need opinions on what to do

should I?

  • swap the tranny and build the engine i have

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    5

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Ignorant import guy

Senior Member
look i though i knew what i was going to do to my car but i have no clue anymore so i decided to wait until the end of the summer to decide. I have a 1999 civic ex with a very tight budget. the car already has a few minor mods such as full exhaust system, header, cold air intake, strut bars etc...the car right now has an automatic tranny. also take into consideration i might have to get a proffessional to do the majority of the wiring work unless a few friends of mine can find me a wiring mechanic who will do it very for a small amount of money.



I am stuck with this car so i do not have the luxury of buying another and starting over
 
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1)what are you asking. what is your poll about? it doesn't make sense.
2)why b18 and port and polish. headwork is a lot lower on the list of mods than #2. it would cost more than the results are worth.
3)if you are on a tight budget. stay away from the h22 swap.

my vote. turbo the d series and call it a day. best bang for buck you will get. it will give you the most power for about $1,000 if you do it right and shop around. but then again, that's not on the poll.:shrug2:
 
well if i could find the way to edit the poll i would but i can't so let me clarify...keep the motor swap the tranny and then build the motor with maybe a turbo...b16 swap add header, cams maybe a port polish etc...b18 swap header and port polish i know a guy who will give me a port polish for like $40 that's why i would do that...h22 swap i would swap it in and leave it alone.....sorry for any confusion
 
Ignorant import guy said:
look i though i knew what i was going to do to my car but i have no clue anymore so i decided to wait until the end of the summer to decide.

i don't understand what this means. this is what i was confused about.

what is your budget and what are you hp goals?
 
well.. the b16 in your car wont do much, it'll run like a SI. .. if it was a hatch i would say b16.. maybe do a b18(LS) and turbo, but if you're low on funds just turbo your D
 
at the end of the summer i will have enough money to start working on the car...i was going to buy part buy part and install what i could along the way...basically go paycheck by paycheck and build up a N/A d-series...but then i realized i would have basically no power to my car so i'm searching for ideas...my budget will probably be around or under $2000, but if i had to i could just save and maybe have the car done in time for next summer
 
Put all your stock parts back on. Clean it, scrub it, clean it some more. Sell it.

Buy one that is already a manual and apply your parts to it, or, sell the parts, and turbo the new car.

$2000 will be a squeeze if you are looking for a full engine/trans swap along with a auto/manual swap. There are so many little things that will need to be changed it will nickle and dime you to death. Shift cable, console, pedal set, conversion pieces, mounts, gauge cluster, etc etc.. You'd be better off starting with a manual and going from there.

Alternatively, you could sell your car, add the $2k to it, and hit ebay for a vehicle that is already swapped. Let someone else take the hit for $$$.. Swapped cars dont sell for much more than clean stock ones. I wouldnt do it personally, as I enjoy building all of my own vehicles.. But you did state that you arent very mechanically inclined.
 
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as i also said though i am stuck with the car i have now...i just talked to my buddies and they said they could to the complet swap and have it running but they would need a book on how to setup the ecu and the reverse lights and such...so with that in mind would it be worth it
 
If they've never done it before, probably not. They're bound to run into problems with the conversion to manual, and that's going to cost you. I doubt your friends will want to pay for extras out of their own pockets.
 
extras as in parts???i have researched enough to know all of the parts to get so that's not a problem....and one of them has done a swap before so he could help along the way if any problems came up but he wouldn't be the one doing it a relative of mine would
 
Ignorant import guy said:
extras as in parts???i have researched enough to know all of the parts to get so that's not a problem....and one of them has done a swap before so he could help along the way if any problems came up but he wouldn't be the one doing it a relative of mine would

Thats not an intelligent attitude. No offense intended, but there are always problems. I did so much research in the assembly and installation of my H22 and then i found out that there's an occasional problem with either JDM EGRs or EGR valves on engines that have sat for a while. Either way i never did get that problem sorted out and just disabled the EGR on my P28 ECU.

There are always problems with every build that you never expect to happen. If you have a budget of 2k...id probably find a power solution for $1,500 with a $500 problem fund. That being the case, id keep the auto tranny, and just turbo your D-Series HMT style.

I voted B18 before i realized you had an auto tranny and the people setting it up had never done the auto to manual conversion. In the end, the turbo D will be more fun (even if your only running like 160-180 WHP) than the B18C or B16.

My vote now is turbo the D and if you have the money, find an LSD unit for it. If youve already got exhaust, then youll be good to go (minus body work).
 
eg6sir said:
well.. the b16 in your car wont do much, it'll run like a SI. .. if it was a hatch i would say b16.. maybe do a b18(LS) and turbo, but if you're low on funds just turbo your D
That all depends on what OBD and what version of motor... I have a 96 ex that has a b16a SiRII in it with i/h/e and a chipped phearable.net ecu and nothing more and I pull on 99si's with i/h/e all day long. If you are looking to drive the vehicle everyday go n/a dohc... if you just want to go fast and dont care about something blowing up or falling apart boost the shit out of the D. Another good way to gain some good power is turbo the b18 and you can always add cams, valve setup, ect later. Most any motor should probably be okay at 5-7psi as long as you're not rolling around town at 5k on a consistant basis.

EDIT... didn't see your post of 2k... boost the d series that's in it and if you do it right you can probably come out with enough cash to do the auto to manual conversion pretty easy.
 
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Well IMO, if u have an auto trans, I woud go with a supercharger instead of the turbo route...just my .02
 
Thats not where i was goin with that, that one would be easier or harder on the trans, i was looking at it as a response kinda thing. B/C the natural lag of a turbo can't be overcome by an auto trans by reving the motor and launching, and the S/C will be there very soon after idle. Me personally, being a huge turbo fan, would swap to a 5 speed, and turbo, but if this guys budget and resources don't permit both, i would S/C. But, like i said, my .02...he was asking for opinions.
 
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