By M&M (209.53.205.167) on Friday, April 06, 2001 - 11:52 am:

Im one of those guys that love my car, its always clean, I love to drive and love to have people ask ...hey, what year is that? My problem is that I want to start putting on some high performance parts but the extent of my mechanical knowledge is that gas goes in the back and oil goes in the front! All I want to know is if YOU had a stock 76 what would YOUR first two horsepower improvment
projects be? Lets also assume that you have only $700 to work with,whats first?

By ROotUS (203.34.130.200) on Friday, April 06, 2001 - 10:05 pm:

the first two mods with not much money arent' going to make your car go much faster - so i would say get an exhaust system, this being a mod that will make your car sound aggressive / and if you like people taking notice of your car - > yeah. then new carb (not that i have done this yet).

ok everyone correct me now!

p.s. does everyone know how bloody diffucult (annoying) it is to fit extractors on a 1200? i just swapped mine from my old car to my new today... i had to jack the motor right up, remove cross member thing, and valve gear! but it will be worth it when i get the thing going. getting the motor running first before taking it to the exhaust shop for my new system - i'm sure the neighbors will approve of my 1 metre long exhaust.

By david (208.130.241.214) on Friday, April 06, 2001 - 11:07 pm:

Thats why i'm going to put my RS manifold on when the engine is out, while the car is geting the body/paint done. Is there any other weirdness to puting one on? Unbolt the old one, get a new gasket/glue, and bolt the new one on.
M&M, RoOtus has you going in the right direction. Recurving your dizzy i've also heard helps, but you'll want to wait untill you put on the carb and header. Are you going to do suspension upgrades?

By ROotUS (203.34.130.131) on Saturday, April 07, 2001 - 07:37 am:

does the rs manifold have the flange bit (like you can bolt it to the rest of the exhaust system at about sump level - like the stock manifold?) the extractors finish underneight and behind the engine... this is what makes it tricky... snaking them between the engine and the subframe thing.
i got it going today!! it is soo good for the thing to work first time when you have seen it in little iddy biddy bits only days before. also to hear the thing roar like a drag car cos i haven't got any mufflers (or exhaust past headers) on it yet. can't tell if the lightened flywheel has make a differnce to revving respone though. will do more testing tomorrow.

By david (208.130.245.231) on Saturday, April 07, 2001 - 09:14 am:

its a complete manifold taken off a japanese engine himself.

By david (208.130.245.231) on Saturday, April 07, 2001 - 09:15 am:

himself=the guy i'm getting it from.

By M&M (209.53.207.73) on Saturday, April 07, 2001 - 10:32 am:

Im planning on re doing the whole car eventually.
Re curving my dizzy?

By Charles R. (64.170.157.203) on Saturday, April 07, 2001 - 01:51 pm:

Recurving your dizzy=Change the mechanical timing advance profile in your distributer.

Do you have a service manual for your car? For me, this is the FIRST thing I get on any project. Also, since you're just learning, a couple of basic engine mechanics books. When you're first begining to modify cars, it's easy just to ask "how" or "what". That can work for awhile, but, knowing "why" helps you understand what it is you're changing, why you need to change it and the compromises you are making. This is especially important with a small budget, where a mistake can cost you more than you've got.

For example, recurving the distributer. There is a point, in every engine, that you spark off the gas(air/fuel mixture), it explodes, and pushes down a piston. Now, the piston was moving already, and like any moving target, you have to aim ahead of it, in order to hit it. The "timing" of your engine is that lead off. The problem is, it changes, constantly. With load and speed, the engine needs different timing "advance". Your distributer is the device that delivers the spark to the correct piston chamber, at the correct time. For engine speed, the dizzy has spring loaded weights that will "advance" the timing as it spins faster. For load, the dizzy uses a vacuum actuated system.

So what did the factory do wrong? Why would you want to change it? Or, more importantly, why would you NEED to change it? And, how much more, or less, do you need?

Timing advance not only effects power, but emissions. Different gas "octane" levels burn at different speeds(the higher the number, the slower it burns). These two things are very important to vehicle manufacturers, so they reach a compromise. Usually, a very conservative one leaning to favor emissions over raw power.

