I'm Civic Stupid... Help with some engine and other questions

Hey guys,

So I got a 1995 civic 2 door I drive as my get around car for my 90 mile commute every day. I was trying to look around on the civic forums but they are seriuosly horible...

Anyways, my clutch is going out, my rig has 280,000 miles on the clock, and thats low because my speedo is intermitant, and the clock spins only when the speedo does... The car burns oil, has a sweet burning smell after I get home, and well, it just needs some love...

So while I have the tranny down for the clutch I figure it's a good time to just go ahead and swap the engine. This should be a relatively reasonable task for me, I have done my fair share of engine installs in other vehicles. But beyond that I am civic stupid!!!

So here are a couple questions. Are the Japanese take out engines any good? I have a 1.5L SOHC, non v-tec. I can grab one locally for about $600... Not sure if I should do that or shell out the $1000 for a rebuilt.

Moving beyond that, I don't know shit about modding these cars. Since I will be dropping a new engine and clutch in, I figire I will be holding onto it for a little bit. Any cool mods anyone can recommend? Any key parts I should focus on? I have always had trucks and done offroad shit so this is a whole new world to me. Thanks for the help!!

 

I'm a honda guy and 280k isn't that bad for the motor but if you can afford a rebuild I would.

Are japan engines safe? Depends.. I got my ITR (Integra type-r) motor/tranny from Japan and the clutch was about dead and it only had 23k miles on it. The motor was in good condition but the clutch was toast. Since you are just buying the motor you should be ok.

I would suggest the B16a1 or B16a motor/tranny swap, again if its in the budget. Otherwise rebuild the motor. The b16 is the best honda motor for this car. However the MPG's will be better in a 1.5 SOHC. So you can choose between gas milage and a sackless motor, or some power and loose a few MPG's.

My wife's Honda civic Si, running the B16a2 motor has the following done to it:
Cold air intake, Fuel rail, fuel pressure regulator, high cap fuel pump, intake manifold spacer, header, full exhaust, upgraded wires/plugs, ground kit, titanium valves/lifters, adjustable cam gears. She's a lead foot and gets around 27-31mpg highway still (Depending on how she drives). Oh she also has about 400-500 of additional weight due to shaving the car and stereo.


As for mods, the sky is the limit. What are you interested in doing to it? Looks/power/suspension/stereo/etc etc?

Here is my old CRX I used to have before I flipped it. I'll post some pic's of my wife's civic so you can get some ideas. I subbed to this thread as well








And before people jump on this and say all Honda's are sackless, that CRX ran low 13's in the 1/4mile, all motor.

Found a pic of my wife's civic: (also she does her own work to her car, this is her build not mine)

 

The civic EJ is practically a lego car... You can do anything to it. If you want to keep it SOHC you can get its japanese version which usually bolts right in and is good for a few more horsepower. The engine is only as good as someone who took care of it, Which you can't tell without inspecting it for yourself.

But if you want to get more into, All Honda engines will go in with little to no modifications... You can do DOHC with a B-Series engine and get a install kit. That opens up to B16's (JDM civic SIR, JDM Integra XSI, 99-00 Civic SI etc...), B18C1 (94-01 Integra GSR), B18C5 (97-01 Integra Type-R USDM), B18C (JDM 97-01 Integra Type-R), B17A1 (Good luck finding one [92-93 Integra GSR])... If you want to go crazy you can do a K20 swap which is from a 04-06 RSX Type-S, K24 (TSX) and so on.

The car is literally a lego, There's endless suspension choices, carbon fiber add ons, wheels, brake kits are adaptable (Type-R, GSR, NSX).

But if you toy around with her and get her all fixed up, she will become a theft magnet... I would highly recommend a Quick release steering wheel and a hub lock, good alarm system with proximity sensors and non matching wheel locks.

EDIT: Oh were sharing pictures meow?... Mmmkay.

My old DB1 (90-93 Integra sedan)... This was at the peak of the JDM craze (2005-2009), So I bought rare little parts like the window visors, mugen wheels, OEM 1 piece headlights etc...






I put more into suspension and only upgraded under the hood when parts would wear out (but it had a GSR transmission and stage 3 clutch [shorter gears... Sucked for highway driving])

 

Looks cool for a civic, haha ya I am biased too and I got one, haha.

Seriously though, thanks for the info and help! I just wanted to put another 1.5L in it, think its a D15B7. Unless upgrading is rather easy and costs the same... I am looking at keeping this motor/clutch party around the $1000 mark unless something is really worth spending a few extra bucks on. I will never road race or drag this car, I am still a dirt guy, but it would be cool to have a little something under the hood to make me feel like less of a pussy when I am driving my car, haha. Can this be accomplished with my 1.5L with things like an intake and header, or other similar items? I really don't want the typical rice rocket exhaust sound...

I guess my real goal is to keep it a sleeper. I just got a sweet free paint job certousy of the un-insured motorist who rear ended me (thank you uninsured motorist insurance)! So it looks relatively clean from the outside. So no body kits or mods like that, I'm not into that look anyways. Just want to drop in the new engine, get it running real good, and maybe add a few pony's to my massive 125HP!!!

 

For an exhaust that doesn't sound like a riceer, Apex-i World Sport 2. Very low and throaty, no 'braaap' sound at all.. It's a awesome low tone when just driving around, when you slam the gas it doesn't get any louder, tends to quiet out a bit. Totally worth it and it looks clean.

http://passwordjdm.com/APEXi-WS2-Exhaust-System-C2093.aspx

 

I/H/E won't add much power, Assuming the engine has practically fresh things for a tune up it might help a little bit... My little integra didn't make a peep until you had the foot planted to the ground, Listen to sound clips on youtube to find the sound you desire. I had a HKS Sport exhaust which apparently was also super rare.

You can go turbo but it's a honda, any honda engine is easy enough to do.

 

K swap it haha I had a 06 rsx-s (dc5 teg) before the taco and i miss it at times. I had a rebuilt b18c1 in a 91 crx I had back in the day and it ran perfect. I got 70k hard miles out of it before I sold it. Rebuilt motors aren't bad.

 

Drop a sohc zc and call it a day.

 

ZC?

 

Sohc vtec

 

Now remeber the title is "civic stupid" haha.

Is this something I can simply drop in, or will it require a new harness/computert/etc...

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_D_engine#ZC

 

http://www.hondahookup.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-100455.html

 

Holy shit it like a franken-engine! You have to use parts from like 5 different cars to get this thing in there... Alot of cool info though!

 

Unless you are wanting a bigger platform to work with for major power gains down the road I'd just stick with the stock motor rebuild/replacement. Plus much better MPG's

 

Probably gunna run stocker 1.5L for now... I would love to go crazy, but every day this car is down it costs me a lot of money in gas driving my Toyota... Would be cool to get a B series and build it in the garage over time and swap in later...

 

It will be the cheapest route that's for sure.

 

So just to double check, the japanese take out motor is an alright route to go? Anybody have any horror stories or anything like that? I know they are used, and around 60K miles... better thank 300K haha. I called a few shops around here and they want $1500 to rebuild, the Japanese one is $600.

Then I was gunna get a Napa clutch, figure I can't lose with Napa.

 

I've had at least 10+ motors from Japan, no issues other than that type-r having a worn clutch.

I would suggest Exedy OE clutches.

http://www.exedyusa.com/oe/

 

Ok cool, I was looking online and there are a million different brands and shit. I swear when it comes to the trucks, I know exactly what I need, or what brands, but these civics are a whole other world...