wich to buy? tunned up or stock civic?

[e-flightvic]

HI,
I was the proud owner of a 90 civic hatch STD!( NO! not the deseasee :-)) I wanted to do a b16 swap or at least a ZC swap. But the price and the engine mounts being welded onto the frame of the car. Made it really pricy for the guys at APG performance( chicago area) to do! normally a B16 swap was $3000 but with my problem was ganna be around $4000 :o


This was 4 years ago, and now that I've been driving 4 door sedans, I want my old civic back!!!


I was looking at car listings on news papers and the internet, and I found that on an average 4gen STD or Dx cars are worth from $500 to $1200. and ZC and b16's with almost no other upgrades go for about $2000 to $4000!

I have not checked how much an engine swap will cost since '01 but how much do you guys pay for a ZC or B16 swap???

Thanx guys,

[BullShifter]

My advice, don't buy some one elses headache. Sure not every swapped car is a headache but 90% of them For Sale will be. Buy something 100% stock and you do the work, or have it done right.

That's the only reason I bought my 91 Si, 100% stock, knew the previous owner, all maintenance records. I did buy it with a bad engine & put in a SOHC ZC for dirt cheap.

[CR50HC]

I agree. Buy a bone stock one and personalize it to you. You'll know it's done right.

[SSJSubgeta]

Its hard too choose, on one hand you buy a hopped up civic, and ready to go or show or whatever. But its hard finding something tasteful to suit your style and needs.

As if you buy a stock good running car you have the ability to DIY fixing it up both mechanichly and looks.

On a side note you said you were in Chicago Im also in Chicago too
Now if you looking for a good hatch or CRX theres always some that are out there for cheap. if you want my honest opinion here, find a good stock or close to stock civic hatch or CRX which ever you preffer, and drop in a ZC or LS in there, I got a rex for $400 prety good deal and an engine for 300 i havent even spent over $1g yet. if you want to chill and come by hit me up. GL

[e-flightvic]

Thanx for the reply's guys!

I have no garage and hardly any tools to do my own job! So when I see for sale ad, on a civic with a B16 for $2300 bucks sounds pretty good to me. I'm an ok mechanic, but I doubt I could do an engine swap.

I had a friend with a 91' civic hatch with a ZC engine already installed for $1500 bucks and it was fast( at least for me) He had that car for 1 year with no problems. That's why I wanted a car with an engine already installed.


I know that I can find some hatch's for under $1000, all I have to do is find a place to install it for me. Their should be more places here in chicago that install engines since 01' I hope!


SSJSubgeta............ I belive you have a CRX HF similar to the SI with four fuel injectors right? Cuz I'm trying not to do the same mistake again of buying a DX or a STD Civic. I'm also trying to buy an SI so I could problably just get the ZC engine and use the original trany! and save my self a buck.

Thanx for the reply's guys.........

[BullShifter]

<----chicago too

Our shop is in Woodstock, we have 15yrs Honda repair exp., 18yrs of general tranny rebuilding & 5yrs of performance work. We try to stay away from motor swaps because 75% of the people who want it done can't afford to do it right. If you can't do it right, don't do it all.

Last swap we did was a '70 Olds Cutlass. Converted from 350 automatic to 455 4-speed and had nothing but problems. Customer supplied all the parts and NOTHING was right, this is why we get the parts or decline the job.

[turtlecrxsi]

HF is mpfi but has smaller intake and engine is 8 valve and has smaller hubs like std.

[91CRXTC]

I did my swap in stages, i went from DPFI to MPFI and then a year or 2 later did a DOHC ZC swap, got the motor and installed for $1400 took 2 days But thats cuz he is busy multitasking with other cars also, and havent had......dont want to jinx my self. But now im gonna start to rebuild my other ZC and swap thoughs when im done and maybe rebuild the swaped out one and sell it.

[e-flightvic]

I forgot to mention, Does the SOHC V-tec from USDM cars. (wich I'm clueless) need more parts? like engine mounts,wirering hardness and ECU like a B16 swap???

I guess for a better bang for the buck, I could buy a ZC engine for around $500 bucks and find an 4gen SI civic. I believe I have a phone # from a guy in Cali that can send me a ZC wirering hardness to put in a DX or STD model for $75 bucks!

sorry for all the questions........

[turtlecrxsi]

Originally Posted by e-flightvic

I forgot to mention, Does the SOHC V-tec from USDM cars. (wich I'm clueless) need more parts? like engine mounts,wirering hardness and ECU like a B16 swap???
....

Nope... sohc vtec bolts right up...

[BullShifter]

Originally Posted by e-flightvic

sorry for all the questions........

There's nothing wrong with asking questions, that's why this site and other forums are out there. Better to educate yourself now rather than learning the hard way.

[SSJSubgeta]

well my question is this, what kind of car will this be? will it be your daily driver/show car/drag etc.

If i were you i would go with either a ZC or D15b Vtec swap on a CRX/Civic, especially if your in chicago.

P.S.
look into that, hope that helps looks like a good find, go check it out and its priced pretty nice.

http://chicago.craigslist.org/car/87377625.html

[e-flightvic]

Hi,
This will be a daily driver! I'm looking more for a Civic Hatch. Today I went to a shop called nova at Carol Stream. And they told me that they'll do a ZC swap for 1500$ in one day!!! and a B16 swap would be $3000. he also told me that he has a lot of parts for repair and also for performance.

I found about 5 Civic DX's for around $500 to $1000 So It looks like this is what I'll do..........

Thanx for the link ssjsubgeta

[turtlecrxsi]

Originally Posted by e-flightvic

Hi,
This will be a daily driver! I'm looking more for a Civic Hatch. Today I went to a shop called nova at Carol Stream. And they told me that they'll do a ZC swap for 1500$ in one day!!! and a B16 swap would be $3000. he also told me that he has a lot of parts for repair and also for performance.

I found about 5 Civic DX's for around $500 to $1000 So It looks like this is what I'll do..........

Thanx for the link ssjsubgeta

That sounds like a good deal if the ZC swap includes an engine with relatively low mileage and lots of new parts like gaskets, water pump and belts. Get a dx that has minimal wear and tear (ie. rust, dents, etc.) and take it to that shop and have them wire up mpfi and ZC swap. If they really have a lot of ZC parts as they claim (might just be B series) then I'm sure others on here would like to know about it. Anyway, GL...

[e-flightvic]

That's what I think I'm ganna have to do Cuz.......

A DX with many miles, like I mention before with a ZC swap could run at about $2000-$2500

A SI alone I can not find it cheaper than $2000 and this is with almost 200,000 miles. So with the ZC swap could be almost $3500!!!!

For that price I'll just get the DX with a B16 swap for the same price ..... They told me that doing the ZC swap on a DX could be at least $100 more and a day more, since they have to do the wirering and stuff. Although I for got to ask about the timing belt and water pump if they are included in the price or if they'll be extra?

I regret buying a Saturn first(the wife ) now I have to wait a couple of months. It'll give me time to shop around for prices!

PS
I saw an ad for a CRX on the newspaper for $700. they claim that it has a Sunroof, so it should be an SI.......Too bad, need the back seat