hey guys i got a dohc zc and i wanted to no what i could do in order to intall a turbo kit, should i have to change cams? gaskets? what?

 

well first you have to decide what you want to do with the motor. what are your goals? the giving point on the zc's rods are around the 200whp mark, some have put as high as 220 whp on the stock rods and have them not go out. the fuel pump on your car could probably handle about 200hp but will be strained to keep up. if you plan to go above the 200hp mark plan on getting pistons, upgraded fuel pump, you could scrape by on dsm injectors, but isnt reccomended if you want to upgrade in the future. Headgasket should be replaced, unless it is new and in good shape. stock cams are okay to run on a boosted stock motor, but it will benefit from another set intended for a forced induction application.

if i were you i would honestly start reading up about turbo systems, check out d-series.org or thezcr.com. members like acid beaver(zcr) and lurker(zcr) will be a big help in what you are looking to accomplish.

zeeman might chime in hes also very knowledgeable in this area.

 

you'll want a higher volume fuel pump regardless IMO. DSM 450cc injectors are good for a little over 300whp on our cars, so they'll be fine unless you want more jam than that. I'm personally not a huge fan of DSM injectors just b/c they're used with who knows how many km's on them (could be like 300,000kms, you never know)....but they are definately an economical choice.

I've tuned several bone stock dohc zc's that are still going strong to this day, so you don't necessarily NEED to do any engine work. If you want to stay below 225whp you'll be fine with a stock engine on a good tune.

Tuning is key on a boosted setup, especially with larger injectors.

Running a chipped obd1 ecu will allow you to get tuned. This could however require the use of an ecu conversion harness if you've got a 88-91 (obd0) or 96-00 (obd2) civic. Converting to obd1 from obd0 also requires the use of an obd1 dizzy, whereas converting to obd1 from obd2 just uses the ecu conversion harness and obd1 ecu.