1987 civic si fuel injection computer help

[Tom Blaney]

Rick:

As you are well aware by the level of prep that went into my cars, and the cars Anthony preps, there is a lot more to it than a basic rebuild.

Replacing the pistons is good but when he bored the block was a honing plate involved? Blueprinting the motor means more than just getting it to factory spec, there is quite a bit of difference in HP ratings between a "tight" and "loose" fitted motor.

Were all of the valves seated exactly the same, and were all of the valve springs matched, and the shims correct. The rules indicate the maximum compression you can generate is it?

With the CRX there are a couple legal camshafts was yours the proper choice for your motor.

I found after a LOT of DYNO Sessions was that the perverbial "port matching" of the intake made a unmesurable difference since they were very close from the factory

And finally, it sounds like you are not sure that your headers are correct, good headers are expensive and extremly important in both size and style (4-2-1, 4-1, longs, shorts, big tube or small).

As far as magic oils like Royal Purple, Redline etc, I have found since the first release of Mobil 1, it is absolutly the best performing, and most consistant product I have used, and has saved many a toasted motor. Beside you can pick up a carton at WalMart at the same time you pick up an inexpensive Fram filter and a 30 pack of Budweiser...

Hope that helps.

Tom

[gran racing]

Tom,
I completely respect the level of prep your cars have, your driving abilities and appreciate the help you've given me in the past. You should also understand that Matt / Kessler Engineering knows what he's doing. Heck, you mention Anthony and the level he preps cars. Well he thought highly enough of Matt to hire him for his GrandAm efforts. I have a tremendous amount of respect for the work Matt does, his fair prices and honesty. Onto something other than Rick having a weak motor built.

[Tom Blaney]

Hang on Dave, I was not critizing Matt at all, I don't know him but if Anthony respects him than I would also. My question was directed back at Rick, he mentioned 40 over pistons as if that was a big deal, but mentioned that yea he should look at headers.

In fact my reply was more so directed at your comment about what I would reply, since there are a lot of racers who don't know what a honing plate is or why you use it etc..... What I was emphizing is that to optimize a IT motor with it's limited prep rules, you have to maximize every little detail, before looking at trick ECU's and all that. You have to build a solid base, and good engine builders understand that I am sure Matt does and if Rick asked for that than I am sure it is what Matt delivered.

[dazzlesa]

the car has a DC sports header. from owning anthonys car i see how car prep wins. thats why i had bought the car from him. i knew he had crazy hours invested that i knew i would not be able to duplicate. with the civic i am trying to find as much as i can without spending to much time or money. of course the desire to run upfront gets in the way of this logic. i could bring the civic to anthony and i am sure he would make it faster than i could by myself. my budget does not allow me to do that. i appreciate the help that has been givin on this website. it has definaetly helped me find the info or parts that has made the car go faster. hopefully i have helped others in return. the details make the difference. tom is probally right. there are still other areas to work on.
for example set up, shocks, a different final drive and limited slip have netted 1.5 seconds from july to october compared to mine and daves golf. i know there are other factors but dave ran similar times at both events. so in the end i found something.

[Zephyr]

For what it's worth I played around with running an OBD0 distributor on my Civic and CRX in H5 trim. Same motor rules as IT but I could put on a different dizzy and ECU. I put a lot of time into it and it felt strong but this past summer I ran into issues with the ECU at one event, I thought I sorted it out but just to be sure I brought the stock dizzy and ecu with me to the next event incase something happened. Sure enough it did on Saturday morning at Hyperfest. I swapped in the stock dizzy and ECU and ended up running the exact same times as I was running the session before.

Unless you throw a lot of money at this issue I don't think there is much to be gained by running a newer setup on this motor or for that matter Dave's motor. You might be able to gain a little here and a little there but it is not enough to be really noticeable to the point where you'll say, "Damn, that two grand is really making this car move".

One thing that I do know for sure makes a difference is the header. My CRX is running a 4-1 header with a 2.5" outlet. Before that I ran it with the same header but a 2.25" tail section and before that a 4-2-1 with a 2.25" outlet. I would start messing around with your exhaust before your ECU.

Z

[iambhooper]

Rick:

With the CRX there are a couple legal camshafts was yours the proper choice for your motor.

Tom

Tom,

For those of us that are dangerous enough to do, but not smart enough to do so, could you please elaborate on the different camshaft comment? I'm not doubting, just curious, as I will likely be upgrading my ITC ride to ITB for 2009, and I want to gather as much info as possible.

Thanks!
hoop

[dazzlesa]

it seems these cars were offered with different cams depending on year, location, auto matic or stick shift . you have to figure out which works better. we had 2 motors. one had a r2 and the other had r3. we used the r3 which measured bigger. i am not sure if there are better ones out there.

[bamfp]

I have had all 4 cams on a cam doctor. Not a big difference between them.

[iambhooper]

it seems these cars were offered with different cams depending on year, location, auto matic or stick shift . you have to figure out which works better. we had 2 motors. one had a r2 and the other had r3. we used the r3 which measured bigger. i am not sure if there are better ones out there.

my understanding of cams is very basic... lift and duration. as for different cams, do the ones from the carbed car interchange with the fuel injected? and then you have automatic vs 5spd, cal carbed vs not vs canadian, correct?

do cams wear down? if so, what can be done... replace them?

again, just trying to figure out whats going on and what people are considering acceptable. if i sent a head off to Sunbelt to get worked, would they generally do something about the head?

thanks!
hoop