Hey whats up? I recently started a '91 Civic HB project and need a little bit of info from the people who live and breath imports, so i came here. I just need some suggestions on what i could swap in. The car has a B15 in it currently. I need more performance. Great car since i rebuilt all of the suspension, want to start on the important part soon. So any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks 307Jer

 

In a 91 Civ, I believe you can swap in a :
ZC............129HP @6800
B16A1.......158HP @7600
B18C5.......195HP @8000

 

well if your a non time comsuming guy and hate working hard the zc swap is the way to go. cause its a direct bolt on to the civic's plus you can use the same tranny you have. but your gonna run into a few wiring issues like converting dx to zc and dp to multi fuel injec also suggest getting a ls ecu from an integra it'll get your rpms higher. but other then that its a good motor seen it run about 15's. oh yeh dont forget about the mini me's and the toher d-series motors that are easy and well get you V-TEC.

now the b-series are the kinda hard because they require motor mounts and other crap. the b16a is a great motor for that civic. why? well its obd0 for starters plus its kinda easy if you know what your doing. your going to need aftermarket motor mount cause the motor WELL NOT fit in the civic without them. also some wiring like the zc and also V-TEC.

 

Well first of all, you can swap in whatever you want, though for the money and work required, a DOHC ZC is often the best option in a 4G hatch. There are tons of parts out there, and you can build them to run with the best (often for less). As for the rest of the D-series engines people like to build on (Z6, Y8, etc...), you COULD theoretically do it, but it wouldn't be worth all the trouble, especially since you'd still be pushing less power and SOHC; you'd be better off just stepping up to a B-series. Don't be suckered into doing a D16Y8 or Z6 swap by promises of VTEC... DOHC will treat you better than SOHC in the long run regardless.

You're going to need to wire your car for MPFI instead of DPFI. This requires some careful instructions, a lot of 18 guage wire, some cut ECU plugs off another Civic, basic electrical know-how, and an injector resistor box (easiest to get one from an Si or a 1G Integra, but the Si ones look better). The 88-89 Integra 5 Speed ECU (PG7) is the best choice, since the fuel mapping is a little more aggressive than stock.

You'll have to do a similar conversion if you're doing a B-series swap, but in that case, you're usually better off just getting a full wiring harness and swapping the whole thing out. You'll also need motor mounts, axles, and a shift linkage modification. If you're doing a B18C, you're going to have to get creative with the hood. It's a little taller than the other B-series motors, so you either have to invent a way to make it sit lower (DANGEROUS), get a motor mount kit that does this for you (might as well, since you'll need one anyway), or creatively modify your hood.