Blujhe

Hey all! I just got off the phone with my mechanic, and my cylinder heads are going bad, probably due to a hit n run a few months ago, so i'm seeing this as an excuse to upgrade to a d17a2 from an a1. I can replace almost anything stock, but i'm a newbie when it comes to mods and upgrades. What kind of upgrades can I do once I get an a2? I've heard of a crower stage 1 camshaft that I can put in, and I'm planning on getting a short ram intake afterward, but that's about it. I've heard something about header polishing and things, but I haven't done any research on that yet. The person I bought the car from put on a 2 and 3/4 inch exhaust pipe, will that be enough for possible future upgrades? is there anything more noticeably powerful than the stage one worth the extra money? I'd love to hear any and all suggestions that I can do to the a2, even if it gets a little pricey. Thank y'all in advance for the advice!

P.S. I would also greatly appreciate if anyone happens to have a guide or video or something for an engine swap from the a1 to the a2.

toyomatt84

iTrader: (1)

Did you take the time to look through this thread? https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-...sting-2101211/

There's answers for your questions within that thread. As for "upgrades" to a D17A2... the best upgrade would be a K-series swap instead of any D17.

Blujhe

I have taken a gander at that list, and I was just curious if there was anything more that anyone could suggest for the entire system, not just the motor, as well as answers to questions not in there, such as sufficient exhaust pipe diameter, and port and polishing. As much as I would love to get a k20, and will probably get one later in life, I don't trust myself enough with the complexity of putting in the k20 myself, and also do not have the funds to have a professional do it, being a simple delivery driver. At this point in time, I will be happy with the few extra horses the a2 will provide, along with upgrades as I can afford them, at my own pace. I'm not looking to beat sports cars just yet, just taking off quicker, and getting up to speed faster, not to mention passing people while giving them less of a chance to be a jerk and speed up when they see me coming.

toyomatt84

iTrader: (1)

Running a ported head, intake manifold, and port matching the header may gain you 5 or so whp and possibly smooth out the powerband. And, to be fair, you're not going to see much of anything from swapping an intake manifold, air intake, and exhaust. Maybe a grand total of 15whp can be gained with all that work and money invested with a K-pro to tune it properly on. Throw in some larger valves, a different cam, and maybe run a different set of pistons to up the compression... you could probably see 35-45whp gain at the absolute max. Is that worth investing a few grand in components, tearing down the engine completely and then getting it tuned? I would lean towards no, but that's up to you. If you're not looking to spend tons of money, or do the K-swap... wasting your money on bolt-ons will yield almost nothing when compared to a simple turbo build. If you're willing to spend the time piecing a kit together, you could put about 50-75 whp gain on a stock engine. You may want to run a different intake manifold and change the headgasket, but those would be far easier swaps then the N/A build mentioned prior.