jbpnoman

About a year, and bullshit. There's no way in hell inflation would stop someone from piecing together a turbo kit for less than $2k.

NVturbo

OP has a DX motor. enough said.

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

And the average kid with the Fast and Furious itch isn't going to be patient. Isn't going to research. Isn't going to know HOW to piece a kit together. I pieced my kit together for less but after all is said and done with other misc. parts like a clutch and expenses it was more than $2k.

jbpnoman

So do I. Still not a valid counter-argument.

You're right, Grumble, but hey, maybe we'll get lucky this time around.

dlstech

Just stay stock and have a reliable car. When I first got my hatch I instantly wanted to boost it but it's great for daily driving and very reliable. If you're asking this question I'm guessing you don't know much about cars and it will either cost you a lot of money to boost good or you'll go the cheap way and break down quick.

Texas4door

I dunno...the market sucked more and prices/labor was much lower last year...

And I meant if it was done during the recession, it'd be alot cheaper than now
^^;

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

I wasn't aware that we were OUT of the recession.
For something small on a stock engine you could pull off a kit for $2k. But only if you had the patience to research the build.
Check the Marketplace right now. There's a guy selling a JRSC for $1k that you could probably talk him down to $800. There's a fabbed up complete junkyard turbo kit for $600.
I would almost guarantee that the people that do not research will wind up buying all kinds of parts that do not fit or won't work with each other. So in that instance you won't do it for less than $2k.

If all you want is a kit so you can just slap it on then you 'll have to stick to Ebay and cross your fingers.

Blasney

Ok, I typed the following response in another thread where some kid asked about slapping a turbo on his used Civic, but I think it fell on deaf ears there. Maybe you will take the lesson to heart. Here it is again:

A well-planned progression is the best way for the beginner to approach the hobby. By that, I mean that you start off working with what you already have (stock engine in most cases), and perform simple, well-thought-out upgrades and modifications in an orderly fashion as time and money permit. This minimizes 'down time', keeping you and your car on the road while you work and learn.

That said, you need to first take stock of what you have and insure that the car is in satisfactory condition to begin with. Modifying a tired engine with weak compression and worn out valve guides is a futile effort, and will only lead to quick and violent engine failure if you try to drive it very hard.

Start by going through your car bumper-to-bumper and doing a thorough mechanical inspection. Litterally starting at the front of the car, inspect your radiator, condensor and cooling fan assembly. Check for leaks, missing or brittle cooling fins, frayed wiring and make sure the fan works. Pop the cap and check the coolant to be sure it's filled to spec and is a healthy light green (usually) color without showing signs of excessive corrosion or oil contamination. A coolant flush and fill is almost always a good idea on a used vehicle of unknown condition. Inspect all coolant hoses and clamps before doing this, however, and now would be a good time for a new thermostat as well.

Pull the oil dipstick and look at the level and condition of the oil. This can tell you a great deal about the condition of the engine and how well the previous owner cared for it. At the same time, removing and inspecting the spark plugs will speak volumes about your engine's condition as well. There is no point in going ahead with engine mods if the engine isn't up to snuff to begin with.

You'll also want to do a complete inspection on your exhaust system, brake lines, fuel lines, gas tank, brakes and chassis components as well as the tires before even thinking about performance modifications. Fix or replace anything that raises even the slightest doubt. You need to know the full condition of a used vehicle and make it safe and reliable before worrying about going fast with it.

Once you've gotten that far, you can begin working towards your end goal by starting with a common-sense approach to vehicle mods. A good first step is usually a header and aftermarket exhaust system, followed by an aftermarket air filter and intake assembly. Coupled with a good tune-up (new wires, plugs, oxygen sensor, etc) and oil change, this can produce decent power gains in a day's worth of work.

Next up, you can think about installing a better cam and a stronger clutch. A short-throw shifter will help make for more positive shifts under hard acceleration, and...at this point...ECU replacement or tuning can become a viable option.

Keep in mind that there is more to building a well-balanced performance car than engine mods alone, so don't neglect your chassis. Adding aftermarket springs and handling components, along with better wheels and tires will allow you to take full advantage of the power increases you've made. Again, do so in a sensible manner, being carefull to double-check your work before hitting the road, and be sure to re-torque all suspension components after the first drive or two.

Brakes are an important part of any performance build, too. Integra rear control arms with disc brakes are a pretty simple swap (don't forget to obtain the parking brake cables and hardware, along with the proper 4 wheel disc master cylinder and porportioning valve, too), and aftermarket front rotors with the best possible pads should be part of your plan as well.

Turbo kits? Maybe, but after you've reached this level...I'm sure you'll find that spending the money required to boost your D-series will be ill-advised compared to swapping in an engine more suited to higher horsepower levels. Following the 'progression' I'm talking about, that would mean a B-series swap along with a better (LSD equipped) transaxle. This will give you a much better platform from which to further your efforts in search of more power.

Swapping in the B-series engine is a simple affair, and if you've started with the basics and honed your skills and knowledge making the most of your original drivetrain, your abilities should be up to par with this rather easy swap at this stage in the game. The B engine has much more perfomrance potential than the D-series does...and yes, the H-series is even more potent than the B-series...but that doesn't mean that you should leap right into trying to stuff an H22A into a worn-out stock Civic without having had the benefit of working your skill set and your car up to the point where you're both ready to handle such a daunting task.

Start at the begining and work your way up to building a faster car by learning as you go, putting money aside and stock-piling parts you will need later on while keeping your car on the road and improving it's performance little by little. This method vastly improves your chances for success, and will help develop YOU into a well-rounded mechanic with a full working knowledege of your car and a deeper appreciation for what it really takes to build a high performance vehicle that is reliable and safe.

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

You'll find out quickly that this is the case. I have two links in my signature as resources that I try to direct them to but half of them don't bother reading either. One even has pictures!

Blasney

I'm seeing that, Grumblemarc! But...I do get a kick out of some of the responses you write...tellin' it like it is!

EsotericImage

iTrader: (8)

you have to tell it like it is..

Alot of peeople have these shortcuts in mind and when you try to tell them to spend a little more and do it right, they dont want to hear it..

then after the part breaks,engine blows, and have to replace either the part or engine, then they come on here and cry about what went wrong.

When you try and save a buck, it will cost you 2.


I made this mistake buy saving $30 on a fuel pump bought at a well known vendor on here. Even tho they said "We have yet to get 1 complaint from these pumps" it still failed, car ran lean and detonation cracked a sleeve. So me saving 30 bucks ended up costing $1200 after everything was done and over. As for the company, even tho they might not had a complaint, I coulda been the 1st one or the 1000th one..either way the lesson here is buy reputable parts!

Orange_SIR1

Hey we all got to pay to play, to the op, read through the faq, read read read!! that what i did and to this day i still read some more even though i already read it before. do alot of research and determine ultimately what would you do, and intended to do to your car, making it fast isnt cheap, if your making power you are also eating up alot of gas..
just my 0.02

jbpnoman

Also not true. Where the hell do people get these stupid ideas? With the right tune, you can still get 40MPG.

People need to stop talking out of their asses. Yes, you can put together a turbo for less than $2000, and yes, you can still get OEM (if not better) gas mileage afterwards.

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

32MPG here and near 200hp.

D16SiHatch

My roommate friend has a 2jz swapped mkIII supra making over 1000hp and he still can get nearly 30mpg IF he keeps his foot out of it. But again the point of making more power is using it, and when you do your gas mileage goes down, it's just the name of the game.