velisma

Well, I am looking at purchasing an Integra GSR (USDM motor) within a weeks time and am wanting to know about some modifications to start off with. What are some weak points w/ the GSR that can be remedied/improved upon. I know that when it comes to moding the engine that combinations of parts you will notice bigger differences in performance than if you add things one at a time. So, lets start w/ some good combinations for bolt-ons... what are some combos you guys have had personal experiences with that you feel is worth the money... Thanks in advance! :D

DAintegraGSR

Well the GSR is def a strong motor, really no weak points in my opinion, Id start with basic... Intake/Header? and exhaust system.. cant go wrong there desent power adders, and all three together will def make a nice diff on your ride... good luck with the swap and build, o also dont forget your regular main. plugs, wires, cap, fuel filter etc.

mattyrocks785

i say the standard I/H/E and cat delete pipe (and the spacers to prevent the CEL). save up all your mods and spend a day doing them all at once. when you do them, do maintanance too. change oil, plugs, oil filter, fuel filter, and o2 sensors. underdrive pulleys would help, clutch and lightweight flywheel. and doing a power steering removal. you just collect the parts and do all of that at once, youve got it made. the hp gains wont be AMAZGING but you'll actually notice the gain.

95LS1t

don't get a lightweight flywheel, waste of money.
i got mine for free and just resurfacing it was a waste of money lol

i would change the gaskets too, if the head is still on the block dont bother with the headgasket

i would:
change the IM/Header gasket
if it is unknown, or not original, i would get a new OEM waterpump/timing belt/tensioner
plugs/wires/oil change/oil filter
clean the IACV

If the clamps for vacuum/coolant hoses are corroded/rusty replace those, they often lead to the hoses leaking

as far as mods:
itr replica header> dc 4-1 header
2.5 inch exhaust, hi flow cat or test pipe
intake, not a short ram and not a whale *****
itr cams if you're feelin good.

sp00ledbseries

^^^ What he said. but I would use a hondata intake mani gasket. Also I would bump up to some sk2 cams or crower

velisma

I have heard rave reviews on hytech replica headers from a local guy here for b-series... what do you guys think as far as gains?

p.s. The car I'm getting has between 120-130,000 miles on it (motor included) so some freshening up will be in order. THANK YOU SOOO much for the maintenance tips. That will be the first "upgrades" I do. haha! Any other concerns or advice for an upgrade path on the engine concerning bolt-ons? Good info. so far... Thanks guys...

think of it like this... what would you do if it was yours? Any "factory" upgrades aside from the ones mentioned? I love the fact that Honda almost (if not "DOES") has an "aftermarket" product line built into there catalogue. Good factory combos ( i would like to turbo this motor possibly in the future)?

sp00ledbseries

You can only build your car for NA or boost. I am a NA guy. A all motor GSR gets my nuts off. IF it was me get a good amount of head work done and raise that compression up.

B16Civic93

well from my opinion if you plan on doing any major power adders to the engine if you decide to replace the clutch, do yourself a favor and replace it with something good that will hold power, ( cc stage 3-4) also another thing you could do that wasnt mentioned would be an adjustable fuel pressure regulator and gauge, adjustable cam gears, i personally like the 4-2-1 headers over the 4-1.

like mentioned above, i would do basic maintenance like the water pump, timing belt, tensioner, oil and oil filter change, fuel filter, spark plugs(ngk), wires(ngk), cap and rotor. while you are replacing the header i'd do a new exhaust manifold gasket. you could do a new ground wire kit also.

my opinion for the intake would be a short ram, esp if its going to be a daily driven car or a car driven in the rain.

another good upgrade is to get a skunk2 intake maifold so that you can do away with the secondary butterflys. but in order to do this you would have to get the ecu chipped(obd1) or convert it to obd1 if its a 96 or newer and then get it chipped.

hope this helps!

SIR EF9

Jdm type r headers and exhaust!!!

velisma

It definitely does! Keep 'em coming!

The car is a 97 so how would you convert a obd2a car to obd1 to do the tuning for a skunk2 mani? (BTW, I have a friend that is running a SiR-G in his EJ w/ full bolt-ons and it scoots quite a bit more than my bolt-on (I/H/E) B16A3 does. So the mani on a GSR can be improved on then huh?

OrangeTeggy

the fuel pressure regulator wouldnt do much for him would it,

And maybe some AEM power pulleys.

