Hi, as the title shows, I am a Miata owner. I just visited a 300 vehicle car show and got excited about building a turbo Honda street car. I talked very briefly with 3 Honda owners but at the time I was escorting my grandson who wanted to look at Ferraris! I didn't have much time to talk but do remember them talking about a "notch" or "hatch" that one of their club members had built up. My question would be what specific model Honda and what years and or motors should I look for? I am not familiar with Honda engines or their designations.
For example: "look for a '99 hatchback with the dbe33 motor". Or, what are very popular builds for a 200-250 hp Honda? Turbo, I'm sure.

Thank you in advance for any and all information to get me headed in the right direction. I look forward readng all your forums. If someone wants to build a Miata, I can help.

Bill

 

What's a Miata? lol I just left the Honda scene for a Miata

Building Honda's are simple. I say stick with 92-00 civics if you can find one in your area with a good body. If you want power options (windows, doors etc) you are most likely looking at an EX version. If you want the lightest chassis possible, you're looking for a hatch. There aren't 100's of possible options like there were for the Miatas during that time. It was very straight forward. For example, when you see a 96-00 USDM hatchback with power windows, you automatically know someone did a conversion etc etc.

Honda's are almost like legos, you can mix and match pieces, as long as you do your research to figure out what fits. My last honda was an Integra and upgrading the brakes consisted of buying parts from a type R, prelude, accord, and RSX. The car had JDM 4x114 hubs (for looks mainly, the guy i bought it off of was trying to make it a "converted" type r) so I needed to source brake pads for an Integra Type R, front rotors from a prelude, rear rotors from an accord, front brake calipers from an integra type R, and rear calipers from an RSX. The rear calipers needed to be flipped upside down and installed on the opposite sides while transferring the original integra E brake cable bracket over so that would still function. lol it might sound like a mess, but it was a fantastic set up that was super easy to find replacement parts for. I could go on and on about how frankenstein that car was.

Also, honda-tech.com will be a great resource for you. Much more activity going on over there.

The one thing I have noticed between miata and Honda forums is pictures. I see TONS more DIY guides with pictures (making it easier to complete) than for Miatas. Maybe I'm just looking in the wrong places?

What's your price range for the build?

 

Thanks for the guidance. I appreciate it. My budget would be about $7200 for car and mods.

 

$7k should be fine for you goals. The car should be ~$2-3k, turbo set up is going to run~$3k assuming you are doing all of the work. From my experience, the turbo and the tuning solution will be your biggest set backs. From there, focus on getting the power to the ground and go for suspension and tires.

Tuning brings another topic up, emissions. Do you have emissions testing in your area? That may give you reason to buy an OBD1 car rather than OBD2. There are ways around getting a boosted OBD2 civic, but it warrants a lot of work each time you go for testing, or knowing someone.

Let me know if you have any additional questions. There are a few good guides set up as stickies (threads posted at the top of each section) in the turbo part of the forum of you haven't checked those out yet.

 

Glad to see Billybug has come to the Honda side.. I cant say i am new to Hondas at all, but i CAN say that i was converted from a Chevy truck girl into a complete Civic-blooded grease monkey. I lucked into my 96 Civic EX w/ a D16Y8, for $450, from a friend that called her "unreliable". I assumed the car was on its last legs from the way she'd spoke of it, so i treated like that "Chevy Big-Block Mudder" i was always dreamin of. Did everything to enjoy what time is was gonna get outta this lil "unreliable" thing. I used and abused her and even surprised the rednecks that spent their time sloppin the mudholes at the local creek. I was proud every month she was still kickin, and enjoyin the hell outta it. People around the hangouts and in town would run into me and "Honda" drivin around for fun, and say "Wow! You still drivin that car?" They'd all seen how i had drove fast, raced everyone i could, and was always willing to prove anyone who said "that little car will NEVER make it"..absolutely wrong. Time went on...for 1yr, then 2, 3, 4. It finally began to sink in about 5yrs in, that my lil Honda was badass! She changed my thinkin about little cars for good. I started takin really good care of her, better than i take care of myself. I'll buy somethin special for her before i'll buy for me. So here we are, me and Honda, 9yrs later, tickin away at 305K+, and still enjoyin her. A couple yrs back, i got real serious about spoilin her. Started studyin her, learnin her workings from the tip of her antenna to the tread on her tires. I do my own maintenance and do what mods and upgrades i can pull off. Of course, she has a Honda guy i can take her to if its too far above my knowledge, but he teaches me while he works so i hopefully wont have to take her in for anything twice. I even live w/ her, really. The 2 car garage on the family land became, Honda on one side and my apartment on the other. I eat, live, and breathe my Civic...proudly. I joined HCF to learn as much as possible about my beast, and others like her. I also hope to share some of what I've learned with someone also looking to learn their Civic. If anyone out there can be just half as happy with their Honda, as I am with mine...then you'll never wanna let it down. Welcome to the Honda family, Billybug .... And crcvcv99, hope to see ya around