Alright well I am almost positive my Explorer will be sold by the end of March and that leaves me with the posibility of picking up an Integra through auction. I was puzzled on which route to take with the car however. I could do one of the two set ups, what do you think?

Set Up 1 (it wouldnt be a fast car at all but well rounded and something I could autocross, I could also do this over time)

-minor bolt ons (exhaust, intake, header)
-coilovers (probobly some decent teins, about $600)
-strut & sway bars
-brakes (slotted/drilled rotors, pads and calipers for the track)
-clean up (window tint, take care of whatever minor dents or dings there were)
-clean up (stock tail lights, markers or headlamps and if they look crappy, replace with stock)
-racing wheels (some 16' volks in very nice shape or 16'/17' gram lights)


Set Up 2 (I would have to save up and not do anything to the car until the amount for the turbo kit, supporting mods and tuning were taken care of)

-REV HARD turbo kit
-Walboro 255 fuel pump-
-fuel rail
-afc
-hondata (not cheap)
-possibly internals etc etc etc you guys know the drill of forced induction of an NA car.

It comes down to this, I would feel better with option number 1 because it allows me to do stuff to the car over time and as the money comes in, I plan on making good money and working alot over the summer but I have an issue with saving, the only thing that sucks is the car is still going to be slow... fun to drive yes, handle VERY well yes, look very good, yes... BUT IT's STILL SLOW... I am very impatient however a forced induction car would be wow but so much work goes into it and I am not loaded with disposable income. The car will be between 94-98 with 80-110k. They can handle boost even with that mileage, very well in fact.

 

I would go with option 2 personally. If you have the money to buy the big stuff get it out of the way now. Then work on the rest over time. I would add pistons and rings maybe even rods to the build. At least get new stockers and at bare minimum redo the rings. Buying that high milage you dont really know how the car was driven and you will most likely blow the rings anyway. I've built a few turbo hondas and a few all motor as well.

If you dont have some disposable income dont go turbo. With hondas you really have to watch things closely and it is usually high maintance (all of mine were).

If you want a little power boost go with you first set up and buy a zex wet nitrous kit. On my 96 LS i ran 13.7 on a 50 shot with drag radials. That is fast enough to beat 95% of other hondas out there. And regardless of what people tell you if you set up you nitrous kit correctly it is very safe. An LS motor stock can handle an 80 shot all day if you are safe with it. A GSR motor the same.

Or go LSVtec if your going with an LS model integra. Just thought i would toss that out there. It can get pricy but it is alot of fun building the car.

 

You could also do a B20 VTEC, too. i'd go with option 1, personally. I guess at this point you need to figure out if you're going to roadrace/auto cross it or will it be a drag car. What model DC2 is it?

 

In my humble opinion, I'd go with #1, and build a N/A motor that rocks after that. I love N/A personaly...nothing better that getting huge power out of a 4 banger without turbo. But, then again....if you like turbo....get it!

 

Do a K20a2 or K20A... you'll have both decent power and reliability. Putting turbo on a N/A car can be a pain in the @ss. W/ the K20 Hondata and bolt on's you'll be putting down some decent nubers (Close to that of a force induced B series if not more.) and again having reliability.

+ being it you have a B18c1 you could sell the motor im sure of it. Which would help you get the new motor.

Those K series motors are putting down some nice numbers N/A or Turboed its almost effortless to get power out of those things.

Just my .02

<-- Ex owner of several Hondas

 

With a K20 the issue however would be that it's a 6 speed transmission how would that work out? How much do you think I could get for a 80-100k LS motor and how much to pick up a nice K20? I think that would be a good foundation but I wonder with a swap how much longer the car will last with a lower mileage K20 out of an RSX Type S, I'd imagine the car would be as quick as a Type R because of it as well, stock rating of 200hp and making about 170whp out of that K20.

 

I just realized you're in Portland, so you could probably check around the U-Pull-It's around here to see if anyone has a junked RSX Type S in one of the yards. Never know what you'll find. Plus the autotrader usually has an ad for a place that sells salvagable wrecked cars, but I forget the name of it. I would check out vtec.net and craigslist for how much to ask for the LS motor. Some kid with a civic will want it, without a doubt.

 

Well I just checked up on alot of my knowledgable sources in regard to a K motor swap and they say a lower mileage K20 is about $3000-$4000 with tranny and all components, not much point in that I could just go turbo for that price done right and make gobs more power with forced induction.

 

H-swap with low boost. FTW.

 

F doing Management. Hondata, and the rest. Killer setup right here.

B20 Bottom end ( for those that are honda ignorant, CRV block. :-))
GSR Top end
Comp Camps N2o Cams
Springs and retainers
DC Headers
Testpipe.
And catback
Intake
Cam Gears
Slicks
And 125 Direct port Kit.
Custom Boston Dyno Tune :-)
No contest. Youd be fine, it will rev to 7900 no prob, and it cost alittle less than 1600 on a bud. about 2200 done right


PM if interested, I we have other motor packages too

 

Option 3: By the time you used the money to buy the car and the setup, it will be enough to put a huge down payment to buy an Evo. I've been down this road already, spent 3 grand building an NA Integra, then sold all the parts and turbocharged it. The power was okay (no tractions what so ever) but there was many problems, oil leaks, boost leaks, blown headgasket, and way more. So finally, I sold the integra and bought the Evo for 20k, which I should've done in the first place. What ever you decide on, good luck

 

Wish I could end up with an EVO, but my credit is kinds shady after missed payment on truck and being late on alot of stuff over the past 5 months because of school... if $5k down would get me one then heck yes but it won't be enough im sure and i have no co-signer

 

If you don't have a good chunk of disposable income, #1 is the way to go. You can piece-meal it over time and not have to worry about serious maintainence issues as much as you would with a turbo setup.

Down the road you will want more power but by that point you should either have the money to do so, or you'll want to get a different car.

 

For the money you can't buy a more enjoyable car to drive. Stops way better than any stock Evo and plenty fast. My Mint Type R is for sale.

http://www.honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1493873

 

Those are not cheap and not easy to find, a gem by all means however for the price I would rather dip into something else, plus semi shaky credit would make it hard to get one I just wish I knew if I am bad enough that $5000 down on a $20,000 car would be out of the question.