I am looking for an inexpensive swap with a motor that has a little more power than the d series. I was looking at the ZC swap I just don't know what all you need. Do you need different axles or anything like that. I would be swapping it into a "89 STD hatchback. Is it even worth it to do the swap. Thanks, Jacob

 

well, i am doing the DOHC swap right now and let me just say..it sucks having a std.

Here is what you will need for DOHC..i dont know about sohc
If you have a std then you are going to want to do a transmission swap as well since the std transmission is long geared and not very agressive. You have 3 other options

•ZC trasmission (probably about 150) this of course will need custom axels
•SI transmission from 89-91 (junkyard 100 bux) this will use your exsisting axels
•DX transmission from 89-91 (junkyard 100 bux) this will also use your existing axels

Now the STD axels arn't that great, they are very small but you gatta go through switching hubs and all that if you want to upgrade your axels.

The SI tranny will be your best bet but the DX isn't that bad either. The only differentce between the dx and the si is the final gear, other wise they are basicly the same.

As for the ECU, you have 3 options again. Basicly you will be setting your car up for MPFI from DPFI. 4 injectors instead of 2. You will be looking at the ZC ecu which has a 112mph limiter but works the best with the ZC engine since it was made for it. You could use a 88-91 civic SI ecu which will work ok. but In my opinion the best option would be a 88-89 acura integra ecu. This is off a car using D16a1 which is the closest engine you will find to the ZC. This is aggressive and it has no limmiter (like it really matters)

your stock header will work you just have to port it a bit, not to much. Other option would be to get an after market header such as a 4-2-1 or a 4-1 from an 88-89 integra.

the last part of ZC in a std is you have to wire up the MPFI. There are many tutorials on this and I cant really give much info on it because I have not done it yet. Hoping to get this bad boy in by christmas.

So thats basicly what you need. Otherwise the engine drops right in and uses the exact mounts as your current engine. You will need to cut some webbing out of your hood (or get a zc carbon fiber hood) so your timing belt doesnt rub against it.

Just remember that when you start this swap to have money and look over things a lot before you buy them.

The engine i bought had no gaskets so i had to buy head, exhaust, and intake gaskets. I didn't know what to look for so it had no injectors or a fuel rail. I found a broken camshaft and that has been a pain in the *** to fix. Didn't come with a distributor. It is a big hasel to get all these parts so if i were you, or if i had to buy this engine agiain, i would buy from Hmotorsonline.com or a local engine dealer if you could.

Thats basicly it. Some of the best recourses on the web for this swap are these 2..they will get you through it.

FourthGenhatch.net
TheZCR.com


if you were looking at sohc zc...sorry.lol

 

what is STD???? do you mean standard transmission or is that another kind of civic? I did a DOHC ZC into my DX, didnt have to mod. the hood or anything, used my DX tranny too which isnt terrible, I still like to get some gas mileage

 

yeah...std is a type of civc...what i have...

std is base model (4 speed manual dpfi)
DX is up a little (5 speed dpfi)

and if you had a dx you did have to do mpfi wiring unless it was already done