Honda Engine Swaps

The J Series Swap in a Civic kicks off our list of Top 10 Best Honda engine swaps, and for good reason. More displacement and the larger engine means there’s no need for many additional modifications or changes. Good thing because once you’ve put one of Honda’s 60-degree V6 J-series engines in your Civic, you won’t have room to much of anything.

Found in a variety of Honda passenger vehicles, like the Honda Accord and the corresponding Acura models like the CL, TL, RL, TSX, TLX, RLX, RDX, MDX and ZDX, the J series swap in a Civic is very unique. Because this engine is so widely found in the US, this lowers the price point and can make this Honda swap combination an excellent choice.

Why the J series swap in a Civic works - Lots of value for a J Series Swap in a Civic means you get more for your money. With 240 horsepower on tap, once you get the actual J series swap in your Honda the hard part is just about done.

Why the J series Swap in a Civic doesn’t work– There’s several reasons why this swap isn’t higher on our countdown of Top 10 Best Honda engine swaps. Let’s take a look at a few major bullet points.

Weight - Because of the added weight and heft of the V6 engine, it’s one of the heavier Honda engine swaps you could go with. This could unbalance your vehicle and cause understeer issues. It’s best to take the proper suspension measures to make sure that this does not happen.

Support – Simply put, there’s just not much support or love for this engine. You’ll see your friends and peers that went with a B series or even a H2B setup, have more product support and manufacturer support that sadly your J series will never get close to. 

Mounts– For some people this point isn’t as crucial for our Top 10 Best Honda engine swaps countdown, but you won’t be able to use a combination of Honda engine mounts to get the J swap done. 

Heavy modification will include drilling into your frame and modifying your engine bay for the aftermarket mount kits to work. Because the transmission is cable actuated, you will need to drill and cut around your shifter hole to mount a shifter box complete with cables. 

Needless to say, you aren’t just “going back to stock” after completing a J series swap in a Civic.