Engine Help

[CAT_SPEW]

Okai I am seriousley considering buying a VTi or Si engine and putting a GReddy 15G turbo kit on it.
I need to know a few things first so please help. My current engien/car is a 1992 Civic EG GL Hatch with the twin carb 1.5L engine.

> What do I need to upgrade engines, a complete half-cut? Or what?

> What is the average price for a VTi or Si half-cut and are they easy to find?

> Will it be a straight drop in, and can I use my existing gearbox?

All help and advice really appreciated, Thnx.

Matt.

[BLKCRX]

hmm honestly all you need is $ and take your car to a workshop up in QLD that can do the conversion for you, i recommended Nick from APC, there my no1 workshop up there...but personally i wouldn’t spend the money !!!

Engines are not called VTI or Si engines there d16 d17 b16 b18 b20 etc. the engine you want is a b16 engine, with gear box.. well almost a whole car ! because you will need it.

Your current engine is a carby, there's almost absolute nuffing you will use in your engine bay, swapping from carby to fuel injection is a massive job and will cost lots of money.

You will need everything from a half cut from the driver seat down, ie ecu dash, gear leverage, whole engine bay, every wire sensor nut bolt etc... then you will also need custom engine mounts, you will also need to swap the axels brakes brake lines everything...

Typically most good mechanics work from anywhere from $55 - $90 a hour and in some cases even more...Typically speaking to swap everything over it could take 25 - 50 hours easy ! The labour costs alone are a good enough reason to buy a new car...unless your doing the work your self.. but trust me this is very hard !!!

Regards James

[Setanta]

You need a high-flow EFi fuel pump for a start. Use a JDM '88-91 Si (ZC). Best to get a front cut as it has almost everything you need (except the fuel pump and exhaust). It also bolts straight in as the ZC is really a "D" series motor. The ZC/D16 DOHC from the first gen 'teg has different mounts - don't use it. The ZC bolts straight in using the donor cars mounts. Likewise an ED (Aussie) CRX front cut will do the Job.

In the US the VTi SOHC VTEC engine is becoming a popular budget swap - power ratings are the same as the ZC but it also lacks the punch of the ZC. Both can be turbo'd.

Best bet: as I recollect, you said your dad had some mechanical nouse. You and he label all wires, hoses etc, then disconnect them. Swap the motor, gearbox, axles etc yourself. Then ship the cut and your car to a mechanic who is qualified to swap to fix it and install the fuel pump (surge tank as well?).

If you arent confident enough to get it right from the first point... buy the cut and send it to someone who is.

Cheers

[Setanta]

I suggest you go to the 4th gen forums http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...lay.php?f=1135 and ask around - quite a few of the yanks have done the swap without a front cut. Just remember that their cars were all fuel injected SOHCs though.

[CAT_SPEW]

Thnx for the detailed responses guys.

hmm honestly all you need is $ and take your car to a workshop up in QLD that can do the conversion for you, i recommended Nick from APC, there my no1 workshop up there...but personally i wouldn’t spend the money !!!

Engines are not called VTI or Si engines there d16 d17 b16 b18 b20 etc. the engine you want is a b16 engine, with gear box.. well almost a whole car ! because you will need it.

Your current engine is a carby, there's almost absolute nuffing you will use in your engine bay, swapping from carby to fuel injection is a massive job and will cost lots of money.

You will need everything from a half cut from the driver seat down, ie ecu dash, gear leverage, whole engine bay, every wire sensor nut bolt etc... then you will also need custom engine mounts, you will also need to swap the axels brakes brake lines everything...

Typically most good mechanics work from anywhere from $55 - $90 a hour and in some cases even more...Typically speaking to swap everything over it could take 25 - 50 hours easy ! The labour costs alone are a good enough reason to buy a new car...unless your doing the work your self.. but trust me this is very hard !!!

Regards James

I'm going to try and find APC's number today and give them a call tommorow and see what they reckon, wouldn't happen to have the number would ya
A B16A was my first choice but unfortunately I have not been able to find one for about 5 months... Which is why I'm looking at different options such as swap in a D16A8 and then turbo it to give the extra power.

My dad has been a mechanic for a long time now, (he's old!!! lol), and he has talked to a few mates who know more about the swap and is pretty confident that we could do it, it makes it even easier because he works from home so we have all the neccessary tools right here. He doesn't have much knowledge of turbo's but the kit that GReddy makes looks fairly straight forward and shouldn't be too hard to install.

