Jared

I bet the voting would be different if it was among people who had actually used both the Dart and a sleeved B block.

BLK2DOOR

I like your answer Jared dont talk bad until you try right.

onefstek

I had a dart block at my shop and I can say that I was not impressed. After some one else did a complete installation the rod had a knock after just a few hundred miles. I took it appart to install a new crank and rods and found that the mains were in need of line bore. Also the thrust washer recess was not anywhere where it should have been. We had to line bore it and have the thrust washer recessed in deeper to get the right clearance.

So from my one and only experience with the Dart block, I vote for a stock Benson sleaved block.

1grex

if this sport lasts long enough we may need aftermarket castings but right now plenty good is being done with sleeved/OEM/NOS < (new old stock)

njebudalla

Well, here's my 2 cents....

Sleeved block - less money - more prone to big problems. Why?

Sleeved blocks are open deck. Good luck running a big bore and getting that to seal.... 300 bucks worth of head gaskets is not fun. This is especially a problem for high compression or high boost applications as the head gasket is asked to take a bigger beating.

Sleeved blocks are prone to coolant leakage problems.
1. Leaking o-rings at the bottom of the seals will require a complete resleeving. $$$ - -this happens more than most know.

2. Dropping/shifting sleeves causes coolant to leak into cylinders causing problems there or compression leaking into coolant... causing problems there... The fix is... resleeving $$$

So, yeah, the Dart block is more expensive than sleeving your oem bottom end. . . but resleeving a bottom end for the second time is more expensive than buying a Dart block the first time.

This is stuff to consider... When I build my first motor, I sleeved it. I'm regretting that decision now because it has led to many problems. You can get it done by a reputable builder, but that doesn't guarantee that you won't have any of the above problems... it just lessens the chances. The issue with the head gasket not sealing is not one that even a reputable builder can help you avoid. The closed deck of the Dart block gives your gasket massive sealing room around the cylinders. This is primo when running high comp or boost.

Just my 2 cents - having spent much more than that learning it.

njebudalla

I will add... that I also like the Benson sleeved route... If I were to sleeve again, I would use that route for sure. It is the only one that seems like less trouble to me.

aboveperformance

I personally run a dart tall block and wouldn't change it for anything, other than the fact that when you get around 84.5-85mm bore with high boost the cheap recommended cometic head gaskets don't seal up very well at all, change it up to a mr.gasket and it's damn near bulletproof

flatblackhatch

I've heard from a well known shop not to go with a dart due to when you go high boost you run into oil leak problems anyone heard of this?

MR_EJ8

A buddy of mine just had his gsr block sleeved by Benson and it dropped a sleeve in the first 3 minutes of the car running...

ExospeedAMcrx

This is in reference to DARTON Sleeves, not DART block. Totally different company and product.

If your work was done correctly, you wouldn't have had those problems.
We use DARTON MID sleeves in alot of our own engines and other customer's builds for years. Our own race car ran 2 years, 200+ passes at 35+psi. At least 100 of those passes were 9.7-9.8 sec runs. Our driver/car was VERY consistent with the car and it never had issues. That engine still ran until the end of that season. I'm sure it could have done more passes, we just just went with a new engine after that season and used that old one as our backup.

Also on a DARTON MID sleeve, lets say had a problem with the piston breaking, detonating, etc. and damaged the sleeves. The Darton MID can be replaced without having to redo the whole block. You can even take out the MID sleeves and put it in another block if you wanted to.

I just feel that DARTON MID sleeves are underrated by many people or there's alot of Myths about it. Its a very well priced out sleeve setup. NO LINE HONING needed for the MID setup. So you can get a fully done, machined and ready to use block for about $1300.00 Thats a good price range for a top notch product in my book.

98civdx

My friend had a dart block, untill his motor blew, we still dont quite know what happened, however the block is done.

He has also had darton mid in the past and never had a single issue with it, Another one his freinds had a benson block, dropped a sleeve on the dyno.

