still a rookie looking for a good swap

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92civicvx

Member
Ok, About two months ago i got my 92 honda civic hatch vx. The stock 92 horsepower just does not cut it. I have been trying to do research on good swaps and found this site, it helped alot. I am either wanting a 94-95 jdm gsr so that i can have the obd1 or i was thinking about a ls/vtecor the b20/vtec. I am still learning and know alot but not near what i need to. I think that i want to go n/a but the turbo still lingers in mind. I want to know what are some of the problems with having a turbo and if i go n/a in a ls/b20vtec what should i go compression wise? If i go wth the ls/vtec what yr would be best so that i can get an easier ecu swap? Like I said i am still new and still learding so any help would be great i am wanting the car for street racing and minor draging on the track. I am not into auto cross and i am going to need the car for a daily driver. So what do i need to do?
 
ok dude... let me help you out.
first, read this info-- it will give a good idea of what fits per your 5th gen civic.
https://hondaswap.com/swap/viewer.php?id=50

Now, to your questions.

NA vs turbo:

You mention that are are still un sure which way you want to go. Before you do anything, i suggest you make up your mind on this. It's like being straight or gay- 2 totally differnt routes of building.
NA wants high revs, high compression, super good flow of air, long duration, high lift cams
Turbo wants normal revs, moderate compression::near stock or lower, and more air flow never hurts, stock duration, higer lift cams.
As you can see right there, there is a bunch of differences. there's a bunch more when we start dealing with parts (such as intake/header/exhaust... the NA ones wont work well or at all on turbo, and vice versa)

If you go turbo- you are going to have a higer maintence car. Oil changes at 2k instead of 3k, etc etc. There's also the risk of blowing up. This can be prevented by building and TUNING TUNING TUNING, but the risk is higher than stock no matter what. If its your daily driver and only car and you work 50 miles away, going crazy with boost IMO is not a good idea.

You mention cr/vtec and ls/vtec compression with boost....
IMO, if you are going boost, then stop thinking vtec. throw in the non vtec b20b or b18b swap, build it, and boost it. you will never miss vtec.

If you stay NA, def go vtec.

So basically, you are considering like 8 swaps right now....
b18c sir-G (JDM gsr)
SiR-G turbo
ls
ls/t
ls/vtec/t
crv
cr/t
cr/vtec/t

no matter what you choose, the easiest swap is to stay in the same generation of OBD. if you don't know what obd is, read this:
https://hondaswap.com/articles/viewer.php?id=9
so, any 92-95 motor will be a good choice. BUT, legally in most states, the engine must be the same year or newer than the car its going into.. so, you are set by owning a 92. any obd 1 swaps will wire in fine and be legal. (again, check local laws. i/e- in cali, its illegal to do head swaps.)

A big factor to consider is how much money do you have.

an sir-g swap will cost you about $3400.
an ls vtec or cr vtec properly built- $4000
ls $1500
b20b $1800

add turbo to any of those-- $3-4000
add hondata, 3" exhaust - $1500

as you can see, its NOT cheap.

so whats cheap? ls or b20 turbo is WAY cheaper than ls/vtec or cr/vtec turbo. see what im getting at?

Since you don't autox... turbo is a viable option.
Since you street/drag, turbo is the cheapest way to go fast.

What would i do if i were you?
ls/t

Hope this helps
 
Well that helped alot i am probably going to go all motor just because i really don't think that i am ready for all the mainnce that a turboed motor has so turbo motor is out and i am going to go all motor. I live in arkansas and their laws are not as strict as calis are. Since my car is a 92 this means that i can take the b18b ls block , so would i need the ecu out of it or will mine work? When i get new axles what would be my best choice for them? i read the articles finally and know about how much it will be for the motor and that is actually better that i thought. i have about $6000 that i can spend maybe a little more. i want to find out every thing that i need before i get it so that i will know what to get and not get something that i just waste my money on.
 
:withstupid: can't beat honda reliability and one badass NA motor!
 
Originally posted by pissedoffsol@Oct 21 2002, 08:22 PM
if you have 6000, and want to go all motor- I'd say get a b18c5 spec R

hehe thats what i did :)
 
I know this will prabably make all you guys laugh but i can never make up my mind and once again i am having those wonderous ideas. Ok you talk about if i want to go turbo then go ls or b20 non-vtec. What about supercharger, or how would nitrous help or hurt and of these swaps. my car is pretty much stock right now and i want to keep it stock looking and have very fast and that way i can have the sleeper that i have wanted for so long.my first amount that i could spend is now shot cause i just got slapped with a $3000 fine( F*%k the court system) so now i got some time to do all the research about pros and cons of all possible swaps b/c i got to make the money back up. So any ideas would be great. I am mainly into street/drag racing so what would be some good ideas that i can do to just mainly be as fast as possible. My car is a daily driver, I have no power steering , a/c is of no concern to me i never use it anyways.
 
I would LS/Turbo! Greddy now offers a bolt on kit for the LS that comes with an 18G turbo! If you wanna know stats on the turbo go look it up in the Turbo section here @ hondaswap.
 
ok no supercharger. If i went a b20 turbo, what would i need to do to i tto get the most power out of it? Would it be a good idea to bore it and if so how much can i? Also what would be a good place to get a turbo for that application? Could i run nitrous with that? Would i even need to? What would be a good tranny for that application?
 
I love the idea of b20 turbo. its got displacement and boost! you could run nitrous but I wouldent...why bother you already got boost. I think the type r or gsr tranny would be good for this. I wouldent try to bore the b20....it is basically already bored and if you bored it more you would end up with thin cylander walls and prolly have to get some sort of custom pistons to fit. Most people choose turbo kits but I think it would be cheaper to build it custom yourself. you can get a t3/t4 turbo for about $600 I believe off ebay and intercoolers are pretty cheap on ebay too. you would just have to get creative and make your own pipes. just my opinion. have fun and stay out of trouble =)
 
have to diagree with ya on the "fuck superchargers" bit. An Endyn modified Jackson Racing superrcharger (you buy the blower, send it to em, let em bore it, put a different pulley on, etc) and you can be pushing 15-20 lbs of boost. Plus, there is no spool up time, and IMHO adding a turbo to a motor not designed with the cooling capabilities for a turbo is a bad start from the beginning. Using a supercharger will reduce unwanted heat (although it will still run hotter, compression=heat). All I'm saying is, try to run a turbocharged honda motor at wide open throttle for an extended period of time, and then do the same with a supercharged motor pushing the same amount of boost...then tell me who still has a motor that runs.
 
i would not put a gsr or type r tranny on a boosted b20, the gearing would be all wrong for it
 
Originally posted by honda_power69@Oct 25 2002, 07:14 PM
All I'm saying is, try to run a turbocharged honda motor at wide open throttle for an extended period of time, and then do the same with a supercharged motor pushing the same amount of boost...then tell me who still has a motor that runs.

neither.
 
I have the same question and im either deciding to get either a b18c or a b18b unless you guys think something else would better suit me. I'm going to be using this car for daily driving and a lil bit of drag. Both are good for forced induction am i right? Which one would you guys decide? And what exactly are the pros and cons of turbo and na. Which one is best for the money.

Never mind what i said above. I dont have enough money for that. Of course NA would be cheaper than turbo. So what is the best option for me right now.
 
ls = $1500
gsr = $3500

ls with a bolt on 6-8 psi (stock internals) is only about 1000 more than a basic gsr swap.
www.ks-motorsports.com
build your own turbokit- better parts than drag kit from $2300 shipped... + 1500 for an ls- and you are just over gsr $$$
 
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