Building a car to race in the "lemons race". My friend is donating his 94 civic with a d15 in it for us to use. What cheap upgrades could we do for the car? Suspension work, motor work, computer, etc. Any ideas would help.

 

I forgot to mention its a 5 speed and we are already planning on stripping the car. The track is a road course.

 

i would mini me it at least, then put a header, chip the computer, etc... don't really think it's going to be too great considering the title says $500 race car.. ??

 

yea the $500 doesn't include the tires, brakes, roll cage, seat or the six point. but ill be honest i don't really know anything about honda's considering im a mustang guy. lol mini me it? and he said he had a chip in it but it started to **** up the motor or something.

 

mini me would be taking a 1.6 vtec head and putting it on a 1.5 non vtec block or on a 1.6 non vtec block.. I honestly think it is going to cost you more than $500 to do a roll cage, breaks, tires, etc.. for a project that you're wanting it is going to take some more money to build..

 

You'll be lucky to get tires/cage for $500. You definitely won't be able to do anything to upgrade the engine (and the d15 is a slowww motor) if you're planning on doing brakes/tires/suspension first.

 

yeah it ill be hard for sure to do anything with 500 bucks I have 800 in my ecu alone. but none the less good luck man

 

the roll cage, brakes, tires, seat, and harness doesn't count towards the $500. because their safety items we can spend whatever we want on them. the $500 is for the car itselt (which we are going to "buy" from my friend for hardly nothing) and whatever parts we want to put on it

 

turbo the motor. im sure you can find a cheap kit for 500

 

any little things like a cam out of a different motor or anything would help. he has a coi on it and it has a straight pipe.

 

we thought about that but the car has to race for i think a total of 12-24 hours so it has to be very dependable. i want whatever we do to look either cheap or for it to be undetectable

 

what about the air blower in the intake? lol

 

put a vtec head on it and put a good program on a chip for it.. go with a header, and not to mention, you could put the ZC dome pistons in it.. I got a set for my friend for his single cam almost a year ago from Ebay for $150 and they come with rings and bearings.. the car still runs with them.. they still have them for the same price... that would bump the compression, and then when you put the vtec head on it.. it would be a peppy little motor.. it'll be good..

 

D16A6 cam
D16Z6 intake manifold,
B18 Throttle body preferably off a LS model for ease of conversion
99-00 EX exhaust manifold or a cheap header.
EX/SI trans will make a huge improvement. Strongly suggest this above all else.
Remove PS and AC
Light weight flywheel or shave down the stock one and rebalance it.
AEM or equivalent CAI will provide the most midrange power

Adjust the valves, new plugs wires and cap and rotor Along with a new PCV.
Make sure you have a good alternator and battery for an endurance race
Put a hose clamp aroung the oil filter to help keep oil pressure from fluctuating

There is no need to do a mini me swap, they are highly overated and are torture on your rings especially if it is a high mileage car which it sounds like it is if your friend is donating it. The Z6 intake manifold, header and EX trans will easily make you the equivalent of a strong D16A6 and most people have them just laying around.

I cant stress enough how much of a difference the EX/Si transmission will make.

 

the only zc pistons i saw were for d16 blocks. headers look pretty cheap. and where would i get a good program on a chip?

 

The factory ecu will be fine, a generic chip will hurt more than it will help you. Dyno tuning will only pull a couple of horsepower on a basically stock motor and wipe out your budget in the process.

 

Now this is good stuff! Except i would still prolly do a Mini Me Swap. Just a lil IMO

 

how much would all that cost and where would i get everything?

 

craigslist in your area...or local junkyard...

 

All those parts will fit on a d15?

 

id swap the head for a d16y8 head, wire in vtec, grab ecu, get a cheap ebay header and a replacement filter, toss some low weight oil and tranny fluid, good brake fluid. And hope it last for 12 hrs of racing,

 

i would try and do an LS swap for a bit more $$

 

Most people have those parts laying around and would probably just give them to you with the exception of the transmisson.

The most I would pay for a z6 intake is fourty, fourty for a tb but its really not necessary but it is quick and easy along with benefits.

Most I would pay for a good EX trans is about 150$ depending on the area and whether or not the seller is a douche. Make sure you have decent meat left in the clutch and put a new throw out bearing and fluid when you swap the trans.

One more thing. Motor mount inserts or Windshield polyurethane to make you motor mounts solid will also go a long way in a budget mod that makes a difference.

These are dirty cheap mods when added up will make a huge difference.

The mini me swap will eat up a majority of the funds if done correctly and is more time consuming than anything I listed so keep that in mind. Especially if you're a mustang guy (no offense) but there are a lot of little things that you wont know about when trying to swap the head. We have some good FAQs about the procedure.

Most people I know that did a Mini me, myself included regret doing it because its a huge waste of time and money. Knowing what I know now I would have never have done mine. It was fun but definitely not worth the cash.

Craiglist, Ebay, local forums and salvage yards. Everything I listed will fit a d15 with little to no modification. You are talking about a d15b7 correct?

 

the zc pistons will fit in D15's and D16, D series all have the same 75mm bore...

 

There is a need to do a mini me swap IF he is wanting to get a little more power, which is why I also told him to put the ZC pistons in the car... mini me's aren't really overrated, it's just how you build them..