Newbie: '97 D16Y7 advice

madpacket

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So my wife just got a new '03 Odyssey and I got her '97 Civic LX (non-vtec). While I wanted the RSX type-s, we couldn't afford two new car payments :wink:

Pardon my newbie-ness, but recommendations for what (if anything) I should do with this Civic is appreciated. There is so much discussion about engine swaps on this site- but I don't think I'm interested in that. This engine has only 59k easy miles.

Are swaps the only way to go? I mean am I wasting my time messing with this D16 at all? Will it be money down the drain with little gain potential from this powerplant?

Here is what I am considering, let me know if it's junk:
Engine - D16Y7
Cold air intake (what brand/model?)
Cat-back exhaust - A'pexi N1 stainless-steel exhaust w/ silencer
Header (4-1 is better than 4-2-1??)
Lighter flywheel
Adjustable cam sprockets (make any sense w/ lacking vtec?)


Suspension/handling
Adjustable spring-over
Stabilizer bars
17" or 18" wheels & tires
Rear disc brakes (wtf is it $800 for this???)
Front vented rotors
Limited slip differential (worth it? don't know about price)


Add-ons/Cosmetics
Pedals
Shifter
Window tinting
Short shifter
Stereo
Clear lenses


Like I said if it would be a waste of time, maybe I could trade this Civic for a quad or something :wink:

Let me know what you think please!

Oh, here's a pic of the card when some jackass clipped the front off of it. Hit and run even. I think he got 3 days when they caught up to him. Of course it's been fixed since =)

http://www.woo-hoo.com/civic/
 

UnitZero

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well it depends what you want to do with the car? race/street/show

for the price of the engine swap, you might be able to make your lx run faster than a B16 swap. But in the long run, the dual cam engines are a better platform to build on.
 


madpacket

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Good point- My goal is to basically make this a fun car to drive. It will always be my commuter work car, so it has to handle that chore reliably. I don't have unlimited money, but can spend maybe $2k on it before getting into too much trouble :wink:

Right now it is just not fun- not peppy, just plain. While numbers always impress, if this car could just be made to "feel" fast while being significantly better than stock, I'd probably be happy.

BTW- is it at all possible to make this block a vtec? Or is a whole engine swap easier? I suppose a vtec is new head & ecu- or maybe I'm oversimplifying :roll:

Thanks!
 

UnitZero

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someguy at riversidestreetracing.com is selling a vtec head for 100 bucks..
 


Si_Racer13

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Originally posted by "madpacket"

Good point- My goal is to basically make this a fun car to drive. It will always be my commuter work car, so it has to handle that chore reliably. I don't have unlimited money, but can spend maybe $2k on it before getting into too much trouble :wink:

Right now it is just not fun- not peppy, just plain. While numbers always impress, if this car could just be made to "feel" fast while being significantly better than stock, I'd probably be happy.

BTW- is it at all possible to make this block a vtec? Or is a whole engine swap easier? I suppose a vtec is new head & ecu- or maybe I'm oversimplifying :roll:

Thanks!
Well You can piece together a turbo kit, for about 1500. The D series engines are good, and turboing it can set you at around 170 hp on stock internals, with the ability to daily drive it safely.

As for the Vtec head. Yes you can bolt in the Vtec head onto the y7. You do ned the EX ecu, and you can use the stock wiring harness, but you do have to add the knock sensor.
 

madpacket

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Glad to hear that vtec is a possibility. Is there a how-to posted somewhere?
How would I find the parts? Is it something that might show up in a u-pull-it or are they so in demand I'd have to call around? Whom would one call for such used parts?
Thanks!
 

Si_Racer13

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Check some of the sites in the hybrid section, i think you might beable to find some info there. You could probably find a head at a junk yard, or at any engine shop.

And as note said, someone is selling one for 100 on riversidestreetracing.com
 

civicjoe8

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You should def. spend your money on a DOHC. You will gain much more hp and torque than on a D-series engine. A popular engine to work with is the GSR (B18C1).

