Need some performance suggestions...

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92PreludeSIR

92PreludeSIR

New Member
Hey guys, Im a new member and a new owner of a '92 prelude. Ive never owned an import before and I dont know a whole bunch about tuner engines. My question is, what are the quickest and cheapest ways to improve performance, horsepower, and acceleration. Id appreciate the help guys...
 
Guys if anyone has any type of suggestion or advice id greatly appreciate it. Anything would help at this point...:confused:
 
quickest and cheapest, drive down hill. on a serious note you gotta give more info: what are you looking for the car to do, what horsepower range, what is "cheap" to you?
 
lol... i wanna just know the cheap little stuff ($50 and under) that isnt quite as standard as lets say, headers, cold air intake, camshafts, turbos, etc. Little, "here and there" stuff that will get me some power.
 
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give the car a complete tuneup. Change the oil, plugs, plug wires, fuel filter, and air filter. Maybe even reset the valve lash. You never know the condition of a used car, so preventative maintnance like that can help.
 
99sidude said:
give the car a complete tuneup. Change the oil, plugs, plug wires, fuel filter, and air filter. Maybe even reset the valve lash. You never know the condition of a used car, so preventative maintnance like that can help.
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All that stuff is great advice for sure, but I just wanted to point out that if $50 is your price range, then there's not much you can really do besides a tune-up (which should be a no-brainer anyway).

You can disconnect your A/C and power steering to free up a few horses (which you might not want to do if the car is your daily driver), but there aren't really any parts you can buy for under $50 that are going to make any kind of noticeable performance difference.

One thing you can do is buy a cheap-ass intake off of eBay, and then get yourself a nice K&N cone filter to go with it. That probably wouldn't be much over $50.
 
shit...the K&N is $45 bucks itself!! Better stick with the blue toilet-papered filter. Aside form what 99 said, Performance plugs/wires maybe?? Getting the car will help it perform better but won't add HP, but just like Brutal said, you may not want to do this either if its your daily driver. Gut the cat ( the proper way ) may bring a couple ponies but your car may end up sounding like ass.

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Learn how to hack into your ECU and write new maps for it- free + $10-20 for chips if you know someone with a burner and will let you play on the dyno for free. Go really aggressive on the fuel and timing without burning your pistons and valves to hell. Of course, this is all dependent on that friends of yours with the unlimited dyno time. ;)
 
I preciate it guys. The car came with the full body kit and wing, magnaflow exhaust, white 6 spoke rims painted to match, and a custome stereo. All ive done so far is little things. Ive put on a gt steering wheel, injen cold air intake, bosch platinum +4 plugs, painted the calipers, custom (automatic) shift knob, and put in steel braided hoses. I plan to convert to manual and a buddy of mine has an auto tranny off a 90-94 accord with an f22. Anyone know if that will bolt up to an h23a1. Also Im looking for an jdm h22 vtech head to replace mine... i need some info on that if anyone has any. I know i said cheap $50 dollar stuff but that isnt all im doing, i just wanted some insight because all i know about is the big stuff. Im not very educated in tuner engines...
 
92PreludeSIR said:
I preciate it guys. The car came with the full body kit and wing, magnaflow exhaust, white 6 spoke rims painted to match, and a custome stereo. All ive done so far is little things. Ive put on a gt steering wheel, injen cold air intake, bosch platinum +4 plugs, painted the calipers, custom (automatic) shift knob, and put in steel braided hoses. I plan to convert to manual and a buddy of mine has an auto tranny off a 90-94 accord with an f22. Anyone know if that will bolt up to an h23a1. Also Im looking for an jdm h22 vtech head to replace mine... i need some info on that if anyone has any. I know i said cheap $50 dollar stuff but that isnt all im doing, i just wanted some insight because all i know about is the big stuff. Im not very educated in tuner engines...
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I got ready to say.." wOw, you did all that with $50?!?!?!?" First thing I would do is find someone to trade stock bodyparts for the rice-tastic kit and wing.

Plus I really don't want to sound like a dick, but this all kinda seems make believe but, I'll play along just incase you aren't shootin' the shit.

It sounds like most of the cheap stuff you've takin' care of except Claesta's idea and an intake. You can probally find the info you need on the H22 head and F22 tranny mating to that H23 in the Accord swap section or FAQ section.
 
Yea, I understand where your comin from but I really am planning on those conversions. Its just a matter of time and money. The car came with all the stock body parts on it, he had already had the body kit on there at one point in time so he let me have it with the car and i put it back on there... dumb idea? Does adding a larger fuel pump and switching to an aftermarket distributor make any kinda of substantial difference? I hate to sound like a rookie, but what is the valve lash and what does resetting it entail?
 
A new fuel pump will be worth less without a way to make the motor except more fuel and some way to get more air in there to go with all the fuel your dumping in there. A pressure regulator would be a better way to go as far as fuel goes. But they are kind worthless to without a reason ot have one or a way to tune the ECU. However an after market distributor will help with spark and engine efficency.

* sell the kit to get more money for modds
 
I figured it'd be something like that. A friend told me to try and find some..."spoonsport" headers on ebay? Is ebay a decent place to find stuff like that. and what about the valve lash? Also, i wasnt sure about the plugs when i got em, i got bosch platinum+4, but i was considering the iridium fused ones... big difference?
 
To be honest, you won't be able to tell a difference with plugs. If the car is close to stock, I wouldn't spend extra money on some fancy plugs that won't net you anything. Valve lash is the clearance between the cam lobes and the rocker arms. Too much clearance, the valves will make alot of noise when idling, and not open as much as they should. Too little, and you can wear shit out and loose power. Its easy to do, just be meticulous and patient.
 
92PreludeSIR said:
I figured it'd be something like that. A friend told me to try and find some..."spoonsport" headers on ebay? Is ebay a decent place to find stuff like that. and what about the valve lash? Also, i wasnt sure about the plugs when i got em, i got bosch platinum+4, but i was considering the iridium fused ones... big difference?
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Ebay is fine for a lot of parts but there are also some bad parts on there. Just be careful. And don't buy anything Spoon or most High end shops. Unless you are building a show car with all JDM parts there are much cheaper parts that will perform nearly exactly the same.
 
Thanx, im lookin at some AEM headers on there but theyre like 250 so im not sure yet. But as for the rest i havent had a chance to look yet. Also does any one know about the crankcase filter mod where you bypass the line from the intake into the valve and fit the holes with filters? Or the ingnition timing advance mod where you rotate the distributor to gain low end power? I gonna try it and just wanted to see if anyone has had experience with this....
 
The crankcase filter is a waste of money. I didn't think AEM made headers. Look on ebay at OBX or Megan Racing for a cheap header thats on par in performance with DC headers. You can try advancing the timing for a little power, just use higher octane gas.
 
+1 on Megan headers. They're basically the same thing as DC for half the price. I have one on my Integra and I'm really happy with it.

If you're going to start messing with the ignition timing then I'd say get some adjustable cam gears and a tuneable ECU and actually have somebody tune your car on a dyno. You might be fine advancing the timing on premium gas, but then again I'd rather not take the chance. Plus you'll get more power out of an actual tune.
 
in the first 2 months i had to change the exhaust manifold as it failed the MOT (uk) and slapped on a stainless unit from ebay (japspeed part)and decat pipe a good little mod is a vtec controller (mines a apexi) dont know how much they are in the states but uk there £400 ish. ive brought a long ram air intake improves the sound of the car dont think it adds much bhp without other good mods i recommend ebay but as somone said be carful as you can get f===ed over
 
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