After nearly 2 years of hoarding parts and nothing but reading and learning, I am finally ready to start building my LSVtec motor. This started off as a budget build, but I learned quick that your budget basically doubles along the way (for me, it tripled). I have been very careful in picking and choosing the right parts (I hope), as this is my first build. I'm also trying my hardest not to do anything I shouldn't be doing, and making sure as I go along with the build that I'm doing everything correctly. I want this thing to last! I have been going by the "How to Build a Reliable LSVtec" thread by bambam, which has been really helpful so thanks to him. So hopefully I don't get too much criticism, but I know I will because it's only natural, and there are still some questions and concerns I'm coming across. Every question I've had so far, I've been able to get an answer from searching on here and google of course. But at this point, I need to get this done before winter and I thought making a thread would benefit me and other people as well. I want this thread to be a learning block for me, and anybody else that might be going down the same road.

Well anyway, at the beginning I wanted this to be my DD, so please keep that in mind. I tried to select parts that would give me around 12:1 compression, and I will be running on 93 pump gas. Based on all of the setups I've read about, I'm projecting a little above 200whp. Although I do plan on just making this a non-winter type DD, upgrades could and might be made down the road. So now on to my huge parts list, so you all know where I'm at. And all these parts are new except for the block and head, and ECU... wanted to start fresh!

Block:
B18B1
Polished/Balanced LS crank
Shotpeened LS Rods
.25mm Oversized JDM ITR Pistons
ACL Main/Rod Bearings
ARP Hardware
OEM B16 Oil Pump
OEM B16 Water Pump

Head:
B16A2 with Multi-angle Valve Job
Skunk2 Pro-series Stage 2 Cams
Skunk2 Pro-series Valvetrain
Skunk2 Ultra-series Flat-faced Valves
OEM B16 Upgraded LMA's
AEM Cam Gears
ARP Hardware
New OEM Gaskets/Seals
OEM LS Headgasket (will be modified for conversion)

Other Goodies:
Golden Eagle LSVtec Conversion Kit
Injen CAI
Skunk2 70mm Pro-series Throttle Body
Skunk2 Pro-series Intake Manifold (port matched to throttle body)
Hondata Intake Manifold Gasket
Walbro 190lph Fuel Pump
AEM Fuel Pressure Regulator
OEM Acura RDX Fuel Injectors
PLM SP Headers
DEI Header Wrap
Innovative Motor Mounts
Mishimoto Radiator
Mishimoto Thermostat
OEM Reman Driveshafts
OEM Belts
Rebuilt Distributor
NGK BKR7E Spark Plugs
New OEM Spark Plug Wires
P28 ECU with Hondata S300
ACT AI4-HDSS Clutch Kit
And also all new OEM Oil Seals/Gaskets/Belts and such

All the machine work is credited to Phillips Racing, who I had assemble the block also. Everything else about this build, I am doing myself. Right now, I have installed everything else on the block, and it's completed... well, minus sensors and water passage.

**Edit** Purchased a clutch

Oh and I will be uploading pics very soon, so I can keep everything documented, and who doesn't love pics? I'll upload some from when I first got the block and head, all the way from cleaning it up to the dyno sheet when I get it tuned...

Now I am in the process of putting together the Head. Which brings me to my only question right now. When I am installing everything from the valve spring seats to valve springs, retainers, rocker arms, etc... should I be putting assembly lube on literally EVERYTHING in the head? I know obviously I should be on the cams, but I just wasn't 100% on everything else.

 

Nice looking grocery list!

I usually let everything soak over night in a bath of the same oil that I will be using for break in (SAE30). The cam is about the only thing I put assembly lube on... even that might not get lube if I am planning on running the engine right after it's assembled. Just add copious amounts of SAE 30 while assembling and go!

 

^dats some funny right there.....


Get a ring filer and put them all correct and placement too.
Plasti-gage every bearing with a KNOWN good or buy a new torque wrench for $100.

Very nice head parts list.

 

Looking good man, nice list. Check out my build thread, it's very similar

 

Well thank you... I am probably about 1-2 weeks at the most from completing the build and swapping it. So, you think if I soak everything in the SAE30 and make sure I keep everything saturated, that will be ok?


Thank you as well. I know what you're talking about as far as the plasti-gauge, but I did just purchase a new torque wrench for this build. I'm not sure what you mean by the ring filer?

Very, very, very nice build... and that's a cleeeaaaan coupe man! Love the pics! I haven't had a chance to read through all the pages yet, but what head gasket did you end up using? This is something I'm like, scared to make a decision on. I've read exactly 50/50 on using the gasket according to the block or the head. I also work for Honda, in the parts department, so I had the luxury of ordering a B16 gasket to see how it would fit. When I put it on the block, I could see some oil galleys covered a little bit, and some areas where the grooves in the gasket would overlap or go over the side of the block. Seems like the B16 head gasket would leak for sure, so I sent it back and planned on ordering the LS one.

 

That's all I have been doing for the past 20 years. Use asslube on the cam and bearings though.




I'm pretty sure he is talking about a piston ring filer used for setting the ring gap and orienting the ring gaps according to Honda specs.

 

Thanks alot man! I appreciate it. I used the ls head gasket, minor adjustments were made for the dowels for the ls vtec kit. It haven't leaked at all so Inwould recommend it. I actually work at Honda myself, the discount helps alot lol.

