My Mini-Me
 

I haven't built one before, but I want an engine to put into my Civic, and this seemed like the place to go for opinions and suggestions. Tried to search but the feature doesn't seem to work. I'm looking for specific advice anyway. I figure if anyone's built something similar they'd probably be on here.


My goal: To build a reliable mini-me for daily driving.

Straight-line power is not a priority, I like cornering. I chose the mini-me because it's cheap, and it's been done before and proven to work.

From dyno charts I've seen, it looks like there's a bit more power after the cutoff point, so I'm planning on setting the cutoff at 8000RPM. As I said earlier, reliability is still a factor, so I'm planning on beefing up the internals to handle the higher redline and compression. I feel like the block and head could probably handle what I'm going to do to it, but I want it to be handling it for a while. I'm not going to be beating on it more than once in a while, so I think that if I do things right I could get 100,000 miles out of it if I'm careful. Not sure though.

Here's what I'm planning:

D16A6 short block.
Getting the crank balanced.
The stronger rods from the 1st gen Integra engine.
OEM pistons. Are there ones from another engine that would work better for this application?
Lightweight flywheel.
And I'm weighing my clutch options as well. I want something stiffer than stock, but not by much.

D16Z6 head
I'm going to want stronger springs to prevent that pesky valve float.
I assume I'm going to be running a cam eventually, but I want to get this thing tuned and running right before I worry about a cam. I'm open to recommendations though.

D16Z6 tranny.
Im going to be rebuilding the tranny as well, just to be on the safe side. The synchros will be replaced, but probably not much else except for the seals and ----, obviously anything damaged will be replaced though.

Engine management.
This is an area that I don't have much experience in. If anyone has any input I'd appreciate it.


PS.
Please don't flame the noob! I really don't want to have to join Honda-Tech or D-series.org.

Re: My Mini-Me
 

join honda-tech or d-series they'll care more

Re: My Mini-Me
 

Faggot.

Re: My Mini-Me
 

ALSO, this setup is not a mini-me. That refers specifically to using a VTEC head and a D15 bottom end.

Good luck.

Re: My Mini-Me
 

I have a d16z6 head I will sell you. No intake manifold though, I'm using it. you can have my d15 one though?

Re: My Mini-Me
 

The LS rod upgrade is probably the best bet for ultimate cheap d-series rods. He didn't mention it though, but just for piece of mind, get a set of ARP rod bolts for them...they have the same size bolts as stock d16's, and since they need a tiny bit of machine work anyway, might as well.
If you're looking to boost the motor, go with the vitara's. If staying n/a, just grab some d16a1 pistons and don't worry about the LS rods...could just use the entire d16a1 piston/rod combo and be done with it.
As for management (I'm going to assume an 88-91 ED chassis car, obd0), upgrade to obd1 and run a chipped p28 ecu, either Crome or Uberdata will work well and both are free programs. Like stated, check the Engine Management FAQ's and stickies for more info.

Re: My Mini-Me
 

Spot on about the ARPs. I had them on the shelf and completely forgot to have the machine shop that did the rods install them.


Oh well.

Re: My Mini-Me
 

Takes one to know one!


Thanks for the info, this is really just about what I wanted. I was planning on the ARP studs, I forgot to mention that. I also forgot to mention that the car is a 91. I was under the impression that the mini-me was D16A6 w/ D16Y8 or Z6 head. Whatever it's called, I'm using an A6.

I'm going this route because I can use mostly junkyard parts, so no thanks on that head, I've got more than enough available at my junkyard.

I want the higher redline because I want some space for later when I'm running a cam and ITBs. If anyone thinks that it will still be unnecessary, I'll listen, though.

I'm not boosting it though, it seems like that makes Vitara pistons unnecesssary?

Re: My Mini-Me
 

Ah, for no boost use A6 pistons, you could still use LS rods with APRs, but the stock A6 rods with ARPs will probably be fine depending on how hgih you are going rev.

Deck the head some to increase compression and get a nice cam.


All motor D is kinda weak, but whatever you want is what you want, but this is homemadeTURBO, so........

Re: My Mini-Me
 

Like I said, straight-line power is not a priority, just balance. If I can get 150whp with the cam and ITBs I'll be overjoyed beyond my wildest dreams. I'm just shooting for 120+

It's the reliability I'm looking for here, not just power. If I wanted power I'd boost an LS block, I could do that with mostly junkyard parts as well.

Re: My Mini-Me
 

and now that you guys are mentioning ARP, get some headstuds too. They're only 100 bucks and well worth it in my opinion.

Re: My Mini-Me
 

He's not going to need them. Stock headbolts will be fine.

