Mini-Me Conversion

[homes]

Hi all,
I am looking into doing a mini me conversion on my honda civic ej9 and was wandering if any body could tell me the benefits and drawbacks of this compared to doing a full engine swap? Thanks

 

[pgarner]

hey and welcome to torquecars
mini me ?
bit more info please mate

 

[homes]

thanks and sorry i thought you would no what a mini me is. Basically it is swapping the cylinder head with one that has more power. A non-vtec head is replaced with a vtec head.

 

[obi_waynne]

Hi homes and welcome to TorqueCars. And we thought you were going to create a miniture clone of yourself!

16v on 8v and VTEC on non VTEC are popular mods and have been done many times. If the oil ways and water ways match up then you are laughing. If not you have a nightmare. Sometimes the oil/water ways can be bridged or moved so they still work.

You would also need to get the ECU from the VTEC to make this all work and will probably need to swap out a few other sensors such as the crank sensor.

Prince is the guy to ask as he breathes, eats, sleeps and drinks Civics!

 

[homes]

Thanks. I was thinking bout it, would be helpful!
I have a 16v engine i would just need the vtec head. any ideas as to what head i would need and any thing else that would be needed to get this

 

[Prince]

Alright mate, welcome to TorqueCars. The mating of non-vtec to vtec is a tried and tested method of Honda tuning. Unfortunately it isn't always easy. For example the B18C1 head on a B18A1 lump is a fantastic combination ut takes a lot of effort and work to get right. The main reason why the heads are changed though is because they engine then becomes ideal for turbocharging. This is because it doesn't take as long to spool up, but the same vtec power can be achieved.

I'll assume you have the D series engine. How much power are you looking for?

 

[homes]

Hi thanks. ye i have got a D14A4 engine, im looking for as much as possible from the engine. i heard that some one with a D14 was pushing bout 140 bhp.

 

[Prince]

With a lot of work...D series engines can reach up to 200bhp. But it will take a lot of work...if I'm honest, an engine swap is probably a better route to take. You can swap in a better and more tunable engine for a much more efficiently. Then if you decide, the new engine can be tuned further. I've currently got a D series engine as well, I know they have some potential and can be revved just like a vtec, but I'm swapping in a K20A. Have you thought about a swap?

 

[homes]

Ye i have thought of doing a swap but thought it would be alot more expensive and i would not be able to do so i would have to get it professionally, so im not to sure how much i would be looking at?

 

[Prince]

My K20A is gonna cost me between £2000-2500. It will be like a 100bhp increase! I think it's a much better move than tuning my existing engine. The cost of a full exhaust system, manifold, cams, injectors and a cold air induction I may as well just drop in the new engine. There's nothing wrong with professional work mate...that way you know you're getting a decent job done.

 

[homes]

Im not looking to spend that amount of money on it though, prob be looking at spending bout max 800-900 on it as i just bought some other stuff for it. so what would you recommend for that budget? I wasnt saying anything bad about the professional work i was just thinking that it would cost more for it to be done professionally.