Looking for opinion (Swap)

Hello, this is my first post so please hold back if I sound like a noob.

I am in the process of buying a car. I have 3 choices of decent deals from a guy that works by me. 91 Si Crx, 91 DX Civic HB or a 93 Si HB. The 91s for 1300 or the 93 for 2000. All 3 bought from auction and all 3 have less than 140k on them.

Anyway after I choose one of these I want to do a swap within a few months. I just cant seem to decide what to get. I am a front end mechanic/Tire buster currently and do some stuff on the side, but I am also going to school, so I dont have the time or alot of money. So it will have to be sent out. I want something that is going to be a daily driver and a toy on the weekends but also practical in price. After I purchase the car I should have between 4-5k to play with. Although I will MOD as I go. I have more knowledge in the domestic department so sorry if I make a mistake on this... I have read that...b20b/z (Crv-tec) have weak bottom ends, also not good to rev to high along with ls/vtec. GS-R is to expensive, b18c5 is even more expensive along with JDM spec ITR. B16 is a good value but weak and will be wanting more after a few months, but have heard nothing bad about h22 or h23 with h22 head. So please any opinions would be great!

Take into consideration later MODs I will probably beable to do myself (after a little reading), I just will need this car within a few days because of my busy schedule. Sorry for the long post as well.

Honestly I'd go with the '93 Si HB. I bought my '94 CX (70hp economy) for $2,000 and it had 170,000 miles on it. So to me that sounds like a really good deal. But otherwise I'd look at each and see which has the best body (no rust, paint chips, etc.). Also with the '91's they both have cable transmissons where the '93 has hydralic (damn I can't spell). Also a thing to consider is that the '91's are obd-0 and the '93 is obd-1. So depending on which car you get, it will be better to get a corresponding OBD motor. Although if you're taking it to a shop to get swapped then it's not really your problem (other than the cable/hydralic thing). But it may cost you more if they have to do a wiring conversion.

With the CRV-vtec and LS-vtec, I'm not really sure about the weak bottom ends, but the high reving thing is definently a problem. Especially since you'll be using the ECU for the head of an engine that is able to rev quite a bit higher than the bottom end will allow. So if you went with either of those it'd be a good idea to chip it and lower the rev limiter. The GS-R is definently a great engine, although it costs quite a bit it is worth it. Honestly I'd choose the GS-R over the ITR, just because you could easily mod it to get around the same hp. The H-series blocks are really nice and will give you a lot of power with just a straight swap. However don't let the price of the motor fool you, it costs a lot more to get it into a Civic. Expect to pay around $4,000 for parts and the motor to get it in, and then if you add in labor of having someone put it in your car it will be well beyond that (unless you get a good deal on installation). Seems like you've gotten rid of the idea of the b16a so I won't give info on that.

But have you considered forced induction at all? You could inexpensively turbo the existing motor, $1,500-2G's and have a little more hp than the b16a. Or even better would be the b18b (LS motor). It already has more torque than the b16a and GS-R, as well as lower compression. This motor is very boost friendly, and you can get a lot of power out of it.

So in the long run I'd say splurge and get the GS-R motor. Or if you're willing to turbo get the LS. Both of these motors are great platforms to work off of and should give you enough power to make you happy (for the meantime :D).

So in the long run I'd say splurge and get the GS-R motor. Or if you're willing to turbo get the LS. Both of these motors are great platforms to work off of and should give you enough power to make you happy (for the meantime :D).


I was actually thinking about GS-R, I know LS's are turbo friendly but I really want to run N/A. I know a guy down here that will sell the complete swap for 3000 (not sure if thats a good deal) then I just need to get it installed. That includes original mounts axles and all sensors gauranteed working etc....

So much stuff to think about...lol

I was actually thinking about GS-R, I know LS's are turbo friendly but I really want to run N/A. I know a guy down here that will sell the complete swap for 3000 (not sure if thats a good deal) then I just need to get it installed. That includes original mounts axles and all sensors gauranteed working etc....

So much stuff to think about...lol


That's a great deal! If you want to run N/A the GS-R motor is the way to go!

GSR Motor Swap
JDM Integre Type-R Pistons (11:1 Compression now but runs on 91 Octane)
Skunk2 Intake Manifold
Skunk2 Stage2 Cams and valve train
Intake
and a Nice header and exhaust setup will get you into the 190 area to the wheels.

You'll be good to go there!

Get the 93 Hatch because the swap is a direct bolt.