Newb Civic swap questions

[Phatty001]

I'm looking in to buying a Civic(96-00) and had a couple questions about swaping the stock motor for a b16 or maybe b18.

1. What motor will give me less problems, this will be my daily driver.
2. Money's a factor so I'm looking for something cheap and simple
3. Will I be able to smog? pass Vis. too? (I live in cali)
4. Not looking for something stupid fast, more like a cheap SI.

[iVteC_PoWeR]

this has been covered too many times...B series motors are reliable so you shouldnt have too many problems with it if you get one in good shape...how much do you have to spend?...yes you should be able to pass smog tests in cali with b16 or b18...i dont know what you mean by cheap Si...the only cheap one are the sohc ones

[Phatty001]

Well, I'm looking at spending about 4k-5k. Saw a couple Civics around my area for 2k-3k so was planning on buying one and having a friends friends install a b16. I haven't gotten the motor yet but from what I was told it would have 20,000-40,000 miles on it. Looking at $2100 for b16 installed not sure which model.

I mainly wanted to see if I would pass smog, because from what I was told if the motor isn't the stock motor you can't pass even if you pass Emissions.

[iVteC_PoWeR]

im not too familiar with cali emissions but ive just heard some things...yea 5k should be enough to cover that but to be on the safe side look to spend 6k maybe because even after the swap you should change a few things