Heya,
before I go on blabbering about my ride project here's a brief introduction of myself. About 2 months ago, I got my very first 'real' car - A 1992 4dr Honda Civic. I was driving a piece of shit car earlier on - a Daihatsu Mira copy manufactured locally here in Malaysia. Little did I know, the Honda came with a B16A2 engine and I was immediately hooked when the V-tec was engaged. I had so much fun and started reading up more on Hondas. Since then I've decided to build this baby to be a street monster. K, enough about me lets get on with the ride!
I’ve done some minor research about 1992 Civic Sedans and noticed that my ride probably came with a D15B7, D15B8 or D15Z1. It doesn’t really matter anyway because now the B16A2 is in it. The engine is purely stock – no mods whatsoever. Even the exterior of the car is modest – no side skirts, HIDs, rims blah blah. The funniest thing ever was the tranny – it’s automatic… Refer to the picture I’ve posted.
Now, I’ve asked around and did some research on the stuff that I could add to boost my ride’s performance and looks. And here are the things that I’ve found out so far (please feel free to correct me, I’m a noob!):-
1. Shocks, Braking system, Tyres and Rims
a)First ever thing to do is to change my shocks (which I hear will lower the car down and provide a lot better stability than my stock shocks). Planning to get soft/hard adjustable racing shocks but really got no idea what brands are good for Hondas..there are so many out there. There’s one brand that caught my attention though – Tein. Ran a price check and boy they cost a bomb. Any suggestions? HWLs? D1s? Stock Integra DC2 Shocks?
b)Next would be my brakes. The stock brakes suck ass. (I was at 118 mp/h the other day and almost crashed into a divider – the car won’t stop! Really freaked me out). I took a look at the brakes on my car and noticed they were disc brakes. Front and Rear. Puzzled, I asked around and found out about single pot and twin pot brakes (not sure what you guys call them over there in the states). Well, initial plan would be to have steel braided piping installed and change the front brakes to twin pot calipers – I think they come with the disc too. But I read somewhere about 6 pot brakes – instead of 2 big ‘pistons’ they have 6 small ‘pistons’ hence distributing energy more evenly on the discs when u brake. Maybe someone could shed some light on this?
c)Tyres & Rims
I would most probably go for 15†rims and pair them with 205 width tyres. Not sure if that would work though. That’s exactly why I’m here! My choice of rims would most probably be Spoon 15s. Any better suggestions?
Three noob questions here. Here we go, first question; how would 16†rims fare with my engine setup? Will my pickup be reduced (I know, theoretically yes. But if my engine is souped up? Refer to my engine setup below).
Second question; do I need different camber arms (not sure if this is correct) for 16†rims?
Third question; what are those tyres with the ‘hard spine’ near the part where the tyre meets the rim called?
2.Engine
a)Air filter
Right now it’s the squarish filter that came stock with the engine. In this department, I think…. I’m really spoilt for choice. So many different makes out there. Any suggestions here because I don’t want to get something and regret it and have to change it later on. Money wasted + Time wasted + Effort wasted = epic ph4iL.
b)Adjustable pulleys
I’ve done some research about pulleys and this is what I understand; adjustable pulleys enable the tweaking of intake and exhaust valve timing – when they open and close. In short, you can make them open faster (to add more power) or close later (to add more compression?). Question here is how much power will it add and I’m sure it will increase my fuel consumption. I’m planning to go for AEM pulleys. I’ve gone through some reviews and most of them say that they’re just ok and a little bit overpriced. But I can’t really think of any other makes.
c)Manual tranny
Yes oh yes! The automatic transmission now (although still allows me to engage my good ole V-Tec) makes me go zzzzzz.. I believe I should be looking for the Y1 gear box? Or is there something better assuming I want to go for Forged Pistons and err..Skunk2 Stage II Cam Shafts in the future? I’m looking for something that allows me to go REV HAPPY!! Any ideas?
Noob alert: What are the long term implications when swapping your standard B16A2 pistons and Cam Shafts with Forged Pistons and Matching Camshafts? A friend of mine just did that and the engine seemed fine..so far.
d)ECU or Piggyback?
Should I be going for a whole ECU say like a B18C ECU or just go for a piggyback like the VManage Kit by Greddy?
e)4-2-1 Header
This is a must. Not sure which brand to go for but I might just settle for a used B18C header. Any ones that I should be considering here?
f)Exhaust piping
Right now it’s the weaksauce 2†pipe I believe (the one that came standard with the car prior to the engine transplant). Think I’m going for the 2.5†one. Any suggestions? Bigger? Smaller? Optimum size?
