bigsnorlax

this is absolutely incredible. Not only do u post pictures of all your shiny new parts in baggys that just make us warm and fuzzy on the inside, but your also teaching us all thats involved. For the most part ha. This is a VERY well documented and educational build! Props to you man

97_Built

Thanks man. It's been a learning project since the beginning and I figured there were others out there who would want to learn as well. I'd like to be more informative, but it's usually pretty late and I'm exhausted by the time I get back from working on the car.

bigsnorlax

I understand. I will be bookmarking this and following closely. I'll be referencing this thread often as well as the books when we get to piecing together my friends new engine. Checking bearing clearances looks like a royal pain i must say

97_Built

You're right one that sir. It would have gone much smoother if the first set of bearings met the proper clearance. It really was very time consuming and somewhat tedious. But if I had just skipped the step, and ran with the first set of bearings, I'd be rebuilding this motor again real soon.

bigsnorlax

Did you use a mic and an interior mic or anything to "pre-measure" for the bearings. Or did you order a set and then "plasti'ed" them to exchange for corrected others? Or were those the bearings from the other block?

97_Built

The first set of bearings were ordered by Race Eng. Dev. Steve measures the rods and journals with a mic to determine the proper size bearing. Unfortunately the bearings were a little tight (.0005"-.0007" too large). So the new set of bearings were .001" smaller, which turned out to be perfect when tested. I was always told to never reuse bearings. These are calico coated, and the coated would be gone for the most part. Also the bearings wear down to match the journal and rod that they are matched with. So swapping them into a different motor would probably cause many issues with oil passage and stability in the rotating assembly.

97_Built

Ok, I knocked out a lot of random stuff yesterday.
I started out by dragging out all of the parts that will be going under the hood. I laid them out on Glaser's sidewalk, sprayed what I could with engine degreaser or brake cleaner, and pressure washed all the parts as best as I could.















And after the cleaning...















Next I took the spark plug cover, alternator bracket and the oil pickup and sprayed them down with a healthy coat of aircraft paint stripper.



Just a little more prep work and this will be ready for new paint.



As for the engine wiring harness, it was time for a makeover. After cleaning any oil and dirt off of the cables, I started by removing all the red wire loom that screamed of rice. I'm not sure why I thought the red would look better 2 years ago, but it was definitely time for it to go. I replaced the red loom with standard black loom that I picked up from the local auto parts store. I used black zip ties to lock the cut ends down onto the cable inside, and lined it with scotch 33+ professional grade electrical tape. This stuff makes one heck of a nice seal and last forever. I also decided to cover up all of the custom wiring that took place when we converted to OBD1.

Here's the harness before the cleaning and makeover.


And this is after the job was done.





I also grabbed my timing side engine mount bracket, alternator bracket and the resistor box and sprayed them down with some black high heat engine paint.





While I was at it, I coated the battery "shelf" with undercoat in order to protect it from getting eaten alive in the case that battery acid lands on it.



Here's a pic of the new AEM fuel rail that came in.


And the next task was to start getting all these clean parts assembled and under the hood, so I can finally pay the prelude some attention.


I assembled the brake booster w/reservoir, clutch reservoir and a few more parts all on the right side of the engine bay.



We made an attempt to degree the cams, but ended up calling it a night when we realized it was almost 10pm. But we did manage to properly mount the degree wheel where it would be completely stable.



I'll be updating this again tonight.

97_Built

OK, I've finally found the time to update this to date.
I'm pretty sure that I've removed and assembled the head about 6 or more times since I last updated the thread. Let me start from what happened the first time.

When I tried to degree the cams initially, I ended up with faulty results due to not remembering to lock the VTEC lobes in. So I was just measuring readings from the primary lobes, which is pretty much pointless in VTEC world.
So, I needed to figure out a way to lock the cams into VTEC for the #1 cylinder.


I snagged one of the pins from the rocker arms for reference, and headed over to the local hardware store. I found a pvc spacer that met the right diameter of the pin. So I purchased two spacers that I knew would be more than long enough, and two pieces that were about half the length of the larger spacers.


