picked up a fresh 91 3 door shell a couple months back. got myself an old *** beat down LS motor for 75 bucks! (91 ls with a bad T belt to be exact)

iv got some good ideas for this build but nothings set in stone. im definitely open to opinions.

New Build Plans:
rebuild engine
all new suspension
new energy suspension bushings
replace all wearable parts. (brake assembly, bearings, bushings, master cylinder, tie rod ends and other random parts)
full interior from 98 hatch
exterior will be pretty much stock painted white
random customizations
going for the 'clean' look with this one
tucked brake lines
custom wiring harness with gang plug
battery relocated somewhere
random tie bars
no front sway bar
big *** rear sway bar
possible roll cage
Theres a bunch of stuff not listed that will be posted as i get to that point. im not going to go over any suspension until i start working on it. like i said all opinions welcome. PLEASE DO NOT ARGUE OVER SOMEONE ELSES OPINION ON MY THREAD!!!

Here are some pics of the car and my progress so far




Tuck started

hydraulic clutch conversion

(argon doesnt work on our welder, also iv just started to teach myself how to weld)

removed sound guard with dry ice (pretty simple and clean)

Brake Tuck- this is where my prop valve will end up

pass side

drivers side

and master cylinder

 

So this will be an all motor build or do you plan on spraying?

 

Your rods are the weak point as it is, leaving them stock while replacing the pistons is pointless. While you're in there you might as well do them too.

Don't bother with the block guard.

 

This is how misinformation starts. Let's be clear - just because they are a machinist does NOT mean they know how to build engines - especially Honda engines.

Block guards are a waste of time for forced induction setups. They do help stabilize cylinder walk for high revving engines. Unless you are using the short stroke B16 - and still want to rev high - a block guard is good insurance. (If you haven't had a sleeve distort from running 11k+ RPMs I'll understand...)

Whether or not you need a bore over would be what you cylinders measure to. Also what the new pistons measure to - or what piston to wall clearances they need for that matter. The LS engines have the longest stroke of the B-series - they were designed for torque and not revving high. At minimum you are going to want ARP rod bolts installed; better to just upgrade.

For cam choices - well that depends on what your end build is going to be. Drag racing? Nitrous? Ect...

The LS pretty much HAS to have an aftermarket intake manifold to make and good N/A power.

Regardless, it sounds like you don't have the budget for what you are wanting to do. The machine work should be around $800+ for what you are wanting to do. This of course is if you do it right. You could have just bought a VTEC engine and been done with it. Had more power and more room for upgrades.

 

see i figured that they would be able to hold up. i never had one fail on me and when i do see them fail it was either because of poor maintenance, hydro lock, or far too much nos. ill do some research before i set it in stone either way. but thanks man

 

first off id like to say thanks for stopping by. about the pistons. id rather not bore anything. id really just like to keep it at a proper honing. this is my first time putting a complete engine together so id like to keep it somewhat simple.

now block guards. can block guards ever cause a problem? why not use them? its not like its going to break the bank.

and now for the budget. although i respect your opinion my concerns with the K vs B budget was money vs horseys. i could spend 5 grand on the motor and install alone. i figured id use that same amount of money to learn a few things instead of just dropping another stock motor in. also im more comfortable with a B motor.

i went non vtec because everyone thinks their vtec motors and parts are the hottest ****. it was hard to find a stock GSR around my way let alone one at a reasonable price. i will spend the money but i try not to get taken for too many rides if you know what i mean

 

Block Gaurds can be a negative, especially if installed wrong. They can distort the cylinder walls and cause stress on the cylinders. Any good machinist will know how to install one without any negative affects. The other factor, mainly depending on design, will be poor coolant flow to the head or improper circulation around the sleeves causing hot spots. Again, this can be avoided by proper design in the block guard itself. There is an alternative of "staking". You can find out about this on the "Endyne" site.

Also, help us help you by answering some of my more direct questions.

Just to reiterate, whether or not you need to bore over will be dictated by cylinder condition/measurements, pistons bought, and/or end use. Most of the time you can't just slap things together and be in proper specifications. I never recommended boring more than you have to (to leave room for future rebuilds), but to do it right the first time and get proper ring seal and piston to wall clearance. (Obviously depending on piston material, boosted, nitrous, n/a, ect...)

So riddle me this Batman...

- What is the end use? Daily Driver, drag, AutoX, ect?
- What type of pistons do you want to run (forged or cast)?
- What do you want your REV limit to be?
- I see you picked gearing through transmission selection - have you thought about tire sizing?
- Balancing the crankshaft? Hondas are "zero balance" engines (not that the crankshaft isn't balanced from the factory) and should be good hence Hondas not having true harmonic balancers; although it never hurts to verify.
- What engine management are you going to be running? (Please don't say a Honda PR4 ECU.)

