Figure I'd make a thread of my build I'm working on. I welcome any and all suggestions and feedback!
The plan is to build a high comp LS-Vtec, daily driven, and not quite sure if it'll be on pump or e-85.
Well here goes!

About a year ago I picked up a b16 head. Complete for the most part, only missing the distributor and plugs/wires. No biggie.

After I picked it up, I started doin some research as to what I needed and where to go with it.



First thing I did was take off the valve cover, see what the insides looked like. Then stripped the paint and gave her a fresh coat!




After doin some homework n whatnot.. slept on it for a bit.
A few months ago I ended up picking up an LS block with some low comp 81.5mm CP pistons with eagle rods.

Had um both sitting in the garage.. cleaned up the block a bit. Took everything off.
Lil bit of wire brush action and some degreaser..




Lil bit more reading and I got around to ordering some goodies..


Nuthin special. Just the LS-V kit and some magnetic plugs.

Lil bit of boredom and I ended up goin through the bags of parts!


Got to thinkin.. can never be too sure of the condition of things, or what people say, so I ended up ordering some internals to get things goin.

Got some Buddy club cam gears and some valves, springs, and retainers, all from InlineFour.

In the mean time, I also got around to cleaning up the head a bit. More degreaser, wire Bristol, and this time I brought out the pressure washer. Had some nice 40 degree weather here in January!


Got a lil bit more to update, but Ima have to do that in the a.m.

Lemme know what you guys think so far!

 

I think you need to get some high compression forged pistons If you are staying all motor, besides that looks like a great start! what cams will you use? Throttle body? Exhaust? Header?

 

Already done my man! All I got left to ponder over are cams.

Anyways. After some more money spent..

These came!
Just some il4 pro cast pistons. 81.5mm b16 dome. Piston rings, some arp head studs, and a carbon fiber spark plug cover.

Then I got bored and decided to do some cleaning and painting..

Painted the head and intake mani..

For a good deal, I couldn't pass these up.
Skunk2 pro series intake mani and throttlebody.
Here's where we stand today!

 

So now, things I still have yet to do..

I want to bring everything in to get hot tanked.
Still gotta put in the valvetrain.
Figure out what size bearings I need (completely oblivious)
And... either A. Bring the pistons in to get machined for Spiro locks to work with the eagle rods. B. But new rods (press fit) or C. Buy diff slugs.

Lemme know what you guys think! Any help is much appreciated, as this is my first build.
I think this is going to be pretty promising.. Do it right the first time, right?

 

Doing it right the first time is the name of the game..What are you thinking about as far as cams? I think some Skunk2 Stage 2 tuners would suit well..

 

what are the dangers of a poorly built ls/v ? particularly things with the bottom block and vavles

 

amazing build btw i wish everyone did it with such attention to detail and completeness as you

 

I'm still not sure about cams.. haven't really researched.
People have told me to look at some skunk2 stage 2's or some crower 403's.

 

Thanks for that! As far as I'm concerned.. I just want to go through and replace what I feel would give it more longevity and reliability, rather than to just buy the kit and slap it on..

This is still gonna be a DD, so I need it to last!

 

Alright guys.. I'm kinda stuck..
These new slugs I got, I didn't realize they were press fit.

So my question to you guys..

Should I order new pistons?
Get them machined for the Spiro locks?
Or buy new rods, and if so, what are some press fit rods I can use?

 

as long as you arent planning on running the juice on the motor, then you can use oem rods with the upgraded arp rod studs. i know that the rods hold up to 300-350hp forced induction motors with good results. you can then sell the eagles and apply the money elsewhere maybe fuel system or management.

 

Thanks man.. I was thinkin OEM as well. Should I stick with OEM ls rods or what? And what about bearings..?

 

I have a fully built gsr, I have the skunk2 stage 2 cams in it and it used to have the bc cams, ill say this the skunk2 cams made such a big difference! Its probably the best decision I made, and my motor has all the same stuff yours does, skunk2 74mm throttle body and skunk2 intake manifold and skunk2 fuel rail. I really think u should go with the stage 2 cams u wont be dissappointed

 

good stuff dude

 

Hey thanks man, ill check into those cams for sure!

 

if you use an ls crank, use ls or b20 rods. definitely cant go wrong with oem bearings. they can easily stand the abuse and the color coding makes it pretty easy to get all the exact bearing tolerances you are looking for.

 

See that's what I'm stuck on.. getting the right bearings.. how do I figure out the clearances n that?

It's my first real build and I've got fair knowledge on everything BUT the bottom end.. I'm completely lost with that..

But I'm open to any and all advice.. like when people say they get the crank micro polished n balanced n stuff, its something I'm gonna take into consideration. =]

 

Absolutely. OEM Recon'd shotpeened LS rods, with ARP rod bolts (same size as the d-series) and have them put the new pistons on the rods for you. You'll be fine. done that several times myself.

 

i just recently went through almost the exact same build as you and i think i can help you make some decisions.

as many many people know, the top major failing points to an lsvtec is first, oil supply. second, rod bolts. and third the rods them selves. so the oil supply seams to be covered with the lsvtec kit you have. as for the rod bolts / rods you CAN use oem LS rods with arp rod bolts. but if you are spinning the motor to high rpms you will still have the risk or bending or breaking one. it should be said that numerous people have successfully used LS rods with arp rod bolts. but there are also plenty of people who have had them fail. If i was you i would stay with an aftermarket rod. but maby something lighter than the eagles. look at the brian crower lightweight h beam rods. But i am not sure if you can float the cast IL4 pistons on those rods. that would be something your gona wanna research. on my build i went with CP type r 11.5:1 comp pistons and carrillo lightweight rods. The advantage to the CP pistons is they go right on the rods and are floated. but the down side is that with daily driving i will prolly have to replace the pistons every 50k miles or so.

