Alright...
As of today, I'm the proud owner of a 1990 Honda Civic Hatchback. I believe it is the DX model. I traded my ps2 off for it, if you can believe that. Anyways, the head is pretty much shot. The cam is missing, they cut the belt cover to get the cam out, the lifters are all screwed up, and the engine is shot I believe. It has 172K~ on it so I don't feel like investing in a new head just to find out it won't run. Also, the shifter says its a 5 speed, but I'm thinking its a 4, because I can't find a 5th gear. If its there, it won't shift into 5th...

Tomorrow we're planning on searching our local salvage yard for an engine, but what are all of the engines that can be dropped into this car without a lot of modification? I'd like something a bit bigger than a 1.5L.. 1.6 or 1.8 would be nice. If the car has this many miles on it would it be wise to purchase an engine and transaxle as a whole or should I try coupling this engine with my old tranny? I don't really know where to start.

Overall there isn't any big body damage, the front driver side fender is a bit dented, driver side door has a decent dent, and the hood/roof are victims to some pretty gruesome hail damage. After we bondo it all up, it's going to be great.

 

b16's and b18's can be dropped into their pretty easily. The b18's need special mounts along with a couple other things that escape me right now. Since you can't find 5th (and it is a 5 speed if it's a DX, however it could be a standard which is a 4-speed), I'd suggest grabbing a transmission while you're at it too. Sounds like you came out ahead for just a PS2.

 

not all dx's had a 5 speed, both ef's ive had had 4 speeds in them which arent bad but i like the 5 speeds better. and for the engine if its just the heads that are bad do a mini me swap from a d16y8 or z6. its the cheapest and best deal for you imo. good luck

 

What engine modelsdid they have?

 

damn a ps2 for a car.. not a good car.. but a car. nice

 

Finally got some decent pics -

 

Not to revive an old useless thread or anything...

But a friend of mine totalled her car.
It just so happens to be a 1990 Civic LX Sedan.
The engine was still good, so I paid the tow fee of $50 and picked it up.
It has a d15b that looks to be swapped in.
The car says it has 165k miles but the engine doesnt have a single scratch or speck of dirt.

I think I've pieced together the world's cheapest EF Civic... a ps2 and $50.
Took me a while, but hey!
The orange paint on the interior is gone, restored to stock, some pieces were painted black
I also have that fancy digital clock that didn't come with the STD. =]

All I need now is carpet, the center vent (to put use to my clock), and I'm looking for black console unit to hide the fact that the previous owner of my car couldn't afford an Si...

I'll get pics up soon.

 

dude your luckly on that body of the car. i just got an 90 handa civic si and it needs 600.00 on body work so. good luck with every thing keep it up and show some pics as you go.