A suggestion of mine would be to only use either ACL Bearings or OEM.

Much more opinions to come as this story unfolds. I completely understand your want to build the underdog. I have a boosted LS that puts down more power than most peoples built turbo VTEC's... It's fun when people swear they heard VTEC kick in... and only I know the truth.

 

Oh, I forgot to add...

You can obviously raise the compression by Milling the head. There are drawbacks to this as well like flame travel speed, quench area, ect... This is most likely getting beyond the scope of what you are looking for though.

EDIT: If not, here is a good read...

http://www.davidandjemma.com/mazda/FAQ/quench.htm

 

its not going to be a daily car but it will be a street car. id also like to run it in autocross just for fun but thats not why im building it.

i have a set of pistons in mind. they are made by wiseco and are forged.

id like a stand alone ecu. aem ems in the long run

for the rev limit id like to be somewhere in the 10grand range. im not the kind of person to make use of my rev limit on every shift though.

tires are 215 45 15 or 205 45 15 depending on offset

i dont want to mess with milling my head at all but i get the gist of it thanks for the info tho.

 

did a couple things this weekend. sold my K motor, went to the junk yard and picked up this nice old b18. i also picked up some seats from a 98 hatch. i left the Jyard and only spend 175. i had gotten some tail lights from another HT member and i started modding them. heres some pics of my progress.




(On top, the tail light split apart and paint removed. Bottom, untouched tail light)


(On top, the tail light split apart and paint removed. Bottom, paint hasnt been removed yet)


this is what the lens looks like originally


this is what the lens looks like with the refractors removed


i plan on floating some plexiglass in the tail light and making my own led design. im going to use my original bulb as my running lights and turn that bulb off when my led brake lights turn on

 

started my wiring for the engine today. ordered some different sized loom last night. this is my first attempt at an actual tucked harness. im using my stock dx harness and the non-obd b18 harness just as a base to start from.
iv stripped both harnesses down to plugs and wires. i removed everything off of the b (donor) and put it on the D. the fuel injector and distributor wiring has be harvested (from plug to plug) from the drivers side shock tower plug of the donor harness.
id like to keep from cutting and splicing as much as possible. if something needs to be extended i will make exceptions but for the most part im just depinning and repinning. all i did today was break them down. ill take pics next time i work on it

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

 

so heres a couple pics of how how i started the engine wiring tuck

harvested donor harness.


pins removed from tower plug


i plugged in everything harvested from the donor


splicing into engine harness


it might look like a mess but that wiring is pretty organized. i cant do much more right now im still waiting on loom

 

Go with oem honda bearings

 

thanks ed6!
iv been doing some thinking on that. i was going to get a lot of stuff from honda for this. rings and bearings included.

 

Oem honda is the way to go its tough on the wallet but well worth the investment

 

i think i may end up going ls/v. 91 teg b18 ls block 2000 civic si b16 head.

whats a good ls/v kit? i was thinking golden eagle head gasket arp head studs and blackworks install kit. any testimonials on different setups?

 

iv done some more work on my wiring but since im not sure if im going vtec or not im not going to loom it all together yet. i ordered some loom and a gang plug to finish everything up and keep it all as minimal as possible. all of my single plug looms are solid purple with yellow shrink. the multi plugged wires are wrapped in this..


37 pin gang plug going to be ran in OG position on firewall
power wires (alternator and starter) are going to be hidden and run to the fuse box where the ecu used to be mounted.

 

 

how much was that plug? and where did you get it? good looking build so far!! i love the armrest

 

Did you get those tail lights from the junk yard?

 

Get the head milled. Period dot end of story. It might only need 0.0001 but hey that is better than not doing it and it needed to be milled .009

 

the plug was around 80 bucks and came with the loom. i got it from keepitclean.com but i dont suggest using them. they dont have good customer support. they advertise stuff they dont have and they take way too long to ship. aslo the plug feels kind of cheap. i havnt installed it yet so i cant speak to its integrity.
thanks for the arm rest love. i definitely like the way it came out. its gonna be a trend for all my cars now.

 

i got the tail lights off HT actually. i spent a good amount of time trying to find a good set and a fair price. i think i got them for around 100 shipped. there wasnt a scratch on them

 

its been a while. i have a little bit of everything done so far and im now starting to finish it all up. im just about ready to install all of my suspension. heres a quick pic of my trailing arms.
harvested from a 91 teg. new everything. energy susppenny TA bushings. im also installing a master bushing kit. new calipers, new hubs. i sand blasted and repainted everything as well. dust shield is from an 01. hard to find one without rust at the Jyard. mine were beat