I just recently bought a black '96 Honda del Sol as my daily driver. I want to make this car somewhat exciting. I know almost nothing about tuning cars...so I thought I would ask for some help. A friend told me to put in a cold air intake and a bunch of other stuff which I promptly forgot. I don't even know where to start...are there certain brands which are better than others??? So I ask...give me your opinion on what I should be doing to the car. (please don't give me advice to rice up my car)

thanks...

 

ur definitely not gunna get rice up advice here. first off lets know trim level your car is. single cams will get like 10-15 hp from bolt ons(intake,header, exhaust). drop a motor and trans from an integra ls and you'd have some fun for a start, and its not as expensive as like b16 and gsr motors.

 

Yes thank you for reminding me...I have the trim level S, so basically the base level unfortunately. I was told this wouldn't be a problem and I should be able to upgrade to the Vtec trim if wanted.

 

swap and then mod it.

 

I was thinking of doing something like that, but my question is really what should I do to it to increase performance and such? (meaning What mods and What engines...remember I know little or nothin' about this stuff)


Thanks

 

well start looking into b16,b18b,b18c,b20b,b20z.
and if you dont like the cost of any of those then you need to look into a mini me swap.
witch is a d16y7 block and a d16y8 head.

your going to see your biggest gains by swapping a b series motor,
i have seen full swaps going for less then 2,000

 

Is there a reason I would buy a b16 vs. say a b18b? Are they simply just levels of more powerful engines? (apologize for my ignorance)


hmmm....just read something saying that b16 has 30 more hp than the b18....

 

Any other opinions are appreciated.

Thanks

 

Well I have b16 in my del sol and it's a fun car to drive, but yea it all depends on your budget and what YOU want to get out of your car....b16 is but not alot of low end torque, B18b more torque but no VTEC, But in my opnion GSR or type-r but those can get pricey.... you could also go with a Turbo, there are many options it all up to you....

 

Damn...I wish it were all so much easier, haha. So is the b16 what the Vtec trim for del Sols would have? Am I looking at a couple grand for an engine swap to a b16?

Thanks

 

The B16As will have like 20-30 more Break HP than the LS(B18B1). But not as much Torqe as the LS.

As to which one you want..thats up to you. The B18B1 is a DOHC Non-VTEC and the B16A/A2/A3 is a DOHC VTEC. The B16As are fun but they make there power from 5500-Redline so you have to rev the **** out of it to get anything. Its fun though non the less.

The B18B1 starts pulling nice from around 2500RPMs but doesn't have the Topend of the VTEC engines.

You can also do a Mini-Me as mentioned which is putting a VTEC head such as a D16Y8 on your non-vtec block. But since you are new to this game and have alot to learn I wouldn't just dive into this right now.

But if your just wanting it a bit more peppy for now you can start with what most of us start with and thats I/H/E, Intake, Header, Exahust. Get an Intake, Header, and a Catback exhaust. I don't know how much this will help out that engine but it be a little bit.

 

You can look around the Honda-Tech marketplace for deals on swap parts you need, Also Craigslist, etc.

You can also buy B16A swaps, etc from places like Hmotorsonline.com

 

i agree.. we all basically started at the same place..

you wnat to make it a little faster.. you buy top of the line intake, exhaust and header. might take you a couple months to save up for it.. but phew!! its all done.

during that couple months you start doing whatever you can to the car.. painting this..painting that...finding healdlights and tailights and some get side-tracked from the initail goal of " a fun little car with a strong motor".

then you look back at the 6 months or so when you started your little project.. look at tose reciepts and they will be 1000-2000 depending on whatcha got..rims..springs, intake header exhaust.

those could be your motor right there.

honestly if i could do it all again.. i wish i wouldnt have bought any of the intake header exhaust, cams, cam gears, delete a/c, delte p/s, rims tires, port and polish head on my stock motor. you should do all that stuff to your swapped motor!!! or do swapped plus turbo.

i would do a vtec route. b16 or gsr.

is the car at least a manual?

 

Damn...you know I don't think anyone has asked him that..I guess we all just assumed it was a manual..I know I think I did.

Good question..cause if its an auto...he needs a Auto to Manual conversion before ANYTHING else.

 

Yes of course! Manual all the way...

