99siky

For my first build I wanted something to give my B16A2 a little more low end power. I wasn't looking for a lot out of turbo setup because I wanted to retain the drivability of the car. I wanted A/C, power steering, and the ability to switch back to N/A if I wanted to. My goal was to have 220-240WHP. The smaller turbo would help to give me a better street driving experience. As many of us B16 owners know, there is just nothing there below 4500 RPM.

So anyways, here is the parts list I developed for this build:
Stock block and transmission
Competition Clutch Stage 4 (Six puck)
Koni/Ground Control Setup with 300/350lb springs
Ebay T3 turbo- 52 trim in a .43/.48 housing
Generic slim fans with over 1000 cfm each
Oil restrictor and in-line filter
Ebay intercooler piping with t-clamps and silicone
Ebay 2.5" exhaust but I have a thermal muffler sitting in my garage I can weld on at any time. It sounds good as it sits so I'm going to just use it for now.
Oil sandwhich plate for feed/sensors
Smaller K&N air filter
DSM 450cc black top injectors
OBDII-OBDI Injector clip adapters from phearable
Omni-power 2.5 bar map sensor
Honda resistor box
Tial 38mm wastegate (Black) with 7 psi spring (upgraded to 12 psi when tuned lol)
HKS blow off valve
Goautoworks cast manifold (A/C compatible)
P28 ECU with Neptune (Awesome by the way)
Prosport gauges
Dash gauge pod
Blox FPR (did not use)
MSD cap and external coil (I know, I know)
NGK spark plug wires
NGK BKR6E plugs (still trying to figure out if those are ok or switch to 7E. Tuner said to send him pics in a week)

I haven't had a lot of time here lately so I paid someone to do the install to save some time. Overall he did an excellent job with it. The only thing I wasn't happy with was that he half-*** the wiring job on the resistor box and it caused me a lot of problems. A couple month delay, 3 injectors and an extra (unnecessary) ecu later, the problem was fixed. He twisted the wires together without solder or crimping them. Only taped them together and made it look pretty on the outside. I tested and tested every wire multiple times and came up with nothing. The only thing I could come up with was that the heat from the engine and bouncing up and down caused the injector to fry. I have made a thread about this problem and it has a lot of good advice from a lot of knowledgeable people. It is really good trouble shooting for anything related to injector/ecu problems. Either way, I am working out something with the mechanic so he can do some work or give me some money for the parts and time he cost me. You wouldn't think that a professional mechanic at a dealership would cut a corner on something like that. At least I am somewhat mechanically inclined enough to fix his mistakes. Other than that I was impressed with everything else.
His friend is a professional welder so the intercooler piping looks fantastic. The intercooler mounted in nice and tight against the bumper and most of it was a breeze. I ran into trouble though because the original turbo was in a .50 trim with a larger housing (to4B?). So I had to order the current turbo I have and I sold the .50 M12 (Ebay because it was brand new and I got it with a lot of other parts in a package deal). Will upgrade later down the road once I get a feel for the size and power band I want to have. The downpipe was welded by the mechanic I took it to and it was an alright job. Nothing fancy but it works. The dumptube was done by me though. I fabricated it myself. Not pretty but I'm not the most experienced welder. As long as it works and is a solid weld right? I also cut some extra intercooler piping in order to make the air filter fit where it is. Not to bad but I would like to get it to the factory location and put a larger filter on there. My tuner said it will choke the turbo at the higher RPMs. This is what has been done to it. Pretty solid little build minus the turbo. Looks good and gets the job done with hp to spare.

The tune went well and I was able to eventually reach my goal. I wanted to get around 220-240whp but I only had the 6 psi spring. The tune started good and he cleaned up part throttle and idle. It was pretty cold that day so there were times we had to let the car warm back up before another run could be made. We found out that my thermostat was stuck open so it caused the car to run pretty cool sometimes during the tune. The car ended up making 202whp on 6psi. It was a little short of my goal. I was at total performance racing in Cincinnati and they had a full set of Tial springs there so I just picked up a 12psi spring. That got me to 10psi and I made 242whp and around 182 ft/lbs. Full torque was made right around 3600 RPM and stayed pretty consistent. I am happy with the setup and it is a very usable power curve on the street. My only complaint is that I was misinformed about the clutch and it has a lot of chatter and isn't really a good choice for this setup or power level. Other than that I am a happy camper and am glad to finally join the community of boost!

I am going to put up some pictures I have of the build but if there is anything you want to see let me know. I will put up some more pics of the engine bay and the work I have done later when I have time to take some. Thanks for reading guys and big thanks to everyone who helped me with all the problems/delays I had with this build. Also Total Performance Racing was a really nice experience and nice group of people. I ordered a lot of parts from Zerolift Autolab and they were nice to deal with as well. Nothing can come close to the advice and work that Dave B. did with me. He was there all the way from start to finish and went above and beyond to make sure I got all the problems sorted out with the car so I could get it tuned. I was very impressed with his abilities and knowledge.

