Instead of doing a swap, Im going to get a 1990 civic si hatch. Has a d16z6 that was rebuilt 80K ago... Im going to gut it, sell the seats (if I can) and just put 2 racing seats in it to deduce weight. The only thing it "needs" is a clutch. Can anyone recommend one? I was looking at a XTD stage 2 racing clutch kit on ebay for $104 shipped.

My overall goal with this car is to be putting down atleast 210-220 to the wheels. Maybe a little more... Here's what Im wanting to do and the price.

90' civic si = $700
XTD stage 2 clutch = $104
ARP head studs = $115
p28 chipped/dyno tuned ecu = $150
Vitara Turbo Pistons with NPR rings = $100
Eagle Rods = $290
Ebay turbo kit = $650
Ebay muffler = $30 (already had full exhaust, but it sounds like ****, so Im going to change the muffler)
TOTAL = $21xx

I'll wait on the seats until I find a good deal on them. I do have a few questions...

Is that the right ecu that I will need and if so, do I just plug it up and im good to go since ebay seller said it's already been dyno'd and tuned?
How reliable is the ebay turbo kits? I plan on running between 12-18lbs of boost....and Will most likely upgrade to a better quality turbo within a year.

Any advice/comments would greatly be appreciated. What kind of power am I looking at here?

 

You get what you pay for is my motto. Especially with "go-fast" parts.

Cheap. Fast. Reliable

Pick 2.

IMO....

XTD clutches are junk, stay away from ebay turbo "kits" and just piece something together using quality parts. Hold off on the muffler, as the turbo may actually quite the exhaust slightly. Using standard bore pistons may create piston slap, so you may want to have the block bored to at most 75.5mm. Research parts brands and find out what is superior.

Tuning will cost you mush more than $150, especially if you are doing yourself. Usually, tuning costs $150 per hour. Remember, a dyno tune will have you car running correctly when at WOT. Street driving, you may be compromising reliability as it the ECU will not be tuned for partial throttle/ daily driving.

PLEASE look through the sticky in the Forced Induction section to see what you would NEED, and what you may WANT for your turbo kit.

IMO, do it once, do it right.

 

Is there anyone on here that could take the list of parts I've mentioned and what I want to do... and correct the mistakes and tell me what I need then?

What's a decently priced clutch that you'd recommend... and so what should I do about the ECU? Other than that and the turbo, everything else looks good?

 

or would a better question be...

What do I need to do to my d16z6 in order to get 210-230 to the wheels?

 

i'm an ebay/china knockoff fan so i say go ahead and get the kit but make sure you UNDERSTAND that you are taking a risk that parts may not work or may break down fairly quickly. my ebay turbo kit was fine for the short period i had it with no problems at all but yours may not be.

make sure you get an ebay kit with a cast iron manifold because the tubular steel ones will crack within a day.

i've personally never ran the ebay xtd of f1spec clutches but reviews on them on d-series.org are actually pretty good, so again, i say go ahead and get it but it's still a risk, so don't go crying if it blows up after one day of use. and when you say you "need" a clutch does that mean your current one is already slipping? if not then i say boost first, and see if the clutch slips, i was using my stock clutch fine at 180 whp but i never launch or drag my civic.

at your horsepower goal, you will not need vitara pistons or eagle rods yet. you only need them if you want to go 240whp + since that's generally accepted where the limit of the stock rods let go at. also, i'd recommend you get fjrspec rods instead of eagle to correct the low compression ratio issue.

i would also personally wait on the arp head studs if you stay around 200 whp. but when you do decide to get over 200whp, that's when you get studs, pistons, rods, bearings, clutch, etc.

you also need to ask local people or a local forum who a reputable and good tuner in your area is and find out what ems system that tuner suggested. i'm assuming the tuner will probably suggest hondata s300, neptune rtp, or crome pro. go with whatever the tuner is great with.

you'll also need injectors, i'll recommend precision 650cc saturated injectors.

a walbro 255lph fuel pump will also be a good investment, but also not needed until you get past 200+ whp.

i'd also agree and recommend that you wait off on the muffler since the turbo will change the sound of your exhaust.

and i know most ebay kits don't include a dumptube so you may want to see how much that will cost a local fabricator to make

 

^ I read up a lot on XTD before buying my flywheel. It seems that their clutches kinda suck, and their flywheels are ok. Only reason I bought a flywheel from them is because I have a bone stock motor, and it's probably going to stay that way.

 

^ i'm not surprised with your conclusion but these threads kinda make it seem like they're worth the risk to me personally if i ever do decide to mod the civic again. i was always leaning towards getting the action 2ms but i may decide to go cheap when the time comes

http://www.d-series.org/forums/produ...-3-clutch.html

http://www.d-series.org/forums/trans...-you-like.html

 

Another question...

Lets put turbo on the back burner... What about just getting a whole new head package like this?
http://www.gude.com/Head/hp.htm#civic

They dyno'd a 1.6 and had 87hp to the wheels and 7x trq..... After this swap, they were putting down 144 to the wheels and 120tq.. They said adding long tube header would add an additional 10-13hp and tq.

Would this be a good road to take?

 

^ where's their price? i bet that costs as much if not more than boosting your car and will net you much less power. 144 whp is nothing, i bet you'll get bored of that quick and regret all the money you wasted on it. and i bet they put some pretty huge cams in there if that hp claim is true, so you'll probably idle like crap and get ****ty gas mileage. which won't happen with a turbo of course.

boosting the d is the best bang for the buck imo

 

It's $1450 with free shipping.

But if I boost, Ill need to replace the clutch, pistons, rods?? which will be another grand.

I want to get as much power as I can for around $1500-$2000