Okay so a friend of my brother has a 95 civic sedan 5spd dunno how many miles it has on it but it does have a blown head gasket and has not been drove since the gasket was compromised. so i have a few questions about this if anything was damaged due to the gasket blowing, what could be damaged and what would be the estimated cost to fix i know that it is a d15. also what are some cheap mods i can to shifter/interior wise? this will be the first 5spd i have own but i have drove my brothers 5spd miata only problems i have a stalling sometimes and taking off on hills any suggestions there? i have been watching the project thread on this site for a while now so im getting some ideas flowing just gonna keep things simple although i wanna do a 99 front clip swap because i dont like the 95 front end any input would be greatly appreciated oh yeah im giving $1200 for the car.

 

im sure someone can help me out here

 

1200 for a car with a blown head gasket is not a good price. Pretty expensive, and its a 95. And you can't do a 99 conversion, without modifying the front end a lot. And with the money you spend to do that, you can use for a engine swap. Which fixed your head gasket problem and you get more power. Maybe a d16z6 swap.

 

The generations go 88-91, 92-95, 96-00, so if you want a 99 front end I suggest you get a 99-00 (96-98 have a slightly different front end). Putting a 99 front end on a 95 will just look really weird and disproportionate.

 

okay so basically i could just swap the motor, cant swap front ends(i see what you are saying on that) any suggestion on a motor that wont break the bank i am basically limited to around 2500 or so so right now and i know at least 1000 is buying the car if i cant talk him down its 1200 and thatll leave me with 1300 to do a swap or rebuild. if the motor checks out im gonna go ahead and replace all the gaskets, spark plugs, fluids(mandatory), header, exhaust, and may due a minor wire tuck, and clean the bay while the motor is out/go through the motor twice to make sure nothing is in bad shape, and install a short shifter. what else should i do and is there anything in my checklist i should wait on. going the ebay route on header/exhaust.
thanks for the input guys.

 

Just a note..if anyone says.."Anything for ebay is trash!!"(which someone will)...just buy from Amazon..i haven't heard a single bad word about Amazon when it comes to headers/cats/exhausts.

 

Generally, you can pick up a SOHC vtec (D16z6 or D16y8) for between $300 and $500 in running condition. If you'd like to swap to a DOHC, your best bet would be an Integra LS engine (b18a1 or b18b1).

A SOHC engine would basically swap directly in (either would most likely require a little wiring). You can use the stock civic's transmission and mounts, and you'll need the ECU to match the engine.

A DOHC would require Integra mounts and an Integra's transmission as well as a few other smaller things, and of course you'd still need a matching ECU.

Your cheapest option would most likely be to pray the head isn't warped and just replace the gaskets in the car's existing engine.



*edit: Oh, and I've seen a 5th gen with a 6th gen front-end conversion. It does not look good.

 

reaper whats the easiest way to see if the head is warped? lay it on a flat surface?

 

Someone can correct me on this but to determine if the head is warped. You take a straight edge and use these things i cant remember what their called (little shims that have measurments on them saying how thick they are.

You take the straight edge and you put it diagonally across the head and try to slide the shims under it. If its perfectly straight the smallest one you have wont slide under it. If it does you just keep going up in size until it cant sqeeze under anymore. Then compare the size of the last one that was able to fit under and check a maintenance manual for the allowable room for warpage. A new gasket can overcome a little warpage but if its to great you will just loose compression and your oil and coolant will mix.

If its overly warped you could either get it machined or you could get a new head.

Feel free to correct me on this.

Hope this helps.