The Oldschool Addiction: Budget ED7 Daily Project

[M.Doban]

Oh good thanks.... I was darn sure I had. But it still bugged me.

You read too? I freaking love reading. Let's take this to the book of faces shall we?

[EF303]

Oh.. I just meant the piping. I sold the intercooler a while back. Sorry :/

All of this depends on what you want to do with the car. Do you want to continue to get >40mpg while having low power? That's fine. Do it. But do you want more power? Well then you will have to give up some mpg's to do so. Unfortunately you have to give some to get some... it's a trade off. So what you need to find out is how much fuel mileage you are willing to sacrifice for power.

And no, VTEC does nothing to affect fuel economy. Absolutely nothing. As long as you stay below the VTEC threshold you will get the same fuel economy.

Ah okay. Still, that's a steal.

Well see the mpg trade-off is my dilemma at this point, and I'm really not set on a turbo setup, simply just considering it. It may just be in my best interests to build out an NA D16A6 thumper with a little extra oomph to help with hills and stuff. Still, thanks for the info, I really appreciate it.

Also, you did use "affect" correctly. 15 years of near-constant reading has its advantages...

[M.Doban]

I should also note that I just spent a good five minutes researching to find out if I used "affect" correctly.

The jury's still out on that.

[M.Doban]

Okay that's a good point. Why not have an intercooler? Especially for the cost of shipping... hm...

And see that's my point, as far as I've read up on the subject, at low rpms turbos will actually give you better mpg, because they re-atomize the intake air/fuel mixture. Thusly, city driving becomes slightly more economical. The difference I'm looking for is highway driving (i.e. ~70mph, at ~3K-4,500rpm), especially on long uphill climbs (for instance, the bigass goddamn mountains just outside Denver).

My problems with VTEC (though it is a wonderful thing) is that it's expensive and pretty much destroys fuel economy. You have to keep in mind that this is my daily and I'm proud that it gets >40mpg on every tank. I also just don't rev high enough to even make it engage, even on highways. Plus, my motor basically is a non-VTEC SOHC mini-me swap (d16a6 head, d15b2 block). I'm looking to build out a strong d16a6 for that oem+ feel, plus a little extra (boost).

7-8psi might be manageable. Again I don't really have a good idea of what I need for this particular application.

Oh.. I just meant the piping. I sold the intercooler a while back. Sorry :/

All of this depends on what you want to do with the car. Do you want to continue to get >40mpg while having low power? That's fine. Do it. But do you want more power? Well then you will have to give up some mpg's to do so. Unfortunately you have to give some to get some... it's a trade off. So what you need to find out is how much fuel mileage you are willing to sacrifice for power.

And no, VTEC does nothing to affect fuel economy. Absolutely nothing. As long as you stay below the VTEC threshold you will get the same fuel economy.

[EF303]

I guess it's not necessary but come on. Are you really going to leave it at 5psi? No. You're not.

And if you never go about 2500 rpm then there's really not need for a turbo. That's about when it will start to spool. If you're looking for extra power just do a mini-me swap.

Or do both. VTEC is a wonderful thing. And so are turbos.

I think 7-8psi is a more sensible goal tbh. Your motor won't have a problem with it from such a small turbo and it will give you a good bit more power.

Okay that's a good point. Why not have an intercooler? Especially for the cost of shipping... hm...

And see that's my point, as far as I've read up on the subject, at low rpms turbos will actually give you better mpg, because they re-atomize the intake air/fuel mixture. Thusly, city driving becomes slightly more economical. The difference I'm looking for is highway driving (i.e. ~70mph, at ~3K-4,500rpm), especially on long uphill climbs (for instance, the bigass goddamn mountains just outside Denver).

My problems with VTEC (though it is a wonderful thing) is that it's expensive and pretty much destroys fuel economy. You have to keep in mind that this is my daily and I'm proud that it gets >40mpg on every tank. I also just don't rev high enough to even make it engage, even on highways. Plus, my motor basically is a non-VTEC SOHC mini-me swap (d16a6 head, d15b2 block). I'm looking to build out a strong d16a6 for that oem+ feel, plus a little extra (boost).

7-8psi might be manageable. Again I don't really have a good idea of what I need for this particular application.

[M.Doban]

Thanks brosef!

Also thanks for the turbo info. Is an intercooler really necessary if I'm running only 5psi and probably only using it for highway driving? Typically driving city I don't get above 2500rpm, but I don't know where a turbo would engage and actually boost or if rpms even matter. Seriously I don't know shit about them. I will definitely keep that offer in mind, and if that's where I go with it, I'll hit you up fo sho.

