Project: California (low budget) Sleeper

[TTSpider]

Ok, so im gunna try to build somewhat of a sleeper out of my 3g. I have 3 problems... first: I live in california, second: I'm carbed :ugh: , and third: Im on quite a low budget. So im looking for opinions, suggestions, anything like that. Especially from some other california people on this site. My budget as of now is about $200 (that should increase in the coming months). Im not exactly sure how all smog and emission laws apply, since im used to working on my '67 el camino where everthing goes :) My only mod right now is a MSD blaster 2 coil. I looked into a cam regrind but im not sure if that will pass smog. I also researched mufflers, and headers. I would like to keep a quiet exhaust note but still get some performance gains. I wanna get the most bang for my buck (who doesnt). Please dont flame me for leaving this topic so broad im just leaving it open for opinions. Any suggestions would be very helpful.
Thanks,
Scott

[shepherd79]

$200 is not a lot of money you know. I think you should save up for bigger stuff like EFI conversion. it would be best and cheapest performance upgrade for you right now. it will give you a little more power, and since it will be EFI, you will have your options open for future mods such turbo. Plus with EFI is a lot easier to tune if you convert to OBD1.

[danronian]

There is not much you can do with carb alone and still be smog legal. If anything just a CAI, coil + plugs, header, high flow cat, and exhaust. But all of this stuff will probably get you to the performance of a stock efi 3g and will cost you a bunch more money. Your best bet is to start saving money because a sleeper would require a whole lot more $$ than $200.

[Vanilla Sky]

best thing you can do for that and stay CARB legal is an EFI swap... that's about it...

[TTSpider]

so the EFI swap will be CA legal? even pass a visual inspection? Sounds like i'll keep savin my bucks. If I were to go to a wrecking yard to get all the parts for the swap about how much would that cost me? also what kinda HP gains could I expect... 15-20hp? more? less? thanks again for the help guys.

[BlueBead]

stock carb car has 98 Hp
stock 86/87 FI has 110Hp
stcok 88/89 FI has 122Hp (better comp. ratio)
parts cars are a good idea if you can pick one up cheap and have somewhere to store it (backyard). Otherwise I'd recommend getting in touch with some of the other Cali members and picking their brains.
Good luck and welcome to 3Geez :welcome:

[1987HondaAccord]

you just have to make sure the stuff you put in is carb legal, or be willing to take it out when its time to smog. I'm not sure, but i think a cam would be ok. (the inspector won't see the difference, and it probably won't change emissions much. other internals could be changed too i guess, or swaping in the whole 88/89 engine/tranny. i had problems with a home-made intake, but after going to like the 5th smog place, he decided everything was hooked up. Currently, i have a test pipe in the exhause instead of the cat. I think i might fail if i took the test today, because i can tell there's a definite smell that screams 'not legal'. my suggestion would be save some money. do one thing at a time, and do it well. don't start one project until the other is completely finished.

BTW where are you in cali?

[TTSpider]

ok sounds good. Im in a small town called Georgetown about an hour away from Sacramento.

[danronian]

To be sure about passing emissions after the swap talk to your emissions place you take your car to and ask them.

[SteveDX89]

Move to another state! :kekeke:

The EFI swap so far is your best bet. Just make sure you are ready for it. It's a lot of work and will take more than a weekend to do. Here is the how-to. (http://www.geocities.com/carotman/howto/eficonv/EFIconversion.htm) Read this several times and also consult the Chilton or Haynes manuals about how to take the car apart. If you think it's out of your league, I would suggest you stick to carb and upgrade with the Civic air box/CAI, header, high flow cat, exhaust.

[Busted_Blue]

a cam is not legal. A far as I know that thing won't pass the sniffer on that dyno smog anyways.




Converting to EFI is legal. You just have to bring your car into perfect lxi spec. Most people won't notice but if you get sent to the State Ref, you will be screwed unless you get a BAR certificate for the modifications.

http://www.smogcheck.ca.gov/StdHome.asp?TextOnly=False

check there for more info.

[gfrg88]

holy crap a cam isnt legal :werd: i didnt know that so if i get a cam regrind i probably wont pass the smog :dunno:

[1987HondaAccord]

are they gonna take the valve cover off and check? i don't think they'd have a stock cam to compare it with. just pass the tail pipe test (it should be really easy).

[TTSpider]

The EFI swap seems like a lot of work, not that im not prepared to do it- it just seems almost not worth it. Does anyone think it would be wise to try and sell my current car and pick up a LXi to replace it?

