D17 Upgrade Advice

unnamed

New Member
hi guys if anybody could help me with my 7th gen 2005 civic its a D17Z1 N/A SOHC NON VTEC, needed advice what should be done next, I made a simple set up with the intake (cold pipe intake), and exhaust (headers, downpipe and muffler), that is all I have done for now and yes will not expect for a great performance, I want to stay as an N/A coz I already installed the aftermarket headers and it will not be practical to buy turbo kit and had nothing to do with the headers, correct me if im wrong but maybe I think it will cost me less to upgrade the internals to gain power instead of putting turbo into it, that is all for now, any valuable information will be honored and appreciated, thanks all.
 

dancam

Member
Registered VIP
Which internals are you hoping will give you more power if you replace?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 


unnamed

New Member
Which internals are you hoping will give you more power if you replace?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
to be honest I still dont know where to start yet thats why I asked help in this forum maybe i can get any information where to start, I already tried searching for performance camshafts and valve springs and all but I dont know if it can be done by just replacing it or do I still need to change other internals, I dont plan to change the piston bore coz it will ruin my block if I rephase it, maybe the top internals will do for me, what do you think? thanks.
 

dancam

Member
Registered VIP
Ok, replacing just the camshaft can increase power at certain rpms but not usually across the board. For example one that gives you a couple more hp at 5000rpm might give you a terrible idle and it may not run at -40c. One that gives you better midrange power can give you less high and low end. It depends what you want. A lot of internal upgrade parts are meant to be combined with other upgrades and not be so much a standalone product. Your best bet is to question the seller about what their part will do for specific scenarios.
I dont know anything really about upgrading a 7th gen in particular but most people say its not worth it. Compared to other cars in the same price range there is very very little return on investment.
Here are some things to search for that work on other cars but may or may not work on a 7th gen civic. Look them up and decide what one thing or combination of things will suit you best for the money spent:
Sending your ecu out to be tuned.
Camshaft
Shaving head to increase compression
Custom intake manifold
(I know you have a cold air intake but i mean the actual manifold)
Swapping in a different motor.
Lighter flywheel?
Supercharger?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 


willost

New Member
You will not be happy with the results of spending money trying to make hp with that motor.

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk
 

unnamed

New Member
Ok, replacing just the camshaft can increase power at certain rpms but not usually across the board. For example one that gives you a couple more hp at 5000rpm might give you a terrible idle and it may not run at -40c. One that gives you better midrange power can give you less high and low end. It depends what you want. A lot of internal upgrade parts are meant to be combined with other upgrades and not be so much a standalone product. Your best bet is to question the seller about what their part will do for specific scenarios.
I dont know anything really about upgrading a 7th gen in particular but most people say its not worth it. Compared to other cars in the same price range there is very very little return on investment.
Here are some things to search for that work on other cars but may or may not work on a 7th gen civic. Look them up and decide what one thing or combination of things will suit you best for the money spent:
Sending your ecu out to be tuned.
Camshaft
Shaving head to increase compression
Custom intake manifold
(I know you have a cold air intake but i mean the actual manifold)
Swapping in a different motor.
Lighter flywheel?
Supercharger?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
thank you so much for this information you gave me, I appreciate it.

You will not be happy with the results of spending money trying to make hp with that motor.

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk
thank you for the heads up, I understand your concern and lots of my friends also told me to engine swap or swap my car, but I'll try my odds, I appreciate the concern though.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

obracer12

New Member
Registered VIP
5+ Year Member
With every build you need a goal. Your goal will determine what you do to achieve it.

Throwing parts at a motor that honestly isn't wildly popular or well supported in the aftermarket will be both expensive and disappointing.

What are you looking for as far as output? 200whp, 250, 300? more?

Cheap, reliable, fast : you can only pick 2, the 3rd one is the draw back.
Cheap + fast will not be reliable
Reliable + fast will not be cheap
Reliable + cheap will not be fast
 

unnamed

New Member
With every build you need a goal. Your goal will determine what you do to achieve it.

Throwing parts at a motor that honestly isn't wildly popular or well supported in the aftermarket will be both expensive and disappointing.

What are you looking for as far as output? 200whp, 250, 300? more?

Cheap, reliable, fast : you can only pick 2, the 3rd one is the draw back.
Cheap + fast will not be reliable
Reliable + fast will not be cheap
Reliable + cheap will not be fast
I cannot tell with the number output but what I hope to get is the max output of the engine that can still be used in the street, sorry if I havent reply to this thread for awhile coz ive been doing some research and the best ive got so far is to;
Convert my non vtec to vtec and im going to need head of d17a2 get it port and polished and maybe spend with hondata ECU and have it tuned, for the camshaft I would stick with stock camshaft of the a2 as I would still like it to run in the streets, any advice from you guys will still be welcome, thanks all for the help.

It will be a great help aswell if someone here knows if how can I run my stock harness to run the solenoid vtec if I get the a2 head, it will be a pain in the ass if im going to remove the whole wire and replace it with the harness of a2, thanks.

Ok, replacing just the camshaft can increase power at certain rpms but not usually across the board. For example one that gives you a couple more hp at 5000rpm might give you a terrible idle and it may not run at -40c. One that gives you better midrange power can give you less high and low end. It depends what you want. A lot of internal upgrade parts are meant to be combined with other upgrades and not be so much a standalone product. Your best bet is to question the seller about what their part will do for specific scenarios.
I dont know anything really about upgrading a 7th gen in particular but most people say its not worth it. Compared to other cars in the same price range there is very very little return on investment.
Here are some things to search for that work on other cars but may or may not work on a 7th gen civic. Look them up and decide what one thing or combination of things will suit you best for the money spent:
Sending your ecu out to be tuned.
Camshaft
Shaving head to increase compression
Custom intake manifold
(I know you have a cold air intake but i mean the actual manifold)
Swapping in a different motor.
Lighter flywheel?
Supercharger?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Already did the stage 2 clutch kit and looking forward to get the d17a2/a1 head which has the vtec and try to run it with hondata ECU, maybe you have some advice how to run the stock harness to run the solenoid vtec or do I need to replace the whole thing? Thanks.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

unnamed

New Member
To me, Sounds like alot of money and work for marginal gains.
Thats true, but ive got no choice I have to stand with it coz its what ive got, as what ive said I will try my odds, appreciate the heads up though.

That is the general consensus virtually everywhere in regards to 7th gen engines.
Yep this thing is built for grandpa's :-D, but I will try to make grandpa's car go a little bit fast.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Esotericimage

Taking an H-T break
Registered VIP
5+ Year Member
Well, If you want to go against the grain and the odds, by all means.

7th gen really didnt get too much aftermarket support. Also, not too many people have tried to make a build out of the D17, but maybe theres a loner out thee who has? Might want to do some savvy searching and see what pops up.
 


Top