As a classic muscle car builder, I have no knowledge of honda civic mods. I did however sell my musclecar and buy a 1994 civic hatchback. It has super low miles and was driven by an old guy who had it in for every service possible at the dealer. I thought this would be a good place to start building the car. I have lots of basic questions, but most imprtant is this. How do you find the engine code for what I have in my car? It is 16 valve, non v-tec, and that is all I know. What is it? Is it worth building, or do I have to do a swap? How fast can I make it? Where do I start in the building process? Please any help would be appreciated.

Sorry, we arent honda-tech.com. We arent going to laugh at your hatch <snicker>. Youve made a huge jump on car status. Youve come to the right place. Read the stickies in all the forums. You will learn tons without having to ask questions. Unlike many forums, this one is laid out very well and organised so it is easy to make your way around. The search feature is very good also.

Onto the topic at hand. I belive you have a d15b7. The code should be located right above the transmission.

Here are the specs: D15B7 1.5L 16V SOHC PGM-FI 1493 '92-'95 Civic DX/LX USDM 102@5900 98@5000 9.2:1

You could make a really nasty hatch for a small lump of cash. I recommend an eninge swap.

I recommend against the engine swap...forged internals, a z6 or a y8 built head with a turbo cam...turbo kit and you have more power than the swap for this money...

How much horsepower r u looking for? If i were u i would swap a B18C motor (out of an acura intergra GSR) in ur hatch and turbocharge it. Running this setup with a great tune ur lookin at roughly 250whp but with how light ur car is it will fly (maybe low 13's in the 1/4). U could achieve this number by turbocharging the engine u have now but u will have to replace ur internals (pistons, springs, valves etc). With the swap the potential is there for real big numbers, depends on ur budget and goals. good luck!!

Welcome friend, hope the transition is easy, you will find in time your civic will not dissapoint you. So, are you interested in boosting or going NA? There are multiple ways to go, either way you need to decide your main route first(boost/NA) then go from there. Once you decide, do your research and ask questions

Good luck with your build. IMO I would go with a swap.

Not sure about the boost yet. I just hate to get rid of this engine that has been babied for all this time!! How fast can I make this engine without internal mods(pistons, rings, etc.)? I want to know If I should start buying bolts on, or if it is just a waste of time.

I'm pretty sure the b7 rods are tiny and can't ahndle much

me personally with a bubble i would go with a swap preferably a B18LS or a B18V-tec these engines & transmission swaps useually start at aroung $800 and go up with a LS and with the B18V-tec around $1200 some people sell it for more some sell them for less. And the majority of the parts if not all of the parts (if i remember correctly) from the Integra are interchangeable with the Civic. So as long as you have the engine, transmission and ECU these engines are a direct bolt in.

you'll need mounts and axles and shift linkage

correct me if i am wrong if you get the whole swap like drop the engine and tranny out the donor car do you need any thing else cause i am doing a LS swap some by the begining of the winter. and is it possible to drop the engine and tranny as one with the shift linkage connected. and i am swaping from a D15 auto to to a LS stick

I don't want to start swapping axles and all that stuff. I just want it to be quick, not taking it to the strip or anything. What can I do to my stock motor without overloading it? Headers, exhaust, intake, bolt ons????? How much power will this give me?

tell ya the sad truth I/H/E won't give you much on a d15b7...it'll help, but it won't give you much...best bang for the buck than would be I/H/E AND a VTEC head swap...

vtec head swap?? IS that possible? what model v-tec head would I need to bolt onto my d15?

I'd recommend swapping to a D16Z6 head (vtec), D16Y8 intake manifold, D16Y8 tranny, P29 (USDM D16A1) pistons or PM7 (JDM ZC) pistons, and a good cam. That will bump your compression to about 10.5:1. Any block decking or head milling, or using a thinner headgasket will bump it further.