99siky

Here is the engine as it sits now and the dyno sheet I got for the day on 10 PSI

carnot

Will be interesting to see how engine cooling and the AC works in the summer. I have a turbo H23 prelude and I also demanded good AC since it is my daily driver and I live in the South. I tried various combinations of after market fans but never found anything that worked as well as stock with the nice shrouds they have. I understand you don't have room in the civic bay and the way b-series sit.........let us know how it works this summer.

99siky

I will for sure. My tuner suggested a couple things for me to do in the long term for this project and the first was the radiator. Get a larger one with a bigger core and aluminum. I have a mishimoto on my mustang and it does good. I might go with that but I'm not sure yet. I will do some research and see how it goes. I also though about making my own shroud with a baking sheet or something like I saw on here. Provides for excellent clearance and still gets the job done.

99siky

Here are some more pics of the setup and my car. Its a little dirty because where I work it has a lot of dust. I have the Honda resistor box, MSD cap and coil, HKS BOV, Tial wastegate. I love the stance and the tenzo R rims. A little heavy though but they look good at least. I want to eventually take the body kit back to stock but that is a lot of extra money I don't really want to spend right now. Any advice on my setup please let me know!

Thanks guys

99siky

Also you can see the bends I had to do to the dumptube in order to get it to go around the intercooler piping. I thought I did a good job minus the welds looking like a 5th grader did them. Ha.

justYncredible

iTrader: (1)

What's up with that curve you got going on there? Can your tuner smooth that out more?

99siky

I thought he did when he set vtec. There was a curve when vtec set in due to a restriction in the air flow is what I think the final verdict was. My filter was pretty small in comparison to other setups he has tuned. I opted for a smaller filter so I didn't have to run even more piping to get it to a location to put in a bigger one. Maybe a project for later. He suggested putting the vtec engagement at this rpm because it was the lowest possible without suffering major HP loss on the curve.

99siky

And by the way I plan to do a major clean up of the engine bay now that all the major work is done. I know its a little messy but I figured that would be the last thing to do along with a complete tear down and cleanup of the interior.
Has anyone had any experience putting their setups through steam cleaning or should it be done by hand?

SiRCiviC94

Coulda made 300+ if it wasn't for the fancy pants luxuries. What turbo? I didn't read what you used

Edit now I see. U got good power from that lil thing. Lets us know how she lasts

99siky

I will probably be changing my spring to the 6PSI setting so that way I can have more longevity out of my setup. I will keep everyone posted on cooling numbers and ware and tear.

I am also going to check all of my notes and post up about my problem with my injectors and give a comprehensive checklist for it. Should be very informative and kind of a one-stop shop for injector trouble shooting.

Also, does anyone have any recommendations on how to drill out the hole for the IAT sensor? What size hole should it be and how should I secure it?

99siky

Here are the two threads that I used in order to diagnose the problem that I had with my injectors during this build. There are a lot of useful tests and things to check.

https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-civic-del-sol-1992-2000-1/b16-no-injector-pulse-3055800/

https://honda-tech.com/forums/forced-induction-16/fuel-injector-keeps-failing-even-after-new-replacement-3111381/

I also googled the proper map for the ECU harness to determine what wires are what.

99siky

Well it has hit 80 degrees so far in my region. I have to say that I have not encountered any cooling issues or decrease of a/c temperature yet. I am still planning on putting thermal wrap on the DP and dumptube but I want to get some readings on temps first before putting anything on. I will run the exact temps with Neptune once the weather truly gets hot and post up findings. Then I will do the same with the thermal wrap once I have it installed.

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

Not that this has anything to do with anything but PLEASE tell me you don't have an amp power cable running through the fender.

99siky

No I do not. It is running through a hole in the firewall that was previously there.Nothing is running through the fender.

99siky

I see where it looks like that. It is run like that so there is no sharp pinch points in the cable. The fuse is right below the piping. Can't really see it in the picture.

Turbo-LS

iTrader: (4)

If thats an original DOHC civic SI radiator its dual core and will be sufficient. It will stay cool and the a/c will work just fine. I suggest some heat shield on the a/c lines. Other than that will will be ok. could also invest in a turbo blanket to reduce radiant heat. Possibly make a heat shield for the manifold.

juda7

Nice build. I found an old Dyno that has around the same HP for reference. Might help out.

99siky

It is indeed the factory radiator. I am definitely getting the wrap and turbo blanket. I just have to wait a little bit until I can save up a little. Had some unexpected expenses come up. I appreciate the suggestions. I will look into all of these and keep everyone posted.

kyden

em1's came with a single core. I wouldn't worry about it unless your temps start creeping up.