That’s pretty much it for now. I think I’ll leave the exterior and interior job for a later post. Please note that I have the general idea of what to install but I’m really in dire need of more suggestions: things that you guys have done to your car and felt that they were great investments. I’m aware this is a B.I.G. wall of text and you guys have my sympathy. /evilgrin.
before I go on blabbering about my ride project here's a brief introduction of myself. About 2 months ago, I got my very first 'real' car - A 1992 4dr Honda Civic. I was driving a piece of shit car earlier on - a Daihatsu Mira copy manufactured locally here in Malaysia. Little did I know, the Honda came with a B16A2 engine and I was immediately hooked when the V-tec was engaged. I had so much fun and started reading up more on Hondas. Since then I've decided to build this baby to be a street monster. K, enough about me lets get on with the ride!
I’ve done some minor research about 1992 Civic Sedans and noticed that my ride probably came with a D15B7, D15B8 or D15Z1. It doesn’t really matter anyway because now the B16A2 is in it. The engine is purely stock – no mods whatsoever. Even the exterior of the car is modest – no side skirts, HIDs, rims blah blah. The funniest thing ever was the tranny – it’s automatic… Refer to the picture I’ve posted.
Now, I’ve asked around and did some research on the stuff that I could add to boost my ride’s performance and looks. And here are the things that I’ve found out so far (please feel free to correct me, I’m a noob!):-
1. Shocks, Braking system, Tyres and Rims
a)First ever thing to do is to change my shocks (which I hear will lower the car down and provide a lot better stability than my stock shocks). Planning to get soft/hard adjustable racing shocks but really got no idea what brands are good for Hondas..there are so many out there. There’s one brand that caught my attention though – Tein. Ran a price check and boy they cost a bomb. Any suggestions? HWLs? D1s? Stock Integra DC2 Shocks?
b)Next would be my brakes. The stock brakes suck ass. (I was at 118 mp/h the other day and almost crashed into a divider – the car won’t stop! Really freaked me out). I took a look at the brakes on my car and noticed they were disc brakes. Front and Rear. Puzzled, I asked around and found out about single pot and twin pot brakes (not sure what you guys call them over there in the states). Well, initial plan would be to have steel braided piping installed and change the front brakes to twin pot calipers – I think they come with the disc too. But I read somewhere about 6 pot brakes – instead of 2 big ‘pistons’ they have 6 small ‘pistons’ hence distributing energy more evenly on the discs when u brake. Maybe someone could shed some light on this?
c)Tyres & Rims
I would most probably go for 15†rims and pair them with 205 width tyres. Not sure if that would work though. That’s exactly why I’m here! My choice of rims would most probably be Spoon 15s. Any better suggestions?
Three noob questions here. Here we go, first question; how would 16†rims fare with my engine setup? Will my pickup be reduced (I know, theoretically yes. But if my engine is souped up? Refer to my engine setup below).
Second question; do I need different camber arms (not sure if this is correct) for 16†rims?
Third question; what are those tyres with the ‘hard spine’ near the part where the tyre meets the rim called?
2.Engine
a)Air filter
Right now it’s the squarish filter that came stock with the engine. In this department, I think…. I’m really spoilt for choice. So many different makes out there. Any suggestions here because I don’t want to get something and regret it and have to change it later on. Money wasted + Time wasted + Effort wasted = epic ph4iL.
b)Adjustable pulleys
I’ve done some research about pulleys and this is what I understand; adjustable pulleys enable the tweaking of intake and exhaust valve timing – when they open and close. In short, you can make them open faster (to add more power) or close later (to add more compression?). Question here is how much power will it add and I’m sure it will increase my fuel consumption. I’m planning to go for AEM pulleys. I’ve gone through some reviews and most of them say that they’re just ok and a little bit overpriced. But I can’t really think of any other makes.
c)Manual tranny
Yes oh yes! The automatic transmission now (although still allows me to engage my good ole V-Tec) makes me go zzzzzz.. I believe I should be looking for the Y1 gear box? Or is there something better assuming I want to go for Forged Pistons and err..Skunk2 Stage II Cam Shafts in the future? I’m looking for something that allows me to go REV HAPPY!! Any ideas?
Noob alert: What are the long term implications when swapping your standard B16A2 pistons and Cam Shafts with Forged Pistons and Matching Camshafts? A friend of mine just did that and the engine seemed fine..so far.
d)ECU or Piggyback?
Should I be going for a whole ECU say like a B18C ECU or just go for a piggyback like the VManage Kit by Greddy?
e)4-2-1 Header
This is a must. Not sure which brand to go for but I might just settle for a used B18C header. Any ones that I should be considering here?
f)Exhaust piping
Right now it’s the weaksauce 2†pipe I believe (the one that came standard with the car prior to the engine transplant). Think I’m going for the 2.5†one. Any suggestions? Bigger? Smaller? Optimum size?
That’s pretty much it for now. I think I’ll leave the exterior and interior job for a later post. Please note that I have the general idea of what to install but I’m really in dire need of more suggestions: things that you guys have done to your car and felt that they were great investments. I’m aware this is a B.I.G. wall of text and you guys have my sympathy. /evilgrin.
