Long time lurker here and I have been reading a bunch. I finally made up my mind on what I want to do with my car and I am going to stick to just this one project till I am satisfied.

I have a 99 civic si with 96 spec jdm type r in it. It currently has a skunk2 intake manifold, skunk2 70mm tb, aem v2 cold air intake and apexi noir cat-back exhaust. The car is currently on weekend cruising duty but may be daily driven at some time. I want to bump up the power a bit and make it more fun to drive.

Parts I plan on adding and hopefully they work in harmony with each other:

Skunk2 tuner stage 2 cams
Aem tru-time cam gears
Supertech valve springs
Toda rep header
300cell highflow cat
RDX injectors
Hondata s300

I would like to have quicker throttle response so I might also get a 3" short ram with Bpi velocity stack and filter. I am not sure if I should get Ti retainers or not, I know it helps with lightning the valve train but do they really wear out quicker? Will I have to keep an eye on them? Or is it no big deal?

 

Some pictures for the picture ******

 

Who is going to be building the engine?

 

A friend is going to install the springs(retainers maybe) and cams then I am going to have the cams degreed at Xenocron before tuning.

 

Okay, you're adding bolt-ons, cams, etc.

Choose a good tuner so that you get both power and drivability.

 

I will thank you sir!

 

When you take the baseline numbers a stock B18C5/R puts down there just doesnt seem to be much bang for your buck when upgrading parts and staying NA. Thats a lot of money to spend for 15-20whp

 

That is true, N/A cost more money when trying to squeeze a little more power out of it. I never said I want to have a huge track monster and make 1000hp. Just trying to have a car that has a nice kick to it N/A. Also I am a strong believer in leaving the type r motor as it was intended to be all motor, if big horsepower is what I wanted I would have dropped a LS with a turbo not wasted something nice like a type r.

 

As a fellow 96spec owner I totally agree. Can't wait to see your numbers. Good luck!

 

Stick with either the stock Type R retainers or do stainless steel, titanium is not god for DD yes the wear much faster. I had some SK2 Ti that only had 10K on them of DD and they had grooves from the springs.

 

use the retainers from the 02-03 k20a2. oem reliability and cheap too!

 

I think I will go with the k series retainers. Did some reading looks like alot of people are running them with great success. I probably wont be taking the car above 9000rpm much depending on the tune of course and since it is a street car that might get taken to the track 1-2 times a year I think it will be ok.

Also I saw that with some of the headers they will not clear the typer trans brace and that I would have to use a gsr one are they part 9 and 11 on this diagram?
http://www.acurapartswarehouse.com/P...=2125%20380133

 

this is true, never had a problem with steel retainers, ti tends to wear out quick depending on how long and how hard the car is driven. its not worth lightning them a tad, I cant see you revving this car past 9k anyway.

 

I like the way you're going with this. I should've kept my '97 Spec OEM.

 

That's if they were installed incorrectly. I have current titanium retainers at 70K on my wife's EM1, and have sets from 2002 still in other's cars running everyday. Not one crack or wear mark. Its all in the installation. they are fine for DD.

 

How could they have been installed incorrectly?

 

Ended up going with the Rocket Motorsports SL valvesprings and RSX typeS retainers. Just need to save up for the cams now. I need a part-time just so I can spend on this damn car lol.

 

get some pro1's, you will thank me later

 

:thumbs up: on the vt

 

I don't know much about cams but when looking and the tuner 2's and pro1's they look very similar what is the big difference? Why would I be happier with the pro1's? Skunk2 also says you need to use the lost motion assembly they sell whatever that is.

 

This means alot coming from you, one of the few I look up to here.

 

Oh baby and the parts start coming...

 

Bling gold label ftw! Cuervo gold, y0.

 

Too high of a seat pressure for the specification for the camshaft used. I've had the same titanium retainers for over 10 years , even as I transitioned my car from commuter to Time Attack. If its installed in a way to break Titanium from the installation seat pressures, it'll do it to steel too, its just a little more time before it happens. I'm only switching out now, because its been 10 years, and now on a different camshaft profile.. That's it.

Evolution guys on average have much higher cylinder pressures and heat associated with their slower redlines that cause as much wear as any high revving honda. They still run GSC, Kiggly, and Crower beehive dual springs and still run a titanium retainer everyday , some for over 125,000 miles. Installation , installation, installation.

I've heard this rumor for years. And most was because... installer error, which was basically never corrected.

 

Good info, thanks!