dcninja757

I'm probably going to order a zc motor in the next few months for a daily driver.

im debating on turbo or high compression.

needs to be reliable so i'm leaning away from turbo, either way it'll be getting a tune.

which of those two options should I do?

if high compression - what pistons fit the zc? The only ones I can find are 9:1

Mindless

Since the ZC runs a domed piston from the factory and the combustion chamber is huge then you have few options to up the compression (well depending how much you want to bump it anyway).

1. Using a thinner hg can bump compression (Cometic)

2. Milling the head and/or decking the block is an option but too much and you throw off cam timing and may have to use a shorter t-belt (admittedly though you'd have to take off a shit ton).

3. You could have the combustion chambers welded but this is expensive and unless you let someone do it that has experience with these heads before then you may end up hurting performance, not to mention the effect on piston quench.

4. Flat face valves can slightly bump compression (Again, rather expensive).

5. Custom pistons (Extreme for the application IMO)

I think that's about it. IMO to keep it cheap I would deck the head (0.020), run a thinner headgasket (0.020"-0.025") and send the cams to delta for a regrind. Those few things should give you about a 1-1.5 bump in compression. All of that with the mild cam regrind should make for a pretty decent dd once you get tuned, especially if you have a decent tranny.

dcninja757

There's no pistons I can throw in that will up compression from stock unless they're one off custom made?

Mindless

No OE honda piston, no.

dcninja757

Any aftermarket pistons for the zc?

Mindless

Yeah. Best is probably endyne rollerwaves but they arent cheap.

dcninja757

i'd have to bore out the motor too for those pistons right?

dcninja757

ok so i decided all motor since it's different...

so far im thinking, exhaust, header (will any d series header work?), underdrive pulleys (do they have them for the zc?), msd ignition box, larger throttle body, adjustable cam gears, integra ecu (get it tuned), and an air intake of course...

any idea on the header and underdrives?

civicmaker5

just remember the ZC has a lot of the same parts as a d16a8 and , the ZC also share parts with d16a6

RankZ-28

I'm running a ZC in my CRX, I chose the turbo route. All motor tends to get very expensive for the power you get out of it. The ZC already has a decent flowing head, and can push around 250 or so to the wheels before you start having to worry about building anything. My car runs consistent 12's, I daily drive it everyday, and average 35mpg. The turbo has been on for 10k now and and I couldn't be happier with the setup.

Alot of info here: www.thezcr.com