I am new to the boards here, however I would like to start building up my '92 accord. What's the best way to make horsepower without speding alot of money. I've read pretty much everything on here about exhaust, air intakes, injectors etc... But what's the best way to see a big jump inHP without changing a bunch of little stuff... Thanks in advance

 

There isn't a way really. You can start with Intake/Header/Exhaust and then maybe move to cam but you wont feel a HUGE difference. Itll be noticable though.

 

one thing to do? turbo. but youre car is old, so run a compression check.

The other way to gain a lot of horsepower is buy more horses to pull your car

 

Deletion of power steering will free up some power, and it costs nothing to do. Also, weight reduction will help a cars overall performance. Weight is an enemy.

 

Basically it comes down to this:

Horsepower cannot be obtained for cheap
Horsepower cannot last if is cheap

IMO I would do a compression test on your current F22 and see what you go. After that I would look into a turbo kit costing around 2K and you should see roughly 220-240whp and around 260 tq off 10 psi. Which your stock block can take given the compression numbers.

Do not cheap out on performance parts, you will kick yourself later.

You can do intake, header, exhaust but overall you won't notice much in a SOHC engine. You can get 'free' performance by doing the following:

Remove all unneeded parts from cabin, trunk, back seat, passenger seat etc.
Remove power steering, air conditioning.
Remove spare, jack and other interior panels.

But after all this your car will look like a whooptie and you will not be much faster with a 'base' engine.

Go snail son...you'll like it.

edit: just saw you were from Colorado...where?

 

start by lightening it up, then remove ps and ac...nitrous is relatively a cheap power gain....get a cheap ebay intake and nice k&n filter...spend some money getting a cheaper custom exhaust piping. think of it this way: you can spend around 700 on nitrous exhuast and intake, or you could spend 1600 on a used/junkyard turbo kit(but dont forget you need a way to tune it)...or you can get an h22 longblock for around 1500

 

 

Thanks guys. Le me re-itterate......WHen I said cheap, I meant relatively cheap. Not that I was trying to gain 200hp for pennies. Seems to me that if I was to do a turbo or nitrous, Would I not have to put some money into the bottom end of the engine too? Like some serious connecting rods and such? It by the way is a five speed, so would nitrous kind of be out? Thanks again guys...

 

you can run 8-10 psi on stock internals

 

boost is the MOST WHP gain to the dollar., no word of a lie..
i have a 90' and was going to boost my stock f22a4.. money is tight right now so everything is on hold.. anyways.. NO TURBO KIT.. requires you to build your bottom end.. although.. more boost can be run with on a built bottom end..
A stock f22a can handle.. 9-10psi of boost, just depends on what condition your compression is at.. and the condition of the rings/bearings.,. etc etc.. and mileage.. power wont last long on a old *** run down motor.. so.. do some research about putting together a turbo kit.. or u can ask me whatever u want.. ive gone over this for a couple years now.. u can easily make around 90WHP.. BUUUUT! whoever said 220-240 WHP.. thats alil much.. 200-210 at the most UNTUNED.. stock f22a's only have 120WHP.. ur not gunna gain 100-120WHP from a $2000 turbo kit on a stock motor untuned.. comon now.. especially since f22a's are non-vtec

 

on an f22a id say tuned at 10psi 220 is attainable
edit: why would nitrous be out with a 5 speed

 

get compression test. if you are good to go, get a turbo kit or piece one together.

and as most people have stated obtaining cheap horsepower is difficult. Getting rid of **** like A/C and power steering will help though.

also, if weight reduction is you method of madness then don't forget yourself. that is if you are a bigger person of course.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 4genaccordfreak &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> whoever said 220-240 WHP.. thats alil much.. 200-210 at the most UNTUNED.. stock f22a's only have 120WHP.. ur not gunna gain 100-120WHP from a $2000 turbo kit on a stock motor untuned.. comon now.. especially since f22a's are non-vtec</TD></TR></TABLE>

1) why would you want it untuned??
2) vtec or not that block is stout
3) a couple members ran I think 12 psi and got 240whp and 260 wtq TUNED

A compression test will tell you a lot about your motor and since you will be adding more power a clutch upgrade and flywheel would be recommended. Overall if your engine is not very high miles, compression is good no build up is really needed to run a simple 6-10psi (get it tuned)...the F block is next to bullet proof.

