i hav a 94 honda civic ex, 1.6L vtec. just curious if a sr20det wuld even hav a chance of fitting in ther. i kno that its a rwd setup and that my honda is fwd so that it wuldnt work without a lot of work. any ideas appreciated.  

Almost everything is possible.  True, you aren't going to fit a Merlin in a Geo Metro, but really...

First question:  What's the point?  If it is the "because I can" or "because I want to be the only one", you have to realize it's going to cost you--a lot.  Probably enough to buy 3 or 4 more Civics.  

Maybe I'm over-estimating, but for most cross-bred engine swaps, there ends up being considerable one-off fabrication. There is motor mounts, transmission--either you modify the original to fit the new motor, in which case would have to be very heavily beefed up, or you will have to use a FF-setup SR20 tranny, suspension, electrical... the list goes on.

If it is for power, the B- and K-series are your best bet.  True, the SR20DET can probably gain a little more power with less work, but you can get some serious HP out of the B- and K- series as well.

Unless you have endless pockets (in which you'd be probably driving something else), I'd hate to break it to you, but it's probably better off using something with a Honda or Acura emblem on the engine.  (I have a B18A1 for sale, by the way).

Anything with a transverse engine would be easier to convert, rather than a longitudal-based donor (S14, etc).  Usually you will find different location of accessories, different sump location, and other odds and ends that would in the long run cause more headache than worth it.  Example:  When my original BP05 blew up, I looked at replacing it with a motor from a 93-ish Escort GT, as they used the same BP block as the Miata.  However, after looking at info on conversion from someone that did the work revealed that it'd be about the same price, if not cheaper, to just but a used engine for 500 bucks or so.  The sump location and intake differences alone were enough to cause a headache.

In case you want to find more about it, check here:

Escort GT-To-Miata Conversion

Hypothetically, if you were to use the SR20 series in the Civic, I'd look at the FF setups that used it--mainly the 1990-1994 Nissan Pulsar GTi-R, or more realistically, the 1995-1998 Nissan Sentra SE-R.  

The Puslar GTi-R (the only Pulsar with a SR20DET) is a 4-wheel drive setup, although the rest of the Pulsars are FF.  Theoretically, it would not be too hard to convert to FF only.  Either remove the driveshaft and use only the front axles, or see if you can get a Sentra
transmission to work.  However, what would make the GTi-R motor most desireable is the interesting ITB setup inside the intake plenum.



A GTi-R complete drivetrain for $2300 (one Civic there...):

GTi-R Drivetrain

The Sentra SE-R uses a non-turbo SR20DE, but would be the cheapest donor.  Still, they are semi-desirable in the autocross crowd, and there are groups and forums for them, I'm sure.

If you were going to try to buy an engine with a transmission from one of the import companies, one to consider would be the SR20DET from a Nissan Liberty minivan, although I doubt you would be able to find a manual transmission.

Conclusion: For easiest HP jump, do a B- conversion.  Cheaper than the K-series, and with a non-VTEC, low-compression engine (such as the B18A or -B, add a turbo and you should be able to run some serious boost  

nah im not going to do it. i was just wondering if itd even be possible. fabrication isnt a problem for me either i do welding. but hey thanx for your opinion.  

how much for that b18  

300 bucks.  It's semi-stripped, had 144k miles originally.  I was going to rebuild and turbo it in a CRX for someone, but they dumped the project in my lap and I need to get my money back.

Includes the entire engine, ECU, transmission, axles, wiring harness, original instrument panel... I might be forgetting some stuff; I don't remember.

By semi-stripped, the head is removed from the engine, and the cams were taken out.  The transmission is seperated from the engine.  

well where are you at and can i get a number  

if he has to ask that means he does not have the mechanical skills required to do it. and even if he did he is still not going to do it. hes just talking *** like 90% of people on here  

The percentage may be even higher than that... But still, I don't mind answering--if it gets too hard to understand their writing, then you don't answer.

It's not going to happen, but really, one can learn trying, at least.  Obviously, I am rather partial with prototypes and space-frame vehicles, so I'd always lean towards suggesting in that direction rather than trying to re-engineer an already built vehicle.  Mechanical knowledge is nice to have, but not necessary--there is a lot to learn while designing and starting, and there are forums with some serious brainpower that are more than willing to share information on that sort of subject.