N/ALude

That sounds good... pm me when you start to sell.

97_Built

Will do. The parts that will go for sale are:
AEM True Cold Air Intake
RC 550 CC Injectors
RMF Replica 4-1 Race Header w/3" collector
Apexi WS2 60mm inlet/100mm outlet universal muffler
And maybe a couple other things.

N/ALude

Interested in taking most of those stuff. Any welding need to be done for the headers or do they bolt right on to 5th gens? And is it just for the wsii muffler?

97_Built

Good news!
Race Engine Development received my last and final payment for the new block. It's on it's way and should arrive on the 17th. Here is all the info from the invouce that Steve sent me.


Parts
H22A4 MID sleeved block with cryo liners
Total Seal 89.5mm piston rings
Calico coated connecting rod bearings
One pair of thrust washers
New main bearings
One new Crower H22A4 connecting rod
Replaced ARP nut and washer set
New Wiseco wrist pin clips

Labor
Torque plate hone and align hone block
Set main bearing clearances during align honing
Hone piston and connecting rods for .001" wrist pin clrearance

The total bill for everything above including shipping ended up at $2560.08.
Pretty good price compared to ERL who wanted $2500.00 for just the plain block without the cryo treatment.
I'll have pictures to post as soon as the block arrives.

97_Built

Called up Honda today and ordered all new H22 Lost motion assemblies and cotter valve/keepers. I'll pick these up tomorrow.

97_Built

No welding needed. It bolts right onto any H22. The WS2 muffler is universal. That header is a 3" diameter so any 3" exhaust piping will work fine.

97_Built

Just got a call from my friend who was chillin at my house so there would be someone to sign for the block when it came in. The entire block came in. The crazy thing is, the UPS guy had already dropped the packages at my front door and was driving away when my friend answered the door. Thats ok. I don't mind five thousand dollars worth of car parts sitting at my front door next to a very busy street. What the hell goes on inside the minds of these UPS guys? Just like the last time they left over 500 bucks worthof street tires sitting outside my house. Outstanding.

97_Built

Yesterday was a great day when the block arrived with all the bottom end components. It sucked towards the end of the day when I came under the flu, bronchitis or whatever it is that's knocking me down. But needless to say, here are the new pics of the entire block assembly, a day late.

H22A4 Darton MID Sleeved block, machined to 89.5mm (2.3L) by Race Engine Development.






















OEM H22 55mm Crankshaft




Total Seal High performance gapless piston rings




Calico Coated Rod Bearings




New thrust bearings and anti-seize




Wiseco Pistons matched with Crower I Beam connecting rods.






Burnt up Crower rod from the spun rod bearing over a year ago. This was so far damaged that Crower said it was wayyy beyond repairable. All thanks to ERL for this one!






ACL Race Bearings, caps and bracket.




ARP fittings




Glaser and I pushed the prelude into the garage. Not too hard when the engine, transmission, and most of the components are removed. We decided to go ahead and remove as much as possible, reasonably, from the engine bay before we start painting. So we removed the brake booster and sever misc parts and assemblies. If you're gonna do it, then you should do it right, right?

Being that I'm sick and will go off to see a doctor today, I most likely will not be working on the car today. However, Glaser is motivated to get my car done and pushed out so he can install his SR20 into his soon to be for sale 240sx. So, he said he'll probably paint it tonight without me. Hopefully this contagious bug I have will be through with me soon so I can finish this project.

97_Built

Yesterday was a great day when the block arrived with all the bottom end components. It sucked towards the end of the day when I came under the flu, bronchitis or whatever it is that's knocking me down. But needless to say, here are the new pics of the entire block assembly, a day late.

H22A4 Darton MID Sleeved block, machined to 89.5mm (2.3L) by Race Engine Development.






















OEM H22 55mm Crankshaft




Total Seal High performance gapless piston rings




Calico Coated Rod Bearings




New thrust bearings and anti-seize




Wiseco Pistons matched with Crower I Beam connecting rods.






Burnt up Crower rod from the spun rod bearing over a year ago. This was so far damaged that Crower said it was wayyy beyond repairable. All thanks to ERL for this one!






