hey guys, i've got a good friend of mine that said he will install cams, upgraded valvetrain, pistons and rods in my car for basically next to nothing. I've decided on the skunk2 stage 2 cams and portflow valvetrain and was wondering if I should get some ITR (or CTR, i dont know the difference between the two parts) pistons and rods or if I should go with something else. I do not want to get my engine bored or anything like that, I'd like to stay within stock specs as far as piston size goes. I'm trying to keep costs down as much as possible. Anyone have some advice? I mean, free installation of pistons, rods, cams, etc..I have to take him up on this opportunity but I dont know what to get. I'm wanting to stay all motor at this point.

97 GSR
I/H/E

 

I too would like some info on these. I am planning to go for the Skunk2 stage 2 cams. I heard that you will compromise some of the emissions and idling characteristics. Is this true? Will the car be really edgy at the stop light/sign? If this is an issue shall I go for the Stage 1s? If so, what's the difference in power?

Which pistons you guys recommned that will not require machining, but give good power over stock?


[Modified by subliminizm, 5:47 PM 6/12/2002]

 

Come on, I know a lot of you guys are using the the Skunk2s

What do you think about the stage 2s, will they make the car edgy and loud at idle? If so, how much power will I lose going with the Stage1s?

What pistons and rods, are best?

Also, if I go with the Hondata, do I have to do the Obd1 conversion? If so, are other ECU's which I will nott need to do the conversion?

 

First of all is your friend very familiar with honda motors because i would becareful. One thing how many miles are on the block, but regardless off how many miles are on it you still need to get the block sent to a shop and get it honed and once its honed you might need to get overbore pistons for it. You need to hone it get get all the imperfections off the cylinder walls, if you don't do it it wpn't be as nice as it could be. also ctr pistons put in the block would give some high compression. And if this is daily driven I woulnd't recomend it, I know there are alot of people out there that runs high compression and has no problem but my opinion I wouldn't go higher then 11.1 and the ctr will give you higher then that. Also for the price of CTR or ITR pistons you can spend like another 100 bucks and get some je or arias forged pistons, or what ever. And get better rings then the oem rings like total seal. ALso the skunk 2 cams are very good I have a friend with them and he felt a noticable difference, also the stage 2 cams will not have a rough idle or any kind of emission problems. other then that i hope this helps if there any more question let me know lates.

 

Thanks man, good info!

 

CTR pistons, depending on the head used, will yield anywhere from 12.0:1 to 12.3:1
ITR pistons will go from 10.8:1 to 11.0:1

When you swap pistons, you need an align hone on the block. It won't change you bore enough to necessitate larger bore pistons (unless your cylinder walls are f*&%d, then you need an over bore...**Honda makes stock .25 overbore pistons+rings) As far as the total seal rings... get opinions from people that actually use them... Honda rings are great.

Make for **** sure that your friend knows what he is doing... especially Honda motors and higher comp pistons. How does he plan to get the valve piston clearances ? Does he know how to CC the head to get an actual compression number ? You plan to upgrade cams, which means they have longer duration and lift. If your friend does not know what he is doing with high compression pistons and higher lift cams, he could assemble the motor and get valve/piston clearance issues **Think of having to get all new pistons AND valves. Eeek...

Just some things to be aware of... many people think they know what they are doing, but when it comes to internals... that's a different story.

HTH
X2

 

Thanks guys for all the great input!

My buddy is a mechanic at a Honda dealership...he reassured me it's np for him to do it.

So I would still have to get my engine honed if I just went with the ITR pistons? I'm trying to have as little downtime as possible since I drive this car to work and I figured taking the motor completely out and sending it somewhere to have something like that done to it would take a lot longer and really increase costs.


[Modified by KC GSR, 7:51 PM 6/12/2002]

 

I am doing an LS/VTEC swap for my integra and i was going to put skunk2 cams and high compression pistons for it. I was told that you would not be able to use your stock Rods. They are too weak for the high compression. And if you get ITR rods, they wont fit to your crankshaft. So what i was told is was to either get B16a pistons and get some LS rods that are strong enough to hold your high compression pistons

 

will the ITR rods fit to the crankshaft in a gsr motor?