He told me he would no issue going with a dart block again, he just isnt sure yet.

victor.ek4

People screw thing up all the time, that doesn't mean the things are not good.

If you are not sending your block to the corner machine shop, than you won't have issues. Usually.

90dxhmt

iTrader: (1)

Usually being the key word. More then a few blocks sleeved by vendors around here have had issues.Just gotta hope your not one of the unlucky ones that gets burned.

Hidenplanvew

I have had Many exsperances with diffrent sleeves. I have seen Dart blocks blow holes in them with very little power but I have seen the same thing done with sleeved blocks..(also seen alot of cars make huge power with both) I have also seen stock blocks hold 20+ psi! (a few will do it) Ever heard of LA sleeves? they make dart sleeves or Eagle I can recall right now. If you want a cost effective sleeve thats the way to go, I have personaly seen them run 1100whp in a full drag car (look up Brent from PFI's civic) plus you cant beat the 850 for a compleat sleeve and ready to go block... Its nice to get your block back and just bolt it up not havint to take it to shop to have to get **** honed!

My2 cents
$800 for a sleeved block is nice and if it were to blow, so be it... Go get another, its the price you pay to have something with big numbers welcome to Racing !!

ALL IMPORT

if some of u could afford it u would of bought it, plain & simple. i know i would of. my next motor will be for sure.
i know this, there are lot of companies sleeving blocks anymore & alot more issues go with it. seems like rushin rulet.

newschool

The Dart block is really a hit or miss. I've ran a few on some customers cars, and end with mixed feelings on them.

The cost isn't that bad, and considering the benefits I think it's well worth it. The problem is Dart really doesn't give two ***** about their quality control with these things, as they make up what..5% of their total sales with the Honda market. They never sold a ton of them, and to put it blatantly kind of stopped caring about their product.

The obvious headaches are there - the casting is pretty filthy, I even had one once that had filler rod stuck in an oil galley from where they weld above the crank journal. It does need to be cleaned up a LOT. Had a weird issue once as well with the oil dipstick..they supply their own dipstick tube to be used, and the bore on the block for it was a good 3/16" too big, they're response was "someone must have messed up".

If you know what you're doing, the "problems" associated with the block are more nuisances than anything else. I would personally run the block if I ever get back to building a car of my own. Additionally, a few customers are sold right away on the fact they don't need to worry about block numbers/vin numbers for those who do drive their cars on the street. Also, the fact that they are 're-sleevable', meaning if you do in fact have a sleeve issue, it can be replaced is a nice aspect of the product.

Topdawgg

like it has been said already, why spend SOOO Much money on a dart block to not know for sure if its good...

seems stupid to me.

Golden Eagle, Benson, AEBS, etc..

PaulPero

For my money and street use sleeved block all day, but for the track and the power that is being produced I can see a point where a stock block wont have the structural strength and quality material that was engineered into a piece like the dart block. I remember when golden eagle advertised there sleeves to 50psi of boost. At the time that might as well have been indestructable. I know stronger blocks will have a whole new welcoming in racing if it keeps going as strong as it is

2k.civic.si

benson

LightningTeg

Previous owner of my car had initial issues with the sleeves leaking coolant and benson took it back and fixed the problem no questions asked.

Garage 808 Hatch

GE or AEBS

Garage 808 Hatch

I would hope they fixed it for free, but what compensated him for all his time to R&R the motor, reassemble, new HG etc? At least GE pressure tests the blocks before they are shipped

BEfab

It's funny that you say that because probably more people have problems with their sleeved blocks than with the Dart. Every product will have some problems every once in a while, that doesn't mean it should be deemed BAD and no one should buy it ever again.

I have an ERL sleeved block. So no I am not partial to Dart, but if I was to do it again I would have gone with the tall deck dart and been done with it.

Topdawgg

id really like to see the number of problems with generic sleeved blocks vs the Dart.

I bet you would be suprised

2k.civic.si

AHHHHHH bullshit CHOOOOO