Hi from Nor Cal

[GasSavers_Sancho]

Hi my names Chris, and I recently purchased the ever popular Vx hatchback. It's not my first Honda, but will be the first one with a single cam!

Here are a few pics of it.





It failed smog, and I bought it from an interesting fellow. Today I purchased another engine, but I'm an idiot for doing it. The one I purchased is out of a 92, but mine is a 95. That is a pretty bad mistake on my part, I'm really regretting it.

Recently I just finished swapping B16's in my 2000 Si so there seems to be miles of room in this engine bay. I plan to use this as my commuter to school since my ls swapped ef sedan and EM1 aren't exactly gas sippers. I look forward to meeting people that share the passion for achieving great mpg's!

[IndyFetch]

The '92 VX and '95 VX engines are relatively the same. The big differences between VX models are the CA and 49-state (Fed) models. The CA models do not have lean burn, which costs them around 5 mpg.

[GasSavers_Sancho]

Interesting. If I were to take it to a smog shop that knows Honda's I also wouldn't pass the emissions test since the engine is older than the car. Good thing I have lots of friends I went through the emissions class with in school! I'm upset because the seller had the wrong information about it, and drove 2.5 hours to deliver it.

[FrugalFloyd]

Welcome. You know your way around cars. You'll do fine. Looking forward to seeing what you can do with that VX mileage-wise.

[GasSavers_Sancho]

Looking around it's looking like I'll do allright mpg's wise. I drive the same damn road every day to and from school half curvy mountain roads half just flat land with a cross wind almost all the time.

I picked up alot of good parts today:complete dc front hubs/rear trailing arms, jdm ej1 seats, jdm corners, clock, dc front struts, and a complete super clean D16Z6 head. Also picked up a leakdown tester.

I'm taking her to a buddies smog shop tomorrow after I change the plugs and wires and do some investigating. I'd love to pass smog we'll see what happens thought not getting my hopes up yet. It felt great to drive it today it had been a few weeks, and this time it wasn't raining!

[GasSavers_Sancho]

Things are going so-so. The car seems to be getting better with every bit of time my father or I put into it. The compression ranged from 150-160 so I think thats a bit low however I have no specs to go off of.

Its smoking quite abit, but once it warms up it stops unless at wot. When I took it to my friends shop the second time it passed the idle and 2500 rpm pretest, but failed for timing, and egr. Once the timing was adjusted it was running way too rich. Also there are massive amounts of oxygen over 10% when it should be around 1%. I'll keep working hard around my school schedule to get it to pass smog which is the #1 concern currently!

[GasSavers_Sancho]

So happy! It passed smog this morning. I'm off to class, but I'll give you the results later.

[FrugalFloyd]

Great! So California will let you install an older engine as long as it emits less pollutants than the OEM engine?

[GasSavers_Sancho]

No they are pretty strict about that. Only same year or newer. Not many people would've known that it was a 92 engine however I was able to pass with the original engine.

It took lots of work, but it was so worth it. I'm VERY happy with the car at this point. My father and I went around Lake Tahoe today with the vw club we belong to, and the car did phenomenal! I'm not sure how the mileage will be. There was alot of weight in, and pulled lots of steep grades.

[GasSavers_goldie]

Welcome from a transplanted Californian! Sound like you learned a lot! You are in the right spot to get any info you need.