Ok. I bought a 90% condition 1989 CRX Si for 400 bucks off of a guy who didn't know what he had. It smokes on start up so I know I need valve seals etc. The engine runs great and has 160,000 miles on it. What would be the most logical order of replacing parts that are worn. I'm wanting to do an all motor tune later but its my daily right now. I was thinking just buying a port/polished Z6 head and doing a mini-me i'm open for any ideas guys. Your input is much appreciated.
<<<< that is what the engine looked like when i bought it in my avatar, it was garage kept.


Modified by rangerxtrn at 12:21 PM 4/19/2008

 

If its your daily then I would go the "conservative budget approach" and not dump anything into it (besides to keep it running) until you have a weekend to take on a project. I think a Mini-me is a good route to get you into the cheap "all motor" VTEC realm but you're still not going to make much power on the stock bottom end. You might want to rebuild the entire engine (160k is still a lot even if it is a Honda) and maybe throw in some higher compression pistons during the process. That with the z6 head, i/h/e and good tuning will probably net you 25+ hp and feel like a big difference. The tuning part might be the priciest aspect unless you want to do some chipping of your stock ECU. What do you mean by 90% condition? What's wrong with the car.

 

I got my 89 black crx si with 160k on it also for free. I had to put in a new radiator and clutch and the engine lasted 20k miles to 180k before there was a crack in the cylinder wall. I am now saving for an Si-r1 swap. The most economical thing I would suggest is just swapping it out for an entire z6 or d15b swap which only run about 600 + shipping. They have the vtec and the higher horsepower etc. and will have lower miles which will last you a longer amount of time than prolly just rebuilding the a6 motor. Also most of the time rebuildin the a6 block end up being about 600 bucks anyways so I personally would just swap a z6 for the same price of a rebuild. This is considering you doing the swap yourself etc.

 

Thanks man, good info and to the point... well when I say 90% I mean that the car is 10% from being perfectly flawless and original. in other words my climate control is cracked and it does not have the original paint. No rust etc. thanks again man.

 

True. If i'm gonna go through the trouble of a swap i'll be putting a B in.

 

I say if you want the car to be your daily, and make it fast at the same time without having it out of commission for so long, do a swap real quick. Buy a motor, build it on the side, research everything, and put it all in in a weekend and call it a good day.

 

ZC pistons in A6 block. Z6 head + Y8 Mani I believe?
Web Cam. My build. Loved it!

Good luck on whatever you choose to do!

 

You could get a zc motor from hmotorsonline, thats something i want to do sometime down the road, looks like an easy swap compaired to b16s ect....

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rangerxtrn &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">True. If i'm gonna go through the trouble of a swap i'll be putting a B in. </TD></TR></TABLE>
There is a huge difference between a D16Z6 swap and any B-series swap. For a daily, do a D16Z6, I talked my friend into it. It will take an avid person a week of research here on Honda-Tech, 2 weeks to gather parts, and a weekend to install. My friend with a Z6 swap is getting 40+ mpg by the way. He bought a junkyard motor/tranny for $300, new pistons/rings, bored it, decked the head, and he'll get 100,000 miles out of it probably. And he bought wideband to tune it, didn't need to, the stock tune with the P28 ECU was almost perfect.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Stunna AARON &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">ZC pistons in A6 block. Z6 head + Y8 Mani I believe?
Web Cam. My build. Loved it!

Good luck on whatever you choose to do!

</TD></TR></TABLE>

Thanks man, yeah that is exactly what I've read on some other build sites.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by GI8U2racing &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
There is a huge difference between a D16Z6 swap and any B-series swap. For a daily, do a D16Z6, I talked my friend into it. It will take an avid person a week of research here on Honda-Tech, 2 weeks to gather parts, and a weekend to install. My friend with a Z6 swap is getting 40+ mpg by the way. He bought a junkyard motor/tranny for $300, new pistons/rings, bored it, decked the head, and he'll get 100,000 miles out of it probably. And he bought wideband to tune it, didn't need to, the stock tune with the P28 ECU was almost perfect.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah I've been doing alot of research the past few months. One of my buddies has an RSX that is stupid fast and he is the one who brought up the B swap. He has a book on the entire process but I like my mileage and it looks like a headache, I have the garage to do it but $$$ and gas, good call on that one. I'm getting 48 mpg and the engine just turned 161,000 miles so not too bad.

 

True. Thanks man. Well I like project KRX, I'll just put a K24 in it and die on the interstate somewhere

 

k24 with k20a2 head = nuts in any ride!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ProjectSIR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">k24 with k20a2 head = nuts in any ride!</TD></TR></TABLE>

Precisely Doctor...