ITB onto 16v checklist

[chohdog]

Re-posting this from the old forum. I hope you all still find it useful:

This is perhaps the most popular question on the 16v forum, and most people are totally unaware of the costs related to doing this.

Yes I do have ITB's on my 16v.

First, let's get two popular questions out of the way:

"Can I use a JDM MAP computer to run ITB's on my 16v?"
-The simple answer is yes, but not well. Any OEM map is created to run within its hardware specifications, and only corrects for slight variations outside of those parameters. Adding four throttle bodies drastically changes the fuel and ignition requirements so far that even the best "piggyback" fuel computer can't compensate well enough for them. Will the car run? Sure it might run, but certainly not well making it not worth your time and effort.

"Can I use a 20v ECU on my 16v?"

-No.

"My friend has a B16 Civic and I want to be faster than him. Will I be faster?"

-No.

The Checklist and price breakdown: (Some items are approximations)

20V ITB: approx $200-250
ITB Adapter, from T3: $250
Vacuum tank, golden eagle or blox: $50
Stand alone ECU: $1200 (Haltec)

So minimum, if you are capable of doing all the wiring and tuning yourself, you're looking at $1700. For most of you, this is already well out of your price range. Before I go any further, if you can't afford even this much, then stop kidding yourself about going the ITB route.

Now in order to make spending the money on ITB's worthwhile, there will be a few other things that you need in addition. Just putting itb's on a stock motor has some merits, but if you're deciding to go that route, it makes more logical sense to take advantage of all that extra air going to your engine.

Accessory checklist:
Camshafts, duration and lift dictates price: Anywhere between $350-$1000
Adjustable Cam gears: $200-300
High performance valve springs: $120

...and if you don't already have them
High flow header: $300- Infinity for a custom high flow unit
ITB funnels, or velocity stacks: $50-400
ITB filter, either individual socks or an airbox: $50-300

So the total for the above items is $1070, and that's if you're spending on the lower side of things.

1700+1070= $2770.

So you can estimate that you're going to spend $2,270 on just hardware to appropriately and logically run ITB's. Now if you can't do the wiring for the ECU or tune a standalone yourself, you can easily tack on minimally a few hundred dollars on top of that, or even more depending on who does everything for you. To be conservative and if you can indeed at least wire it up, install and degree camshafts properly, and get it running, all hardware plus tune will cost you somewhere around $3000. That is a conservative estimate.

So there you have it. $3,000 dollars. Now sure you can buy used parts, cut corners or have your "buddy" wire it up for you "for cheap", but this is a median at about where some people may spend more, some less. Either way, it gives you a ballpark figure to estimate whether or not ITB's are for you.

[Flipp]

this. i like this. vote for sticky?

[ethergore2]

That's a really good estimate. I spent:
AEM EMS-4- $700
Flying lead- $200
ITBs- $150
Velocity stacks- $150
ITG filter- $120
Filter plate- $80
Vacuum manifold- $50
Coils- $260
Coil driver- $150
Uego wideband o2- $150
Crower cams- $400
Valve springs- $120
Cam gears- $250

That's $2780 and doesn't include wiring accessories or installation, tuning and a header/exhaust worthy of the setup. I suppose you could use mega squirt, borrow an o2 sensor, use Toyota coils, make your own harness and run your stacks naked and get away with spending $1720 at the bare minimum. ***Now that I think of it I wish I would have used some Toyota coils in the first place.