If you don't want to go w/ an engine swap then buy the usual bolt-ons for your D16:
AEM cold-air intake (SCC has proven it to be the most effective)
the A'pexi is a good exhaust; I have a Greddy Evo cat-back exhaust...they produce a nice deep-thoat sound.
DC 4-2-1 header
a lighter flywheel is a good idea...Clutchmasters makes one that weighs around 12 lbs.

Suspension/handling
go w/ 17" rims...if you go any bigger you will risk losing hp. Increasing the weight and/or size of a wheel will cause a decrease in hp unless you get lightweight rims, which are pretty costly.
adjustable spring-over and stabalizer bars sound good.
don't bother w/ rear disc brakes...they're usually around $1k...most of your stopping will be handled by the front disc brakes so getting bigger front disc brakes that are vented will def. help.
LSD will help but hold on to your money for other engine parts.
also, buying aftermarket cams might be of some interest but not necessary.

Add-ons/Cosmetics
Pedals
Shifter
Window tinting
Short shifter
Stereo
Clear lenses
--def. tint your windows first before any of these other add-ons...do the rest last.....use up most of your capital for the engine (i.e. internal, intake and exhaust system).

Hope this helps...happy hunting.

Joe 8)
 

madpacket

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Okay! I added a silver AEM cold air intake on Sunday and it sounds cool! The car seems faster but it may be all in my head :D

No really the engine no longer sounds like it is being severely punished when it revs over 5000.... instead it growls <gimme more!>

Am glad I did that mod... however, it does have this hissing sound, kind of like a whistle. Is that normal with a cai? My neighbor says so, but am wondering if I have a leak or something. It doesn't do it at all times, only under certain throttle positions & RPMs.

It rocks so far.

Thanks for the advice!

PS- next up is probably a cat-back exhaust upgrade. Question, is my stock header & cat good enough to justify the cat-back upgrade? I mean is it a waste of money to do a cat-back with the stock manifold & cat?

:P
 

Si_Racer13

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the wistle is normal, i know alot of people that have AEM's and they all do that.
 

CiViCeXvTeC

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Must be fun having ur Cold Air Intake, I myself just bought a aem CAI a few months ago and it sounds much deeper and a clean sound. In my opinion a very good $$$ investment.! My next project is a b16 siR2 motor swap + tranny swap.!
:shock:
 

civicjoe8

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Glad to hear you brought a AEM cold-air intake...yea that whistle is normal...mine does it. You should def. go with aftermarket headers and cat-back exhaust. The stock exhaust manifold and cat-back exhaust are very restrictive and eliminate any potential hp and torque you could gain from a aftermarket header and cat-back exhaust. You could probably gain around 10 hp combined with both mods.

Joe
8)
 

madpacket

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So it sounds like a aftermarket header, cat and everything back will give the most benefit. But will it go through emissions inspecitions aftward? It's a good engine, only 60k.
Another worry I have is that there is a sensor both at the header and after the cat- is that odb II or something? Anyway some howto I read said that most aftermarket exhausts don't accomdate the second sensor, which I am sure would ruin the inspection.
So will a reliable shop know about this and do the job right? I'd like to go to one place and get the whole exhaust system upgraded. Is it typical to buy your parts online and just take it to be installed- or do most shops insist that you buy their parts?
Thanks again! 8)
 

IrishDX

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OBDII vehicles have the 2 oxygen sensors, one before the cat and one after. This is to measure the cats efficiency, and allows corrections to be made to the air/fuel mixture.
Some aftermarket cat-backsystems come with the second O2 sensor mounting hole. For example I put a Borla cat-back on a 1996 Eclipse and it had the hole, along with a plug for it if it wasn't going to be used.
On another note, be sure to do your homework as well, since states are constantly changing the laws regarding aftermarket equipment. The aforementioned exhaust was perfectly legal in my state last year, but laws have been changed since then, and it was an automatic inspection failure two weeks ago. (The law basically stating, anything louder than factory is a no-no. Could we be MORE vague?) So much for the $700 exhaust system. :cry:
I have to agree though, general rule is to start with intake and exhaust.
 

madpacket

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Well heck- I need to drive this thing every day. HTF can they go and change the rule so all of the sudden potentially hundreds or thousands of cars that were legal are no longer?
So should I skip the header and cat upgrade and just do a cat-back instead? Will there be any performance improvements with the cat-back only parts?