If I had the money i would definately send the car to a shop like APC or somewhere down south to someone that has more experience in these sorts of things. Bad sadly I don't have that much money

I'm going to need to talk to a lot more people up here in Brisbane before I make any critical decisions, so if you all can suggest anymore good shops up here that know a bit about engine/turbo conversions it would really help me out.
A few places we have called have given us different answers so some don't have a clue what they are talking about and looks like they are just after my money which is no good.

You need a high-flow EFi fuel pump for a start. Use a JDM '88-91 Si (ZC). Best to get a front cut as it has almost everything you need (except the fuel pump and exhaust). It also bolts straight in as the ZC is really a "D" series motor. The ZC/D16 DOHC from the first gen 'teg has different mounts - don't use it. The ZC bolts straight in using the donor cars mounts. Likewise an ED (Aussie) CRX front cut will do the Job.

In the US the VTi SOHC VTEC engine is becoming a popular budget swap - power ratings are the same as the ZC but it also lacks the punch of the ZC. Both can be turbo'd.

Best bet: as I recollect, you said your dad had some mechanical nouse. You and he label all wires, hoses etc, then disconnect them. Swap the motor, gearbox, axles etc yourself. Then ship the cut and your car to a mechanic who is qualified to swap to fix it and install the fuel pump (surge tank as well?).

If you arent confident enough to get it right from the first point... buy the cut and send it to someone who is.

Cheers

That sounds like the best option, but again my budget won't work with it which really sucks..
Going a bit off-track here, but you said the aussie CRX was an ED? I called Rolin Imports the other day and they said they have a B16A ED half-cut coming in but I thought it would not fit? I'm a bit confused?

Another question, sorry if you have already answered this but,
out of a VTi SOHC VTEC engine and a Si DOHC Non-VTEC engine which would be the best candidate to be turbocharged, and why?
I knwo that both have had it done, but I can't find anywhere which would be best. And seeing as I might have a choice of either than I really want to get teh best possible out of the two.

Cheers, Matt.

O, and thnx for the link Sentanta, I'll have a read now.

[CAT_SPEW]

I have been offered to buy a D16Y8 engine, gearbox, wiring harness etc.from a VTi Coupe. But I need to know will the EK fit straight in with the engine mounts that it comes with? And is their any additional problems?

[Setanta]

Going a bit off-track here, but you said the aussie CRX was an ED? I called Rolin Imports the other day and they said they have a B16A ED half-cut coming in but I thought it would not fit? I'm a bit confused?

If they said that then they are ignorant. In the 4th gens, the only designations that got the B16A were the EF8 CRX and EF9 Civic (160ps cable tranny) and the EE8 CRX and EE9 Civic (150bhp cable tranny UK/Euro spec). The CRX/Civic SiRs EFs were also found in Singapore etc and I hear rumours of them appearing in different guises in other European or Asian countries, but when I investigate the turn out to be hybrids (conversions) or private imports.

My guess is that they are getting an EF cut that will fit an ED after it has custom mounts. They prolly just used the Sussie designation. If it's an EE then steer away from it - losing the extra 8bhp sucks.

I'll admit to not knowing if there was an ED series SiR in the world somewhere, but I'm pretty certain there wasn't. If they are getting it from Japan (do Honda half-cuts come from anywhere else?) then it's an EF.

Cheers

[CAT_SPEW]

Thanks for clearing that up, it sounds like they don't know what they are talking about and I will only know what it is when it is actually here.

Cheers, Matt.

[crx2gen]

I've already talked to Matt about this, but perhaps one of you guys can clear this up...are there any limitations/legalities involved (apart from basic engineering) to swapping an older engine into a newer car, example an 88 D16A8 into an EG.

And Matt, I should be able to help you out with little anciliaries like EFI fuel pump if this damn wrecked CRX I'm trying to buy comes out of limbo (slow legal system). I'll be keeping the engine/box to build though mate, sorry. Should be easier to source something from Brisbane in any case.

[madgrk]

Well apparently it's illegal to put an older engine in a newer car, so your best bet (and the most legal) is to just look for a newer motor. At least that way you'll also have the benefit of less k's (more than likely) so it ends up being better anyway..

[McChook]

Well apparently it's illegal to put an older engine in a newer car, so your best bet (and the most legal) is to just look for a newer motor. At least that way you'll also have the benefit of less k's (more than likely) so it ends up being better anyway..

Your worried about legalities - you think the turbo is going to be 100% defect proof??

[Setanta]

Actually - it's not illegal - it just needs to meet the ADRs of the time the chassis was built - including emissions