Engine Question
 

I'm sorry if I put this in the wrong section. OK, I am on a very limited budget. I have a 99 ex and I need a new engine. From what I have heard just about any D16 engine would work. A friend of my dads found a engine out of a 89 civic for $50, which is great with my budget. So my question is, if I swapped out the head for my Y8 head would there be anything else I would have to do since it's an obd1 car to make it work with my car? I know most of you are going to say I shouldn't do it, but right now with being unemployed and with a 2 month old son I don't really have many options other then to get the car running asap. And I can't afford the $400+ that everyone wants for a z6 or the $600+ for the Y8.

thanks in advance

Why do you need a new engine exactly? What's wrong with the y8 you have in there now?
Yea, the 89 civic motor will work, but may be considered illegal according to your state's emissions.

It spun a rod bearing and the crank is scarred up pretty bad. I have come across alot of posts on various forums saying that the Y8 is bad for spinning bearings so I don't want to put another Y8 block in. I can swap the head out for the Y8 head that I have and it should be fine though right. Would I have to do anything else. A friend of mine said I might have to swap out the dizzy to, but he is like me and is just going off of stuff he has read about these engines.

the 89 Civic is OBD0, not OBD1. Your car is OBD2b. pre-96 D-series engines don't have knock sensors, and your car does. You have to use the Y8 ECU, and if you are using a Y8 ECU with an OBD0 or OBD1 block, you will throw the knock sensor code because you won't have one. To solve this problem you could run a P28 (OBD1, for D16Z6... an engine very similar to the Y8) ECU, by using a conversion harness. However, the price of a P28 and a conversion harness will be around $125-150... and you could instead put that towards the block and could afford a good condition D16Y8 block.


Your best bet is to find another D16Y8 block. As long as you take care of the engine, don't beat on it, and it doesn't have a TON of miles, you probably won't spin a rod bearing again. Also, another Y8 block will drop right in without wiring troubles or any trouble at all for that matter... another reason to stick with it.

Also... about this rod bearing thing... an engine from an 89 Civic is probably going to have a ton of miles on it and be just as, if not more, likely to spin a rod bearing. If you cheap out and buy a beat up and/or high mileage block, you're taking a big risk. If you're as concerned as you say you are about the reliability you're going to be spending more than $50... you're maybe looking at a decent price being $100 or so. A cheap block is cheap for a reason... too good to be true.

I found a Y7 for 250 hopefully, just waiting to hear back from the guy. He swapped it for a b series motor.

why not just buy a new crank?? its only like 150$ and most come with the new bearings

Where have you found the crank for 150? Most of the places I have looked are around 250+ for them.

at my local part store also if you have a engine machine shop they can turn it for you its pretty cheap