ok i have a 90 DA auto teg. i am currently buying parts to 5 spd swap it. anyways i have a PR-3 ecu and a p72-1 head that i want to put on it. my question is what kind of pistons and other things should i do to my block and head? i want it to be n/a at least for now, and i dont really want to have to run race gas all the time. any helpful suggestions are wanted. also i do not want a **** load of money in it maybe 2k or so not wanting it to be super fast just reliable and quick

 

thers no such thing as a cheap reliable LS/vtec. Ur going to need the a gertle for the bottom end, the ls crank is going to need to be balanced (its not ment to spin to 8100rpm), better rods (pr3), and if its a 90 im guessing high milage youd proly just be better off rebuilding the bottom end (new berings, new rods, new rings, crank balanced for 8200rpm and your cylinders honed, deck milled). Now golden eagle makes a ls/vtec kit with your sandwhich plate, oil lines, tap for the head, gasket, and i think head studs. Thats proly your best bet. THen your going to have to do some wiring for your vtec head.

A ls/vtec is one of the hardest motors to make reliable. it takes know how and money to build one that runs reliably.

 

well i have the head im getting the studs and buying the GE ls-v kit after i 5spd swap it. and i have some buddies that are going to do the work for cheap i just wanted other opinions. and im getting a set of itr pistons and ls rods. how much does that balance cost? do i still need the gertle if i buy the ls-v kit? sry im not a mechanic but my buddies are

 

umm proly not more than $200 i cant imagin it costing to much. Yes i do not believe the gertle comes with the ls/vtec kits. ls rods are strong but id put my trust better in something after market that has some more beef. Just remember if you plan on throwing out some numbers with this engine its better to spend more money building a good strong base cause when u boost this motor the last thing you want to happen is blowing a rod or worse destroying you whole engine. Most ls/vtec builds fail cause they get ahead of themselves and skimp to get it done. Next to blowing head gaskets is bending or breaking a rod as the most common problems. That means you gotta make sure you have a strong motor. if that block has a bunch of miles on it id suggest a new one or having a machien shop check it over. DOnt take this part personaly but your about to drop alot of money into a car thats going on 20 years old i hope that da body isnt a rust bucket. With the amount of money your droping your could easily buy a mid 90s gsr. Just think about that, but in the end its your money its your project if its wat u want good for you i hpe everything goes smooth.

 

no rust and only 180k what rods would you recommend ill post up some pics of it

 

its really clean no rips in the seats but the interior is blue its my first honda and i wanna keep it nice but i want it to be 5 spd and have some more power

 

your a cool dude..great feedback and great info...

 

dang thats one of the nicest 90 da's ive seen. If you plan on boost, a nice set of eagle rods would do the trick. If you lan on putting a larger cam it at anypoint replacing the stock pistons would be a good idea too ls piston dont have much valve clearances. Heres a list of the pistons you can use and wat compression they will give you (b18a-b block rods and b16a head)
9.6:1 - P74 LS Pistons
10.0:1 - P72 GSR Pistons
10.8:1 - P73 US ITR Pistons
11.0:1 - P73 JDM ITR Pistons
11.5:1 - PR3 Pistons
11.7:1 - P30 Pistons
12.4:1 - CTR Pistons
also dont forget to replace the waterpump the b16 waterpumps are superior to your b18a pump so swap it out. when you do this you will need the timing blet that matches the water pump (ie b16a waterpump=b16a belt). ohh and regarding the Crank Girdle, if you use one you MUST install dowel pins and align hone the main journals.

 

after the motor slam it on some 99-00 civic si wheels

 

thanks, and i have a GSR head(if that matters) i want to keep it n/a and not have to use race gas, and i found a guy with itr pistons but what rods would do good. o also know a guy with some h beam rods dont know the brand right off hand but he wants 200 4 them.like i said i am no mechanic but my buddies are. im buying all the parts they are doing the work, and i will help. and i was going to go with the 22 tooth water pump, and oil pump

i am getting some 2008 hond fit rims after winter from my mom for free ill prolly rock those or some blades

 

First off you can NOT use a b16 timing belt.... You would have to use a B18C belt if you are using a vtec water pump. Second You can Not use pr3 rods... You have to use a ls specific rod. Factory is a PR4. An ls rod is 137mm long or 5.39 inches. The weak point on the ls rods are the bolts. They are the same diameter as a D series rod. Read this it is the bible to building a reliable lsvtec. https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1676914
If you have any questions after reading it I will do my best to help you. I cant tell you how many times I read that article while I was building my Lsv...

 

thanks dude

 

No problem man. I just want you to be correctly informed and not have to find things out the hard way.

 

well ive already posted a thing there i read it all over how much hp do u think i can get with the itr pistons and upgraded intake mani/ tb in the future maybe cams?and what rods did u use?

 

and thank you for that i no i have to us ls pistons but what brand is good?

 

You can use the factory rods if you have them shot peened and have the bolts replaced with arp and resize them. There is a lil machining required that any machine shop is capable of. Alot of people use the Eagle H beams. In my build I used probe industries flat tops part # 11375 and matching H beam rods. I didnt want that high of compression either figured who knows might want to go FI one day. I also used blox type a cams. They are just a lil more aggressive than the ITRs and I am happy with them for now. As for power I have no clue it hasnt been on the rollers. You should check out the all motor forum they have about 12 pages of graphs and alot of them are builds like you are wanting to do.

 

ya id have to go to kansas city for that there is no machine shops down here

 

so is there any reccomendations on any specific rods? any for sale??

 

another cool dude...

 

what about things i should do to the head? its fresh from the machine shop and clean as hell and i havent put much thought into how in depth i should go with the build. i might be getting laid off soon so it might have to wait a little while which is ok i guess since ill need to work out all the bugs from the a/t-m/t swap firt anyways

 

It really all comes down to how much you want to spend. At the very least I would replace the valve seals. What all did the machine shop do to it?

 

replaced everything with stock internals

 

Click my link if you are interested in buying a assembled bottom end. Mine is ready to go.

 

ah ive got a good bottom end that i can rebuild for cheaper than that but thxx ne ways

 

ok i have all of the parts not and i am converting it to black interior i have everything but a couple plastics, front seats dash and door panels but i can get them easy enough. i will post pics of what it looks like now and as soon as my buddie brings the cherry picker i will have the motor out and take pics of the whole rebuild. went with the gsr head stock rods b17 pistons arp rod bolts and alot more misc. stuff also upgraded to a ys1 gsr1-2 b16 3-4 and a gsr 5th. all in all w/o labor i have 2600+ in it now so i went over budget but at least i have everything