need some advice

i got two questions..the first one is that i am planning on getting a crx si in a couple months and i want to do a b16 swap but i live in cali and it needs to pass smog...does anyone know if it will and if not is there anything i can do to make it pass smog that is legal....my second question is that i'm relatively new to the import scene and i have some basic engine knowledge but nothing to write home about....would you suggest i get a shop to do the swap or i do it myself....my friend knows alot about chevys and stangs and such but he only works on old trucks and sportscars so he doesnt know much about imports so he could help me but were both not mechanical geniuses when it comes to hondas...thanks for the help

i mean the b16 swap is pretty straight forward....hasport (http://www.hasport.com) will hook you up with everything you need to make it work... i'd recomend getting the motor from hondamotorsonline.com .... maybe you guys could tackle the mechanic stuff and take it to a shop to take care of the wiring....

and i'm not from cali but there is tons of crap you can get to pass the smog test, actually you can find it in most part stores with all the fuel additives and shit. just post up on here somewhere how to pass smog test and you'll get flooded with answers.

thanks for the reply....i think either i would want to do it all myself or have the shop do it though....i would save like 2000 by doing it myself but if i do it wrong then it's not really worth it i quess....i think i would feel more proud if i did it myself but i want it to be a smooth install....also if i just put a cat converter on the exhaust will it pass smog?

I'm in a similar situation Shaun. I would really like to do the B16 swap, but judging from what I've read, it's a bit more technically demanding than I'm up for. That's why I'm going to do the D16Y8 swap instead. The D16Y8 is from a 98 civic, and it will bolt directly into my 90 hatch, and allows me to use my existing tranny, headers, intake, mounts, etc. Whereas the B16 requires a bunch of work for the mounts (mainly re-locating one of them) and bashing in part of the engine bay in order for the alternator to fit properly, etc. Plus, with a D16Y8, it will pass a visual inspection because it is a USDM engine instead of JDM. I found a D16Y8 at my local junk yard for $900 with less than 8000 miles on it. The D16Y8 has 125-130 HP unmodified, whereas my Si engine has only 108 unmodified. Plus it's a VTEC.

Depending on how this swap goes, I may tackle a B16 transplant sometime down the road...

i've been looking at the b16 swap for 88-91 crx's on hondamotorsonline.com for 1250.00 .....i really wish i knew more about cars so that i could do this myself and save a couple grand....it pisses me off to think what else i could do with the 2 grand i would save by not getting a shop to do it ....just for curiousity how much eisier is it to swap a zc or like ci5ic said the d16y8?....if i could do that myself maybe i wont go with the b16 but i dont know if i'll be able to do that myself either....i have 3500 saved up right now for my crx and now i'm saving up for my engine...maybe i'll try to learn as much as i can about hondas until i get the cash for a engine in a couple months and try to do the install myself...think i should?

oh yeah also if i did do the b16 myself i would be getting the hasport mounts so i wont need to take a sledgehammer the engine bay

Yeah you would (need to use the sledge and relocate one of the mounts). The ZC is alot easier than the B16, but there's alot of horror stories about doing the ZC swap, and it's also a JDM engine, and the ZC specs are almost identical to the D16Y8 (HP, torque, etc.). Like I said, the D16 bolts DIRECTLY in, so it's probably one of the easiest swaps to do, plus it's alot cheaper (plus, if you find one locally, you don't have to pay for shipping, and you can see the engine before you get it, instead of getting surprised with an engine that's not in the best shape). When I do my swap, I'm going to take the time to replace all the gaskets and other stuff while the engine is out of the car, so that's a bunch more money that you'll need. The wiring for the D16 is also alot easier than a B16 (from what I've heard).

Anyways, good luck with whatever swap you decide on.

For reference, LadyNredSi has done the D16 swap, and Travis118 has a ZC (lots of people have done these and the B16, but these are probably the 2 best references I've seen). Check out the "Hybrid" forum.

man ....i've just been looking up smog laws and what mods i can do while keeping it legal and it's barely anything.....i'm wondering now if it's even worth doing a swap and mods if i have to spend soo much time finding special parts that will pass smog and having to worry about it all....i know that you need emmision testing for the enviroment but damn it sure does make it ALOT harder to mod your car....if anyone knows how to make a jdm b16 smog legal and how much it will cost to make it legal please do tell cause i need all the help i can get

go over to crx-forum.org. There are a bunch of California CRX owners there who can tell you exactly what you can and cannot do.

i've done the zc swap before..... it's mind blowingly easy.... if you want you could try that, personally i'd lean to the y8.. if your not gonna go b16..... and i would definetly be puttin on a cat if you wanna even dream of passing a smog test first....

problem with California is that swapped engines often fail emissions even if they're LESS poluting than the original, just because they're not the original.

It doesn't really make sense. They can have ferarris there which belch a LOT more pollution than our Hondas, but you can't put a better engine in your Honda.

This is why I will never live in California ;)

damn this sucks man now i dont know what car i should even buy.....i think i should either a 90 supra turbo or a 90 300zx....but i really wanted to do up a crx and both of the other ones are hard to find aftermarket parts for.....i might end up going domestic and getting a old chevelle or nova...oh well:(

don't give up the idea of owning a fucked up 4g like the rest of us for a chevelle........ fuck those smog tests you will find a way around it i gaurantee, everybody does.........

fuck those smog tests you will find a way around it i gaurantee, everybody does

Yup, and really, just knowing that my engine burns clean - I don't feel bad. And if I start to feel guilty, I just go for a drive. :)

I just ran my first full tank of gas since my swap - getting 30 MPG. Of course, I'm still running the HF exhauast, but even 25 MPG is good. Not like those gas-gussling SUVs. How can 10 mpg be legal and my 25 mpg honda isn't.