I just got off the phone with the machine shop I dropped my b18a1 block off at. I had previously broken a main stud off in the block while checking my bearing clearances, so I took it down and picked up a set of ARP main studs just as a replacement. Well, they're telling me now that they can't do the line hone on the mains, something about their machine broke. I really need to just get this motor together asap, as the current car I'm driving has a very bad transmission problem right now. I know how you're "supposed" to do things in this case, but just for using the arp studs like a replacement would it be ok just to torque them a hair over stock torque specs and not even bother with the line hone? I found another machine shop that said they could do it no problem, but I'm looking at a 2 week wait because they're so backed up...and my daily driver isn't going to last that long.

 

Do you want us to tell you what you should do, or what you want to hear?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Combustion Contraption &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Do you want us to tell you what you should do, or what you want to hear?</TD></TR></TABLE>

+1, wait it out man...drive the dd into the ground if you have to, never skimp on the machine work

 

Get a new of set of HOnda main bolts and be done with it. The ARP main studs can "tweak" the bearing bores a bit if they aren't honed to the greater torque spec of the studs. People have run huge power on stock main bolts so if you are in a rush that is what I would do--and you will probably never notice the difference in power or longevity.

 

I just got off the phone with a machinist who says he's done quite a few honda blocks over the past few years. He said I have 1 of 2 options...Take it to ARP's spec and warp the main journals out and have them resized, or tighten them to Honda's specs and leave it alone. He said he personally takes them just to Honda's specs and leaves them and hasn't had any problems yet. It sounds a little weird, but I'm going to dig around a little and call ARP tomorrow.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Combustion Contraption &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Do you want us to tell you what you should do, or what you want to hear?</TD></TR></TABLE>
I don't care either way lol...I already know according to traditional standards what should be done, that's a no-brainer. I was just interested in knowing if it would cause any issues to just take them to Honda's spec instead. This isn't a race motor, and it's not being boosted. It's just a low-budget ls/vtec build to throw in my car for the time, and the only reason I bought ARP studs was because I already broke a main bolt off in the block and had to have it removed. I figured at least with the studs I don't have to worry about breaking them in the block, so basicly I'm just using them as a replacement for the oem bolts.


Modified by 89EF_Turbo at 8:31 AM 5/25/2007

 

I tighten all mine to Honda specs, Earl told me to do this and it seems to work