I installed a 92mm Crower crank in my GSR sleeved block. I assembled the shortblock in the engine bay and then bolted up my ACT flywheel, new ACT clutch, new ACT pressure plate, and then bolted up the gearbox. After I bolted up the box (without the head bolted on), I tried to turn the engine by the crank bolt and it turned about 180 degrees and then jammed! I tried to turn it clockwise and it jammed in the opposite direction also. I bolted down the gearbox and noticed that the edge of the pressure plate was imprinting on part of the inner gearbox housing. I used a grinder and ground down the part in the housing. I bolted the box back up and it spun freely, and then I put up the starting motor and tried to turn the engine again and it jammed once more. I pulled the starting motor out again to see that the rivets on the pressure plate were hitting the motor. I ground down the part of the starting motor and reinstalled it and the motor spun freely. My question is if the crank affected how far out the pressure plate sat in the gearbox housing?
And if so, can this cause a problem in where the starting motor is making contact with the flywheel?

 

call crower!

 

That doesn't sound reassuring :/

 

the pressure plate bolts to the flywheel,which bolts to the crank. so yes i can affect how far it could set in the tranny.
i would first try and measure the length of the journal that the flywheel bolts to to see if its the same as a factory crank,since the motors together and you cant meaure the length of the crank

 

sounds to me like more of a pressure plate problem . i've installed a few clutches that did that. maybe a spec stage 4 or 5, what kind of clutch/pressure plate do you have?

 

ACT clutch, pressure plate, and flywheel.

 

did u check.. for the crank being straight?

atleast a dial indicator over one of the mains (with caps off) and turning them...

but then again thats hard if the block is in the car

 

Did you remember to put the thrust washers in??

PWL

 

Wonder if your flywheel holes are off center. Im thinking that because if you were able to turn it and then it stopped and then you turned it the other way and it did it again. I would turn it over by hand and have a friend watch the flywheel and see if it appears to be staying on center.

 

If you checked your crankshaft endplay, and that was within spec, the problem is elsewhere.

 

I suspect your flywheel bolts are too long and the flywheel isn't being pulled up far enough on the crank hub.
Remove the flywheel, turn the bolts into the holes on the crank, measure length of exposed thread on each one. Measure the thickness of the flywheel hub, and if the length of the bolt threads exceeds the flywheel thickness, shorten the bolts accordingly, or buy the correct length bolts from the Honda dealer, Some flywheels require the use of automatic transmission flywheel bolts. At any rate, you need to have less exposed thread than flywheel thickness for proper clamping.
When you build any engine, and especially when you're using aftermarket parts, you have to measure everything. All in all, yours is simply a rookie mistake and it's good you caught it. "Assuming" or taking anything for granted is a recipe for disaster.
LW

 

If you are using ARP flywheel bolts they are about four threads longer than stock and if you have installed them a couple of times the threads wear down and the bolts will actually bottom out on the crank. This happened to me and it tore up my flywheel and pressure plate in about 1 minute. We started it up and it knocked and sheared the rivots on the pressure plate and the holes on the flywheel where oval shaped. I got a new pressure plate and flywheel and used OEM honda flywheel bolts and problem was solved

 

Werd up.

 

I am using OEM flywheel bolts. I will be checking the bolts to see if they are too long for the Crower crank.

 

I just compared the depth of the Crower crank against a factory Type R crank i had lying around, and the Type R flywheel holes are 0.094" deeper than the Crower crank. That equates to about 3 threads on the flywheel bolt. Can I use a set of automatic transmisson bolts instead, as I hear that they are shorter?

 

Yes I believe they are the same as the SOHC FW bolts.

Is it just me or do you have REALLY bad luck with things?

 

the automatic bolts will be too short. Use D series bolts.

 

its not just u... we all realize that hahaha...


but one thing for sure.. i tip my hat to TD for pushing forward,

may cost him a few $ but learning hands on.. is uhm sumthing we miss nowadays..

nowadays everyone just want the Level/Stage 4,000 and 15:1 comp on 89oct LOL

(and the engine hasnt bin purchased) haha

 

I took my time and cut three threads off all eight flywheel bolts and everthing bolted up smoothly. It even pulled the flywheel a tad bit further on the crank hub. The road to glory is a rugged one filled with traps and cross roads. If it was easy, it wouldn't be worth it .