Project Honda Civic EG: Part 5

Sitting pretty, carving lanes and braking late, Project Civic was still poseur slow. Rather than try to squeeze horribly uninteresting and meager power out of the stock engine, we chose the ubiquitous B16 for its low price, ease of installation and Chevy 350-like assortment of performance parts. Project CRX offered up a spare engine and transmission provided by P&G Performance of Rialto, Calif. The engine, an early model mated to an early-style transmission with a cable-actuated clutch, is several years older than the car itself, but judging from the dyno figures, is plenty strong.

Had we used a later drivetrain with a hydraulic clutch (which our EG Civic chassis has), engine installation would've been a bit easier, but a mount kit and cable-to-hydro conversion kit from HASport ensured optimal fitment and an easy installation.

If you want to know every detail about this swap, we already published a "Hybrid How-to" on it in the October 2001 issue. The few issues we did run into are detailed in these photos.

After a surprisingly smooth swap, the moment had arrived. We put on the car up on the lift, did a final check on all oil, water, gas and electrical connections and installed the battery. Clutch in, key on, she turned over. For two minutes. Well, at least the engine wasn't seized.

Disappointed, we called in swap pro Jon Spackman from Holeshot to assess the situation. "So you transferred the stuff onto the new distributor yourself?" he asks skeptically. And rightfully so. Distributor de-monkeyed, she fired to life with a cloud of smoke erupting from the tailpipe. Onto the dyno she went, making a smoky, pitiful 124 hp. Damn. We figured the problem to be either a blown headgasket or shot rings.

With the Civic emitting a smoke screen of which Cheech Marin would be proud, we drove over to Holeshot for another assessment by Spackman. After a brief inspection, he pointed out that most B16s prefer four quarts of oil to eight. Oops. Insert baboon screeches here. It turns out the oil wasn't drained before we pulled the engine from the CRX, so we just piled four more quarts on top.

Back on the dyno, we were relieved to see 133 hp and 95 lb-ft of torque. Despite our fears of abuse raised by the three-puck clutch, the engine still made about as much power as a stock B16 with a restrictive DX exhaust should. We were initially worried the car wasn't going into VTEC, so quiet was the cam changeover and unremarkable the acceleration. Time we spent on the dyno proved fruitful.

Stuff that makes power
The stock DX exhaust system and cat were meant to flow a tire-melting 105-hp, so we figured it was probably a bottleneck for the new, 160-hp engine. Turns out it was like trying to blow Ricki Lake through a brake line. By bolting on the A'pexi WS exhaust, we made 7 peak hp and 6 lb-ft of torque. Most impressively, gains were made from 2000 rpm to redline.

We chose the A'pexi WS cat-back exhaust system for very specific reasons. First, we wanted a fairly quiet exhaust, because the main goal for this project is to produce the ultimate front-wheel-drive street car. (This means a car you can drive on the freeway for more than 10 minutes without your ears ringing like you were at a Hanson concert.) Second, it's increasingly difficult to find an exhaust with a tip that somewhat emulates the diameter of the exhaust tubing. The philosophy behind the WS line, which also happens to be A'pexi's cheapest, is to sell exhaust systems which should've been on the car from the factory, with low-profile sound and looks, but sporty feel and performance.

This exhaust delivered on all counts. The tone is deep and rewarding, never intrusive at cruising speeds but throaty at full throttle. This is all quite an accomplishment for a modified, small-bore Honda engine, which usually sounds like a flatulent lawn mower. Exhaust piping features a very attractive and durable purple oxide finish in which resides a large resonator. The exhaust can is large and constructed of polished stainless steel. Though the entire system weighs more than an N1 type system, this is a tradeoff we'll happily make for a bearable exhaust tone.

Another restriction in the system, not surprisingly, was the stock 175,000-mile catalytic converter. More than eight-years old, the efficacy of the catalysts themselves were questionable, and we wanted to use a unit that would both do a better job of scrubbing the exhaust gases and provide better flow. A problem many enthusiasts run into is the need to have a muffler shop custom weld a high-flow cat into a system, especially hybrids with different-than-stock header and exhaust lengths.

