B18a1 Turbo experts ONLY!!

Liljmart13

Jacob
I have a bunch of questions. Is this motor even worth turboing? Is it worth the Time and effort or should I just swap in a new motor that will be a better motor to turbo. I want to be able to run 18 psi and 12 psi daily. Is that possible? This is not my daily driver so time/money arnt an issue but remember I'm a college student and have only a part time job lol. I ONLY WANT PEOPLE WHO KNOW(OR HAVE ALREADY DONE THIS) WHAT THERE DOING!
 

Tam4511

CI BOOST FIEND
1: That motor is the best B-series motor to boost because it has the lowest compression ratio.
2: psi doesnt mean anything, its all in the size of the turbo. A t3/t4 is the most popular turbo to put on stock motors. If you got a .50-.60 trim, then roughly 12psi would put you around the 300hp mark which is the limit for a stock b18b1/a1.
 

Samurai_Blue

Yolo Whippin'
Best thing to do would be to do a compression and leakdown on the motor and see if its healthy or not. Personally i would get Arp rod bolts and main studs and head studs to keep everything nice and tidy down in the block and then make sure you save some money for a dyno tune, those arp bolts will help you if you begin to rev past 7500rpms.
 

Tam4511

CI BOOST FIEND
Yeah deffinately, let us know what parts your gonna buy before you buy em.
 


Samurai_Blue

Yolo Whippin'
either way i suggest a obd1 ecu and a hondata S300 for turbo tuning, it has more FI options than the s100
 

Prozon

Kris
I am far from an expert but I feel I need to throw a couple things your way.

The B18A1/B18B1 are both probably the best for boosting. The B1 has a better flowing head, from what I can tell.. but the compression in both are the same. 9.2:1

First thing that comes to mind.. I don't think you even realize how much power you would be playing with here. Have you ever driven anything with more than 150hp? Lol. It's quite a lot. I'm completely stoked for my turbo build to be done, my big block ford has around 235 horsepower, I can smoke 40" tires down the road, that much power hauling 5000 pounds less will be ridiculous.

18psi/12psi seems like it would be kind of high for a daily driver if you're running a good size turbo. A t3/t4 at 13 psi puts out like 300hp, with a tune and fuel supply of course. Now i'm not going to throw exact numbers out there, but 18psi will put you over that safe benchmark for a stock engine. I'm guessing it will be at least 315hp with a good tune..

If you do turbo it to run that much with a T3/T4, your going to need to upgrade your block, and that is probably out of your price range being a college student with only a part time job. Think about this; the turbo and the tune alone will run probably run you $1500, and that's running eBay shit. Pushing over 300hp shouldn't be done on a stock block, so forged rods are on your list.. thats another $300 at least. Pistons? Well that's $500 there. Rod bolts and head studs can probably be done about $150. (Give or take.) Then it's probably smart to upgrade the sleeves in your block.. and I can't throw out a price there, that's a machine shop kind of deal. Well then there's the clutch, running that much power your going to want to upgrade that too. Again, can't throw out a number.. too many options there.

I just want you to realize that your dealing with a lot of power, your streetability will go down and your going to be throwing a lot of money into it. You need to plan it well. If this is one of those "I just saw some street racing movie now I wanna go fast.." then don't do it. If your going to think it out and plan ahead.. GO FOR IT, it'll be a fun build and you'll have a sweet car when you're done.
 

Rich-PMS

New Member
Personally I'd look into a p8r head and forged rods/pistons along with some stage 2 turbo cams.
 


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