To get a little more power, You can make the timing advance lower in the RPM range by changing the springs in the dizzy. With the right advance, the exploding(expanding) gas will meet with the piston just in time to give it a good push down the cylinder with gusto. Too little timing, and the piston is already traveling away. The explosion has to catch up, losing power all the way. Advance too much, and the exploding gas will meet the piston head on. Bang! Not good for the life of the engine.

I hope my soap box speech here doesn't put you off. There is tremendous potential in your project, you'll be amazed at how little it does take to go quick. It's just a lot easier and safer on your pocketbook to start at the library than at the parts counter.

By M&M (209.53.204.93) on Saturday, April 07, 2001 - 02:51 pm:

good god Charles, I dont suppose youve written any books have you? I think that was the most user friendly explanation Ive ever heard!

By M&M (209.53.204.206) on Sunday, April 08, 2001 - 09:07 pm:

OK dizzy..aka..distributer,,see Im learnin already! So assuming I go with a new carb What should I be looking for. Everybody and their dog seems to be running with a weber, although different webers have different names or numbers 32/36...downdraft. Again..what am I looking for?

By Charles R. (64.170.157.211) on Monday, April 09, 2001 - 01:46 am:

That's another one of those, it depends, kind of thing. I run Weber 32/36 DGV's, as do many of the street driven Civics here. The DGV (or DGEV)stands for something in italian that means "downdraft". It's basically just like the carb you have on your car now, only bigger. The Weber 40 DCOE means "sidedraft"(again, in italian). This means that the intake for the air is on the side, as opposed to the top, like the downdrafts(think of the direction the air is traveling through the carb). DCOE's tend to be more on the "max power" side of things. Mild and even moderately "built" engines don't really use the capacity these larger carbs offer. They also require the use of a different intake manifold, which adds to the cost. The numbers in the names are the diameter of the (bores or venturies, can't recall)in millimeters. So, a 32/36 DGV would translate to: downdraft carb, two venturies(barrels), one 32mm, one 36mm. DCOE's are two venturies, but they only use one number.

By M&M (209.53.204.248) on Monday, April 09, 2001 - 09:43 am:

So with a 32/36 is it strictly bolt on? Does it need or come with an adaptor? What about the air filter, will the stock one work or do I need to buy something compatible? By the looks of previous posts the throttle linkage will have to be modified, how many other little indiscrepancies will I be running into?

By david (208.130.241.166) on Monday, April 09, 2001 - 10:07 am:

An adapter kit is a plate thats goes between your carb and manifold, and some hardware. kits usually cost about $45. you can use a weber filter or a k&n filter, i beleive.
MAKE SURE YOU PUT THE NEW INTAKE STUDS IN!!!
i didn't, because they were missing, and messed up my carb a bit.
you'll have to cut the end off the choke cable, buy the linkage kit(for the cable braket) and cut the stock carb arm. you might want to use gasket sealant, too. tedshred said he had to put in smaller jets. i think he ended up with 100, 115 or something like that. tedshred?
i'm using a 28/30, so i haven't messed with that stuff.

By M&M (209.53.203.194) on Monday, April 09, 2001 - 11:48 am:

So my entire shopping list will consist of; new carb (28/30 for simplicity as opposed to a 32/36 in which the jets must be changed), Adapter kit, linkage kit and possibly some gasket sealant?
How much of a horsepower gain over the original will I see with a 28/30? And how much more again would I see with the 32/36? Is it a huge job to put in smaller jets? My father will be helping out(hes a mechanic by trade but alas I didnt have the patience to learn from him when I was a kid) so when it comes time to put the whole works together at least Ill have someone around who knows what they are doing!

By M&M (209.53.203.194) on Monday, April 09, 2001 - 11:50 am:

by the way guys thanks for yer patience and info

By tedshred (63.224.195.169) on Tuesday, April 10, 2001 - 08:08 am:

David, the carb was pre-jetted by Todd for stock 1237. When I do any engine work, I'll re-get to the new need.