You would be essentially driving around a Y8 motor for the most part, so whatever the difference is between those. Not much, but with the amount of money you have available for this, it is probably the most reliable bump in HP you can get.

$100 for the head
$100 for ARP head studs (I would recommend this)
$75 for an ECU
$25 for the wiring and that sort of stuff
$50 for the new HG, and replacement oil/coolant

Probably a few other small things I am missing. You can buy a y8 intake manifold, TB, and fuel set-up if you want, that will help over the restrictive y7 manifold.

 

ok sounds good. so you think i should get the whole d16y8 motor and just do a bolt in swap or do the mini-me swap? which would be the easiest and cheapest for the amount of power that i get?

so your saying that if i do get a nice y8 vtec head, ecu, and gaskets. i could be looking at 100hp gain?!

where could i find these parts? craigslist? ebay? jdm website?

 

With your budget of $600, I would just stick with the mini me swap. With a complete swap from a y8, $600 is going to be cutting it close. If you did the complete y8 swap, you would be forced to find some used engine on craigslist and take a chance.

No, you would not gain 100hp. You would be essentially driving a y8 motor if you swap out the head. Turtle told you the base hp of a y8 in the previous posts.

The head you will probably be best off sourcing locally. Everything else can be bought on eBay, from Honda, or at a local auto parts store.

 

im not really finding any y8 heads for under 175-200 bucks. idk where you got 100 bucks from. and doesnt the d16y8 put out like 127 stock. so would i put out like 120 if i did the mini me swap?

 

They are all over the place in my local craigslist for $100. Philly craigslist is nice at times.