CandyRedRC46

Hey Guys,
My name is Jonathan and I am a mechanical engineer in the central Florida area. I have had a 2007 Candyglory red Honda RC46 for the last seven years, which I have been building continuously and it is my pride and joy (hence the user name).

I recently acquired a 92 Civic SI and I am in the process of bringing it back to its former glory. It was your typical Orlando Florida ricer Civic (failed attempt at making it a fast n furious car, then sat in a garage for the last 3 years), with corny bright red Rota GT3's, slammed to the ground on a blown out Skunk2 suspension, no AC Belt or power steering pump (probably had a B series swap in it at one time, but now has the original D16z6 in it again, but with an automatic 94 Integra ECU) and looks to have had zero maintenance done for the last 10 years.

There was no Transmission torque mount bracket attached to the transmission, both torque mounts were totally blown out and the driver side engine mount was torn. All the exterior signal light bulbs and headlight HID's were blown and turn signal housings were missing. The paint is faded, the rear quarter panels and wheel wells, and a spot on the roof in between the windshield and antenna have some rust. The balljoints, bushings and CV/axles need replacing. The exhaust looks basically factory except the rear muffler is almost dragging on the ground and the catalytic converter has been deleted, so it isn't too loud but has a ricey rattling sound to it. It smoked a lot at idle and especially after 4000 rpms. It leaks a lot of oil. 207,000 miles, I am assuming most of which have been on the original d16z6 engine.

So far I have:
Installed a new chipped P28 ECU (its amazing how much better the car runs with the correct computer lol), 95 Integra GSR throttle body (on a port matched D16z6 intake manifold), new oem spark plugs, oem fuel injectors have been rebuilt and balanced and a new fuel filter. The intake manifold and all sensors and controls attached to it have been taken apart, cleaned and reinstalled. I traded the corny hey look at me bright red rims and dry rotted allseason 205/45/16 rubber for some nice understated LS meshes with purpose sticky 195/50/15 summer BFG's mounted. The car handles much better with the smaller/lighter/stickier wheels and doesn't rub any more either . I have installed all new oem light bulbs and turn signal housings. I have removed and looped all power steering equipment/components and removed all underhood AC components. I have also installed all new Hasport 62a motor/transmission mounts and new filled oem torque mounts. I located and installed a new transmission torque mount bracket and an aluminum engine torque mount bracket (VX model AC bracket?). I have a Bisimoto gen2 header on the way and will be installing that soon with a custom 2.5 inch magnaflow exhaust (30 inch magnaflow resonator at the header collector and an oval magnaflow muffler at the end) This should have a nice sound to it, with out all the typical fart can rattle.

I changed the oil (heavier viscosity) and filter and cleaned out the PCV and black box which were 100% obstructed, in hopes of reducing the smoking. The exhaust now does not smoke at all unless under heavy throttle above 4 or 5 thousand RPMs, so I am assuming that the piston rings are worn out and maybe the cylinders have lost their cross hatching, I need to inspect this still and do a compression check. The engine does start up instantly and it feels pretty healthy. I still need to change out the axles, bushings/balljoints and order a set of BC Coilovers. The brakes actually feel really good still, but I will be bleeding them shortly. Amazingly the battery is still very strong even after sitting for years. The transmission was very rough, so I changed the transmission fluid and bled a whole bottle of fluid through the reservoir and lines and now it feels pretty good, but sometimes has a slight crunch going into reverse. I also need to touch up the interior door panels (fabric coming loose). I need to get the front windshield replaced and rust fixed, but I am not to worried about paint at the moment.




I have plans to rebuild the factory D16z6, but I am still thinking through how far I want to go in the engine build. I am pretty set on building the D and not b/h/k swapping it. For now I would be happy with a healthy non smoking/leaking 150-170 whp all motor D16, but I would eventually like to do a serious turbo build. I am thinking for the time being, Bisomoto Rods, arias 75.05mm 11.5:1 pistons, ARP Rod/crank/head studs/bolts and all new oem seals/bearings/headgasket on the motor and serious head port work, a Bisimoto level 3 cam with a full bisimoto springs/retainers/locks and maybe upgraded valves.



QUESTION:
WILL THE 75.05MM ARIAS PISTONS FIT IN THE FACTORY BORE WITH A LIGHT HONING OR WILL THIS REQUIRE MACHINING????



I am also considering a golden eagle intake manifold, 68mm throttle body and golden eagle or dart sleeves to handle future turbo duty. I see the way to go is 9.0:1 cp or arias pistons with a big turbo to shoot for the 500-700 whp range, but I was wondering if anyone has done something similar to 11.5:1 pistons and a big turbo (and supporting mods). I was thinking, with a thick head gasket, an aggressive camshaft to bleed off some dynamic compression, a lot of head work and valve deshrouding (to remove combustion chamber material and slightly lower static compression), if it would be possible to run a low boost pump gas tune and a medium boost e85 tune with those pistons, so I could build a great all motor car and sometime in the future go turbo, with minimal fiddling with internals. Just thinking out loud and I am looking forward to responses and advice on where to go from here.

PS Thanks for welcoming me aboard and I will try to get pictures up shortly.

CandyRedRC46

CandyRedRC46

The RC45

boostjunkie757

welcome to h-t. bike looks pretty clean....good luck with the project.