I got a 1997 Prelude Base SS with 148k miles and i want to put a JRSC on it but i'm completely new to the supercharging game. And yes i did search just couldn't get any definitive answers to my questions. So here they go...

1. I'm told this is a complete bolt-on process. I'm fairly competent with tools and have access to a lift if required. Is this is a truly complete bolt-on process, or something close to it?

2. Yes, it is a SS auto. And yes i know they sucks but i will be getting a rebuilt one HONDA dealership with a 3 YR warrenty on it when it finnaly lets go. I kinda have to keep it an auto due to the fact my girlfriend drives the car as well. Will the JRSC kill the trans faster then normal? I drive fairly aggresive and she pretty much babies it.

3. Due to the fact it is an SS auto and i plan on keeping it that way, will the piggy-back that JR comes with work for a pretty much basic installation? I have no intentions of going beyond 6 PSI without tearing the block apart. It does have I/H/E so far. If it will not work, what is the next option? I do not want to replace the ecu.

4. Where is the best place these days that I can aqquire a complete JRSC? Considering it is a discontinued part now...

I believe that is all my questions for now. I'm saving up the money as we speak to get this thing done. I was gonna go turbo route but I heard way too many bad stories of blown motors without forged internals.

Thanks for your time guys. BTW, pics coming soon!

 

1. Yes, it's all bolt-on with slight modifications (rerouting the Power Steering line if you're keeping it on, replacing one of the engine mount bolts to make clearance for the pulley system, moving the brake lines some to make clearance for the drive belt, etc.) Nothing major. The rest is like legos...

2. Can't say yes definitely, but I would think it would be a littler harder on it if I had to guess...someone else may have an opinion.

3. The JR piggy back works, but you have to splice ecu wires and I'm not comfortable cutting factory wires unless absolutely necessary (in case you need to remove things later)...plus I've heard it's junk compared to using a real tuning system like Hondata, Crome, etc. because it doesn't really "tune" the car, just tricks your ECUs fuel output....I would opt for an ECU swap/stand alone personally (that's what I did) and get it tuned properly.

4. Good question...keep an eye out for a used one for sale. Somebody on here was selling a complete kit recently with an Endyn-modified blower (allows more boost to be used, but then again you aren't building the motor for that...). Try to find a good used one, for a good price, and make sure you replace ALL the pullies if you do, as the bearings will most likely be wore out in most of them. I had that problem with a couple of them with the used kit I bought and it only had ~10k miles on it.

Hope that helps...

 

That helped a whole lot!!! So the JR piggy back isn't that great but it will do its job? I don't really want to redo the ecu because 1)I heard i will then have issues with the SS trans. And 2)it costs more money! I'm working on a tight budget yet again. I always seem to do that with projects.....

 

Teach your chick to work the stick lol (hahhah as perverted as that sounded)

The extra HP will kill your tranny faster I would say (as it would to a manual setup too) so don't even worry about it. Just try to be gentile and avoid neutral drops LOL.

I would honestly consider doing a manual swap even over adding a jrsc. Soo much drive train loss with automatics. You'd probably free up 10-15 hp by switching to manual. That and ofcourse you have more control of your power.

If you buy a po6 or similar ecu you (even buy an automatic ecu as long as its tunable because you can convert it to manual very easily by adding/subtracting a few components and jumpers) for 70 bucks or something, socket it and you can tune it somewhat cost affectivly using freeware such as crome etc. Either way bottom line if you go auto or manual you should think about getting a tunable ecu so it can be tuned properly. 98vtec would better answer your option's question though. I'm not a tuning expert by any means. I'm just dropping my 2cents into the pond and watching the ripples. I wouldn't rely on the piggyback systems. I would seriously consider a tunable ecu with a proper tune.

All in all if you go your origional route your not going to get the best possible output on your setup unless you take it the last couple steps and those steps in my opinion are going to make or break weather or not you consider what you did as worth it or not worth it (for real). If you are going to spend the money on a jrsc, I would suggest getting the most out of it. I wouldn't let my gf not knowing how to drive stick as a deterant to holding this build back. Women come and go, but a Honda always shows. Next thing you know she'll be making you sell the car anyway for a mini van ROFL jk.

 

Only thiong about her keeping me from doing this(the whole none able to drive stick), it's her car that i just happen to drive. Her word is final law on the prelude. And driving a stick has been tried and it didnt end up so well. So "98vtec" can answer my questions about going with a different ecu option? appreciate the info. Anymore would be appreciated.

 

I've never seen anyone with an automatic successfully use an OBD1 computer to tune. Your car has two separate ecu's. One for the transmission, one for the engine. They work together. You would need to trace the transmission wire harness to the ecu to see what pins they run to and then maybe you could hardwire the TCU to your obd1 ecu. I'm not even sure that would work.

 

oh damn. I did not know that. Good thing we got someone who knows whats going on ova here . I'm glad I havn't ever had an auto. That sounds like a pain in the cack.

 

So im pretty much limited to the piggy back till i teach her to drive a stick(miracle)? Are there any "better" piggy-backs that i could use?

 

aem f/i c

 

thanks 98vtec. now i just need to find a decent used one or i found a place that has one brand new for $2500USD. what do you guys think i should do?

 

whatever you do, you should make an appointment with me to tune it since you are only like 2 hours from me.

 

where exactly are you? and how much would it cost considering that im only going with the piggy-back. im gonna use the JR one till i can afford to buy the aem one. im tired of losing races around here...

 

i'm in tallahassee. Pm me for pricing.

 

Like everyone else said.....plz do a 5-speed swap first

 

thats a lot of work and its not like you can sell the auto for any money. It would probably be in his best interests to eventually turn to a 5 speed swap but in the mean time do what he can to bust the auto's *****

get a tranny cooler.

 

if you had read you would have noticed i said this is the girlfriend's car and she cant drive five speed's.