Honda Car Forum

I just bought a 1988 honda crx in ok shape other then tons of dings dents a lil rust and 3 different colors its ok I plan on ordering all new body parts from vfiber in so cal but the big issue im having is deciding what engine to hunt down for it im new to the whole honda scene ive always wanted one but never had one till now ive heard all sorts of engines from a d16 to b18c1 to a k24 and i know there all bigger or smaller with and without v tec and single and dohc but what one is the best to put it performance wise keep in mind i dont have the money to go buy a new crate engine im going to be scouring junk yards for one to rebuild please any help would be amazing

A good 4 banger with vtec that has 127 hp would be a D17A2 found in 01-05 Civic EX. its a decent motor with decent fuel economy and it should get you flyin across the intersection ok. or if you got lucky and won the lottery you could get a b16A1 engine but thats JDM spec and probably costly. Hope this helps

i just sold my 89 rex and i had a gsr b18 vtec did a legal way with the right wiring and the right ecu then took it down to a shop by my house in riverside CA and the ran some test on it to c if it world pass cali emission test and it did they gave me a sticker to put on the car door saying it was a legal swap. cuzz if u live in cali they r strict on swaps. so u can do that if u want plus parts for the gsr r not to expensive u cant buy upgrades almost any were but if u don't care about the cops just get a b20 and turbo it hope this helps

I dont live in Cali so Emissions is no big deal for me i can do what ever i please woot so keep that in mind for suggestions also what is the b20 out of?

B20B
1996-1998 specs
NON-VTEC
Found in: USDM and JDM Honda CR-V, Honda Orthia
Displacement: 1,973 cc (120.4 cu in)
Power: 126 hp (94 kW)) @ 5400 rpm
Torque: 131 ft·lbf (178 N·m) @ 4300 rpm
Rod length: 137 mm (5.4 in)
Compression: 8.8:1 or 9.2:1
Bore: 84 mm (3.3 in)
Stroke: 89 mm (3.5 in)
Redline: 6300 rpm

B20B / B20Z
1999 - 2000 specs
NON-VTEC
Found in: USDM CRV as a B20Z, JDM Honda CR-V and Honda Orthia as a B20B
Displacement: 1,973 cc (120.4 cu in)
Power: 146 hp (109 kW)) @ 5400 rpm
Torque: 133 ft·lbf (180 N·m) @ 4300 rpm
Rod length: 137 mm (5.394 in)
Compression: 9.6:1
Bore: 84 mm (3.3 in)
Stroke: 89 mm (3.5 in)
Redline: 6300 rp

my opinion is that the b20 would be better to turbo than a b18,b16,h22,k20 because the can handel the torque if bilt right and dont worry about the vtech ull have the turbo take care of that if u dont want to turbo it u can go with the grs b18 or gsr type r (found in the acura integra) u gan get lots of upgrades that will make ur car fast now if u think bigger is better get the h22 vtec or the k20 u will have to do alot to make it fit but well worth it i think the k20 u would have to do more mods cuz it a lil biger iv only seen one car with it done and he hadd to have his hood off but it looked tight and was fast. if it was me i would go b20 turbo and build the motor right (polished heads,valves,headers,intake manifold etc..) but like i said that is just my opinion if u and other readers dont like it its cool im no honda expert. laters bro hope this helps

I've found a B17 that an old aquaintance has with 120k miles and its been sitting in a garage for the past 5 years at least with wire harness for 400 bucks he was going to swap it into his 92 dx hatch till he lost his license cause he couldnt keep it under the speed limit with a b16 idk if its a good deal or not... Anyone have any thoughts on this engine and its price?

Hi Jon, I'm new to this forum, because I have two Accords. But I've had a CRX since 2000. The place you want to ask this question is:

The Honda CRX Performance Page

The CRX Performance page.

I have some good advice for you, because I went through the exact search, wondering what motor to drop in my 90 Rex. If you're FC (financially challenged), get the B18. If not, get the K20 or K24. Don't bother with the B20, because it's basically an overbored B18, and the sleeves tend to crack, it's a chronic problem. If you're going to spend the extra money to get the block sleeved, you might as well get the K block, it's got a larger bore and shorter stroke for the same disp. The kits are available from Hasport, but their kit isn't complete from what I hear, you need a slew of other parts to make the swap fit. A short list is: tranny, shift linkage, throttle cable, hydraulic conversion for the clutch (probably), wiring harness for the sensors, K block computer, I think an OBD1 conversion, and a hood cut-out to give you more room, because the Kblock is also taller than the B. Yeah, that's a lot of stuff, and you said you're FC. But so am I, and this is why I went with the B18 instead of the K. I'm still in the middle of the drop now. I'm tying up loose ends. But I got a nice rebuilt plain-jane b18 from an Integra for a good price, and I didn't need to do a hydro conversion, nor the wiring change, nor the hood cutout. Plus, K blocks are very expensive by themselves, but the B's are not if you do some looking. I got lucky: my motor was built by a dealership mechanic in Ohio who was building a b18 for his girl's Civic hatch, and he poured 2k$ in parts into it, and she changed her mind, so I got it for $850. It's got forged rods and b16 pistons, that's right b16 pistons. The bore is the same, so the b16 slugs fit, but they are a smidgen taller, and in the b18, this makes for an 11.3:1 compression.

OK, now it's time for the whynots.

Whynot a b17? Well they're a LITTLE better than the stock d block, but not enough to make it worth the expense, in my opinion. I've driven a b16 vtec, but the d block stock makes more torque because it's overstroked, and I was not impressed with the b16 vtec. Yeah, I like the rev range, but again, it doesn't have as much torque as even the stock dblock. I kept waiting for the kick in the pants, and it never arrived, and I was left longing for my own stock d16. The B17 is stroked a little more, but I don't see it making much difference. The b18 makes much better torque, from what I hear, and can be Vtec'd later for even more impressive motion. the motor you mentioned for only $400 is a good price, but if you're going to go to all the trouble of the swap, you have to choose a better choice for a motor.

whynot a turbo? In a word, lag. I had a turbo on my stock d block, and yeah, it had power. But I HATED waiting for it. You see a situation for speed... you punch the throttle... and 1-2 seconds later, the turbo has spooled enough to give you more push. There are guys who SWEAR by their turbo, but to me, 1-2 seconds always felt like 1-2 years. I LOVE the throttle tip-in function on the Honda ECU's, because the throttle response is always butter-smooth and INSTANT. Just a nudge of the throttle, and you instantly feel the extra torque. It's too precious a phenomenon to lose for the extra hp of a turbo, and turbo is just as expensive if not more, than a simple swap. Plus, with a turbo, the temptation is always to dial it up more, and that is a deadly spiral. Sooner or later, you're going to coke the bearings in the turbo (I did), or you're going to get detonation and buckle your rods. What you need to prevent those things is just more expense.

whynot a supercharger? They are even more problematic, and less efficient, than a turbo. The dangers are more acute. The reward is less impressive. They look cool under the hood, but you don't sit under the hood when you drive. And they are even more expensive than a good turbo.

I think that about covers it. Check out honda-perf.org, and see what the turbo guys have to say. It's a matter of taste, I guess: there are turbo guys there who love their turbo, but I hated waiting. And I did absolutely everything I could, to quicken the spool time, but I'm just too attached to the INSTANT normally-aspirated throttle response.