Labor Day Install Madness (build thread)

[2020MSMcivicSI]

I'm going from just TSP stage 1 to FBO in one weekend... am I nuts?

-- -Edit ---
To see my current mod list, go to last post on this page (#15)
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Here's some photos:

Removing the bumper by myself took some creativity... meet my helper, his name is box.

My car is naked! Hold my beer as I disassemble some more...

Intercooler and TIP are now gone:

Some big holes to fill here... end of day 1. The goal was just disassembly... success.

Start of day 2... re-assembly. Downpipe in and the 27won TIP just screams out "here I am!"

TIP all connected... not as bad an install as people say. Also end of day 2... had family stuff to do.

Start of day 3... On the floor is the stock IC... wow does that look wimpy.

All the piping is attached... really only hard part is the throttle body hose, just no room back there.

Also installing the pro-civic grill for more cooling... I think this was the hardest part yet. I hate plastic.

This is also the end of day 3 and how the car is now. All I need to do is put the bumper back, install the 27won intake, and do an oil change.

I also put on rv6 downpipe on day 2 but forgot to take pics of it. Ditto for the AFE front pipe but those are relatively boring compared to all the work needed for intercooler and TIP.

Parts installed recap:
27won TIP
27won Intercooler
RV6 downpipe
AFE frontpipe
Pro-civic grill (prepped)

To do tomorrow:
Pro-civic grill (installed on car)
27won intake

Big thanks to Vincent @ 27won for getting me the TIP and install directions were nearly flawless.

So more pics to come and let me know if anyone has questions on these installs.

 

[Finallygotasi]

What does the tip do for the car over stock?

 

[2020MSMcivicSI]

What does the tip do for the car over stock?

Very little... I think about 3 HP... but its real purpose right now is to look bad ass. Should increase intake noise some as well which is nice.

Next year, I will be swapping out the stock turbo for 27won W1 or W2. Once the stock turbo is gone, the TIP will shine.

Also the TIP had to be removed to do the downpipe install so I figured I might as well replace it.

 

[Fin_72]

Are you planning to do a base map from Hondata/KTuner or do a custom tune?

 

[2020MSMcivicSI]

Are you planning to do a base map from Hondata/KTuner or do a custom tune?

Next up is clutch... still don't know which one I'm going to get... people seem to have trouble with everything other than retro and I just don't like the $$$ or scarce availability.

The reason for clutch upgrade is that a custom tune is going to happen but I just don't think the stock clutch will hold it... so more prep is needed.

For now, I will re-flash the TSP stage 1 tune with advanced VSA which will reset the computer to "learn" what I have done. I will be monitoring stuff on the KTuner so if anything is out of wack, I will schedule an e-tune with DRob even without the clutch.

 

[2020MSMcivicSI]

She's all done now... last photos from this long weekend:

My helpers are back for the bumper install... the passenger side gave me hell.

Here is a pic where you can see the passenger side is a little off and bulging. 2nd try got it.

Everything is all done... about to do my first oil change on this car.

Finished result before removing catch pan and getting off ramps.

And just FYI... the oil used was Redline 0W-20 and I also swapped the trans fluid cause why not? For the tansmission, I used Redline MTL which is a synthetic 75W80 GL-4 Gear Oil.

Only been on one drive so far and it is a good bit louder than stock with the downpipe and frontpitpe. Also loving the Redline MTL which is making shifts much smoother.

I really don't notice much more intake noise which is a little disappointing... must be that the stock turbo is just so tiny. I chose for now not to use the SI badge in the grill photo earlier but I can change my mind on that.

IMO, the stock exhaust really does not sound good with downpipe and frontpipe... Good news is I already have all my exhaust parts ready for a custom exhaust. Either this week or next, going to an exhaust shop for some welding.

I will post some before and after sound clips.

 

[YankeeSi]

Good choice on the redline products, everyone usually goes amsoil but I like redline a lot more after switching. Another good alternative for the trans fluid in the future is the ac delco(GM) syncromesh with friction modifier, love this stuff in all my Hondas. S/O the 27won with the PRL if you want a louder intake sound. If you have e85 near you i'd say get the prl kit and go tsp stage 2 and see how your clutch handles it. As for the clutch I've only had the CTR retrofit, I got lucky being that Eman's shop is 2 minutes down the street. The cost and wait is worth it when it comes to handling the power with an oem like shift feel.

 

[BruisedAvocado]

Good choice on the redline products, everyone usually goes amsoil but I like redline a lot more after switching. Another good alternative for the trans fluid in the future is the ac delco(GM) syncromesh with friction modifier, love this stuff in all my Hondas. S/O the 27won with the PRL if you want a louder intake sound. If you have e85 near you i'd say get the prl kit and go tsp stage 2 and see how your clutch handles it. As for the clutch I've only had the CTR retrofit, I got lucky being that Eman's shop is 2 minutes down the street. The cost and wait is worth it when it comes to handling the power with an oem like shift feel.