Fortunately, we were turned on to the PowerCore line of direct-fit catalytic converters from Landspeed Racing. Having encountered the same problem themselves, the folks at Landspeed decided to produce a line a cats of varying sizes for Hondas that will fit any combination of engine, header, chassis and exhaust system. After providing Landspeed our engine, header and chassis specs, we were promptly sent a cat that bolted everything together perfectly.

Turns out we could use the extra flow. The PowerCore cat gave us another 4 peak hp and 1 lb-ft of torque, and even bigger gains past the power peak. With most of the power gains occurring at high rpm, this mod will come into play when the engine flows more air with serious engine work. Landspeed also sent us a PowerCore race cat we'll test once our engine makes enough power for it to make a difference.

Without a stock JDM Integra B16 intake system to use as a baseline, we used a borrowed '99 Civic Si airbox and trimmed the stock tubing to fit our car to simulate what would be stock flow. We figured the stock airbox was fairly optimized and would do well. We were wrong. Originally procured for Project CRX, the AEM intake we used on Project Civic was designed for a del Sol VTEC, but fit our car perfectly. With the AEM intake on our car, we could hear the cam changeover for the first time and it gave the car a nice, throaty intake growl, especially on VTEC.

AEM uses CNC mandrel-bent 6061 aluminum piping which is extremely light. AEM's extensive testing with tube length and diameter is obvious, because the intake not only makes impressive overall power, but it reshaped the powerband in a most optimal way. Most impressively, that characteristic dip in horsepower and torque at 5400 rpm is not only removed, but replaced with max power gains at 5200 rpm, more than 12 hp and 12 lb-ft of torque. Eight peak hp and 6 peak lb-ft of torque attest to how well the intake works.

Our header evaluation must be prefaced by saying we took what we assumed was a stock B16 exhaust manifold left over from our 2000 Civic Si project and used from our baseline run forward. Only after we removed it to install the header did we realize the primaries were ported by Dan Paramore, revealed by a little, rusted-over "DPR" engraved at the top of the manifold. We located another stock manifold and re-tested. This is why the baseline run for our header is slightly lower than the previous run in which we tested the AEM intake.

With a large number of new B-series headers on the market, we chose the product of the union of two heavy hitters in the automotive aftermarket, JG Engineering and Edelbrock Corporation. We were sent both their CARB-legal street header and a race-only B-pipe, which is essentially a 3-inch dump pipe that bolts to the primaries for easy and fast swaps at the track. The gorgeous media-blasted raw stainless-steel finish is the first of its kind we've seen. The bronze color deepens after exhaust heat passes through it, leaving a kind of opalescent purple. Very cool.

The first header combination we tested was the race B-pipe in combination with the AEM intake. As a full race unit, both the cat and exhaust system are bypassed, with exhaust gases exiting dead center under the car. It's amazing just how deafeningly loud 96 cubic inches of uncorked Honda exhaust can be, especially when bouncing off the walls of a warehouse. It's also amazing how much power it makes uncorked. The B-pipe produced maximum gains of more than 12 hp and 12 lb-ft of torque, with power gains at every single point in the powerband.

The last mod tested was the JG/Edelbrock street header, which uses the same primaries as the race set-up.

With the secondary bolted to the primary, it became obvious the header was originally designed for a GS-R, because it was an inch too long. It still fit, but took all the slack out of the system. Edelbrock is looking at the problem and will address it. Dyno runs showed a peak increase of 1 hp and 1 lb-ft of torque. JG/Edelbrock has seen larger gains with the same header on GS-Rs and LS/VTECs, but it could be the stock B16 exhaust manifold is not much of a restriction, and Honda engineers left little to be improved upon.

In the end, the numbers speak for themselves. Bone stock, the dingy DX ran a 16.7 in the quarter mile. Turns out more than 50 extra wheel hp will knock a full two seconds off the quarter-mile time. With only basic mods, Project Civic ran a 14.8 at 93 mph and sprinted from 0-60 mph in 6.5 seconds. Most importantly, the car feels ballsy for the first time.

