98 Civic Ex Ready to go Pro and need Advice PLEASE~

We may earn a small commission from affiliate links and paid advertisements. Terms

INFO_spectre

New Member
So background on me.. I did a year in vocational school on auto tech. I skipped engine performance and went into diesel tech. i am studying on becoming an electrical engineer, because electronics fascinated me alot. I am not shy when it comes to tearing things up or putting them together or modifying them. I like being incentive and detail oriented.

Recently I decided I was going to build a super computer, after months of research I put together what i thought as the best of parts including asrock z87 mother board intel i7 4960x cpu g skill trident 4x8gb 2800 ram..graphic card was mid profile around 400 i guess they go into the thousands but im using the computer for protools, so speed and strength were my main concerns, 480gb ssd and some nice coolers and power supply . So its going to cost me roughly 4-5k but well worth it and will be top for years to come. I have started saving up for it and im making good progress.

I want to do the same with my car. i bought it two years ago, a honda civic ex or cx im not sure. its a 98. i just started doing my research tonight reading forums and trying to compare prices online. i found a website for ERL K20 Engine from 3.5-5k. i read about dart b20 engine. what i want is 300-500 horses, but in reality i want it to be like suited for 1000 horses that being an exageration of course. I want to change everything, i mean everything, suspension, the best i can buy or second best or decently above average, cost is not an issue, i am patient and have no problem saving up money. I want the best i can get for brakes, drive train, transmission, suspension, springs, coils, alternator, starter, power stearing all the linkage, the axles, i mean everything that can be replaced i want to get the best of and a little fancy too. i even want to know about body kits. Please please i beg you recommend good companies and names, because I dont want to buy bad quality, i want top of line marketed equipement and performance. the internal is fine, i might do some adjustments with seats and stuff but my main concern is everything under the hood suspension and drive train.

To top it all off i live in california and i was reading that you have to do something within regulations, what i wanted to know was is turbo charged in regulation? if so is it wise to get the k20 with turbo. lets say i want to spend around 4k on block 4k on turbo 4k on other engine parts 4k on transmission and clutch and the rest is in the same neighborhood. i just dont know what header goes with the block and turbo, the little details, or who to trust buying from. I would also need specific tires i suppose to compliment this set up and anything else i would need please to tel me. i need someone with a wealth of knowledge to spare me the hours of research with their wisdom, it would be greatly appreciated.

I dont even know if I buy a new engine, with everything brand new how to get a computer set up to connect to it. i have not the slightest idea, but if you an point me in the right direction I promise i learn very fast and work very hard.
 
even one word answers maybe your area of expertee is tires or cam shafts, all considerations will be taking into account and heavily researched. i just need some good starting points, any things helps.
Thanks alot.
 
98 ex = 2 door coupe
98 cx = hatch back

WAY different platforms. Different things needed. Cali sucks for modding. can't put a b20 in (because it's a truck motor) last I heard... consult someone more local if that's the route you wan to go.

Don't know what "ERL" is???

Above an engine you'll need mounts, and electronics and all the rest to match.

If you want it to hold 1000 horsepower, your 4k budget is laughable. It will be more like 20-40k. and then your chassis won't hold it, so it will be worthless anyway.

If you want a more realistic 300 hp, your numbers are more realistic.

turbo cars don't use a header..... they require a turbo manifold and downpipe from the turbo. Diesel school should have touched on this.


I don't doubt your credibility, but it really sounds like you have no idea what you're doing. And no one is going to spoon feed you EVERYTHING and BEST is more opinion than anything else these days... Spend a few hours in the article sections of the board and read read read, even if it doesn't apply directly. There's a TON of info in there that will get you baselined a bit more.
 
cool even knowing where to look means plenty . i have no problem doing hours of research, as long its credible stuff, and its really hard just to type into google one thing after the next. So i suppose your proposal would be looking in the article sections of the board, is that mean specificley this board? I actually was doing that for hours last night and its what got me really fired up just reading what people had written. I appreciate your adviece greatly
thank you
 
If you plan on legally street driving the civic in California.....it's a little complicated.

Easiest motor swap is a stock B-Series. Needs to be the same year as chassis or newer. It's also difficult to put a JDM motor in. CA smog sucks.....if a motor wasn't offered (in the USA) in your chassis, a smog referee can say no. Needs to be all stock or C.A.R.B. compliant bolt ons. Running perfect and no check engine light.

Much easier to put a USDM B-Series motor in your chassis here in CA. But they are old and most have a ton of miles on them. A rebuild would be needed in most cases.

K-Swaps that are certified in CA are much more complicated and expensive. The fuel tank and ignition needs to be out of a RSX.

ERL makes built motors.....definitely reputable. A lot of the fastest drag Hondas use ERL bottom ends.

Street Legal Turbo in CA....needs to be C.A.R.B. compliant. Like a GReddy turbo kit.

It is really a pain in the ass to get a nice fast Honda Street Legal in CA. But a track or drag car that is towed to events...options are limitless.

Best suspension parts (in my opinion) are Function 7 LCA's etc. AMR or PIC for Coilovers. A less expensive alterternative is Function and Form Type 1 or 2 Coilovers.

Many aftermarket brakes need to have bigger rims to clear the rotors.

In a nut shell...buying the best parts will cost you $15-30K and the whole car will only be worth $8-12K when you're done. It would be a purchase of passion rather than logic. I let logic fly out the window long ago.
 
Last edited:
Buy property in AZ on the border with CA. Register your cars there. Smog it up.
 
I'm with slushbox and cafrog. I lived in CA for 2 years it's way more expensive to build that carb legal car. But I got around it I registered my car to south dakota. And they cant give you tickets for your front windows being tinted or loud exhaust things along those lines. as for what's best it's definitely he said she said you will find a part save up for 6 months and there's something better out. I would just set some real goals and build to that it's easy to upgrade once it's built. I admit it would be fun to go from 175 hp to 1000 but who could drive that right outta the gate?
 
Back
Top