So what you recommend straight-up saving up for and then buying the Vtec b16 and then worrying about the other stuff later... That makes sense to me. Now how exactly will I benefit from a turbo? Will something like that put a lot of wear on my car and cause it to have problems in the future?

Thanks

 

It sounds like the b16 is the best choice. A friend said something about an h22...what are the pros and cons to that?

 

Many people think the B16A is a great choice..But its not the Best choice IMO. But to each there own. It all depends on what your after.

The H22A swap is harder than the B-series swaps...Do a search on Google or Honda-Tech. Its been covered alot.

 

The "best choice" for you would be the b18 then? Because of the torque?

 

SAVE YOUR MONEY FOR A GSR SWAP....(B18C1) ages better then b16... it basically combines the rev happy high powered b16 with the lower end torque of the B18A/B ... and generates more peak HP then both of them.... i picked up my full gsr swap for 1500 bucks.... about 500 in extra parts and the swap was in. trust me B16's arent worth it... a B16 will feel almost the same as your current engine untill it hits vtec...

 

Ok, thats sounds good...So now I plan on doing a GSR swap. Is there a place one would recommend to buy wheels?

 

wait....what?

dont get sidetracked with rims and such. rims are a double standard kind of. your going to buy rims (at least 500 plus if nto way more) and then you car will look funny since there is to much wheel gap. you then will buy lowering springs or coilovers (at least 300) and it will ride diffrent if you go the cheaper route. you then will need it aligned or you will trash your 500 plus tires and rims. alignments will be 70 range and you will need camber kits of 30 a side not including labor.

your "rims" will turn into a 1200 ordeal. that money will be great for that swap that you will alwyas wish you had.

right now your car sits stock. no one hates your car.. you dont get judged by other drivers and cops dont hassle you. this is actually a piece of mind and comfortable to "blend" in with traffic.

as soon as you puts rims on it... people try racing you, cops take second looks, and other drivers stare a little longer at you. (i hate people staring whcih is why i think i drive faster to avoid that)

your going to wish you had a little more power and the original cycle continues with intake header exhaust on your stock motor.

just stick it out and start saving for a b series swap. it will be worth it. do some research on the setups right here on honda tech in the meantime.

really sit down and start thinking which route you wnat to go on your limited budget. showstopper? performance? daily driver? 1/4mile track car? autocross car? a little bit of everything? you have a good platform and you can really choose any path with hondas. plenty of bolt on parts that you can buy to make one or the other. you cant say that with other cars. you have a great tuner community with your honda.

 

I'm following you completely here...I just wasn't clear in what I meant to say. I was hoping to find some of those wheels that they put on the Vtec trim level Sols. I mean to keep my car completely stock on the exterior. This is not a purchase that will be made anytime soon, the engine is #1 priority. By no means was I saying I wished to get sidetracked with that crap Engine comes first...so I think a GSR swap or a b16 sounds like the best choices so far, so I'll be doing some research into that and see what I can find. Thank you for your advice, I am excited to start improving my Sol.

Many thanks to all who have and will respond

 

hey guys, i was considering starting a new post but you all were on the subject of b16's and i found a bone stock vtec del sol that was actually a family car for a long. its a 95 with 150k and some change, hood paint is fading a bit, and might have some little door dings here and there, nothing has been replaced yet, like i said its a family car and was never mistreated. i feel like this is a really hard find and really dont want this to slip through my fingers hes asking like 2 grand above private party for it because he claims to know what he has and keeps telling me that this is a rare find. i was wondering how much you all would figure its worth. please help.

i was considering doing some mods to it but didnt know what to with it if im just starting, ive never been into the "rice" scene however i do and have enjoyed owning japanese cars.

i apologize ahead of time for the mispost if anyone got offended. I appreciate any help i can get.

 

for the guy with the s model best non motor investment is sway bars , s model comes with either front nor rear , also with the extra power you will notice the diffrence, i just bought a 93 s model and did a ls/vtec swap with type r internals its fun going straight but hard turns suck , look up st sway bar kit its like 300 for both, buy a good front strut bar like passwords 3 point , also check out passwords 4 point rear strut bar, braces on a del sol are your friend if you plan to do any canyon/autocross driving at all . just my 2 cents