AliasNeo

hey, i got the stock motor of a 96 civic ex and i have question on high compression pistons

what will it do for the motor? will it increase anything or decrease anything besides the compression ratio i assume.?

thanks

Snoopy

higher compression coupled with a bigger cam and quality bolt on's and tuning will net you some decent gains.

white_n_slow

high compression pistons generate more power because they force combustion to occur in a smaller area in the chamber creating more forceful expansion and piston movement. They generally create power higher up in the powerband (although not always), and usually requrire altered lift and duration to create good power.

What will high compression pistons do for your stock d16y8? Odds are, not a whole lot without serious revisions elsewhere.

AliasNeo

well im not allowed to boost the car in any way, so i was gonna do the exaust headers back new camshaft and cams, im not sure tho who has a dyno for this to tune it...
what kind of camshafts would you recommend for this? its a sohc vtec
can this be done on my own switching the pistons out?

Snoopy

depending on the condition of the cylinder walls, you may need to rehone/overbore which is the job of a machine shop.

AliasNeo

i see, i also noticed i need a higher octane gas if im gonna do that... would an octane boost liquid work on regular 87 ?

the car has 100,000 about on it

Snoopy

just run 91 or the highest you can get. octane booster is a bandaid.

white_n_slow

in order to swap the pistons, you'll have to pull the motor, put it on a stand, pull off the head and the oil pan and extraneous junk underneath, remove rod/pisons, possibly machine stock rods to accept aftermarket pistons, put in rod/pistons, put the whole motor back together and put it back in the car. Its far from a small job. If you're set on doing an n/a buildup, I'd replace the rods while I was in there with something lighter, and use better rod bolts to accomodate a higher redline.

:edit: or more pertinently, are you allowed to swap?

AliasNeo

yes i am, but as ive stated in before posts my dad said of think about what im putting in and what i would get if i sold the car...

if i did the swap id want it in mid 2's or below and hp can be at max 160 hp... just of the motor

Provocateur

Swap an LS motor in instead. Don't waste your time ripping the whole engine apart. You would need to upgrade much more than pistons and it will run you probably more than the swap with less gains. Just my $.02, though.