Hi, im new here and im not the smartest about cars and what not but i know a little. i have a 97 civic ex, it has vtec. I was wondering where would be a good place to get a bigger cam and what should i get.... im all stock pretty much, all i have is a cat back exhaust, and short ram air intake.

 

Just curious, why do you think you need a bigger cam?

I'm not being a *****, I ask because it's important for us to know what your goals are.

Do you want to stay all motor? Turbo? Nitro?

 

i dont really have a lot of money right now so i kinda want to see what i can get out of my motor without doing anything huge. i want to go all motor right now and when i get a little more of my car paid off i would like to go turbo, because a lot of my friends have turboed cars and i hate them cuz they are fast and i just love the sound of the turbo.... so i was thinking about gettin a bigger cam and msd and a vtec controller.....is it worth it or should i just wait untill next summer to get turbo kit?

 

I see what your trying to do, I've been there, as have most of the people on this board...we all start somewhere.

In my opinion, the cam by itself will not really give you a big "bang for your buck" on a single cam. To get the most out of a cam, you need more compression, better exhaust (header back) and better intake. I think you will probably be dissapointed.

The MSD will be needed later when you turbo, and the VTEC controller can also be used if you do a budget turbo kit.

If you really need to go faster now, you might as well buy a N20 kit, put a 50 shot on it, and have some fun. Otherwise, I would save for a Turbo kit. I have a friend that did a fun turbo kit for about $1,500!

Good luck!

 

well i just ordered a vtec contorller today off of ebay for 60 bucks. so far i have a short ram air intake, and 2 1/4 cat back. i plan on gettin a header next month.

i have a question tho. if i do get a bigger cam would i need to rebuild my head like new springs and retainers? i know that some kits say they can work with stock but... right now my compression is 8:6:1.

 

Yeah, that compression is really low.

If the manufacture says you can use the cam with stock springs, go for it. It all depends on how wild of a cam you get. THe bigger the lift, or longer the duration you go, the more likely you will need to upgrade.

 

yeah, i kinda want to get a cam for the street/strip. nothing too crazy. but i would still like to rebuild the head so i can rev it up kinda high. Isnt your redline based on what your intake and valve train can handel? well that the big part tho right?

 

more-so your valve train.

 

hmm.. more power?? Go DOHC.. then you can get 2 (two) bigger cams.. trust me. I dunno the condition of your ex but if you want more power.. save up some bills and purchase a new engine.. they're everywhere.. and now u can spend about 1500 and get a decent b16 and you'll never wanna drive another SOHC in your life