My buddy wants to drop in an LS engine in his 95 civic for now. Eventually, he will put on a B16A1 head for the LSVTEC. The main problem is that he can't have his car for more than one weekend at a time and is on a budget. That means I'll be doing 99% of the work for both swaps and major/expensive machine work will be out of the question. Since I've never done any extensive (hybrid) work on hondas, I have a few questions.

1. Can I retain the LS pistons? If so, what will the compression ratio be with a standard thickness head gasket?

2. Can I use a thinner head gasket without having to worry about piston to valve contact? If so, can you recommend some to me?

3. Are the LS pistons zero decked?

4. In honda motors, is there an emphasis on quench area? I ask because I'm a chevy V8 guy and quench is very important.

5. What is there a maximum DCR (dynamic compression ratio) that these engine can handle?

6. If the compression ratio is too low with the stock LS pistons, do they make turbo kits specifically for the LSVTEC, or do I have to get one for a B16A head?

Thanks,
Casey

 

1. Yes you can use the ls pistons, and according to c-speed your compression will be 9.7:1

2. Im sure you can modify an OEM headgasket and bump your compression.. Ill be using a 1 layer one and should bump mine to 11.6:1.

3. I dunno

4.Quench?! never heard of it... Could be because Im an idiot.

5. Im assuming your talking about compression ratio whats too high?! If its a street driven car depends.. You could run up to 12.3:1 and be fine depending on the gas you get around you. We only get shitty 91 octane in Cali.

6. Im pretty sure you could use any B-Series turbo kit , and I think Drag has some kits made specifically for b-series engines in civics so check them out.

Hope any of that was useful.

 

Quench is the area in between the top of the piston and the bottom of the head at TDC. It's as close as it gets to the head. In small block chevys, air is forced out of the quench as the piston rapidly accelerates and is "shot" into the center of the combustion chamber. The extremely fast and violent force mixes the air and fuel and cools off hot spots in the head MUCH better. It allows for a higher compression ratio while still being able to use non-racing gas.

If honda engine are semi-sperical (and I believe they are), I don't think quench even applies.

DYNAMIC compression (or DCR), is different than static compression ratio (the CR you are talking about). Since compression can only build after the intake valve has closed, your DCR changes depending on what cam you use. Back in the 60s, high performancee chevys used 11:1 compression ratios and still drove on high 80 octane. The reason for this is because they had such large camchafts and the intake valve closed so late. The later closing of the intake valve let much of the compression bleed off before it actually got to be compressed.

I know that in chevys, a good DCR for the street is 8:1, and for racing is 9-9.5:1

Here's a good link on DCR: http://members.uia.net/pkelley2/DynamicCR.html

And here's one on quench: http://www.chevyhiperformance....4138/

Thanks for your info, it's very helpful.

 

Ah no problem at all.. Thank you for the info, Im learning new **** all the time.

 

I do not know of any turbo kits made especially for the LSVTEC. However, there are some made for B motors and Civic Chassis as mentioned earlier... I think that something designed for a GSR would be your best bet unless you are going to custom piece a kit... Cant stress tujning enough...Good Luck, welcome to H-T