Hello everyone, I've been a member as long as I can remember but I don't remember ever posting

I come from www.celica.net and www.corral.net as I have a domestic vehicle ('01 Ford Mustang GT) as well as an imported vehicle ('94 Toyota Celica ST).



My brother currently owns a 1993 Honda Civic LX (I think) and it's running on its last leg. Engine's burning oil and coolant... compression's off, etc. We're looking at purchasing a new engine and swapping out the old one so he can start anew with his car. We mistakenly bought it with some inherent problems and 2 years later we realized that this vehicle was severely mistreated and maintenance on this vehicle just was nonexistent

Overall, the car's served us all very well... with the only 4-door vehicle in the family, we've come to love this car's utility. Although the engine's a dog, it does the job...

We're looking at two options:

1. Rebuild the existing engine.
2. Swap it out for a new engine.

We like our second option more because we can perhaps spend a little more and get a more interesting engine in that car.

Swaps seem to be very popular for these vehicles and there are some potent Honda engines available to us all today. Although it was hyped up beyond belief, I like the US-Spec 1995 Honda Civic Si engine very much. I also enjoy Reno96Teg's Integra as well. I've had the fortune of riding in a 1995 (or so) GS-R that put the cheesiest smile on my face through some bends in the road

Thus our goal: Liven up the family's 4-door sedan with a stronger engine, while retaining stock driveability in city traffic. We also wish to retain an automatic transmission in this vehicle. It's just not worth investing over $2,000 for another 100hp rebuilt-engine.

We'll also eventually repair the body and clean it up since it looks like hell. We'll attack the braking system with some Baer brakes, some new struts and springs as well to improve handling. Hopefully we can acquire a rear swaybar for this car to lessen understeer.

All in all, a decent well-rounded performer that can be driven by all in the family and still have something left for my brother and I when we wish to "wake up" during our commute to work.

The question: Now I'm new to all of this and I haven't had the time to look through all 18+ pages of the forums for Hybrid, so please don't flame me just yet if the information is somewhere beyond page-1. What would be the "easiest" of engines to swap into our '93 Civic and still keep the auto tranny setup? I'm sure we'd need a new ECU, possibly engine mounts, and so forth...

Note: I don't know much about engine codes, or transmission codes for this vehicle since my background is Celicas and Mustangs, heh heh.

 

you can drop in an LS motor if you wanna keep it auto (140 horses) and build that engine will be fast as hell.

 

absolutely 100% agreed. Good gas mileage, more horse and torque (important on Hondas) and will be cheaper than GSR. Best bang for the buck for what you're looking to get out of the car.

 

Welcome back to HAN! :wavey:

I agree that the LS (B18B) motor would work well for you. Check out www.hmotorsonline.com for some good pricing and great service. They've always been highly supported out here.

You will need 4 out of the 5 motor mounts, ECU (from an auto LS), axles (including 1/2 shaft), shift linkage, have a small extention put into your exhaust and that should just about do it.

It's really not as difficult as it may sound.

hih

 

Hmmm... my friend has a 96 Integra with the same engine... very peppy engine in stick-shift form.

So we'd be able to keep the stock Civic Transmission? We wouldn't mind replacing it at some point, so long as the stock unit can hold up until we have enough to get a better Automatic transmission of some sort.

We're working with $3500, so looks like the B18B engine would be an excellent choice here... I'm not sure if we'll exceed our planned budget, but it's not written in stone, so to speak.

Anyone ever been to http://www.hondaswap.com ? At this point, we're positive the stock engine's head needs resurfacing. However, we're not sure if the block has a crack in it - we know the head's cracked. Engine's shooting oil into the sparks in large quantities - bottle of oil every two weeks as well. Engine's also burning coolant - about a gallon every two weeks.

 

Doing a swap where you install a B-series engine with an automatic transmission is not as simple as it sounds. I remember a few years back a member did one and he had a hell of a time. He said when he was finished, he basically ended up with a complete in-car (the one you have to remove the dash to change) from an Integra to get the Integra transmission to work. I don't recall his screen name or who he was, sorry.

I would probably recommend you stick with a D-series engine. You could probably find a complete low milage D16Z6 from a '92-'95 Civic EX coupe or sedan or a '92-'95 Si hatchback with an automatic transmission and ECU for less than $750 (probably much less as most people won't think of an automatic equiped engine as being worth much). It's a 1.6L SOHC VTEC engine that makes 125hp and has probably one of the biggest aftermarket's available for any import engine (if they make it, they probably make one for the D16Z6). Your only real limitation on power will probably be what the transmission will survive.

I think Baer brakes would be overkill for a street car. I have brembo blank rotors (no slots or holes) and a set of AEM front pad with goodridge lines and the brakes are strong and fade free (for street driving). There are good suspensions a plenty out there for a '92-'95 Civic and even a few different sway bar options. It all depends on how much ride quality your willing to sacrifice and how much your willing to spend.

 

This information is excellent! Andy, thanks for your feedback... we will be heading over to see one of the mechanics we've selected on our list, and discuss his experience with Hondas and whether or not we can work with him on all these details.

Now to do some research on the Coupe Engine

As for braking, I was thinking Baer simply because I've had experience with Brembo and they feel extreme as well and I just assumed Baer would be street friendlier... with 13" Rotors at the front and 12" in the rear on my Mustang, brake squeal and dust are insane, lol.

We'll worry about suspension and brakes at a later time as much research needs to be done so that we don't repeat our steps constantly and re-do things... I'll come back for suspension and engine swap questions as we move further along, heheh heh heh.

 

Good luck finding a good mechanic, they can be a real asset sometimes. You'd be suprised how much you can do with a Honda yourself with just a 10, 12, 14 and 17mm sockets and a Helm's factory service manual.

The brembo brake setup I have is simply a set of their replacement rotors. I'm still using my orignal Civic calipers. They're a 1 piston floating caliper design but they do the job really well for a street car. I've never been big on a large rotor brake kits for Honda simply because they require you to run a larger wheel then I would like. The '92-'95 Civic's only weigh around 2200-2500 pounds depending on model and options so the brakes have an easier time anyway. You might want to look at a fastbrakes setup.

http://www.fastbrakes.com/

I was considering one of their upgrades for my hatch before it was wrecked. The kit I was looking at come with an 11" rotor and a 4 piston Willword caliper. I had upgraded my brakes to those of a GS-R and was satisfied at the time and never did.

 

i put a ls in my civic with great results. best bang for your buck.

 

the information andy is giving is the most accurate in the thread.

doing the engine swap in your civic can be done easily. they are very easy cars to work on.

look at a d series swap if you want to retain the automatic setup. if you are willing to convert over to manual. your choice of motors will expand.

if you do get a d series. i recommend you take a part the motor, and put in new seals and rings. just to freshen up the motor, just doing that really helps the motor out.