If We Can't Answer Your Questions, We'll Personally Send Dru To Your Place, Bringing Only A Tutu And A Box Of Tools
Cat Fight...
I have a '97 Honda Civic and the exhaust manifold is a one-piece design that is both a manifold and a cat.
What should I do about the catalytic converter in my D16Y7 if I would want to get cat-back exhaust and new headers?Patrick McCannCleveland, OH
| Exhaust Notes
You know what the best thing to do with an exhaust manifold like that is? Make an adapter plate and turn the otherwise worthless piece of cast iron into a turbo manifold. Unfortunately for you, the Y7 manifold hangs a little low for those purposes and draining oil from the turbo back into the oil pan becomes a problem.
That being said, if you want to go with an aftermarket header on a car equipped with a Y7 you need to replace a few smaller parts to make it work. You'll want to go with a cat from an EX model. This was designed to sit in the standard location under the car. If you want to step it up you can go with an ITR cat, racing cat, or a test pipe. The EX cat will be the only way to stay within emissions compliance. Now, your secondary O2 sensor's wires will already reach the sensors new location. The primary sensor's wire will need to be extended. You can do this by cutting and splicing, or do it the clean and correct way by just buying an extension kit from Rywire.com
With these simple mods taken care of, your header and cat-back install should go pretty smoothly. -DB
No Carb Diet...
I am a big fan and I figured you could help. I have a B18B that I want to swap in a CRX. I have looked in a lot of places and I have seen a few setups with carbs, mostly road racers. It said the top end was good. Is there a benefit to putting dual carbs on a B18. If so, is it a lot more money than going aftermarket on fuel injection? Does anyone even sell these kits anymore?
Josh
Carburetion is good for a couple reasons. The first, and less valid, reason is that there are fewer things that can go wrong. I say "less valid" because fuel injection is pretty damn reliable anyway. For the most part, EFI will only malfunction due to human error. The other reason is the great fuel atomization inherent in carburetors. Carbs atomize fuel better by design, which make efficiency and throttle response a bit better than your average EFI setup.
The biggest downside to carbs on a Honda motor is that you need to eliminate the ECU to make it work. This usually means fabricating a crank trigger wheel and using an aftermarket ignition controller to ignite that beautifully proportioned mixture of air and fuel in your cylinder.
Even if you do go that far, you'll have to figure out how to tune it, which is counterintuitive for most of us Honda guys as we're used to just clicking around on a laptop for a couple minutes until it's good. With a setup like this, you'll be turning screws and changing jets, and things like that. I tend to like to leave that stuff to the old men that still build domestic cars.
The last reason why you don't want to do the carb setup is that there isn't a readily available kit out there for you to buy. There used to be a few kits from Japanese manufacturers, but I'm pretty confident none of them are in production anymore. To make this happen, you'd have to build your own carb manifold. That shouldn't be too hard as long as you have plenty of experience with TIG welding cast aluminum, but not many people do. -DB
Stroke It...
First off, I love your magazine.I've subscribed for two years, and recently just re-subscribed for another two years. I plan to continue receiving Honda Tuning till the day I die.
Anyway, my question is: Can B18A crank work in a B16 bottom end? If not, can the B18C crank? I know the rod angles are pretty steep, I'm just looking to make a B16 sleeper.
Thanks again. Keep up the good work.
Kevin Silveira
Wherever, TN
I'm glad to hear that you plan on sticking with HT for life. That's some pretty hardcore enthusiasm right there. Since you're such a loyal reader, you probably have our November '04 issue readily available, right? Turn to page 50 and check out my buddy Dane Sloan's 2.0L B16 build. This setup implements an LS crank, B16 Rods, and custom pistons from Arias with a shorter compression height and a 3mm larger bore to gain the displacement. The motor made 200-plus wheel horsepower on pump gas while still stamped B16 on the block. It doesn't get much more sleeper than that. (Especially back in 2004) -DB
How To Burst A Bubble...
Hey guys, I have an Acura Integra LS with a 4-speed automatic transmission and was wondering if it would hold up to being boosted, I've searched all over the Internet and read many forums and tech sites and everyone has a different answer. Some will say, "Yes, it wont be a problem with a good transmission cooler and a beefed up torque converter." Others say, "No, it will blow the trans. within hours." I'm not going to be running a whole crap load of psi, maybe 3-5 just something a little more fun with a little more jump for a daily driver and occasional tracker. The motor will be taken care of so it's mainly the transmission that concerns me. I'm just looking for a definite yes or no answer and if it is possible explain the steps and parts you would use to go about doing it.
Chandler Braaten
Nowhere, NE
Hate to break it to you brother, but it's time to swap to a 5 speed. Honda Auto trannies are built for efficiency. They create very little drivetrain loss when compared to most automatic transmissions because of their unorthodox design. Honda auto trannies do not have planetary carriers or planetary gearsets. The design more closely resembles a manual gearbox than a conventional squishbox. This setup leaves little room for clutch packs and limits the thickness of the gears themselves. Thin gears and small clutchpacks equate to a transmission that will only hold up well under the conditions it was meant to exist in. Put extra power to the little guy and it will likely disintegrate.
-DB
Come On Over!
First off, I'd like to say I love the magazine and keep up the good work! I was wondering if their had been any consideration in tuning out a R18 2006 civic? I've read tons on the '06 Si mods but have yet to see anything done on the R18, I own a '06 civic LX and wanted a '06 Si but due to my circumstances when they first arrived I could only afford an LX. I love the car but needed wheels fast and had no time to save up enough cash to get the Si. So could you guys be so kind and show me if at all there is any hope in tuning it out or would I'd be wasting my money?" (P.S. An engine swap is outta the question for now.)"