I took one of the smaller spacers and used a grinder to take a little bit of the length off until it was the perfect length. Note that I was only taking off a little at a time, and checking it's accuracy after each grind. Once I had the perfect length, I ground the other spacer to match the first.


Now all it took was to place the spacer inside the rocker arm that had the smaller pin inside (the rocker arm that the oil passes through to push the pin out).


This locked the smaller pin out, which pushed the middle pin through the middle rocker and into the third rocker which had the spring tension inside. Note that the spring would push the pin back to it's primary state once the oil pressure in VTEC was disengaged, in normal operations.




So I installed the rocker arms (with #1 cylinder rockers locked in VTEC).

This is where inexperience plays it's role. I left the cam gears at 0 adjustments (neither advanced nor retarded) and checked for valve to piston clearance. To my surprise, once I pulled the head off to check the valve marks on the clay, the exhaust valves had sheared the clay in half and left very small, but noticeable marks on the piston where they hit. Uncool.

So, then it was time to degree these cams in. It was stupid to check for valve/piston clearance without having the cams degreed in. The clearance would be negligent due to the cams pushing the valves up and down at the wrong times during the revolution of the crank.

Luckily, a friend had just finished assembling his D16 engine and let me borrow his engine stand to finish my engine build . This made things A LOT easier. Especially when it came to torquing the head to 90 ft/lbs. Before I started, I applied oil to the cylinders to make sure they were properly lubricated.

Note: If you are unsure of how to properly degree a camshaft, do NOT hesitate to CONSULT A PROFESSIONAL ENGINE BUILDER!!! I did. I probably drove Steve @ Race Engine Development and Brian @ Skunk2 out of their minds, but at least I attempted this under professional supervision. Do not attempt to degree camshafts without guidance. This is an EXTREMELY important step to properly building a safe and efficient engine.

The first thing to do was to install the degree wheel. I had to use a longer 16mm bolt in place of the OEM crank bolt (for testing purpose only) in order for the degree wheel to clear the rear balancer pully. I turned the crank over to TDC. This was much easier with an H series because you can accurately check for TDC by lining up the indicator on the block with the white line on the inside rim of the flywheel.


Next, I installed a bracket (anything will work as an indicator) to the block to line the degree wheel up for TDC. The bracket along with a long bolt, nut and a bright green piece of cardboard that I ripped off of a cig container, worked great to line up the degree wheel. I had to impact the crank bolt in order to keep the degree wheel from coming loose.


I know that the degree wheel was not on 0 in the above pic, I just took that pic for a reference to install an indicator on the block.

I installed the head, lubricated the cams, caps, and rocker arms with assembly lube, and mounted a random bracket to the side of the block. This worked great since the dial indicator has a magnetic base.


It's VERY important to install the dial indicator at the same angle as the valve. Also, it's just as important to measure from the retainer, as checking from the rocker arm can yield inaccurate readings because of the amount of play between the rocker and the top of the valve. And make sure that the sides of the dial indicator stem are clear from touching any parts of the head. I then zero'd the dial indicator and re-checked it several times to make sure. Also, make one test revolution on the engine to make sure that the dial indicator tip remains on the same surface of the retainer while the valve moves down and back up. This is VITAL to obtaining accurate measurements from this point and on.


I came across a page on Skunk2's camshaft tech support section where a tech stated that most customers who dial in these cams on an H22 find that in the end, they reach the recommended centerline when the intake cam is advanced to the +1.5 mark and the exhaust cam is advanced to the +2 mark.

I decided to start the intake cam at the 0 mark since it cleared the piston before, and adjusted the exhaust cam gear to the +4 mark, in hope of preventing the valves from hitting the piston again. I assembled the timing belt, adjusted the manual tensioner, and started to degree the intake cam.
Remember to adjust your valve lash to .000" before degreeing a cam. In other words, with the cams installed, adjust your valve adjusting screw on the rocker arm until you feel firm resistance, then tighten down the nut carefully. You are now at .000" lash. Do this on all the valves that you plan on using for the cam degree process. In my case, I adjusted all the valves for #1 cylinder to .000" lash.

