necromonger

The title may be a little misleading, but I have some questions. I just recently and luckily acquired a 1996 Integra GSR for $2,700. The owner was my brother-in-law and he knew nothing about it. I checked the vin, engine, door sticker and everything and it was in fact a GSR with no bad history. Its never been in accident and all the interior is clean and fresh.

Previously:
It has been 4 years since I last stepped into the driver seat of an Integra. I had terrible luck with my previous two. Had them stolen in less than a year after ownership. After my second Integra was stolen I stepped away from the tuner scene and tried to forget everything about it. I left my team and left all my friends. I drove an automatic Corolla for 3 years, but when I heard my brother-in-law wanted to get rid of his Integra I just had to have it. The minute I stepped inside of it I had all these flashbacks of back in the days when I used to cruise with my team. I still remembered how to drive stick after all those years without driving it!

Presently:
I got into contact with all my old friends and it turns out they're still rollin' together. They've invited me to join their team again. They are now more active and go to sanctioned racing events on a weekly basis. I see that two of my previous closest friends have their cars fixed up. One of them has a 99 Integra sedan with LS-Vtec turbo and the other is running an AE86 N/A. The team is still pretty much mostly consisting of Hondas, with the exceptions of an MR Evo, Mustang Cobra, RX-7, 350Z, and a couple 240s.

Now I'm sitting on with this B18C1 and $4000 extra to spend on it. My friends told me that with a little over $2000 I can turbo my B18C1. I only have @ $4000 to spend on it. What should I do first?

I'm still relearning everything and don't know everything. When I left the tuner scene, I tried to completely forget everything about tuner cars. Should I wait and save up some more? By the end of this year I'm planning to drop $8K total on it. I want a good suspension system, brake system, and of course a good engine set up. My friends are the experts on all this and they're the ones who are pushing me to fixing this car up. I just want a fast Integra I can take to college. I'm not looking for a drag car, I want control it too, since I'm interested in entering a racing school sometime next year.

Spec R

congrats. please post pictures.

necromonger

I took the badges off. I thought they looked stupid, also I tinted the windows.

Right now I'm looking for a turbo kit. Future plans include CF Hood, CF Trunk, and CF Doors. My dream is to make it a track car. My friends told me that with $800 I can get a turbo kit and for $1100 I can get it installed and the engine/turbo tuned. With the other $1K I plan on working the engine. Again I'm still new to this and would love some tips, suggestions, and info.

Thanks

Spec R

good call on taking the wakaba badges off.

use some stock turn signals and take the yellow film off the highbeams.

your friends are wrong for telling u that you can get a turbo kit for 800. thats probably an ebay kit that is pure junk.

AcuraLsSE

If it were me I would look into the health of the engine before doing anything to it. And IF you can get a turbo kit for $800 its nothing I would put on my car. You get what you pay for so don't cheap out on what matters. Overall I like the car. Personally I would remove the yellow film and after market turn signals. I would like to see a shot of the rear of the car and the engine bay.

necromonger

Thanks, well the kits they're telling me is just the intercooler, piping and waste gates and other stuff, no actual turbo. The turbo comes extra. I'm gonna go to their shop this sat to see how much for the turbo + kit and install. Sorry I for not clearly mentioning it.

I'm looking at craigs list and ebay for the turbo. The thing is I don't know what turbo to get. The engine health is another one of my priorities. The car has 140K miles. Its has always had its tune up and oil changes done. The previous owner, my brother-in-law never raced it, he got it like that off a dealer. I've known him for 4 years and I've never really seen him abuse it. IDK if I should build the motor first and then boost..

Oh and the turbo kits seem fine. My friend's turbo(not sure the brand) is boosting his LS Vtec up to 280 whp(I think or atleast that's what he said). His turbo is a t3/t04 57 and its really shiny LOL! He got the turbo for $350 used. When he had his turbo installed he also had his internals worked. He was telling me something about the trim on the turbos that I should be looking for, I really don't know much about the trims.

AcuraLsSE

I would run a compression and leak down test before putting a turbo on it. And again, STAY AWAY FROM EBAY. If you want to turbo your car get a decent turbo. As far as trim and everything I haven't done my research so I have no input on that. But you'll need: oil lines, engine management, fuel pump, fuel injectors ect. Just spend some time online looking at other peoples turbo build and learn a couple things and good luck.

Spec R

dont bite off more than you can chew. not to be rude/mean or anything, it just sounds like you're jumping into the deep end.

enjoy the car in its current form. stock gsr's are pretty fun.

why do you want to go turbo in the first place? drag racer (not worth it in my opinion) ? freeway racer ( :down: )? autocross :thumbup: ? roadcourse :bigok: ?

is this your only car?

if not, your other car 100% reliable?

even on a good day, random stuff can and will break on a turbo integra. myself and many other members on this forum have had firsthand experience with turbo hondas.

we want to help you as best as we can.

gingas

Yeah, thats a good deal. Yes, I would remove the high beam & since you have the 94-97 you can order the jdm yellow bumper lights if you like that look. Guy in my neighborhood have his 96 GSR high beams painted yellow. I personally wouldn't turbo my GSR especially DD or only car. Now me myself if I wanted a turbo car I'd go get a 1/2 gen Eclipse,EVO or STI.

Since you have 4900 to spend. I'd do I, a good header, exhaust(Apexi WS2 excellent quiet exhaust. Suspension,Brakes& if you have decent cash left over I'd rebuild for a good all motor. I know it's more hp to be made for less$ to turbo but a good all motor N/A I think is more reliable.
Also you could do some ITR items.

Good luck & con grats & please post pics. later

necromonger

Hey thanks guys. To the second last poster. My goal is to enter time attack. By the end of this year I'll probably invest $8000+ on this car. My other reliable car is a Corolla(automatic).

All my friends and everyone I know always goes for the JDM look first. I myself and no offense, but I don't like the JDM looks. I want to make this a track racer. So future plans involve lightening the car, roll cage, racing seats, and aerodynamics. The aerodynamics will probably come in the form of front and rear diffusers, an aggressive spoiler for possible downforce, racing slicks, etc. But that's still pretty far away.

I'm setting my eyes on Redline Time Attack, SuperLap Battles and NASA's time attack events. If all goes well, I'll be going to racing school by spring 2011. I had enough fun when I was rolling with the team years ago. I've witnessed many accidents, so street ricing won't be the issue. It may sound like I'm glorifying my friends turbo integra, but he's had his turbo'd for 2 years without any breakdowns. He's not the ricing type either, he just likes to go fast occasionally and prefers drag strips better than streets. I got to go guys. I'll try and take some pics from this sats meet. Later!