I recently had the ctr and cmc installed by eman himself and the first two days it was pretty rough to get it into gear you had to pop it in you could hear a pop almost and feel it , so I went to his shop again to get my cmc adjusted now when I floor it and change gears my rpms fly almost to redline lol I'm kinda lost and don't know what to do

 

[YankeeSi]

Def haven't experienced any of that, it's been smooth with the acuity parts/ctr shifter. I'm not sure what that could be but hopefully you can get into him and get it figured out. Rev hang?

 

[BruisedAvocado]

Have the stock shifter about to switch out to the hybrid racing and cable bushings also I tried messaging him on instagram but I'm pretty sure he's busy and yea rev hang is disabled

 

[YankeeSi]

I had that shifter and sold it, it worked great but the notch/ mechanical feel of the hybrid for daily driving annoyed me. Sold it I just got the ctr with all the acuity add ons.

 

[2020MSMcivicSI]

Good choice on the redline products, everyone usually goes amsoil but I like redline a lot more after switching. Another good alternative for the trans fluid in the future is the ac delco(GM) syncromesh with friction modifier, love this stuff in all my Hondas.

Been a redline fan for years... their fluids transformed my WRX. I really don't know if shifts could get any better with the syncromesh... they are now like butter. I also have the type-r shifter with acuity stage 2 upgrades so I can really feel the difference the fluid makes.

Also got a couple more drives in and the stock exhaust is just weird.... sometime it goes into "angry bee mode" and other times stays pretty tame. If it does occur, it seems to be when I get to about 4k RPM but sometimes it doesn't happen at all. I know other people have reported the same thing when going to dp/fp on stock exhaust but just another confirmation here.

 

[arpypat]

Another good alternative for the trans fluid in the future is the ac delco(GM) syncromesh with friction modifier, love this stuff in all my Hondas.

+1 on the AC Delco (GM) Syncromesh MTF. That stuff saved my 05 Acura TL. Like 50% of my 3rd gear shifts resulted in the lever popping back into neutral after a couple seconds. But the MTF swap made sure it never happened again!

 

[2020MSMcivicSI]

I had this around so why not install it? This is the race MAF from 27won.... you can really see how much bigger it is from the tubing. For the stock size MAF, the TIP -> MAF tube has to neck down a lot! (above) Now, there is no neck down anywhere other than right before feeding the turbo. (below)

The problem with this piece is that it requires a tune... enter DRob and his eTuning service. I will be uploading the first map today and doing some logging.

Clutch, please hold.

 

[2020MSMcivicSI]

Going to turn this into my half-assed build thread... lol.

-- UPDATE 11/10/21 Current Mod List --
KTuner v2 w/ custom TSP Stage 1

27won Intake
27won Race MAF
27won Turbo Inlet
27won Intercooler

RV6 Downpipe
aFe Front Pipe
27won Front Pipe back Exhaust w/ Round Tips

27won Front Strut Tower Bar w/ Brake Master Cylinder Brace
Cusco Lower Front Power Brace
Type-R Center Brace
Type-R Rear Motor Mount w/ Perrin Inserts
Whiteline 22mm Rear Sway Bar
Whiteline Rear Endlinks
Ultra Racing Trunk Brace

2020 Type-R Shifter Assembly
Acuity Stage 2 Upgrades
Acuity Insulated Esco Shift Knob
Acuity Throttle Spacer
AEM X-Series Oil Temp Gauge

Enkei PF01 18x8.5 +48
Continental ExtremeContact Sport 245/40R18
Canada SI spare tire kit
Procivic Honeycomb Performance Mesh Grille

Motor Oil - Redline 0w20
Transmission Fluid - Redline MTL 75W80 GL-4 Gear Oil
Oil Filter - K&N Premium Oil Filter HP-1010

JL C2-350X Center Speaker
Kicker 44CWCD84 Subwoofer
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Been running my modified TSP stage 1 now for over a month and figured I should report some results back... I have to say that getting a tune is totally worth it. Car pulls much better in the mid-rage (3-6k RPM) but still runs out of breath up top... the turbo on this car is just too small.

I did a "MAF scaling" on TSP stage 1 with DRob. This involved him modifying my original TSP file and a few back and forth log e-mails. Each time I provided the logs and he sent an updated file... was very interesting to feel the difference between each "step" of tuning. This is technically not a full e-tune but good enough for now. All my fuel trims look great and stay around 0 better than just the stage 1 tune by itself before all my mods. My knock control almost never goes over .50, I think the highest value I have ever seen is .65ish???

I started a side thread for my custom exhaust that I had made... (starting thinking about exhaust before I did all the mods above):
https://www.civicx.com/forum/threads/quietest-performance-turbo-back-exhaust.52851/

The quickest way to describe the exhaust is a "responsible adult" sound... very happy with how this turned out since it was kind-of a shot in the dark.

My whole point in these posts is to provide info for others, so if you have questions, feel free to ask.

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