Re: My Mini-Me
 

Werd. I'd honestly give those d16a1 pistons a shot in that a6...bumps your c/r up nice, even though they sit about .50mm lower than the a6 pistons. Looking around a 12:1 roughly with a z6 head and z6 head gasket. Only thing is at that high of a c/r it's gonna be premium gas only, and some good tuning, but if you're planning on a cam and some headwork down the road, you'll be glad you did this. I built one with the same setup quite a few years ago using pretty much leftover parts and a zex cam and ported my head myself. Never got to get an actual hp number, but it was good enough to keep up with 94+ gsr's and rip 99-00 si's a new -------. And that was off uber-ghetto tuning...vafc on a pg7 ecu :P

Re: My Mini-Me
 

I'm getting the head studs for peace of mind.

I'm OK with premium fuel, I had to use it in the B17A1 in my last car. 12:1 is extremely tempting, but I'm worried about the reliability of that setup. How long did you run it and did you run into any issues? This is a DD we're talking about, and I put a lot of mileage on my engines.

And what car did the D16A1 come in?

Thanks for your input!

Re: My Mini-Me
 

86-89? teggy

Re: My Mini-Me
 

still have z6 head for sale O0

Re: My Mini-Me
 

Don't waste your money.

Re: My Mini-Me
 

Save you money for other things cause a NA minime is retarded. I wouldn't even deal with a minime. Just get a Z6 or y8. NA sohc d-series are better left to girls who drive civics to meet the guy they met on myspace only to be raped and chopped up and tossed in ditch along a county road that noone ever goes down. Then the car is sent off to the junkyard because her parents don't want to deal with thus where you get your parts to build your shitty minime. In the end it all comes down to myspace. :X

Re: My Mini-Me
 

I ran that motor for about a year, only reason it didn't last longer was because my oil pump broke and ripped up all of my bearings. It was pretty much my DD, alot of fun for just an n/a single-slam. A little headwork on a high c/r d16 goes a long way, and it is possible to make almost 200hp on a n/a d-series if built right. But not for a DD like you want lol.

Re: My Mini-Me
 

Well, Maybe I'll run those pistons with a thicker gasket? 12.5:1 still seems too high. I heard with ZC pistons and .074" gasket I can get around 11.5:1, but I also heard you have to do some machine work to use aftermarket gaskets.... I'll figure it out later.

My next question: Do I need the A6 or the Z6 intake and exhaust manifolds?

lol I'm glad I can make a profit off the death of retarded MySpace chicks. I just picked up a Z6 head for $50

Re: My Mini-Me
 

a b16 or ls swap will be just as powerfull as this built up mini me with a cam and itb's, what a waste of money and effort man :-\ if you want decent all motor power with stock parts get an ls block, a set of b16 pistons, a b16 head, and a set of gsr cams, this set up will cost less money than your itb and cammed sohc and i gaurantee will break 180 whp if tuned....

Re: My Mini-Me
 

Thanks but I don't really care. I guarantee you I'm going to be spending less on this than I am on either of the above suggestions. I can get a short block for $100, Like I said I just picked up a head for $50, tranny is $75, etc. Those ITBs I mentioned I'm getting for free. I can have all the necessary ingredients for this for less than $500, the full rebuild and swap will probably total less than $1000.

LS or B16A will have a higher buy-in and being detail-oriented like I am I wouldn't feel right swapping it in without rebuilding it first just to make sure it's going to run for a while.

As I've said, straight-line power is not a priority here, I'm just building something for fun in my spare time.

Re: My Mini-Me
 

You can try this...same combo as mentioned (a6 block/pg7 or pm7 pistons/z6 head) and run a standard headgasket for the a6. Downfall is it's a composite gasket, but it'll be fine for n/a and is thicker than the z6 one. That will drop you down to the 11.67:1 range, which will work fine.
For the intake and exhaust manifolds, you can use a z6 or y8 intake manifold, but not the old a6 unit...different bolt pattern. For the exhaust you can use any for a d-series (except the newer bastard d17's), but I would HIGHLY reccomend getting some type of aftermarket header. If you could find one with stepped primaries, that would be great, but even a run of the mill ebay header will be ok.
Sure will, but at a price tag of well over $1000, especially when factoring in mounts, linkages, axles, tranny, ecu, etc. Add in the cost of buying those parts to build that b18, and even with awesome cheap deals you're still going to be over $1500. Hell, for under $1000 (maybe even under $500 ;) ) I could build a turbo kit for a d16a6 that would still put down more than 180hp :P
Face it...D-series is king of cheap for all-motor.