3rd gen Accord (A20A/BT engine). Recommendations on an ECU?
 

Hey, I'm Mike... I'm new to all this stuff, but I hope to learn quickly!

I just bought an 86 Accord (nice iron block :D) and I desperately want to boost it. It's pretty much WHY I bought the car. I was going to go with a modified GM ECU that was converted into a working standalone unit for the A20A engine, but the guy who made the system decided to call it quits. Now, I'm looking to use a Civic ECU (OBD0 or OBD1) and convert IT to a standalone... At least something that I can modify on the fly. I'm told it can be done, but I don't even know what ECU to use! Like I said, I'm totally new at this stuff! I'm thinking the PM6 ECU from a CRX Si. If there are other options (inexpensive is best :D) please let me know!

Is there anyone on here with a turbo 3rd gen Accord?

Re:3rd gen Accord (A20A/BT engine). Recommendations on an ECU?
 

Check out www.3geez.com for 3rd gen Accord stuff. Might find some turbo'd guys there

Re:3rd gen Accord (A20A/BT engine). Recommendations on an ECU?
 

You sound like me on other boards when someone asks about a 3G...
I'm on there. All the turbo guys are so damn secretive that no one shares information. And out of all those members, only a handful (like 20 or so) are actually running with turbo. Many of those are doing it with B series engines.

The guy who made the modified GM ECU was actually a moderator on 3geez until some jerk pissed him off. Now he's selling his car, and getting out of the 3geez scene altogether. That leaves me high and dry trying to figure out what the hell to do!


In my own research since I posted this yesterday, I've learned a couple things. I believe I can use a distributor from a 4th gen accord (which is what I'm most familiar with anyway) and a P75 ECU. I THINK that's all I need to convert to OBD-1 (along with a 4 wire o2 sensor). If I can get that running, than Uberdata it is!


From the looks of things, I might have to become the 3G guy on here :D

Re:3rd gen Accord (A20A/BT engine). Recommendations on an ECU?
 

There is a guy on here who I think knows about that GM ECU deal. I know his name is Sean(Sean88Accord I think?). Look around for him. I haven't seen him post in a while though. :-\
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Re:3rd gen Accord (A20A/BT engine). Recommendations on an ECU?
 

Yup, that's him. That's the guy from 3geez... He did run www.accordcentral.com for a while. He was selling a complete package... turbo, engine, ECM... everything. Buying all he had to offer was like $5,000... I was going to go the easy way and just buy everything from him, but he's getting out of the game now. Some guy who ordered custom stuff from him on 3geez got pissed when Sean (who does this stuff in his spare time) took too long with his stuff... He posted some negative things on the board, and Sean got fed up with the whole thing and called it quits. His car, said to be 350hp, is for sale for like $6500...

It's a shame really... I suppose I'm better off though. I really should learn this stuff myself. There's no honor in having someone do everything for you!

Re:3rd gen Accord (A20A/BT engine). Recommendations on an ECU?
 

well it depends, what are you going for boost wise? You can pull 10 psi with an safc and a btm on these cars

Re:3rd gen Accord (A20A/BT engine). Recommendations on an ECU?
 

I'm not really sure exactly. I want to be able to leave my options open... I'm assuming that the stock ECUs can read up to 9.5 psi or something. Still, if I get the engine worked a bit, I'd like to be able to handle 20. I'd also like to be able to tune it myself, a bit more than an SAFC could really offer.

My ultimate goal is 400hp (streetable... maybe not legal, but streetable) I don't know if it's even possible, but I'd love to find out!

Re:3rd gen Accord (A20A/BT engine). Recommendations on an ECU?
 

you're in the right track....Do the OBD1 conversion...that's your best bet.
That's what I would do, or save for a standalone.

Re:3rd gen Accord (A20A/BT engine). Recommendations on an ECU?
 

I love being in the infancy stages of a project... so many options. So many chances to get all wishy-washy about things! For about $500, I can have P75 with real-time editing... I guess similar to a standalone. For $300 I could probably create the same thing with the PM6 (OBD-0). The of course there's the option of a real standalone... The cheapest one I've seen around is the Holley Commander for under $500 used.

Standalone aside (I don't quite need that yet, I don't think) what sort of options am I looking at here? Is there a big difference between the tunability of OBD-0 systems vs. OBD-1 systems? If I can achieve roughly the same results with the OBD-0 PM6 as with the more expensive P75, then I'd rather go with the PM6!


I'm really going as inexpensive as I can on this for now. I want it to be quality, but I don't need to go nuts just yet. I wanna be able to say "look ma! Turbo!" on my little project car. Once the turbo is up and working, THEN I'll most likely get serious and start upgrading to better stuff. For now, I'm looking at the electronics, engine build, and turbo to total $4000 or less!

Re:3rd gen Accord (A20A/BT engine). Recommendations on an ECU?
 

I would go with OBD1