Alright guys so here is my marvelous little piece of crap 89 civic. I bought it just a few days ago for $800 with almost 230k on it and a mountain of issues. The car will be my daily but I also plan to either swap and turbo or rebuild and turbo not sure yet. Im in school right now so I really just need to keep it running till the end of this semester when I graduate then Ill start on all of the fun stuff. When I test drove it the brakes were very soft and the car reved up and down at idle. The serpentine belt squealed like crazy and the suspension was terrible. Third gear is touchy as hell but the clutch and engine seemed solid so I went for it. Not really sure if that was a good decision but hopefully it'll be a fun one. So far ive only replaced the brake booster and serpentine belt and the car has started to overheat and I think its due to the fact that neither of my fans work. I didnt think to check if they were working when I bought the car so I'm not sure if that's a new thing or not because it sometimes cools for a little while at stoplights. Anyways once the overheating and idle issues are solved Im thinking the car needs coil-overs I dont want it lowered but just so it will handle less like **** and more like awesome. If after that it gets me till the end of the semester or to where I have money then Ill start looking into a swap or rebuild. Ill post more pics and updates very soon as I have a lot planned in the near future and parts in the mail.

 

Hey there, looking forward to following your build. If you go with a B swap and turbo it'll end up somewhat similar to my 91 CRX. Just purchased it already "done" but needing some refurbishing.

I think the decision on whether to swap or rebuild will depend on your end HP goals. Any idea what you want it to make?

Good luck sorting out the mechanical issues.

 

You know Im not completely sure about horsepower 200 would be plenty but idk maybe id be tempted for more eventually. I think itd be cool to keep the car as origional as possible but not sure what I could get out of the non vtec d15 it currently has. Im 17 and my car knowledge is limited so I think maybe a rebuild would be a little less challenging instead of trying to wire in vtec and all that. If around 300hp is doable this way I think thats what I'll do and maybe only run boost to put me at around 200. I could always swap after if I wanted more power so this is seeming like the plan.

 

Sounds like a solid plan

With a mild build and turbo on the d15, you can make more than enough power to have a super fun street car without having to upgrade a slew of other components. Maybe you'll decide it's enough, or maybe you'll crave more and want to swap later, but it's a good starting point either way.

My first build I also started when I was 16-17, was a DIY turbo kit on a d16 del sol. Using just a small t25 at 10psi and it was a blast on the street. Drove it like that for several years. I probably didn't have more than $2500 into the car total since the engine was stock.

Once you get into a B swap you'll be making 300+whp easily with turbo. That amount of power can be difficult to put down with street tires, and you also have to consider upgrading suspension, brakes, traction bar, etc. to make the car functional. All things you can work on while enjoying your street-friendly boosted D series

 

Yes sounds like whats gonna happen! Suspension is super important to me because I may want to use it as a track car as well so that's definitely happening.

 

B series conversions have been done so many times you shouldn't be worried about not having the skills for it, there are conversion harnesses for everything you need and every conceivable question has been asked 10 times over on these forums. In my opinion a rebuild would require a lot more technical expertise.

Good luck with the build.