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Hi, my first post ever here aside from my introduction post so hope I don't get this wrong or get flamed etc... I've searched all that a person can search before posting this. In fact I've been following this forum since it's inception and I'm the original owner of this 95 ej1 I've had since I was 16 and recently restored it all myself (good pandemic project).
Some quick details, 95ej1 w/ b18c1 swapped in. I completed the swap about year ago and it's been driving incredible ever since! Some photos of my work attached. About 1k miles ago I dropped in some Skunk2 Tuner 1 cams. Here's the relevant parts for this post:
Stock b18c1 bottom end (P72 Pistons & OE rods & bearings though ARP rod bolts).
P72 head with Skunk2 Tuner 1 Camshafts & Crower springs & retainers (the chromoly retainers).
Milling indicator on the head shows a depth of 0.035". I believe stock depth is 0.040" (or 1mm) and thus indicates the head has been milled about 0.005".
Milling indicator on the blocks shows a depth of 0.033". I don't know the stock depth for that one but I assume it's the same as the head (0.040" / 1mm) and based on that it appears the block has been milled 0.007".
Put these two together total milling is somewhere around 0.012".
Drives incredible, dynoed at 173 whp on a Dynapack.
I decided rather than run these cams as drop-in at 0,0 (as I have been running them with great results for the past 1k miles) that I'd like to degree them to the manufacturer's specs. I know they are Tuner1's and some people are going to say don't bother degreeing them, they are too small of cams to worry about that and your clearances should be fine but after the time and money put into the project I'd like to do this right.
Using the Mike Belben kit (great kit!) I've measured the following p2v (or v2p not sure in what order it's written) clearances. These measurements are taken with vtec locked and are in inches and @0.000 lash and with a used stock head gasket installed so head gasket thickness is included in the measurement already. The left column is how much advanced (+) or retarded (-) the cam is for the measurement. The middle column is exhaust clearance and the right column is intake. I advanced and retarded the cams in parallel for this so I wouldn't have to worry about v2v contact.
I actually went all the way to +-15 but no need to post the whole thing and make this post longer than it already is.
So to me the intake clearances make sense. Given this is all measured @0.000 lash adding in the running lash (0.007 for intake + rocker ratio) these values all seem within expectations to me. Feel free to tell me otherwise.
However it's the exhaust clearances that I feel like something just isn't right. I'm hoping some of you can run your eyes over this and reality check it for me. For starters of all the gazillions of other people's p2v clearances I've read on this forum and other forums across the web, not just for Hondas but for all sorts of cars, I've never seen a case like this where the exhaust clearances were so small in comparison to the intake. In all my searchings I find the intake clearances tend to be the trouble maker of the two. However in my case, if these measurements are correct, than it's the exhaust clearances for me and in a significant way! At 0 degrees retarded/advanced the exhaust valves are already ~half of the generally accepted safe minimum (which people say is .100").
Other reasons I question these measurements is I've read countless other threads on p2v measurements for others running much more aggressive setups than me, people with stage 3 cams, ITR pistons, oversized valves, extreme milling, etc... and they've got much bigger exhaust clearances than me. How can that be? I've got Tuner 1 cams with stock valves on a stock bottom end with minor milling.
And lastly I've been running the **** out of this car with these cams at 0,0 for the past 1k miles. Either I'm lucky, or the generally accepted safe minimum of .100" is really much more conservative than it needs to be, or something has one wrong with my measurements.
I've also measured how far off the cam timing is in order to bring them to Skunk2's recommended settings and that is the intake cam should be advanced +2 degrees and the exhaust cam should be retarded -6 degrees. Now if I advance the intake cam +2 the clearances is fine after adding in valve lash. However if I were to retard the exhaust cam -6 degrees that would put me at an exhaust clearance of .027" + running lash. So I'm not about to do that with these measurements. If these measurements are correct I'd have to advance my exhaust cam +10 degrees before I reach the generally accepted safe minimum clearance of .100". Advancing the exhaust +10 just doesn't make sense to me.
So could the exhaust clearances possibly be correct? If you agree that they are suspect where could I have gone wrong? Mostly I'm looking for a "these seem right or wrong" before I go and pull everything apart again and dig deeper after I've already disassembled and re-assembled the head and re-taken the measurements, always with the same consistent results for DAYS like a crazy person. I've only got so many more ideas to try.
Just to give you a little data,on skunk2 tuner 2 cam,on b16a setup with ctr piston....When i degreed the engine,piston to valve on the exhaust side was 0.073 inch(0lash)
-0.100 inch is somewhat a lot for clearance on p2v!!!On my personal engine i am in the 0.088 inch zone of piston to valve on the intake side .On the exhaust about 0.087 inch.
You are on the right track...you mesure your own clearances yourself so (Y) to ya .Since your block/head is milled a lot your theorical 0-0 does not work anymore.If you are able to find the degree spec of this cam,You can after see if your v2v and p2v are safe enough.
Do these p2v clearances make sense?
.Since your block/head is milled a lot your theorical 0-0 does not work anymore.If you are able to find the degree spec of this cam,You can after see if your v2v and p2v are safe enough.
