D16z6 build questions

D15, D16, D17 and Mini-Me swaps
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D16z6 build questions

By Sleeping_LX
- Tue Jun 08, 2010 11:09 am #199149 hey yall.. this is my 1st post on here, plz bare with me.

i have a 95 civic lx and i recently got a d16z6 and s40 trans for it, which i would like to build up a bit. currently has d15b7 and p20 trans and is my dd.

so far the plan is to have the head milled .042 (yes i know i will need an adjustable cam gear and i plan on going with AEM tru time) and port and polish of the head as well as polishing the intake. also i plan on adding a header, spoon chip, and a XTD stage 1 racing clutch.

what im looking for is feedback on if this sounds good, and problems i may run into. i still plan to drive this as my dd.

looking forward to reading responces.. thank you for taking the time to read/reply.
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By Classiccarsrule85
- Tue Jun 08, 2010 11:58 am #199152 hopefully you have the money to do it correctly.... but id say not to mill the head that much unless its warped theres no need if you want higher compression throw a y8 head on it different combustion chambers =better compression....anyhow further more you are starting in the right place i.e. the head because thats where you can wake up your cars potential however making good power from a naturally aspirated motor probaly will end up giving you a bit o well to put it simply its a pain in the rear.....

but yea i guess as long as you are running decent compression ratios and octane fuel it should be alright....

the spoon chip i hope isnt from ebay and two no chip is going to help anyone unless they get it tuned by a credited tuner as its just not going to work.....

since each motor each application has different needs and behaves differently.....id also upgrade the injectors because it dosent matter if its n/a boost more fuel would probaly be needed....

id also look into a cam itself might as well since your taking the head apart.....

now my buddy had a high compression CRX and well lets say gas mileage suffered but it was well fast to say the least....so if you arent worried about paying more for gas etc then you probaly are on your way a z6 is a good base motor....however id check out the trans case because there is either A000 or B000 or something like that signifying that its actually a vtec trans since well yea S20 sticker landed on some dx trannys as well....

which reminds me clutch is alright i guess never had it but havent heard anything wrong with it probaly will take time to get used to as its probaly not the frendliest clutch....but id also see about a lightweight flywheel....

By Sleeping_LX
- Tue Jun 08, 2010 12:51 pm #199154 well.. i have the eng and trans allready. got them both for $110 which really pleased me. i am on sumwhat of a budget build.. im gonna stick with the z6 head because i have it. dont wanna buy another (y8).. and milling is fairly cheap. the cam gear i will need for it is only $100, as is the clutch (100).

gas milage im not as concerned with, im guessing with the work as planned, even if i lose some mpg.. ill still get over 25mpg? which i can live with.

as for the chip... yes it was 1 i was looking at on e-bay. i am not as stuck on getting a chip as i am the rest of the plans.. but im pretty confident on the abilities of my mechanic to tune it right. (he only does 2 things in life, work, and work on cars). if you know of good placed other than e-bay to get a good chip.. im all ears

i plan on keeping the stock internals, as i read on another post that with the p28 pistons, not to mill more than .060... so the .042 should be well within limits, and the adjustable gear to compensate for any slack in the belt.

the trans i have says S-40 A000.. although the trans currently in my car says P20 C5F (or CF5) and i like it.. but have no clue what it came out of.. and im guessing that it is basically a S-20???


i havnt started any of the work yet.. just alot of research (looking thru forum after forum) so im trying to get everything lined up now while im waiting on the $$ i need to do this.
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By d-mon
- Tue Jun 08, 2010 3:07 pm #199188 A000 is a dx transmission.
you should have no problems milling the head to .060
you will need a z6 distributor if your motor didn't come with one.
i have used several ebay rebuild kits suceessfully.
i buy most of my parts from this vendor:
http://stores.ebay.com/Mizumo-Auto-Parts?_rdc=1

By Sleeping_LX
- Tue Jun 08, 2010 3:17 pm #199195 i have complete eng - ecu and vtec selanoid
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By teal_dx
- Tue Jun 08, 2010 3:59 pm #199208 I would stay away from ebay chips. Your ecu is the brain of your engine, not the place you want to go budget in your build.
I'd talk to your tuner to see what software he is familiar with and go that route.
Better software might cost more, but often you'll make up for part of that expense with the time saved on dyno tuning because of better software. :thumb:
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By justin_bisimoto
- Tue Jun 08, 2010 5:05 pm #199224
teal_dx wrote: Your ecu is the brain of your engine, not the place you want to go budget in your build.


^This :thumb: I cant stress this enough to people.

Everything else about your plan looks gravy. Maybe a cam upgrade in the future to give the car alittle bump in power :wink:

By Sleeping_LX
- Tue Jun 08, 2010 5:44 pm #199239 i agree.. my mechanic said ideally i want hondata.. (but im not really ready to spend like $300 on it) but.. hes also the 1 who found the chip on ebay as well...

soo, well see how that will play out. ima try to get the gasket set and milling done this month (if funds permit) so i can start putting it back together.. trying to get my mom and sis to get me the header for my b-day in july.. still also need to find p28ecu and vtec selanoid.. so its all still up in the air

worst comes to worse, ill have all the $$ i need in nov.. but id like to have it in and be driving it b4 snow falls. i dont wanna go too crazy with it tho as this will still be my DD and winter car (prolly with snow tires tho) and im driving down to the coast of mississippi for x-mas. so either way my goal is to be done by x-mas

By Sleeping_LX
- Wed Jun 09, 2010 4:36 am #199360 upon further inspection (since i didnt really look at it much when i picked it up) the trans goin in has 2 stickers on it. 1 says S40-1901199 and the other says K4F P4A. ima guess its a standard si trans?? also talked to my mechanic more and we decided to nix the chip all together.

