[lts70]

Yesterday I started a thread that I think got deleted. So I figured I would try again.

I recently acquired a 1996 civic HX with a seized motor. Rod bearings went out freezing the motor and ruining one rod and the crankshaft.

Hoping to get some advice on what you guys would do to put this thing back together.

At the very least, I want to find a crank and put it back in its stock form.

I would really like to find out if there are some simple upgrades that would not create a tuning issue, but would give it a little bit more performance. Not looking to get too crazy but at the same time I don’t want to pass up an opportunity while I have it all torn apart.

At the end of the day, I want to have a dead reliable daily driver that gets good to decent mpg’s. If I can add some well thought out power adders at the same time I would not complain…. Maybe a super charger or turbo .

Hoping for somewhere around an extra 20-50hp. Something with mostly stock parts so that it is easy to work on and keep running.

Would really appreciate some advice on some options you guys see for this car.

 

[transzex]

Your dreams of that extra power ar not going to happen. Also those that whole block and crank/rods into the recycle bin. Pull the cam and see what the cam journals look like, the head might be junk as well.

Find a better bottom end to start with for a new build.

 

[mattliston]

If the head turns out to be okay, would be a GREAT excuse to do a 96-00 d16 bottom end with a d17 crankshaft and rods/pistons, to make a nice litttle fuel economy stroker.

 

[lts70]

That sounds like something to look into. If everything checks out can I use my original head and block and just find a D17 crankshaft and rods/pistons? With my existing computer run things just fine?

 

[mattliston]

You would initially need to make sure your O2 sensor, intake air temp sensor, and coolant temp sensor are working perfectly, so the ecu can accurately adjust.

5-10 driving cycles of gentle driving, and it should elarn the new fuel trims easily enough.

On the B series side, folks have ran a b16 ecu when they had a B20 bottom end, whcih is a far larger jump in displacement. Usually called the ls-vtec or b20-vtec, depending if they choose a 1.8 or a 2.0 bottom of course.



Your issue will be the crank pulley and accessories, due to the snout difference of the d17 crankshaft. Mixing and matching B and F series parts will fix that. The correct mixture of parts? No idea at the moment. Worth researching the d17 stroker stuff!!!!!

 

[transzex]

The Super D!

D-Series Tech - High Compression Stroker - Honda Tuning Magazine

Read how to build a high compression stroker on a D16a6 using d17a7 internals. - Honda Tuning Magazine

www.motortrend.com

The motor was hurt a few times by the oil pan damage. I know Colin Botha had the same issues when he had Bernardo's motor.

 

[lts70]

Getting closer to having the engine out. Exhaust and intake came out better than I expected.

Hoping to get her out the next day or two, and make sure that the block and head are in good enough shape to reuse. Haven’t found a D17 for the stroker internals yet but hopefully something pops up.

 

[lts70]

Had my 5 boys with me at work today and we were able to sneak the engine out on our lunch break. My one daughter was with mom and is super jealous

 

[mini-e]

I put everything that makes a D16y5 (ECU, head, Intake manifold, primary o2 sensor and whatever i am forgetting) on a 1996 hatch with the OEM y7 block years ago along with a OEM y8 header and a 2.5" catalytic converter along with some minor areo mods and ran it for 100k. I never got less that 36mpg and did as well as 50 and regularly got 40mpg going 75-80mph up and down i5 between NorCal and PDX. (The 96-00 hatch gearing is the same as the HX sedan.) The lean burn HX engine with the OEM ecu will not make a much more power (injector limited), but 40+mpg with just a OEM y5 y8 or y7 block (they will all work) is not such a bad deal and you have the y5 bits that are a little hard to find and the wiring is all there. Add some compression while squaring things up would be my non bolt on 'moding' suggestion. 10.5/1 or so. Or you could do all sorts of stuff $$. (edit) I'll add that with the EX OEM header and bigger cat, a bump in compression from 9.X to 10.5 or so, a little port matching on the exhaust and intake and a 99-00 SI airbox with a snorkel to the front of the car, mine made some more power- I have no idea how much and it was mostly torque. Lets say 10 ftlbs butt dyno. It was all cheap extra power and came with added efficiency.

 

[lts70]

Put the little grease ball in the parts washer. Head looks great, cylinders walls look good and will only need a light hone. Definitely need a rod and crank. Still hoping i can find a 1.7 donor.

Going to wait until my kids are with me again to let them pull it the rest of the way apart.

 

[lts70]

If I can’t find 1.7 donor for the internals. What do you guys think about getting something like this?

SpeedFactory Racing No-Notch H-Beam Long Rod and Vitara Piston Combo D16

This is a combo package for SpeedFactory Racing No-Notch connecting rods and Vitara pistons for the D16 engines. This combo will bring the compression of the Vitara combo up to 8.8:1 as opposed to the standard length rod which yields 7.8:1 compression. Proudly introducing the new SpeedFactory...

www.googleadservices.com

Also, in the same building that I work, there is an engine shop. I am pretty good friends with the owner, and he lets me use some of his equipment. I could easily deck the block with his help.

 

[mattliston]

Speedfactory setup if for if you intend to make much more power than factory can handle.

Understand the D17 internals are solid for around 160-200whp, and that is about it. They have weaker rods than D16s, the bearings are a bit less tolerant of abuse, and the crank oiling matches the d16y7/y8 stuff.

Just understand you need to have a goal first, and progress later.


If a 1.7 stroker will take care of your needs, then hit up a junkyard and go hopping.


use car-part.com, look for something super common, like an alternator, for any 2001 to 2005 civic dx, lx, or ex. GX and MX are the natural gas and electric hybrid versions of the cars, and of course nothing worth grabbing from them if they dont even share the same engine. The GX 1.7 is much more different internally and will not work. Example, the pistons are 2mm bigger on the wrist pin size.

 

[lts70]

The car found me so I am making it up as I go. Right now, I am in it nothing but time so I don’t mind putting some money into it. I mostly work on old chevy trucks but this has been a fun project to learn on and show my kids that even more modern cars are worth fixing.

I like the idea of making this car an upgraded version of its stock self. Still getting good mpgs with more performance but not to the point that makes it unreliable or high maintenance.

I like the idea of a kit like above even if it is more stout then what I need as long as it doesn’t cause drivability problems. That way in the future if things change and we want to go for a lot more power we’ve got a solid base to build off of.

Does anyone have any suggestions of an aftermarket kit that I could use that would get this thing back on the road as is? Then later, on down the road, if we decide to throw a turbo on it or get a little bit crazier, the internals would be up for the challenge.

 

[lts70]

Found a D17 motor for $200,high mileage but runs. Hope to have it mid next week. Excited to start building a D16/17 Stoker motor!

 

[lts70]

Took me a little bit longer to get it, but it only took a $100 to bring it home.

My new D17A1 of unknown history. Hope the crankshaft is in good shape.

 

[mattliston]

Post a lot of pictures. Plenty to watch out for.

 

[lts70]

Need to clear up some working room an get this D17 torn down. I have been searching the forum and reading anything I can find on these D18 stroker builds.

I noticed that a member named Speedfoos (who I wish was still active because it seem like he knew what he was doing with these little stroker builds) was selling a lot of 1.7 rotating assemblies to people who wanted to build a stroker. Does anyone know of a build thread made by anyone that was building one of these stroker motors with the stock parts? Hoping to see what kind of results they came up with as I am trying to decide whether to use the stock rods and pistons or go with aftermarket in case I want to step up the horsepower. Any help finding good information would be greatly appreciated.

 

[transzex]

link was posted above....