B18c Swap + Ebay Turbo?
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B18c Swap + Ebay Turbo? Alright, here goes my story, this is my first honda civic project, not sure if I should go all the through with the hole turbo idea. Anyways, that name says it all, I got my hands on a 1995 honda civic CX hatchback and i also got a free b18c from a older integra (i think around 1992). Since I got this, i was scanning through forums and youtube videos, and it seems like ebay turbos aren't that disappointing, nor are they promising. But they're cheap, and it looks like they do the job majority of the time. I know a lot of you guys will bash on me for thinking about the whole ebay scenario, but hey, its my car, one to his own right? And its just a trial and error thing for me considering its my first civic project. I hope I get some good advice,opinions and feed back from you guys.
PS. I'm obviously gonna do the basics that everyone does to their civics, (rims, intakes, manifolds exhaust etc.) but i'm mostly concerned about the whole turbo/swap situation.
-Doug.
PS. I'm obviously gonna do the basics that everyone does to their civics, (rims, intakes, manifolds exhaust etc.) but i'm mostly concerned about the whole turbo/swap situation.
-Doug.
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Re: B18c Swap + Ebay Turbo?
Here's the down low on ebay turbos.
They're made of cheap chinese parts with as many corners cut as possible to keep the cost down, but the fundamental designs are usually based off name brand parts.
The sacrifices in quality result in two things, the first is a lack of hard dyno results because they just don't work that efficiently. The second is a rate of failure, I've heard of multiple instances where the turbo has imploded and sucked pieces of it's shattered impeller into the engine, destroying the engine of course. Sometimes they do last, and they do somewhat of a power boost
Even if you pay $500 for the ebay kit though, you'll still need to pay another $500 for a cheap chipped ecu and tuning. Now, your laying down $1000 on a sketchy set-up.
Here's the cheap alternative.
Spend $800-1500 on assembling used parts quality parts. You could buy a used tial bov, a mitsubishi turbo and skyline intercooler, it all works you just need a shop to whip up a set of charge pipes to put it all together. You'll make more power on this set-up and it will be more reliable.
They're made of cheap chinese parts with as many corners cut as possible to keep the cost down, but the fundamental designs are usually based off name brand parts.
The sacrifices in quality result in two things, the first is a lack of hard dyno results because they just don't work that efficiently. The second is a rate of failure, I've heard of multiple instances where the turbo has imploded and sucked pieces of it's shattered impeller into the engine, destroying the engine of course. Sometimes they do last, and they do somewhat of a power boost
Even if you pay $500 for the ebay kit though, you'll still need to pay another $500 for a cheap chipped ecu and tuning. Now, your laying down $1000 on a sketchy set-up.
Here's the cheap alternative.
Spend $800-1500 on assembling used parts quality parts. You could buy a used tial bov, a mitsubishi turbo and skyline intercooler, it all works you just need a shop to whip up a set of charge pipes to put it all together. You'll make more power on this set-up and it will be more reliable.
Thread Starter
Registered!!
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 7
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Rep Power: 0 Re: B18c Swap + Ebay Turbo?
Here's the down low on ebay turbos.
They're made of cheap chinese parts with as many corners cut as possible to keep the cost down, but the fundamental designs are usually based off name brand parts.
The sacrifices in quality result in two things, the first is a lack of hard dyno results because they just don't work that efficiently. The second is a rate of failure, I've heard of multiple instances where the turbo has imploded and sucked pieces of it's shattered impeller into the engine, destroying the engine of course. Sometimes they do last, and they do somewhat of a power boost
Even if you pay $500 for the ebay kit though, you'll still need to pay another $500 for a cheap chipped ecu and tuning. Now, your laying down $1000 on a sketchy set-up.
Here's the cheap alternative.
Spend $800-1500 on assembling used parts quality parts. You could buy a used tial bov, a mitsubishi turbo and skyline intercooler, it all works you just need a shop to whip up a set of charge pipes to put it all together. You'll make more power on this set-up and it will be more reliable.
They're made of cheap chinese parts with as many corners cut as possible to keep the cost down, but the fundamental designs are usually based off name brand parts.
The sacrifices in quality result in two things, the first is a lack of hard dyno results because they just don't work that efficiently. The second is a rate of failure, I've heard of multiple instances where the turbo has imploded and sucked pieces of it's shattered impeller into the engine, destroying the engine of course. Sometimes they do last, and they do somewhat of a power boost
Even if you pay $500 for the ebay kit though, you'll still need to pay another $500 for a cheap chipped ecu and tuning. Now, your laying down $1000 on a sketchy set-up.
Here's the cheap alternative.
Spend $800-1500 on assembling used parts quality parts. You could buy a used tial bov, a mitsubishi turbo and skyline intercooler, it all works you just need a shop to whip up a set of charge pipes to put it all together. You'll make more power on this set-up and it will be more reliable.
Re: B18c Swap + Ebay Turbo?
A lot of people who start builds and never finish them sell brand new parts at 50% of their value just to get rid of them. That's where you can win. Or others use them for a year and replace them with better or bring their car back to stock. The parts are still good ... Not too often you buy parts that are shot 
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