Lude Generation

So I'm coming to a point where I wunna get abit more serious with this bb2 build so I'm trying to choose some good parts but not spend money unnessasarily, basically I'm looking for advice on where to save money and where to spend money...

List so far is..

Exhaust system- eBay special full system (mani, decat, etc).
Or Tri Y manifold, eBay special decat and cat
back.
Or Tri Y manifold, custom made cat back.

Inlet- skunk2 pro series with 70mm TB
Or OBX ITB's

ECU- hondata s300
Or ****suggestions****

Adjustable cam gears- eBay specials
Or AEM, Skunk2, etc

Lightweight crank/aux pulley/s- Ralco rz under drive pulley
set (crank, PAS, alt) $220
Or VMS lightweight cr pulley $155

Now I know your all thinking why aren't I putting cams and valve train upgrades in, well I do have a budget and I'm doing a gearbox build as well which I think would be more beneficial For performance than cams at present...

Am I guna see massive gains for the increased price between exhaust systems?

I know ITBs will be hard work to tune and daily so kinda deciding against them already

Cam pulleys, well I'm pretty sure eBay special s should do??

I have heard bad things about cheep crank pulleys also hence why I stated price..

Bare in mind there are no accord type R second hand parts here

I already have rebuilt the bottom end, had head cleaned skimmed crack tested, gunna lap valves this week and I've got a manual timing tensioner, new timing belt, xtd 10lb lightened flywheel and oe exedy clutch ready to go on..


Any advice from the lude gurus before I go throwing heaps of money away would be great

Depends what your bhp aim is I'd say - if you have one?

I've heard bad things about eBay special exhaust stuff, maybe get a custom one made? Your a bit limited on buying in parts from the UK i suppose with shipping costs.

Stick with a skunk2 pro & 68mm TB, not 70. Itb's are only really for a big engine build I've been told so unless your going that route, i wouldn't bother.

Hondata s300 all the way imo.

Adjustable cam gears are pointless (i think) unless you buy much bigger cams e.g skunk2 pro 2 etc onwards, but if you do buy them buy bigger brand like skunk2 or aem, and don't buy one with 3 spoke (or whatever you call it) prob 5/6 only otherwise you risk it slipping.

Light pulleys are a 50/50 thing, some people like them some people don't, there are arguments for and against. I'd say if you get them, get brand like ralco

A basic, easy to follow rule is no eBay specials

With regards to the exhaust, an eBay special won't see you any real gains over OEM, especially the header. The catback exhaust will most likely just be loud, and not even necessarily sound that good. It may give you a few hp over standard.

Where as the Tri-Y design has given proven decent gains even with an otherwise OEM engine. If you go with a PLM system you'll need an amount of custom flange work anyway, so you may as well get a custom catback whilst you're at it. You can go for a 2.5" or 2.75" also.

There's defintely no point going for ITB's. They are the topping on the 290+bhp cake. Like you say, they'll bring your tuner all sorts of tuning issues, more so the further under 300bhp you are.

Again I'd even stay away from eBay special cam gears, for the same reasons you're not considering eBay special pullies. The materials aren't proven with the majority of eBay specials, which therefore means nor are bolt torque values. It probably wouldn't take much to strip a thread tightening the bolts up and if you don't can you guarantee they're torqued up enough? Stick with the brands we know (AEM, Skunk2, Bisimoto, JUN etc).

And yep, Hondata S300 is a good bet There are other options, but ideally you want to talk to whoever is going to be tuning it and get their opinion.

68mm TB on a ported ATR intake manifold will give all the responsiveness you need. My setup was very resposnive.

Under drive pulleys is something I would leave right to the end. Their bhp/£ is very low.

Thanks guys, some good consistent answers then, eBay stuff is crap ..

I don't really have a bhp aim as such, just want a good responsive quick set up for daily, if I had to say probably hope for about 210 - 220 hp range..

Ok so 70mm tb I take it is just too big then?

Adjustable cam gears were just an afterthought for tuneabity to try get the power band right when it's mapped..

The reason for the lightweight pulleys is that my harmonic crank pulley fell apart on removal so might as well upgrade..

Think I will just get it running on standard ECU then buy an s300 through whatever tuner I use..

Thanks for your help guys I've got a good idea of what to do now

70mm tb is too big because it when you have the inlet mani port matched, it risks going through to one of the vac pipes (i think, LG gods will correct me on this) and will cause badflow....or something like that lol someone will correct me on this.

i really wouldnt bother with adjustable cam gears unless your going much bigger cams mate, save your money elsewhere.

if you fit the skunk2 mani you'll need the remappable ecu to tune it in otherwise you'll loose power until its mapped.

I've port matched my ATR inlet to a 68mm throttle body and as you can see it's just about 1mm away from the port to the left...



So yeah, 70mm TB and you're likely to break out.

Ahh I see the issue is with the iacv port..

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/261824412631

This is what I been thinking of buying and says the iacv position is modified..

Starting to think about pulling the butterflies out my stock mani and getting a tb and port match

I wouldn't get too set on going for a massive throttle body. Bigger isn't always better. Not if you're not doing loads of other head mods anyway.

Drax wrote:if you fit the skunk2 mani you'll need the remappable ecu to tune it in otherwise you'll loose power until its mapped.

Yeah?Never heard of that,good job i didn't buy one this far myself then,been close a few times.

skunk2 endorse that too then?

Expensive route if so,good to see some options other than maintenance coming your way Josh,nice when the tables turn,me i'm back at maintenance