It helps to keep up with other users builds, understand why they worked and why they didn't work. Thats the only way we all learn, trial and error, then the next engine you build has less issues because you've avoided certain techniques, products, or short cuts

 

Yep. That being said, I have a build thread in which I have gone to painstaking details of documenting, specifically the complete engine building process.

 

Op If you dont plan on building many motors have a good builder like laskey racing do it and have a good tuner in your area tune it.

That alone will make your motor last very long as long as no other variables happen like boost spikes or a faulty wastegate, crap gas, oil etc


For a person like me who loves doing this ill slap a motor together just to try and blow it up the next day just to have a reason to build another one. I have 6 blocks in the garage all on stand by


The tools arent cheap so like i said if you just wana have fun for a while have a pro build it and a pro tune it then go from there

 

Laskey builds my block . I have most of the tools but wouldn't trust myself building my race motor yet. How ever I do have a h22 motor I'm building.

 

I've built a few. It's something I really enjoy and wish I had more money to do more of it. When I built my first one I had no experience with it but I figured it out after a lot of research and a service manual.

When I built my forged motor I had a machine shop bore/hone/hot tank/deck the block, as well as check the PTW and micropolish the crank. After that all I had to do was figure out bearing clearances and put it together.

It's good to be meticulous and patient with this sort of thing. Getting the clearances right, taking your time and properly torquing everything is pretty much all there is to it. Honda motors are easy.

 

i build my own and a few for friends over the years, probably 12-15 of them since '03.

honda motors really are pretty easy and straight forward. be careful filing the rings, often times the 2nd ring files faster than the top, and as annoying as it is go bit by bit and keep rechecking. i was working on my lsvtec a few weeks ago beat *** tired late at night and i filed a ring a bit more than i wanted. not a big deal still in spec but it can happen.

best money i ever spent engine assembly related was a fixed diameter ring compressor. i think i got the wiseco ones they were like 40-50 dollars each and make it 1000 times easier.

hatchy - i hear you with too many motors, i currently have 4 that are all ready to go to be assembled but im currently busy with this b20z i picked up from the importer that is immaculate. its like mr potato head for cars: im gonna put this head on this block and use those tranny gears lol

 

This is exactly what i was hoping for with this thread. Lots of great information and advice in here. Have to admit, I'm a little surprised at the number of people that assemble their own engines. I always assumed everyone sent then them to GE and Laskey etc.

It's great to know there's so many guys on here with this kind of experience. I'm looking forward to hearing what others have to say as well.

 

^^ doing the work is a large portion of the fun/enjoyment for me.

Paying someone else to work on my car would be the equivalent to most people paying someone to go on vacation for them lol.

 

I couldn't agree more.

 

Just read your whole thread. Great stuff.

 

I build my engine in the house when my wife was out of town ;-)

After having multiple bad experiences with multiple shops doing bad work for me tuning and building engines I decided to learn how to do my own tuning and engine building. I have wasted literally thousands of dallors trusting other people to do work for me. At this point I trust no one and double check everything myself. The only thing I leave to someone else is certain machine work that i can't do because of the tools required like boring sleeves or decking a block/head.

 

<---- this guy.

Machine shop did the bore/hone on the block and head work.

 

I cant tell you how many shops have let me down. I just dont trust anyone anymore, not even parts counters. They cant service my car right and they cant even get parts orders correct either.

Latest example: Needed a tire patched and rotation, so I went to a known tire shop in the area, well-respected and extremely good reviews from all. There was even a brand new Bentley in there getting its 10k wheel/tire setup serviced. I thought they must be decent...

I go and have them pull the wheels to find three of the four had nails (the fourth did too, they missed it). So as they start working I told them I wanted to rotate the two fronts because my car has a staggered tire setup. The guy says sure and starts putting the tire from one side onto the other.

First mistake: I go and look just because I am paranoid like that and sure enough he was putting on a directional tire backwards. I mentioned it to him and it took a couple minutes for him to even realize he was doing something wrong. Finally he grasped what I was saying and took it off

Second mistake: They start putting the rest of the tires back on the wheels after patching and he scratches the crap out of one of them during mounting. Through the paint, the factory finish, and into the metal.