ACL Race Bearings, caps and bracket.




ARP fittings




Glaser and I pushed the prelude into the garage. Not too hard when the engine, transmission, and most of the components are removed. We decided to go ahead and remove as much as possible, reasonably, from the engine bay before we start painting. So we removed the brake booster and sever misc parts and assemblies. If you're gonna do it, then you should do it right, right?





Being that I'm sick and will go off to see a doctor today, I most likely will not be working on the car today. However, Glaser is motivated to get my car done and pushed out so he can install his SR20 into his soon to be for sale 240sx. So, he said he'll probably paint it tonight without me. Hopefully this contagious bug I have will be through with me soon so I can finish this project.

BlackCatt

Sweet to see your latest update man, goodluck with it.

97_Built

Thanks man. It's been one hell of a journey but this project is finally on a downhill slope. Turns out that I have pneumonia, awesome right? Hopefully this clears up so I can help Glaser before he gets too much done without me.

BlackCatt

You poor barsted, i'm f8'7ked with sickness too at the moment but
pneumonia beats me hands down. Take it easy man, you need to
rest and get your health back before you get back into it. I am on
a forced break at the moment too. Being sick ***** me.

97_Built

Word. I think I just coughed up a chunk of my lung. Pneumonia sucks. Can't work, can't work on the prelude. All I can do is sit around all day playing videogames. Can you feel my pain?

BlackCatt

Sure can. Just checked out your appearance thread, bay looks great.

Prudz_lude

iTrader: (1)

looks awesome. Why would you go through all the trouble of an awesome N/A build only to boost it?

97_Built

Thank you sir! I think it was a good decision to knock out the engine bay while the car was stripped down.

97_Built

Well if I could afford it, I'd go straight to boost. And if I did that, I'd need a complete suspension to keep traction, along with a nice ignition and fuel system. With the price of all that, and the desire to break-in the new engine properly, I made the decision to go n/a for the duration of time for the break-in and saving money for everything I would need for when the turbo goes in.

97_Built

Started assembling the block last night after a bit of clean up. I used the compressor to blow out every port and crevice to eliminate any metal shavings or etc. that may have survived Steve's cleaning prior to shipment. I then used a lint-free microfiber cloth drenched in clean automatic transmission fluid to wipe down the cylinders. I'll wipe them again right before I install the pistons.


Next was to rob some parts off of the old ERL block. I removed the oil squirters and sprayed brake cleaner all around and through each line until it came out crystal clear.


Now it was time for some plastigauge. Steve at R.E.D. instructed that we should calculate a .002" clearance for both the main bearings and the connecting rod bearings. For anyone out there who isn't sure about plastigauge, it's a material that is placed on the location where clearance is to be measured. In this case, it was placed on the main journals of the crankshaft. If you look closely, you can see the small green pieces of plastigauge resting on each of the five main journals. The number one main journal got cut off of the picture and I apologize for my lack of skills in photography.


The components are then installed and torqued to specification, and the plastigauge is such "crushed" flat within the assembly.


And this is the end result. All of the pieces of plastigauge are measured to calculate the exact tplerance of the assembly. Here, you can see that the test met the .002" tolerance that was instructed from Race Engine Development. Now we know that there is enough clearance for the oil to pass through and properly lubricate the assembly.


And, this is where things got messy.


I used the assembly lube on all the main bearings and crank journals. By shear luck, I happened to notice a couple very fine scratches on the center main journal of the crank. When I closely inspected the crank right out of the box, I didn't notice any marks anywhere on the crank. Perhaps the assembly lube helped reveal these? I'm not sure. Regardless, it wasn't the scratches that worried me, since they were so minute that they would have no effect on the operation. The "knick" that was deep enough to catch my fingernail on was the major concern.
I emailed Steve to pick at his brain for a solution for repair, or a suggestion to replace the crank. Luckily, he stated that the crank was repairable. He instructed that I take a strip of fine emory cloth and polish the journal.
Tomorrow I'll remove the crank and bearings, polish the crank journal, clean the crank very thoroughly, and make a second attempt at the block assembly. Stay tuned!

