Just bought my first car '95 Acura Integra LS

y0bam

Wreck-less
Hey, my name's William Hamilton, I'm 21 years old, Live in Twentynine Palms, CA. I have been riding motorcycles all my life, but its becoming too inconvenient to ride everywhere in winter so I went out and bought my first car
1995 Acura Integra LS for $2,500
178,000 miles (I figure I'd do an engine swap with a Type R when the engine starts to get bad)
Engine runs fine, vibrates sometimes in gears 1-3, brakes vibrate (my guess from uneven wear) at high speeds (getting brakes replaced this weekend)
The car sits really slow so it scrapes every now and then, I'm getting better at cutting angles haha, I believe the shocks or springs or whatever were cut, so I plan on getting a new suspension
The car is chilling on hubcaps, I'm thinking about getting matching rims in January to my 2005 Yamaha YZF-R6 Raven (Black w/ Red Trim) and get a red light for the gauges, and maybe red glow underneath the dash

Some questions I have before I start investing money into my car
Swapping the LS (B18B1) Engine with a Type R (B18C5) of a third generation, is there any complications with this swap?
Is there a cheap fix to the lowered car problem? Rumor has it there's something I can insert into the shocks to raise it 2", like studs or something idk
I would like wider tires, I see that most people who race at a track have 225/50/R15, but I saw somewhere that there's complications with rubbing etc, what would I have to do to put in 225/50/R15's in the car?
With HID Lights is there any delay from the time you turn on your brights to the time they light up the road?
(From what I understand HID Lights are still legal, can someone verify this?)
The Paintjob should come after I'm done with working on my car right? The paint's starting to chip lol
Alarm system? I was thinking Low Jack but that only helps after the car gets stolen lol, any recommendations?
I apologize for the vast amount of redundant questions, the search function isn't working too well for me, or I just really suck at searching
I just wanted to add before someone says I got ripped off, this car was two blocks away, I really like Integra's body style and reputation.
Six months from now if the Engine Swap goes well I plan on putting in a Turbo, but as far as how many lbs of boost etc goes I'm not sure
So far the only thing I have done is bought hubcaps (2 have already rolled away hahahahaha), and got an Alpine Stereo System w/ an AUX cable, and x2 Alpine 240Watt Speakers for less than $300 (included installation and they fixed my windows hahaha)

Any input is highly appreciated, I was thinking about popping down to some of the meets in SoCal, but most are on the weekdays, and I only go to SoCal on the weekend :(
 
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JGvtec

New Member
Welcome to CI. Im Jordan. :hi:

How much money are you willing on dropping on this car?

Thats the first question im going to ask.
 

rockadilla

thats right.
Some questions I have before I start investing money into my car
Swapping the LS (B18B1) Engine with a Type R (B18C5) of a third generation, is there any complications with this swap?
Is there a cheap fix to the lowered car problem? Rumor has it there's something I can insert into the shocks to raise it 2", like studs or something idk
I would like wider tires, I see that most people who race at a track have 225/50/R15, but I saw somewhere that there's complications with rubbing etc, what would I have to do to put in 225/50/R15's in the car?
With HID Lights is there any delay from the time you turn on your brights to the time they light up the road?
(From what I understand HID Lights are still legal, can someone verify this?)
The Paintjob should come after I'm done with working on my car right? The paint's starting to chip lol
Alarm system? I was thinking Low Jack but that only helps after the car gets stolen lol, any recommendations?
I apologize for the vast amount of redundant questions, the search function isn't working too well for me, or I just really suck at searching
I just wanted to add before someone says I got ripped off, this car was two blocks away, I really like Integra's body style and reputation.
Six months from now if the Engine Swap goes well I plan on putting in a Turbo, but as far as how many lbs of boost etc goes I'm not sure
:welcome: to the club dude nice bike, wish i had the extra money for one

1st question: im not sure, i think u can just throw the engine in and go but i could be be wrong.
2. as for the suspension, the cheapest way to fix that would be springs but they are a waste of money IMO, just save up 500-600 bucks and get a spring/shock combo.
3. those tires should fit the car fine, unless u are slammed to the ground there shouldnt be much, if any, rubbing.
4. yes there is a delay, the HIDs have to warm up, usually takes a few seconds and thats it. (and yes they are "illegal" but 99% of the time police dont care.
5. paint isnt too important, the better ur car "looks" the more likely it will be stolen.
6. as for alarm, just get a 2way pager with a killswitch. and u can also do some DIY security things as well.
7. depending on how much money u have u might want to reconsider turboing a VTEC engine. because the VTEC already makes it a high compression engine, it is pretty dangerous to add a turbo to that unless u have the money build the engine for boost, but then u may as well just build ur b18b1 for boost. and "lbs of boost" MEAN NOTHING UNLESS U ALREADY HAVE THE TURBO. THE SIZE OF THE TURBO IS WHAT MATTERS!

