- Fri Nov 16, 2007 7:06 pm
#30256
Seems much easier/cheaper/more reliable to just get a low mileage JDM D15B VTEC. $For 500-600 bucks US for the motor/tranny, and another $100 for the ECU, you get 128hp at the crank and a good solid foundation to build on. Save up for a cam and/or turbo set up and then go for ECU tuning from there.
Nearly anybody that can turn a wrench can swap a whole engine. Doing a head swap and wiring conversion takes some knowledge to be done correctly. And besides, you're going to have to change the clutch anyway. If you're going to pull the tranny and change the clutch, might as well swap the whole motor.
Tranny is going to make the most difference. Make sure to get a trans from a VTEC motor as they have much quicker gearing and longer final drive. I'd take this tranny on a non VTEC motor over a VTEC motor with a long tranny any day.
You can spend all your money on little improvements that don't net much power. And in the end you end up with about as much power as their sport model for that generation. When you go to upgrade from that point, the engine block starts to show it's age. And you had to re-tune the ECU?! Better to have a stock motor and stock ECU if it makes the same power.
You can spend a lot of time making small weight reductions as well. Just pull the passenger seats, IM bracket, knee bolster, rear speakers, front and rear 15 mph bumper supports, and SRS control unit. Anything beyond that will net you modest gains at best or start costing you money that could be better spent on the engine.
60mm throttle body will hurt your power. Stick to the stock 56mm until you're FI or have a stage 3 cam.
I/H/E net modest gains. Better to jump right into a cam or save up for a turbo. For N/A, an ebay CAI and an AEM filter is the best bang-for-buck.
Routing the coolant lines away from the FITV and IACV is a good thing because it doesn't cost you more than some gasket material and hose. Just make sure you seal the FITV completely or else you're going to have a big vacuum leak.
Another free power gain can be adjusting the ignition timing. A lot of engines do well on 18 degrees (or whatever your max side of the spec is), but I had a SOHC ZC VTEC that lost power above 16. 91 octane helped but the small power gain just wasn't worth it.
An ebay intake manifold heat shield gasket wont give you a noticeable power gain, but it's cheap and a good excuse to clean out the intake manifold and throttle body once a year when they fill with gunk.
Everything that was said about mini-me's having oil leak problems is nonsense. Removing the head/replacing the head gasket is a common thing. I suspect people are re-using the head bolts (which are not re-usable because they stretch when torqued) or simply aren't torquing the bolts correctly. Get yourself an ARP head stud kit if you find yourself removing the head for any reason. It's cheaper than OEM replacement head bolts, and they're reusable!
Nearly anybody that can turn a wrench can swap a whole engine. Doing a head swap and wiring conversion takes some knowledge to be done correctly. And besides, you're going to have to change the clutch anyway. If you're going to pull the tranny and change the clutch, might as well swap the whole motor.
Tranny is going to make the most difference. Make sure to get a trans from a VTEC motor as they have much quicker gearing and longer final drive. I'd take this tranny on a non VTEC motor over a VTEC motor with a long tranny any day.
You can spend all your money on little improvements that don't net much power. And in the end you end up with about as much power as their sport model for that generation. When you go to upgrade from that point, the engine block starts to show it's age. And you had to re-tune the ECU?! Better to have a stock motor and stock ECU if it makes the same power.
You can spend a lot of time making small weight reductions as well. Just pull the passenger seats, IM bracket, knee bolster, rear speakers, front and rear 15 mph bumper supports, and SRS control unit. Anything beyond that will net you modest gains at best or start costing you money that could be better spent on the engine.
60mm throttle body will hurt your power. Stick to the stock 56mm until you're FI or have a stage 3 cam.
I/H/E net modest gains. Better to jump right into a cam or save up for a turbo. For N/A, an ebay CAI and an AEM filter is the best bang-for-buck.
Routing the coolant lines away from the FITV and IACV is a good thing because it doesn't cost you more than some gasket material and hose. Just make sure you seal the FITV completely or else you're going to have a big vacuum leak.
Another free power gain can be adjusting the ignition timing. A lot of engines do well on 18 degrees (or whatever your max side of the spec is), but I had a SOHC ZC VTEC that lost power above 16. 91 octane helped but the small power gain just wasn't worth it.
An ebay intake manifold heat shield gasket wont give you a noticeable power gain, but it's cheap and a good excuse to clean out the intake manifold and throttle body once a year when they fill with gunk.
Everything that was said about mini-me's having oil leak problems is nonsense. Removing the head/replacing the head gasket is a common thing. I suspect people are re-using the head bolts (which are not re-usable because they stretch when torqued) or simply aren't torquing the bolts correctly. Get yourself an ARP head stud kit if you find yourself removing the head for any reason. It's cheaper than OEM replacement head bolts, and they're reusable!