bob747b

I stated my looking for a new car about a 2 months ago and after about 2 weeks of looking I finally decided on a used 93-98 civic hatch (thanks in part to what I read on this site and clubsi.com). Finally after losts of searching I found one that met my standards.

Since I live in Massachusetts I have some winter months in front of me. But come spring I want to have it up to decent racing standards (right now it's completely stock). I've never done any kind of racing other than soap box durby cars when I was a kid. I've been browsing this and other sites on various topics for the modifications that I should make. Here is a list of things plan on doing.

1) Engine swap with a b18 (not sure which one yet). I think I will let a tuning shop handle this. I don't have much experience with working on cars. I think I could handle it, but I don't like that "probably". Eventually I may turbo it, but not right away.

2) Upgrade suspension. (springs, shocks/struts, and bars) I'll be doing this part.

3) Get it a paint job. Sure this won't help with racing, but it will make me feel better. The paint is a little beat up (few small dents in the body and lots of scratches and nicks in the paint) and I want to make sure I prevent that common rusty rear quarter that seems so common to Civics.

4) New 16 inch rims and tires.

Most of my questions have been answered by searching these forums, but here are what remain.
- Is there a good way to find a good tuning shop to do an engine swap? Or do I just visit some local plances and pick the one that seems best? Anything special I should ask them to find a better one? Is there a website that might help here?
- Same questions for a body shop to get it painted at ?
- What sort of prices should I expect for quality results. My guess from what I've read are: #1=$4500, #2=$1500, #3=$2500, #4=$2000. Are these high, low, or about right?
- What is the best way to find tracks that have open days that I can pratice on? I've tried to find a web site, but haven't found anything useful. Do most trackes have such open days?

That's quite a few questions so feel free to pick and choose what you answer, but you'd be my hero if you could answer them all

Also feel free to add any bits of knowledge that might benifit a new comer like me who has done some research, but might be overlooking something. Or might have forgotten something since I've read so much recently.

p.s. This will be my main vehicle so it needs to remain street drivable and have clean emitions.

civictildeath

if you are swapping a b18 you will have to upgrade your suspension at the same time or you will destroy stuff

bm3r

#1..im gonna swap my own motor, so that'll save me a lot of money. ask friends, or whoever about shops around your area. im sure theres plenty of people to give some input. which b18? what IM gonna do, save $1000 more than what the motor costs for miscellaneous things. plus im gonna save over $1000 by doing the swap myself.

#2..$1500 is a bit much for suspension. i spent $500 for my h&r race and kyb agx's. another $100 for front and rear upper sway bars. dont have control arms, or tie bar, or lower sway bars. what do you plan to do? autox?

#3..whats the condition of your paint now? $2500 is about right to get your car shot. thats what i was quoted for mine, plus doing the door jambs, pulling the dents, shaving the emblems, and making everything line up right. when asking around and getting quotes, ask to see some of their work. not pictures, real cars. also if possible, ask to look around their shop/booth to see if its clean and stuff.

#4..$2000 is a lot for rims and tires. atleast i think so...then again, depends on what you want.

look around for good deals. dont just hop on the first thing you see. the sponsor corner on this forum is a good place as well as the classified section. i was in the same position as you last year when i got my car too..

CHAMPwhteEK

yeah upgrading your motor to a b sereis swap make sure you do get a better suspension. the price about the paint souley depands on if you want the WHOLE car painted(door jams, interior, engine bay,) this is when it gets expensive. i advise you that before you get your engine swaped in and this is if you are really gonna do a swap to make sure you get the WHOLE car painted this type of price could cost any where from 4-6 grand depending on what type of paint color your going for. hoped that helped. also if your trying to find good shhops in your area. just try to find people around your area that have gotten stuff done at a shop and see what they think of the shops work. hope that helps

jdm123

as long as you have the MONEY to PAY for all of that all the power to you.

bob747b

Thanks all!

I didn't realize it was so critical to upgrade suspention before or at the same time as upgrading to a b series motor.

jlsmi2

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by civictildeath &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">if you are swapping a b18 you will have to upgrade your suspension at the same time or you will destroy stuff</TD></TR></TABLE>

You might want to work on clarifying this. I have a swapped eg hatch and have not altered the suspension and have had absolutely NO problems in this area.

Also, when altering suspension it is very important that the work is done properly, wheels are aligned etc. Civic OEM suspension was designed specifically for the car and Honda spent quite a bit of time perfecting it. I would recommend bulking up the suspension, but only lowering the car if the proper care is taken to do it correctly so that it will not cause any long term problems.


--I would not rule out a 92 Civic in your search. In fact if you are doing a swap it is often easier to work with an OBD1 car (ie 92-5). When buying the swap you should be sure to buy a 94+ engine, trans, axle, and ecu. I prefer OBD1 bc its easier to deal with the wiring in the swap (no need to change wiring harnesses, etc). Ideally with 92-5 Civic, look for 94-5 Intergra engine.

If you buy a 96+ Civic it is OBD2 (different omissions standars, two o2 sensors on front and back side of catalytic converter), and you should look for a 96+ Integra engine. You can of couse mismatch OBDs, but it will require a massive amount of wiring work which will add up in $$$.

Why I like 92s. I'm biased; I do have one of these myself (92 Cx). Well, all 1992 Civics (including cx and dx) are prewired for VTEC (all of them). Starting in 93 only about half of the cx,dx models have prewires (depends on how early car was manufactured). After mid 1993 only Ex, Si and Vx models are prewired for vtec (bc they come with vtec stock). When I say "prewired" i mean that the car side of the harness has the vtec wires already installed. When you do the swap all you have to do is plug in the car side and engine side harness and vtec will be engaged as soon as your run a wire to the coil, run your secondaries (3 wires need to be run in the engine thats all). If it is not prewired, there is much more wiring to be done.

I have a b18c1 swap. It cost me $3000 and they threw in some goodies and a 6month warranty for motor, trans, axle, ecu. If you have the dough buy a b18c5. If you want to turbo later, or save some cash the NON VTEC b18b is a solid choice (good torque, more power than any d-series engine).

I paid $575 in labor for the swap. Expect to pay b/n $400-$600 for a swap in labor. I could have paid a kid to do one for like $400 but I paid a mechanic I know $575 bc it was more convenient. Expect to allocate appx. $1000 for misc stuff (parts...i bought a new radiator (si radiator), o2 sensor, catalytic converter, hoses, "air intake", and exhaust parts). If you buy a gsr or b18c1 engine, the manifold is shorter than all of the other b series manifolds so you will have to modify the exhaust to make it fit or buy a header made for a ITR (b18c5, b16a or b18b), which are all the proper length and line up with where you should put the catalytic converter (my converter was 15" exactly). You will also want to buy a catback exhaust system, although I did not do this immediately..it helps a lot.

If I had my choice I'd look for a Civic Vx hatch. All are prewired and they have both rearview mirrors and have a tach built in. I had to buy a rear view mirror for my cx and bough an aftermarket tach. Look at the specifications for the motors, the pricing, and consider the other parts costs involved and make a decision that will fit you best. All of these engines will be decent on gas, quick and reliable.


PM me if you have any specific q's