im going to rebuild my the bottom end of one of my B17a motors...so far this is what i have pretty much decided on...

-SRP pistons 9.0:1 factory sized
-Crower rods (unless maybe someone knows of a less expensive alternative for my motor that will do a good job)
-ARP head bolts
-new bearings (ACL's possibly)
-bottom end gasket set
-piston rings
-moroso oil pan (probably)
-moroso oil cooler (maybe)

now comes some questions...
-anyone that has used any of these products please let me know how you feel about them

-(this is a big one)anyone know of any groupbuys on any of these parts? how about some of the suppliers on this list...got any special deals you can let me in on???

-anything else i need or need to do to help make this a successful project??

-how about a block guard...how helpful are they?? i am not sure anyone even makes one for this motor but should i even look into it?

im seriously looking to start this asap but i wanted to look to the board for some advice before hand...Corey





[Modified by B17aTURBO, 1:32 AM 9/29/2002]

 

I think most people on this board will agree that Crowers are good rods but pricey. Eagle H-beam rods are a better value and supposedly good for 600HP. Try the classified section, you can probably find a good deal on rods and pistons and you won't pay nearly as much as you would new. But with private sellers, buyer beware.

From what I've read on this board many would say a blockguard is a waste of money even harmful. It's controversial. Try search, blockguard, archive.

Also from what I've heard moroso oil pans have fitment problems.

 

this is what i found on the search...
"The reason they don't do a proper job is the block guard is made of a different material than the block, so it's heat exchange/dissapation and expansion properties are not the same. Since the block guard is getting most of it's heat from the cylinder wall, it will start expanding later and at a different rate. As a result, the cylinder wall, which has already expanded, is now going to face the expansion of the block guard... which was prolly **tapped in with a mallet** so there is little to no clearance between them. What is the outcome ? The block guard slowly attempts to deform the cylinder walls. What could eventually happen is a) The top of the cylinders will crack B) The piston may seize on the upstroke"

--but this is due to not being installed correctly? if i go with just the factory sleeves and no reinforcement how has that held up for turbo'ed honda's?

 

I'd sleeve it...Considering Sleeving only costs like $720.

 

moroso oil pans people have been complaining about...saying they dont' fit properly...as for the BG, i'm w/ you on that one..scratching my head on that one too...<--that sounded nasty

 

I am offering a great deal right now for Eagle Rods and JE pistons. $835 shipped for both

 

to sleeve a motor only cost 720 bux?

 

yeah i saw your groupbuy...unfortunatly JE doesn't make pistons for my car and eagle doesn't make rods...if you could do a deal with some SRP/Crower let me know!

 

lol my darton sleeved 84mm gsr block was $1500

 

Damn, why does it cost so much to sleeve a block? I don't understand this sleeving process. What is the benefits of sleeving a block?

 

is Crower the only brand that makes a rod for a b17 engine

and whos buliding the engine

 

For you engine bearings i'd go with ACL's, you can get them from, Earl, Rocket and a few other on this board for a good price, cheaper than what it would cost for Honda OEM bearings. And you dont' have to worry about color matching each journal and all the mess.

You could go withe Wiseco pistons, thats what going in my engine. Give a shout to ImportBuilder. I know he has some pretty good deals on pistons right now, let himknow your needs i'm sure he'll be able to get you what you need.

Plus I've *heard/read* that B17's have 2 different rod lenghts and desk hieghts. I know iv'e seen this pop up a few time.....Again this by no mean set in stone, I just wanted to put it out there in case anyone wanted to comment on it.


[Modified by Speed PHreak, 12:33 AM 9/28/2002]

 

eagle said the same thing about rods when my friend ordered some and they didn't fit so i am worried about this too...hmmm...can someone shed some light?

 

Yup yup. . .My bro is having his B16 sleeved right now at Golden Eagle. Right around 700 bux. They are super cool there. Gave us a tour of their shop. Looked like top notch work. There were a couple sleeved blocks sitting there with a customer tag on it. . .said Bergenholtz (or however you spell it .

 

as far as i know crower is the only one that builds rods for the b17 motor but i have recently heard that the b17 and b16 share the same clearances and that any rod that is made for the b16 will work...if so i would consider the eagles as ive heard they do well and are quite a bit less money...i won't be doing the motor work myself...mike over at performance direct will take care of that for me...

 

so ACL's are better and less expensive than factory? hmm sounds good to me...

 

why not just build a b18a short block with eagle rods JE 81mm pistons and go ls/vtec

 

-well i could but i don't want to for 2 reasons...i already have a spare b17a block and because i hear there have been quite a few problems with oil leaks on ls/vtec setups...my friend has an allmotor ls/vtec set up that does ok tho...he'll be at battle of the imports tomorrow...

 

its all how you build the ls/vtec i built 3 and never had an oil leak

when i do ls/vtecs i weld the head up and deck it you can find b18a bottom end good price and you know the power it can make turbocharged

i could get you a b18a short block and build it for a right good price
with eagle rods srp(je) pistons stock bore

 

Aren't all B series pistons interchangeable? I'm planning on running the JE GSR shelf 9.8:1 pistons in my B18B... any advantages to running custom JE pistons instead of GSR shelf pistons?