good luck, hoped this helped a little
 

Rich-PMS

New Member
should jack up car and check tires for uneven wear, check the struts and springs also.


welcome!
 

y0bam

Wreck-less
JGvtec - I was planning on steadily putting in a part of my pay check, I'm going to guess by the end of the work I should have put in about $5-6,000
I'll be broke after Christmas shopping and putting on new brakes.

j133 - Haha the bike or the car :p

Rockadilla - Thanks! The bike cost me $5,500, I paid it off when I got back from Afghanistan, and threw some extra $$ at the car.
The bike has a full race exhaust (Graves), Power Commander, had Stompgrip but they fell off haha, and custom levers. It HAD red LED glow, but they stopped working when I got back from Afghan.
1) I'm going to start looking for a good deal on craigslist for a B18C then, I read somewhere that the B18B1 has bad compression ratios (R/S 1.54?) and the B18C has an R/S ratio of 1.74? I believe. They said that you'd lose a lot of potential from the engine
2) Noted, I figure the end product will be really sporty, but something I can take to a track day or something on a weekend and still be competitive. So I'm not sure if I should get the shocks & springs or just go for full coilovers. I'm not too into having a low ride, but I'm sure if I take it to the track it'd be nice to lower it on the spot
3) is the 225/50/R15 too wide for a daily driver? I looked on the tire review tread and thought I might just go with the 205/50/R15 Falcen 912's, Decisions decisions lol
4) Alright cool that should be fine, I mostly use the car for night driving, and my brights aren't really increasing visibility at all haha. Is 10,000 kelvin too bright? Or is the Kelvin only color and Wattage how bright?
5) Hmm, touche, I do go to LA a lot, best get that alarm! I already purchased a carbon fiber hood to replace the dented hood I already have haha, some ghetto chipped paint and a slick carbon fiber hood ;)
6) Is there a certain brand with the 2way Pager and a killswitch? Approx how much money would that cost? Can I install myself?
7) If I bought a B18C with no mileage would that be good enough to support a decent turbo? or am I going to need to purchase aftermarket parts like a whole new engine block lol
Size of the turbo eh? In forza its simply Hey this part adds x horse power haha, god I'm a nerd, I wish parts would always say like this part would add 15hp to a stock motor

94mark3 - I'm going to rotate the tires this weekend, the douche who owned the car bought new tires and just put them in the back, what a homo lol, I'll be sure to check for that uneven wear
How do I know the tires are directional or not? (I think thats the term, when you can only put them on the left or right side?)

I appreciate all the input!
 


JGvtec

New Member
Just a heads up there is a little quote button on every post. If you just want to quote that on e person hit that button. If you want to quote multiple people hit the plus sign on the ones you ant to the hit quote
 

y0bam

Wreck-less
Just a heads up there is a little quote button on every post. If you just want to quote that on e person hit that button. If you want to quote multiple people hit the plus sign on the ones you ant to the hit quote
Gotcha yeah sorry new to the whole forum thing, my buddy recommended I join a few forums before I go dump in a lot of $$ that way I make far more educated decisions
 

JGvtec

New Member
Gotcha yeah sorry new to the whole forum thing, my buddy recommended I join a few forums before I go dump in a lot of $$ that way I make far more educated decisions
No its ok, i was just letting you know so you don't have to type more ;)
 

y0bam

Wreck-less
No its ok, i was just letting you know so you don't have to type more ;)
Pff I'm legit, I type 110 words per minute yo, I'm pretty multi-talented hahaha

Alright so if I am going to spend about $6,000 end product on my car, what kind of Shocks / Coilovers should I be getting? I haven't the slightest clue, I just know that my car is too low for driving in the desert (road surfaces are effed up), but I do eventually intend to do track days (for fun not competitively)

Also, I wanted a red glow for my instrument panel, how do I go about doing that? I figure Rims w/ Red Trim and Red glow beneath the dash would go well with a red glow on the instrument panel

Additionally, what should I make sure an HID Xenon Hi/Low beam light should have before I buy it?
I imagine its not one size fits all -_-
 
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trevonjs89

New Member
Im new to the forum as well, and have the same problem with the lowering of my car, not sure if they cut the springs or installed a new set, i plan on getting new spring/coilovers.. whats the best brand to get with out spending a outrages amount of money...budget is about $550
 
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