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Technical Topics specific to the Hatchback body - NOT where you post pics/build specs of your car.
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Hello, New here check it out very long introduction!

By MR.E
- Wed Aug 27, 2008 4:27 am #67438 Let me start off by saying I'm glad I found this place. I think it will help me on my long winter project. Hope to get started on it by the second week of october. Anyway, so I have always been a big fan of the EG civics, mostly just the hatch. I've always wanted to build one just really never get around to it, or I just plain forget about it and deal with other things in my life at the time. Since about 2000 I have been in a local Volkswagen club and currently drive a 2004 jetta GLS 1.8t. VW is where my heart is and will always be a part of me. But with tensions in the club, and the general lack of interest, not to mention the outrageous costs of building a vw I feel its time for me to look into other options. Many in the club despise the "import tuner" scene and instantly label all as ricer. Which is true most of the time but not always...But I have great respect for well done hondas. I dont care for all that neon,body kited,gigantic wings and other useless crap that seems to be associated with the "import" scene. But I love a clean well put together EG civic hatch.
So anyway, I'm currently looking around for a hatch and have a few questions. I have all winter to learn what I need to for the swap, and I probably could just look most of it up on the internet but I want to get some first hand knowledge from you guys that have done it. My biggest question is. What engine to get? I'm not looking to make crazy horse power, this is mostly going to be a car used for some mountain driving and to maybe piss off one of the other members in my vw club (long story) .
I know I want to have the option of turbo at some point in time if I want.
I want it to be the easiest most strait forward engine swap and the best for up hill down hill type racing. Is there a place that you might recommend that sells the entire engine swap? Does it matter if I get a cx,dx,vx or si? Just few questions I guess. Before anyone says search, yes I know I could do that But this is more fun. I figure its more personal this way rather then reading old post from google. Well let me know. I'm sure I will be starting a project post soon.

By MR.E
- Wed Aug 27, 2008 4:59 am #67439 I would also like to get as much torque as I can get, and I'm not looking to spend a lot of money on the swap. I guess, what is the most common engine swap in the hatch backs?
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By Benj
- Wed Aug 27, 2008 6:28 am #67440 well the first thing people are going to tell you is that there is a search button for a reason, second they are gonna ask how much money and time you want to spend,

the swaps:
d - CHEAPEST
b - CHEAPER
h - Heavy
k - EXPENSIVE - time and money wise

here are the oem hp and torque --->http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Honda_engines#Automotive

as for what motor to go with, if you have 6g just kickin around then the k series is the one you would want, but if you dont have all that much money but have a bit of time, go get a b18b1,c1 or even a b18c5, and start there, they are fun, you can rev the crap out of them and not only will it sound like you are going fast but you will be, and its easy to pull a b series swap off in 1 day,2 if you are feelin lazy and have to many beer.

you can have tons of fun with and motor that you are building for a car, it just depends on what you want to do with it..And of course the money and time to spend...

Plus now that you are swapping a motor and doing mountain driving you are going to want to ask what kinda suspension to run, which i am not the man to ask as i am building my 4dr civic, and am still trying to figure suspension out.

now as for chassis wise i would personally go with a si, for more than just the sunroof, it comes stock with rear disc brakes, and actually thats all that i can think of for reasons of going with the si.

I hope this helps
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By jmsplitfyre
- Wed Aug 27, 2008 7:42 am #67446 First of all I'd like to say welcome to the site! :welcome:
What ilmcrx said is true, time and money are big factors for building up the car the you want but since I'm sure you have a lotta time since you're doing this as a winter project then the question is how much you want to spend?

He listed all the engine options that are available with D series being the cheapest and K being the most expensive.

I'm sure the D won't match up to the power a K or B series engine can give at stock but I just want to suggest building a SOHC Vtec motor or a mini-me. But that's just my suggestion. And I'm pretty sure that Vw that you wanna piss off will really be pissed off when he gets beaten up by your fully built, turbocharged D. :D

Just wait for the others to put their suggestions, and goodluck with your build man! :thumb:

By MR.E
- Wed Aug 27, 2008 2:00 pm #67460 thanks for the info so far guys. As far as my budget , I'm looking to spend about $7,000 total on the car including the purchase of the car. that is stretched out over 7 months though. I'm going to look around for some today. Most EG's around here are extremely beaten or very rusty. I do have a complete si to pull parts off of if there needed. Hoping to not have to go down that road though. I will let you all know how it goes.
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By opocot
- Wed Aug 27, 2008 3:41 pm #67470 welcome to the site :thumb:

By MR.E
- Wed Aug 27, 2008 8:53 pm #67491
opocot wrote:welcome to the site :thumb:


thanks. Looking forward to many more posts

By MR.E
- Thu Aug 28, 2008 4:15 am #67537 so whats the story with the b16a2? From the research I've been doing that looks like the best swap for me. Yes? No? any of you guys done this swap?
Again, take it easy on me, I'm coming from the world of VW.
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By suspendedHatch
- Thu Aug 28, 2008 3:20 pm #67583 The magic eight ball sez: Get a JDM B18C (equivalent to the Integra GSR engine). You can buy the "complete swap" as a package from hmotorsonline.

By MR.E
- Thu Aug 28, 2008 5:04 pm #67592
suspendedHatch wrote:The magic eight ball sez: Get a JDM B18C (equivalent to the Integra GSR engine). You can buy the "complete swap" as a package from hmotorsonline.



Is that a repeatable company?
I also have been doing a little e-baying. Is that really skunk2 or is it all fake and not worth it? I think what I'm going to focus on first in this build will involve mostly suspension+components as well as the brakes. Mabe get some wheels and good tires. Basically I want the car ready to handle the power of an upgraded engine before I go adding an extra 50+ horses. Really need to find a car first. There is nothing around here. :thumbdown:

By sdots
- Fri Aug 29, 2008 12:59 am #67637 Hey, what I would suggest is go out and buy a good rolling shell. with interior, preferably one with a blown engine of some sort, I picked up my coupe for about £250 in the U.K everything except the engine was seized and fucked. Then depending on your budget from that perspective, you need to consider what you will use the car for. If you intend to keep the car for quite a long time a K-Series is a good investment, expensive but highly recognized as one of the biggest and best conversions around. If you feel you might sell up in a couple of years, go with a B-Series engine, you will have massive amounts of fun just like the K-Series but without the expenditure. Engines are quite widely available and loads of parts adapt to the EG. For e.g. the shift linkages can be taken from an Integra with a B-series engine, Steering rack and so on.

Next question is, how long you want to keep the car for? and what are your goals?
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By 0p71mu5pr1m3
- Fri Aug 29, 2008 1:47 am #67641 Theoretically speaking, if you're doing mountain racing, an all motor build would be more worth your time. Here's the Build I would do.

B18C1 (Integra GSR Engine)
Valvetrain upgrades (Valves, springs, retainers)
Camshafts (Bisimoto makes great stuff, a little pricey but worth it)
High Compression Pistons
Have your stock rods shot peened
Upgrade your fuel system accordingly
Individual Throttle Bodies
Full Coilover Suspension along with strut bars, adjustable ball joints and camber kits


That's just the basics really. If you're looking to spend around $7000, that would be a good way to go. And if you have the technical know how, or the time to spend working on it, and you feel comfortable doing so, you can do most of that for around $7000.

By MR.E
- Fri Aug 29, 2008 2:51 am #67642 sdots,

To answer your questions, I plan on keeping the car for a very long time. Slowly adding, and changing it as I go to meet my different needs as they may, or may not come. As for now, I just want a very good handling car with enough power to make the driving experience fun for the many mountain roads we have here. ITB's sound great, and that definitely is an option. However a slight turbo upgrade I know would be in the cars future, so, I'm not sure. I've been doing a lot of research and still have yet to come to a decision on the engine to use.
Like I've said, I want to do the most basic of swaps. I'm not looking to impress anyone but myself as far as that goes. One thing I have noticed is the honda after-market is huge compared to the Volkswagen after market.
The prices are extremely different. You guys have way more options, and a lot more in terms of documented "how-to's". But still, no one has mentioned anything about the b16a2? Seems like a good swap to me. And as far as e-bay goes?
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By Benj
- Fri Aug 29, 2008 2:56 am #67643 if i was you i would try to get a b18b1 or even the b18c1, you want an easy install and you want to have fun, and with only a cai, header and exhaust your car will haul some ass. then all you really would need to do is just do a intake mani swap, maybe turbo it in a year or so after you get bored with the 130 to 160 hp you will have, i really think that you would be content with the b18, 1.8L 130 to 160 hp, sounds like fun to me.

and as far as ebay goes, all i would buy for my car off there is maybe the short shifter, maybe an exhaust system, if you cant get one cheap enough, and maybe that intake mani that i was talking about up there ^^^...
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