First Project

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eb122333

Member
Hey all. I'm interested in picking up a project car. I've been looking at a '93 Del Sol S in my area, and I wanted some thoughts from some seasoned Honda vets.

My power goal is 300 at the wheels, hopefully for $4-6k.
The Del Sol has a D15b7 with a stock manual trans

1) I'm going to have to pull the motor to hit my power goal- I'm thinking B-series NA would be reasonable.
What motor should I go with? Will I have to pull the transmission, and rebuild it/swap it, or will the stock transmission handle 300whp?
2) The car is OBD1, with a P06 ecu- chip it, swap it, or go aftermarket? What if I swap in a OBD2 engine?

All in all, before I move in on this car I want to make sure that my goal is actually achievable, and that I won't be getting ahead of my wallet. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks
 
Welcome to the site!

300 whp NA is basically impossible in a b-series. 250-ish is among the highest i've seen, and those are $20k builds.

If you want 300 at the wheels, you're in a swap + turbo category, or K-series + massive work for NA (even 300 on a k24/k20 is not cheap). Factor in the higher prices and mount kits, and you're budget is just not realistic for this power NA.

The d15b7 is basically throw away for anything over 150hp.

you could do a z6 head swap (minime) to get you in the 130 crank range, and then turbo that up to 225 or so on a junkyard build. that will be in the couple thousand price range + supporting mods.

Best bang for the buck may be an LS swap with a mild turbo kit. A build on the rods and pistons would be helpful to support the power gains over 250 if you want reliability.


the del sol S also has tiny brakes and rear drums, so do keep that in mind as a consideration (you need to slow down what you accelerate).
 
So it sounds like NA isn't the way to go- cool!
It also seems like shooting for 200, maybe 250hp is more reasonable.

I wasn't planning to build around the stock engine, so it sounds like a b-series with a turbo is the right move then. I'll look more into it and come back when I have more questions.
 
So it sounds like NA isn't the way to go- cool!
It also seems like shooting for 200, maybe 250hp is more reasonable.

I wasn't planning to build around the stock engine, so it sounds like a b-series with a turbo is the right move then. I'll look more into it and come back when I have more questions.
I'd suggest taking it in smaller steps.

Do the swap. probably want to do a b16a sir2 or b18c1 obd1 swap. drive the car for a while. that will be pretty fun out of the box without too much work to get it in there besides a mount kit and running a few wires for added vtec/etc.

If you need more, start to piece together some turbo parts.
 
the hardest part about doing a b-series swap in a del sol is finding the del sol VTEC shift linkage.

Long out of production and pretty rare in the first place. there's some aftermarket options now, but often aren't in stock either.

 
how much is the car, what is the condition, where are you located, and are there any photos?

this looks like a great car for my wife. slow, manual, convertible.
 
'98 EK hatch auto secured! FB marketplace came in clutch! Going to figure out what I'm going to do with it in the next few days
 
if its auto just make it clean and cool and slam it ersumshit with nice wheels and enjoy it as a daily and buy a project
 
I bought this car as my project- I already daily a '97 CL.
oh tight , B-Swap would be best bang for buck IMO , K is getting affordable . At least you got a OBD2 car soo it makes swaps plentiful with the obd1 engines and obd2. Id personally if no emissions state convert to OBD1 and Hondata S300v3 on a B18/B20 ersumshit , do that and supension and when tired of it forced induction
 
oh tight , B-Swap would be best bang for buck IMO , K is getting affordable . At least you got a OBD2 car soo it makes swaps plentiful with the obd1 engines and obd2. Id personally if no emissions state convert to OBD1 and Hondata S300v3 on a B18/B20 ersumshit , do that and supension and when tired of it forced induction
Thanks for the advice. I got my uncle (mechanic) on board with this project, and he wants me to go K-series- I'm going to talk with him and get his take on what route I should go down.
 
Thanks for the advice. I got my uncle (mechanic) on board with this project, and he wants me to go K-series- I'm going to talk with him and get his take on what route I should go down.
it really just depends on what route want to go down , the only and literally ONLY CHEAP K route is 160hp Accord etc swap , but youre still gonna spend significantly significantly more than cars cost on a engine/trans/ecu/harness/axles etc
 
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