 

i, too was confused about that. i thought you meant untuned as well becuase of this:
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by VRDrvr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">. After that I would look into a turbo kit costing around 2K and you should see roughly 220-240whp and around 260 tq off 10 psi. </TD></TR></TABLE>

becuase there was nothing in there about money for tuning.... but then i read this:
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by VRDrvr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> you should see roughly 220-240whp and around 260 tq off 10 psi. Which your stock block can take given the compression numbers.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

so then i realized you meant tuned but left the money out

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by secksiman19 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
so then i realized you meant tuned but left the money out</TD></TR></TABLE>

Well 2K for a turbo kit is average...but tuning can cost different money due to tuning time, shop, etc. So I also thought it was obvious the NEED for tuning .

Guess I was wrong.

 

are you kidding? you have to tell these guys that TUNING IS IMPORTANT. it can be costly(average: 100/hr, around 4 hrs, 300 for afc+440s, =700)...thats kinda going low, too, but im not going to turn this into a tuning thread. expect to spend 2500 on a kit and tuning. then set some back for downtime, something WILL happen. edit: or spend 1/5 that on NITROUS

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by secksiman19 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">. expect to spend 2500 on a kit and tuning. then set some back for downtime, something WILL happen. edit: or spend 1/5 that on NITROUS</TD></TR></TABLE>



That's basically the value of the car.
How bout' nitrous + 5spd + fuel injector cleaner with no tuning/fabrication downtime?

You can also sell the kit very easily when you sell the car. The auto tranny /5spd swap might pay for itself if your clever. (search the archives)

 

So then What do I do until I can afford the turbo? AND, this may be a dumb question, but how would I make the nitrous work with the 5sp in the meantime? I bought some underdrive pullies this week, thanks again guys.....

VRDrvr I am actually from Lakewood so if you are ever in this end of town, stop by the hamburger stand on Sunday night, lots of nice cars.

 

I ran some cheap mods like a diy intake, apexi catback, short throw (no power, more fun) and a 50 shot bump until I could get boosted.

which I would like to put the bottle back on her after some stout internals and a rebuild.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 4genaccordfreak &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">stock f22a's only have 120WHP.. ur not gunna gain 100-120WHP from a $2000 turbo kit on a stock motor untuned.. comon now.. especially since f22a's are non-vtec</TD></TR></TABLE>


In what way will VTEC make any difference in an FI motor?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Mr Black &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">


In what way will VTEC make any difference in an FI motor? </TD></TR></TABLE>

nothing....Vtec (especially in SOHC) is NOT a big deal

 

I'm in a similar situation: I have a '91 Accord 2dr coupe w/5spd, and I'd like to get a little more performance out of it, but I'd rather not spend too much, if possible, since the car isn't worth a _whole_ lot to me. (Bought it last April for $2500, all told) So far, the most expensive thing I've bought for it is a new set of gaskets for the valve cover, but I'm thinking about buying some used factory alloy wheels for $35/each.

It has about 205K miles on it, a broken coil on the front passenger side, some drivetrain lash, and a bit of a rough idle. Oh, and some rust, but that goes without saying (I'm in WI ) It also has some other noises that I've forgotten (gave the car to my wife for the last two weeks, long story).
I was looking at http://www.nippon-motors.com/honda.htm which got me thinking about putting some effort into the car, and the combination of the broken coil and the Accord suspension thread on this board nudged me along, as well.

Want: to replace the coils/struts all around, possibly change sway bars to make it handle better (did I mention that the grommets connecting the ends of the sway bars are rotten/gone?)
do something with the motor to get it up into the 160HP+ range
Never: body kit/wing/decals; if I ever even fix the rust, I would paint it the same sandy silver color it already is
loud exhaust (though the flexible pipe portion directly below the motor has the outer braided portion missing, so that should be replaced...)
disconnect my AC. I'm built for cold climates

If you haven't noticed already, I'm cheap. I don't think I could bear to spend more than another $2000 on the car, and that's only if I could put the suspension and drivetrain problems to rest.

Any thoughts? My other option is to do the same as I've done with all my previous cars: perform the bare minimum of maintenance, and drive it for another 2y, or until one of my friends crashes it.

 

the dohc f22b has 160hp, and is around 600 for the lb. would you want to lower your car or keep it stock height

 

20hp right there.

 

CHEAP HP = WEIGHT REDUX


and lots of STICKERS