i think i will be plenty pleased with how this will turn out since ive been driving this car every day for the last 3 yrs. my friend/mechanic had a 95 ex with d16z6 and S80 trans but nothing done to them. and he says ima LOVE vtec.
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By d-mon
- Wed Jun 09, 2010 3:20 pm #199450
Sleeping_LX wrote:the trans i have says S-40 A000.. although the trans currently in my car says P20 C5F (or CF5) and i like it.. but have no clue what it came out of.. and im guessing that it is basically a S-20???

d-mon wrote:A000 is a dx transmission.

s20 is 92-95 d-series trans, s40 is 96-00 d-series trans.
B000 is EX\Si

By Sleeping_LX
- Mon Jul 26, 2010 7:35 pm #206336 ok.. progress report... is gonna go alot slower than.. but instead of rushing to get it in and drive it... im just gonna get a few parts a month and go slow and build it sick.

so far, i have had the head milled 35 thousandths, and am in the process of porting the head atm. i got my AEM true time cam gear, p28 ecu, eng wiring harness, vtec selenoid that i didnt have, full headgasket set... and sum paint. maybe more i cant think of atm.

in next few months i plan on getting, d16z6 halfshafts (new) header (new t304 stainless) motor mounts, shocks, 9.3mm wires (cause sum guy locally selling them for $30..) rings, barings and probablly more im again forgetting.

also over the winter (possibly) a full turbo kit. (havnt decided yet).


question.. how much horsepower will the stock internals of the d16z6 hold?

im guessing here, but im predicting around 220-240 hp when were done. with the new rings and barings will it hold a turbo too? or would i need better internals for the turbo?
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By teal_dx
- Mon Jul 26, 2010 9:00 pm #206348
question.. how much horsepower will the stock internals of the d16z6 hold?

im guessing here, but im predicting around 220-240 hp when were done. with the new rings and barings will it hold a turbo too? or would i need better internals for the turbo?


It's hard to say a HP number that the stock z6 bottom end will hold. A stock bottom end might handle 250 WHP but only last a few months.
It really depends on how many miles it already has and how well the engine & ecu are tuned. The tune is essential.
New rings & bearings will definitely help in all cases :thumb:
If you're going to boost, it makes sense to upgrade rods & pistons while you have the motor apart. Forged rods & pistons are good insurance @ 240 WHP Stock crank is fine and no need for sleeves @ that power level.
The size of turbo, how much boost, how you drive the car and other engine mods can all make a difference in how long a stock bottom end will last.
But the tune is the most important of all
:thumb:
Once you invest a couple grand into a turbo setup & forged internals, $500 for Hondata S300 is a no brainer :wink:
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By suspendedHatch
- Tue Jul 27, 2010 3:58 pm #206438 Increasing the compression increases your gas mileage. If your buddy's CRX lost fuel economy after increasing the compression then something wasn't done right.

No, you wont need to get bigger injectors for that build. You can use an injector size estimator to confirm this.

Chipping an ECU or running a base map are both truly retarded ideas. You can't be blamed if you don't know but just understand that each and every individual motor must by dyno tuned, in person, by hand. You can take two of the same type of motors, do the exact same mods to both, and tune one of them... try to run that same tune on the other one and it will be off. Although that tune will be a very good starting point and this is the definition of a base map.

If you're wondering how the stock ECU can work across an entire generation of engines first you have to understand that there is an average of 15% difference in power between identical cars when they are brand new. Secondly, there is so much flexibility in the stock tune and it is so conservatively rich under WOT that you can take a stock motor, retune it, and pick up a pretty impressive amount of power with no other mods.

Just ask a Subaru tuner. The turbo STi is an extreme case and you can get nearly 100 hp on just a tune ALONE.

By Sleeping_LX
- Thu Jul 29, 2010 2:49 pm #206668 i think the guy said there was 128k on it when he got it.. which is 1 of the reasons i wanted to do new rings and barings.. and as for how i drive.. well.. i tend to be hard on cars... i like to go fast :thumb: i also have a '86 300zx but it has been sitting for 6 yrs now and we started pulling it apart and found atleast 2 broken valves.... guess i was a little hard on it that day...

anyways... im really surprized that the civic has lasted me 3 yrs so far... i love my 2ed gear, been driving it bone stock except for a cone air filter and i have no cat, no resonator and an aerospeed muffler. so it sounds meaner than it really is...

should finish up the head work tonight hopefully.. polish the intake side and prep it for paint.. then put it back together...(mechanic making me finish the head first) then i can take the bottom apart.. cause theres 2 other engines in his garage pulled apart all over the place and he didnt want mine to end up like that.

so soon i will be able to give update on what we found in the bottom.

also i found the actual stamp on my transmission goin in.. (not the stickers) but the stamp says S40 on top and under it in the bottom part of the circle B000.. so i do have a vtec trans :woot:

By Sleeping_LX
- Tue Aug 03, 2010 3:22 am #207216 err.. make that ex/si trans...

ok.. head done and put back together.. looks sweet with the aem cam gear sitting on it :woot:

started pulling the bottom apart.. so far looks good.. might not need barings.. but still want new rings.

question.. what is the gap for stock rings?

i found aa thread where sum guy said the formula to figure out gap is: 0.006X(bore in inches)= top ring and that 0.0065X(bore in inches)= bottom ring . is this accurate?

am trying to locate a feeler guage atm.. will have it soon.

another question is: i got the wireing harness for the engine compartment, and the p28 ecu... do i need the 3 clip harness from the ecu into the eng compartment? if so, is there a site to order them? or.. do i just need to add a few wires in for the vtec?

my mechanic and i went to a junkyard and started pulling this out but stopped when we realized it was tied into a big bunch of wires that ran accross the whole dash...
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