I just put my 3rd engine in this civic, good thing I like working on it [:@]. The first was junk, I didn't know enough to look it over better.
The second was good, and we rebuilt it, but there was a little dip in the corner on the short block it's very minor, enough we never saw it with the engine apart. After we got it running it leaked from the inside cyl wall through the coolant chamber into the oil. Has anybody had any luck having a short block machined, or will it mess up the piston clearance? Maybe I should try to find another short block for it? We put all that work in the engine so far, and though I have another engine in the car, I would like to fix it up for a back up, or in case I get another civic. I got the motor that is running now from Eric Japan in Chicago. If anybody is looking for a low mileage engine, he has a large inventory, and I was very impressed with the engine I got, clean and handled well. It runs great! He was excellent to deal with too, and has 6 mos warranty. I didn't get anything fancy (d15b)

 

you can usually get the block decked, if its minor, that should take care of it. and it will also increase the compression, which could result in a nice power gain. although it can throw the cam timing off a little bit, so an adjustable cam gear would give even more of a power gain. a higher grade of gas would be needed after this, though it will probably pay for itself in increased fuel economy.