The first step is to very slowly rotate the engine in the direction of its operation (counter-clockwise for an H22) until the dial indicator started to move, indicating lift from the cam pushing the valve down. Then, continue carefully rotating the crank until the dial indicator reads .039". Now, this is considered the opening point for the valve. My measurements were taken from the RED numbers on the dial.


Write down the measurement from the degree wheel, by use of your random indicator. In my case, my measurement was opening at 21 degrees BTDC (Before Top Dead Center).

Opening at: 21 degrees BTDC

Next, continue rotating the engine until the dial indicator slows to a stop, before it starts coming backwards. Where the dial hesitates is the amount of VTEC lobe peak lift your cam has. My Pro 1 intake cam has .500" lift so my dial made 5 revolutions before reaching the 0 mark again.

Intake Cam lift: .500"

You can take down these numbers if you like, but they will not be needed to calculate your centerline.

Thirdly, continue rotating the crank in the same direction. Your valve will now be on it's way back up into the head. Keep track of how many revolutions the dial makes, because you need to stop rotating the engine when the dial is on it's final revolution, stopping once again at the same .039" mark. This is the valve closing measurement. Write down the degrees from the degree wheel again. In this case, my valve closing was at 60 degrees ABDT (After Bottom Dead Center). Going by the smaller number on the degree wheel.


Closing at: 60 degrees ABDC.


I then double checked my opening and closing numbers again by rotating the engine a second time. Same numbers.

There's a formula to calculate your centerline by using the opening and closing measurements you've discovered so far. But first, you must calculate the duration.

Take your opening number, plus your closing number, + 180. This will give you the duration of your cam.

Here is the formula using my measurements:

(OPENING) 21 degrees BTDC + (CLOSING) 60 degrees ABDC + 180 = 261

So my duration for the intake cam is 261 degrees at .000" lash.

Now, to calculate the centerline, you must take your duration, divide by two, then subtract the opening measurement, and then you have the centerline.

Here's my formula using my measurements:

(DURATION) 261 / 2 - (OPENING) 21 degrees BTDC = 109.5 degrees ATDC

Ooook. Got THAT over with. Now you need to check with the manufacturer of the camshaft for a recommended centerline for best performance. Skunk2's recommendation for the intake cam centerline is 98 degrees ATDC.
Obviously my 109.5 centerline is far too retarded compared to 98. So I needed to make some adjustments to the intake cam. After repeating the above steps two additional times, I found that with the cam gear adjusted to +2.5, which is +5 degrees to the cam, my centerline came to 98.5 degrees ATDC. Perfect.

I repeated the same process for the exhaust cam, and here are the numbers I obtained.

The formula for finding the duration of the exhaust cam is the same as the formula for the intake.
The formula for finding the centerline is different though. Instead of Duration / 2 - Opening, it's Duration / 2 - Closing. Remember this.

Exhaust cam lift: .455"
Exhaust cam gear adjusted to +.5 (+1 degree to the camshaft)
Opening: 51 degrees BBDC
Closing: 21 degrees ATDC
Duration: 252 degrees at .000" lash
Centerline: 105 degrees BTDC
Recommended Centerline from Skunk2: 105 degrees BTDC

I hope you've stuck with me throughout all of this. It's really good knowledge and not everyone can say that they know how to degree cams properly.

Once I finished degreeing the cams, I kept the adjustments on the cam gears where I left them, I removed the head, placed a SMALL amount of molding clay inside the grooves cut into the piston for the valves, and reassembled the head again, torquing everything to spec. Next I installed the timing belt and adjusted the manual tensioner. I made about three or four revolutions, removed the head, and used a micrometer to measure the thinnest area on the clay. This indicated where the valves and piston came the closest.

