Civic EG

so i have a stock d15b non vtec motor in my hatch, just picked up my duddies old hatch to swap some parts and he has a d16 vtec in his, his does burn oil and has probably seen better days, should i bother? not sure of kms on his but mine has 267k

If the Vtec engines not running that great then I wouldn't bother if I were you. A nicely running d15b would probably be just as powerful/fast as a d16 burning a fair amount of oil..

my friend used to have a 1999 civic sedan stock, I raced him with my winter beater, also a 1998 sedan stock. We tied. He now has a 2000 coupe with short ram intake, same engine (d16y7) except his Burns quite a bit of oil now. I raced him again my sedan vs his coupe and I pulled away with ease so a healthy engine really does matter

You'll have all of the parts, plus price in a head gasket, timing belt, head bolts/studs & water pump (unless yours has been changed recently - might as well replace it while everything is apart.)

You could probably get all OEM parts and ARP head studs for $250 which would gain you ~25 HP. Not a bad deal IMO.

This is assuming the head is good

what are the main things to look for to see if its good