hello all, i am replacing the head gasket on my girlfriends 91 civic and id like a few opinions. the engine has 240,000 miles on it. its still a fairly strong engine but its got a few miles on it. ok, so heres the full situation:
the head gasket blew a few months ago so i tore it down and went to replace the gasket. i carefully checked the head with a straight edge and it appeared to be within spec so i didnt bother resurfacing it. im a fairly proficient mechanic with good common sense but i did something very dumb... while cleaning the head, i used the remaining head gasket remover i had and used it to clean the head. not thinking about the RUBBER valve guide seals still in place. after assembling the engine, it started right up and sounded strong. but... it seemed to smoke quite a bit. i just figured it was burning off cleaners and stuff that washed down into the cat and whatnot. well... the smoking didnt let up. we continued to drive it dealing with the embarassing smoke, which waasnt constant, without any other problems. well, at some point, it was going through a quart every 2 days. i pulled the plugs and all were in great shape except number 3 cylinder. and it looked to have water on it as well as oil. for reference, the car never really got hot. it would need water in the radiator about once every week and a half or so, but didint seem to be a huge issue. well... with the plugs out, i cranked the engine to see what might blow out.. a small bit of water consistantly blew out the hole. at this point i decided to pull the head again. before finding water i was sure it was just valve guide seals. seeing the water told me perhaps the gasket was leaking again. ok, so with the head off, i have a few concerns. pulling the head, of course some coolant went into the cylinders. all 4... number 3 after an hour or so when i came back to the engine, all the water had leaked past the rings. so im thinking, with the head off should i pull the pistons and replace the rings and hone the cylinders? if i do this should i also replace the bearings? i have a concernt about the 2nd and 3rd cylinder sleeves. in the picture i have posted, you might be able to see that it looks like there is a small gap around part of the sleeves and the block they mate with. is this a concern? what about the small crack? i know what im doing, but i know some of you guys have done this same work many times. id like your opinions. sorry to have such a large post... i just wanted to be very clear on the situation. thanks in advance to anyone for your info.
BTW. hope i got the cylinders numberd correctly. from standing in front of the car looking at the engine, ive numbered from left to right. number1 being on the left and number 4 being on the right.

 

Is it a Si or DX? You can swap a B18A or B16. How much money you have to work with? If a decent amount I'd just do a swap.

 

well.....you just might be better off with a swap....but that's your call, would you rather just buy a new/used motor, or spend the money on a rebuild kit? but like gingas asked, what is the motor that you are currently dealing with? and if it's a d- series, i'd stay stick with the mighty D! That way you won't have to hunt down the b series axles, ecu and All the other sorta fun stuff!

 

a few things i should mention... its a dx 4 door. its a daily driver and shes not concerned with performance beyond what her current engine is capable of. ive already had the head resurfaced, valve guide seals replaced and purchased the head gasket. what im wondering from here is, if i only reassemble it as is with the new head gasket and dont re-ring and hone the cylinders, will that be ok to get by on or will i continue to see more and more smoke clouds from the exhaust from the worn rings. i know i can get rings (and bearings if reccommended) for under $200. would it be foolish at this point to not do the ring job? i have also heard that with this many miles on the engine, the bores can be kinda egg-shaped. will new rings fit and seal properly? again, i appreciate it guys. thanks.

 

That I'm not sure, but you can look for another D motor. You could also look for a 92-95 Vtec head & do a mini me swap. Your girl might like the little xtra umph the motor would make & still have vtec now.

 

I say just swap the block or get a new motor they aint that expensive.