rohan08TL

Hi everyone,

I'm new to the forum here and I created an account to find out about this for the future.

I've seen some impressive Honda's online and this got me inspired to do a honda build as my first build because they are 1) cheap and 2) have lots of potential. (I find it amazing that $15k - $20k) into a honda can keep up with supercars) I'm aiming for 500 whp in an early 90s hatch body model and I will be more than happy. Based on very preliminary research, the motors which are great for Honda builds in terms of reliability and parts availability (despite being a little more expensive compared to some other motors - H series) are the B16 and K24. I will do my research on these within the forum as I am sure there are lots of posts discussing which is better.

I want the build I do to be reliable - I probably won't have the time to be working on my car every weekend in the next few years- which is why I plan on building all internals (or getting it done by a shop). I want to turbo it and do all the supporting mods (axles, transmission, suspension upgrades - everything upgraded). I want it to be a street daily driver that when I want to drive fast/track I can, with the most important thing being that it's reliable. I have been fixing cars for the last couple of years and I would say I have a decent amount of knowledge when it comes to cars (limited when it comes to tuning them).

Is all of this doable/possible or should I forget about this and just save my money to buy a better car from the factory? What is the estimated cost of building what I have described with quality reliabile parts?

Any opinions/insight of those who have built these is appreciated!

fasthatchb18c1

If I had 15-20G to drop I would buy a s2000 and supercharge it. It'll get you reliably in the 400's and will be fun to track on the weekends. Nice suspension, brakes, good tires and it will be really fun at the track.

Its been forever since I've thought about hooking up a civic but about six years ago I REALLY considered it. I read up on everythink it would take to build the most badass all motor kswap in a hatch. Sleeved block with a nice girdle, stroker bottom, built head, dry sump, itbs, built drivetrain, haltec setup, defi gauge setup.... well I got to 17k pretty quick. I would have done all the work except the block/head machine work, balancing the rotating assembly and I would of attempted to tune it but most likely have a shop do it.
Of course this type of setup would stomp a supercharged s2000 into the ground but it wouldn't be that reliable, even with the best parts, you'l have issues. Even with some people paying out the nose, they get shotty work. When doing a big build it takes a lot of care and attention, if you're really serious, all your research should go into finding the best shop for your build. Once you find that, those people will tell you how to go about it and what it will cost.
You also don't sound like a die hard Honda guy who has always wanted to build a hatch. More like someone who wants a fun d/d and doesnt want to go broke in the process. A simple setup will be on the road quicker and more often.

grampswrx

I agree with the statement above. If you aren't super passionate about the exact car you are building, you should go the easier route. It takes a lot of time, effort and money to swap a motor. The build threads on here make it look really easy and fun. There are better ways to get a quick track car.

That being said, if you are really interested in starting a project, please share it with us.

And definitely don't swap the motor on your only car. This needs to be a 2nd car that can be down for weeks at a time when you run into problems or run out of skill or money.

rohan08TL

I'm also doing this as a passion and want to build a car. It's not that I just want a fast car, I want to build one - yes it will be expensive and timely but I am ready for that. The car I'll be swapping will definitely be a second car as I already have an 08TL (auto unfortunately) as my daily.

How do these cars with hood exit turbos pass emissions test? I'm in the Toronto, Canada area - I believe after 25 years, they don't have to go through emissions.

In response to the first post, I would rather go with a cheaper route than an S2000 as I need to build up my tool collection as I go through the build process as well - I don't know if I'm setting my expectations too high for this build. This won't be the only build of my life as I plan on doing a Nissan build after this one, hopefully I don't get demotivated after this.

OGNAEG

iTrader: (1)

I like your passion to build it yourself while maintaining the reliability aspect of things too. I think you can build a hatch with much less hp that your talking about under the amounts you want spend and beat some pretty quick cars out on the street. Before I sold my EG hatch I think I paid 7-8k for all the parts including the car all in. I used to love the look on the M3's back in the day when I would pull away from them. This gave me a sense of happiness and accomplishment. This was almost 20 years ago when my inspiration was guys like the ff squad, love their machines....Either way I think if you do your research and do the labor yourself I think you can go a long way. I mean there are so many videos online on builds and what have you that you really can educate yourself (and yes there are bad ones too) plus there is just so much more info out there that I wish I had back in the day. I mean I was so broke that I didn't even us an engine hoist to do my first swap, literally a dolly and jacked the car up as high as possible sliding the engine under the car. Point is, I think if your research, plan, get opinions and do the work yourself its very rewarding (at leas to me it was). My hatch was a stock longblock SiR motor with bolt on's and I made sure to gut the living hell out of it. Got the DX to weigh like 1980 and the car was quick for back in the day for a 1.6 liter NA car. Good luck with which route you pick. I plan on going the same route again once I can source a good project car.