By now I am fuming, but the owner was nice and apologized and offered to take care of the finish at my convenience and do all this work for free. I calmed down and let them finish..

Third mistake: Finally they patched three tires, and rotated the front two and I left. Right away I noticed the car pulling hard to the left. Two days later, the only tire they didnt patch starts leaking, so when I go to fill it with air to get me to a shop to patch it, I see they mixed up one of my front and rear tires. SO I had one wide and one narrow tire in the front, and same in back...

I went back right when I saw this and bitched out the owner for being retarded. He was nice enough and apologetic and fixed the problem, had to dismount the tires and remount them the other way around as they would have been the wrong direction if put in the correct place.

Fourth mistake: I left the shop the second time and head to work. Notice heavy vibration around 60MPH and remember that I never saw them balance any of the tires after remounting. Needless to say I am never going back..

How inept can a tire shop be....

 

Im too broke to have a shop build **** for me haha.

Spent the money on lots of quality parts, all oem pumps and bearings. Various bolts etc. Then just followed the fsm during assembly, using the instructions that came with my srp pistons and eagle rods.

Checked a dozen times to ensure everything was perfect, assembled once.

Over 6k miles later and i only had two issues. I didnt torque a spark plug tight enough and it came loose. And my oil pan leaks cause I didnt use an oem gasket or any sealant.

I fixed the leaky oil pan by hitting a nasty transition into a bridge and ripping the drain bolt flange half way off the pan.

Got to see inside the bores from under the engine while I was putting in a new pan. Engine still looks like ot has zero miles on it hahah.

The other reason why I built my own engine, and went all out on it, was because I blew up TWO engines in about a year.

The engine that was in the car when I bought it developed rod knock after 1 month. The next engine was supposedly rebuilt with 1200 miles. Blew up a year later due to rod knock. #1 rod bearing was a bit too tight so it ate it as far as I could tell.

I said **** that **** I wamt an engine thatll last and handle boost and spent an entire year planning out my build and reading dozens of engine building guides for hondas and ither engines in general


Too much money is a bad thing. It makes people lazy imo. I have no money but plenty of time to learn. So when I finally have money I can do **** myself and save some bucks for better parts

 

Quality tools like mics, bore gauge , dial indicator and magnetic base, piston ring compressors torque wrench , rod bolt stretch gauge and even a dial caliper are all worth their weight in gold when dealing with performance engines.

A trusted machinist is also key to successful engine builds. Can't tell you how many machinists I've met that weren't worth a damn. I mean sure they can surface a flywheel but cutting a crank was another deal entirely.

Also get to.know the tuner at the end of it all. Don't trust a tooner and expect all that hard work to pay off.

 

I watched a kid take 1.5 hrs to mount and balance one tire for me at Poop Boys on a Sat.,~7p.m. when everyone was closed.
And he put weights across from each other on same side of tire.
Yes, it shook.

 

I've seen worse. Tire shop I used to work in (sales, not tech work), we had a guy who forgot to put the oil plug back in when doing an oil change. Had to replace the customer's engine, on a 4 year old Mercedes. Then he forgot to put the oil cap back on another car. Thankfully we only had to pay for a professional engine bay cleaning that time. Third strike was when we had a Corvette (offset wheels/tires, bigger in the rear), and he managed to swap the front and rear wheels. Customer came back in after getting his keys, asking why his car was sitting funny. Lo and behold, it had a comically FUCKED UP rake that anyone with a half-working eyeball could tell was wrong, because the wheels were swapped. He was told to leave after that one.

Moral of the story, ladies and gents: Never trust another ****** with your car, when it's something you're perfectly capable of doing yourself.

 

i tell you what, as i keep getting older and lazier id much rather just build engines than have to actually work on a car rolling around on the cold concrete underneath. not a fan anymore

 

LMAO!!!!

 

I don't trust anyone else but myself to build my engines.