any parts not worth getting installed alone?

[cptnmorgan]

i am looking to build up my H22a swapped cb7 but im doing it 1 part at a time (as budget allows) and im looking to see if getting certain parts are worth only getting together with other parts or if i will see a benefit with the individual parts. specific example would be a skunk2 IM. would i see any gain using it alone or would it only help if i had cams installed at the same time? please give examples of what parts work best when installed at the same time versus installing them alone.

[Jarrett]

Since most upgrades are going to need to be tuned around then I would say get together what you can, install it all at once, then tune it.

[dj_ender]

i am looking to build up my H22a swapped cb7 but im doing it 1 part at a time (as budget allows) and im looking to see if getting certain parts are worth only getting together with other parts or if i will see a benefit with the individual parts. specific example would be a skunk2 IM. would i see any gain using it alone or would it only help if i had cams installed at the same time? please give examples of what parts work best when installed at the same time versus installing them alone.

Holy shit man, you have soooo many questions and it looks like your asking to be spoon-fed, that won't happen here. Read the swaps stickies and all your answers should be answered there. Show some effort and you'll get all the help you need.

[cptnmorgan]

so many questions? it was one question, with one example. and whats wrong with being spoon fed?

[dj_ender]

so many questions? it was one question, with one example. and whats wrong with being spoon fed?

Your asking info on various combos of parts at various stages of being built/installed, thats a LOT of question asking in " one question ". Like Jarrett said, get it all and do it at once. And we don't spoon-feed around here, in fact, we dislike doing it very much. I'm only trying to help you out brother, do some researching and learning, then come back with questions.

[Jarrett]

so many questions? it was one question, with one example. and whats wrong with being spoon fed?

Everything. What's wrong with breaking up sentences into complete thoughts and using proper punctuation?

[cptnmorgan]

thanks ender for your input and clarifying what you meant. any other questions will be after searching. and jarrett, are you really going to flame me for my sentence structure and punctuation?

[dj_ender]

jarrett, are you really going to flame me for my sentence structure and punctuation?

Yes. We all do. I swear the whole forum has the same pet peeve, bad grammar/punctuation.

[cptnmorgan]

I will try my best. English was my worst subject and i never got above a C in any English class as i was getting As in physics and calculus. Being new to the forum i will apologize and will work on my insistent run-on sentences, my poor punctuation and my incomplete sentences. I will note that it was quite humbling being flamed in my first post. Also to note, my sarcastic humor doesn't come across very well in forums. I am not looking to be spoon fed, i was just looking for any input, not an entire build sheet with budget and itinerary.

[dj_ender]

I will try my best. English was my worst subject and i never got above a C in any English class as i was getting As in physics and calculus. Being new to the forum i will apologize and will work on my insistent run-on sentences, my poor punctuation and my incomplete sentences. I will note that it was quite humbling being flamed in my first post. Also to note, my sarcastic humor doesn't come across very well in forums. I am not looking to be spoon fed, i was just looking for any input, not an entire build sheet with budget and itinerary.

You may have not actually asked that, but ya did, whether it was intentional or not. Don't worry about the "flaming", your new, and it's to help you learn to follow the rules. BTW, that wasn't really flaming, it was just calling you on things.

[Joey GT-R]

In a rare instance, I will actually side with the OP. It's not a simple "spoon fed" question. It is a legitimate concern for someone putting together their project; and one that doesn't necessarily come around often. Combined with the fact that there is a shallow pool of intricate N/A projects(REAL projects, not simple I/H/E mods) on this forum, I believe his question has merit. However, other topics that have been extensibly researched and discussed in the forums that you may have inquiries about will not be met with the same enthusiasm.

To answer your question, there is nothing wrong with installing one part after the other solitarily. I truly understand your point of view when it comes to upgrading as your budget allows. That's the largest problem(IMHPO, hate if you want) with this community in general, we're all broke, have little professional experience with automobiles(as far as the majority), and apparently lack proper money management/saving skills. Ask me if I can drop $2500 on my car at once and I'll say you're crazy; but ask me if I can shell out $400 here and there and I feel that to be more practical.

Now obviously all the parts you have planned will work best once they are all together installed on the car, but until then you will see "nickel and dime" gains here and there. For instance, you mentioned the S2 IM. You will see some gains on the intake side, but then your exhaust will then become a limiting factor as the engine can't spew out the expired gases from the combustion chamber as quickly as it is ingesting the new fresh intake charge coming in. But still, horsepower is horsepower; no matter how small it is. So by all means have at it! Feel free to create a MRT once your post count is over 30 and record your progress.

Last but not least, Welcome to the Community.

[Granite CB7]

If you get to know the car pretty well you'll see the process fall into place. Obviously maintenance first, you wouldn't want to mod the heck out of a motor w/ a timing belt that's about to go. So, I usually base my mods off of afew things but 1 major thing is: how hard is it to get to? So everything timing belt related, do it all, do it w/ quality parts. Same goes for clutch and flywheel and all parts that are buried away. As far as mods-an example would be in 1 weekend I installed my completely prepped IM and also removed the ABS while the IM was off. I was so glad I did that. When you get into more involved mods like cams, forced induction, nitrous etc...you'll be going in several diff. directions like tuning, possible machine work, etc... I will say that tuning does get expensive, so if you can bulk all or most of your mods into 1 install and avoid several retunes, you'd be saving alot of $. Hope this helps, give yourself time and really plan your stuff out.

[deevergote]

I skipped most of the replies. I do not see this question as a request to be spoon-fed (please leave a moderator to make that call... if you don't want to 'spoon feed', just don't reply.)

A simple response to this question is this: usually anything that requires taking the engine apart will involve replacing/upgrading many related parts all at once.
For instance: If you want to change your pistons, you'll need to change your rods. Which means you have to change your bearings. That means you'll be changing pretty much every gasket and seal in the bottom end. To properly seat the pistons, the block should be honed by a machine shop. If you're doing a serious build, the block should be resleeved with stronger iron sleeves. Of course, there's not much use modifying the entire bottom end without touching the head, so you'll want to get machine work done to the head, replace the valves, seals, etc... then of course, a camshaft upgrade would make sense.

The basic mods that you can do without needing to do a whole lot of other things are: Intake, Header, Exhaust, lightweight/underdrive pulleys (do research on this before making a decision... some people feel they do more harm than good.), MILD camshaft upgrade, and a tunable ECU (properly tuned for your setup... this can be done independently, but the more you do, the more use it will be... so it should be saved for last.)

[cptnmorgan]

thank you all for the replies. i think ill just start collecting parts in my storage shed, and then when i have the time, do a lot at once. and then like you said, get it tuned with all the parts installed for best effect. for now i think im going to work from the ground up (literally). im having straight line traction problems already with my h22a, f22trans. im looking at the sprint sw96 wheels (in black/red stripe) with a good set of tires to replace my prelude vtec wheels and ziex 512s. i can currently spin my tires (with good tread on them) all through 1st gear, shift at about 35mph and still spin through a bit of second before i hook up on dry pavement. and this is with the long f22 gears (although topping out 3rd gear at 120mph is fun ) but i need better launch traction.

[Jarrett]

GSR blades on a CB7?