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Introducing myself and my project

13311 Views 57 Replies 30 Participants Last post by  jimmyb34
I am new here and pretty new to Honda engines.

I have built race and hot street VW air cooled, Small Block Chevy, and Holden (local GM in Aus) and a Toyota 7M-GTE

I have done mostly motors, but some transmission and body and chassis work.

These varied from a 1970 model full timber ski boat to a 1912 model 1 tonne truck to sweetened up daily drivers to speedway midgets, to 6 litre circuit and ski race boats to supercharged, MFI alcohol drag cars so I am not a newby to performance engine building.

I will have a number of questions specifically about D series Hondas as I am restoring and modifying a 1988 Aussie model CRX.

Only one trim level was offered in Aus, but the good news is it is pretty much identical to the JDM Sir with 4 wheel discs, 6? X 14" alloy wheels, no back seat at all (just a parcel shelf and fold down divider between passanger and luggage areas), twin cam 1600 EFI motor and close ratio 5 speed with short diff ratio. I am still trying to sort the exact specs.

The engine is a D16A8 with catalytic converter rated at 127hp.

I also have ordered the driverain less motor out of a 1988 JDM Civic Wagon with 6 speed (really a 5 speed plus a stump puller low that is not normally used except in tight situations off road) transmission and Real Time 4 WD.

I also have a D17Z1 SOHC non V-tech motor only out of an early 90s Aussie model Civic.

I also have access to several turbos, one with a 36mm inducer and the other somewhat larger, but not yet measured.

I intend to restore the CRX to look as factory stock as possible. OEM trim, maybe leather steering wheel and gear knob, no non OEM body kit nor spoiler. OEM suspension height Maybe harder springs and bars and shocks. 15 X 6.5" or 15 X 7" wheels.

For front brakes, I am considering DBA 5003.1 rotors which are 278mm X 15.9mm and weigh 2.7Kg. I am still looking for 4 spot calipers, possibly those from a Nissan Patrol. I will need to make some aluminium hats for the rotors to mount on. For rears, I might use the OEM fronts or the DBA 5003.1s again. I need to research 2 spot rear calipers and parking brake arangement. If the rear calipers do not include a parking brake, I might need seperate very small mechanical calipers, or mountain bike discs and mechanical calipers mounted inboard. I might need a bigger bore master cylinder.

I intend fitting an LSD to the front at least, probably a Quaife unit. I might put a locker in the rear if traction is still an issue. Probably not with the 1988 Honda RT system.

It will retain OEM air conditioner and power steering and central locking converted to remote.

I will attempt to remove some weight but I do not want to reduce comfort. Maybe fibre glass bonnet, front guards and hatch with Lexan MR rear windows and hatch (maybe).

I hope with the 4 WD and Propane conversion to not add more than 100Kg, hopefully less than 80Kg due to weight savings elsewhere.

A good Alpine stero with 10 stack, but no external amplifiers or boom box speakers. If they don't fit in the OEM provisions, they won't be fitted.

It will be converted for liquid injection, propane fuel only. I will remove all traces of the original fuel tank, lines, pumps, filters etc.

The car has 400,000 Km on it and is very original except for the new gear box and regular maintenance. It runs and is not noticably smokey, but leaks oil, and has vague steering. Gear box is a brand new Honda replacement fitted a year ago.

Motor needs rebuild. Suspension needs some bushes and shocks. Seats need complete rebuild. It has some minor rust holes in pillars near glass. Paint is completely RS but original red. OEM bumpers only need minor repairs. I paid A$800 with new tyres and 6 months rego.
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Welcome to the site,Please read the rules and if you do notice there is a section for NOOBIES just to let you know.
My first questions are:-

Are there different twin cam head castings, if so what is different.

Are big valves available and effective.

I am pretty sure that there are a few different single cam V-tech heads. Which one is best. Are big valves available and effective.

Has anyone done side by side flowbench tests on the twin cam head and the best V-tech head for the D series.
I will tell you right now to do alot of searching and reading,Alot of information has been covered and to be honest i have to do it but learn to spell VTEC.
I have studied the D18 build thread by sql_civic and I like the way he did it.

I anticipate using the D17 crank with the snout modified to match the original D16 crank snout so that the stock D16 oil pump, front cover and seal, cam drive gear, cam drive belts and balancer along with pulleys to run stock D16 ancillaries. I can machine the snout myself as I have access to a toomakers facility.

Can anyone see any problems or a better way to get about a 94.4mm stroke in a D series.
OK

I will search more.

I now know how to spell VTEC.

My searches to date have found some very good info, but unfortunately diluted by lots of posts by clueless wannabees. I guess I just need to sift through.
no you dont know how to spell VTEC.

