Engine Swap in Honda del Sol?
 

Hi,

I've been considering buying a del Sol for fuel economy reasons. I've located a nice one, relatively low mileage, last model year built (97), manual, in good shape, and even the right color, but it doesn't have the smallest engine with the best gas mileage. Since I don't know anything about this stuff, I was wondering if it would be feasible to buy this and at some point in the future swap out the engine for a more fuel efficient type. Is this possible? If so, how much of a hassle would it be on this car? Is it insane to contemplate?

Thanks from a newbie!

Sounds reasonable to me - I don't know much, but I know that its very possible...

Engine efficiency is related more the load/effective displacement than actual displacement. By this I mean that engine efficiency is mostly a function how much the cylinder fills with air, aka engine load. A 1.5L engine w/ a final gear ratio of .66bar is equivalent to a 1L engine with a final gear ratio of 1.

Ehm, I'm guessing this is probably as clear as mud, so lemme put it this way. Gearing is as, if not more important for engine efficiency, than engine displacement is, for most engines out there.

You could do it, we had one guy doing great stuff with a del sol s back in the day before he sold it....

What model are you looking at?

PS: Welcome to the site.

Thanks for the welcome. The model appears to be the basic S, which should have the best mileage of the models offered in 1997. From the little research I've done it seems that some del Sols of previous years had 1.5 liter engines that got better mileage. It appears that the car has been well taken care of, but it hasn't had a timing belt change yet, so that's probably needed soon.

As long as it's a stick, it should do pretty well.

I've also heard good things about the mileage on the 1.6 d16y4? Is it 4? I forget the engine code in my old age...

Anyway, go for it.

A swap into a del sol would be very very easy. But if you switch the tranny out for a VX one (bolt-in affair), that will probably get your very good gas mileage right away.

Danronian -

That's cool. I didn't know the VX tranny was bolt-in compatible. Hrmmmm, but the VX was the same generation as the Del-Sol, so that makes sense.

CarloSW2

d16y7. the efficiency difference between the d16y7 and the d15b7 is not enough to justify not buying the car or doing that kind of swap.

i would say that the difference in fuel economy can be overcome just by the condition of a newer motor.

anyway, the del sol doesnt get better fuel economy than any other civic with the same motor, however it is more fun to drive and feels more like a sports car in the stock form.

the delsol si and delsol vtec are the models that have noticeably different fuel economy, but my civic has the same motor that the delsol vtec has and i still get over 30mpg regularly(while keeping up with traffic).a delsol really is just a 2 seat civic when you take the body panels off.

the best mod for fuel economy for a del sol s would be a tranny swap(hx tranny is best). a similarly geared tranny swap would do soooo much more than a motor swap.

How would swapping out the tranny for an hx affect the acceleration/speed characteristics of the car? I'm not looking for performance in this thing (except for fuel economy performance). I am just wondering as I don't understand how this stuff works.

Thanks for all the good info!