I have a b18a1 lsv I'm building. Had crank turned .025 and same for rods being resized. It has not been line honed so mains will be .025 undersized. What about rod bearing where Id and OD have changed size? Anyone have a part number?

 

Race Engineering, Inc - Bearings

Try these guys

 

If im not mistaken, when they resize the rods, they shoot for oem specs on the rods bore, so the rod should still be close to spec ~ 1.890" after machining.

 

just fyi, honda cranks hate being turned. I rarely see a turned honda crank not destroy bearings awefully quickly. It's always adviseable to just get a good condition replacement crank.

 

Worth repeating.
I don't think any pro builders/racers in the Honda world uses or recommends turning journals on a Honda crank. If you do, you're supposed to re-Nitride and harden the crank and then it just got expensive really fast. Now you have a crank with oddball journal sizes which might make bearing choices more limited, and if you have to adjust them at all, your back to replacing parts or machine work again if you cant find the correct bearing.

 

That's not what i wanted hear. Im already $6k in on this eg I really don't want to spend more on new crank and bearings .

 

Hate to say it man, but that's the common consensus on Honda-tech. Im sure some people have done it and been fine, but just know that there's a lot more to these Honda cranks than your typical Chevy 350 crank.
Another example is the OEM Honda bearings are color coded so you can get your bearing clearances down to the .0001". That's pretty damn precise.

Used cranks I see go for around $100-150. New, there over $700 I believe. Been a long time since I priced one out. You said the rods are already honed (to factory spec I assume.) You haven't bought bearings yet. It may not be as as expensive as you might think.

BTW- shouldn't the machine shop verify the correct bearings are available before grinding the journals undersize?

 

Yup this too. In general, you can't just grind away. If the crank is being turned, the machine shop actually needs the block and rods too, and match them all to a specific set of bearings they already have in hand.

 

Called machine shop today and crank was turned last week, .025mm on mains and .05mm rod journal. Bearings they ordered came today for an A18a. Said his books don't list a Honda/acura B18 for bearings.

 

Well that's just stupid. Ask them what bearing company they are using. And are you sure those numbers are correct?

 

I don't think they should have ground the crank first without making sure the correct bearings are available. I would grab your block let them keep the crank and go find a new machine shop. The b18 is only about the most common b series engine around. HMO has used jdm b20 engines for like $600.

 

Yeah i am seriously thinking about calling Steve at HMO and get a cheap ls/b20. I'll pick up everything today from machine shop. May have to create a bad day for someone.

 

A18A rods are the same as B18A and B18b, according to ACL. Part number 4B1946. Their catalog is available at Automotive Components Limited . The mains you need are 5M1959 . From the catalog, they are both offered in .25 , .50 , .75 oversize. I have a box of 4B1946 sitting here, and it says Honda: A18A,A20A, ES, ET, B18A, B18B .... If you have another brand of bearings, you can usually look at their catalogs on their sites for the part numbers you need, and make sure that is what the machine shop has.

In regards to turning / grinding cranks. I do believe it is possible to get it done correctly, but it is very hard and takes lots of experience to grind it straight enough, and perfectly round. There is so little margin for error, that usually the operator error is too much, and the motor starts eating bearings.

 

I hope all goes well. It will be going back into car this weekend if weather is decent. Been working on this since August and just because i was lazy and let a quick lube change oil.

 

Quick lube! Your laziness will subside once u try to have an intelligent convo. With one of them. My laziness consist of changing oil at 3500 and filter @ 6 sometimes.