What type of engine swap?

Hey guys...i was wonderin. i have a '89 Civic Si Hatch...and im tired of its sluggish "get up and go"...so i was thinking bout getting a new engine for it...my friend Nate told me that a B16 would fit perfectly in it...and it has 130 hp...but i was lookin at a webpage and saw that a B18C Spec R has 195 hp...i want the B18C for obvious reasons. but heres my question...which engine do u guys think i should get? and how much do your think i can get it for? and were at? thanx

b16's actually have 160hp, but it doesn't fit perfectly there's a bunch of stuff you need to drop it in. It's a pretty powerful engine though. A b16 swap should cost around $2,000. The best choice IMO is either a d16z6 or d16y8. They're SOHC VTEC and put out 125-127hp. Doesn't sound like much, but the beauty of the swap is that it shouldn't cost much more than $700, and the d16's fit right in, no extra stuff necessary except for the ECU. No to mention there's quite an aftermarket for these little engines.

There is also the DOHC ZC engine.

b16a is a good motor it will take a motor mount kit and rewire for vtec same as the B18c5 will

but the B18c5 the tranny wont hook up you have to do 1 of 2 things

1. make your car hydro trany witch is a pain in the butt from what I have lookd into

2. use a Ls trany and hybrid the gearing to get it right so you can use the power or find you a b16 cable trany

in the long run b16a = cheaper and less work
b18c5 if you find one and have the $$ do it it will be sik fast
if you got $$ problems do a Ls or a soch vtec swap

Originally posted by Marc-OS
b16's actually have 160hp, but it doesn't fit perfectly there's a bunch of stuff you need to drop it in. It's a pretty powerful engine though. A b16 swap should cost around $2,000. The best choice IMO is either a d16z6 or d16y8. They're SOHC VTEC and put out 125-127hp. Doesn't sound like much, but the beauty of the swap is that it shouldn't cost much more than $700, and the d16's fit right in, no extra stuff necessary except for the ECU. No to mention there's quite an aftermarket for these little engines.


i was gonna say the same thing
a c5 will cost a lot in labour and parts
b16 is good but kinda torqueless untill you get to high rpm's
y8/z6's are the best bang for the buck, i would personally get the y8 simply cuz its newer and the dizzy is easier to do, if ecu is kinda optional cuz you can always get a v-afc and tune everything yourself or have a shop do it, but no matter what dont use a ghetto rpm activated switch, it will starve your engine in vtec mode

and the best part about running a y8/z6 is that you wont throw off your weight, cuz the engine is the same wieght as your a6
where as if you plan to swap a c5 your front will be heavy and you can kiss auto-x goodbye, but HELLO straight line racing

if you want torque then i would suggest a b18b,b20b/z
i have sat/drivin those babys and when you push that baby you wont remember what vtec is and what the hype is all about

Originally posted by kbslacker
There is also the DOHC ZC engine.

true but personally i wouldnt want a 12 year old engine thats been sitting in japan
just my 2cents

come on you guys, the first response should have been what are you looking for in the future, i mean do you wanna run 10s ? 13s ? 15s ? do you wanna go forced induction ? how much boost ? etc etc. then from his response to that, then we could make suggestions on what he should get, based on what he wants.

the 1/4 mile times doesnt really matter to me...i just wanna accelerate...on the road...fast. i dont know anything about forced induction or boost so if you guys could help me...it would be greatly appreciated...thanx

In my opinion DOHC ZC is way better than SOHC VTEC because with SOHC VTEC you need to rewire 50 wires! With ZC it's only 4. Basically the same power. So why bother with VTEC when you can have DOHC and pretty much the same power if not more.

go c32 man its all the hype these days 290 hp v6! lol j/k, for what you want ide say zc or b16

To me the best bang for your buck is the B18a. I can pick up the motor, tranny, axels, ecu, wire harness and everything needed to do the swap for $400 all day long. Only thing you need is mounts which isn't that hard to make your own if you can weld. I just bought a 93 integra w/ B18a the other day wrecked with 71,000 miles for $200 and sold it today for $800 to a guy with a CRX. You can't beat the torque of it and if you want to go fast buy a B16a head for like $400 off the parts trader and do a frankenstein. For aournd 1000-1200 dollars you can whip the heck out of a lot of things. Just my experience. I feel that the B18a is often overlooked.

$400 for everything??? Goddam. Now I am so confused on what swap to get. I wanted B18A but then ZC, now I'm not sure.

You would be amazed on how cheap the B18a are. The 90-91 make 130 hp and the 92-93 make 140 and like 140 ft/torque. My friends CRX can lay 20 foot patches going into second with 17's on and the motor is stock. The B18a runs the best off a 91 Civic Si Ecu, but you can use 90 Civic Si ECU ! Call around and ask about them at a junkyard and talk to them and tell them what you want to do and that you want the whole car and that you will bring back what you don't need. In my opnion the ZC are not worth the time. If you goin to swap a motor than put in something with HP or Torque. Me i like torque.

b18a's make only 121 torque

Sorry i was in a hurry.