Building a racecar

[Turbo6]

This is my first post, so please ignore my lack of honda/acura knowledge. I do know my fair share about EFI engines but Ive never touched a B series motor. I am going to build a FWD cirlce track car for a 1/2 mile banked dirt track next summer. This summer I want to buy the car to start tinkering with. Just for background info, our rules say we can use any 2wd 4-cyl car (no 2 seaters) but we have to keep the engine and susension mostly stock. We have to use steel wheels that are 7" wide and we need a roll cage, racing seat etc...All the basics that go into building a circle track car basically. ALSO, no VTEC so that rules out the B18.

That being said, I did some homework on possible cars and the base Integra is a decent choice because of its fairly high redline and its light. Ive also seen them do very well in SCCA, so the handling could be fair for the dirt. The car will be gutted down to a dash and steering wheel, since we have no minimum weight requirements. So this brings me to my questions. Has anyone here ever raced an integra on the dirt? I've seen a few on the local tracks so I know people are out there.

I was also curious how much power/torque the base 1.8 engine with a mild cam could put to the wheels. I googled a lot but didnt come up with much for results. Are there any oem replacement or j-spec cams for the non vtec engine? The only mods I would do to the engine would be a mild cam and possibly shave the head just a hair for compression's sake. Aside from that, handling is mostly what wins races so suspension and chassis tweaking would be the majority of the work. I have experience in that department so no worries. But Im really looking for any kind of general advice about the 1.8 platform and where I could find an acura cheap. People tell me to hit the junk yards but they pay $50 for a totalled integra and they expect me to give them $800+, I DONT THINK SO! Not to mention those cars are usually parted out at the salvage yards because the parts are worth too much to crush. So Im not sure how to go about finding a decent shell with a rebuildable motor. If anyone can give some friendly advice I'd appreciate the help getting started! Thanks,

~Dan

 

[phunky.buddha]

Welcome to HondaSwap!

What are your restrictions for engine modifications?

There have been examples of stock internal B18 non-VTEC engines that have put down 175whp or more with some big cams, good choice of I/H/E and some good tuning.

https://hondaswap.com/auto-multi-media/sound-clip-crower-404-s-48337/

I guess the pictures are down, but the dyno chart showed the B18 with Crower 404 cams putting down more to the ground than an ITR B18C5 engine from 4000rpm to redline.

 

[phyregod]

A civic hatch (2 door) is the same chassis as an integra, but lighter. And cheaper.

And you can have a B18 non vtec.. Integra LS's (the most common) have them. Civic shell: 500ish. $250 if you dont care if its all beat to hell (but why would you care on a circle track, anyway) B18: 800 with trans, axles, ecu, the works if you shop around. Spend another $600ish and you have mounts and a roll cage. You're in business.

Are swaps legal? Its still a 4-banger..

This sounds like incredible fun though.. Wish we had stuff like that going on around here.

 

[Turbo6]

To answer your questions, the rules say:

-no motor swaps (though I doubt they would know either way since blocks are so similar)
-exhaust must have a muffler and be less than 100dB
-must use stock ECU
-must use the stock engine (SUUUUURE!)
-no P&P on engine parts
-no aluminum flywheels

Theres no way they can tech all these EFI cars to see if the cams or heads are stock or not. I would purposely get a cam thats more mild for sound reasons. If its obvious by the sound they would know. They do not permit headers though. Im not even sure how they deal with the stock air box issue because those stock filters inside a box would be full of dirt in 2 minutes on a dirt track. So Im going to assume they allow some modifications for intake, though I wouldnt want a true CAI because it would be too close to the ground where all the dirt is.

As for using a civic HB shell, I read somewhere those had the B16 engine with 120hp, no?? A hatch would handle better though because its lighter and shorter. The preludes at the track have a wicked push, so bad that they run the high groove because its a wider turn heh. I think it would be hard to compete against the preludes with 160hp when the civic has 120, even if it is lighter. Its a long track so even if I were to pass cars in the corners they would blister me in the long straights. I dunno, its something to consider I guess.

 

[BrutalB83]

To answer your questions, the rules say:

-no motor swaps (though I doubt they would know either way since blocks are so similar)
-exhaust must have a muffler and be less than 100dB
-must use stock ECU
-must use the stock engine (SUUUUURE!)
-no P&P on engine parts
-no aluminum flywheels

Theres no way they can tech all these EFI cars to see if the cams or heads are stock or not. I would purposely get a cam thats more mild for sound reasons. If its obvious by the sound they would know. They do not permit headers though. Im not even sure how they deal with the stock air box issue because those stock filters inside a box would be full of dirt in 2 minutes on a dirt track. So Im going to assume they allow some modifications for intake, though I wouldnt want a true CAI because it would be too close to the ground where all the dirt is.

As for using a civic HB shell, I read somewhere those had the B16 engine with 120hp, no?? A hatch would handle better though because its lighter and shorter. The preludes at the track have a wicked push, so bad that they run the high groove because its a wider turn heh. I think it would be hard to compete against the preludes with 160hp when the civic has 120, even if it is lighter. Its a long track so even if I were to pass cars in the corners they would blister me in the long straights. I dunno, its something to consider I guess.

Where did you read that? No US-spec Civics ever came with B16s other than the 99-00 SI Coupes, and the B16s make around 160 horses, not 120. They have VTEC, very similar to the Integra GSR motors, minus the .2 liters of displacement. US-spec Civics have D-series motors, and they range from 90ish to 130ish horsepower, depending on which trim level you're talking about.

 

[Turbo6]

Where did you read that? No US-spec Civics ever came with B16s other than the 99-00 SI Coupes, and the B16s make around 160 horses, not 120. They have VTEC, very similar to the Integra GSR motors, minus the .2 liters of displacement. US-spec Civics have D-series motors, and they range from 90ish to 130ish horsepower, depending on which trim level you're talking about.

Yea thanks, I found that out after I had posted that. I have a friend who has a built n/a HB and he straightenned me out. After talking with him I realized how hard it would be to get the civic to be as fast. Reason being theres not really a weight rule so if someone has a base prelude with the 160hp dohc engine or a quad4 GM car with 180hp theres no chance for a HB to compete with that because they would weigh nearly the same. CRAP!

So looks to me like Im back to the drawing board with the Integra chassis!


Does anyone know if the base integra has different suspension than a GSR or even a Type-R? Because I could use upgraded suspension if its stock on other integras. I know the R's had a lot of unique features that made it handle better so anything thats transferable from car to car would work for me.

 

[phunky.buddha]

All the Integras have the same brake setup except the ITR. I don't know about spring rates and shock valving, but I think the GSR would be more aggressive than the non-GSR Integras. The R of course is different- stiffer and lower than the other 'tegs.

 

[BrutalB83]

All the Integras have the same brake setup except the ITR. I don't know about spring rates and shock valving, but I think the GSR would be more aggressive than the non-GSR Integras. The R of course is different- stiffer and lower than the other 'tegs.

I'm not sure on actual spring rates either, but I know the R is lower from the factory. Whenever I go to look up springs for my LS coupe it always notes that lowering will be minimum for the Type-R since it's already lower from the factory.

If you can swap in other OEM parts than I think Type-R stuff would be a great place to start. The ITR is equipped with some nice front and rear strut tower braces from the factory.