preformance advice for a newbie?

first off, i hope i don't catch to much flame for this post. i've done some general matinance on my car, but am still bascially a newbie. so if i ask any stupid question, please don't kill me, im trying my best to learn. that being said.. i have a 89 LX accord (with a carb) manual. i've done some show type mods to it, now i want to get started on the go. i have some working knowledge on car matinance and such, and am currently getting a chilton manual and have some very car knowlegable people to help me in installation procedures. that being said i have some questions in getting started on making this car preform a little better.

my first very stupid but important question, people on here always use the tecnical letter/number names for the engine, so i was wondering which one mine is? (like i said i'm stupid and have no clue sorry) basically, i need advice on the mods that are avaliable to make my car move (nothing as huge as an engine swap mind you, things that will work with mine) and which ones cost the most/least, the the easiest/hardest to do, and how much of a difference each will make. any help on this subject would be most appreciated, and please don't kill mefor being so stupid :)

save the money for an engine swap, carb accords arent worth dropping money into..

First off your engine should be an A20. I have a carbed LX, 86 moedel. So basically were in the same situation. Dont even bother doing many searches on the internet for aftermarket parts for engines on this car. Cuz you just wont find much if anything. Your best bet is take the time and sit down and read this site as much as possible. Mainly because most of your "performance" mods will have to be custom made some how. Some easier than others. There really isnt any easy way around it since the 3rd gen accord doesnt have any 3rd party support. First start off with the threads labeled how-tos, FAQs, and important. Then go back and do searches on everything else. AND then read some of the post you missed for filler. By then youll know just about everything you need to know for this car. Then ask questions. Most ppl wont flame you if they see that you are asking "eduacted" questions.

As far as carbs not worth dropping money into. I have to dissagree and im sure any number of ppl on this board will to. A20 (i think thats his nick) has a wicked carb setup and so do many of the ppl here. Many things can be done with a carb so dont discount them. EFI, Carb, who cares. You can mod your if you want. But realize that your car is 14yrs old and so is the technology. So if you think your gonna become the fast and the furious or go whoop some RX7s or Honda S2000's i reccomend you find another car. I dont know about everyone else but i think most ppl keep these cars for the reliabiliy and the uniqueness of not having your run of the mill Civic (how many of those do you see). So if you want to keep your accord, think "different" and be that. Anyways, sorry for the long post and i hope this helps you some.

PS. youll get better responses if you ask specific questions. General questions will get you either general answers or no responses.

First, carb engines are still worth keeping. I have one and just installed a short ram intake with a civic adapter and gained some ponies (check it out in mechanical/technical/carb). Anyway, hears some less expensive ideas to get you going:

1. Pacesetter exaust (cat-back)

2. Pacesetter High-flow cat

3. Pacesetter headers

4. Weber carb

5. SR intake or K&N air filter

6. Accel 8140 coil (it's universal) and wires

That should get you started. Also the muffler that comes with the cat-back is not loud. It's definately more deep and throaty and will give more power, but your car isn't really gonna make some noise until you add the cat and headers.

After you do the basics exhaust and intake look into a cam regrind and a Weber carb. If you are daring do the EFI swap. Later down the road NOS maybe.

i'm thinking headers will probably be first on my list after my tires/wheels, cuz it's relatively cheap (found pacesetter headers on ebay for like 100 somethin) i want a short ram but dunno how to make it or get it to work, i could use some help on that :) i just got a new job so hopefully some of this stuff will be coming soon

headers with stock exhasut is useless... get a custom cat back made with a performance muffelr

Travis

yea try to get pacesetter headers they are worth it and cheaper than DC

your engine should be A20A1

there is SO much information in other posts ...take ur time and do a search in 3geez.com . i'm sure u will find most answers to ur questions (i did). ;)

ghetto-mods (0$ mods) i've dome on my carbed accord and what i think are worth it:

1) remove vacuum lines (how-to)
https://www.3geez.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11067

2) remove cat ( if yours is jammed or old and u dont want to invest in new)
https://www.3geez.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=19961

3) do some weight reduction ( spare tire, clean your trunk etc.)

good luck" (..and hont hate the search button and old topics ;)

a bit of reality for you... you can spend thousands modding your carbed motor, youll be lucky if you break 100 hp... how are you going to feel after you spend your hard earned money of a bunch or crapsetter garbage, only to have a stock cavalier hand your ass over on a 1/4 mile race... this is what you do... save your money, buy a place racing engine mount kit and get a b swap... youll be glad you did

What the hell are you on? The Accord has 98HP stock. Lucky to break 100HP? Right. A couple minor investments and you have yourself well over 100HP. Also, to those who say the carb engine isn't worth dropping money in, I beg to differ. Why do you think racing cars are carbureted?

Keep the carb if you want, but if you want to turbo and NOS it will be much easier with EFI. It just depends on what you want out of the car. I would like to add a turbo and NOS so I did the EFI swap. Not saying that you can't add a turbo and NOS to a carbed engine, but it is a easier mod with our EFI system.

N/A

Do you have emissions?


here is some cost info for the weber conversion if you don't have emissions.
get the weber adapter plate with a 38 weber carb.
$50 bucks for the adapter
$50 for linkages and filter, unless the carb you buy has a filter.
and I'm not sure how much the carb is. If you're lucky you can find one for about 75 - 100 bucks on e-bay.

then buy the jets, but only the ones you need. This will also depend on where you buy the carb.

don't ask how much hp because the carb will only work as good as the rest of your motor... you need exhast, header, cam. in order to see the gains from the carb.

also some intake manifold porting cause that helps out a lot.

and a new fuel pump and regulator as well, cause the stock carb pump sucks. It just does... it's weak.