The exhaust cam not only cleared the piston, but also left me with about .028" of clearance. And the intake side resulted in about .047" of clearance. Now, I know what size headgasket to buy. According to both R.E.D. and Skunk2, I need a total of .060" clearance between the valves and pistons. I did the cam degree with a .030" thick headgasket. So, looks like I need to call Cometic tomorrow and order a .062" MLS headgasket.

Well, during the cam degreeing process I identified two things that I was lied to by the two gents I bought the original engine from (the Endyn head paired with the ERL block). The headgasket was NOT Commetic, nor was it .040". It's some weird part number that I can't find out anything about over the net. I had to use a micrometer to find out that the thickness was .030" instead.
Also, the cam gears I have are NOT Skunk2 Pro Series, but Skunk2 Tuner series. The only difference is on the Tuner's, one mark on the gear is equal to two degrees on the camshaft. Where Pro's are one mark is equal to one degree on the camshaft. Not a big deal by all means, but still, I hate being lied to. At least now I've identified these issues and can continue the build with a better understanding of what I have to work with.

On the other hand, tomorrow is going to be a pretty nice day. So I intend on getting as far as I can get with painting the front bumper, rear wing, and repainting the driver's side-view mirror where some of the paint came off with the masking tape... operator error...

So hopefully I should have some more pics of the car tomorrow. Keep in touch!

bigsnorlax

And THAT is why i chose to pay for a shop to degree my cam ;D.

But good job, very informative, glad you got it figured out. Staying with the stock flywheel eh? Anything else you have planned? Or just a totaaaal prelude make over?

Wish i had the time and patience to things like that ha

Blue94Accord

damn good work man. I like all the pictures and how you explain everything. I will def be following this thread. Hope everything works out.

97_Built

Thanks man. I always assume that I'm not the only one who wants to learn more about engines.

Prudz_lude

iTrader: (1)

That should be stuck in the archieves, great read.

97_Built

Ty sir.

After checking and double checking the clearances on the engine, I decided to go with a Cometic MLS .062" head gasket. The 32" extra clearance compared to the earlier block will ensure proper space for all the valve and piston movements. However, it also comes with a drop in compression. By using a thorough compression calculator, the new engine build will have an 8.9949:1 compression ratio. So lets just go with 9:1. The head gasket should arrive in about 4-5 days.
I contacted Brian at Skunk2 about the results and he state that the Pro 1 cams will be very hard to run at such a low compression, and if they did run, the stock cams would show higher power numbers instead. He suggested throwing in the stock cams for now and when I put the turbo system in, I'll install the Pro 1 cams then. We're looking at about a week and a half untill the prelude is dusted off and running again. Possibly sooner.

97_Built

Still waiting for the head gasket from Cometic. If I could strangle someone through the phone, then I would have. When I placed the order, they said it would take four days to make the gasket, and one to two days to ship it to my doorstep. They keep telling me that the head gasket is ready, but just waiting to be shipped. They've been telling me that for 4 days now and I'm about to lose it. I swear it, if it doesn't ship by tomorrow, I'll cancel the order and get the gasket through someone else. It doesn't really help that the girl who handles the orders repeatedly tells me that she's going to look into getting it shipped ASAP, and that she'd call me back later that afternoon. She's said that three times now and has never called me back. So, I'm pissed at Cometic.
But anyways, I resumed working on the motor a little more. Two of the oil squirters in the block weren't aligned well enough to shoot oil out to the underside of the piston. One was actually pointed directly at the cylinder wall (bunch of use that would have gotten). So I carefully straightened the two squirters until they pointed straight to the bottom of the pistons and the wrist pins. I know some people recommend removing these for a performance motor, but I like the fact that there's one more thing in the block that helps keep temperatures down where it counts. And I'd like the block to last as long as possible.

I assembled the oil pan studs with lock-tight, cleaned off the oil pan, applied hondabond to the surface area on the oil pan, and installed it to the block. You're probably wondering why I didn't use an oil pan gasket. The reason why is because the standard OEM oil pan has grooves that keep the gasket from sliding out of place. We tried using a gasket on the previous build but it wouldn't stay in place due to the smooth flat surface on the OBX pan. So, the most reliable technique other than using a gasket is applying gasket maker, or hondabond. It's a good idea to let the gasket maker sit for at least 24 hours so it can cure before operation.

sde780

Nice work!

