EFI and Carb Engine

[88LX-i]

I have an 88 LX-i that was an automatic.I bought an 87 LX and swapped out the auto for the five speed out of the 87.
My engine could use some rings.I would like to build the 87 engine and swap it in.
What is the difference between the two?

[A20A1]

not much... You can rebuild the A20A1 Block off the LX and use the A20A3 LX-I head... you will lose some compression depending which internals you use.


The blocks and head and bolt patters for transmissions and such are all identical.

Everything you need to run EFI can be removed from the LXI and transfered to the LX motor without any trouble.


The main differences is the fuel system, the intake manifold, the heat range of the spark plug, compression ratio, the distributor, water pipe, and thermostat housing, oh and the exhaust manifold.

[88LX-i]

I was planning on useing the LX-i head anyway.This site is a great resource for these cars.When I did the trans swap, I researched here first.
Thanks for the reply.

[MessyHonda]

yeah also the EFI lx-i head has a lil bit more agressive cam for better performance.

[shepherd79]

use LXI block with LX head. 86-87 carbed heads had a little bigger valves, i think they did.
LXI block had higher compression pistons.
you can always use LXI camshaft on LX head without any problems.

[smufguy]

use LXI block with LX head.you can always use LXI camshaft on LX head without any problems.

thats the best combo as Alex mentioned as far as combining parts without major modifications.

But if you are going to swap cranks or crank pullies. i suggest you keep the pullies from the crank you pull out since there are differences between efi crank pullies, carb and the 86-89 models. The exact changes are hard to pin point, but a carb crank pully (A1) would not seem to bolt up to the snout on the 86-87 efi crank.