epotron

I've been thinking about starting my project car but wanna know how much it would cost to get a stock '93 civic hatchback to 800hp

Chance EG

Depends on way too many factors and you're not really providing any details here.

Also why 800hp?

k20z1ej1

Like chance said, there's too many factors to give you an accurate answer. That said, if you buy used parts and can do your own fabrication, engine assembly, etc, then you could probably build a b series car for 10-12k. Just a ballpark figure. Since you're asking how much it would cost, I'll assume you haven't built a Honda before and would have to pay someone to do fabrication, welding, engine assembly, tuning, etc. If that's the case, I would budget 20k.

epotron

I'm currently 16 years old and don't know much about tuning or what parts of a car is so sorry if i'm a big noob, but I will be buying a stock '93 civic hatchback as my first car and plan on tuning it myself with the help of some of my friends that know some what about cars and such. My goal is to make 800 hp but will be happy with making 600 hp. My budget is 13k. I'm currently doing my research at the moment before I start buying stuff and tuning it. Thanks in advance for the help! If u have any recommendations I should do please let me know, thanks.

Caoboy

First, buy said car. drive your car. Enjoy it. Learn all about the ins and outs of it. Then figure out what you want to change to make it better for you, and figure out how to do that.

Obviously you're setting a HP goal for a reason. What reason is that?

Are you planning on drag racing it? Are you planning on keeping this as a 'daily driver?'

Are you planning on spending 10k on a motor and turbo setup only to have a mishap happen on the dyno and the 10k has now just blown away with the block?

You're fixated on a HP goal and you have no real direction except "800! But I'd be happy with 600!" Those are two VERY different numbers and the routes to get to each will very likely change along the way.

DumpdEJ6

Plus, you're 16. How experienced are you as a driver? Now obviously I'm projecting here, but when I was 16, there's no way in hell a 800hp, 600hp, or even 400hp car would have been a good idea.

AZ_CIVIC

iTrader: (1)

Scary when you think about it, my son just got his permit and I am prepping him to drive my race car. Baby steps LOL

the_unknown

I dont know why nobody focuses on this point more when 16 yr olds come in here wanting to make their first car and only daily into 9 sec drag monster or highway pull pansie... but above everything else, YOU NEED TRANSPORTATION. If you cant afford to have 2 cars running, insured, registered, and maintained, you are not going to have an 800hp civic. What are you going to do about getting around when the car is being worked on? Better yet, like the guy above said, what happens when you put every cent into building (assuming you get that far) and when on the dyno a valve drops and crushes the whole rotating assembly, block, everything? Would you be able to rebuild it then? What would you do for getting around in the meantime?

I wish someone clued me in on this more when I was coming up, all these pipe dreams about 500+hp civics and not once did I ever account for the fact that I need to drive everyday. Not trying to put a damper on your parade but we tend to let our dreams blind what is actually ahead of us, and that is the real world. Focus on getting a nice example of what you want first, then maybe do a nice simple street build 350whp in a civic will trounce pretty much 99% of anything you'll encounter on a regular basis. Good luck brother, you have a long road of lessons ahead of you

AZ_CIVIC

iTrader: (1)

There is some truth to that, I was one of those dudes who bought my first car and it was my only car. All of the scenarios above happened to me and it sucks, however I was glad when I bought a daily and had my project car not needing to rely on the project car for transportation.

However, this kid supposedly has 13k for his project so far, we don't know if he has some other transportation or not. I am assuming he still lives at home and is in high school so I don't want to assume he hasn't thought this through or not.

solo227

im 35 years old, building my first turbo car and I think about his ALL the time... LOL

snobordboy

I think Reid at Kstuned did a good breakdown of the costs to truly build a car in that league, and has a blog post about it. But basically to build it and keep it running/ racing, assuming it's a drag car, and you have to pay for fab work, was actually closer to 60K.

hondaracing84

iTrader: (1)

One other thing to point out, if you do build it for 800hp, don't tune it yourself. Unless you have taken EFI classes and have a lot of experience building fuel and timing maps for turbo, don't try for 800hp off the bat. Having friends who know some about cars is also not enough to tune an 800hp 4 cylinder either.

If you're dead set on tuning yourself, you need to either take a good EFI tuning class and then practice, or start really small and work your way up. Start with a stock n/a motor with a wideband. Mess with it to figure out how changes affect everything. You'll learn how to tune from there. Just work your way up until you can do it. But it takes time. I know tuners who learned that way and have tuned some powerful cars in their shop.

But if you're looking for 800hp quickly, find a good shop to tune it for you.