Josh
Phoenix, AZ
As of right now mate, you're out of luck. There are a handful of performance mods out there for your motor, most of which are intakes and exhausts. There will likely never be a header available for your car as there is only a single exhaust port on the head (the primaries are internal). What I would do, if I were an ambitious R18 owner like yourself, is build a custom turbo kit. That port on the head is almost ready for a turbo from the factory. Two plates and a piece of tube later, you've got a turbo manifold. Add on more tube and another plate in the middle and you've got an external wastegate. Then grab a turbo, make some charge piping, get some injectors and something to control them with and you're ready to rock. You'll probably want to do something about that plastic intake manifold too. They tend to balloon under boost (at least the BMW ones do). Maybe grab some fiberglass matt and lay up fiberglass all around the manifold using epoxy resin. Hmm, that sounds like fun! Why don't you put together about $2k, drive west for about six hours, and we'll build the thing? The ball's in your court now, mate. -DB
| Exhaust Notes
A Little From Column A...
I have a hard time getting the right combination of seat to pedals to steering wheel in my EP3. I would like the steering wheel to be closer, and I'm wondering if there are any cars in the Honda/Acura line that have telescoping columns that would swap into an EP3. If so, would the ignition cylinder swap be a nightmare?
Ken Cashion
Denver, CO
Your best bet will probably be to go with an aftermarket wheel and hub. Unfortunately, there isn't a factory option for you. Once you've got the aftermarket wheel and hub, hop on over to www.kingmotorsports.com and pick yourself up a Mugen steering extender. Now you've got the steering wheel where you want it, and bling a little while you're at it.
-DB
Douchebag Of The Month
I will, try to make this brief, and not sound too hateful. I have been a long-time reader, since about summer of 2003, back when you were bi-monthly. I am a factory-trained Honda technician, who has 10 years experience with Hondas and I have been a long-time fan of the magazine. Your mag inspired me to build a few cars with swaps, '94 H22 Accord, '93 b18 EG, H22/H23 '94 Prelude, and a current JDM B20A '91 Prelude 4WS Si (my beater), and my baby a '02 Berlina Black AP1, which is currently being Spoon fed. My fellow techs have always ragged on me for modding my Honda's.
Although we do have a parts guy who thinks he could be a tech, but hasn't done any real work on his space ship looking EK. He is one of those guys that think because they operated the cherry picker to lower in their b18, he is a mechanic, even though he had some other hack wire in his mess of a wire harness. This got me thinking about Dru Barrios, how can you pay a guy who claims to love to be able to diagnose other people's cars. However, when looking at the new Civic's R18 motor, he and his friend look at each other with a stupid look and say, "What the hell is that thing?" as one of them points to the EGR valve. I mean come on, I am not going to take out a book or anything, but Honda's have had EGR valves since like 1987, maybe even earlier. I would hate for Dru to have to diagnose something slightly hard like junction switches on an older Odyssey, or ask him to apply Ohm's law to a circuit schematic in a ETM, (Eletronic Troubleshooting Manual). How many Main Relays has Dru thrown at older Accords for dying while driving, when all they needed were ignition switches? God forbid he had a Multiplex problem, or does he even know what that is?
Sorry to sound like a hater, but it easy to rattle off compression ratio's of D15/D16 hybrids, but not so easy to work on cars in all aspects like Navi, SRS, ABS, B-can, F-can, and REAL hybrids, that can kill you if you screw up. And if you want real pressure, try everything flat rate, sure we make a killing sometimes, but try diagnosing a Navi problem like a yaw sensor under warranty and you are getting paid half an hour for it. I guess I'm just jealous that this kid doesn't know anything, yet stills gets to put blowers on other people's cars, (who I can't figure out why they would trust him), while I have done thousands of hours of training and get to do warranty transmitions in Pilots. The one thing I do have going is making a lot of money, and driving new S2000's, Civic Si's and V6 6-speed manual Accords with between 1 and 3 miles on them. But my bones are starting to hurt. Can I have a job? We'll do a feature on a blower for my S2K, and a turbo H22 for my '91 Prelude 4WS.
Sincerely,
Chrisd
Seriously Christy, did you seriously expect to write a letter to Honda Tuning talking direct smack on me and not get pwn3d?
You're trying to get down on me for not knowing how to do things that you're only proficient at because of hours on end spent mindlessly turning wrenches on bolts that most ENTHUSIASTS couldn't possibly care less about. There are very few Honda Tuning readers who care about being able to diagnose a yaw sensor for the nav they don't have, or junction switches on a 12-year-old minivan they already forgot existed. While I respect what you do, your assessment of its difficulty over what I do everyday is unfounded and shortsighted.
The reason why I deserve my job is the same as the reason why you deserve yours. I've installed many a supercharger actually and, while a 10-pound EGR valve protruding out the side of a motor that had (at the time) existed for all of two months may have caught me off guard, I'm damn good at building, tuning, and even driving these cars. I build cars, you fix them, to each his own.
I'm not going to dig on you for your job. I have a couple of good friends that are Honda technicians. What I can say is, my ASE certifications qualify me for your job. What qualifies you for mine? Do you really think that your ability to fix a warranty transmission in a Pilot faster than I could means that you could build a better race motor than me? Even if you were that misguided, do you think you could write about that race motor more eloquently than I? Clearly your ability to fix a transmission lends nothing to your ability to spell it.
If you want to put superchargers on people's cars all day, do it. I've spent half my life striving to be where I am today. If you want more from your own life, make it happen. Nobody else is going to.
-Dru Barrios
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