Hi guys,

So a little over a year ago I bought a B20B that had a fully balanced rotating assembly and freshly honed with some Crower forged Rods and Weisco high compression pistons 12.5:1 for a steal, I picked it up because I had a B16A head that was sitting in storage, anyways I was originally planning to do a E85 N20 buld on it. Then of course I Crashed the Chassis that was going to take the motor and was basically going to give up on it all until I found a great price on a 96 hatch shell(paid less for it then the block lol 700 vs 900) Anyways with the Cams I have(Crower 63402-2) and what I was planning for the build I was hoping for around 210-220whp NA then more with a 100 wet shot....so a pretty fun setup, this car will be purely a weekend warrior deal. But after much consideration of just how much I will end up spending on the setup I would want I realized I would be hovering around $24/hp if I even make my goal.....or worse if not lol, with a meager goal of 385 whp on a turbo setup it comes in right around $15/hp for the setup I've planned out which for me sounds like a win especially for my location, Colorado with a average altitude of 6000Ft above sea level. Ultimately The Money difference from where I'm at vs what I need to complete the NA VS going with the Turbo is only about $1800


Whats set in stone:
B20B -.002 decking bored/honed to 84.5mm
Balanced rotating assembly
ARP Mains & Head studs
Crower forged rods
B16A Head -.003 resurface
Crower 63402-2 cams
BC cam gears
Ferrea 6000 series valves + .5mm
3 angle VJ
SK2 Pro intake Mani
AEM Fuel Rail +FPR
800CC injectors
CC stage 4 clutch
Fidanza 7lb flywheel(will likely switch back to stock)
Walbro 255 LPH FP

What is planned
E85 Fuel
Supertech 9.5:1 pistons would replace the weisco's
LoveFab ramhorn Manifold
Tial 44mm MVR
Vibrant 500hp IC
STC Hunter....Maybe the STC Predator...although that's probably more Turbo then I'll need.
S300 V3+ E85 Flex sensor+wideband+boost..blah blah blah
3" DP...brand will be dependent on exactly what turbo I go with

Obviously there are many other bits that I didn't include here that I have accounted for but this is just the main stuff that comes to mind.
This Car will be purely a weekend/Racer stripped out and generally as light as I can get it. Just curious if anyone sees any flaws that I may be missing or not thinking of? And yes I know the "weak" B20 cylinder walls that have been bored out are likely the weakest link but it's what I have, I haven't committed to the switch just yet since I'm still in a studying phase for exactly what I can expect but basically like this idea.

 

Everything seems fine except youll come short with 800cc injectors and the B20 sleeves is always a crapshoot

 

Yeah I'm kinda stuck with those atm but am working on a solution that doesn't involve getting screwed for the $320 I already paid for them since they are bnib

 

Sell them them and purchase new ones if theyre bnib, as far as b20 vtec turbo ive seen some good and bad. Friend of mine always blew his bottom end and had to keep replacing it. I mean if it blows you could also just go ls/vtec

 

Have you considered Cylinder Support System? This might give you a bit more peace of mind

 

B20 failures from what I've seen are generally inner wall to wall failure not outer walls so a CSS isn't giving me much peace of mind, in part the known reason for the failures is why I'm choosing to do E85 so it'll run a bit cooler.
It's funny you mention LSV since I do Have a spare B18C bottom end that suffered from what I can only surmise as detonation since 2 of the rods literally turned into C shape. That block did suffer some grooving from those bent rods so it would definitely need to be bored and honed if it's salvageable....or possibly a prime candidate for some mid sleeves
Here's that post: https://honda-tech.com/tech-misc-15/mystery-b-motor-i-bought-%2450-lots-pics-3229200/

 

Nothing eagle rods and arp rod bolts wont fix I would do ls/v but I'm already knee deep into my type r build with a gsr head with high compression so if that blows ill definitely pick up an ls block

 

The e85 will help with cylinder temps, and in theory should give you some, perhaps a good amount of headroom until the cylinders are compromised.

 

Yeah at this time that B18 will be a contingency to eventually look into unless I find something in better condition to use later on when I just have to go for some ridiculous amount of power.

E85 with Solid tuning and just the right amount of fail-safe's should keep it running for a while..there's plenty of people out there who have successful B20 builds that are more aggressively setup then what ill be so it cant be all bad...or maybe ill be the guy who's motor blows on the first dyno run and grenade the head lol.

 

ughh every time I read something or see something that happens to someone it always happens to me. Take that back that your car will blow on a dyno lol but in all honesty I think you should be fine, just make sure you find a good tuner and talk to them to see what they think. I'm doing e85 in my hatch only bad part is the closest e85 station is an hour away so I have to stock up on fuel containers

 

Yeah I hope my run of bad honda luck is done for a little while lol, for me and my area theirs 6-7 e85 stations around town so always just a few miles away.

 

Damn lol what state do you live in? PA doesn't have anything like that maybe 8 stations throughout the whole state