Best engine to start with??

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M

Mazzimo

New Member
I am looking at buying a 1996 acura integra ls manual trans for a tuner car. This car will be a project car and I'm wanting to know what are the possible engines I could put in this car. I have done about an hour's worth of research and it looks to me like the F20C is the best engine to go with..will it fit in this car without massive modifications?
Is there a better engine for me to go with? ... While this is a project car, I am looking for the best and cheapest way to reach my goal..I'm hoping to end up with 500+ hp out of this car when I get done with it so any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated.
 
The F20C will not go into your car without ridiculous modifications. It is a rear wheel drive motor, and the teggy is a front wheel drive. Not worth the conversion.

You should look into the K series motors. Maybe start with a K24 just for the displacement of it.

Is this going to be an all out drag car? Quarter Mile?

You could blow through $10,000 pretty quick trying to make a reliable 500hp engine.
 
500 hp is not cheap no matter how you look at it.

probably the cheapest way is to build and turbo a b series engine. might at well use the b18b that comes in the car, since you will need to re-sleeve any of the b series blocks to safely handle 500hp. you will need race axles, a big clutch, top of the line engine parts, among other things. many people have built b series over 500whp, but they are mostly dedicated race cars.

doing a k series would be awesome and its a little easier to get power out of them. a built and turboed k24 would be my choice if i wanted as much power as possible. but it will likely end up being more expensive overall.

all this being said, i can only imagine 500whp on the street in a little fwd car... wheelspin much? youd be suprised how fun and how fast 300whp feels :)
 
Build your B. That's the most economical choice- no money spent converting over to a completely different drivetrain. No matter what you use, you're going to have to tear apart the engine and completely rebuild it anyway, so you might as well save a few thousand up front and not screw with what already works in your car.
 
This is going to be a street car so reliability is a must. 500 hp is not required, just a goal...300-400 is probably more realistic for the time being. The car right now has 142,000 miles and while that might not be a lot for a honda I do realize that a motor replacement won't be far off from the purchase of the car. I didn't realize the f20c was rwd. That's a lot more work than i am wanting to do and probably a lot of lost money for the horsepower difference.
So what is the deal with the H22A?
 
It's a Prelude engine. To drop it and its transmission into your Integra you'll have to change the shifter setup around- the H22 transmission is cable shift, not direct like the Integra transmission. You'll spend money on mounts, relocating accessories and rewiring your car. 300-400whp on a B18 really isn't that hard- do you want to change the engine so badly? If reliability is a must, you'll want to rebuild whatever engine you put in, so seriously- don't waste money converting the car over to a different engine type. The one you have is more than enough to build off of.
 
No I don't necessarily want the change the engine, I was just wondering what i should go with if i had to do an engine replacement. So if I stick with the B, besides a turbo, where do I go from here??
 
Also I believe the engine in this Acura is a B18B and not a B18C..what is the difference?
 
B18B (Integra LS) is non vtec roughly 145hp.. B18C (Integra GSR) is vtec, and roughly 180hp. There is also A B18C5 (type R) that is around 200hp. each motor depends on whether it is the jdm or usdm version, etc.

Vtec heads flow better and will make more power. You can do an LS/VTEC setup on your b18B motor and it will run just like a b18C, for rougly $700, give or take.

In your shoes, I would build the crap out of the bottom end and stick with the stock head for now, just to keep cost down. See what kind of numbers you can lay down with the stock head, then do the ls/v
 
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So where do I start upgrading to get ready for the Vtech head if that is infact the ultimate goal? A turbo will be installed last but i want to make sure the enigne is ready for it and its the right turbo..
 
Sleeves, Forged rods and pistons.

You can build up the bottom end now, without dealing with the vtec garbage.
 
you have a lot more research to do.... you dont want to be looking at $650 ebay kits if you want big power. first of all you need to pull the motor and send it to the machine shop, have them sleeve it and probably just have them assemble the bottom end for you with all forged parts, new bearings and seals. do some more reading about other peoples builds, maybe that will give you an idea of what you need to do.
 
I'm new at this to and i've found the general idea is this. If you don't know the difference between crap parts and good parts then don't shop on ebay or craigslist. If you want to build your engine I think the best thing for you to do would be buy the B series build manual. I'm not possitive who the publisher is but if you read this front to back it will give you the knowledge to start asking the proper questions. most of the online bookstores should have it.

It's a book that hsows how to build a 825 HP turbo B18C1. If you use the knowledge you gain from this book towards rebuilding your engine I don't see any reason you would fall short of 300 HP just on motor.

If you're new it's best to stay away from turbos or superchargers until you've been around people that know them inside and out. They cost a shitload for a good one and it's easy to ruin them if you don't know anything about them or how to maintain them properly.

I plan to build a K24 supercharged running E85 fuel in a 94 Del Sol

I've been researching this build for a year now and I still have way too many questions unanswered to think about buying parts yet. Plan your entire build before hand and plan your budget even better. last thing you want is to be a couple hundred short and your engine sits on the stand or in the shop. It seems to me saving would be your goal for now. I have to save for the next year to build my swap. Plus it will give you the time you need to research what needs to be done.

None of these geniuses on here bought thier first honda and pushed 500 HP out of it the first summer they had it. Life just ain't that sweet man.

Knowledge is power and KNOWLEDGE = HORSEPOWER in the honda world.
 
Mazzimo said:
I am looking at buying a 1996 acura integra ls manual trans for a tuner car. This car will be a project car and I'm wanting to know what are the possible engines I could put in this car. I have done about an hour's worth of research and it looks to me like the F20C is the best engine to go with..will it fit in this car without massive modifications?
Is there a better engine for me to go with? ... While this is a project car, I am looking for the best and cheapest way to reach my goal..I'm hoping to end up with 500+ hp out of this car when I get done with it so any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...


your looking for the best and cheapest way to reach your goal and your talking about putting an s2000 motor in an integra? do a little more research.
 
Mazzimo said:
So where do I start upgrading to get ready for the Vtech head if that is infact the ultimate goal? A turbo will be installed last but i want to make sure the enigne is ready for it and its the right turbo..
Click to expand...

you want to make sure your engine can handle the turbo. you dont have to get a vtec head. the main things you want is to sleeve the cylinder walls, get strong ass pistons and rods. you dont need to start upgrading anything to get ready for a vtec head. all you need is a head with vtec and a different ecu. btw do you have an integra right now? or you thinking of buying one and building it up? because you could probably buy one with all the work done for a good price. less than you'd spend working on one yourself.
 
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