And whats a good NGK spark plug too run and where can you buy itr cams?

backyard_concepts

Build the top end. Manifold, throttle body, cams etc. Things that you can use later if you do decide to go turbo at a later date.

atli126

iTrader: (-1)

nitrous is always a fun cheap option, once you open it up with header/intake/exhaust, and i got a rmf knock off header and love it, and i also have a jdm 4-1 type r header, 2001 itr cams and a dc 4-2-1 header for sale plus many other items if you are interested...
thanks

velisma

The car already has a short ram air intake, DC 4-2-1 headers and a Tanabe super medallion exhaust on it. Maybe cams and pulleys next? My friend with the SiR-G is running a CTR crank pulley on his motor too. I was thinking of maybe doing the same thing. So, building the head is the way to go if I want to go turbo then? I was surprised to hear A LOT of my friends tell me NOT to turbo the B18C1 and just turbo my B16A3 instead. They said that a B16A would be more ideal for boost. Any validity behind that statement? And if so, why B16A over a B18C1? Thanks guys...

revn99teg

iTrader: (1)

That is a valid statement because of the fact that a GSR head yield for higher compression when compared to a b16. Lower compression is what you want if you're going for boost.
For just basic bolt-ons, stick to the basics. Keep the 4-2-1, sri, and exhaust. I wouldn't add/change the IM, cams, or anything inside your block, because as you said you want to turbo it later on. There's no point in changing to NA cams right now if you're ypu're just going to change them for boost profile cams anyways (waste of money there) and besides those aren't considered as bolt-ons anyways. Don't change the IM and the cat to a test pipe either, you will need to have a tune for these mods and why spend double the money for two tunes when you can just do it once when you build up your turbo setup. I wouldn't go for stage 3-4 clutch on a basic setup either, thats just overkill for a DD, save that for your turbo build, you only need an exedy replacement or stage 1. Also you can run a high flow cat instead of a test pipe even if you are boosted, much more cleaner this way. The guys at SMSP makes fabricates high flow cats for boost applications. But that is all down the road. And you also need to build your bottom end (sleeve and lower comp) and not just your head for a boost setup (research first).

So, recap: if you want bolt-ons for now and plan to go turbo in the NEAR future go for intake, headers, and cat-back and nothing else.
If it was me, I would change to a CAI for more mid-high rpm power, and I would stick to 2.25" pipes instead of 2.5" because thats too big imo for NA and would just create an uneven air flow out your exhaust. All the main. that they said are obviously good...oh make sure that you ask for a compression test before you get the GSR. Always a good precaution to see if the motor is still okay. Hope everything works out for you.

vladd

as already mentioned, there's no reason to get a stronger clutch than what's necessary, stronger clutches are stiffer and typically wear faster.

as for what motor to turbo, i'd go with the b18c1. both the b18c1 and b16a3 have similar compression, but you have the extra .2L with the b18.

jdm_bones

iTrader: (5)

SK2 mani, 65mm TB, 310 injectors fuel pressure regulator, walbro 255 fuel pump, NGK plugs and wires, JDM ITR header, hi flow cat, and a good professional tune on hondata.

95skunkedgsr

dont know if its the best combo but i have 95 gsr 122,xxx miles , skunk2 intake mani ,68mm t-body,hondata intake mani gasket,hytec replica header, skunk2 cat back exaughst, short ram intake with bpi velocity stack, cheap f1 stage 3 clutch and light weight flywheel, and no tune u dont need tune for those mods and no check engine light either ... dont get me wrong she will probly pull alot better with tune but i figured the motor is gettin ripped apart scoon anyway for a allmotor build

9KRevLimitDC2

Why are all these people making recommendations and you haven't even driven the car yet?! As far as the ONLY things you should do before you have driven the car and gotten used to it would be maintenance. As others have already said.. change everything you have knowledge about before you start throwing on parts and changing the feel of the car. Everything from plugs, wires, cap, rotor, oil, fuel and oil filters, timing belt, water pump, belt tensioner, and maybe even the oil pump should be changed just due to the milage of the car (unless the car has a service history that says these have been maintained already.) second, drive the car after you made sure everything that can/will break on a high mileage car wont. Beat on it a little get used to the gears/power etc.. then decide what you want to do from there be it boost or N/A. Then you can start to source parts that compliment your tastes. Dont listen to those who said you need to swap in a heavy duty clutch, those pointless shitty pulleys, and remove things such as abs and power steering only you can tell yourself if you'd like to drive a car with any of those changes. You wont need a bigger fuel pump, fuel pressure regulator, cam gears or injectors with a stock motor with bolt-ons. Just do your research.. and if you are throwing on multiple bolt-ons (intake, IM, tb, exhaust, header) GET A TUNE.

