Forgot to mention - Car is a 1999 Civic SI

as far as power mods go all I have is -
DC Headers
High Flow Cat
Greddy Evo Exhaust
Short Ram Intake

I just had all the seals done in my car as well as the valves adjusted & full tuneup. I am looking for a little more bolt on but not expensive power.

Is a throttle body and new intake manifold worth it? If so which ones and what site do you guys generally use to order parts? Also are pulleys worth it?

I have the Stock ECU if I get the parts mentioned above what ECU should I run or what should I use to have it dyno and tuned? I know nothing about honda's I have been lurking and reading different threads as I go.

 

You need another engine to get more power or boost your b16. Bolt ons really don't do much. Maybe if you get itr cams you might gain some actual ponies.

 

Figured as much, Might as well just stick with what I have and enjoy the car for what it is. I can't afford to boost it. I was hoping a few things like pulleys / Intake manifold / throttle body and a tune would amp it up a bit but the more I read through the forums the more I see people saying the gains aren't really worth the money spent.

Also read about the ITR cams and cam gears and I guess that is always an option. I hear putting cams in a B16 are pretty easy, They were a nightmare on subaru's. I am in some serious un familiar ground lol. The one thing that pulled me into a civic (besides having to sell some of the finer things to put 30% down on a house) was the fact that I see alot more people now with hondas that are making unbelievable power and the scene atleast around me isn't over crowded with boy racers anymore. Bug eye wrx's seem to have taken the roll of put an exhaust on it and you have an instant race car.

Thanks for the response, I am going to keep reading through the forums.

 

Not worth it, IMO

if you want a "little more" get it tuned.

 

You could easily toss some teir one cams in there, give it a new IM with shorter runners, and maybe a slightly bigger TB. Get the whole setup tuned, and maybe make 30-40 over stock with faster throttle response, and get a clean build that sounds better than most of the ricer ***** out there. All depends on what's worth it to you.

Personally I'd boost it and see some real gains, but I've also caught the boost bug - once you go boost, you never go back.

 

Ya i had the boost bug for awhile. My previous car was an 06 wrx 2.5L on 22lbs. Miss the sound of that wide open wastegate lol. Wanted a house though and I have always loved CLEAN si's. Was just more practical. I don't have the budget to boost so I was trying or should say exhausting all NA options that are cheap and worth it.

 

I think what I am going to do is Intake Manifold, Throttle Body, ITR cams & a tune

now the question is -
What ITM?
What TB?

As far as ECU goes I still have yet to read up but is there a chip I should get? I have a P30 I believe it is? lol.. Bah I'm so clueless still. But what would I need to dyno and tune for my ECU?

 

your looking at 1500 after all those choices.. ^^

your better off making a plan and decide what power goal and pros and cons.

your really close to a boost budget. After selling off the header and other things not needed for boost, your hi power goals are within reach.

 

What I do know about Honda's is that they are slowest things I have ever driven and reading on here you need boost or motor swap when it comes to the D series motors. I have headers on mine but only because my stock manifold cracked and for $60 you cant go wrong, LOL! Oh I added a resinator and have a stock muffler. I couldnt stand the sound after installing the header, SMH!

 

MO, the OP has an SI, which has the B16A2 motor. No swap necessary.

Esoteric is on point, though. OP, you need to set a goal, set a budget, and then make one meet the other.

 

Id get a lightened flywheel and performance clutch first before doing anymore mods.Then id go with skunk 2 intake manifol/trottle body you will see some decent gains.

 

Zero reason to upgrade the clutch - the OP is still well within torque capacity for the stock unit. The OP also won't notice a huge pickup in power without major reduction in flywheel weight, which has serious negative repercussions for daily driving. It's not something I'd generally recommend to someone unless they knew exactly what they're getting into.

There are many, many better units out there than Junk2, at similar and lower price points.

 

To each his own id rather have a upgraded drive train than an extra 5-6 hp if that from an upgraded intake manifold/trottle body .

 

Thanks... I can get around a Honda mechanically ok but details between all these B18 D16 ek eg em things can drive me nuts. Still learning whats what.

Also... I think theres 3 types of enthusiast. Race (drag, road, autocross), show, and go fast street car (your avid canyon carver or track day driver). Wait... then you've got the JDM guys.

 

https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-civic-del-sol-1992-2000-1/chassis-code-cheat-sheet-other-specs-too-2581875/

If you're still trying to get your head around chassis codes and motor designations, that post might help you out a bit.

 

Thanks for the Input guys, I actually just shop used parts, I set a budget for myself of no more than 600.00 usd. I was just going to play the field and get what I can when I can find it cheap, But I obviously have no Idea how much alot of these parts cost.

