blufke

im curious as to the difficulty of replacing pistons and rods in my b18b while its in the car. how hard is it? what else should be replaced in the process? i cant afford the downtime of dropping the motor. is honing the cylinders required? my engine has 100k on it and im going to be boosting fairly soon. just looking out for the bad things that may come. any other ideas/info/help is very appreciated.

blufke

anyone?

blufke

someone wants to help me out.

93LSivic

I would suggest that you take it out and do it right. You will probably want to bore the motor, especially with that kinda mileage.....the cylinders are more than like not perfectly round anymore so honing will just condition a warped cylinder wall.

ekb18c

Yes, you can remove the piston and rods while the block is still attached to the car. However, it would be easier if you removed the whole motor . And yes you should hone the walls. You want some good cross patterns on the walls.

Other things you should change are:

bearings! change your rod and main bearings.
Change oil pan gasket.

oh I'm also assuming that you are changing the rings too.

It can be done, and it's not hard at all. I just finished taking off my pistons and rods today while the block is still in the car.

B18EG6

I am doing this quite soon as well I think...Where are the bearings and what kind should you replace them with? I know other people are asking as well SO i might as well ask

speedworks

if you do not know where the bearings are you better not touch it and take it to someone that does.

V-SPEC 1

With 100k miles on it, if I we're you, I'll do a complete rebuild and not a half *** job.

ion_four

Actually, I don't think you want cross-hatch on modern honda motors...that's a holdover from older american motors that have poor quality control. Anyone else?

B18EG6

I was more inquiring about what brand you would reccommend...

ekb18c

When you hone a block with the "bead looking" tool, a cross pattern will be made regardless. Forgive me for the little word, my brain is melting right now.

IntegD

Yeah, every honda or block I've seen back from the machine shop has cross hatch patterns.

Main bearings allow the crank to spin in the block. The lower half of the bearing sits in the block, then the crank sits on top of the them. The upper half of the bearing goes on the main cap, which bolts the crank to the block. Rod bearings just go inside the rod(the big hole, one bearing on top half, one bearing on bottom) and allow the rods to spin on the crank(well not really, but its hard to explain)

Anyhow, with that mileage, boring/honing, new bearings, new waterpump, maybe oil pump and all new gaskets. If you do rebuild it, just make sure you take your time, always have the helms handy, and have the appropriate tools. Also make sure you have a good torque wrench.

ekb18c

Stock!

PSI-spec

ACL or OEM HONDA bearings are a good choice, I like ACL betterand Earl sells them for 110$ or 115$ shipped

IntegD

Not to mention it seems like every other week honda is on a national shortage on bearings. Thats why I chose the ACL's...

Flamenco-T

ACl is most likely to fit the green, yellow and brown color...
basically the middle colors in the bearing chart...

find out what bearing color you need first....look at the helms to know how...

then decide....if you have black or pink, you'll less likely will be able to use ACl

stan

blufke

i was thinking of just going with stock pistons/rods, arp rod bolts, and can you change main bearings with the motor in the car? i know rod bearings can but can the mains be done?

any recommended headwork for the mileage too? that i can do.

ls pistons/rods $60
rings $50-60
bearings $dunno
arp rod bolts $dunno

waterpump and timing belt were done when i dropped it in about 7k ago.

blkDOHCsol

http://www.helminc.com <------will be your new best friend..
acl bearings are the shizzy
id get a new water/oil pump if you havent changed them..

CHEETAH

iTrader: (2)

I've done it many times, with 100k motor, you should hone, use the honing tool found at your local autoparts store if you want, but dont go crazy on it, idela procedure before honig is to have the new rings reap and check the gap to see how much wear on cylinder bore, if you have lots to go before the helms limit then you hone enough with he crosshatch pattern as helms recommends.

as for balancing, not necessary for the 4 bangr motors, these things are very accurate from the factory.

while you're at it, press on some PR3 or P30 pistons on your b18b rods, this will raise your compression nicely for the street. Change out the rod bearings too.

OH this is IMPORTANT: say you go ahead and do it wiht block in the car, it is a MUST that you prime oil before startup since you're not touching your main bearings there will be next to no lubrication on the main journals, so be sure to prime, very important.

good luck,
greg