B18C5-EH2

I posted this in the EG+Forum too since the motor would still bolt into any 1992-2000 Civic, but it really is more EF-oriented so I hope you guys don't mind some techy stuff.

Well I've decided on what parts I'm going to use in my quest to build a nice daily-driven D-Series motor for my 1990 hatchback.

For a recap on how I got here, check this link:

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=400841

So anyways I have decided to build up a D16A6 motor. the D16A6 in the 1988-1991 CR-X Si and 1989-1991 Civic Si engine. It is a 1.6L non-VTEC 16-valve motor. It is rated from the factory at 108hp at the crank, but if you know me I can't settle for "factory" ratings now can I?

The stock compressrion ratio (CR) for the D16A6 is a lowly 9.1:1 with the stock dished pistons. A popular set-up that has been used for years and years is to use either the 1986-1987 Integra flat top or even better, the 1988-1989 dome top pistons.

For references check out this link to see the various specs on some popular D-Series pistons, heads, etc:

http://www.muller.net/sonny/crx/pistons/crchart.gif

As you can see a big-*** bump up in CR will result when going from the -3.4cc D16A6 pistons to the +7.2cc D16A1 1988-1989 Integra pistons.

I have chosen to go with the 1988 Teggy pistons because they are free to me because my shop has an abandoned 1988 Integra sitting out front that's been there for almost 3 years now.

I'm also going to use a 1996-2000 Ex head gasket because it is metal and thinner than the 1988-1991 D16A6 head gasket - this will yield approx. .3 more CR points.

Add to that a milled head and the CR ratio will be close to 12:1 according to some CR calculators that I've been playing with like:

http://www.c-speedracing.com/howto/c...c/compcalc.php

Well anyways I'll just get to the final set-up that I've chosen.

D16A6 from 1989 Civic - $50.00 and smoked like a bitch
1989 Civic Si tranny in need of bearings - $50.00
Free used 1988 Integra pistons
Free used 1988 Integra Rods

And new parts from Honda/Acura:

Piston ring set
Rod bearings
Main bearings (if necessary - probably will though)
1996-2000 Ex head gasket
New intake manifold gasket
New exhaust gasket
Timing Belt
Water Pump
Front main seal
Rear main seal
Cam seal
Distributor o-ring
V.C gasket
Oil pan Gasket
Plug o-rings
Vavestem seals
Ait filter
Rotor button
Cap
Plug wires
Plugs

All transmission bearings - 5 main shaft and counter shaft bearings total
Main shaft Seal
Shifter Shaft seal

...and I'll come back and edit as I remember more stuff.

After I get all of the parts in I will inventory them and price them out accordingly in this very post. I'll be sure to include part numbers too.

Anyways so what about some pictures of the build-up?

I used my lunchbreak to get started on the D16A6 teardown.

Here's a pic of the tired D16A6:



Check out this phat-*** oil leakage!



And here's what i found after pulling off the valvecover:



Sweet! Looks like someone went way over 3000 miles in between oil changes! A closer look?



So I mentioned that the motor was burning oil, right? Here's some proof:



Better look?



See that crusty ****? That's proof that oil doesn't like to try and be combusted after it slips past the rings. At least the cylinder walls were perfectly smooth and not gouged at all:



Wonder why they swapped in the first place?



So what was i to do about that nasty-*** head? I mean I cannot have a bling-bling SOHC with a stained and nasty-*** valavetrain can I? I wonder if this parts cleaning cabinet works okay - just turn the timer dial and walk away:



And out pops a like-new head:



More shots:







How about that cam? Looks okay I guess, but I'll find out for sure when i pull off the rockers and send the head off to be milled - possibly .02 or even .025-.030 off maybe.





And even if the cam turns out to be not great, there's 3 more D16A6 motors laying around and an aftermarket good cam is not over $250.00 new and much, much cheaper used!

So what's next on the agenda? Finishing dissasembly of the head and having it milled. Then it's on to tearing the block down and getting it as blinging as the head.

Then the funnest part besides the reassembly:

Tearing into this piece of **** and digging for rods and pistons:





Believe me I'll be back to update this thread as the build-up progresses. I'll probably just edit this post rather than reply and make people hunt for nits of info on different posts.

I'm open for any questions or suggestions on the set-up!

Oh lastly would you expect much out of this thing at a redlight?



I'm keeping it that way too. I love the smooth ride of the stock sus - I'm 100% dead serious. I've got the silver bitch if I want to handle good.

D-Series Power y0!

KEVlN

Looks like a fun project. Good luck on the buildup. Can't wait until I can have two cars.
-kev

91SIvic

OMG that looked identical to my engine when i opened it up... i hated the thing.

whizdumb

Nice pics, sounds like a fun rebuild.

How much would a shop charge for that cleaning service on the head?

ricodemus

for some reason, I take offense to calling that integra a POS. I would like to have one as a second car

Kidnkorner

yes can i have the teg for free?

EFing8

crap i need to find a shop with one of those cleaning cabinets in my area. Should almost any machine shop have one?

Agent#ONE

good luck on the project Tom, great gains are had when adding compression to the single cams. rather impressive actually.

whynot get a cam since your adding the compression.

and just for advice, u dont have to use it...

try out the intake manifold and injection from a 92-95 si vtec.(just shave the notch on the injectors to fit the obd0 clips.)
then toss the B series throttlebody of choice on there...im sure youve got most of this stuff layin around there right?!
easy, power adding upgrades

shave some pounds off of the stock flywheel, and try a z6 oil pump too

turbohf

nice, keep us updated

B18C5-EH2

Yeah I was going to inspect the cam while it was out anyways.

