Hey everyone, I am new here and would like some of your advice with the new project I am starting. I was very into building my car in high school and learned quite a lot for the research ive done. I decided to continue the project I started in high school and turbo my car. I am by far a car enthusiast, but being away in college has kept me from learning a lot more about my vehicle.

First things first, the car is a 2000 Honda Civic Si with a full gsr swap. I have a full exhaust, headers, intake, a skunk 2 pro series intake manifold, and maybe a few smaller stuff like this.

Basically I have been researching for a couple weeks with the free time i have to figure out what all I need to do to prepare my car for a turbo. I have a lot of questions and would really like someone who know what they are talking about to contact me so i can ask a few questions about what I need. This car is my baby and Im doing my best not to destroy it or ruin it in any way possible. I am also not trying to have a race car, but something fun that I can get on and not worry about tearing anything up. From the research I have done so far I can say that I do not want to run more than 9psi as it seems to do more damage over time to the engine. I want to keep between 300-400hp.

Some of my questions include,
If I were to buy a turbo kit, would I need anything else?
How do I know what size injectors to buy?
How do I know what size turbo to run?
Do I need forged pistons and rods?
Is there any turbo kit I should completely avoid?
How much welding is involved?
What is a wastegate?
Is tuning something I should let a professional do?

I have a ton of questions and everyone has a different project. I have tried to find a forum with someone who has the same project, but they all seem to be different than mine. If one of you know a forum that I can be guided to that might answer a lot of my questions, that would be great.

I hope I am not making anyone upset by posting this. I have read tons of articles and forums about people asking questions about what they need as well and people reply saying they need to research more. I have researched enough to understand kinda what all I need, but I dont understand the sizing mostly. I am also new to the forums and have never actually had an account. I have always read forums, but never interacted. I hope this is the best decision ive ever made because I cannot wait to be a part of the turbo life. Thanks for your time, I have already recieved great help from other people on this forum and I couldnt be more thankful. ​

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Welcome!

I've built a few turbo Hondas over the hears. Start with a goal. How fast do you want to go? Will it be a street car or track car? What kind of track? Once you know that stuff, we can work on a plan.

 

I want more torque in reality. Something with a quick pick up, but doesnt top out high. I want a street car, but i could take it to the quarter miles if anything. I want to use this car as a fun cruise car, not a daily by all means. I want to take it out on the nice summer days, not keep it in the garage until its track day. I live in Missouri, anything I do I dont really have to worry about legal issues. They are pretty relaxed in my parts. Thanks for the response!

 

Perfect!! I don't know if there is a "kit" that you can buy or not, I've always just made my own. But I do know that you can buy a T3 manifold for the B16 and then source a close to stock T3 turbo. What I mean by that is you'll go well to avoid any of these big T3/T4 hybrids. They will slow down spool time while increasing top end. I would encourage you to find a smallish T3 to use. My first pick would be a real Garrett from a SVO or Turbocoupe with the .63 turbine. Those can be hard to find now, so something like this would work.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/T04E-T3-63-...ash=item3f51628f26:g:z70AAOSw3ydVwDGr&vxp=mtr

Just be sure that whatever manifold you get works with AC if you plan to keep it. A lot of them dont allow AC, which makes no sense with all the room there is to work with.. But I digress. I've build a B16 that makes just north of 500whp and can tell you that it is NO FUN AT ALL. Seriously. It's a useless POS on the street. Takes FOR EV ER to spool and when it finally does, it just blows the tires off. It was way more fun years ago when it had a small T3.

 

I think after you telling me this and other posts ive read that Id enjoy a smaller turbo much more. I am really concerned about going too cheap on this build. One bad part about honda parts is how cheap they are, its hard to tell sometimes if the piece is just cheap or built cheap too. Also, what kind of manifold are you talking about?

 

I mean something like this: http://www.neukin.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=NEUKINACBM Or even a cast manifold, just so long as it clears AC and PS. http://www.go-autoworks-store.com/gocairbsedot.html

No worries about going cheap. I've tuned some with ebay manifolds that performed really well.

 

With a good turbo set up and tune you might be able to get close to 300hp at 9psi (my guess is 250-275) but your gonna need way more than 9psi to hit 400hp.
You should have swapped in a k20a2 or k24a2 instead of the b18c. k24 will put down 400hp on 9psi and a stock block without trying.

Yes, if you get a good kit, it will come with:
turbo
manifold
down pipe
intercooler and piping
blow off valve
wastegate
oil feed and return

it may or may not include an air filter

you will still need:
injectors (id1000)
boost gauge
engine management (hondata s300)
fuel pump (deatschwerks dw300)
1:1 boost reference fuel pressure regulator
tuning --depending on who does the tuning, you will most likely need a wide band o2 sensor

The only brand of injector i will run on a turbo set up is Injector Dynamics. i'd get some ID1000's (1000cc) injectors. with a hondata S300 the car will still idle like it had the stock injectors. (im running them in my car)

Im not really sure on that small of a motor, but im thinking a t3/t4 or gt28 or gt30

You should be okay with stock internals if your only running 9psi as long as you have a good tune.
For anything over 9psi, you should upgrade your pistons, rods and valve springs.
i would probably go with eagle rods and je pistons

yes, avoid any thing with a chinese turbo. if you see a kit that just says like GT35 and not Garrett GT35, its gonna be a chinese imitation of a Garrett. I wouldn't buy any kit that doesn't come with a name brand turbo. I have never personally seen any chinese turbo last more than a month. Garrett, BorgWarner, Precision are all good. turbonetics ??? im not sure about turbonetics. i didn't have good luck with the one i had. i had to send it in every 6 -9 months for a rebuild.

if you have the cash, go with a full-race kit.

or if don't wanna spend that much check out this one from treadstone

usually just welding the oil return fitting on the oil pan.

Internal or external, a wastegate is a boost-controlling device that operates by limiting exhaust gases going through the turbocharger, controlling the maximum boost pressure produced by the turbocharger itself. A wastegate consists of an inlet and outlet port, a valve and a pressure actuator. MORE INFO

Its probably a good idea for a professional to do it if you have never done it before. You can get a Hondata S300 now and learn to tune it before you go turbo. With the S300 you can set overboost protection and lean protection to turn off the injectors if you overboost or run lean. So you don't have to worry about blowing the motor from lack of fuel. You will have to have a wide band O2 for the lean protection and if your gonna tune it yourself. Its not that hard once you get to know the software as long as you know EFI basics.

It get more complicated with motors like k-series motors because they have an adjustable intake gear that is computer controlled (vtc). so you end up having to tune fuel and spark at 6 different cam angles before and after vtec, then tune the vtec point and then the cam angle table. thats like 26 tables to tune.