Hi All-

I have an 87 Honda civic 4 door sedan 5-speed that has been sitting at
my brothers place for at least 6 years now. It broke the camshaft due
to low oil (completely my fault) and wasted the camshaft journals in
the head. I bought an 87 head from a junk yard - D15A2 - and had a
valve job done on it. I was in the process of re-installing the head
this week when I noticed something I was not aware of. I was checking
the engine block ID and noticed it is an EW1 block - NOT a D15A2 which
shows on the engine tag just above and to the left of the radiator. It
seems someone had replace the original engine with an older EW1 engine
before I bought the car. I have finished installing the head and
connected Intake and exhaust manifolds, and all other devices needed.
It starts right up and revs to approx 2500 RPM then immediately shuts
down. If you "feather" the gas it will stay running (although very
rough), and immediately dies if you let off the gas. I also get an
occasional backfire.

I have checked all vaccum hoses and lines 3 or 4 times. I have blocked
off all of the main manifold ports to eliminate manifold vacuum leaks.
I have made sure the valves are adjusted correctly and that the
camshaft pulley marks are where they should be at TDC. I just cant seem
to pinpoint the problem.

I am now wondering if there is a difference in the heads between a EW1
and D15A2 engine that would explain my problem. I bought the D15A2 head
and camshaft from an 87 manual transmission Civic - could there be a
difference in camshaft specs between an EW1 and D15A2 engine. I am not
sure what year the EW1 engine is from but I have the serial number in
case there is a way to cross reference engine numbers to years.

Any ideas?

Tom