The good thing about this motor is that I know whose car it came from, and I know for sure that it had never been overheated - it just burned shitloads of oil.

B18C5-EH2

So let me get this straight:

Is the 1992-1995 Si/EX manifold for sure better than the D16A6 one? I know that the D16Y8 (1996-2000) EX manifold is considered to be the shizznit, but I've heard from a few good D16A6 b guys locally here in Atlanta that the 1992-1995 manifold isn't better than the stock D16A6 one.

Who knows for sure?

I mean if it is then hell we've got one laying around the shop along with a full VTEC head with a Crower cam. It even has JE pistons and Crower rods from a D16A1 alcohol build-up, but I can't just take that stuff. It would have to cost me I'm sure.

I think that the JEs would be lower CR than the 1988 Teg pistons anyways, and Crower rods won't help me since i'm not going crazy all-motor, boost, or nitrous anyways.

...but if the Intake manifold from the D16Z6 92-95 Si and 93-95 EX coupe is better then hell I'll try it.

Will a 1990-1991 OBD0 Integra LS TB bolt to the D16A6 manifold? I figured it's probably bigger, right?

keithv

sounds exactly like the motor i wanted to build just for ***** and giggles to see what it could do. i will definitely be following this buildup.

i can't wait to see the dyno numbers.

see tom, we don't lock every post with pics in it.

Superhatch

Ill be doing the same build as you, only my head is already milled and portmatched. I just have to replace some of the valvetrain due to a lack of oil at some point in its life The part Im not sure about yet is this.

The engine had some oil starvation, and some things in the head went snap. I dont know if the bottom end is still good or not, but it is balanced and blueprinted. My question is this. LS rods and HC pistons? or keep the B/B bottom end if nothing is wrong?

-Jake

keithv

for any motor i build/built, i would at least balance the bottom end. if i were you i would stay with the blue printed and balanced bottom end if it is ok.

Superhatch

Ill have to check that out soon. Here is something else.. Is the piston to deck clearance the thing that gets changed when a head is milled? (seems like this would be the one) If so...the piston to deck clearance on our A6's is only 0.020 as per the link up top, wouldnt shaving off .025 (what ive heard is a save #) be a - number?

Also with that piston/rod/gasket combo I can only get about 11.6 CR. It seems that the calculations were done using the chamber volume of the Y8 rather than the A6 (correct me if im wrong please ) So the only way to get a higher CR with an A6 head would be a mill. That being said whats the minimum clearance you should leave between the piston and deck clearance?

-Jake

Quik89Si

I swear to God...Tom's posts rule in the EG/EK forum due to their thoroughness and completeness...and I'm glad to see he carried it over to our corner of the board.

Way to go, Tom and thank you, seriously.

That is a sweet buildup on a small amount of $, and I'm really interested on how it turns out. Reason being is that I have a D16A6 in my CRX that's going to have a rebuild somewhere down the road.

I'm learning a lot about these motors from all of your posts in here!!

Alex

Superhatch

Alright the guy I bought the car from said King Motorsports told him he was running 10.1:1 compression. I called up King just now and they said they shaved 4/1000ths off of the head. Which would yield a piston to deck clearance of .016. The owner said that they used stock pistons and stock gasket. Wouldnt that be an impossible CR? Correct me if Im calculating this wrong.. Thanks.

Edit: I have a ZC in my civic right now. If I slapped an A6 head on it I would be running 11.3:1 comp. How does a stock valvetrain and other components hold up to high compression?

-Jake


[Modified by Superhatch, 9:51 AM 1/31/2003]

Agent#ONE

yes the 92-95 si manifold IS better flowing and actually a little larger.
may not be AS good as say th 96+ ex manifold, but treying to use one on an obd1 car is kinda tough, being that you dont have as many sensors on your stock harness as the Y8 need. thats why i suggest the 92-95 manifold, injectors, rail and regulator...
and ANY B series T.B. will bolt on to that manifold as well, so the LS tb idea is great.

(just a quick point...ive never been a big fan of the vacuum spawned map sensor...i simply extend the harnesss a foot, and use a T.B. with a Map attatched) like a 93+

Toptul_Honda

upgrade your valvetrain so u can rev higher without vavle float

Sonny

Don't forget the adjustable cam gear if you're gonna mill your head that much. It will alter cam timing A LOT.

Do yourself a favor and just get a set of ACL Duraglide bearings. The mains/rods/thrustwashers set is about $100. They spec'd out great in my engine.

See my sig for details.

Sonny

B18C5-EH2

Yeah I think I'm scoring a free cam gear and a Chikara header from a friend who swapped out his 1993 DX motor in favor of a B16A - those should be the same, correct?

As far as the bearings goes, why would you say Duraglides over O.E Honda? I mean is it price or does those you mentioned have another advantage? I've always took Honda bottom-end stuff as being gosphel...I could be wrong?

h8tred

What happend?

Vinceg99

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Agent#1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">and just for advice, u dont have to use it...

try out the intake manifold and injection from a 92-95 si vtec.(just shave the notch on the injectors to fit the obd0 clips.)</TD></TR></TABLE>
Shave a notch where?? I used the Z6 IM and fuel rail with my A6 injectors and everything went together fine without me shaving a notch. Where and what are you talking about shaving a notch into?

93eg-EKhybrid

I would like to know what happened to the build up and if you are done yet.

Quik89Si

Any updates on the build-up, Tom??

Alex