I really don't think N/A on a D will achieve much...it just tops out too easily...me personally would get a d16y8 head, p28 ecu, y8 manifold, y8 transmission, and than if no forged internals a diy turbo set-up at 5psi

HERE (http://www.honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=554053) is an answer to your question about it being possible...quite easy to say the least if you're comfortable working on your car.

and I know there's a write-up somewhere on this forum, but I couldn't find it right away

ORIGINAL: Roto

I really don't think N/A on a D will achieve much...it just tops out too easily...me personally would get a d16y8 head, p28 ecu, y8 manifold, y8 transmission, and than if no forged internals a diy turbo set-up at 5psi


Eh, with a D15 the difference would be about 150whp and 200ishwhp. Aftermarket D15 rods don't exist (I'm pretty sure), so his potential with a turbo will be limited.

He can always pick-up a z6 block and build it for later use

Good point. He could pick up several different blocks down the line.

p28, y8 head, intake manifold, tranny, and headgasket, a1 pistons, and aftermarket rods that are the same length as his current rods. that will put him at a low 12:1 CR with the sweetest stock ECU and transmission. add bolt ons on top of that and you'rel ooking at a sweet whip.

According to this wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_D_engine#Hot-rodding_the_D_series), it may be cheaper to replace the weak internals of the D than to swap for a B.

it is cheaper no matter how you do the math

ORIGINAL: Nail I3unny

p28, y8 head, intake manifold, tranny, and headgasket, a1 pistons, and aftermarket rods that are the same length as his current rods. that will put him at a low 12:1 CR with the sweetest stock ECU and transmission. add bolt ons on top of that and you'rel ooking at a sweet whip.


And who makes these rods?

most rod makers should.

im pretty sure all d15's except the JDM B and the z1 have the same rods. anyone who makes an aftermarket rod advertised as 'Civic 1.5L' or something like that should be the right size.

Huh, I just never inquired into that sorta thing.

Thanks for the info guys. I definately don't want to start changing out pistons and crap like that. If I have to do that I will just do a full swap! Can anyone tell me.....as for bolt on stuff......I/E/h, ecu, valves, etc........what is going to make the biggest difference? Obviously the mini me would, but how much difference would I/e/h make on my stock engine? Will I notice a difference? This car is going to be a daily driver. I just got rid of my '04 GTP(baby on the way), and bought an suv for the wife. I just want to make this civic at least as fast as the GTP. Is that possible with bolt ons, or am I going to have to swap the valves and or motor?

Not sure, you might have a decent head. Supposedly the D16A6 has the best flowing head of Honda's D-series, and I know both of these heads have the same combustion chamber volume (38 cc). Anyone care to confirm? If that's the case you might be able to make a decent set up with just a cam. It would idle rougher than with VTEC though, because you'd have no lower cam profile. Regaurdless, your static compression is 9.28:1. That's pretty low. Changing the headgasket to a 2 layer Y8 (it's 3 layer, removing the middle section makes it 2) would bump that to 9.78. You've got no room to mill the head though. That's about the limit with your stock internals. Really not sure what kind of power that would yield, 110-120 at the wheels at most.

you dont want to stray above 10:1 on stock D internals...or at least not stock D rods.

why not change out the internals? its easier than an engine swap.

ORIGINAL: Nail I3unny

why not change out the internals? its easier than an engine swap.


You can make sure it's built right too.

And idk about that 10:1 business. Power seems to be the best indicater of stress.

ORIGINAL: Kedawei

ORIGINAL: Nail I3unny

why not change out the internals? its easier than an engine swap.


You can make sure it's built right too.

And idk about that 10:1 business. Power seems to be the best indicater of stress.



Why not change out the internals??? Where is the best place to find internal compnents to replace the stock ones?? I don't see much out there for the d15b7!! Plus I have nothing to pull the engine out anymore(kids). If I paid someone to do it, I am sure I would be better off doing a swap. Am I wrong?

wow, out of this whole thread i just almost fell asleep reading, anywho, no one recommended to do a tranny swap. the tranny for a SI trans, because it has closer gearing and vtec engines love to have close gearing, because it takes advantage of their high rpm capabilities. this will give no more more horsepower, but will take adavantage of the power you do have. i also recommend the d16z6 head swap, (it flows a little better and is a factory obd1 head from 92-95)

ORIGINAL: zarembad


ORIGINAL: Kedawei

ORIGINAL: Nail I3unny

why not change out the internals? its easier than an engine swap.


