I have a 91 si HB I have 200,000 on her and still runnning strong. I love this car, but she needs more juice and im afraid if I give her more I will need a new engine. This is my first project on a car. I'm ready to learn! I was looking at swaping out the engine, but I dont know what route to go many people tell me different things. What will fit? Whats the difference between SOHC or DOHC, I mean I been reading about it but i'm still a little hazy. I was wondering if someone was out there that knows something, and could tell me all that is involved. I was told if I put something in with more hp that I would have to change the axiles and clutch and a few other things. Thankyou
-Andre

 

im sorry i dont have time to answer all your q,s just now.... but how much power do you want to gain?... i also have a '91 si hatch...
(sohc=single overhead cam... dohc= dual........) welcome to hcf.. where are you from?.. i will get back to this or you can pm me...

 

You should buy a B16A1 swap, they go all day on ebay for like $1200 and that would make that light car pretty quick plus give you room to tinker with bolt-ons on your first project car

 

DOHC ZC is almost a direct drop in in the 4th gen.

 

The B16A1 is a direct drop in

 

o wait. wait. A1. ok.

 

sohc engines are generally cheaper, and easier to find, but the power potential is not as high. a dohc is a bit more expensive, but they are capable of producing a lot more power. for your 91 you could get another stock d16a6 (the stock engine in your car) or move up to a sohc vtec like a d15b or d16z6, there will be some wiring involved, but no custom mounts. a b16 is a good engine usually in the 1200-1700 dollar range, dohc vtec, you will need some more parts for this swap like a mount kit and axles, but you can get a complete swap and have it all.

 

im a big sohc fan due to cost and availability of the engines. first whats your power goals? if your like me a stock boosted sohc is enough. for the price of a b16(asumming you do your own work) you can boost your sohc as well as rebuild it.

 

i am getting ready to do mini-me swap its a D15B2 with a D16Y8 head and its not to bad i heard, and it bolts right in place of the old one you just might have to get the side motor mount off the side of the block and a msd ignition switch to run vtec theres something else you can use too but i'm not sure right off the bat, i havn't got a chance to put mine in though but i got a ZDF1 clutch too to go with it so when this summer coms around it will be ready but don't worry about it taking forever and having to do alot of stuff to get the motor out it took me and a friend like 5 or 6 hours to get it up on jacks and the motor yanked out with the tranny and the mini-me has a high compression ratio too so it won't be too bad on power and you will just have to buy like an intake or whatever to go on what ever year and model you get your D16Y8 head off of, i have a couple of friends who one has a b16 and it will run good and the other has LS vtec turboed and it it wicked fast and they can handle the power that you want to put in it to a certain extent and you will probably have to replace your clutch and axles if you start making good power seeing how your motor only makes like 112 hp

 

Not in the same way as a DOHC ZC. You have to wire up the VTEC, swap the axles, ECU, and [maybe] the throttle cable, and pull the rings out of the hubs because the axles are a bit long, etc, etc. But mount-wise, yes, it drops right in.

The ZC on the other hand is just like replacing your engine.

All that aside, I would agree with md and say go for the A1.