Mirror finish

You can kind of see the ridges here. Can feel with fingernail


I took my d17a2 out of the car to rebuild. It was smoking on acceleration and consuming a quart of oil every few days. Had 350k plus miles on it and I am keeping the car so a rebuild was in order.

Machine shop I usually take it to and does a good job had a turn around time of about 6 weeks. I found a place that would do it in a week. Had d17 block decked and head resurfaced along with new guides and valve seals. Took a b18 block also that needed old red paint stripped and decked also. Paid around $800.

When I picked up pieces the place was filthy and unorganized. There were metal shavings everywhere. The “hot tank” was a makeshift tub filled with chemicals. He said he put drano in it. He also painted all the pieces all over. There was paint and other caked on crap on surfaces that were “machined”. He said to just wipe with laquer thinner and it would come off. It did not.

I took the head to the shop I used before to get it resurfaced as I was not satisfied. The head and block have ridges that I can feel with my fingernail. Also had caked up godknowswhat I could take off.

they also told me that the guides had not been done and he also lost two retainers so he put on random ones he had and the springs were not sitting perfect.

Here’s a pic of what the head looks like now that it’s been fixed. Valves missing because I haven’t put back in. Just got new retainers and seats from Honda because he lost them.

The head is good now. Wondering if the block will be ok or should I take it to get inspected. I don’t wan to buy a straight edge just to use it once and I don’t wan to disassemble the bottom end just to take it to a shop and they tell me it’s fine.

I will be using a mls felpro gasket so do you guys think I should just send it? Or disassemble it and take it to machine shop?

hopefully you can see the ridges on the block. Head has visible ridges from machine shop but I can’t feel with fingernail and it’s a mirror finish.

I also don’t have a car so everything is a hassle rn. Riding a motorcycle until this engine is done…

 

MLS gasket will not seal on that deck surface.

 

I would personally want a finer finish than that. I had a problem with my MLS head gasket sealing with a rougher machined surface like that, but I'm boosted. I ended up resurfacing myself with a small granite surface plate and some 600 grit paper. You can either DIY or take it to a machine shop well versed in aluminum import engines and have them re-cut the deck.

If you want to check flatness, you can pick up a cheap aluminum straight edge from Amazon. The one I have is flat, but being aluminum is susceptible to getting damaged easily, so handle it carefully. It's a good, cheap option, though.

 

Take it to the good shop. It won't hurt. But it certainly will save you from more downtime and money if the thing leaks once you spend the effort putting it back together. If you are questioning it, I think you've already determined you know it's not right too 🙂

 

Just curious, but did you not notice when you went to drop your parts off that the machine shop looked like a crack house?

Good luck, sorry on your behalf. It's seriously borderline impossible to find good automotive labor in Texas.

 

No. I spoke with the man in the front of the place and then the guy that was doing the work was excited to have to work on a Honda so I spoke to him a good deal and I felt like he knew what he was doing. It’s like a multi services place and the shop was in the back. When I picked up the first piece I went to the back and it looked terrible. You live and you learn. *Cries in Spanish*

 

"Cries in Spanish"
Lmao, el pobrecito

Good luck moving forward, sorry man. Praying that I eventually get my longblock back from the shop I dropped it off at in San Antonio, I have a feeling that's another thing I should have just done myself. I've 98% given up on having anyone help me with my cars, it's absolutely pathetic but most shops do more harm than good these days.

 

I called every performance import builder in Chicagoland and asked them who does their machine work. If I remember right (10+ years ago), they all said the same place. So I went there. I talked to the owner, Ted, one of the most knowledgeable guys I've met always willing to help out. And toured their shop to verify they indeed use Sunnen equipment as per recommendation of Endyne, and Larry, proven legendary builder. I've been a happy customer many times since.

That's how I would do it again if I needed to.

 

Some of those hole in the wall places actually do great work, like the ones here in Charlotte. Nice fancy shops that are super clean...I would be worried about those. They likely took the engine part to those "dirty looking" shops anyways and charge you more $$$.

 

Either situation you described is still bad business practice.

You can have a small location and still keep it organized at least.

 

I think just as long as the shop does competent work, the look of the shop shouldn't matter too much. The one I have used, have engine cylinder heads all over the shelves, none with name tags or anything. It's amazing they don't mix up your part for someone else's.

 

I'm glad you found a good shop. And yeah, if they have competent workers who have good communication with one another they may be able to get away with things like that.

But, exactly what you said and what I marked in bold, it's a "surprise" in those situations when the shop pulls through. Then one day, they'll screw up, and you'll know exactly why. They'll have one or two of their good & experienced employees leave, a new guy or two will come in, and that same lack of organization and documentation will cause issues.

I just miss the days when professionals cared more about doing things right, keeping things presentable, communicated, etc. In my eyes and experience, all of that goes hand in hand. If you're lacking in one, eventually you'll fall apart in the others as well.

 

I agree - with equal reputations for work, I'd choose the machine shop that is organized, clean, and has a clear method for tracking orders though their system over an unorganized, dirty shop with parts not labeled laying all over the place. Unfortunately for me (and likely others), there is one cylinder head shop and a separate machine shop that will do bottom ends in my town and that's it. Other than those guys, I'm mailing out parts and hoping the place I'm sending it to is as good as their social media / website depicts. My local cylinder head shop does tag parts, but it's a dirty machine shop. They do pretty good work for me, but I have had to give them some guidance on what I specifically want, as it seems they do way more cast iron heads than aluminum import heads. I trusted my old machine shop, but the guy retired and sold the business to a younger fella that ran it into the ground and they went under last year. There's a machine shop a few towns over that my cylinder head guys recommend, but I haven't used them yet. If it comes down to having some work done on either a bottom end or cylinder head that is outside the normal scope of repair, I'm probably mailing it out to a shop that specializes in Hondas / Imports.