auto zc?

[saucycivic]

Let me say it for all of you, AUTO TRANNY SUCKS. Now that we're all on the same page, is it possible to do an auto zc? i have a 89 civic lx sedan and i need more than the 92hp it has now, i want the zc but im not sure if i can use it with an auto tranny. is this possible? how is it done? any help is appreciated. i know, i should do the manual tranny swap but i dont want to, i just want to keep my auto. thanks to all who answer the question and dont tell me how its a waste of time, auto sucks and things like that.

[CWBETB]

First thing, welcome to the message board! Second Auto's suck! hehe just kidding! My ZC I have was actually from a auto Civic in Japan "had a auto trans converter on it"! IT should work, I dont see why it wouldnt, since the engine and trans are D series. I dont think it would be worth it myself but thats up to you buddy!

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90 Civic DX ZC

Home Page:
http://www.geocities.com/ericsweb

4th Gen Page:
http://www.geocities.com/hondacivic4g

Car Club:
http://www.teamkayo.com

[saucycivic]

why would it not be worth it? my current engine has over 185k miles on it, is a 1.5L 92hp monster. the zc will have less than 50k and be a 1.6L DOHC that will put out 130hp. seems like a viable swap to me. the reason i want to do the swap is because the amount of miles on my current motor, the lack of power, im fouling out my plugs due to either worn valve quide seals or worn piston rings and my tranny is starting to show signs of its age. in order to take care of the fouling of the plugs, id replace the rings and the valve guides, both of which would cost quite a bit. so i figure why pay 300-700 for just the repair when i can get a zc for 495 and a 91ex auto tranny for 295(rebuilt) and have more power at the same time? more power, less miles, more hop up parts available, more potential. i realize and accept the fact that an auto sucks and that it wont perform nearly as well as the same motor w/5 speed but i can live with that. now if you were to tell me that the zc wont be as fast or any better than my current 1.5 then you'd have suceeded in detering me from what im trying to do. but you cant say either, well you could, but we both know you'd be lying. i know im one of the few people on this earth who would dare try to create an auto hybrid, but come on man, can you help a fellow honda dude out?

[CWBETB]

Ok I will give you some background on my "its not worth it statement". Yes the ZC has more power then your DX engine. You will get more raw power but the trans cuts off to quick to get the full potential of the ZC. The ZC make its power at higher RPM while the DX trans will cut it before most of the power can kick in.

I talked to a kid online a while back who had a DX auto trans with a ZC. He told me he was really disapointed with the results. He said he raced his car on the 1/4 mile and ran 18.1. Now my car was an auto DX also and I ran 18.4! Considering a ZC with a manual trans can run 15's down the 1/4 mile you can see what you are missing. Remember you will have to convert your car to a MPFI also. What you can do to maybe to get a little more out of the ZC is get a EX trans from a 4dr. Im not positve but it could be geared better since a 1.6L MPFI was in the 4th gen EX's.

I wonder what ECU you would have to use? a 89 Teg AUTO? Your DX will not work since its setup for DPFI

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90 Civic DX ZC

Home Page:
http://www.geocities.com/ericsweb

4th Gen Page:
http://www.geocities.com/hondacivic4g

Car Club:
http://www.teamkayo.com

[Setanta]

We did the conversion in a CRX. The Honda Concerto over here in '89-91 had an auto 'box which had ratios very close to the ZC/D16B. It bolted straight in and used the CRX axles. Ran like a dream but lost about 1-2 seconds in the 0-100 km/h.

Dunno if this helps though.

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JDM EF9 '90 Si-R
VTEC inside

[saucycivic]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by CWBETB:
Ok I will give you some background on my "its not worth it statement". Yes the ZC has more power then your DX engine. You will get more raw power but the trans cuts off to quick to get the full potential of the ZC. The ZC make its power at higher RPM while the DX trans will cut it before most of the power can kick in.

I talked to a kid online a while back who had a DX auto trans with a ZC. He told me he was really disapointed with the results. He said he raced his car on the 1/4 mile and ran 18.1. Now my car was an auto DX also and I ran 18.4! Considering a ZC with a manual trans can run 15's down the 1/4 mile you can see what you are missing. Remember you will have to convert your car to a MPFI also. What you can do to maybe to get a little more out of the ZC is get a EX trans from a 4dr. Im not positve but it could be geared better since a 1.6L MPFI was in the 4th gen EX's.

