Hey guys, i've got 1600 bucks and im about to be out of town for a week, i was originally planning on dropping my car off to get painted while i was out of town, planning on doing a phantom grey pearl heres what my car looks like right now.



I went and got a quote, and for everything i wanna do, color change, and a few fillings and ding removal it will cost me right at 1600 bucks.

Now i did some thinking, and what kind of headwork could i do for this 1600 bucks, coz my car doesnt look too bad its got its many flaws that bug me everyday.. but heck i cant help but think what else could i do with this 1600 bucks..

Right now i have a 12.7:1 compression Ls/Vtec putting down 186whp and 143trq with a stock GSR head, now i know if i do some headwork with these high of numbers and high compression my numbers will shoot up....

What do you guys think??


Cliffnotes: i've got 1600 bucks, paint my car or do headwork.

 

Man it depends on how satisfied YOU are right now with your car. Does the power satisfy you ? or are you striving for more?
Do the looks satisfy you?

Which is more important to you ?

But IMHO get that headwork done
Are u runnin stock cams still?

 

BTW you could send your head out to portflow and get a decent set of cams for 1600 bucks

 

personal preference is the key to your decision here but ill try to give you my thoughts.

given that same amount of money and sort of options for my car, i would opt for putting that money into my motor. i think your car looks great from that picture, the color scheme really flows well. now put some more power behind that appearance and i think you'll be very happy with it.

as far as headwork, yeah upgrading that head is going to open up a LOT of power in your setup. remember to pay attention to things like the TB, intake mani, where you want your powerband (for choosing cams and valvetrain), and matching up ports.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by GSRmorris &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">BTW you could send your head out to portflow and get a decent set of cams for 1600 bucks </TD></TR></TABLE>

This is what I would do.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by magicksdc2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> remember to pay attention to things like the TB, intake mani, where you want your powerband (for choosing cams and valvetrain), and matching up ports.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah, i have a 70mm TB with port matched IM, so i know i'm going to see a lot of power free'd up with this headwork. But my other dilemma is i ultimately want a turbo car out of my car at some point so i dont know if i want to waste my money on headwork.

 

Well, i was just looking around a bit, and i dont think i could make everything i would want to do with my head for 1600 bucks.

Port and Polish
Multi Angle Valve Job
Upgrade valvetrain (springs retainers and valve guides)
Very aggressive cams
Cam Gears
and on top of all that tuning...

All of this would probably cost me closer to 2500 and probably put me in the 215-220 horsepower range... I think i'll just paint my car for now, and start saving up to rip my motor apart and build it for turbo.

 

its not gonna be a waste if you get head work man!!
It will only let the turbo setup be more efficient and make more power! just get the valvetrain setup right so you can throw some turbo cams in there when the time comes!

 

Man when you turbo it, you will be glad you have headwork done. You already have GSR cams and those cams are for the most bang for your buck, the best and most reliable.

Get some supertech valves, duel valve springs, and titanium retainers. Do a 3 angle valve job, port and polish, deck the head, new gasket (maybe cometic).

That puts you at around 1300 to get a shop to do it. But the tuning, that is a little more expensive. It's about 300-400 per tuning for me (though I do have a hondata/turbo).

Thats just my 2cents though.

 

Down payment on a bike!!!!!! hahaha

 

what trans do u have in ur car

 

i would make more power....

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by stockcolt &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i would make more power....</TD></TR></TABLE>

Shinny paint is for pussies.....

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by CivicSiDriver02 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Shinny paint is for pussies.....</TD></TR></TABLE>

lol

 

i think it will help your numbers, i dont know how much. I think u should do like 1000 in head work and 600 for a b16 trans

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by CivicSiDriver02 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Shinny paint is for pussies.....</TD></TR></TABLE>

True that.

 

hands down headwork

 

got a good tranny?

 

save your money.. stop while you can

 

Big brake kit, cause you probably have enough power right now for a good investment in stopping power.

 

I already got a b16 tranny.

I decided im gonna just go all out and spend it all on my head, try to put down around 215 whp N/A

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Vtecfool &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">save your money.. stop while you can </TD></TR></TABLE> haha you never can stop its like a dug

 

if you want to go turbo eventually. then why not save the 1600$ for a good start on a turbo set up.

 

1,000$ turbo kit, 600$ tune. With that compression, you'll want the best tune in the world. A 1G kit will set you past 300 on that, easy.

 

do you enjoy looking at your car or driving it?
More hp would make the car more enjoyable, but so would a prestine body too.


The 2 paths i would take would be...
1. Travel money. maybe a plane ticket to australia or something.
2. CD or another investment.

Err, one more thing to add, track/autox time. Now thats fun. How about treating yourself to a 3 day weekend driving school like skip barbber or something.

anyway, its your money in the end, so build the head if you want.