Mini-Me
How To - Install A Mini-Me
Ok im going to have to build on this since ive been trying to wrtie it for a while now and havnt goten around to finishing it, but maybe if i start on actually having it I will finish. I will be adding pictures just give me a few.
Ok for those of you who dont know what a mini-me is, it is bolting a 1.6L vtec head onto your little 1.5L block. this will work with all of the D15 blocks (maybe not the cr-x hf motor still trying to figure that out) this acctually sounds more complicated than it acctaully is, just keep reminding yourself that "its a honda, how hard can it be?".
part locations:
D15B7- 92-95 civic dx/ Del Sol S 93-95
D16Z6- 92-95 civic Ex/ Del Sol Si 93-95
D16Y8- 96-98 (maybe 99) civic ex/ del sol Si
Necesity (parts):
1. D16z6 or D16y8 head
2. Head gasket, (the d15b7, d16z6, d16y8 are all the same, just different thicknesses)
3. intake manifold gasket (recomend the felpro since it seems to seal a bit better)
4. Any OBD1 ecu. You can chip yours, or you can buy a p28, p07, alot of ecus out there, I like chiping it if you know someone that can solder (cant spell) because then you get a custom fuel map and can change it when you add more mods if you choose to. check out www.xenocron.comfor thier complete chip kit with vtec modification.
5. d16z6 timing belt. (not the y8 one)
6. Im not sure but i have heard that the B7 plug wires wont work, (mine were aftermarkets when i did all my swaps) but im not even 60% sure on that.
7. a couple connectors and a small vtec add on wiring harness.
8. stuff to do an oil change.
9. antifreeze coolant (you will lose alot of oil and water while doing the swap.
Recomended (parts):
1. Ok so if your going with a z6 head be aware that the d15b7 distributor wont line up on all 3 bolts. you can use it on it but it will look a little wierd, so you may want to get a d16z6 distributor. (y8 head your b7 dizzy will bolt right up)
2. if you have the chance to come accross a y8 intake manifold, get it if its cheap. It has individual length runners and is all in all a better flowing manifold.
3. you may want to upgrade your b7 headers to a set of y8 or z6 ones as they are a 4-2-1 and have a larger exhaust flow. (unless you already have aftermarket headers which ignore this)
4. be aware that if you run a y8 head instead of a z6 you will have no choice but to chip your ecu with a custom fuel map. (high compression) because not even a ITR computer provides enough fuel flow to accomodate the 10.5- 11.5 compression reached.
Required tools:
1. ratchet set with a 10, 12, 14, 17, 19
2. wrench set with a 10, 12, 14
3. set of pliers: needle nose, regular ones.
4. honda book or print out of torque sequence and amounts.
5. a screw or very small bolt (like a # 8 in the threads, i have found that this works well in removing the oil plug you must remove from the b7 block.)
6. impact gun to remove the crank pulley so you may change the timing belt.
7. torque wrench (recomend the clicking kind for best results.)
8. timing light (not necessary but still a good idea.)
9. small extension for the torque wrench with a 14 mm to fit on it.
10. about 5-7 hours of time to check and secure things and account for chiping and emplacing everthing.
Steps for removal:
1. begin draining the oil, you can skip this and re-use your oil but it may get some water or coolant in it so just spend the extra $10 and do an oil change. also drain the coolant in this process by pulling out the drain plug at the bottom of your radiator. give your large radiator hoses a little squeeze to get the coolant sitting in them and the head to flow a little out.
2. unbolt the distributor and unplug any electrical connected to the head itself including the intake air temp sensor on the backside center of your intake manifold.
3. (12/14 sockets) get underneath the motor and unbolt your rear intake manifold suport bracket from the intake manifold. and well as unbolt the header from this same bracket. (you can choose to remove this bracket if you'd like but its all up to you.)
4. (12/14 sockets)take off all of the bolts holding the headers onto your motor. and unbolt the headers from the head. allowing the header to fall down and out of the way (you can leave your exhaust connected)
5. go inside your car and put your temperature to cold (just the lever), and then disconnect the coolant hoses from the head including the ones going from the block to the head.
6. (10 socket) remove the valve cover by taking off the 5 nuts. and gently pulling up on the cover if needed use a flaw screw driver.