Stuff that doesn't make power
Don't laugh, we needed something. Honda deemed the DX unfit for a tachometer, so we were rev-ignorant until we figured out something trick to do. To the temporary rescue came Super High Technology of Pomona, Calif., which imports the AXAS Rev Indicator. This unit displays engine speed on a small module via four LEDs. The indicator works by reading fluctuation in system voltage as sensed through the cigarette lighter, which the unit plugs into.

From there, you adjust both the scope and duration of revs indicated by tuning the left and right halves of the desired range with two knobs. In essence, you turn the left knob until the first of four LEDs lights at your desired rpm, and do the same with the right knob for the top of the rev range. The third knob controls LED brightness, which is a good thing, considering how blindingly bright they can get. The LED module is tethered to the control box, letting you place the indicator wherever you like. This unit is ideal for any form of motorsport, where your eyes are better spent on the road than staring at a tach. Morever, although the unit is Japanese, it's sold at a very attractive price.

Next
However great the accomplishments of a week's worth of wrenching, other shortcomings of the car were made obvious. The steering, which felt awful to begin with, feels really awful now that the rest of the car doesn't suck. From the dead spot, to slack in the system, to a ridiculously slow steering ratio, it just plain blows. We have a novel and trick solution in the works.

The interior still looks like a family of squirrels had been living in it, the stock radio barely works and the transmission is pretty much shot. It turns out the previous owner of the engine put the three-puck race clutch and chrome-moly flywheel to good use, shifting too hard and fast and damaging the second and third gear synchros. We actually had to hold the stick in gear during the skidpad testing. This, of course, gives us opportunity to install the KAAZ limited slip we have sitting in the closet and perhaps a different final drive, because the stock Y1 transmission's gear ratios are a bit tall for our tastes.

Then there are those snap-prone B16 axles, which won't hold up to the big, steamy pile of horsepower we plan to make. In the next installment of Project Civic, you'll find an in-depth look at the Hondata computer and what kind of power gains we can extract using it, as well as exploring its datalogging and programming capabilities.

A complete HASport mount kit makes this a simple bolt-in swap.	To make the installation plug and play, we used a HASport VTEC wiring harness, which connected the pre-existing underdash VTEC harness to the engine.	It turns out the stock DX fuel line needs to be replaced with a B-series line because the banjo fitting is constructed differently internally and the DX fitting will not permit sufficient fuel flow.
We had to lengthen the oxygen sensor wires, using electrical tape to gather and shroud the extension.	Before dropping the B16 into Project Civic, a new clutch was in order. After consulting with ACT, we chose a clutch that will work fine and gives us room to add serious horsepower without needing to upgrade the clutch. What we got was an Xtreme pressure plate with a street disc, which makes for a heavy clutch pedal and tremendous clamping force, but with the smooth engagement you expect from a stock disc.	With Japanese engines, you sometimes get lucky. The only thing we know about this flywheel is it's chrome-moly, was made in Japan and weighs a scant 8.5 lbs. The fact this flywheel, along with a completely spent three-puck race clutch was in the engine as received from Japan didn't thrill us because they allude to an abusive past life. Seeing the bright side, we resurfaced the flywheel and stuck it in. While doing nothing to horsepower figures, the engine revs like a GSX-R and throttle response is near instantaneous.
	The A'pexi WS is one of the quietest, most subtle-looking Civic exhausts on the market.	Like its tone, the A'pexi WS's tip is relatively understated.
	Landspeed's PowerCore cat was a direct bolt-in for our hybrid.
An AEM intake for a del Sol VTEC fits an EG/B16 hybrid perfectly.		The JG/Edelbrock header's raw stainless-steel finish is absolutely gorgeous, making it a worthy decorative addition, regardless of performance.
	We also tested this race B-pipe. Ear bleeding was reported as far as 2 miles away.
Unwilling to peer over a rice bowl-sized monster tach, and having no stock tach to fall back on, we found a temporary solution.