and I do have quite alot of experience with them, I do not recommend them for an engine that was not originally developed for them or is not specifically modified for their use. It is my opinion that a 6/8 lb JRSC is the best bet for a daily driven, basically stock (in terms of bottom end, valve seats etc.) Honda or Acura.

God Bless,

Semper Fi,

Angelo
http://www.holysmokeracing.com

 

uhm the head from the 88-91 civ/crx dx is the same as the si,just the cam is different.It's the intake manifold that is different.

The HF 1.5L head might be different.

 

89civicdx,

I am so ashamed!

I was thinking of the 85/87 1488 cc SI US head vs the Canadian head we use on our GT-4/5 and FP road race cars.

I stand corrected.

I do agree with you on the potential of the 1.6. However, so many guys insist on DOHC and/or VTEC that I have for the most part quit trying to convince SOHC owners that we can make their cars quite fast for much less. For instance in our GT-3 and EP D16A6 engines we get on the average 215 HP from a normally aspiratred (dual side draft carbs) 12.1 dry sump engine.

At any given time we have one to four swaps in our shop and I have never been able to convince a customers to spend the money on a D16, therefore I can not realistically give any figures on a blown or all motor D16A6 from personal knowledge. However I just finished a slightly modified, supercharged ZC that runs close to mid 12's. This is why I prefer this swap to a D16Z6 or B18C. It is less expensive aand quite impressive.

God Bless,

Seper Fi,

Angelo

http://www.holysmokeracing.com

 

God Bless you Angelo! I thought you might be thinking of the older motor . Angelo do you have any Mugen Cams lying around for a 88-91 sohc.
http://www.geocities.com/image_racing1/

 

89civic1.8t, hsr-gt-4, 89civicdx,
I am convinced that I want to build a 1.6 sohc. From the little research I have done you would swear these engines never existed. This seems the most economical plan.

What year/model Honda do I get one from, does it matter?

hsr-gt-4, if you supplied the parts what do you estimate price would be?
I would like to find an engine that needs service so I have an excuse to modify it.
thanks!

 

Sorry for the late response. I am old and forgot what topics to read.

I have very few NOS Mugen parts left in inventory and certainly none of the original billet cams for the GT-3 program. A very limited amount of these cams were manufactured. Most are copies. Scott Zelner at KMS may have what you are looking for, being the only authorized Mugen distributor in the US he has access to many hard to find Mugen parts.

However, Web Cam does all of my grinds and can offer a very good camshaft in terms of generic grinds and custom grinds. Their hard weld process and construction tecniques have always been very good providing excellent geometry and durability. They do produce a duplicate of the Mugen cam. Additionally they offer a generic ZC grind or can produce what you need.

God Bless,

Semper Fi,

Angelo.

p.s. Do you know Jamie Housman from the great white north. He manufactures custom gearboxs for road race cars.?

http://www.holysmokeracing.com

 

Thanks Angelo, can you tell me how you copy a mugen cam which is a billet cam? Is that what the hard welding does?

Which webcam grind part# is the mugen copy?

Have you tried the webcam zc grind?

Zelner's CRX race car was GT-3 right ? Did you race with him?

Since you are the real racing guy here is the question, would you hook up an oil catch can to the the valve cover breather or to the pcv valve?
here is the thread about catch cans https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=28265

 

i just got to say that i converted my 1.5 to an si just with the top end. my god do you notice a difference from the slow 1.5. all i did was the top end and it was all good!! no more kids on bikes outrunning ya!!


if it aint broken, fix it til it is!!!

 

That's a good suggestion. I just bought a complete 1.6 w/ecu. Depending on my cash situation I may try it while I build the bottom of the 1.6. Limit my upfront cost to reworking the head. I like Those kids on bikes are annoying me

 

sorry guys i got eg si but i cant get much help from the pro DOHCs vtec guys in the other forum about D series stuff so here i am. im looking to build up a vtec sohc all motor. lookin for mid 13s daily driven. any suggestions? thanks