non vtec to vtec

D15, D16, D17 and Mini-Me swaps
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non vtec to vtec

By broken
- Wed Feb 05, 2014 4:53 pm #342228 Has anyone ever swapped a Vtec head off of a D15B to a non vtec block D15B8? Just bought my Girlfriend a 94 CX and I have my old D15B sitting there with a blown bottom end and a great top end. Was thinking of swapping heads and ECU's so she has Vtec.
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By teal_dx
- Wed Feb 05, 2014 6:05 pm #342232 This is also known as a Mini-Me swap, although usually it is a d16z6 or d16y8 head used.

The D15B vtec head will bolt right up though. The only thing I'm not sure of is if you will have to use a different cam gear. On some mini-me swaps, such as using a d16z6 head on a d15b7/8 block, an adjustable timing gear should be used to take care of the timing being 1/2 tooth off.

By broken
- Wed Feb 05, 2014 6:19 pm #342235 interesting. Ok well maybe It would be worth it to just go ahead and get the adjustable gear to be on the safe side then I suppose. I appreciate it Teal. I will have to look into the mini swap stickies now. Did not realize that was what was meant by the title :)
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By teal_dx
- Wed Feb 05, 2014 6:42 pm #342237 Here's a Write-up I did, except I used a y8 head:
http://www.civic-eg.com/viewtopic.php?t=10
All the wiring will still be the same.

You'll be using all OBD1 parts, so some steps will be a little bit easier.

By broken
- Thu Feb 06, 2014 3:50 pm #342282 I read the whole right up last night. Very informative. The only last question I have would be the ECU. I noticed you mentioned that you would need the correct ECU for the transmission you have. The vehicle I am gonna do the Swap in is a CX that was once a auto. The previous owner did the manual swap in the car. After driving both my 92 SI and the 94 CX I do tend to believe that this car does not have the EX/SI tranny in it. So that being said would the P28 not be the proper choice? Would this really cause a problem with engine performance or just terrible fuel mileage?

By broken
- Fri Feb 07, 2014 9:23 pm #342357 ok cool. Thx for all the help Teal. Really appreciate it

By jefferydclark
- Tue Feb 25, 2014 6:47 pm #343032 if the head you have really is off a d15b then the cam gear you need is the one on the head. if you install it and it doesn't run right after you've checked the timing a few times, try a d16y cam gear. the d15b cam/cam gear should be what you need as the d15b and d15b8 have the same deck height which i'm sure you read in that thread I hope.

By broken
- Thu Feb 27, 2014 3:56 pm #343095 Thanx for the tip Jeff. I already bought the adjustable gear like teal recommended earlier. It is a D15B 3 stage Vtec haed going on. At least now I have a spare gear now :)
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By suspendedHatch
- Wed Mar 05, 2014 5:39 pm #343183 Oh it's a 3 Stage? Now you're in trouble :lol:

You keep the cam gear that's on the head unless you're going to get the adjustable cam gear dyno tuned. You're not likely to get this car tuned though because you need the OBD2 P2J manual ECU and that isn't chip-able.

It may be possible to get an auto P06 (cheapest and most readily available ECU), chipped, converted to manual, and set up for VTEC and VTEC-E. Then you would need to find a competent dyno tuner. I'm not a fan of chipped ECUs so I don't know the exact details, but you can go to http://wikitest.pgmfi.org/twiki/bin/view.pl

Also, I think the CX has different pistons. Putting an OBD2 head onto an OBD1 block usually bumps your compression but in this case it may lower it.

All in all, if this is a car that you want to drive soon instead of having an ongoing project, and if you care about money spent, I recommend getting a complete replacement engine instead. Imported Ds are dirt cheap.

By broken
- Thu Mar 13, 2014 12:54 pm #343348 :x Uh this is turning out to be more trouble then its worth. Though its the reason I asked the question. You guys are all full of great knowledge on alot of this stuff I have never looked into before. I will have to do a drop in motor at this point. I dont need to waste money at this time to do all this craziness. I just need a good reliable running car for my girlfriend. So new/used motor it is. Thanx guys
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