Most Honda fans don’t know about this rare D-Series valve cover

Sure, you know what most D-series valve covers look like but I bet you’ve never seen one like this one before.

You might think that one of the coolest valve covers for a Honda D-series engine would be one that came OEM with VTEC on it or maybe the one from MUGEN, but in my opinion, you’re wrong. Scrolling through Instagram, I came across one of the more uncommon (Nay…rarer) D-series valve covers you’ve probably never seen or heard of. It’s a valve cover from a Honda City Type Z. Check out the photo of this valve cover below!

Admittedly, I’ve never heard of the Type Z variant of the Honda City. I’ve heard of the 6th generation Honda City before since it’s basically just a five-door sedan version of the Honda Fit sold here in the United States. This particular valve cover is from the 3rd generation Honda City made from 1996-2003.

The Honda City was a small sedan marketed in South East Asian Markets which slotted right under the Civic. Honda, being the resourceful company that it is, decided to continue using the EF Civic chassis. Although Honda stopped making the EF Civic for the US Market back in 1991, the chassis remained in use in Japan with the EF Wagon aka the Civic Shuttle, until 1996. As mentioned, 1996 was the first year for the new generation of Honda City.

In some ways, the 3rd generation Honda City is pretty much a thoroughly refreshed EF Civic with a totally different body.

I’m still wrapping my mind around this clever use of Honda’s parts bin to provide a transportation solution for its other global markets.

Anyways, standard underneath the hood of this 3rd gen Honda City was Honda’s D13B engine with an optional D15B. A VTEC Version of the D15B7 dubbed the B15C2 was introduced in 2001.

The Honda City Type Z was a refreshed Honda City introduced in 2000 for some of Honda’s South East Asian Markets and is the origin of this awesome valve cover you see before you.

This valve cover, as I understand, is interchangeable with most D-series engines whose OEM valve cover’s have their spark plug holes placed in that bottom configuration.

Compared to a regular USDM valve cover, this particular valve really sells what’s been pretty much standard in a lot of Honda engines since 1987, Honda’s Hyper 16 Valve technology. Basically, that means there are four valves per cylinder and they’re high revving power makers with good fuel economy.

With the words “Hyper” and  “16 Valve” it’s that extra bit of design that looks aesthetically pleasing when you pop the hood, reminiscent of those Honda decals of the 80s.

There are probably literally thousands of these valve covers overseas, but they’re pretty rare here in the United States. If you can line one up to buy, definitely look into it.