So, long story short.. I've been driving 120-130 miles a DAY to and from work on my BMW (5 series )so I've been looking for a low cost Civic to do the daily commute in. I found one for almost nothing that's in great shape except for the timing belt broke. It's a girl who just graduated college and she was wanting to buy a new car anyways so she's already done that and just wants this car gone. It's only a few hundred bucks. I'm going to buy this one in a few days as I've been looking for months and there just hasn't been anything better. I have the skills/place to fix it, so that's not a problem or an issue. I've rebuild everything from old SBC's to building a forged/supercharged LS1 to go in a corvette I had a few years ago--so, I have the skills to fix it--I just don't know much about these cars yet as far as interchangeability.

My question, though, is what is my CHEAPEST option here? Some valves are bent or at least I am assuming they are.. Would it be better for me to replace those valves/possibly guides if they're messed up too or to just get another head off of eBay and take my chances that it's in good shape? If I do go the used head off eBay route, what other heads will fit? I assume there are many other similar engines with heads that are more or less the same. I do not care about VTEC.. I just want my cheapest options.

Thanks for any help!

 

i say to buy a timing belt and just replace the belt and see if it runs, also replace the water pump while ur there,if there are bent valves u can just replace them, that would be ur cheapest option, i also suggest putting all new valve seals, that aways you know its done and wouldnt have to worry about it. but if you do need a head, any D series head will fit. any d15 or d16, the d16z6,d16y8,d15z1 are your vtec heads

 

The seller said it was running when the belt broke so I'm almost certain some valves are bent. I'll do a compression test real quick once I get it to verify which cylinder(s) have bent valves. Def sounds like just replacing the valves will be my cheapest option and at least these things aren't too bad to work on. I had a Lincoln LS V8 once and man that thing was the biggest PITA to work on I've ever seen in my life.

Great info though. Thanks!

 

Welp. SHE RUNS!

So, here's the story: A new waterpump/tensioner/timing belt came with the car. A Honda specialty shop diagnosed the damage (to the previous owner) and said valves were bent--thus, the car was priced VERY cheap. The previous owner decided to just sell the car instead of paying to have it repaired.

Anyways.. I pull it apart (breaking 2 extensions and 2 sockets before finally going out and buying some 1/2" extensions for the crank bolt, lol) and decide to just put the new belt/waterpump on and check the compression before I go any further. I figured this had to be done anyways so I might as well give it a shot. After I get the timing set I put the crank pulley back on just tight enough to hold while I run a compression test. Ah, screw the compression test..lets try to start it! Try #1..no go. Sounded like it had no compression, it was turning over super easy compared to what I'm used to on my other car (BMW E39). So, I run the fuel pump for a while, figuring it had been sitting and maybe that was the problem. Try #2... BAM, started right up!!! From there I went ahead and pulled the plugs and ran a compression test real quick just to be sure. Everything checked out. It idled perfectly after a few minutes of running and runs so quiet I literally forgot it was running once while I was vacuuming up some stuff on the shop floor.

From there I went ahead and finished putting it back together..alternator, motor mount, covers, blah blah blah. Topped off the coolant, checked the oil, went over all the main bolts again to make sure I hadn't missed anything. While I was looking over it I realized that it says VTEC on the valve cover. Could it be??..Was the previous owner really THAT wrong? She had told me it was not the VTEC engine. After some checking I found the engine nameplate and indeed it is the VTEC engine. Woohoooo.

Last was the test drive.. The wiper switch is apparently worn out bc everytime I hit a bump it would move and make the wipers start going, lol. But besides that, everything went as smooth as could be. It shifted smooth and everything worked. Cruise, AC, heat, etc.

So, for $600 I now have a '95 civic with 180K miles on it, pretty much all the power options, etc and has a brand new waterpump and timing belt. I'd say I'm a lucky guy

 

Yeah, a lot of SOHC motors that snap timing belts do not bend the valves. Although if it snaps on a DOHC it will mess stuff up.

 

Yeah I've heard that from a lot of people online. It's pretty messed up that a Honda shop told the previous owner that the valves were bent, though.