Hi HT.

I'm having problems aligning my bellhousing in my AM build, since my block was align honed (AKA destroied). I believe that my crank sits somewhere close to 1mm off where it should.

Now, will removing the dowels from the transmission solve my problem?

I believe this is somewhat common for V8 guys, not sure about Hondas though..



Please no "get a new block" comments, B-series blocks are freaking hard to find down here.

 

i would be more concerned about the oil pump, was it aligned?

 

I took the dowels off and aligned it "by hand"...

The whole thing ran for like, 2k miles including one trackday with no issues but a blown clutch that I TOUGHT that blew from a miss shift, but now I think it has some relation with the bellhousing alignment.

 

1mm is way too much to be off. Sorry, but it sounds like that block is toast, you may not want to hear it, but "getting a new block" is probably your safest/headache free solution.

 

Would't the main bearings re-center the crank, considering the clearances were checked and correct bearings were used? If not, then if the crankshaft was truly 1mm off, wouldnt you have a difficult time installing the oil pump and rear main seal?

 

Well... It's WAY off, if it's not 1mm, it's pretty close...

And yes, I had problems aligning the oil pump and main seal, I had to remove the dowels from them, and align them "manually" (I dont know a word for that in english)

The whole thing is toast, the crank was grounded to .50mm, pistons shaved to fit, but the thing runs like a beast, and I can't afford any other thing for now..

Besides, I ordered a B20 block from US, but it seems like it's gonna take a while to arrive (custom issues) and I need to have teh car running

 

I'm not trying to call you a liar nor am I a machinist, but this situation seems highly unprobable. For the crank to be that far off there must have been a good amount of pressure in some direction to force the machine to cut material in a certain direction. And even if somehow this did occur during the process, the mains would become out of round in which case I coulndn't see the main bearings being installed properly. And even if you were able to install the crankshaft somehow, by it being off center I can't see the engine running very well.

Hopefully someone more knowledgeable can come in here and give their take on the situation because I personally would like to know if this is possible.

But hey, atleast it runs good and you're already working on getting a new setup.

 

I believe line honing should only remove .001" or .002", very little just to get the bores straight and true.
If its 1mm off, then the machinist removed more like .025" off.

 

The thing is: Machine shops here in Brazil are all garbage, and they have no experience with honda engines, specially B-series because the caps are Steel and the block is aluminum.

So when the guy was honing the block, the machine was always taking more off the block, than of the cap, and it was always out of round, so the guy did the same job like, 5 times to make it round.

That + the supid ammount of material they took while decking the block, led to a piston sitting .8mm out of the hole! It was even hitting the head so I had to cut the pistons .5mm and use a thicker hg.


This is all ghetto but that's what we got... That is why I got the B20 machined in USA by Mesa Balancing, but it seems like it's gonna take 3 more months to arrive, and I have 1 timeattack and one track day to attend, and I wanna make this thing run

 

Im sorry to hear that...
Well in that case, Id remove the dowels from the trans bellhousing so its not pre-loading the crank, torque it all down, and hope for the best...
Have you pulled the pan and inspected the main bearings by chance?

Hey off topic, but are you by chance going to see Sepultura on Saturday at the inferno club in S.P.? Should be a badass show!

 

No I didn't inspect the main bearings but I'll do this if I remove the tranny to align the ****.. And possibly put an even thicker HG... Now, is it necessary to mill the head every time you pull it out? I'm reluctant to that, but EVERY SINGLE PERSON here does that...

And no, I'm not going to the Sepultura concert, but I have some friends going..

 

No you dont have to mill the head everytime you remove it. I only have heads milled if its necessary due to warpage/over heating. You can check warpage with a machinist straight edge and a feeler guage...
Your friends are lucky to see them in their homeland...I so wish I could be there!

 

any other ghetto thoughts?

I'll be doing this this week...