not sure about the DX, but the Si head bolts can be re-used. there is no need to spend extra money if you dont need to.

 

Get the head milled to insure a flat surface. Remove 1mm (.040") to get some extra compression. But you will need to advance the cam timng by about 4 degrees to compensate for the lower cam height. Adjustable cam gears are available (the 1990 Accord cam gear works perfectly on the EW engines).

As long as you have the head off, replace the timing belt and water pump. Be sure to order replacement head dowels, the old ones will be shot.

There is a support bracket under the intake manifold that bolts to the block, be sure to unbolt that. If the head sticks to the block, use a floor jack under the intake manifold to break the seal.

Scott

 

One extra item I'd like to add is that the aftermarket thermostats don't quite open fully(Not sure why) and have had better success with using OEM Honda Thermos. I have also received 2 bad thermostats from Honda recently(Locked Shut) so I recommend boiling them first just to make sure.

To my knowledge, and are currently in 2 recent EW motor builds I have done, the '88 and up D-series head bolts will work fine in both Dx and Si motors(my experience). I also found the coolant tube that runs from the pump to the thermo housing on the EW motors I worked on were leaking bad due to age, maybe this is your issue.

 

just an update, the radiator definitely had a leak. but the headgasket was eventually blown up because of that. before he knew about the radiator, he was getting $1500 quotes to do the headgasket to a tip top professional level. the kind of work that they said they knew they could do it for cheaper (like skip out on machining the head, reuse head bolts, etc) but wouldnt do it that way. anyway, i wasnt going to make a project out of someone elses car so i helped out what i could and confirmed he had a bad head gasket (water was spitting out the tail) and im not sure what he ended up doing. i recommended just going to a mexican shop and having them do it the job as cheap as possible including the option of just putting a whole other working engine in instead, but really, the car isnt worth saving. havent heard back.