I wanna upgrade my valve train, how hard is it to do this job on a rating of 1-10, what should I get and what brand thanks

 

forgot to mention that eventually im going turbo so should I wait until then to get feedback or can I do it know and use that valve train for the turbo setup..

 

I'd say a valvetrain upgrade is intermediate difficulty. The are only a few difficult bolts -- the timing belt tensioner and engine mount bolts and you can change the cams, springs, and retainers without pulling the head or removing the timing belt. You will need a special tool ($60-120). The hardest parts are keeping track of all of the valve keepers and properly adjusting the valves.

On the other hand, for turbo you may not need to do anything to your valvetrain. GS-R cams work fine on turbo and don't need upgraded springs or retainers.

 

Valvetrain is probably the single most important part of modding a honda.. how many people mis shift and mis gears to have their motor stay alive only because they have a strong, aftermarket valvetrain..
A Stock valvetrain is only rated so high, even ITR valvetrains float valves well into the higher 8k rpm range..

With that said, if the head is on the car, you'll need a compressor to do the valve spring install as well as various tools, if the head is off the car, it is alot easier.. but since you sound like a newbie to this thing, i'd recommend just a shop to do the work..

going with whats proven to work and last is what your best bet is..

RocketMotorsports / skunk2 / Crower / Supertech and ferrea are all good brands.. I've ran 3 of these brands and have had no problem what so ever..

A valvetrain should be a MUST upgraded, when starting to make some type of power.. at least thats how i see it.

 

^^ That's certainly true for all motor builds with increased redlines and upgraded camshafts, but I'm not convinced it's true for a turbo build with a stock cam. The cam isn't going to be spinning any faster on a turbo engine than a stocker, it'll just be accelerating faster. I suppose it's possible that the increased acceleration puts extra force on the retainers but I'm not convinced that is the case. Some of the highest stress on the valvetrain is at idle, after all.

 

I concur to a point with this statement.. I've always taught if your using oem cams, stick to a oem valvetrain, if your going with a aftermarket cam, go supporting valvetrain.. you always get those retarded post where people ask if they can use pro3's on a stock ITR valvetrain.. you know what i'm saying?

I just figured for a peace of mind - pretty sure oem valvetrain would be fine, i'd at least upgrade to a ITR valvetrain if anything just to be safe.. but your reply holds some bases.

 

Maybe the OP should ask this question in the FI forum. This seems like the kind of thing that will have been worked out by now. It's also possible that they'll recommend a cam swap, which would require a valvetrain upgrade anyways. It seems like nowadays people are dropping high-lift cams into turbo setups.

 

Well I know they aren't going to be spinning any faster but I thought since im going turbo it would be harder on the cams because they will be worker harder than if I didn't have a turbo, aka boost lag get me to vtec too quick and over work the cams and retainers...

EDIT: and as you guys know I have an ls/v swap in my car hence my name but I don't know what specs to buy the gsr cam or ls cam, and for the retainers and springs do I go with gsr specs or ls specs?

 

GSR, you have a gsr head im assuming, you wouldn't wanna put non vtec cams/springs/retainers in a vtec head would you?

 

IDK you tell me


sorry for the big image but people have told me that its a b16 head, Im not sure and yes I know I have to go with the gsr specs now thanks :D

 

Yeah that's a b16 head, well that's a b16 IM anyway, look above the exaust manifold for some sort of stamping it should be PR3-something. Depending on what the head came off of. And judging by that valve cover im gunna guess you have a PR3-2 off a 1st gen b16.

 

I didn't realize the head wasn't fully assembled. If you're doing it yourself you should definitely go for upgraded valvesprings and retainers so you can have the strongest valvetrain possible. Maybe upgraded valves would be a good idea, too. You've got cam options, too. GS-R/Civic Si cams are good for boost, but I know some people run SK2 cams on boost, and those are good N/A, too, but they need aftermarket valve springs.

Edit: The best advice is to get the springs made by the maker of the cam you buy (e.g. SK2 springs on SK2 cams), but if you go with GS-R cams you might want to think about getting ITR springs. Also people here seem to really like Supertech for valvetrain components.