97_Built

Alright, I removed the mains and crank to polish up the blemishes on the center journal. I used 320 grit emory cloth to remove any material that could possibly scratch or catch onto the bearing and polished up the journal with strips of 1000 grit sand paper. The journal is nice and smooth now. Time to start assembling the block again...

Installed the main bearings and lubricated them with assembly lube.


Installed the crank and mains. Torqued the main studs.
Now to gap the new piston rings.
To do this, I installed the ring into the cylinder without the piston. I used the piston to guide the ring evenly into the sleeve, them measured the gap. With the top compression ring, I started at .009" and used 320 grit sand paper to shave the gap to .018". Same deal with the second compression ring but the goal was for .020" instead of .018". The oil rings needed a minimum of .015" and we all around .025-.029" out of the box, so they were easy.




I then installed the #1 piston rings onto #1 piston and in went the first cylinder internals.


Remember, I haven't plastigauged the rod bearing clearance yet, so that was the next step. In went the bearings and the plastigauge, followed by 50 ft/lbs of torque.


After two checks with the plastigauge, the clearance was about .0014". Steve said I needed to be between .00175" and .002 clearance. So, looks like I'm at a stopping point until the four new bearings come in. I'll order them .001" smaller, and matched with the standard size bearings, I'll end up with .0005" which will put me right in the green.

97_Built

Got the new bearings in. I assembled 2 cylinders with one of each bearing and checked the clearance with platigauge. Unfortunately, the clearances were still around .0015-.0016". I decided to try 2 of the new bearings and all clearances were between .00175" and .002". So I assembled the #1 and #4 rod bearings, coated with assembly lube, and torqued the rod bolts to 50 ft/lbs.
We decided to measure the compression of the entire motor in order to decide on a head gasket. We started by measureing the chambers in the head. I picked up a gallon of denatured alcohol. The alcohol combined with red food coloring made the measuring part much easier.


The chamber size ended up being 52cc. The piston dish volume was 11 cc. In conclusion the compression ratio would be 9.72:1 with a .030" gasket and 9.55:1 with a .050" gasket. I'm leaning toward the 9.55:1 ratio.

I next assembled the other two piston ring assemblies and cylinders. Clearances for the rod bearings were in the green so the end caps went on and the rod bolts torqued.




I spent most of Monday night cleaning all the parts I would need to assemble the head and block. I installed the rear cover (main seal) and washed several different parts and fittings.





And this is a random picture of me that Glaser's nephew took while I was cleaning all the parts...


Last night, I installed the oil pump and cleaned more parts.


After that came the water pump and the balancer gear assembly.


And tonight I assembled most of the timing assembly, along with the greddy extreme timing belt and balancer pully.


Then it was time to start on the head. I popped out all the used cotter valves (keepers) and installed the new OEM honda keepers.


Then the lost motion assemblies...


And I finished up the night by cleaning and installing the rocker arm assembly.


I'll be taking a break from the prelude Thursday but should definitely have the engine assembled to test for valve/piston clearance and to decide on head gasket thickness/compression. With our calculations, a .050" head gasket will bring a 9.55/1 compression ratio, and a .030" head gasket will bring a 9.72/1 compression ratio. After a talk with Race Engineering, they offered a .018" cometic gasket, which should get the total compression around 9.8-9.9/1 cr. I'm hoping I can get the proper valve/piston clearance to run the .018" gasket in order to get my compression closer to what the Pro 1 cams are designed for (10.0-11.0/1). A compression ratio that is too much below 10.0/1 will result in less efficiency, which means loss of power compared to the cam's designated range.
We'll find out more on Friday after work. I'll have to degree the cams as well.

viper_boy403

iTrader: (1)

Wow man, that looks great. Nice work documenting all the steps! However, I noticed you didnt post anything about clocking the rings, yet you posted about how you set the ring gaps. Was that just a step you decided not to list out?