As for cams it will depend on your compression. it looks like your gona be in the 11.5-12 area no? i know everyone is all about the skunks but honestly i would go with the blox type C.

as for the bearings and clearances you are going to need some professional tools. or professional help. you need to measure the journals with a micrometer. and use the formula
BC=IDBT-ODC- (2xBT)
BC - Bearing Clearance
IDBT - Inside Dia. on Bearing Tunnel (housing bore)
ODC - outside diameter of crank journal
BT- bearing thickneess

 

I certainly agree with you to a certain degree. Perhaps my comments may shed a bit of light on the subject as well.

Agreed without issue, here.


Only if you one doesn't take the correct steps and shot-peen and recon the rods themselves, even at high rpms. By the time they become a true issue, the car is going to stop making power at that level anyway. In this case I think the actual preparation of the rods are just not, if even more important than worrying about what rpm they can get to. The vibration and resonance from the rpms can be a definite factor, but this can be addressed by the preparation of the rod, and balancing of the entire rotating assembly.

This is true, but only because they didn't do the correct recon and hanging of the rods and pistons. That cost of rod bolt installation, honing and balancing of the assembly is actually less than a set of aftermarket rods new.. Which still should be balanced to the whole assembly.

The "lightness" issue really depends upon what he's going to do with the car. If its more of a street / circuit or extreme street car with daily driving duty, whether its an Eagle, Crower, Carillo, or even K-tune, the car's power nor the driver will really notice any difference.

And why do you feel you have to replace pistons every 50k? that is highly uncommon and irregular. If you're doing this, something is definitely wrong with the prep you're doing here. There are many others here with CP or similar 4032 Aluminum content pistons here, and are easily over 150K-200K without breaking a sweat. I even have wiseco guys on the same pistons for over 15 years.. I'd like to know what drew you to this particular conclusion.

Great, an older prototype copy of Skunk2s instead. Why drink sparkling cider when you can have the real champagne? ;-).. And don't give that "its cheaper" reasoning either.. hahaha.

Agreed here..

 

The reason i believe this is because it is what i was told by more than one Honda shop. something along the lines of the stroke ratio of the ls crank and the softness of the forged pistons skirts. i have not had to replace my pistons and reading what you said here, i am very hopeful that you are right lol. and of course i would love to never have to replace my pistons haha but being that i trust the people that told me i would. it is also something i am prepared for.

and blox type c is not a skunk2 copy. its a JUN iii and endyne bumpstix copy and i believe they give you the same or more power than the closest skunks for half the price. but ill do what i do and other people will keep on buying skunk2 and i will never deliberately tell them not to get them

 

Shenanigans.. the "Rod/Stroke" ratio argument is valid only when the engine is not properly prepped. I've personally created and ran 2 such setups without any issues whatsoever with the assistance of 2 chief Honda OEM mechanics. We all agree, its more of a mathematical anomaly than anything useful as a practical matter..

take a look here as an example of one I did recently.
https://honda-tech.com/forums/all-motor-naturally-aspirated-44/shodan-project-she-2915107/

Its all in the prep.. Replacing pistons every 50K miles? Nah, man, you're fine as long as the engine build is consistent with the right amount of detail. (Maybe you're thinking rotary... )

Its a shame that they are telling you these issues exist. I for one,truly believe in being cautious.. that's just downright not true.

A copy of a copy... Is still a copy. That still doesn't make it any worth while in many cases. I knew you were going to give the lower budget argument, but that still doesn't make it the best idea. Even the real Jun 3s give only a higher rpm use of the powerband, the rest is rather useless unless you're using a longer and wide runner header, 2.0 litre + displacement and only plan to use the last 3K rpms for anything. (And I've owned some Authentic Jun 3s)

But you are absolutely right. we can't tell people what to do with their money.. In the end, it is their decision.

 

lol thanks for the info i really hope your right, i could use that extra piston money for some cams ehhemm cough bloxtypec's ehhemm cough

but as the cams go i guess i can understand the whole dont support companies that make copies because it brings down the quality of R&D and what not. but its a free market and some of us are full time college students making 6 grand a year haha. so the eye will always be drawn to the cheaper product. plus i believe the blox type c cams have more than proven themselves in power numbers, time slips, and reliability. but i think we should save this cam topic for a cam thread instead of infesting this kind OP's thread with info he doesnt need haha. thanks for the help

 

Understood. But if you're on a college budget, stay OEM and finish school. When I was doing this back '98 we just waited to get the proper parts, not "settle" based on the the " I don't have enough money" argument. Just wait, and get the right stuff.

 

theres that phrase, "the proper parts" and "the right stuff". please tell me why blox parts are not "the proper parts" specifically the cams. these cams have been proven over and over again. just look at some of Mickeyspec's dynos with them. and his oem bottom end gsr that consistently runs low 12's in an EG.

please don't take this as aggression or frustration. i just feel there arn't enough people challenging the main stream idea of "the proper part"
lol ooooo how college boy of me huh??? haha