Ok Im 15 and my dad just bought me a stock 1996 Acura Integra. He changed the "timing belt" and "water pump." He and my uncle also added a racing clutch I think. So basically I guess you can tell I know almost nothing about cars except that i can change my own oil and replace any flats along the road. Is there anything i can read to start up on learning and working on cars? My uncles, who are really into cars, said that i should read things on this website and try to learn for myself. Problem is I don't know where to start or what anything is. As far as I can tell I have a '96 Acura Integra LS and that the good thing about this is it has the most torque out of the three engines, LS/GSR/Type R, but it has longer gears which makes the transmission crappy. Anything to help would be greatly appreciated and if I made any mistakes please tell me I'm trying to learn here. I basically want a car that is reliable and i guess goes "faster?" Thanks.
-CB

 

Reading this site will help out. Just spend some decent time reading posts and other peoples questions. I learned 90% of my stuff by trial and error. Get yourself a good repair manual and flip through that as well. Good luck with your new car

 

First of all, I doubt a Ls has the most torque when compare to a gsr or type r. Now onto your question. If you really have a thing for cars then your motives should have acquire you to search on what you wanted to know or didn't know. Learn to use your sources: car manual, talk to people who knows how to build cars, join active forums, and use the search button on Honda-Tech or even google. Most likely, your knowledge will grow as soon as you run into trouble with your car, not the other way around. My advice is to start by knowing the basic parts of the car along with what they do. Then work your way from there.

 

Ok I'm trying but like i really dont know what a LS/Vtec convrsion is or any of that and i seem completely lost and i dont know if i should ask and make me seem like an idiot.

 

like i said it was just what i heard sorry..
well so i shoud read the manual in my car is what your saying or am i missing something?

 

You are not going to understand anything if you're intending to skip chapters. How qualify are you to know what the other builds are when you don't even understand the car you own yourself. First do research with what you have and currently own. It's not rocket science, and people are not going to spoon feed you.

 

Like i said it was just something i heard or read somewhere im SORRY!
and im not asking to be spoon fed all i asked is if there was anything i could start reading to start out on because my dad already did maintenance
on the car and it is not failing me at the time. You were once like me, young and knew nothing about cars so please dont be mad at me.

 

Start with this. Tell me what you are interested in knowing about?

 

Okay i understand the basics of the engine i think bc ive been reading up on how its made and many other websites including this one and g2ic.com

so basically to make a car more efficient and have more horepower it all starts with fuel and air in the cylinders of your car? so like a turbocharger pressurizes more air into your cylinders which means more gas bc of the ratio = more power?
and so ignition timing has to do with your spark plugs ignighting the mixture at the right time while the cylinder is closed for the explosion? so many questions and my dad doesnt want to help me understand right now. i feel so lost and when i try to read the forums i feel its all just a lot of jargon.

 

Knowing that is useful, although it's not fully correct the way you explained it, but that's deeper in context. Someone of your level gotta start from scratch. Like I stressed before, don't start off by reading about turbo or all motor builds since you won't understand the terminology. Starting by KNOWING YOUR OWN CAR. For example, you gotta know that your car is 96 Ls integra Obd2a (manual or auto? 95 and 96 are the only model that was offered as a special Edition Ls with leather interior. I believe the 97 was special edition too with leather interior but only available as a Gs) that it is recommended to run on unleaded fuel (86, 87 octane which ever is unleaded and not 89, 91, or anything higher). You must know that it does not have vtec and is somewhat weaker and slower than the gsr models (28 hp difference to be exact). Start with these kind of stuff you know. Like the hp and torque you car makes at what rpm, the weight of your car, the transmission you have, etc. etc. So good luck.

 

My question is why isn't your dad and uncles won't answer these questions for you. It would seem that they know about cars and might be interested in talking about them with you. You can tell your dad that I think it's lame that he won't help you. What else are parents for?

That issue aside, you should first get a basic understanding of how cars work. How does a 4-stroke engine work? What is the role of a transmission? What is the importance of torque and horsepower? What does the displacement of an engine mean? You might as well find out what timing belts do, too, which will mean finding out what camshafts, crankshafts, and pistons do.

More specific to Honda/Acura are questions like: What is VTEC? What is the advantage of a high revving engine? What does the shape of the torque curve (vs. rpm) mean?

I recommend that you try to answer these questions for yourself online, and then come here if you have specific questions. That way we can help you make sure you get your specific questions answered. It's easier than just telling you all about how cars work. This thread would be a good forum for further questions, rather than starting new ones.

To answer your question about the LS, it actually has slightly less peak torque than a GS-R, but the torque peak occurs earlier in the powerband, and it comes more rapidly. In the vernacular, that makes it 'torquier' than a GS-R because it makes it feel more powerful, when in reality the GS-R is probably accelerating faster everywhere in its powerband than an LS (due to better gearing and a flatter torque curve).

I hope you enjoy your new car; you've been given a pretty nice vehicle. If you're anything like a typical 15 year old (and you may not be), I also want to urge you to be safe with it. It's pretty easy to get yourself into big trouble with a car even as slow as a stock LS.

 

Find yourself a good Chilton manual for your car...they are very helpful...it has alot of the information that you need in it. If you get even more interested...take a class...try to see what your high school has to offer as far as mechanical trade courses. Even a small gas engine class can give you the bare basics of assembling an engine. And like ILS_09 has been saying...search. if not on here...then on Google...you can find so much on the internet these days...you just gotta look. Another site that may be helpful is team-integra.com...all the guys over there are fairly helpful. But above everything else...have fun...working on your car is fun...so dont let it be a hassle...and dont let the eThugs on here push you around...if you want to build a car...build it for you...not for the JDM ****** or anybody else...just you. Good luck man.