97_Built

Thanks for reminding me. I forgot to mention that step. I clocked the rings according to the instructions that came in the box for the rings. I don't have them on me here, but if I remember correctly, with the timing side of the engine facing to the right, the rings were clocked as follows...
The top compression ring gap faces 12:00.
The second compression ring gap faces 6:00.
The first oil ring gap, I forget.
The middle oil "squiggly" ring gap faces between 5:00 and 7:00.
And I also forget what the bottom oil ring gap is clocked at. But I'll post up the actual instructions from Total Seal soon.

97_Built

It's been a busy weekend, but as late as it is, here's the current update.
Spent most of Saturday morning running around town picking up parts from salvage yards to help Glaser get the 240sx build complete. However, I did manage to get the following done...

Cleaned up the remaining parts of the head.

Placed the Molding clay on top of two cylinders and placed the ARP head studs in. Remembered to use oil on the studs while setting them in place.


Set in the old Cometic MLS headgasket (for calculating valve to piston clearance only). And set the head onto the block and torqued the head bolts to 90 ft/lbs. I torqued these in a sequence, of course. Started with torquing the middle bolts first, then alternating across the head to each of the remaining bolts, from inside to outside. I torqued the bolts to 15 ft/lbs first, then 45 ft/lbs, and then 90 ft/lbs. Applied oil to the washers and head bolts as well.


My MSD spark plug wires arrived in the mail Friday...


And for the clutch, I decided to go with a three puck, sprung clutch and heavy duty 2200 lb pressure plate, along with a new throwout bearing. I picked it up from KY Clutch on Saturday while we were out. I'm currently shopping for a lightweight flywheel.





Tomorrow should reach temperatures in the high 70's, so it sounds like it would be a great time to paint the front bumper and rear spoiler. If I can pull it off, I'll go ahead and assemble the cams and remaining parts of the head, in-between coats. The AEM fuel rail should arrive in the mail soon.

97_Built

It was too windy to paint today, unfortunately. And Glaser's 240 is still in the garage. I decided to finish up on the motor so I could order the proper size head gasket.

I lubricated and installed the Skunk2 Pro 1 cams...


Then I installed the cam caps and torqued the cap bolts down.


Then came the Skunk2 Pro adjustable cam gears...


And then I attempted to line up the cams and crank to top dead center, but had trouble aligning them because apparently I applied too thick of a layer of clay on the pistons. So, I removed everything again, applied just enough clay to just one piston, then assembled and torqued everything back together again.

Next came the Greddy Extreme timing belt, which always becomes a huge chore. This belt doesn't want to flex AT ALL! So installing the belt was lots of fun...


I made two revolutions on the block to let the valves make their marks on the clay, then realized it was getting pretty late. I'll be tearing the head off again tomorrow to see what kind of piston/valve clearance we have so far.

97_Built

Today I made progress towards verifying valve/piston clearance and degree-ing the cams. I also installed the new water pump gasket and the timing belt tensioner washer that goes between the adjuster bolt and the block.

The first thing I needed to do was to calculate absolute top dead center. To do this, I positioned the crank to top dead center. Next, I installed the degree wheel to the crankThen I mounted the dial indicator to the top of cylinder #1. I rotated the crank until the dial indicator reached it's peak number on the gauge and hesitated to come back down. This is where the piston has reached absolute top dead center.


I then carefully adjusted the degree wheel to line up 0 degree to a random bracket that I mounted to the block just for this process. Now I have the absolute top dead center, by the thousandths.




Before I assembled the head back onto the block, I placed the molding clay inside the dished grooves in the #1 piston. I know I already did this before, but after a talk with Steve, he mentioned that until I degree the cams, finding the valve/piston clearance by use of molding clay is inaccurate.

So the head went back on and torqued to spec. I left the cam rails off of the head to clear room for the dial indicator. Note that I used washers, nuts and spacers to accommodate the absence of the rails. The bolts were still torqued to spec and sequence.




It was getting pretty late by this time, so I decided to call it a night. Tomorrow, I'll be assembling the engine bay components and wiring and then I'll degree the cams. Hopefully by tomorrow night I'll have a choice for a proper head gasket thickness and I'll know what the compression will be in the end. Once I get the head gasket in, I'm in the fast lane to getting the prelude running again.

Here's the AEM adjustable fuel pressure regulator that came in Friday.