Like it says in the title, i built an LSvtec engine with some upgraded parts in it (but no high comp pistons ), and i just had a couple questions about my setup... First, heres the setup

-b18a1 LS block, rebuilt:
*honed cylinders
*deck checked for warpage
*new ACL replacement bearings
*all oil clearances within spec according to plastigage
*Honda OEM piston rings
-ARP connecting rod bolts
-ARP head studs
-Golden Eagle VTEC conversion kit, dowels and sandwich plate, etc.
-b18c1 P72 GSR head, rebuilt with new valve seals
-head was leakdown tested, with perfect results
-Hondata heatshield IM gasket
-obd1 chipped P28 ecu, running on Crome basemap
-GSR water pump, oil pump, timing belt
-oem GSR cams,LS cam gears

now what i was wondering about this setup was mainly about the connecting rod bolts. I installed them according to ARP's spec of 26ft-lbs. and even torqued and re-torqued a total of 5 times before finally torque-ing them down to reduce any possible cyclic fatigue, preloading them i believe(?). I just wanted to make sure that this was correct for me to do. I've never before built an engine to this extent, so i just wanted to make sure everything was good before i run it.

 

Also, i had a question about what would be a safe revving range once i can get it on the dyno? I know for a fact that the LS rods, un-shotpeened are only good til about 8k but the shop where im gonna dyno it at told me that since i've got the rod bolts in there, i could rev it to 9k.(i dont believe this btw...), its my daily driver as well.

 

rev it up to where ever it make power, but if you want to stay safe 8,000 to 8500k will be fine

 

Your fine, as long as you upgrade your rod bolts, Rev till it makes its power..
Set your rev limit to 500rpms above where it makes power.

 

They are upgraded, i just wanted to make sure that they were all torqued right.

 

the [point of failure is bolt stretch, something arps' resist better than factory bolts, therefore the torquing although important, isnt the biggest factor imho. i think you will be fine.

 

Also, what i was wondering is if balancing had anything to do with this whole engine build "equation". For example, shops/forums tell me that i can rev the motor safely to 8, or 8500 with that setup... But, since i have an unbalanced bottom end, id think that anything over 7, or 7,500 would be somewhat extreme and could greatly increase my chances of spinning a bearing... Does that sound about right? This is sorta whats gonna determine what i tell my tuner to set my rev to no matter if it wants to continue to make power or not, because the shop that i'm going to is full of rev-happy employees and i'd hate for something to break as a result of them over-revving it.

 

the limiting factor is the rod bolts.

honda cranks are well balanced from the factory. if you keep ls rod bolts stick to ls rev limiter. if you upgrade, you can go as high as the next limiting factor in the system.

i run arp bolts on factory ls rods and i think my limiter is 9000, possibly 9500 i havent driven the car in like 6 months now.

its been through 4k miles of abuse with 4 drag passes, and id say atleast 30 dyno pulls over two tuning sessions, probably half of which were to redline.

 

And what are the stock LS rods and pistons available to rev up to? I believe that's the only next limiting factor since they're not shot-peened or anything like that.

I remember reading somewhere that the ls rods should only be slung up to 8k.


Lol, sorry for asking all these questions, i just have had a bad experience with an lsvtec previous to this one... The block had 100k miles on it, but a perfect vacuum/compression/leakdown which lead me to believe it was perfectly running then i ran it on vtec revving to 7,500 and it threw a rod after 5 days...

 

ls bottem end shouldn't see anything above 7k unless u have upgraded rod bolts like stated before..
when the bolts are upgraded then you can go to 8-8.5k safely..above that, is pushing the limits of the ls rods..

 

i built an ls vtec with shotpeened ls rods, itr pistons and arp rods bolts an i can rev mine to 9 all day and is also my daily and has mad highway pulls on it with like 12k miles unbalanced. your definitelt safe to run it to at least 8700

 

i had a buddy who also ran shot peened ls rods but used arp rod bolts and forged pistons. the difference was the fact that my friends engine was boosted to around 14psi. his setup lasted roughly 400miles, with my friend going through a 200 mile break in process without the trubo. and he didnt do the soft break in either. he ended up with some stretched out rod bolts, to the point to where it caused a couple bearings to spin. it might be safe to say he had a lead foot and naive way of thinking.

 

Wow, to oxmark and all_M0T0r that sounds pretty crazy, lol. But it sounds good to me, i just wasnt really sure due to the bad experience as stated before. I think i may just be over-thinking things, but my old daily has been resting in the garage for about 3weeks now as a result of the engine failure.

And my final question, has to do with the oil pump. Currently, i have a b18a1 block with the b18a1 oilpump on it. I know that it is recommended highly that i change it out for the p72 unit, but i also read somewhere that the old b17a1 oil pumps are the same as the old LS/b20 ones from back in the day, and were capable of running vtec just as well as the newer p72 units. Is this true, or just some bs?