Hey guys, I just bought a 91 civic dx, first honda i've ever owned. Dont really know much about modding a civic, but I was wondering if a 1st or 2nd gen b16 w/vtec will swap and how much money and work is actually involved. Any help would be awesome. Thanx

 

Well, first you should decide how much you want to modify your car. Do you just want a vtec motor, or do you want to go turbo? Any reason that you chose a B16 over all the other motors you could swap into that 4th gen of yours?

 

I do want the vtec, and mabye go turbo down the road, as far as the b16 goes, like I said im kinda new to hondas so I really dont know what my options go as far as swaps are concerned. Any info on that sorta thing would be cool.

 

well doing a b16 or b18 swap is not too hard. And as for costs, it varies. I can have a local performance shop do the swap for me for $4500. But if you feel like doing it all yourself, you can do it for cheap. I know of a few b16's for sale for like $1500. And thats with trans and ECU. If you do the swap, your going to have to change from OBD0 to OBD1. I think OBD1 is the best for doing a turbo swap, but everyone has their own opinions about it.

 

thanx. yea im doin all the work myself. would a head swap be more bang for the buck right now? im low on funds and if itll give me a considerable hp gain im down for that.

 

To be honest, I wouldn't even worry about your current D series. If your wanting to do a motor swap, you'll just be wasting your money. Don't get me wrong - you can make a decent amount of power out of a D-series. But it seems to be a waste to put parts on a motor thats going to be thrown out eventually. If I was in your place I'd just work on the basics. Get some good suspension in, and get your piping ran. Find some nice tires and rims. Make the car ready for the day that you do finally do the motor swap. There's nothing worse than to release a lot of HP in a car not ready for it.

 

I think the only reason you want a B16 is because that's what you hear all the other people who don't know anything about Hondas saying to get.

The B16 is a sh!tty overrated engine. Given the choice between my D16Z6 and the B16 I would take the D16 any day.

Do some more research, and then think about a motor swap. Get more acquainted with your Honda before you start planning. Meanwhile, work on suspension and other things you would like to do. Suspension is the most important part of the car.

 

Thanx for the input guys, like I said its my first honda build. I had a 78 280z before I bought my civic. R.I.P. I didnt realize how many parts and mods are available for the older hondas. Ill keep doing some research on the swap cuz I dont want to waste time and money on somethin thats not gonna be worth it. By the way is there any good websites for mods and parts for the 4th gen civic?

 

Not sure about where to get parts specifically for 4th gens, but you can try procivic.com, jhpusa.com, weaksauceparts.com, andysautosport.com, and others. Do research on a part before buying it... there's A LOT of knockoff sketchy Honda parts out there that suck and you gotta be careful.

Found this too... read the second post.
http://www.automotiveforums.com/t118785.html


Here's a good 4th gen civic FAQ
http://honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=1508680

 

I was also thinkin about a cluster swap since I dont have a tach. Do you know if a si cluster would just hook right up besides the wiring the tach?