Which Performance Upgrade?

[jasondw]

Hello everyone. New to this board. Here is my story, I originally bought my '95 Honda Civic DX about 6 years ago (probably more), with plans to fix it up. I got off track and got into motorcycles instead. Now that I'm well into motorcycles and all that I want to start fixing up the civic again. Just wondering what performance upgrades would be the best bang for the buck. Don't have a lot of money to spend right now so I'm just looking for some upgrades I can do for fairly inexpensive to get better performance out of my civic. I plan to do an engine swap with probably a B18C1, once I have the money for that.

Well, any help would be appreciated. I've done quite a bit of searching on the web but wanted to hear what others have to say on what the best inexpensive performance upgrades are.

Thanks in advance.

 

[trappd-in-859]

You could possibly use NO2 if your engine isnt too old. But, other than that, basic bolt-ons should suffice.

Cat-back exhaust, CAI, and a header.

If you have some mechanical know how, you could swap the dx head for a ex or si head, or even the engine entirely.

Hope some of this helps.

 

[jimboburgess]

if you plan on doing an engine swap you might as well upgrade other things til you get to that point.

cat back exhaust and CAI can be modded to fit a b-series easily

upgrade brakes, suspension, better wheels and tires?

or just save for the bseires it's a great upgrade, prolly the best thing you can do.

 

[ripperbone]

or you can do a buget turbo setup. junkyard t25 or t28, hf manifold, eclipse intercooler, dsm Blow off valve

 

[preludebuddy]

Quoted post[/post]]
or you can do a buget turbo setup. junkyard t25 or t28, hf manifold, eclipse intercooler, dsm Blow off valve

for roughly a grand depending on the deals you get.
I have two friends both with turbo'd d series motors. one dyno'd yesterday at 214 tuned and the other was 207 untuned.

 

[jasondw]

Quoted post[/post]]
if you plan on doing an engine swap you might as well upgrade other things til you get to that point.

cat back exhaust and CAI can be modded to fit a b-series easily

upgrade brakes, suspension, better wheels and tires?

or just save for the bseires it's a great upgrade, prolly the best thing you can do.

Thanks, I am looking into swapping my rear brakes out with disc instead of drum. Getting the Struts replaced soon and the alignment redone on it after that.

Quoted post[/post]]
or you can do a buget turbo setup. junkyard t25 or t28, hf manifold, eclipse intercooler, dsm Blow off valve

I would be interested in hearing more about this

Quoted post[/post]]
If you have some mechanical know how, you could swap the dx head for a ex or si head, or even the engine entirely.

Hope some of this helps.

I might look into swapping the head as well. Any more information you can give me on this as far as performance wise? Not how-to but what it would give me. Any information is much appreciated. Thanks!

 

[jasondw]

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Putting a D16Z6 head on will pretty much give you an instant 30hp. But you have to retard the cam by 4.5 degrees if you but a 1.6l head on a 1.5l block. The easiest way to do it is to use the cam gear off of a D16Y8.

sweet deal. thanks for the info.

 

[VTECin5th]

Quoted post[/post]]

Quoted post[/post]]
Putting a D16Z6 head on will pretty much give you an instant 30hp. But you have to retard the cam by 4.5 degrees if you but a 1.6l head on a 1.5l block. The easiest way to do it is to use the cam gear off of a D16Y8.

sweet deal. thanks for the info.

Blanco has the best bang for the buck idea...it would be first to do on my list.

 

[phunky.buddha]

Junkyard turbo- first learn how to read compressor maps, then shop around junkyards for cheapie but good condition turbochargers from OEM setups like the Ford Probe, WRX, Eclipse etc. You can build a manifold with an old HF or STD log style exhaust manifold from an 88-91 Civic, then start fabbing up piping for everything else on your own. Cheapo options for the intercooler and blow-off valve can come from pretty much any other OEM source too. Tuning is taken care of by cheap options like Uberdata or Crome if you know how to play with fuel maps, then adding some used injectors.

If you read up a ton, know what you're doing, and are willing to weld a bit and cut up some stuff- you can be done with a reliable junkyard turbo setup for under $1000. I'm doing it on my truck, and I'm only $200 into it.

 

[jasondw]

Quoted post[/post]]
Junkyard turbo- first learn how to read compressor maps, then shop around junkyards for cheapie but good condition turbochargers from OEM setups like the Ford Probe, WRX, Eclipse etc. You can build a manifold with an old HF or STD log style exhaust manifold from an 88-91 Civic, then start fabbing up piping for everything else on your own. Cheapo options for the intercooler and blow-off valve can come from pretty much any other OEM source too. Tuning is taken care of by cheap options like Uberdata or Crome if you know how to play with fuel maps, then adding some used injectors.

If you read up a ton, know what you're doing, and are willing to weld a bit and cut up some stuff- you can be done with a reliable junkyard turbo setup for under $1000. I'm doing it on my truck, and I'm only $200 into it.

Thanks for the info. I'm not THAT mechanically/fabbing savey (sp?). But, know how to weld, only problem is that I don't have a welder and don't know anyone who does

 

[phunky.buddha]

Savvy.

It really doesn't take much- you can buy adapter plates that bolt onto old exhaust manifolds. Go read up on homemadeturbo.com (I think). They can refer you to quite a few places to buy things so you don't even have to weld stuff together.

 

[jimboburgess]

A budget turbo setup does take alot of custom fabrication. One of the most expensive parts the manifold would require planning and previous experience.

but do read on www.homemadeturbo.com that is a great site and most peopel on there have some turbo experience.

I build my turbo setup for less than $500.

using 1g eclipse parts. manifold turbo bov
www.johnnyracecar.com for a $155 intercooler