Ok guys, I just got an LS a few weeks ago and put my motor in it. The motor is an LS too. The motor is pretty much stock, except the cams. One of my shafts was bent one day, so I replaced them with Crower Stage 2. There was no way I was going to spend good money on OEM cams, so I bought those. Anyways, I like my car to just be fun to drive with nice power. I don't do autocross or none of that, I do occasionally take my car to the drag strip though.

Ok, so now onto my question. I have the B18B1 with Crower Stage 2 cams, and an AEM Short Ram Intake. I want to know what power upgrade should I go with next? I'm wanting to stay NA. I'm not sure what I should start with. Like I said, I just like my car to be quick when I step on the gas. I know what upgrades I should do, but if you were me what would you do? I know I need more fuel since I have the big cams. I don't have a lot of money so what would you do?

 

BUMP

I've got 500 to 600 dollars that I can spend. Point me in the right direction please.

 

Have you done any mods to your exhaust?

If not, start there. Easiest way to increase NA power is to let the engine breathe easier. More are in ----> more air out.

 

Buy a ecu + dyno time.

 

I would save up a little more and piece a turbo kit together. Problem is all of the gauges and sensors add up. Gotta know when something goes wrong.

 

The car has I believe either 2 or 2 1/4 custom catback exhaust. The muffler, I have no idea some piece of junk I'm sure. I had the Apex i muffler on my other car, but I let it go.

Stock exhaust manifold by the way, no header.

 

I definitely want to get a chipped ecu, but I always heard that is the last thing you should do. I do have the crome program on my laptop, I just don't have the data cables and stuff yet.

 

Lets say that is the route I went, how would the turbo react to my cams? Or would you need to know the specs on the cams to specify?

 

Trust me when I say this:

Screw the turbo and just port and polish head with tune. Maybe nice intake manifold as well.
Then get a GSR trans**************************
And from there I would work on exhaust manifold/suspension.

Just do calculations on estimated HP gain compared to money to do it. You do not want to turbo if you want the car to last you for a very long time and if you do not want to maintenance it a lot extra.

I am sure someone here will disagree with me.

 

Did you upgrade your valvetrain as well. I believe with stage 2 cams you would need dual valve springs, and retainers. Anyway some say that the Crower stage 2 cams are actually better for turbo than the early turbo cams they produced. I do not for sure, but I do know that for $500 - $600 you will not be happy with the final outcome if you go turbo even if it was possible for that much. I would say try to find a good quality air intake system, and maybe a header to compliment your modifications. Unfortunately without a tune you will never get the most out of your cams...Good luck!

 

Well, like I said I would like to stay N/A for a few reasons. Reliability, pride, and I think a built N/A motor sounds so much better than a boosted motor with a big bov.

So, with the port and polish on the head would that include a valve angle job? Or would I need to specify that with a machine shop? Sorry to ask so much, but I need to know and I trust some of the information supplied here. I also wanted to get different opinions, because sometimes I make the wrong choices. I can repair my car all day long, but when it comes to making the most out of a dollar for power, I suck.

Thanks for the info guys. I genuinely appreciate it.


BTW : For the user that asked me if I upgraded my valve train when I installed the cams. Well,.......I was an idiot and didn't have the money at the time but a friend convinced me to do it anyway (see above about decision making ). I have had the cams in for well over a year and haven't had the slightest problems out of the valve train yet.

 

BTW....Here are some pics of the Integra I picked up. I got it as a shell and it was in bad shape. All of the body parts were hanging off of it, wires under the dash were everywhere, and it had about a Large order of Mickey D's fries under the seat. Anyways, she has a long way to go, but it looks a ton better than when I bought it. It had steelies on it, but I put my Si's on it.


As you can see, it has heavy damage to the fender, someone tried to bondo it and messed it up. The fender wouldn't even fit on the car before, we had to hammer it out.

Oh yea, and it has a bullet hole in the trunk.

 

jdm b16 head and mugen head gasket

 

Well, I ran up on more money than I thought and I may buy this bad boy. The guy is asking a pretty low price.