JDMarv

thats for a Sport FWD class car. God damn i made 415whp on my first tuning session and that was working great on the street, we turned it up a bit when we went to the track (making over 500whp for sure lol) and havent turned it back down cause i wasnt playing on the streets at the time, and it's just dumb until like middle of 3rd gear on the street whenever i was doing random solo pulls lol.

AZ_CIVIC

iTrader: (1)

Yeah it was for SFWD and 1000+ and it was like 75K. Those figures are pretty accurate, unless you do everything yourself.

epotron

I would like to thank everybody for the responses and feel like I didn't give out too much detail. I've been driving ever since I was 15, i'm turning 17 this May. I drive my parents car if need to which was quite often, never went out far as I didn't want to get stopped by police far from home. I plan to drag race the car and don't plan on rushing the project. I'm currently doing my research and watching videos of things of such as How and Why this and that is needed and such. I plan to be a mechanic in the future and I feel like this will benefit me a lot. I have a few friends that know about cars and such and they will be helping me with my car. I don't mind waiting a few years to finish my project. Just like @AZ_CIVIC said, baby steps. And of course if I need deep help on something I do plan on taking it to a shop here and there and to check if it I have any major errors.And I plan on taking classes. Also i'm still in high school and live with my parents, but my school is like 5 blocks away.

AZ_CIVIC

iTrader: (1)

Yep, projects don't need to be rushed and a lot of people doubt other peoples ambitions and goals. I've spent a lot of money on my project car and it costs a lot to maintain these types of builds which is why I always say people who want to build these types of cars should keep them as project cars.

As long as you take your time and do things right it can be a fun process especially when you're done.

Dorkenheimer

I can't measure someone's desire. But speaking from very little experience, you won't make 800hp on 13k. 600, seems more feasible and is PLENTY fast. Can't you just start out with like a single cam turbo or something? LS turbo even? NA k series?

AZ_CIVIC

iTrader: (1)

You probably could but you would be missing all the supporting modifications to support the power.

epotron

Guess i'll have to wait and see how it goes. Is installing a T3/T4 Turbo smart on a stock motor or should I swap out the engine for a better one and then install the T3/T4 Turbo?

k20z1ej1

lots of guys use t3/t4s on stock engines. there are many variations of the t3/t4 so we cant give you a fair yes or no answer based on what we have. what engine do you have currently in your civic? honestly as im typing this i find myself compelled to say this - youre young. save your money. it is very expensive to build a fast car, even a 90s honda. I have a very mild 95 civic with a mosty stock longblock and a turbo kit made up mostly of used parts and im STILL in it for around $6k. i started out thinking i could build my car for around 4k and, as most people will tell you, the reality is that it ends up being more expensive than anyone thinks. if youre set on boosting your car anyway, find someone with a used kit consisting of quality name brand parts and try that. or buy a go-autoworks kit if you want new.

93h2beg

My build is meant to be between 4-500 hp. BUT I tried to build the block to support 800.

Hope is that it will survive some abuse at 450.

the motor is only part of the equation. Think axles, clutch, wheels and tires, that right there will $1500 - $2000- a good transmission and good LSD - rebuild the trans with good syncros new bearings and seal another 2k. (buying the trans, the LSD and rebuilding it yourself with good parts)

Upgrade the fuel system, and get a quality intercooler- another 1k. NO EBAY JUNK FOR 800 HP

Now 5k of your 13k is spent.

For 800Hp the turbo will be in the range of $1500-2000 depeing on how nice of a turbo you want, ball bearing? oil cooled? oil and water?

My pistons are real turbo pistons with real turbo wrist pins (if you dont think there is a difference you dont have a "real" turbo motor) they were $900 for 4 friggin pistons and pins. rememebr i only want 450 HP.
Are you buying a sleeved block or getting one done? I bought a used sleeved block ($800) and spent another 2k making it actully right, including all new ARP studs etc...

Then there is the head, springs, valves, retainers, valve job, intake manifold, injectors, good turbo cams- at 800 HP you will need better ignition for that 800. So MSD? COP? tuning software- tuner? How much are we at now???

Do you plan on being able to stop? You may want to dump a few bucks into the braking system now too.

Then figure in a few hundered for buying wrong parts, breaking something, losing something or getting a "screaming" good deal on a part that turns out isnt right for your build.

So now you have your motor and drivetrain... what car is it going in? Oh yea, now buy a car worth putting your sparkling new jewel in.

GoldieWang

Just be careful, take your time, and research everything first at least twice. You'll still mess up from time to time but that's how we learn. If you can start out small.