I guess it's not necessary but come on. Are you really going to leave it at 5psi? No. You're not.

And if you never go about 2500 rpm then there's really not need for a turbo. That's about when it will start to spool. If you're looking for extra power just do a mini-me swap.

Or do both. VTEC is a wonderful thing. And so are turbos.

I think 7-8psi is a more sensible goal tbh. Your motor won't have a problem with it from such a small turbo and it will give you a good bit more power.

[EF303]

Wheels look so class. I really like them heaps better!

As far as turbo stuff goes, I would grab a used rev-hard or even an ebay cast manifold and a 14b or 16g mitsubishi turbo.

The Neon SRT-4 intercoolers fit perfectly in these cars and are a back door setup which is super easy to make piping for. WHICH I HAVE. I can send it all to you for the cost of shipping.


Also! Excited to see the fart can go That HKS will look lovely.


edit: Would you be able to go along with some white paint and spray all the black paint on the car? I feel like that would look way better. As well as the fender and filler panel. You know?

Thanks brosef!

Also thanks for the turbo info. Is an intercooler really necessary if I'm running only 5psi and probably only using it for highway driving? Typically driving city I don't get above 2500rpm, but I don't know where a turbo would engage and actually boost or if rpms even matter. Seriously I don't know shit about them. I will definitely keep that offer in mind, and if that's where I go with it, I'll hit you up fo sho.

I'm excited to see the fart can disappear as well The HKS is taking forever to get here though.

As for paint: yeah I've been meaning to get to that for a while now. A lot of the black paint is supposedly rust-neutralizing and I just hit a lot of worse spots on the body like a year or two ago. I have some duplicolor paint that sorta matches, but I think I can find some oem color spray paint to just do some spot fixes for now and even out the color. Full bodywork and respray is next year!

[M.Doban]

Wheels look so class. I really like them heaps better!

As far as turbo stuff goes, I would grab a used rev-hard or even an ebay cast manifold and a 14b or 16g mitsubishi turbo.

The Neon SRT-4 intercoolers fit perfectly in these cars and are a back door setup which is super easy to make piping for. WHICH I HAVE. I can send it all to you for the cost of shipping.


Also! Excited to see the fart can go That HKS will look lovely.


edit: Would you be able to go along with some white paint and spray all the black paint on the car? I feel like that would look way better. As well as the fender and filler panel. You know?

[EF303]

I dig the wheels man no negativity here!

^ Agreed, the wheels look sweet!

Thanks fellas! Couldn't agree more.

[xAaron]

^ Agreed, the wheels look sweet!

[1mellowkid]

I dig the wheels man no negativity here!

[EF303]

I probably mentioned this before, but I'm giving thought to running a small turbo setup through my D16. However I know next to nothing on how to go about it.

Thoughts/ideas? I think I want to run maybe 5psi or so, just enough oomph to do hills.

I'm also taking the lack of response on the wheels as negativity. Tsk. What's self esteem?

[EF303]

So it's been a while since the wheel update, and given the rate at which S|W updates I'm sure you all have forgotten about my poor old ED7. Well anyway I was on vacay, counseling a summer camp. And during that week, this happened....



And then this happened...









No center caps because my lug nuts are too long. Shorties are ordered already.


Anyway, that's all for now kids! Thanks for staying tuned. Here in about a week I should be able to get my new springs on and inch her lower to earth with a fresh-ass set of new wheels. Wheee!

[EF303]

Hey kids, another small update for today...

I bought some new rollers...

These are the seller's pics; the wheels won't arrive until next Monday.





They are BBS RD Design 5000, 15x7 +15 (same as my current XXRs). I'm so stoked, they're gonna make her look so friggin clean

[EF303]

Very nice hatch man ive been following this build! I feel ya on getting stiffer springs, im running ground control and koni yellows and even with the konis all the way stiff in the front its still pretty bouncy. I might be getting stiffer ones soon too, maybe ill wait and see how your'd rides lol

Thanks mang! Yeah stiff springs are totally the way to go. It's gonna give a bouncy ride but it's better to bounce off of everything than to bottom out and hit towers all the damn time

Speaking of springs and all, yesterday I finally got mine ordered. 430 lb springs for the front, and the 350s will be moved to the rear (hopefully my super-long tophats will be done in time to do that swap as well).

Also ordered is an HKS Sport exhaust, so I can finally drive around quietly :P

Thanks for staying tuned, y'all.