I have a 2000 SI and am getting terrible blow-by. you guys have any suggestions for piston rings? I just have bolt-ons- nothing crazy. if so is it easier to leave the motor in the car and just pull the head and drop the pan?

 

It is easy to pull the head and drop the pan, i have done it a couple times on some cars. Just have to be careful not to let the rod bolts hit the crank and scuff the journals.

If you have stock bore and stock pistons and all that just run a set of OEM rings. IMO if your going to have it apart throw a new set of p30's in there w/ rings and enjoy some added power.

 

hastings, NPR/Nippon are both cheap and good. OEM rings are made by a Japanese company that merged with Hastings.

You should use a ball hone and hone the walls prior to putting new rings in. It's the only way to get proper ring break in. The little ridges will file the rings down and make a better seal than even the best rings could without it.

 

thanks guys, i do have a cylinder hone and was planning on doing that anyway.
EGSleeper - what are you referring to by p30's?

 

I used NPR rings they were like $30 and they worked fine

 

new pistons im assuming

 

You're going to hone the cylinder walls while the crank is still in the block?I know it's possible, but you could end up w/MUCH WORSE problems than blow-by......

 

You make a good point! prolly wouldnt be a bad idea ripping the crank out considering all the metal shavings.
and no i wasnt planning on swapping out the pistons

 

Id go with OEM rings you can never go wrong. $46.38 from majestic honda the headgasket runs about the same. Dont forget the oil pump pickup seal.

 

is it recomended to replace the head gasket everytime you pull the head? I replaced all the gaskets and seals and few months back when i rebuilt the head, i know im an ******* and should have done the rings then!

 

I am referring to pistons. The p30's are what were in JDM B16's. They have a larger dome and increase the Compression ratio by a few point. if you were to mill the head .002 and throw a set of p30's in you would be sitting around 10.6 to 10.8:1 compression ratio and i would be willing to put money on you getting another 15 or so HP out of it w/ a tune. Get a set of ITR cams or some smaller tuner cams and you can be looking at 170-180 whp depending on the tune. Those pistons run like 150 bucks w/ machine work and new gasket i would say you get 20 more horses for 300 bucks.

 

And yes replace the HG EVERY TIME you pull the head off. it is a crush type gasket and is only good for a seal one time around. get some honda bond and seal up the oil ports and you will have a leak-free fresh build.

 

sweet i appreciate it!

 

i sprayed my headgasket with copper spray, supposed to be better.

if you're taking the crank out might as well put in new bearings

 

uuhhh, the si has a b16 in it. why would he need to change the pistons?

 

B16A2 with 70,000 miles on it. i plan on just doing the rings

 

for all the more he is going to hone out it will not hurt it. just use a microfiber or something soft to wipe off the crank journals before putting the piston/rod back in. also try turning the crank so the oil hole/s are either down or on the side. i've honed cylinders with the engine still in the car many of times and i never took the crank out, it's a ton of work to do just to hone .0005-.001 thousandths out just to seat new rings. you might as well pull the whole engine to pull the crank out, and by that time you should just spend about 50 bucks on a set of acl bearings and have a fresh motor

i've used npr rings on 3 different builds, they are good quality and pretty cheap. i filed the gaps on my last build because of a fresh bore and since i'm running higher boost levels.

never used hastings, but they are included with alot of different aftermarket pistons