7. (17 socket)while your motors still together might as well set the timing to the right position put the socket on your crank pulley bolt and turn the handle of your ratchet counter-clockwise until your crank pulley shows top dead center.
8. (14mm socket) begin removing the head bolts in the proper order(il post the diagram later) and remove them entirely. set them somewhere clean and safe especially if you plan on re-using them.
9. preferably you may want some help since the heads mildly heavy but mostly akward to get leverage on. grab the iuntak manifold and use it as a leverage device to pull the head from its gasket seal to the block. rock it back and forth to break it loose if you have trouble. (if its painfully hard to pull off, remove that intake bracket which will alow you to push down on the intake manifold and prop the head off.) lift the head straight off, be aware that oil and coolant will pour out.
10. while your pulling the itake manifold and head off you'll have one vacume line still connected (egr line) its durable so give it a good yank slightly to the right and up and it'll pop out of the box.
Prep for installation:
1. scrap all of the gasket off of the block and give it a thorough cleaning with some strong cleaning solevent.
2. take a straight edge and place it on the blocks surface to be sure its flat, from corner to corner, and around all of the cylinder sleaves. if its not you may have a problem of a warped block which the flat head wont seal completely to, if this happens abort the mini me and either put your old head back on for drivability or pull the motor and have the block shaved to match the head. (i have yet to encounter a warped block during my mini-me swaps.)
3. (#8 bolt, wood screw, immagination) important part; remove the oil plug in the back center portion of the block. screw a screw into it or some reverse pliars or i used a #8 bolt last time that was the perfect size to fit in perfectly but screw just enough to get friction. find a way to get it out il let you know if i figure the magical secret, but a wood screw seems to be one of the best ways.
4. with the plug removed and block clean and straight place your 2 alignment sleeves into the block. hit them down a little bit but dont warp or bend em.
5. put your brand new head gasket down onto the block and make sure every hole is open on the gasket evenly with the block.
6. if you removed your rear intake manif. bracket and want it back on, this may be the easyest time to do so, also you can change the oil filter without crawling underneath the car. **BONUS**
7. (17 socket on impact gun) go anhead and remove all the timing junk while the heads off since it will now be easyer. use an imp[act gun if you have one, if you dont you can pull off the starter, and use a long flat screwdriver to hold the teath of the flywheel while you use a breaker bar on the bolt.
8. (scraper blade, non-lint towel)clean off everything thats not cast aluminum metal off the top on the block. try to keep anything and everything from falling into the cylinder walls and water jackets.
9. if you have a compressor connect a blower nozzle onto it if you can and blow all liquid out of the head stud holes. otherwise try you best with a rag, or a straw dont want anything especially coolant on those threads.
10. place the guide sleeves back into thier holes if they came out and place the new head gasket onto the block, check to make sure its on the right direction, (wrong direction will be blocking parts of the water jackets.
11. lift the clean Vtec head and place it gently without rocking side to side straight down onto the clean head gasket. whe it sits nice solid down begin puting the head studs into the holes after diping them lightly into a small amount of clean oil. (dont let them be drenched or improper torque specs will cause a leaky head gasket.) tighten them up by hand.
*side note* if you went with the Y8 head, you will need 1 Y8 head stud in the upper right side of the head you will see its much more shallow than the other stud locations.
12. (torque wrench, 14mm socket)torque down the head bolts in the correct order to the correct specs. il post diagram on this.
13. with the timing junk still off, slide on the new Z6 timing belt, or if you felt like doing it put the new water pump (if you had the extra cash and you motor hasnt had it replaced in a while on it maintenance a little preventitive maintenance is good)
*side note* important one though. make sure both the crank and the head are at Top dead center so the cam timing is correct. if you off more than 3 teath the piston will hit the valves on start up and destroy the head possibly the motor.
14. with all of the timing and everything on put the intake manifold, exhaust manifold and all sensors back onthe same way you took them off with new gaskets where they apply. and once you have all of that connected get ready.
15. (wire, 10mm socket, strippers, dikes, pliers) you will now have to add vtec to your motors harness, unless you went and got a z6 wiring harness in which case its all plug and play. but for us cheap folks, you will need a wire to play as ground, 1 as power, and 2 for the oil pressure sending unit.
see the photo for this. i need to look at my motor before i finish where these go so il finish this last wiring part up later.
Il finish this up later but im total whiped right now, hope it will all come together nicely.
