Just a thought?

[Putney, VT Rice]

I have a D15B7, with just under 200,000miles. I have a leaky ring that is letting oil into cylinder 3 and so I am slowly loosing power. I am constantly bombarded with ideas to turbo charge my motor by friends of mine. They say I can easily make 190 to 220 hp. I told them that I would rather save up for a K-series swap. But I realize that that won't be happening for some time now. So I have been reconsidering the turbo idea. A friend with a WRX, told me I could have his old turbo. I have till next week to call him back. I want to know your opinions on the matter and possibly give me a list of all the things I will need if I want this motor to last more than one run on the dyno till it blows up, because it is so old and is slowly braking down. My other worry is that since it is noticeably breaking inside, that with the addition of the turbo, how long would one say it would last; if nothing is done and I just piece together a turbo kit and through it all together? Oh and my friends told me I would have to get rid of my A/C, because it gets in the way of the turbo, is this true, because I love having a/c. I don't want to get rid of that.

The reason I have been thinking about this so much is because in the last 3 months I have done a lot of replacing of old parts and including the timing belt, water pump, rear main seal, oil pan, new stage 1 Street Clutch by Clutchmaster, urathane shift linkage bushings, by Energy Suspension and I am considering on ordering a short shifter. I don't want this to be put to waste.
Any help will go a long way. Thanks in advance.

[98civcEK]

on a motor with that many miles, i'd stay away from turbo. unless you were to completely rebuild the entire bottom end, with new bearing, and seals, and piston rings and stuff. basically having a rebuilt motor....then it would be too hard on the motor, IMO

[klungemonger]

PUtting a turbo on that motor as it is now will only accelerate it's demise. Even though 190-220 might technically be possible, it is not "easy". At least not on your B7 engine, without more money than it's worth and with smaller weaker internals it still might crap on you even with a rebuild. My suggestion is write off the little maintenance stuff you put on, but if you opt for a D16 VTEC swap you can reuse yoru new clutch and shifter bushings. Or just sell that stuff and get an LS swap, then think about turbo in the future it's a good engine for that.

Most of yoru homemade turbo kits you just have to fit stuff together and most often it interferes with the a/c compressor and condensor. I really recommend getting a nice turbo kit from Greddy or some other maker who has custom designed all their stuff to work with factory options.

[Putney, VT Rice]

I think I am going to take it easy and stay away from the turbo thing and just save up for the K-swap that I've always wanted, maybe I'll be turboing that; who knows. I don't want to speed of the process of demise, so Thanks for all the info, I will bite the bullet and eat this one, but next time I'm going to do it right the first time.

[klungemonger]

You can do an all-motor K that will lay down like 250-260whp which is like a 10-12psi turbo on a B-series. I suggest making the build easier to swallow financially by piecing stuff together. K20 type R head, K24 bottom end later on, then the 6-speed trans...then when you have it all built pick up the Hondata K-Pro and the mount kits. Your car will be ridiculously fast.

[Putney, VT Rice]

Originally Posted by klungemonger

You can do an all-motor K that will lay down like 250-260whp which is like a 10-12psi turbo on a B-series. I suggest making the build easier to swallow financially by piecing stuff together. K20 type R head, K24 bottom end later on, then the 6-speed trans...then when you have it all built pick up the Hondata K-Pro and the mount kits. Your car will be ridiculously fast.

I like the sound of that, I don't want to be spending money of a something that isn't getting me closer to a K-Series. Thanks for all your help.