 

When fuel is burnt, what is happening is that the fuel is reacting with oxygen gas and converting into carbon dioxide and water. This process releases a lot of energy that heats up unreacted gasses, and the hot gasses produced take up a lot of room, so an explosion occurs. This explosion drives the piston down, which acts against the crank to produce the torque that cars need to accelerate. You are correct that the spark plugs initiate combustion. It's because they heat the air/fuel charge and cause it to explode. The explosion heats and pressurizes the combustion chamber and causes the rest of the mixture to combust more or less simultaneously.

The combustion of one gram of gasoline requires the oxygen present in 14.7 grams of air. Actual combustions in engines typically occur in richer conditions, meaning that not all fuel is converted to CO2. Instead it converts to carbon monoxide in a cooler and safer reaction. Our cars are tuned to operate under a somewhat rich condition. The ECU predicts and senses the amount of air entering the combustion chamber and adds fuel to achieve the desired ratio.

When you open the throttle, more air enters the cylinder and hence more fuel is added (the ECU tells the fuel injection system to add more fuel), making a more powerful combustion. The compression of the pistons also helps to concentrate the reaction mixture and serves to increase the reaction efficiency by destabilizing the mixture somewhat (it requires less heat to combust).

Turbochargers and superchargers work by pressurizing the inducted air, forcing more air into the combustion chamber than would be possible given normal air pressures -- aka. increasing charge density. With a properly equipped fuel system and a good tune, the ECU will compensate by adding the appropriate amount of extra fuel. The point in forcing the extra air in is to force in extra oxygen, which can react with extra fuel that the car will add, increasing the energy produced by combustion. Typically, lower compression ratios are desired because the air in the combustion chamber is already under quite high pressure. Intercoolers are often necessary to cool the intake air in F/I applications so that it does not combust prematurely.

Nitrous oxide also acts to increase the amount oxygen present in the combustion chamber, but it does in a different way. When heated, nitrous oxide will convert into dinitrogen gas and oxygen. This releases oxygen into the combustion chamber and also adds to the explosive effect of combustion. Fuel is added to compensate for the extra O2 present. With nitrous, combustion temperatures are cooler (because the charge is under lower pressure and is cooled by the evaporation of liquid nitrous oxide) and oxygen concentrations are higher, making for high charge densities.

If you want to know about ignition timing read the article about it on team-integra.net.

 

My car is standard. I know the Octane for fuel and that it basically says that the higher the octane the higher the temperature it needs to be for the gas to explode which is good for higher HP engines bc the compression ratios are usually higher which = higher temperature and you dont want premature explosions. I know it doesnt have vtec bc of the head. But i heard you can do vtec conversions? idk..The rest I will look up right now.

 

Caleb, just do some research, yes H-T has a lot of useful information, reading posts from other peoples builds and problems will help. Another good thing to do is look at a motor diagram, i.e how everything is tied together and what makes what work. Having a general idea about motors, fuel, spark, electrical will do wonders when you are working on something. Dont forget that mechanics has a lot of common sense involved, if you dont understand how something works or comes apart just stop for a minute and think about it. The more you can figure out on your own without someone telling you how to do it the better of you will be in the long run.

 

Who the hell buys a 15 year old a car? What's the point in owning a car when you have no license >_>

 

Here's a tip. Don't touch your car until something breaks. Then learn to fix it. Don't try to make it faster - you wont - unless you spend a **** ton of money - and then it will break.

Buy a Chilton manual for now. If you can find an Acura Integra Service Manual, get that too. You can get them off eBay or in PDF format online.

If you want to start messing with your car and do something useful - learn how to change your brakes. It's easy and it's going to save you a ton of money in your lifetime.

 

I got my first car when I 15, I learned to drive when I was 12. A father getting his son a car at 15 isnt that weird, it happens all the time

 

well the basic course you need before going into more details is check your radiator fluid...your oil...your break fluid...transmission fluid...air filter. speaking of LS has a long shifting...just throw in a short shifter! racing clutch is strong...better then OEM. but i hope that your dad and uncle put in the OEM waterpump from Acura...cause if its universal...it will leak easy! LS is strong due to lots of torque on 1st...2nd...&3rd...but no top ends like a GS-R/Type-R. GS-R/Type-R may not have enough torque but tons of horsepower due to VTEC. unless you do a LS-VTEC...that be hella strong, but at the same time it freakn leaks between the head and bottom block...oil leak! so don't risk it...its strong but these are major problems!

 

Dang, people are so lucky, my parents would never in a million years buy me a car

 

Depends on situation i guess. I had to have a 3.5gpa in order to get it. And it wasnt anything fancy, a 1982 plymouth arrow pickup. It was the hottness

 

Hahahahaha did that thing even DRIVE?

 

Yeah, i beat the crap out of that thing for 4 years. Finally broke a push rod, yes a push rod. It wasn't a good looking truck but it got me around. Sold it to some mexican guy for 800$ then bought a 87 integra rs. It was over after that and have owned nothing but hondas

 

My dad does and its because I am allowed to drive with him bc i have a permit and i needed some practice at the time bc it was a standard. Oh and yes i knew how to drive since i was 11, also. Some of the perks of having lived in some middle of nowhere place like Ragley, LA.

 

Ok Thanks Im working on that