Hello all,

First I would like to say that although I am very new to the Honda scene, I have been working on engines and cars for the better part of 30 years.

Recently, I bought a 1995 Civic (1.6 VTEC) for my son for his first car. I was actually surprised how much fun this little thing is to drive, being accustomed to 400+ HP vintage muscle cars! It was quite peppy and the handling was impressive (Please dont tell my muscle car buddies, they would disown me!)

Today, however, the 155k mile car developed a knock in the bottom end. I am pretty sure it is a main because it knocks hard after the engine comes up to temperature (Rods usually knock all the time) but either way, I am in for a little rebuilding or swapping.

Here is my problem. I dont know what will bolt in to replace the D-16. I would not mind putting in a simple B-18 but am not sure if it is a direct swap, or what other concerns I might have (Intake, Exhaust, axle replacement, etc.) Also, I really dont know what cars to look at to get this engine.

I was hoping to go with the B-18 so we could add things later for more fun, so this is a concern. But, being a total Honda n00b I am really hoping for a little help from the forum here.

Obviously, I dont want to get too extensive with a swap because it is A.) my son's first car B.) I want to teach him some mechanic'ing in the process (And dont want to be teaching myself too much in the process and C.) Dont want to spend too much to start off.

So, point this n00b in the right direction. Again, I do know my way around an engine (By the way, the whole VTEC concept is pretty darn cool! It beats the heck out of having massive stall torque convertors like we had in the 70's for high lift cams! Why didnt I think of that!!! )

Any help would be appreciated. I suppose, if I must, we will simply put another D16 in and rebuild the original from scratch and play with things that way, but this whole B-18 swap seems like it might be more fun!

Thanks in advance!

 

Welcome to Honda- tech

Well, what kind of budget are you working on?
If you would like to use forced induction, i would just rebuild the the d16 and turbo it; cheap, and it will put the car in the 13's.

If you decide to step up to b-series motors, they are plug and play pretty much.
there are many choices in which b-series platform to start.
of course vtec motors are the better choice, but also more costly.

Are if your feeling groovy you can swap in a new K-series in there; more work since the engine sits 180* as compared to b or d series.
with basic mods these motors are putting out 200-220 Whp.

 

Wow, thanks for such a quick response!

Budget, yes, I forgot to include this in my previous text.

We are looking around the $1500-2000 range initially. If I merely rebuild the bottom end, that would leave quite a bit for forced induction. (I have access to a machine shop so I can size rods , line hone, and deck for almost nothing) Besides, I would still have to buy the B series engine, so that is a consideration. I really dont know what any of this stuff costs as my area of experience is with big and small block V-8's of the '60s and '70s.

Of course, my son gains his knowledge by asking his buddies that may or may not actually know what the hell they are talking about. And immediately they all started telling him to "Put a B-18 VTEC in it!" I know how dangerous an over zealous teenager can be (We used to stuff the biggest cam in everything we could find until we learned about porting and odd valve angle cuts, and other speed tricks of yester-year) So I decided to come here since a lot of people appear to really know what they are actualy talking about.

Also, is there a good, stock, bolt-on, turbo setup out there that is fairly reliable and reasonably priced? What cars should I be looking on for a good setup?

Again, please excuse my n00bness. I know I am asking a ton of questions, but this is sort of like giving an old dog a brand new juicy bone to chew on.... This Japanese stuff is pretty fun!

OK, I am a dumbass... LOL! There is a whole section for forced induction. I have been reading. Sorry for the needless questions.

I have nearly decided to rebuild the bottom end, check the head, and add a GReddy turbo. That should more than enough fun for a teenager! I'll probably add a little stopping power to the car as well because what goes fast, has to slow down too!

Thanks for the earlier reply, none the less!


Modified by Cuda70 at 2:19 AM 9/26/2005

 

rebuilding and adding a turbo to your existing engine will fit your budget; used turbo kits can be found pretty cheap here on h-t classifies, or for more fun you could try a home made kit.
but yeah a low boost kit( maybe 5-7 psi) will add more than enough torque for that little car to moove around nicely.

b-series swap, assuming what you want is vtec, run around 2-3k for b16-b18c's swaps.

also, as far as tuning your forced ind. engine, nowadays you can modify your stock ecu to be fully real time programmable+ a lot of little nifty things like full throttle shift/cel shift lights/ datalogging/etc. for pretty cheap...as cheap as lets say 200-250 including tuning crome tuning software
http://www.pgmfi.org
thats the honda ecu master site, way more than enough info on honda ecu's to blow your mind.

 

Rebuild the bottom end and turbocharge it. If you need any help, let me know, i live in dallas