new and lost

M

mcmahoen

Newbie
Points
51
Location
PORT ORCHARD
Car
93 civic hatch
Hola and hello REALLY new to the tuning scene and ive mostly been getting advice from people who say go to the tuning shop and just pay to get it done and while that is the easy way to do it i plan on trying to get my car to the track as well as drive it on the daily so i just wouldnt feel as proud of my car if all of the modding done to it was done by somebody else then it would be like borrowing my friends car to go race all i did was fund it so i came here to try and get some know how on how to do the knitty gritty myself and take some pride in my car knowing that most of the kids in my town driving their new mustangs and sti's had there parents buy them for them and put no work whatso ever into their ride so im driving what i thought was a 93 civic si hatch but it desnt have the vtec or the DOHC just a little 1.7 and its made in canada but im thinking engine swap anyway but i came here for any tips, tricks, or reference materail ,or advice anyone is willing to give
 
hey and welcome mate

thats something that gets me all these young ones with big cars that mummy and daddy buys and insures for them.
an engine swap is your best bet mate. as your across the pond look for a acura intergra engine. try and ind a rear ended on as this will allow you to get the brakes suspension gearbox ecu loom and engine.
 
now i think the biggest question i have i know its really preference but natrually aspirated or slap a turbo on the engine because nothing sounds better then hearing the blow off while your racing but can i get the same performance without getting a part that could possibly fry my engine i dont know if they had them installed wrong or not but i know people that have ruined engines by throwing a turbo on them or maybe they didnt upgrade other components before stepping up to a turbo but all and all is a turbo a better way to go? i know im putting the cart before the horse on this one thinking turbo before i even know what engine i want to swap my d16 with but i figure if i think what i want my end result to be that gives me a place to start to work up to what i want in the end
 
a turbo is the easiest way to get the big power for money. and engine swap 1st would be your best bet as it would give you the biggest increase/$ at the minute as well as giving you a bigger base to work on.

most folk blow the engines by adding a turbo because they dont strenghen the internals and low the compression, because of this the air fuel mixture predetonates this results in the cylinder trying to turn the engine the other way causing masses of stress. this is something youd defenitly need to do as hondas run high compression as it is

civic type R 197 bhp 2.0 = compression is 11:1
my bora turbo 185bhp 1.8 = compression is 9.5:1
 
As said, either way is going to be very costly. A brand new GT25 turbo (what I'd be looking at fitting to a good 1.7 build) for example will cost you about £600. To have it running proper you will need some sort of management. Megasquirt can be had for pennies and mapped yourself but is hours and hours of work. Something like DTA will cost you at least £1500 fitted and mapped. You will need forged pistons probably at least another £400. Not sure how strong the rods are on those engines. Fuel pump, injectors, intercooler etc etc. By the sounds of it you will very much struggle to put a build like that together alone, being so new to the tuning, but we all have to start somewhere. An already turbo'd engine would be cheaper.

I'll make it easy for you though with one magic little engine code...K20a ;)
 
Last edited:
I know that, looking at it it doesn't read right, sorry. They were two seperate statements lol. I meant just drop the K20 in and be done with it. K20'd Civics are quick enough as it is, no need for a tubby.
 
the k20 engine is a good one but really the B18c engine is better in some aspects around the same power but a smaller engine this also has the advantage of being lighter
different variations on the engine produce between 170 and 200bhp
 
now just for #!#!#!#!s and giggles after i buy the k20a lets say i get the wild hare and dont feel that my car is fast enough i can still then mod that engine even farther right and free up some more ponies say porting and polishing the head and all that other such jazz you can do to a motor no point listing it all but all and all the question is once i drop a k20a in am i limited on what i can do from there
 
The K20a engine will be quicker than a B16 of any sort (even c) in the same car. More power, more torque. B16c is apparently practically bolt in thought, where K20 is custom mounts and various other things. A lot more work and a lot more expensive.

mcmahoen said:
the question is once i drop a k20a in am i limited on what i can do from there
Click to expand...

No. If you drop either engine in you can always supercharge/turbocharge them at a later date. Again it's all money money money. The engine would need rebuilding for a start; compression lowered, forged pistons, might as well swap the rods, fuel system, management...you get the picture.
 
so now my next question i have is ive tried looking online for site that will explain things like compression and gear ratio and all of that fine tuning stuff but all i get my hands on are forums so any advice to were i should start looking to increase my automotive knowledge?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Please watch this on my YouTube channel & Subscribe.


Back
Top