i have a turboed b18a1 and i was wondering if i should put a b16 head on itand have the ls/vtec or just get port and polish and cams with the stock head?

 

if you know a place that does ls/vtecs really well and they 100% stand behind their work....go to them. but if your friend knows someone that knows how to do it...get the p&p...most common probably w/ ls/vtecs are the people installing the head dont know what the **** they are doing....

 

any other opinions?

 

cmon what would you do?

 

Are you on a budget crisis?

 

vtec head all the way. Cant get any cheaper than $500 for a complete head that will give you as much power as the cams, springs, and retainers for the ls head will.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RenoRacing &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">vtec head all the way. Cant get any cheaper than $500 for a complete head that will give you as much power as the cams, springs, and retainers for the ls head will.</TD></TR></TABLE>

u forgot about the cost of an ecu, b16 distrib, intake manifold, and wiring headaches.

Not that im against the b16 head idea - If he's a little strapped for cash, a ported LS head w/ cams would give near if not equal gains of a vtec head. Most 500 dollar heads on ebay and on HT don't come with an intake manifold, a distrib or the ecu which is good for another 400-600 bucks.

 

I'm gonna have to dis agree w/ you on this one. You can use a ls distributor on a b16 head w/ no problems, just that only two of the dizzy bolts will line up but that's not a big deal, I've ran one on a few of my motors w/ no problems of it ever coming loose or anything.

When it comes to the ecu, you'd need to chip at the least in order to use the full potential of the upgraded ls head w/ cams and increased reving capabilities. So figure that you have two options w/ your stock ls ecu, a RPM activated switch setup that can be had for under $60 and works better in some cases than anything else. Or you can pick up a VAFC for under $200 and have some tuning capabilities as well. and w/ the use of the stock ecu you don't have to worry about oil pressure sensor or knock sensor or speed sensor for vtec to work.

Wiring headaches are far from headaches, and if they are a headache then perhaps a fast car isn't what you need. You have to add one wire to the vtec solenoid itself, one to the distributor or ecu for rpm signal and two or three wires for the relay and rpm switch ground.

B16 heads aren't hard to find and usually come w/ the intake manifold at least. Heck, you can buy a whole b16 longblock w/ manifold and throttle body and a block intact for $600 from several places so i don't think it'd be hard to find a complete head for under $500, like this one. https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=663990

It's all a matter of opinion. I just know from my past experiences including piecing my first motor swap together for under $900 for a ls/vtec w/ b16 tranny, that it can be done if you want to and isn't as hard as many people think and isn't nearly as expensive as many lead you to believe. It was my first swap w/ a honda and I did everything including the ls/vtec "conversion" myself(not the hardest thing to do I know).

And from my experience of my 88 hatch w/ bone stock ls/vtec w/ a chipped pm6 and rpm activated vtec switch beating my friend in his 91 hatch w/ a b20 w/ crower stage two cams, springs, retainers, aluminum flywheel, and a few little things like dc headers, I'd have to say that the stock vtec head will be cheaper, most likely faster, and will leave you with more potential down the road!

 

I'd PnP your head, and upgrade the valvetrain to stainless while you are at it.

 

well im not strapped for cash but i would like cheap and reliable power but if i am going to gain more with one setup than the other then i will go with it assuming that it is not going to be to much more expensive
how much harder would it be to tune vtec with uberdata
and should i get the tranny also?

 

Cheap, reliable, and fast... Pick two

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RenoRacing &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'm gonna have to dis agree w/ you on this one. You can use a ls distributor on a b16 head w/ no problems, just that only two of the dizzy bolts will line up but that's not a big deal, I've ran one on a few of my motors w/ no problems of it ever coming loose or anything.

When it comes to the ecu, you'd need to chip at the least in order to use the full potential of the upgraded ls head w/ cams and increased reving capabilities. So figure that you have two options w/ your stock ls ecu, a RPM activated switch setup that can be had for under $60 and works better in some cases than anything else. Or you can pick up a VAFC for under $200 and have some tuning capabilities as well. and w/ the use of the stock ecu you don't have to worry about oil pressure sensor or knock sensor or speed sensor for vtec to work.

Wiring headaches are far from headaches, and if they are a headache then perhaps a fast car isn't what you need. You have to add one wire to the vtec solenoid itself, one to the distributor or ecu for rpm signal and two or three wires for the relay and rpm switch ground.

B16 heads aren't hard to find and usually come w/ the intake manifold at least. Heck, you can buy a whole b16 longblock w/ manifold and throttle body and a block intact for $600 from several places so i don't think it'd be hard to find a complete head for under $500, like this one. https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=663990

It's all a matter of opinion. I just know from my past experiences including piecing my first motor swap together for under $900 for a ls/vtec w/ b16 tranny, that it can be done if you want to and isn't as hard as many people think and isn't nearly as expensive as many lead you to believe. It was my first swap w/ a honda and I did everything including the ls/vtec "conversion" myself(not the hardest thing to do I know).

And from my experience of my 88 hatch w/ bone stock ls/vtec w/ a chipped pm6 and rpm activated vtec switch beating my friend in his 91 hatch w/ a b20 w/ crower stage two cams, springs, retainers, aluminum flywheel, and a few little things like dc headers, I'd have to say that the stock vtec head will be cheaper, most likely faster, and will leave you with more potential down the road!
</TD></TR></TABLE>

how long did it take you to write that, son?

 

stick with a built LS head. show the doubters that you dont need vtechk to be fast!

 

lol. I type like 60-70 wpm so it took about 5 minutes, not arguing, just debating!

 

STAY LS
Dont join the Vtec crowd stay with the LS crowd and make that faster.

 

how much harder would tuning be for vtec with uberdata?
and how much of a increase you htink i could expect with new cams p&p springs and retainers?

 

Ported LS head with upgraded valvetrain and Crower turbo cams..

Whoot whoot..

 

huh?

 

hey drag on you saying that is a good thing or a bad thing?

 

I'm saying port the head you have-- get crower or EF-1 valve train and run crower turbo cams.. Sick *** set up.. Ask Cheezefrog..

 

i am thinking about not doing the vtec and just get some cams and springs retainers etc... for the ease of tuning

 

I'd only mess with the Vtec head if you're going to supplement the bottom end to safely take advantage of the higher rpm gains. (rod bolts, water pump, etc)
If you're looking for a cylinder head upgrade for your LS bottom end (using the bottom end as-is), the some good port work and new valvetrain on the LS cylinder head is probably the better way to go.
I'm obviously a LSVT supporter but it all comes down to how complicated you want to make it and how much money you want to spend.

Good luck with your project

 

what part of illinois you from brood im from illinois as well