:evil:
 

ask_611

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d16y7 headers and exhaust

i have a 99 dx w/ d16y7. if you want to run headers there are two things you can do. First off your exhaust manifold and cat are one peice on the d16y7 unlike the d16y8 or any b series. So when you purchase your headers you must also purchase a highflow cat. the top sensor on your exhaust manifold will go on your headers and the bottom sensor will go on your cat. This will allow you to run headers with out throwing a check engine light. The other way to do it is to run a straight pipe. This is where they bypass having a cat all together. It has it's advantages and disadvantages though. You will get more hp but you will also throw a check engine light and may not pass inspection either.

If you are intrested high flow cats are only 55 on massivemotorsports.com

If you decide to run headers a cat and exhaust you can get everything for the ex model and it will all bolt up w/o any welding

Hope this helps you
 

98civichx

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ok guys if he has a d16y7 it is v-tec i have a 98 hx and it has a d16y7 go to google.com and put in d16y7, you will notice it has v-tec-e the (e) stands for economy but its still v-tec. it doesnt engage just like to b16 but its there i promise you. honda.com also says the d16y7 has v-tec but only 115 hp / 102 lb.ft torque. ive added a short ram intake and a fireball muffler but have cut out my resonator and left the stock piiping its not loud enough but its loud my nieghbors are always complaining and my freinds say my little civic sounds like a b18 but its not. it just plain howls at 7000 roms :P
 

DLS TekNiQue

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Originally posted by "98civichx"

ok guys if he has a d16y7 it is v-tec i have a 98 hx and it has a d16y7 go to google.com and put in d16y7, you will notice it has v-tec-e the (e) stands for economy but its still v-tec. it doesnt engage just like to b16 but its there i promise you. honda.com also says the d16y7 has v-tec but only 115 hp / 102 lb.ft torque. ive added a short ram intake and a fireball muffler but have cut out my resonator and left the stock piiping its not loud enough but its loud my nieghbors are always complaining and my freinds say my little civic sounds like a b18 but its not. it just plain howls at 7000 roms :P


hm...first off there is one thing i know for sure, and that is that your motor will most likely not come stock with vtec from honda, unless its an ex. another thing i know for sure is lx does not come stock with vtec.

second, i think you are mixing your engine codes up here. lemme enlighten you:

a d16y7 has 106 hp and 103 lb ft torque and is non-vtec
a d16y5 has 115 hp and 104 lb ft torque and has a vtec-e

the d16y7 comes out of an LX
the d16y5 comes out of an HX


he has an LX therefore he has NO vtec



you were probably looking at an HX chart, and mixed it up with LX.


now for madpacket. exhaust, header or cold air intake...none of those are gunna give you HUGE hp gains which you'll be nuttin all over yourself over. if you want true hp gains and you really want to feel power...do a b-series motor swap. i would recomend a b16, because it is the cheapest, and it has the most potential.


and lastly madpacket, there is something you need to realize...if you want of power, its gunna cost you. The price is gunna be lots of money, and your car wont be legal any more.


if you arent serious about racing, and just want to feel a little bit of power and a nice sounding car, then doing the exhaust, header, and cold air intake is the way to go. If you want to stay legit, just make sure you buy parts that are legal in your state. DC headers are legal in all 50 states. AEM cold air intake is legal in all states because it has a stamp on it. and for the exhaust, check the decibal limit in your state, then make sure you dont get an exhaust louder then that.
 


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