You can make sure it's built right too.

And idk about that 10:1 business. Power seems to be the best indicater of stress.



Why not change out the internals??? Where is the best place to find internal compnents to replace the stock ones?? I don't see much out there for the d15b7!! Plus I have nothing to pull the engine out anymore(kids). If I paid someone to do it, I am sure I would be better off doing a swap. Am I wrong?


yeah actually...you are. like i said, p28 ecu, y8 head, tranny, and IM, a1 pistons, and aftermarket rods will put you at a low 12:1 compression ratio. add basic bolt ons (IHE, cam/valvetrain) and you're looking at some serious power.

ORIGINAL: Nail I3unny


ORIGINAL: zarembad


ORIGINAL: Kedawei

ORIGINAL: Nail I3unny

why not change out the internals? its easier than an engine swap.


You can make sure it's built right too.

And idk about that 10:1 business. Power seems to be the best indicater of stress.



Why not change out the internals??? Where is the best place to find internal compnents to replace the stock ones?? I don't see much out there for the d15b7!! Plus I have nothing to pull the engine out anymore(kids). If I paid someone to do it, I am sure I would be better off doing a swap. Am I wrong?


yeah actually...you are. like i said, p28 ecu, y8 head, tranny, and IM, a1 pistons, and aftermarket rods will put you at a low 12:1 compression ratio. add basic bolt ons (IHE, cam/valvetrain) and you're looking at some serious power.


where do I find parts??? How much will it cost to have someone rebuild the engine??

oh well i assumed youd be doing the work yourself...

with labor it will probably just be better off getting an engine swap. most shops charge 500-1000 bucks to drop in say a GSR...but all that work together will probably run you enough to make up the difference between all that vs. engine swap.

you could probably get all of that for around 1.5k-2grand...it will give you more power than a stock B16 probaly and hold even in power with a GSR...but will be slightly lighter. it will also probably cost more to get it all installed than a straight up engine swap.

bottom line: if you're doing your own work then stick with the D...but if you're getting it installed then get an engine swap.

There's no way to have work done for you for cheap (unless you know people), no matter what path you want to take with your car. If you break the block down yourself and take it to a shop for a rebuild, that would probably be your cheapest route. Otherwise be prepared to spend a **** load.

Thats what I was trying to say. I have no equipment to pull the motor myself anymore. How are you supposed to replace pistons and internals without pulling the motor??

its not that hard. you can just drop it out the bottom. as Kappa used to say, its actually suprisingly easy to pull internals out of an engine thats in the car...at least a lot easier than most people thing.

ORIGINAL: Nail I3unny

yeah actually...you are. like i said, p28 ecu, y8 head, tranny, and IM, a1 pistons, and aftermarket rods will put you at a low 12:1 compression ratio. add basic bolt ons (IHE, cam/valvetrain) and you're looking at some serious power.



I still say Z6 head > Y8 head. I've been doing some reading on it since forty and I had a bit of exchange about the heads in another thread. The Z6 head has straight ports while the Y8s are curved, to give the fuel/air a swirl effect. While this gives the Y8 head better fuel atomization and a bump in low to midrange power, the Z6s top end is much better as the mixture can flow quicker (straight shot to the valves, as someone put it on sohchonda).

it's easy to pull pistons out of a engine that is in the car. just take your oil pan and head of the car, then take the rest of your necesary bolts out to slide the pistons out.of course it is easier to pull the engine out. i recomend a swap though.maybe a poor mans type r

i disagree. IMO its easier to drop out the bottom end.

A good port and Polish on the V-tec head and a Port match on the Intake manifold anlong with throttle body from any B or H series engine would give you some more power. but you have to open up some of the holes on the intake manifold to fit the bigger size throttle body.