93h2beg I love your signature man its so true to everything I have done lol.
"spending money i dont have, to buy sh*t i dont need, to impress people I don't know." -ME

billybobman805

I'm 17 just finished high school. I built a 710 hp ek with my brother in our garage all high quality parts, and I am a mechanic..not a lube tech at some dealer, a REAL mechanic. You got a ways to think man.. being a mechanic isn't cool, it's a bitch slap every day and especially when snap on comes to take your money. About your build, its gonna take alot more than self knowledge, my brother did this in the 90s so I had alot of his help learning all this and even did some street turbo tuning. Blew some blocks tuning at 400hp on the street, theres way too much to learn so just pay somebody to do it, because tuning na on 91 Oct is one thing, tuning for boost high comp with e85 is a whole different thing and it will blow.to get to 700+ hp (limited by injectors), it will take 20k no doubt. Just focus on buying a clean b series car first then make it clean and strip some stuff, then slowly add what you want to make a turbo car than you can use on your na platform temporarily (catch can) It's easier said than done, but you really won't have any fun going the route your going.

turboLScrx

660sherpa

I don't have a clue what an 800 hp engine cost today.
I did build my car 20+ years ago, & the parts alone were plenty North of $50k.

It a FWD body style car which I build as
a rwd,
a SFI 6.0 ET legal NHRA roll cage/tube chassis car,
carbon fiber front end,
doors,
rear bumper/deck
preformed poly- carbonate windows,
& a whole heck of a lot more,
including 4 wheel Lamb carbon fiber disc brakes,
Racepak data acquisition, bead lock rear wheels & more. Yeah, it's a turd boiler, but it's my turd boiler.

Now I'm researching the idea of installing
A K20 series , boosted, & adapted to a Reid AFTERMARKET cased power-glide.....
w/10 clutch drum, cryo'ed input shaft, & billet alumium torque converter.

<rated @ 2500hp , if you don't have rediculas torque, like we get from our billet V8 Hemi we have in another car w/psi twin screw C rotor,
that make 50lbs+ of boost on top of 495"..Bryant billet crank in it. $8K FORGED, THEN completely machined to look like a BILLET BLOCK..Heads are billet, & no water anywhere.>

So we too are looking at what is the cost of an entry level drag race engine that makes 800hp in a honda.

we know a little about what 1800+ takes in a honda, parts wise...
$4k Bryant billet crank, $5k drysump/pan , GRP rods, good Head, ect, ect..

For us, the 4 cyl engine program is new, so we wanna walk before we run, & look at doing,
say an 800hp program 1st. Learn oir,way thru the intercooler logistics & other things a "Block 10" program teaches you before you get to block 20.

Then Maybe get into our
*already been there wheel house*
of 2000hp, block 20- or 30- 90..who knows??

but with 1/4th the cubic inches of what WE are used too for decades, (I'm an old man)
if that's even possible..

We never thought 4000hp was doable 10 yrs ago w/hemi screw stuff,
& now it's not that hard..
just heaps of money & experience...& some luck.

Anyone with a pulse & cash can build a 2-3000 hp Billet Hemroid these days...
All the parts are out there, to be bought.

But we are looking for a NEW CHALLENGE.

One that starts with say, an 800hp program,
& then after a yr or so of that.....
We may decide to indulge in the Bryant crank, Drysump, 75lbs of boost --- deal.

But we, as the O/P, don't have a clue what building an 800hp <k series turbo eng in pur case>
will TRUELY entail, both parts quality wise & cash wise. & do we want any of the 800hp stuff to go into the Block 20+ program of even more hp??

& yes, sleeved block, good rods, pistons, head, ect.,
we realize needs to be done on the 800hp stuff.
But we still no nothing!!

Can you build this 800 hp engine,
just engine,
yourself, for say.... $10k?? $12? $15?
Paying for block prep I suppose, as we do not own boring equip.. Just a Storm Vulcan 85B & TCM 25

Short of building an ADAPTOR for the glide, & ECU, Innercooler pcs... we may nearly much of the rest sitting at the shop, & on wheels & tires now...

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
thx for a great forum, a great place to come share & learn, btw!!!
We are certainly Honda rookies, NO DOUBT!

But we maybe a small step up, from rookies,
in the world of drag racing w/over w/2k+ hp.

After 30+ yrs in this business now, we are
STILL as lost as ever, on the Honda eng program we need to start at 800hp.
& if we then go to what we know.. Big boost, rwd stuff on 4 cyl's.

Again, any help appreciated...
Please,
don't hold it against us for being domestic muscle our whole lives,
till now, anyways..
We have TRUELY been blessed,
but it's taken decades of 3500+ hour per yr of work to get to where we are now...
and we are nobody...thats for sure
Hope too get some direction from anyone who can help us.

We humbly thank you as rookie' of both Honda's and message boards.. We havnt posted on boards pur entire life till now.. not more than u can count on 1 hand anyway.

So if we broke proper etiquette here today, we apologize for our ignorance..