I wonder what ECU you would have to use? a 89 Teg AUTO? Your DX will not work since its setup for DPFI

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well, i see where your're coming from now but like i said, im not gonna be out there at the track doing 1/4 mile times. but your point was made. as you said, i was planning on getting a 91ex auto tranny for this swap because i would imagine that that tranny would be slightly geared better than the one i have now. thanks for "clearing the air" and getting back to me with some knowledge. its nice to get info from someone who actually knows what they're talking about.

[saucycivic]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Setanta:
We did the conversion in a CRX. The Honda Concerto over here in '89-91 had an auto 'box which had ratios very close to the ZC/D16B. It bolted straight in and used the CRX axles. Ran like a dream but lost about 1-2 seconds in the 0-100 km/h.

Dunno if this helps though.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


you did the auto zc conversion? being that im using an auto tranny, ill be able to use my axles too. what ecu did you use? i plan on using the 88-89 auto teg ecu but i dont know if my existing plugs will plug into it or not. can you shed any light on this?

[Setanta]

Hmmm... to answer the questions: Our CRXs all came with the D16B (a later ZC varient) DOHC motors standard. We didn't get the SOHCs at all, so the 'puter used was the standard one for the engine - albeit reprogrammed by one of the local shops. As I recollect, there was some additional programming done on the ECU for the Auto 'box.

I can't remember the Concerto's engine designation - 1600 but I can't remember if we got the SOHC or DOHC version - the conversion was done in '93. The driveshafts were a hybrid made up from the CRX and Concerto. Not too sure on what the gearbox mounts were.

Note - we tended to get different configurations of engines/gearboxes over here - usually closer to the JDM (all Hondas are imports, not domestic) so the ratios *might* be different. I have a feeling that the Concerto was designed in the US and built in Japan for our market though - It's a civic based 4-door hatch/notchback.

Anyway, I'll ask the guy who masterminded it when I see him next if he can remember everything that was done to it for you.

[saucycivic]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Setanta:
Hmmm... to answer the questions: Our CRXs all came with the D16B (a later ZC varient) DOHC motors standard. We didn't get the SOHCs at all, so the 'puter used was the standard one for the engine - albeit reprogrammed by one of the local shops. As I recollect, there was some additional programming done on the ECU for the Auto 'box.

I can't remember the Concerto's engine designation - 1600 but I can't remember if we got the SOHC or DOHC version - the conversion was done in '93. The driveshafts were a hybrid made up from the CRX and Concerto. Not too sure on what the gearbox mounts were.

Note - we tended to get different configurations of engines/gearboxes over here - usually closer to the JDM (all Hondas are imports, not domestic) so the ratios *might* be different. I have a feeling that the Concerto was designed in the US and built in Japan for our market though - It's a civic based 4-door hatch/notchback.

Anyway, I'll ask the guy who masterminded it when I see him next if he can remember everything that was done to it for you.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well, I appreciate your help, but im not sure if the info you give me will be relivant. the swap that you guys did was on a different version of car than im dealing with here. i guess the only questions that i have are a)is the 91ex auto tranny geared better than my 89 LX auto? and b)the the plugs on my existing lx harness and the plug(if there is one)on the ex auto tranny plug right in to the 88-89 integra(auto) ecu? if you can answer these questions that would be a great help.

[NC_Rex]

You all outta stop bustin his balls. The ZC Auto fulls hard as christ in third gear as all D-series auto's on 4G's do. It's just off the line - the auto's seem to not do it nearly quickly enough, they take longer in first, kinda dog. But Second and then Third - the speed and pull get even better.

My thoughts are it's an automatic yes, why would it be faster then a stick, and if he wanted a stick - then he would have said he was converting.

Eric back off the guy.

I was gonna build a DX Auto CRX with ZC for my wife. Some people just like auto's.

Tell you what guys, I think a simple CR-VTEC with an auto B18A 90-91 Tranny and Zdyne chipped ECU (once someone figures out the maps)....you guys would get smoked! Would take B16A 4G's like it was fun. And it would be the perfect engine for an auto...no doubt. I'd do it because you get the power in at 2500 rpm, and there's about 145 ft lbs of torque at it's peak!!! That's impressive. And that's 10:1 compression, nothing to fear from.

I'd like things to be cool on this board so I'm gonna ask for you guys to stop the auto-manual comparision. There isn't one. If you feel he's losing out, I'll let you know he's probably quite happy with the automatic.