Hello all,

New to Honda Tech, and I had a couple of questions about some work on my 94' GSR. The motor is in my 92' EG and has about 75-80k miles on it, and I have noticed it is burning some oil. I have yet to compression test it, and I havent seen any smoke, but it is making a slight ticking which I am assuming is in the valvetrain. The car is my daily, and I want to build it up a bit for reliability and possibly some auto x, but I also live in Cali, and would like to keep it carb legal. As is, the motor is all stock other than Comptech headers, high flow air filter on stock intake, Magnaflow hi flow cat, Koyo radiator, and an Apexi WS2 catback. The car has a/c with no p/s. I did a royal purple oil change, and ngk plugs and wires about 2k miles ago. I'd like to do the work without needing a tune, if possible?

Assuming I dont need new piston rings, I want to start by sending the head out for a street port and polish (any suggestions? looking at cccylinders or dpr so far) with Supertech valvesprings, titanium retainers, new seals, and bronze guides. I'd like to stick with my stock cams for now, and go with some Skunk2 stage 1's down the road. Should I replace my valves with aftermarket while I'm in there? While I have the head off, I'm also curious about head gaskets. Are the Mugen head gaskets worth it for a build like mine, or will OEM be sufficient? Gonna throw on some ARP head bolts and a Hondata intake mani gasket as well.

If I end up needing piston rings, what else will I need or should I change?

Any input is appreciated, thanks.

 

well if you want to keep it carb legal you may not want to get the camshafts until after your next 2yr smog test. dont forget you will want to get the car tuned if you go that route. as for the head gasket i would just stick with an oem one. if you think oil is getting past your valves then the head work would be a good idea. but more importantly you should find out where your oil is going. even if the compression test shows great results it will not tell you the condition of your oil control rings (which could also be the culprit). if you do need the rings replaced you should consider getting new pistons as well. and if your going to get new slugs might as well get some new rods or slap some arp rod bolts on there for auto-x. as for the ticking it could be your valve lash, it may need to be readjusted or your LMA's. that guy (Steve) at cccylinderheads does awesome work you will find lots of people on here praising his work.

 

Thanks for the response.

As for the cams, the S2 stage 1's are carb legal so that shouldnt be an issue, but the cash flow isnt there for cams and a tune at the moment. I will be diagnosing the oil issue right before we start the work, going to be checking any and every thing that way it is all done right the first time, although I'm pretty sure it is the valves. As for the oil control rings, is there a way to tell what condition they in are without removing the pistons? Also should I replace my valves for new oem or aftermarket units?

 

They say they are carb legal but it all depends on your car passing the sniffer, especially if you live in CA. But lets say your o2 sensor,EGR, emissions equipment, ect. are working properly then you shouldnt have to worry. If your valve seals/ guides/ seats are all ok then the next suspect in my opinion would be the oil control rings. If it was your compression rings there would be a blueish color in your exhaust. You may already know , a simple compression test or wet compression test would be the first thing to do if you were worried about the compression rings. There is no real way of telling the condition of your oil control rings without taking the block apart. You can (through a process of elimination) diagnose other areas of the engine where leaks are common to find the culprit. About the valves, the oem valves will be fine with the stage1 cams (new oem valves would be even better). It would be wise to pick up some aftermarket springs though, since you will be revving the engine up to 8k rpm(im guessing). Aftermarket valves would be great but since you are on a bit of a budget its probably not necessary . If you go through Cccylinderheads he offers Supertech valve train which is what a lot of people use. My advice to you would be, get your parts together for the time being then throw them in when you can afford the cams and tune. It will be worth the wait in the end