Schlib

In about 2 months, I'm going to turbo my 88 si...to hold the amount of boost I'm aiming for, 16-18 psi max, I'm putting in forged toyota supra pistons and b16a rods. this'll work, as long as I get the block notched a few mm to give clearance to the beefier rods.
I'm wondering if anyone knows:
1) how much the stock 88 tranny can hold
2) if the stock brakes should be upgraded
3) what kinda fuel setup I should have?
4) should i invest in new valves/springs/retainers?

I really don't want to shell out the money for a standalone, is there a way around that? And are there ways that I can change the boost from, say, 8 psi daily driven to 18 psi on the fly? I know some boost controllers can do that, but I'd assume it would change the fuel curves entirely. I was going to swap a vtec head on, but people tell me that it'll be more hassle than it's worth.

DJHankB

Well, a nice cheapie brake upgrade is from a 90-91 Civic EX.
all you really need from the donor car is the Knuckles, and possibly the proportioning valve.

You should then put a new or rebuilt master cylinder (15/16") and 90-91 EX Brake Booster, I don't reccomend using used brake parts.

but when you're all done you'll have 10.2" brakes =D

-Henry

HMT-Admin

Depends on what tranny you have.. si/hf/dx? I SI has the larger diff of the 2. But they are pretty weak, their really isnt a certain HP level when they will break, its how you treat them, and how you launch will dictate their life.

What can you do to beef them up? I have no idea, I am going to be putting a ZC tranny to the test on my project.. I am sure I will have to replace it several times.

Honda trannys are weak links.

Fuel setup, if you dont want standalone, and dont want to spend over 1000 bucks on a Zdyne. Then you are going to have to go with the AFC hack with some 550/450cc injectors. I dont know how easy it is to tune with the afc with THAT much boost, but people seem to like them for lower levels 5-12.

Head componets.. that is entirely up to you, yes they will help. but you dont have to.

Jeff

Chacko

Okay, this is perhaps the only thing I have some experience in I have done a disc brake conversion on the rear of my 97 del sol s.
It was a complete mess at first, but I am so greatful that I did it now.

You will need the rear trailing arms, the disc brake assembly (rotor/threads), brake pads, master cylinder (for better hydraulic flow), combination valve (yours doesn't meet the demands for a rear disc setup), emergency brake cables, brake hoses and brake booster.
I did run my car for a long time without the upgraded booster, but let me tell you that little extra vacuum in the booster makes a huge difference in the amount of braking leverage you have.
Pretty simple conversion, just make sure you have everything, also a good time to check your brake lines for any wear/tear, and truthfully don't mess around with it without knowing what you're doing first. This is a very dangerous area to goof up

I would be more then happy to walk you through it if you need help to!

Chacko

I forgot to say, I got all my parts off a 94 del sol vtec.
You can also get parts off of a civic ex with rear disc brakes (won't have ABS) and I think that some integras (earlier model) with non-abs but disc brake set ups will work.

DJHankB

And when doing a rear disc conversion don't forget to install the proportioning valve!! This is VERY VERY important!

-Henry

Schlib

What exactly is the afc hack? I just picked up some 450 dsm injectors for free (love having daddy managing a mistubishi dealership ) I'm only planning on taking the car to the strip a few times (less than 10)...and I know it sounds stupid, but the ultimate goal of the crx is to put Cobras in their place...well, not stupid to me Also, I'm been looking into a LSD for the stock tranny, but I haven't found one for 88s, is it because of the number of splines being different? If so, should I swap another tranny?

Goal is around 240 whp and 160-200 wheel torque.

I've been rethinking the standalone, and if that's what it takes to run higher boost...then that's what it takes. If I can get close to 240 whp from a t3 setup at ~12 psi then I wouldn't mess with.

And to the brake people, how much should I pay for the front ex brake setup? Would there be any advantages to leaving it stock, and just getting slotted/drilled rotors? Is the amount of braking power I'd gain from the rear disc setup worth the amount of hassle?

Thanks alot, you guys are the biggest help to this project

Chacko

Okay, let me just break into a little more detail on what happened when I did my conversion.

I started out with just the trailing arms, brake hoses, e-brake cables, and some brembo cross driller/slotted rotors (for a 94 Del Sol VTEC). The rotors are kind of a pain in the *** to get on, the screws that hold them down are so badly warped from the heat of constantly breaking, that I had to take a blow torch and fire them up to unscrew them. Well anyways, they came off after that easily (your father should be able to get access to one). Well ----, I went to bleed them, and I was getting no pressure out of the front brakes, and all sorts of fluid out of the rear (because the drum brakes require more brake fluid to push the wheel cylinders out).
Then I started into my first quarter at Tech-School, and my teacher laughed his *** off at me. So I found out about how brakes work...
Next thing I bought was a proportioning valve (I think these properly are called a combination valve) and master cylinder from a 94 del sol VTEC. Put them both through a parts cleaner, then bench bled the master cylinder, installed them...
HUGE difference in the fluid being pushed out, and was a lot more even from the front and rear brakes.
I bled the entire system (dont forget to follow the bleeding order, rear passenger, rear driver, front passenger, front driver). The braking wasn't terrible, but it wasn't as good as when I had the drum/disc setup before. It took me a long time to figure out that my booster was bad, and I also had torn the rubber seal between the master cylinder and brake booster so it was leaking and unable to give me the full mechanical advantage like it should.
A couple weeks later, I replaced the booster... And my god man, I tell you this car will stop on a dime Running with the Toyo FZ4's, it will stop and is very smooth at it, no pulling, and it is quieter then I imagined.

However, I did find out, that those AEM racing pads they make... will cause brake noise when its cold out

Another tip for you, if you replace rotors... you will want to break them in before you do any real hard driving. For about 300 miles, don't stop hard and dont hold the brakes for more then 3 seconds, you basically should try to heat treat them!

Let me know if you need anything else!