97_Built

Thank you!

Cometic called me today and said the head gasket would finally be shipped. It should arrive in the next day or two. Can't wait!

97_Built

Yup! It finally came in. Cometic MLS 5-layer, 97-up H22 90mm Head gasket.
Looks like I'll be getting up nice and early tomorrow morning to degree the cams, check for valve/piston clearance, and finally start assembling the motor together!

bigsnorlax

Im excited to see this all get done!

97_Built

Ok, made lots of progress today. Hard to believe that this build will be done so soon!

I arrived at the garage early this morning. Started the day out by installing the new head gasket, lubricating the cams and valve train, assembling the engine, and degreeing the cams.





At first, it appeared that even though I changed the thickness on the new head gasket for clearance, the cams needed no further adjustments to keep them at the recommended centerline. I called up Brian at Skunk2 to double check my numbers with the manufacturer's. However, when I degreed the cams, I used a different method than Skunk2 recommends. What I did was adjust the cams until the centerline matched their recommended centerline. Their method is to line up the bottom end to the recommended centerline, then adjust the cams until the peak lift falls onto the centerline. The difference between the two is my centerline was calculated based on the opening and closing time for the valves, as mentioned in my previous post about cam degreeing. This system is used by professional engine builders world-wide. Skunk2 wants the peak lift to be the centerline. Skunk2 manufactures the Pro 1 cams, obviously, so my best course of action was to use their method of cam adjustment in order to match my cam settings to theirs, which are dyno proven to be the most efficient for the Pro 1's. So that's what I did.
For example, on the intake cam, I rotated the crank until the degree wheel read 98 degrees ATDC (After Top Dead Center). This is the recommended setting from Skunk2. Secondly, I loosened the adjustable cam gear on the intake side. I then rotated the cam until the dial indicator read that the cam reached peak lift, .500", then tightened down the cam gear. Next was to rotate the crank again. What's important, is that the cam will hesitate in peak lift for a few degrees. In this case, the cam stayed in peak lift through 6 degrees on the degree wheel. This is called the cam's peak lift "dwelling". The true peak lift is at the middle point of the dwelling. So, the goal is to adjust the cam until the true peak lift is right at 98 degrees ATDC. The same goes for the exhaust side except that the recommended peak lift is at 105 degrees BTDC (Before Top Dead Center).
After I spent a couple more hours degreeing the cams and re-checking my measurements, I had the cams adjusted to Skunk2's recommended settings. At this point, the intake and exhaust cams were advanced 3 degrees. The final settings are only for my specific engine, due to the head and deck mill work.
Now it was time to clay the engine to find the piston to valve clearance. So I removed the head, placed the molding clay in the grooves of #1 piston, and reassembled the head to the block. After setting the timing, I rotated the engine twice to create the marks in the clay from the valves. I then removed the head once again and checked the clay. Fortunately, the exhaust valves cleared the piston enough that there were no marks in the clay. Also, valves didn't even come close to the .060" minimum clearance. There was enough clay in-between the valve and piston that I couldn't even see through the clay in the sunlight.
With these new settings on the cams, I may have more clearance than I had hoped for. However, the lower compression grants me more room to work with in the future, when I install the turbo and aim for the maximum amount of power while staying with 93 octane. Plus, the extra clearance may prove handy in the event of a timing issue or mechanical failure in the head. But hopefully I'll never have to tear this engine apart again.
So, it was time to start assembling the engine together for the last time. Glaser gave me a hand and together we installed the head, timing belt, intake manifold, a few sensors, coolant fittings, lower timing cover and various plugs.


I'll have an early start tomorrow again, and hopefully I'll have pictures of the engine, but inside the prelude . My friend Jeremy is writing up a diagram for me so I can re-pin the wires and plugs for the Type R cluster, and Glaser and I will resume working on the cluster housing fabrication. Stay tuned!

