Official Honda Civic Photogallery (Post Photos Here!!)

[ABTsportsline]

Originally Posted by 98civic4door

Another option I would like to throw out there is the B20,it has around 140tq and if you find a B20Z it has around the same hp as the b18b.

I still recomend a b16 though,but once again if you would be willing to do the swap yourself a H22 could be in the car for around $4000 and to tell the truth it would be pretty quick with a stock H22 with no mods.

With what it sounds like you are going to need a lil more tq than the B16 has to give with wanting to use the lower parts of the rpm range more than the high and IMHO if your looking for TQ then it gets it down to the B20 and H22 cause the B18's and B16's simply do not have it IMHO

Most of us honda guys have to work with what we got which is hp high in the rpm range

thanks,
i looked some more into that and the H22, although the most attractive, is really too pricey for me. the only B20 ones i could find were not complete kits (ex. engine only), or something and cost the same as the B16. don't know if i want to go that route though.

right now i'm debating between the b16 and the b18, and it may only come down to price. if i can find a cheap enough b16, i'll just do that. but since the cheapest b16 i've found is only 500 bucks less than the b18, i'd rather have the trick motor, you know?

that 20 ft./lbs of torque and 10 extra horsies i think is worth the extra dough.

besides i think i want to keep it b-series to make the swap easier. now thats not to say i won't go h22 one day... i was in the VW scene for many years before i became well-enough versed to know about the different engines and know people and shops enough to know who to go to for what and figure out what i would do..... this is my first week in the honda scene. i figure after a year or two i might feel more comfortable with that, and i'll do the engine swap later to a h22 or hybrid b20/h22 or whatever.

[ABTsportsline]

Originally Posted by that one civic

have you ever seen a car with cut or heated springs driving around? they bouce like crazy over every single undulation in the road, and they handle like shit. i won't get into the specifics of why, but suffice to say that this is not a good thing to do to your car unless all you care about is being low. getting one of those cheap coil over kits (or even cheap springs) is pretty much going to give you the same results. it's tempting to just walk into Pep Boys and pick up a set of APC coil over sleeves for $150 instead of ordering a set of Ground Control coil over sleeves for $300, or even a full H&R cup set for $1000, but the suspension is one area where you truly do get what you pay for.

me, i run H&R Sport Springs with KYB GR-II shocks on my '95 sedan. H&R Sports, as it turns out, are among the highest rated springs available for Civics like ours. the GR-IIs on the other hand, are good, but not the best choice for performance. altogether i paid about $350 for the springs and shocks, and then $100 for the install because i was in no position to do it myself at the time. if you are never going to adjust the height, then coil over sleeves might be a waste, especially if you aren't going to autocross. full coil overs (there's a huge difference between the two) would be an even bigger waste. H&R Sport springs sell for $150 on eBay (shipped!) all day long, you can't go wrong with those. for shocks, KYB GR-IIs are good just for a daily commuter, but i'd recommend something more responsive for a hard-core handling machine. good sway bars are also a must (i'm saving up for a set of eibach sways myself).

there's a lot of other suspension parts that you can buy (bushings, ball joints, control arms, tie bars, etc. etc.), but good springs and shocks with a good set of sways will give you a solid set up. an upper front strut tower brace is a good thing to consider, most people recommend the Neuspeed one. i have a cheapo one because it matches the theme in my engine bay (IE: polished!). a rear upper strut tower brace will help, but may not be needed for a street car. don't bother with the lower front cause they don't do much, and will interfere if you get a header and/or front sway bar. rear tie bar is something to look at, but many don't mix well with rear sway bars.

also important is your rims and tires. most people recommend a 15"X7" for civics, and get the lightest ones you possibly can. factory GSR rims are a good option, though they're only 15"X6.5", and some are pretty heavy (depends on the design, cause there's like 4 different ones). for aftermarket, Rotas are very popular if you don't have a lot of cash. if you do have a lot of cash, my money's on Volk personally. for good performance, invest as much as you can into your tires, because that will make or break all the work you've invested into your suspension. you'll have to ask around the forums for good advice on those, but lots of people recommend the Kuhmo Ecsta Supras, Yokohama EVS100s, and Falken Azenis.

hmmm, i think that's about all i have to say for right now. feel free to ask any more questions though, i think you've already found that we're more than willing to help out here.

thanks for taking the time to write all that.

due to money constraints, initially i am just going to do the motor swap and leave it. a month or so down the road from that point, i'll do springs next. i think i'll do just springs. again, daily driver, not planning on racing or autocrossing, don't really care about "response" and all that. i have all that equipment in the mini and i never really use it.

probably won't do sway bars, although i may do an upper strut tie bar. (wayyyy down the road though).

priorities after the motor: upgraded brake pads & fluid, rims and tires (i'm looking at stock civic si wheels right now - i like the OEM look.. either that or 15" mesh-type wheels, like the old TSW hockenheims). i don't want to spend more than $600 for tires and wheels... i see si wheels on ebay all day long for $350. thanks for the advice on the tires, i'll get some ecstas (i know they're cheap).

so ebay is a good place to get stuff for us? which spring would you recommend i get? i don't want bouncy, i don't want super low.... at the MOST, 1" lower. i want it to ride like stock, but also not bouncy either.

thanks a lot for your help guys...