Schister66

When i first got my GSR, i ran into this same problem. I already knew the car wasn't going to be fast enough (and i hadn't driven it yet). I contemplated spending money on NA bolt-ons, but did a little research first. To my dismay, i noticed that for the near $1000 i was going to spend, there wasnt much power to be gained. Instead of chipping away gradually at the 200whp barrier with NA parts, i decided to save my money for a year and build a simple turbo setup. That to me was the far superior option. I'm not trying to change your mind on your setup, i'm merely offering up another option that you may not have considered fully.

For my first setup i was on a budget. I did everything, from clutch to tuning to the entire turbo setup for a shade under $3000. I got a conservative tune and put down 274whp/196wtq on the stock block. To me that was a far better investment than spending a grand and picking up maybe 20whp. I got over 100whp more. Later setups pushed the stock block to 315whp/216wtq which shows how conservative my original tune was.

You can turbo your stock block and make great power. There are several people, myself included, who DD'd 300whp+ stock internal GSRs. Just something to think about before investing in another route.

KaBlookie

wow...

One of the biggest wastes of money possible. Makes your car sound obnoxious and raspy and gives you literally no power gains. Stick with your OEM cat or get a high-flow cat (they're really not expensive).


O2 sensors might not be necessary. If he's getting good gas mileage and isn't seeing any CELs, there's no sense in spending all that money on O2 sensors if it's not needed.

Getting underdrive pullies is really only good on power steering. You don't want to underdrive your alternator, and you sure as hell don't want to get any kind of lightweight or underdriving crank pulley. Yes, reducing rotating mass is good, but with the crank pulley, all aftermarket pieces (aside from the Fluidampr) won't have the vibration-absorbing element in them, which is VERY important in the long run with your engine. It really helps keep internal unwanted engine vibrations in check, AND it absorbs vibration coming from the accessories and helps prevent all that from reaching the engine internals.

Removing power steering isn't for everybody. I didn't notice any difference whatsoever in power when I took the belt off my power steering pump, although some people have seen results on the dyno. Let's let the OP decide for himself if he wants power steering or not.


That's one way of doing it...if you do your mods bit by bit, you'll actually notice the specific benefits of each part rather than one bigger jump. It's really just a preference.


...
Where did you get the idea that a lightweight flywheel is a waste of money? This is literally the first time I have ever seen anybody on any forum say a lightweight flywheel isn't worth the money. You must not be very in tune with how your engine runs...

They're cheap ($180-ish for the Fidanza 7lb), and knock off 10lbs from stock. I noticed a huge difference in throttle response after putting mine in. Can't say the car's faster, but the engine is definitely more responsive and rev-matching downshifts is much easier and more precise. In theory it's very beneficial for the engine to have that.

Again, test pipe is epic fail.

Care to explain why he shouldn't get a short ram or whale *****?

revn99teg

iTrader: (1)

I'm guessing that it was just a bolt-on turbo kit that you started with since you got away with the whole kit and tune for just under $3000. This is a very good option, you definitely got me thinking about doing the same thing but then again I'm going to be selling my GSR pretty soon to get myself into an AP1 or 2.
OP, this is a good option for you if you feel like your GSR is not the way you want it to be when you first get it. BUT make sure that you take the precautions (you can say) with boosting you engine. Comp test to see if your stock internals can handle the stress of boost, overhaul so that you can which parts need to be replaced (piston heads, rings, bent valves, etc...), and most importantly is the tune (its a must for a reliable setup). And again, you DONT need a tune for just bolt-ons even if you do put all of the basics i/h/e/c. I personally won't waste money on a tune for these parts when you're going to spend on it again for a build that you're planning to do. If you're willing to spend the money or not planning to go turbo just yet then go ahead, I'm not saying that getting a tune is bad, I'm just telling you to save your money.

velisma

Is the different on turboing a stock b18c1 as opposed to a stock B16a3 really that much different? I know that the TUNE is the most important aspect of a turbo-ed vehicle. I think if I do turbo it would definitely be on a stock block...

christian2323

Hey need help with my all motors gsr build im trying to atleast get 200 or more hp out of it so far i have acl racing bearings eagle rods edle brock intake manifold skunk2 70mm throttle body skunk2 pro serious stage 2 cams and cam gears i also have arp head studs and gaskets and super tech valve retainers and keepers stock gsr valves and got all of the gaskets i just dont know wat type of pistons to run with my eagle rods