I currently have both a B16A and a 98 spec B18C Type R. I want to eventually FI both of them. The B16A is going to be the DD, and should be the cheaper build. Whereas the B18C is the show car that I will put more money into.

I want to rip the B16A apart, as I bought the car with it already installed and it was a poor installation. It seems that the engine needs a head gasket, and the wiring is crap. So I need to do work on this soon. I was consider basic items such as rods, pistons, head job, cams, and potentially a bore or sleeves. I'd do a budget turbo setup, along with the other items such as exhaust and intake. My goal is 400-500hp for this one.

The B18C, I'd like to be around 700hp. I was considering a stroker kit to 2.1L, a full race twin scroll, and even maybe a dart block.

The question comes down to this. Do I wait and only fix the the current problems with the B16A or so I build it now? If I build both in parallel I can use parts from the B18C on the B16A, such as the intake manifold and the crank. I think getting the them done sequentially is better since it is easy to pay for one build at a time.

 

rebuild b16 with aftermarket cast pistons, stock rods, arp rod bolts, stock sleeves, oem seals, gaskets, belts, arp head studs, simple valve job on head, stock valves, stock cams, 50trim turbo, skunk2/itr/blox IM and keep it around 350whp and have fun with it.

IMHO building the b16 for boost begines to loose it's cost effectiveness when you start looking at powerband above 500whp & expense of forged internals, sleeved block... at that point many just go straight to 1.8 or 2.0.

I would build 1 engine at a time, learn something from it & apply it to next engine.


700whp is a lofty goal...
from discussions with +600whp guys, you have a much higher chance of breaking stuff (tranny, clutch, axles, ect) once you cross around 500whp. good luck.

 

Agreed ^^^

I built a simple LS turbo setup following basicly what he just discribed with aftermarket cast pistons and ARP hardware. A b16 with a big laggy turbo would not be a fun dd, but a 50 trim around 350whp and a more usable power band would be much better IMO.

 

Maybe my expectations were a little too high, and agree. I'd still want to do rods though. For some reason I am would consider a supercharger instead of a turbo at the 300-350 range. Should I just get the supercharger out of my mind?


Yeah after 500, you have to worry about the transmission side of things. The B16A doesn't have a LSD, so I will have to worry about that also for that build.

 

You won't make anywhere near 300+ with a supercharger, give it up.

also on 93 octane with a b16 you won't make 500hp... simply don't have enough displacement and enough octane. you might break the 400hp mark but that would be at the absolute limit of the fuel along with a non-existent safety margin... basically it wouldn't be reliable.

and to make 700hp (which makes less than no sense for a show car) you're talking about tens of thousands of dollars. you'd need everything from serious serious head work to expensive axles and some sort of upgraded gear set/LSD to put down the power reliably without breaking things left and right.. not to mention a serious twin plate clutch and tons of e85 or possibly race gas.

given that the average price of q16 is like 18 dollars a gallon I doubt it's in your budget.

and.. IT'S A SHOW CAR... make it pretty and shiny, there's no point investing that much time and money into something you'll rarely, if ever, drive. not to mention you'd never make any money back if you decided to sell the car... even parting it out wouldn't help since very few people try to make that much power and don't need those kinds of parts. basically there's no point in having a high power trailer queen unless you just want your ego stroked (been there done that)

not to mention when you see some outrageous show car (has there even been "shows" since like 2006ish?) that makes 94746383hp that never gets driven it just looks stupid.

either you want a fast car or a show car, there's no point in having both and both wouldn't work together since everytime you drove it you'd be worried about damaging the car or having it hit/stolen... plus your insurance company would never reimburse you for parts that total over 10,000 dollars in value, even if you have receipts, unless you have specialized coverage for a show car (also been there and done that). that kind of insurance coverage is only done by a few special companies and it isn't cheap. the last time I got a quote for it I would've been paying way more than the cost of the car per year.

it makes sense on a classic car that has appreciated in value but not on a Honda/Acura that keeps depreciating every year.

take advice from someone who's done it... don't do it and reevaluate your goals.

 

tracked performance cars don't win car shows........sad lesson i learned cause nobody told me that before i installed my awesome bodykit. haha

 

Yeah I think my budget will be 7k and 15k respectfully.

And I am already having problems getting my car insured. I just ordered antique plates for the B18C. I know I call it my show car, but really what I meant was my good car. If you look at the list of parts in my build, you can see I got some money into that one.

 

yea I mean it makes some sense if you want your nice car to be "nicer" but if it's a dedicated show car and doesn't get driven much then honestly you'd see no benefit.

back in the day when I had a show car (04-06 or so) the judges would award high power setups with more points due to "high" power for something like a civic being 350hp. 500hp anything is commonplace these days at shows so judges don't really pay attention to it. they are more concerned with how clean the car is, stance, fitment, etc. They only really care about power if it's something like a 1000whp supra or something totally retarded lol

 

Yeah all those things you listed the judges look for, I don't care about.