[96civic3door]

well I say go ahead and get the B16,I think your looking at the B16A2's that is why the price is about the same.You can use a B16A1 cause the year of your car and they go for around $1300/$1500 for a complete swap.Also dont wory about a LSD tranny either cause the way you put it the car will not be pushed hard so IMHO that is one expense you can avoid

[ABTsportsline]

i see that the b16a1 it says "88-91" and my car is a '93... it says i'd have to get a different tranny (cable or hydraulic or something).

the b16a2 says "92-95" and says its a straight swap.

the argument for the b16 is getting better now.

by the way, is apexi pronounced "apexeee" or "apex-eye"? (newbie to hondas)

and how do you pronounce tanabe?

[mugen_type_r]

got bored today at school and just took a quick pic...



nothing new, so yea, it's still not lowered and no rims, so i'm glad ABT asked raised the question. What would be a good set of springs that won't lower the car too much

[commador]

Originally Posted by ABTsportsline

i see that the b16a1 it says "88-91" and my car is a '93... it says i'd have to get a different tranny (cable or hydraulic or something).

the b16a2 says "92-95" and says its a straight swap.

the argument for the b16 is getting better now.

by the way, is apexi pronounced "apexeee" or "apex-eye"? (newbie to hondas)

and how do you pronounce tanabe?

I usually just call it apex, since the "i" is for integrations.

And Tanabe, is pronounced ta-naw-bay





Mugen_type_r, H&R sports are great. Great ride, lowers about 1.75" To me that sits perfect.

[mugen_type_r]

cool, would 1.75" make me scrape or have trouble in the snow? are the OE Sports any good, would they make too little of a difference and i might as well get the Sports?

[96civic3door]

Hey I dont know how many of you freq. the vid forum but check this shit out

http://www.force-dynamics.com/video/...allyschool.wmv

[commador]

Originally Posted by mugen_type_r

cool, would 1.75" make me scrape or have trouble in the snow? are the OE Sports any good, would they make too little of a difference and i might as well get the Sports?

I drive my car every day with h&r sports. Honestly, the OE sports really dont drop much, just get the sports.

As for scraping and snow, no problems here.

[that one civic]

shoot, i drove halfway accross the country on my H&R Sports, plus a friend and who knows how much extra weight because of all the shit that i had piled into the back seat, the trunk, and on the roof rack! my car was weighed down so much that the rear tires were tucked into the rear fenders! car still rode like a dream though, we never once had a problem with the suspension bottoming out. accelerating onto the freeway though, that was a different story.

the OE sports supposedly have the same spring rate as the regular sports, but only drop like 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch. good if you're building a sleeper i guess, but otherwise i wouldn't use them. and even with my Mugen lip, i have no problems with scraping during normal driving. getting onto driveways is a bit difficult, but nothing i can't deal with. speed bumps can be a real pain though, just take them slowly and sideways!

hey ABTsportsline,

it's actually normally recommended that you do springs and shocks before you do a motor swap. the increase in power might be a bit much for your stock suspension, and plus having the suspension already tuned will give you a better feel for your car before you make the big power jump.

based on what you've said about what you want from your suspension, i'd recommend you get the same set up i have. H&R sports go for $150 on eBay, and a set of KYB GR-IIs can be had for like $240 or so on eBay. i think i paid $200 even for mine, but i don't recall entirely. sway bars aren't completely neccesary, but you should at least get the upper strut bars. after you lower your car, the strut bars help keep the strut towers aligned. you can get cheapo strut bars like i have from pep boys for like $40 each, or you can get the slightly better upper front for like $75. personally i'd seriously recommend that you look for a good deal on the Neuspeed one.

stock '99-'00 Si rims are pretty heavy, so be aware of that before you jump into those. the weight of your rims will play a huge role in your performance potential, which is why everyone goes for lightweight rims these days. the rims i have are stock '96-'00 HX rims, which are only 14X6, but they only weigh like 11.75 lbs each. compare that to 19 lbs each for the Si rims, and you have a huge difference.

