I have a '87 civic base sedan w/ the stock D15A2 that I hope turn into a track car...which would be better, swapping the engine or the head? also it's an automatic trans is it hard to swap in a manual? and which tranny would you recommend?

hmm... you have a lot of work to do.. there is really not much stuff for that engine and the stuff available is usually very expensive (I.E. rods)..

Cost effective it will be much easier to swap to a D16 engine..if you want to stay single cam.

If you do want to put that engine to race you should check out Bisimoto Engineering. They have 2 CRXs with the 1.5lt engine running 11 or faster times all motor....

I've seen a b16 in that model, but it's all custom fabing.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-RURWDHYzE[/youtube]

damn canadians....I think he's got a little more than a d15 tho?

if i remember that video right i think he has a k20 in that thing its sick ha ha

There are quite a bit of things you can do to it.. If you are staying N/A you can stay with the stock rods and spend your money elsewhere. The head is going to be where all of your HP will come from. Get a nice camshaft and have someone reputable port the head. Big increases right there.

as far as the motor gos id say swap it to a d16 it would be alot cheaper and easyer in the long run as your tranny prob. you need a

5 speed trans
cluch and flywheel
pedals
shifter
shifter linkage
and a 5 speed ecu for your motor

as far as a tranny i say an Si 5 speed would work fine
you should buy a cheap parts car and just swap parts