[Vanilla Sky]

well, if you want smog legal upgrades, you pretty much need EFI, so yeah, go ahead and trade the LX for an LXi

[A20A1]

No they can't tell it was a regrind unless they have some crazy metalurgy degree and know when a cam has been resurfaced... anyways I agree with everyone on converting to EFI if you don't get in trouble for it... look into getting a rebuild for all the parts tho... it will be much simpler to clean and rebuild with everything off of the motor.

you could try and sneak in an aftermarket B16 manifold... there is a water controlled valve that may need to be rigged to the manifold from your stock one if the B16 manifold doesn't have a place for it.
I suppose you could tap the ports on the valve and add brass fittings...
Then tap ports where needed onto the plenum and the intake pipe before the Throttle body and add fittings for those as well. Then connect it all with rubber or silicone hoses.

http://www.3geez.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=4179

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[Busted_Blue]

Cam isn't legal but you can pass with it. They honestly can't tell but it just pushes your smog sniffer test to the limit. I know the openloop regrind passed smog before so it might pass. Don't know anyone with a cam that tried it on the new dyno smog so good luck with that.

As far as other mods on the car, I think you are safe until you get one of those state ref smog only station letters. They randomly pick people who are dued for smog and send them to smog station only. Most places don't know anything with smog but those smog only stations know their shit. :(


Just be careful on your mods.

EFI should be the best bet for you. 200bucks isn't alot for anything really.

[88accordalltheway]

flip the lid and buy yourself a burger. there your at $195.73 and give you at least 2 horses. Go on ebay and get one of those wings, the big aluminum ones that looks like a table. that should get you about 25-30 visual horses, and will leave you at about $64.28. Now heres the good part. Go down to pepboys and ask them for the least expensive universal muffler that they have (should be about 25 washingtons) and use the rest to get a bunch of cool stickers they have at the check out stand. Mabe even one of those awesome vtec key chains they have. When you get home, your going to be pretty excited with your new muffler, you need to key this energy into using a hack saw to cut the stock muffler off, its really hard to do see as it that you have to crawl under the car and everything. once you get it off( it might take you a day or two, who knows. The make it out of 16 gague steel, extremely durable stuff;)) once you get it off, make sure you jump in the car and see how it sounds with out it(its pretty cool, kinda like one of those electronic kitchen appliances). after that, forget welding the muffler on, psssssh! just go get a drywall screw or somthing with thick threads and screw that mo fo on there, thats the only way to get the most sound/performance out of it. after that, be sure to get the stickers and spoiler on there, you need as much cool looking things on there that you can possibily get on ur car. Go take a test drive and enjoy the good life. Guarenteed blank faces and people gauking at your beautiful ride thats faster than almost anything theyve ever seen. If you have any questions, theres a guy named 88accordhb, hell help you out, hes pro at ALL this stuff. :thumbup:

[dillirk]

LMAO...

But he said sleeper.

[TTSpider]

LOL! well thats definately low budget

[YK86]

Cam isn't legal but you can pass with it. They honestly can't tell but it just pushes your smog sniffer test to the limit. I know the openloop regrind passed smog before so it might pass. Don't know anyone with a cam that tried it on the new dyno smog so good luck with that.

Up in BC, we run the car on a dyno for emmisions for the "drive" test and then just let it idle for the "idle" part of the test. I've never compared numbers before but they do say BC emmissions is fairly strict. I passed with readings better than stock when I ran my car through with the Colt tri-flow mild. I think it just depends on the grind.

[TTSpider]

hmmm very tempting. Maybe i should head to a wrecking yard and get a stock cam to use for the core and keep my stock closeby. Then if it doesnt pass atleast i'll have the stock one to swap back in

[AccordEpicenter]

true but if your cat is shot then your readings will be sky high

[mr eff]

i'm fairly certain my car would not pass smog... when i came to the state to have my car registered, i barely passed with a purely stock engine and exhaust set up.

i figured the easiest thing to do to pass emissions is to drive back home to visit my folks for christmas, then spend 30$ and 2 hours at the arizona MVD and have my car registered.

fuck smog :)

chris
http://accord.chocolatethought.com

[Busted_Blue]

Well I just spent 190 bucks on Highflo cat, muffler and resonator. So much for low budget. ..


Anyways, I'm sure I can pass with the exhaust I just need to put my stock air intake back in...or get a carb sticker for it ;)

[1987HondaAccord]

Well I just spent 190 bucks on Highflo cat, muffler and resonator. So much for low budget. ..


Anyways, I'm sure I can pass with the exhaust I just need to put my stock air intake back in...or get a carb sticker for it ;)


if you find a place to get the carb stickers, let us know.