1,000+ is crazy! I couldn't justify that unless it was being built for a specific purpose and I was doing something more than daily driving it and wanting a little more fun. Love this car when its in V-tec! Until then I'm scratching my head wondering if my foot is on the gas lol.

I got these -
DC Headers
High Flow Cat
Greddy Evo 2 catback Exhaust
Msd Coil Cap

all in MINT looks like it came out of the box for 500.00 USD local from craigslist. Still have to look up the whole MSD thing, He was just like I'm done with honda so you can have this to for free. He called it a "token of gratitude" for being one person to actually step forward with cash in my hand before I made some offer I couldn't back up lol.

A few friends told me I made out pretty good on it, Here I am fingers crossed hoping I can pull the same off with the other parts. If I can't, Well I can't. lol.

 

or MSD Blaster cap. I have to look @ the box its in the car still.

 

Do yourself a favor and keep the MSD stuff out of your car. Their parts are well known to fail in our chassis.

 

Another reason 600.00 is the "top end" mark I set for myself is purely out of the fact that I really want to get this car looking show room new again (which it isn't far from) has a little quarter panel cancer and a few things I think will be easily PDR'D and MAYBE a small touch up here and there.

Other than that a clay bar and buffer should do the trick. It is wingless and has all JDM lips all around, Eyebrows so it the headlights don't look so big and everything else is OEM down to the wheels and I intend to keep it that way and restore a car that was made sexy off the factory lot. (aside from the interior!) I get it my car is post 2000 but that stripped grey print is terrible! lol

 

I will take your advice on that. Thank you Sir.

 

I get the car Back Tomorrow and Will get my "garage" and some pics set up and all that other fun stuff. That is also another reason the budget is low, I got it with 96k.. Something like that and knew I needed a tune up. Got it to a friends shop that knows Honda and we got it up on the lift and he started walking around and said "open your wallet" Here is what was done,

2 new rear calipers
rotors and breaks all around
new emergency break lines
all new seals / timing belt / water pump
plugs and wires
battery
all new motor mounts
valve adjustment
drivers side front wheel bearings
all new fluids, Switched her back to my trusted Amsoil
and a few other things I am sure I am forgetting.

None the Less I took a bat to the face before the 100k mark on the car but atleast all the problems that could have been bigger problems are taken care of. He only charges me 60 an hour labor rate (with the trade of being if there is a money job my car has to wait) and I get his cost on everything from his vendors down to OEM from Honda. So the damage could have been much worse.

 

I'm surprised the e-brake cables needed to be replaced. I've never heard of that, short of botched swaps.

If you're limiting yourself to $600 to start, definitely stick to body and leave the engine alone. In order to see any noticeable gains from anything done to the engine, you'll need a tune, which will START at $500 alone. On top of that, you would need a chipped ECU and OBD2b/OBD1 conversion harness, bringing you straight to $700 easily. The most you'll see out of that $700 (just the tune, mind you) would be 10-20. Maybe with an upgraded cam, you might see 30-40, but even then, a grand for 40 horse? You can safely and reliably boost for two grand, and see 100+whp gains.

Its your project, do what you will, but I would personally keep your current budget strictly to the body, and save up a couple grand to boost it when you can, or buy parts for boost when you can and toss it all on when you have everything ready.

 

Ya I was honestly suprised as well, The cables were nasty, Looked like they had been corroding horribly, The guy I bought it from said it just needed to be adjusted.... Ya we tried that and it was not the case lol. Your spot on though. 0 sense in dumping 1,000 into something for such small gains. I will get the body taken care of and enjoy it for what it is. Or just say to hell with doing any more mods at all and just buy a bike this summer for my adrenaline fix. Who knows. But 1k for 30-50 HP simply is not worth it.

What turbo kits are most often run for DD reliability I am guessing around 6-8lbs of boost?

 

You can buy a kit for 3-4 grand, or you can piece your own together for 1500-2. Personally, I go the route of piecing my own together, so I know exactly what parts are going in my car. I boosted my D with a 19T for 1500, tune included, but I spent a good year shopping for parts and putting all the pieces together.

pounds of boost doesn't mean anything. 10PSI through a t20 will give you 80whp, maybe 100 if you're lucky. 10PSI through a GT60 will fire a rod into orbit. If you're playing with the idea of boost, the best first step for you is to read and learn about flow charts, and what they mean to you. Doing it right the first time involves a lot of preparation, but saving a couple grand is well worth it.

You don't live in CA, right?

 

I didn't read this whole thread so I'm sorry if this is already mentioned.

You should consider sending your OEM throttle body to Maxbore http://maxbore.com/. It's cheaper than a new TB and you'll be confident in retaining the OEM quality. That's probably what I'll do to round out my build. You'll need to make sure you have a matched, or similarly sized, Intake manifold to realized gains though.

Also, jbpnoman brings up some good points in his last two posts.