Just bought my son a 95 3-door teg LS with a tired motor. It has 160,000
hard miles and uses about 1 qt of oil every 2 tanks of gas. No oil leaks or
other abnormal engine wear signs. I'ed appreciate your opinons on what
motor options you would suggest. Would like to spend not more than $2500.00 on project.

1/ Rebuild motor non-turbo

2/ Rebuild motor for a turbo.

3/ JDM GSR low milage motor transplant.

4/ H22 motor transplant.

Thanks,

 

If that $2500.00 is your entire budget, #3 and #4 are going to be a stretch, if not completely impossible.

#1 would be the cheapest outlay of cash, but if your son is going to keep the car and build it up at a later date, it makes more sense to fortify the internals now.

I would rebuild the stock motor with forged rods and pistons, staying close to 9.5:1 compression ratio. From there, you have two options:

A) Complete an LS-VTEC conversion, in which a VTEC head is modified and plumbed to fit the B18A block. (This has been covered many times before in this forum and the Engine Tech & Tuning forum.) There's a bit of wiring and ECU-swapping to do, but in the long run, a properly built and managed LS-VTEC can be quite powerful.

B)Slap the original head on and turbocharge at a later date, when funds allow.

 

Can you build the LS motor with good cams,springs & retainers, port and polished head and redoing the bottom end and have a motor with good power? I guess I'm asking if the LS motor can be made into a performing
motor with just building the LS motor itself and no going LS/VTECH or turbo.

Thanks,

 

It's certainly possible to build a high-performance naturally aspirated B18B1, but the LS-VTEC conversion -when properly built- is going to be more cost-efficient in the long run.

My question to you is what's your objection to turbocharging or the head swap?

For the price of a set of LS cams and retainers alone, you can purchase the head off of a B18C1 and be on your way. Porting the LS head is an option, but compared to the stock flow rate of the B18C1 head, it's a waste of money IMO.

There is the option of building your stock motor for nitrous oxide injection, but then you'd be continually refilling a 10lb bottle at $4.50 a pound. And should you get stopped by an officer, they're not going to be happy when they see that bottle connected.

Realistically, forged rods are overkill for an LS-VTEC. Brett (aka Dubcac) had a friend running a B20-VTEC. He used shotpeened B18B1 rods and ARP rod bolts on a B18B1 crank in B20 block. If memory serves, the motor saw over 8000rpm on a routine basis (Search for the thread, it wasn't too long ago).

So an LS-VTEC setup can be built to run reliably. If you're concerned about the setup being too powerful, you could set an external RPM limiter to stop the fun at 7000 rpm.

 

Oh shit... I didn't know you were in CA.
I thought you were in FL for some reason... Damn.

Now I know why you're hesitant. h:

 

If I were going to do the LS/VTECH conversion, what would you suggest for
the bottom end and would you mill the head while doing the bottom end.
Is this converson when done properly dependable? It seems from what you
have said, that this would be the best bet for the money and performance.
Could you lead me to some of the other threads that discuss this upgrade?

Thank you,

Doug

 

Well... since you're in CA, that changes everything... and rules out the LS-VTEC conversion altogether. Unless you want to pay a shady emissions shop $200 to "pass" you every other year... the head swap is de facto illegal.

I only mentioned it because I thought you lived outside of CA... and that CA emissions law wasn't a factor.

Since you have to play by the same draconian rules that I do, the most cost-efficient emissions legal option is to rebuild your motor for a turbo build and install the GReddy turbo kit when funds allow.

 

5/ USDM GSR low milage motor transplant.

^^^ Is what I might lean towards. And it would be an OBD1 swap. Then I would go for a '00 Si and add in an oem lsd.

By the way, I'm really curious as to how old your son is and what sort of driving you plan to let him do in this project car of yours?

 

Thanks for all the information. I think we'll either build the existing LS
motor into something special or buy a JDM GSR motor. I've found them
at several sites for around $2500.00.
My son turned 16 this past December and just got his driving permit. He will not get his license until this July. He will be able to drive with an
adult for the next 6 months. When he does get his license, he will be
able to drive, but wil no pasengers below the age of 25 until he turns
18. Anyway, again thanks for all your input.

 

This is in IMO ofcourse.