After being shoved in the corner and used as a shelf for the last 2 years the IPGParts.com Turbo FWD Civic is back in action. This rebuild was all about the budget. We used what we had around the shop as much as possible and spent wisely where we could to get the car back up and running to have some fun with again. We aren't looking to set the world on fire we are just looking to get the car back to the track and enjoy the fun that is Turbocharged B series engines.
With the budget being tight we knew making huge horsepower #'s wasn't going to be the main prriority. Instead we wanted to build a healthy, reliable setup that we can take to the track as we see fit and not have to worry about many parts breakage issues. The idea of a 650 horsepower setup sounded like it would fit the bill. We acquired a CSS B18c1 engine block and fitted 82mm Bore Flat Top CP Pistons (10.0:1 Compression) into it with upgraded wrist pins and Carrillo Pro-H Connecting rods. The head is a bone stock B16 head that we had at the shop with upgraded valvetrain and topped off with a Ferrea roller rocker setup that was acquired a bit ago for the eventual rebuild of the car. These camshafts have proven to be too much honestly for the setup and we are dealing with a not so great powerband but by using these parts we didn't have to spend any money acquiring new items which helped the budget.
A Full Race Top Mount turbo manifold supports the Borg Warner 62mm Turbo and Tial V60 wastegate. Luckily from our years of racing we do have some nice parts still around for this car and that included a Tilton Carbon/Carbon Clutch and a Motec M800 EMS. Worried that our 1600cc Injectors may not be enough on the planned E98 Fuel, Fuel Injector Clinic stepped up to allow us to test their almost ready to release 1800cc Injectors. That in conjunction with the Weldon 2015 Fuel Pump we hoped would handle our fuel supply needs. After machine work by Mazworx, John Ferguson assembled the engine in house and began the installation process.
Like any good project a dead line is on the horizon and this was Import Face Off at Gainesville Raceway on February 23rd, 2014. Tight time frames always lead to interesting problems which in our case included some transmission fluid on carbon discs that required baking and leaking AN line during the initial start up. Other than that the engine ran great during start up and off to the dyno we went. Thanks to Chris for the dyno time and Darin Dichiara tuning we had a decently successfully first dyno session making 640 ish wheel horsepower. But surprisingly the Weldon 2015 fuel pump couldn't keep up with the fuel demands of E98 leaning out the fuel mixture at the upper RPM's. The solution was a Kenne Bell Boost a Pump to supply the fuel pump more volts when needed to keep up with the demand. Last minute dyno time the Saturday before the event proved the Boost a Pump to be working correctly and the tune was safe to race.
Unfortunately mother nature rained on our parade as it was a complete wash at Import Face Off Gainesville but the car is getting setup to go testing at Orlando Speedworld Dragway on Friday February 28th, 2014 for its first track time in over 2 years. John Ferguson will still be piloting the beast as we excited bring in the next chapter for the IPGParts.com Turbo FWD Civic.
