I'll try to keep this short, but it's not ez.

I bought a '95 LX in TX (for no rust) to replace my wife's rusting '92 Accord. She loves the Accord dx, I'm just embarrassed by it's looks, and know of no way to repair it (190K miles, right on time -- our fourth Honda, but have never modded before)

[img=http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/2904/dscn11590te.th.jpg]

So she likes the looks of the EG, but the power is non-existant after a dx 2.2. I've been reading everything I can since I bought it, and can find no other "reasonably-priced" changes that I can make to get the car going. If I cannot "get the car going" it will go, right out to a new owner, and she'll stay with the Accord. (The EG needs minor body work, [the people that fixed a minor wreck didn't get everything lined up right], and a nice paint job, so I already hafta' dump $2k into it just to make it presentable. I'm considering Carbon fiber front-end, to lighten it up, if I keep it).

I priced a swap for what I believe to be a d16z6 at $1500 installed by my much loved and trusted Honda-cert'd mechanic. ouch. He doesn't do mods, so he won't do a mini-me for me, and I'm even wondering if he'll continue to work on it. I looked 'round for SC for a d15, but cannot find one, so don't know the cost of that - or the labor to install it.

So who here has a mini-me, and better yet, did you ever have an accord 2.2 at one time? How did they compare, acceleration-wise?

Or would a supercharger option for this car that would pay off for d2d city/expressway driving? The 2.2 dx ain't a HP champ, so it Must be the torque we're missing. Wish it wasn't such a biotch to do a 2.2 swap to the EG - the 2.2 is in perfect shape, especially for 190K..

One other thing, this car doesn't seem to handle as well as my ol' (BONE stock, 212K) '89 LX, doesn't seem to track as well for one thing. The EF pointed and tracked like a go-cart. The EG seems a bit mushy in comparison, is this normal, or is the suspension wearing out already at 145K.

Or do I add $3.5k to the price of the car, gawd only knows what a b16a2, installed, would run me.

Thanx, hope I haven't been over-long.. the pic below is photo-shopped to show the wheels I'm stealing from the accord. Plan to rice a bit, and put halos in, since the headlights kinda' suck...


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Right on. Another EG brotha. Welcome man. Nice post. I think we can help you.

$1500 for a Z6 swap is ridiculous. You could do a B16 swap for that. He won't do a mini-me, but have you thought of doing it yourself? I beleive you could get it done with a Y8 head for under 400 bucks and a weekend of work. How mechanically inclined are you? If you can't do it yourself, paying someone to just swap the head isn't very cost effective. Where do you live? I bet one of the members would be willing to help out. If you were around La., I would.

They do make a SC for the D16 head though because I have one. I have never driven the H22 but I would be willing to line up against one. The SC just makes you feel like you have a lot more motor. I love it, and highly recommend one. You could probably find a deal on one for ~ $1500 or less.

Mini-me (Y8) will put you to ~125-130 Hp + SC, depending on your tune and fuel management- you could be looking at 180Hp or better.

Or you could do a sick little N/A build while doing the mini-me. Mill the head, smaller head gasket, high comp pistons, lumpy Skunk2 cam w/a cam gear and inatke manifold, and I/H/E. That would be sweet. You could get that done for $1500.

As far as your suspension, they took a few liberties with sponging it up since the EF. Nothing you can't stiffen up though. Coilovers can get expensive, but some decent shock/struts and shopping around for some springs isn't gonna kill you, and chassis stiffening is relativley cheap.

Basically you have a blank canvas. I am excited for you. Keep the EG, sell the Accord, and use the money to mod the Civic.

 

The $1500 is a "round number" that includes an engine from the one or two sources that they trust. *I* said Z6, I'm not certain, now that I think about it, if that is the engine that they meant. That said, Tom is NOT cheap, but with 450k honda-miles so far from his tlc, I'm willing to pay him. Just not this time.

Mechanically inclined: I read the mini-me instructions, and it looks possible (but for lack of tools) for me to do it. The body/paint is the rub - I got this for a good price (1 owner, FL/TX it's whole life, all service records, $2k) so thought I could throw a couple grand at its looks and wife is set until the rust comes. Another ~$500 I could live with, and since I don't know anyone else that I trust with Hondas besides Tom (I don't do goodyear, NAPA parts, et al) I prolly Should do it myself. I live in Des Moines, IA.

Don't get the term N/A yet, but I can do that later on, if the HP bug sets in. Right now I just need something that can go up midwest "hills" at 85mph in Fifth gear. I'm doing all the 62mph 2-lane in fourth, fifth is useless. My experience is that my big fat gen1 '98 Oddyssey can do all of these hills without downshifting it's slush-o-matic, so the answer HAS to be VTEC. I searched for an EX from TX for a damned Year, no luck, so settled for an LX. My jump was from 92 to 102HP, I was hoping that would be enough to feel less 'leisurely' than my otherwise-perfect-but-rusted-rear-quarters-beyond-belief EF -- instead, it doesn't feel as fast. The 'fall' for my wife is ~30HP and not a huge weight difference because of all the power equip. I shoulda' seen it coming, but... hell, if the gears were just a tiny bit less thrifty, it would prolly be fine... I'm guessing changing gear ratios is prolly pretty diff, huh...

Guess I'll keep my eyes open for a z6 top-end in the classifieds here. (Y8? I didn't know that would work? what other heads will work, someone has a GSR..). The main thing I needed to know was if it would DO what it was supposed to, make the damn thing perform like a 2.2 in a dx Accord. If I blow another $500 and it's still a stone, I can Cancel Christmas, heheh.

Glad to hear that the EG is "spongeyer" by design. It prolly makes sense for a four-door. I don't want race-car firm, but I need better than this, yecch. mebbe I can afford a bilstein coilover by spring, do you think that would do it?

I hope I can get *Some* money out of a rust-belt '92 Accord with 190K mi., but I'm not real hopeful...

 

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