nope, motor is too old to handle more power. It's like John elway trying to play football again.

"open budget" ?! = endless money?!

B18b1 will get the most gains out of a v-tec / turbo upgade but... a Gsr engine will still be faster with the same amount of upgrades. that is what i think you hear with "b18b1 is more modable."

If you do have "open budget," fully built turbo charged B18c would be fun car for the weekends.

Fully built turboed GSR.
http://host49.ipowerweb.com/~tunedby...ntegradyno.wmv

i have an ls as well with bolt-ons, i hear alot of the power i added i don't know about feeling it (i feel it more spiritually), but i plan on going the turbo route because the would best performence gain i can do. LS engine is safer to boost then the GSr only because Ls is ran at lower compression.

in a way... i think you should sell the car and just buy a gsr and start from there, start brand new, old cars = old.

 

My engine has 135,000 mi on it and it sees 8 psi of boost daily. As long as the engine is maintained, it should last for a while.

B18Bs are not more moddable than B18Cs. There is way more aftermarket support for the B18C because they are the gem of the Honda legacy with the only thing holding them back is the higher compression pistons. Swap those out and you have everything an LS has and some. Like oil squirters, thicker cylinder walls, and VTEC.

If I were you, I would buy an LS longblock and start rebuilding. Have a spare motor to work on while you are still driving your current one. This way you can take your time, swap the rebuilt one it, and sell the old one and make most of your money back. Then you would be better off (powerwise) turboing it.

An LS with bolt-ons is just a stock motor that sounds louder. The gains from such upgrades are negligable at best. If you want power, forced induction with a freshly rebuilt motor is the way to go.

 

Since you are down there, replace the rings as well. It requires a little bit more labor and money but with that many miles, it would be wise to freshen up the rings and restore factory compression and leakdown numbers.

 

listen to shmoo

 

You'll have to forgive me, but what exactly is an LS longblock, and how does it differ from the b18c

 

rebuild your current engine and turbo that bitch. dont waste time and money swapping in a b18c1 when you have a perfectly good engine already.

a longblock would be just the block and head, no tranny.

 

The only advantage of getting a new engine would be to rebuild it from the ground up and still be able to drive my car the whole time. Or spend money on the suspension, etc. getting that just right until my current engine really decides to die. I was just thinking of getting the basics (header, exhaust), but didn't want to do that if a different engine was a better way to go. B/C then I would have to unload parts that don't fit.

 

The engine you have is perfectly fine (except for age and wear) and you should think about a rebuild whether you rebuild the one in there now or buy a spare one to rebuild. If money isn't an issue, your only two options as upgrades would be the B18C1 or B18C5. Keep the engine you have, rebuild sometime in the future, and then decide to mod it. Don't mod an engine that you know will go to crap at any minute. You will be hurting financially when all your money went to mods and your engine blew. You will be without a car and those mods you paid so much for are now just pieces of metal.

 

Thank you for reassuring some things I already kind of figured. What is the difference between the b18c1 and b18c5 though, and any suggestions on where to pick one up and get some great info on all the options for tricking it out?

 

C1 = GSR 170hp
C5 = Type R 195hp

There are several sites on which you can buy motors but is it really worth the money/effort? Is the car in good enough condition, body/suspension wise, to warrant dropping a new engine into? Personally, I would either rebuild the one you have or buy a newer GSR with lower mileage.