97_Built

Got a ton of work done today.
Started off assembling more parts to the engine. By mid day, the ac bracket, power steering bracket, alternator bracket, throttle body, crank pully, oil filter, dip stick, oil cooler hose, and a couple misc parts were installed and torqued. I took a break and decided to go ahead and cut the section out of the old valve cover to make cam adjustments possible when the engine is assembled. I chose the old valve cover because the one that came with the Endyn head had a decent sized chunk missing from the rear driver side corner. I'm also way too anxious about getting the prelude running again to worry about petty little things like polishing a valve cover. Since I have two valve covers, I'll have more time than I need to work on one while the other is on the running engine. Here's the work I did on the valve cover today.

I started by using a paint pen to mark what line to cut along.


By using an air power and a metal cutting wheel, I roughly cut the material off of the valve cover.


Lastly, I swapped the cutting wheel for a sand paper "flapper" and smoothed out the rough spots and corners. I meant to take an up close picture of the final result but I was concentrating on working fast to get the engine ready for setting into the bay. I'll get a better pic of the valve cover tomorrow. You may be able to see the valve cover enough in the pictures below, if you look closely.

The remainder of the day consisted of assembling the distributor, VTEC solenoid, thermostat, flywheel, clutch plate with pressure plate, transmission, engine harness, valve cover, and several other parts, with the help of Glaser and his nephew Tyler. I also ground down the exhaust manifold gasket to match the exhaust ports on the head. And this is the progress as of now... Oh and don't think that the valve cover is really dirty. It looks faded because I used engine degreaser and brake cleaner to clean out all the old oil mixed with metal shavings from cutting the timing groove. It's actually very very clean, just super dry.



















Tomorrow I'll be hunting down replacement o rings for the coolant tube underneath the intake manifold. I'll also be searching for fuel resistant grommets to form a seal for the DSM RC 550 injectors to the intake manifold. So unless something unexpected arises, we should most definitely have the engine assembled back into the prelude and hopefully running by the end of the day.

timmy0tool

^ looking very good there sir!

jtl0579

Looks Good ,nice work

97_Built

Thank you gents!


Update!

Finished assembling the remaining parts onto the engine. Realized that when I sold the original H22A4 block, I also sold my only Oil Pressure Switch along with it. Looks like I'll be shopping at the salvage yard tomorrow for a replacement. When Glaser arrived, we started working on the last few tasks inside the engine bay. We focused on the areas that would be hard to reach when the engine is installed, and left many areas untouched on the top side to avoid any complications while setting the engine in. I went ahead and replaced the fuel filter, which if you haven't noticed yet, is in the most inconvenient place. Yeah, buried under many parts and underneath the master cylinder. I still don't know why Honda chose to place it down there instead of on the top side of the firewall near the windshield.
We installed the header before placing the engine in because of it's size and also because of the fact of having to knotch the cross member for installation. I'll be marking the area to be knotched tomorrow. On the good side, it appears that I'll have no problem keeping power steering and my precious AC while using this header. When I first researched the RMF replica headers, I noticed many warnings of having to sacrifice both power steering, AC, and the modifications to the cross member. I removed the bolts from the cross member and left it loose so that when the engine went in, I would be able to note where the header makes contact with the cross member.
Setting the engine into the bay went very smoothly and without any complications. So, it was REALLY nice to see the engine installed and bolted down by the end of the day.
Here's the pic of the valve cover job that I promised.

lizard man

i have a quistion is the fuel rail on h22a obd1 the same as on f22 cuzz i swap h22 in my 1991 accord and the fuel rail has the line on the driver side and i need it to be on pasenger side can i swap fuel rail or do i got to get a longer fuel line made to reach

97_Built

There are probably many resources for F22's out there that can help you better than I can, but I'll help you as much as I can. The fuel line for the H22 is on the driver side. Judging from a few pics I've looked up, and the sketches on hondapartsunlimited.com, the fuel rail is on the driver side for the F22 as well. I'm not totally sure, but that's based the info I gathered so far. I'd search for a helms manual to check for sure.