good tires are a lot harder to find for a 14" rim though, so there is a trade off. if you're stuck on 15" rims, the '96 GSR rims are the lightest of the 15" GSR rims. i don't have a picture unfortunately, but if you search around and find a picture of some GSR rims that have big, fluted six spokes and a huge lug cover, that's them. all the other GSR rims didn't have lug covers, so they'll be easy to find. those weigh like 15 lbs each, the next lightest ones are the "Fat Fives", the '94-'95 GSR rims which are just a big, flat five spoke.

any of the rims i've mentioned can be had for around $300-$500 a set with tires easily, you just have to look around. i think i paid like $250 for my set of HX rims, but i had to buy tires seperately.

if you go aftermarket, a set of 15" rotas can be had for about $500 also, and most of those are lighter than GSR rims. my personal favorites are the Circuit 8 and the Grid, but lots of people like the Slipstreams.

sway bars, if you get an EX civic, it has a front sway bar, so just get a rear sway bar from an integra or an Si civic, and you're set. no need to go all out if you're not looking to race.

brakes, the factory brake hardware from an integra will bolt onto a civic, but be aware that you will need a lot of parts to do that. all integras from '94-'01 had the same brakes, so getting ones from a GS-R won't be any better than from an RS. there's lots of write-ups on these forums on how to do this. if you're thinking about HX rims though, they won't fit over the front integra calipers without spacers.

[importrcr00]

Originally Posted by 98civic4door

Hey I dont know how many of you freq. the vid forum but check this shit out

http://www.force-dynamics.com/video/...allyschool.wmv

Looks like the ultimate GT4 chair to me...

[ABTsportsline]

Originally Posted by that one civic

hey ABTsportsline,

it's actually normally recommended that you do springs and shocks before you do a motor swap. the increase in power might be a bit much for your stock suspension, and plus having the suspension already tuned will give you a better feel for your car before you make the big power jump.

based on what you've said about what you want from your suspension, i'd recommend you get the same set up i have. H&R sports go for $150 on eBay, and a set of KYB GR-IIs can be had for like $240 or so on eBay. i think i paid $200 even for mine, but i don't recall entirely. sway bars aren't completely neccesary, but you should at least get the upper strut bars. after you lower your car, the strut bars help keep the strut towers aligned. you can get cheapo strut bars like i have from pep boys for like $40 each, or you can get the slightly better upper front for like $75. personally i'd seriously recommend that you look for a good deal on the Neuspeed one.

stock '99-'00 Si rims are pretty heavy, so be aware of that before you jump into those. the weight of your rims will play a huge role in your performance potential, which is why everyone goes for lightweight rims these days. the rims i have are stock '96-'00 HX rims, which are only 14X6, but they only weigh like 11.75 lbs each. compare that to 19 lbs each for the Si rims, and you have a huge difference.

good tires are a lot harder to find for a 14" rim though, so there is a trade off. if you're stuck on 15" rims, the '96 GSR rims are the lightest of the 15" GSR rims. i don't have a picture unfortunately, but if you search around and find a picture of some GSR rims that have big, fluted six spokes and a huge lug cover, that's them. all the other GSR rims didn't have lug covers, so they'll be easy to find. those weigh like 15 lbs each, the next lightest ones are the "Fat Fives", the '94-'95 GSR rims which are just a big, flat five spoke.

any of the rims i've mentioned can be had for around $300-$500 a set with tires easily, you just have to look around. i think i paid like $250 for my set of HX rims, but i had to buy tires seperately.

if you go aftermarket, a set of 15" rotas can be had for about $500 also, and most of those are lighter than GSR rims. my personal favorites are the Circuit 8 and the Grid, but lots of people like the Slipstreams.

sway bars, if you get an EX civic, it has a front sway bar, so just get a rear sway bar from an integra or an Si civic, and you're set. no need to go all out if you're not looking to race.

brakes, the factory brake hardware from an integra will bolt onto a civic, but be aware that you will need a lot of parts to do that. all integras from '94-'01 had the same brakes, so getting ones from a GS-R won't be any better than from an RS. there's lots of write-ups on these forums on how to do this. if you're thinking about HX rims though, they won't fit over the front integra calipers without spacers.

thanks!

i've successfully eliminated the si wheels now then!

how about these acura wheels:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...sPageName=WDVW

i see those all over the place on ebay, and they look good. how much do they weigh?

i have to get the motor first. here's the thing: the wife is crying up and down about the mileage on the car.... she says to replace the motor. so i either replace it with another stock motor now and do suspension, and then do the real swap a year or two down the road (maybe longer), or do the engine i want to do now (make the wife think that a normal engine swap costs almost $4,000), get the motor i want, and wait a month or two on the suspension.

I like the second plan better!

these rims are a little scraped up but i like the look:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...category=43955

are these the acura wheels YOU were talking about?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...category=66473

they look good too.

are these the "fat fives" you are talking about?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...category=66473

those look good too.