so how would you rate the difficulty for an average dude wanting to swap his own engine??

 

If you've never done work on your car its a good time to start researching it. A lot! If you are kinda basic and can change your own oil and basics like that. You should be able to pull it off. Give plenty of time. And save up Plenty of extra money. Becauae unexpected things do happen.

 

Yea, there is a lot of trouble shooting involved also. Be prepared for that. And you have a DX, so you need to convert to MPFI..

But good luck on doing it yourself. In my opinion thats the best way to do it!

 

Well it's a relativlely easy swap, as long as you do the required research and use the right tools. Take your time and don't rush it.

Prior planning prevents **** poor performance

 

dont let all these smart people let you be decived. i am a realtively good wrencher. i started the swap in october. and am just now getting to be done. i am just trouble shooting now. and i bought EVERYthing youneed to do it right. in a si too boot.

good luck. it gets frustrating sometimes. but in the end oyull love it.

 

Never said I was smart, I had some experience as an Army mechanic for three years and worked on other cars a bit, but this was my first Honda swap. Not a b16, but a b18c into my hf, and converted to obd1. And it was pretty easy.

Just because it's taking sometime doesn't mean it's hard. Mine took a while too, I only had two to three hrs a week to work on it. It really doesn't matter how long you yake as long as you do it right. Honestly I would consider it taking longer to be better, because you'll be paying attention to what your doing. It's not worth it to rush through and miss something, just to post on here that you did it in a weekend.

Take your time and do it right it's the only way in my book.

Stckcrx: What are you having problems with?

 

I bought my car last August (aug 1 actually) and hadn't done anything besides an oil change. I bought the car with intentions of doing any swap. I worked on brakes, shocks, to get my self aquainted with the car. Since then I took out my engine, bought a ZC put that in, drove it around, took it out, sold it to a local kid, took his si engine out, and put the ZC in his. Taking his engine out and putting the ZC in his took 4 days (I had school these days too). I doubt a B16 is going to be that much more difficult, but we'll see. 14 days till mine gets here

 

It is a pretty easy swap as long as you have the right tools, and parts needed. Its easier in an si or hf, but still not to bad in a dx, as long as you do your research and take your time to do things right youll be ok

 

I started my swap in november and I just finished this week. This was my first swap, and my car was an automatic DX. The new B16 started on the first try, and I only had to deal with one trouble code which took about 10 minutes. I think I got lucky, but I just took my time and did it right. HondaTech HMO(except for stripped distributer bolt)

 

damn 3 month for a swap!!!!!!!
i wonder how long it would take me to do a zc swap in a si

 

the only problem im having now, is not being able to go past 7200rpm. i will try to redline, and around 72 the car will back fire, not allowing me to keep climbing into my power band.

 

if you have the time and are faily good with mechanics and trouble shooting and have some good common sense its a fairly easy swap if you have the time.... time is key especially for your first swap... what better way is there to learn?

 

What ECU are you using? Are you throwing any codes?

 

I did my own swap as well (b16a into 88 crx si). I started on a friday night and was done by saturday night and took it for a rip. I had no codes at all. Guess I was one of the lucky ones and my sensors worked perfectly on the engine. I had a hard time getting that grin off of my face when I heard VTEC for the first time. Good planning and doing the research ahead of time is the key.

 

i'm glad to hear this. i just got my motor this week. hopefuly by next week i'll start on it.
just one?. what kind of axles do i need. plus if i weld the pass. mount, will it fit properly or do i need the teg mounts anyway?
thanks for the help.

ZC for sale. full swap... everything!!!

 

took me 4 hrs., but me and my friend have done over 20 of them, so we knew what to expect and the easiest way to do it.
my first one took me about 2 weeks to finish though, so the more you do the much better you get at it.

 

Well, i'm about a month outside of doing this swap for the first time, and the only swap experience I have is doing my friends gsr swap in his civic hatch, and that's as simple of a swap as you get. This b16 swap, from what i've read and heard about it, isn't too incredibly hard to do, but the only thing I can recommend is to RESEARCH, RESEARCH, and RESEARCH again. I've been reading up on this swap for damn near a year now, and now that i'm just about ready to do it, I seriously doubt there's too many things i'll run into that i'm not even prepared for. In experience from doing my friends swap though, I can recommend to have a couple hundred bucks on the side when you do the swap for any unexpected parts you might need to buy/replace. Good luck!

 

if u dont have much mechanical know how and any real experience in the swapping department it will be about a 4 out of 5. if u read up and have some mechanical ability then i wouldnt say more than a 2 or 3. just leave a few extra days and a few hundred dollars cause u never know what might go wrong. dont start on monday and tell your buddies u will be cruisin with them on fri night cause it probably wont happen unless u have some experience and/or lots of time.

good luck though. hopefully u r one of the lucky ones that doesnt have any trouble.

 

4 HOURS!>?>!>? THATS AWESOME! Wanna do my swap!!!!?


[Modified by 90CIVICSI, 8:33 PM 2/12/2003]

 

i would atleast attempt it...if you have a space to do it in where it doesnt have to be rushed then atleast attempt it and im sure ull get it no problem...good luck

 

Yea, I also have never done my own swap, but I have been researching engine swaps into Hondas for like 2 yrs now and am getting my B16 this summer . I'm really stuck in the middle of letting a mechanic install it for me, or doing it myself. I really really REALLY want to learn about the basics to such a Honda commoditee, but am afraid that I will fail .

I have a solid mechanic foundation (took 2 yrs worth of mechanics in high school) and am a good problem solver, etc, but really don't need to waste money at this point, and if I do messup, I pay the price .

This post has really encouraged me to do the swap on my own, and has helped the 'do-it-yourself' side gain a lead on the 'pay some mechanic to do it' side. Keep the suggestions flowing, as I would imagine that this topic is one of the most highly debated amongst newbs, like myself.

Thanks
-CR1X

 

3 months to a damn swap ? what are u guys smokin damnnn. my friends did my swap in 2 days and there amatuers. Also Ive pulled my motor twice and put it back in thew same day. this was without wiring though.still In an SI u only have to wire like 5 wires. god damn.

 

well the reason mine took so long, is i didnt have alot of time to work on it, so it was once a weekend kind of thing. we ran into murphys law

ANYTHIGN THAT CAN GO WRONG WILL.

my suspension, rack and pinon, brakes, clutch, engine, EVERYTHIGN .was a problem some how.

parts were slow from the dealer. im sure it could have been done alot sooner if it was OF MAJOR IMPORTANCE. but it wasent, just a project. besides it was winter, i didnt need to rush it.

oh well good luck. on your swap.

 

i just stated my swap yesterday. it tool me 4hours to drop the stock motor. then 2 hours to drop the b18 in. now all i got to do it hook up the wire harness and axles and see if its starts

 

**** man that's pretty good. how many swaps have you done before??

-CR1X