My first questions are:-
Has anyone done side by side flowbench tests on the twin cam head and the best V-tech head for the D series.
Fail.
welcome to the site, me and my dad used to work on our 67 VW bus, it had the split windows. it was badass lol this is a great site with lots of info. :td:
My first questions are:-

Are there different twin cam head castings, if so what is different.

Are big valves available and effective.

I am pretty sure that there are a few different single cam V-tech heads. Which one is best. Are big valves available and effective.

Has anyone done side by side flowbench tests on the twin cam head and the best V-tech head for the D series.

as far as I know, all of the DOHC D-series head castings are the same.
however, you will find differences in the camfshafts.

Larger valves are available, but not effective until you have reached an incredibly high level of modification including a MUCH larger bore.

if you notice there isn't much room around the stock valves with the stock 75mm bore.

flowbenches can be hard to compare unless all heads were flown on the same bench. there is very little flowbench data available for the D-series.

if I were you I would look into the forced induction forum and read up as much as you can on turbocharging.

you can easily reach power levels of 200whp on a stock motor, and much higher with upgraded rods and pistons.

what are your power goals for the motor???
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no you dont know how to spell VTEC.



Fail.
That was BEFORE HE WAS CORRECTED.

does he have to go back and edit all his previous posts??? sheesh.

you fail.
Because he was a jerk about saying he can spell it.

If he was wrong and just learned it, no i wouldn't have said any thing. But no he needs to be a jerk and say "I know how to spell it"
Because he was a jerk about saying he can spell it.

If he was wrong and just learned it, no i wouldn't have said any thing. But no he needs to be a jerk and say "I know how to spell it"
smuf your a tool. go back and read what he said ( i now know how to spell it)
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Yes he did speel it indeed :/
Yes he did speel it indeed :/
HA
Because he was a jerk about saying he can spell it.

If he was wrong and just learned it, no i wouldn't have said any thing. But no he needs to be a jerk and say "I know how to spell it"


smuf your a tool. go back and read what he said ( i now know how to speel it)
exactly, he NOW knows how to spell it.

he wasn't being a ''jerk'' at all.

you ARE being a jerk.

you wanna scare off the new people and make em think this site is full of assholes???

neg rep your punk ass.


TO THE OP:

please disregard the immature punks on this site.

there are plenty of knowledgeable people here to help.
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Mods, please delete this grammar BS in here.

Welcome to the site! Usually there aren't any big deals about mis-spellings in here...but someone must have pissed in someones corn flakes this morning. Looks like a fun build! GL
smurf needs to turf the attitude. i only condone vtec bashing when 14 year old text messaging no brain douche bags do it. :)

you ausies are a nice crowd and your chicks have hot accents.

1.8L D series DOHC... almost sounds like an LS :p
I wasnt saying it to be a ass i was just letting him know how to spell it.If i came off that way i apologize.Welcome Again man!!!:)
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Single cam D

No problem to me, I got it wrong by shooting from the hip, you helped me fix it.

Smurf seems to have a problem, but that's his problem, not mine. I just ignore such crap. I am here to learn what will work for my project and share the results.

I have done some fairly radical mods before with succes, but Hondas are new to me.

I know a B series is a better high performance base, but they are heavier and if I want the 1988 Civic RT 4 WD, I am tied to a D series gearbox and I think that ties me to a D series engine, or so I am told..

I am trying to keep weight down, especially front end weight as I want this thing to stop and handle as well as accelerate.
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Welcome to the site,Please read the rules and if you do notice there is a section for NOOBIES just to let you know.
Dude, this guy was a n00b maybe like 40 years ago or so... Did ja read his intro?

My first questions are:-

Are there different twin cam head castings, if so what is different.

Are big valves available and effective.

I am pretty sure that there are a few different single cam V-tech heads. Which one is best. Are big valves available and effective.

Has anyone done side by side flowbench tests on the twin cam head and the best V-tech head for the D series.
Oversized valves are available for d-series motors but I haven't found anything definitive on this site or others that prove how effective they are. If you read my build thread you may have noticed that another member here (pearl62) also built a stroked and bored D18 and went with 1mm oversize valves and a turbo. His motor was a success but who knows if the valves helped or hurt. Still it's something that I'm considering down the road for my build. The extra bore gives me room to increase the combustion chambers to 78mm and unshroud the the valves also.

The most talked about VTEC heads on this site tends to be the D16Y8 and D16Z6. Both motors perform roughly the same in stock form however the head designs are different. The Y8 has a quench pad casting while the Z6 doesn't but has been said to have "better flow".

Here's a Z6.



Here's a Y8.

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