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Hey guys I've been hovering around these forums for a while now and have always wanted this car ever since the Fast & Furious Series... Childish I know but now that I have started saving up for a project car, I can finally look into something like this.

I understand that the stock engine can handle well over their current output and I'm wondering if I had about $3k to spend on strictly performance/weight saving upgrades, what could I expect? This is not including the basic bolt on mods such as exhaust, headers, and a CAI, which in my experience are more for sound than anything else.

I appreciate any input and I currently own a BMW that gets horrible mileage and all the mods I've done to it have been stupid expensive. I just kind of want a change of scenery, but most of all, I simply can't spend any more money trying to quicken up my current car without any kind of forced induction. I'd rather drop that money into something that I can personally do myself without worrying about overpriced repairs if I completely screw something up.

Thanks!

 
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Ok. There's SO many things you could do.
Option 1: swap out the engine that came with your civic and change it with a d15b or a b16A. A d15b swap from hmotors online.com can be as low as 800. A b16a swap however, would be around 2200 for a full swap. It also depends on the year you get. If you get a 89-91 you will be able to just drop in the 2200 b16a swap because it was made for 98-91. If you want to put it into a 92-95 or 96-00 it's a bit more complicated. You might as well just do the 2200 b18b (ls no vtec) swap.
Option 2: build and turbocharge the engine. A little more expensive but on the d16y8 a edelbrock turbo kit will FLY! It's about 6k to do but great investment
Option 3: little bit of top end or bottom end work (cams, cam gears, head porting, stuff like that) and a I/h/e /(intake header exhaust and test pipe) then you could yield about 165hp on a d16y8 depending on how much of the engine you build.
Overall, you should swap the engine because the d16y8 won't satisfy most people's hp goals. A b18b is a great place to go, a non vtec turbo can sometimes work better. While a b16a is a little bit more money, it has oil squirters and vtec.

 
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They can handle well over their current power, but those are the people that have 10k to do an all motor turbo build.

Weight savings costs more than you think. Genuine seats are as low as 1k for all of the installation stuff need and the seats. You can strip all the body panels and leave just the metal shell for the interior and save about 75lbs, that's it. Remove spare tire, jack - 50lbs. New wheels - 20lbs. Depends on how drastic you want to get. If its track only you can reduce up to 250lbs of crap. Street use, maybe 120lbs. Not that much, you may as well just not worry about weight reduction. Plus, don't put a carbon fiber good on looking for weight reduction, in fact you need more weight in the front due to the FWD.

 
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B series swaps are good power and can be done by yourself, you just need to have an engine Hoist or borrow one. You should have a friend or 2 help, it's not a job for 1 person, it's not so much hard rather than just needed extra people.

 
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what are your power goals? with 3k you can somewhat build a d-series and boost it. But could also find a cheap b series and also somewhat build it and boost later one as you acquire parts. with a b series, you have a lot more room to grow than a d series, but d series is cheaper to build and cheaper to replace once you blow it.

IMO, i'd find an LS swap, GSR or type r swap and go b-series. You'll be much happier than building your d series