91olds98

My name is James and I've just bought my first Honda yesterday and I'm a decent mechanic...on American V8s. This Honda is a whole different ball game, and I'm humble to say; I have no idea what I'm doing and genuinely need help. I'm a really nice person, not just some punk who wants to pimp his civic. My play days are over. I still love horsepower and having fun, but I don't wanna be loud and obnoxious. I want a great sleeper, and I have the perfect blank template. I bought a 1995 civic coupe, white, with manual everything. 1.5L SOHC engine. 160,000 on the clock, but a brand new 5spd manual tranny, clutch, flywheel, and cv axles. It runs GREAT, timing belt done recently too, NO oil leaks and well maintained. No factory power steering but does have factory a/c, which still works great, blows ice cold.

My VIN is: IHGEJ2122SL063585. My questions are as follows, only serious answers please, I'm a noob to this, just respectfully asking for good advice:

1.) What do I have here? A DX, VX, CX, LX or what? Only thing I know is that it's definitely not an EX.
2.) What's my engine code? (D15? Or what?)
3.) if I were to perform an engine swap, what's the best, easiest, spicific engine to mate up with my factory 5 speed? My needs are this, a quick, moderately quiet A-B car. I won't be out racing it just zipping joyfully around town. Don't need a huge horsepower gain, but I gotta do something here.
4.) Is it a better idea to just beef up the 1.5 and is it possible? What could I bolt on for a couple extra HP gains. I was already planning on K&N intake and a pricy Borla exhaust from manifold to muffler tip. What can I do with this motor without ruining this tranny?

Someone please reply, I've gained tremendous respect for Honda and just want to enjoy it as much as you guys. Please feel free to talk technical with me, I understand the basics of how the engine works... In America lol. So I do understand most tech talk and I love to learn every day.

mac25

engine swap options will probably be something like the fallowing, i'm not quite sure which vehicles these older engines come from.

in the case of a d16y8, D series engines are SOHC, and obviously make less power. the 16 is for the liters 1.6L which is quite small and makes limited power. the last two digits the y8 is the camshaft and head option on the D16 block.

d16 from the ex

H,B and F series engines are all dohc.

b16
b18
h22

other bigger engines that might work with some fabrication include d17 (but that might be a waist of money) and k20/k24.

if you have a lot of money there's the f22...but that's not a transaxle, it's rwd and would cost a lot to make work.

those are the main honda engines. if you wanted you could try a different makes engine as well, it's just all about how much you want to spend.

GolNat

iTrader: (7)

You have a Dx if you don't have any power items.

Check here for motor swap options:

http://hasport.com/store/index.php/m...vic.html?cat=4

A J-Swap would be awesome. V6 power in a little lightweight civic!!! B, H and K are the other options.

Bolt on stuff will give you some power increase but since there isn't much to start with the gains are small. Swapping cams and changing internals would help more but it's up to you on how much time and money you want to spend. At that point a swap or turbo would be best. Every little bit helps. If you swap it will open up a whole new world of options as the engines listed above have a lot more aftermarket support.

Civics do respond very well to suspension mods, so if you are into suspension and handling then there are things you can do to help with that.

***the 4th,5th and 6th numbers of your vin is your chassis code. You have a EJ2. Full list here:

http://www.clubcivic.com/index.php?pageid=specs5

When looking for info about swaps and mods sometimes it is best to search by chassis code rather then civic and the year. So "EJ2 swap options" vs "95 civic swap options".

91olds98

Thanks for the input guys, at least I know what I have now. I might consider that D16 swap. I have a garage where I could keep a D16 on a stand and rebuild it from the bottom up. I have the tools and whatnot to do things like new cams, stronger crankshafts and pistons and rods. It appears to be very easy to swap in a more aggressive cam.

I had forgotten about suspension, my front suspension absolutely crashes over bumps, makes nasty clunking noise and is completely original so far as I can tell. I would be all for a better handling car, but I don't want to make it ride like a paint shaker. What's the happy medium there?

got2run5

It would probably best to search this forum and others-many have suspension pictures so you can see what each setup looks like and I'm sure you can find posts on the ride quality. The guys answering your questions have 7th gens so the suspension choices are much different.