engine rebuild question

tpar1220tpar1220 Band Wagon
in Engine & Drivetrain
so.... my trusty 87 rt4x4 seems to be losing a step at 140,000 miles. it is the 1.5 litre 3 barrel carb 5 speed version. it still runs ok but seems to be slowly losing power. i can still drive it every day but think it may be time this summer to maybe do a rebuild. i need to do a compression/leak down test to see if engine will need to come out or just head work.

so question i have is, what are my options? will a different head/carb work on this motor that will let me do away with all the vacuum crap. i have heard of just replacing engine with a totally different one but don't know what kinda pain that would be. i am not looking for speed or high hp. i am ok with the stock 1.5 but hate all the vacuum lines and seems like a huge pain to remove that stuff for different carb set up and make it work right.

ideally a different head/carb set up on stock 1.5 would suffice...

Comments

  • HaydzHaydz Moderator
    A guy on here used to run a weber carb on his 87 RT. His username is Davens, might want to do a bit of a search on here for 'weber'.
  • drfinkdrfink Wagonist
    As far as swaps go, I know the d16a1 out of older integras is a popular swap for 3rd gen civics, but I'm not sure if it would work with your transmission.
  • tpar1220tpar1220 Band Wagon
    i have done a bunch of reading on the weber/holley carb swaps. some are successful.... most are not. they may run afterwords but not so well or very hard starting. if i need a valve job or complete rebuild a carb swap won't help. i am hoping i only need a valve job but won't know for sure till i do the comp/leakdown test. but if i only need to remove head... before i take that head to machine shop maybe a different head would work a lil better and not have to deal with all that vacuum stuff or make a block off plate.

    i just don't know that much about em so thought i would ask before i start working. just trying to get a plan together.
  • drfinkdrfink Wagonist
    Unfortunately as far as head swaps go, you are pretty limited in your options. I know they did make 1 fuel injected ew, but it was JDM only and I'm sure hard to find. The rest of them I've seen have the same spaghetti vacuum lines. Your best bet is probably to keep that thing stock.

    That said, I would recommend just pulling the bottom end and rebuilding it too. You don't want to pour a bunch of time and money rebuilding the head, just to have the rings start to lose seal 15k down the road. Just my .02
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