That's right.

My father's 'budget' LSVTEC engine decided to spin a rod bearing about a month ago. Fortunately, there wasn't much money spent on that project, so the loss wasn't so great.

Before she let go, the little 1836cc engine powered the CR-X to a 12.75 @ 107mph pass at Cecil County Dragway in late March, and produced 183whp and 130wtq on its last tune after the track day.

For those unfamiliar with the previous setup, here's a link:

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1763358

Anyway, we have come up with a few possible explanations at to why the last one let go.

1.) No balancing done to the rotating assembly
2.) UR un-dampened crank pulley

And finally...

3.) 16-year-old B16 oil pump

Either way you look at it, we did not spend alot of money on the 1.8 liter.

So, two days after the rod bearing decided to start singing, we found a B20B shortblock for sale in New Jersey for $300 from a Honda-Tech member. We made a night out of it, mostly because we were traveling through Philadelphia during evening rush hour traffic. It took us longer to get THROUGH the city of Philadelphia than it took us to travel from Carlisle to Valley Forge.

When we got back, the block was disassembled, and a phone call was made to RS Machines.

85mm RS Machines ITR-style pistons were ordered, as well as a set of ACL Bearings, and an 85mm headgasket.

As soon as those items arrived a week later, the block, crank, rods, pistons, and rod bolts headed to the machine shop.

The crank was micropolished, and rotating assembly balanced. The 85mm pistons were then pressed onto the stock PR4 rods, and this time we had the machine shop resize and press the rod bolts in. Previously, we had just pinched the rods in a bench vise and pounded them in ourselves. (BUDGET!)

About a week or so ago, the block was picked up, and assembly began. This time, the clearances spec'd out almost perfectly to the middle of factory-new specs.

A new oil pump and water pump were installed this time around, as well as new gaskets/seals all around.

The head remains the same from the old setup, with our mild 'port and polish' and the Underground Racing valvetrain/S2-3 camshafts.

Now, onto the photos.




Chamfered crank this time.



85mm RS Machines pistons on PR4 rods with ARP rod bolts.












All done!


The new engine currently has 34 miles on it, and runs very strong so far. If the break-in is any indication of how the new setup will perform, the new goal of low 12-second E.T.'s and trap speeds of 110-111mph seem to be on the horizon.

Dyno numbers to come shortly, but who cares about those.

- Derek

 

thats not a mustang in the background is it??

The build looks nice, I'm in for dyno numbers

 

In the one picture, yes.

It was a customer's car. We are a stereo shop, so other cars besides Honda's come in.


...We just like Honda's better.

- Derek

 

Nice comeback.

 

looks great, glad you guys were able to get it back together so fast

 

You guys work quick!

Good luck on the new motor.

 

Did you take the block to a local machine shop? If so, who did you use?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jmm96gsr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Did you take the block to a local machine shop? If so, who did you use?</TD></TR></TABLE>

UCF Machine Shop, in Carlisle.

- Derek

 

i cant wait to see the number

 

Everything about that car is clean! Nice Job and great attention to detail

 

Are you worried at all about the stock sleeves at 85mm?

 

Derek, looks awesome

Maybe if I can keep one of my 3 cars running and get 5 seconds of my life free, I'll get to see it

 

another well done b20vtec build

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by D-Rob &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

UCF Machine Shop, in Carlisle.

- Derek</TD></TR></TABLE>nice, It's good to see you guys were able to have someone local do the machine work on the block.

 

I bet the rods not being resized had something to do with the failure. But the new motor build up looks great. 2.0 is the way to go. Looking forward to seeing some track results!

 

head? cams? etc.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by D-Rob &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Dyno numbers to come shortly, but who cares about those.

- Derek</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

no timing covers at all???

looks very clean though.. post up numbers when done

 

Looks real clean. Hope you hit your HP/ET marks

Pirate

 

Thanks, everyone.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by kpowerdhatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Are you worried at all about the stock sleeves at 85mm?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Not really.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Runnerdown &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I bet the rods not being resized had something to do with the failure. But the new motor build up looks great. 2.0 is the way to go. Looking forward to seeing some track results!</TD></TR></TABLE>

What's strange is, my personal engine never had the rods resized either when we pressed the bolts in, and has been running for 20,000 miles. Who knows.

And yes, 2.0 is the way to go. I'm searching as we speak for another B20 block to do the same bottom-end setup as this for my coupe.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by junkyard racer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">head? cams? etc. </TD></TR></TABLE>

As mentioned in the link at the beginning of this thread, the head is a '90 B16 PR3 head that has had the casting flaws removed by us, and fitted with Underground Racing flat-face valves, valvesprings, retainers, and UGR Spec S2-3's, which are Skunk2 Stage 3 duplicates.

Thanks for the feedback, guys.

- Derek

 

hrm...maybe i should try a b20 block.. :-\

 

I've seen the build in person. Tell Bill, he is doing a excellent job. I'm looking forward to the results.

 

what was the bore before and was the block sleeved when you bought it?

 

The bore was stock, 84mm when we purchased it.

This is a stock-sleeve block.

- Derek

 

Cool,

You just had a fresh hone, and bored to 85?

Good look on it bro. I'm looking at do the same with my shop DC2. I think we will use the S2 pro 2 or 3 since I've got a PRO Stage JE GSR head already on it.

What tranny are you using?
What Piston rings are you using?


Modified by fastlifemotorsports at 11:16 PM 7/14/2007