 

Looking good man, best of luck to you! I eventually want to do something like this in the future as well. Subscribed

 

Definitely in for results. My build was eerily similar but with pro1 replicas. With a good tune on pump you should be over 205 easy!

Good stuff man. And keep us all posted for sure 👍

 

Will do for sure... And the machine shop is pretty reputable, I had them assemble the block. But for peace of mind, I may just check for myself. I did double check all of the torque specs for main and rod bolts when I got it back... Luckily I did because my rod bolts were about 4-6 ft/lbs below spec.

Haha, it surrrrre does. But thanks for the clarification on the head gasket.

Thanks a lot for all of the responses too, I appreciate it! And I will definitely keep this updated, I plan on uploading all of the pics Sunday. I'm hoping to have this built by the beginning of next month. IFO here in Ohio is Sep 29th.

 

Let me just start off by apologizing for abandoning this thread. I assure you the build is alive and well, as I have continued my quest to get this damn thing built and swapped… again, before the next IFO Sep. 28.

Without going into too much detail, I had to put everything on hold due to my girlfriend losing her job pretty much right after I made this thread. Times were tough for awhile. And also we adopted a puppy and that took a lot of time/money.

The motivation has come back, she got a job a while ago and we're back to normal, and I've forced myself to just f***ing get busy already. Thanks for all the previous support, hopefully it hasn't diminished.

I've got many pics to upload, just wanted to ease this back into the forum first...

 

Things happen bro. When my girl didn't work for a bit it was so hard and alot of things have to be put on hold. I feel like theres a greater satisfaction to finish now.Good luck with the build.

 

Yah I feel like you're right.

Well, this pic is from around a year ago and I've still purchased so many more parts since then. Uploading more tomorrow of the block and head.

 

Sounds like a really solid build, I have no complaints.

I've always liked the ACT HD/SS clutch myself.

 

Thanks, I've been seeing/hearing good reviews, glad to see another!

 

I still have to resize and upload some of the pics I have. These are old and I need to take new pics of the block and head progress as it has changed a little. Here are some pics of the block before I ever did anything to it… as I had received it. A little on the rough side, this thing was found in a junkyard I think 3-4 years prior to me finding it, so who knows how long it had been sitting.







And then here's a couple of the block disassembled and ready to be cleaned!







More to come of cleaning it, the machine work, assembled block, and being painted.

 

All I used was Gunk Engine Degreaser, Brake Cleaner, the biggest brass wire brush I could find, and a hose… there was a lot caked on there so it took a couple times.







Here's what it looked like from the shop. Pistons, rods, and crank installed. This is my first engine build, I can't tell you how long I stared at it before doing anything with it. (I'm sure you can find some sexual reference to that statement.) And actually just to be safe, when I got it back I wanted to double check all of the torque specs on the main bolts and rod bolts. I think they may have torqued the rod bolts to Honda specs and not ARP specs because they were probably around 32ft/lb. So I torqued them up to ARP's specs, 50ft/lb. I've read before that you have to torque, loosen, and retorque 2 or 3 times to properly torque them…?? Which ARP's instructions don't mention anything about that, so I didn't do it.

 

Good stuff man

 

And the head, as I had received it also… got it from someone who used it on a turbo LSVtec setup so it already had the spool valve oil hole plugged up. A small fragment from one of the intake valves broke off (as you can see in the pic) and ate up the cylinder walls in their block, luckily no damage done to the combustion chamber on the head or the valve seat.








Here it is back from the machine shop. Valve guides were good, didn't have to mill too much off to resurface, and came out really nice.

 

oh and thanks!

 

Ok so I am facing a little dilemma, and hopefully someone can give me some kind of insight.

I had the machine shop assemble the crank, rods, and pistons. As I mentioned before, I wanted to double check the torque specs so I verified everything was torqued correctly, and this is where I made the rookiest mistake I could have ever made…

I was looking up and following procedures and torque specs for ls vtec setups that used the GSR ARP rod bolts. I had completely forgotten that I purchased the rod bolts for an LS. The LS ARP rod bolts part number is 208-6001 where as the GSR ARP rod bolts part number is 208-6401. Torque specs for the GSR rod bolts are 50lbs/ft, about twice as much as the LS rod bolts which are 26lbs/ft.

So yes, I overtorqued the hell out of them and feel like an idiot. But aside from that, I'm not sure if I should get the LS ones again, or the GSR ones??? I've seen setups run both but not really sure what's better. 26lbs/ft just seems a little low for high revving high performance engines.

Other than which ones to use, I am also curious if this is something that I can do myself? I am aware the big ends of the rods need to be resized after installing ARP rod bolts, and that was done at the shop. Since it was done, is it possible for me to take out the (old) rod bolts and install new ones easily?

I would just like to avoid having to take it to the shop again since I was planning on starting the swap next weekend, also wanna avoid having to pay again.

 

Well, whatd'ya do when you don't get an answer on here?

Figure it out for yourself by searching the internets and first hand experience…

For anybody wondering if you're able to install and/or remove ARP rod bolts yourself, with the crank and pistons still installed…. it is not possible. At least not without potentially damaging the crank. I wanted to do this to avoid taking it to the shop because I am not familiar with installing pistons and crank, also because I don't have the tools.

Anyway, they seem like they're in there pretty good and I don't want to damage the crank or the rods/rod caps by pounding on the bolts to come out. I went and picked up another LS set from Jegs. I read and read and read that people use the LS rod bolts and not GSR, so back to the shop it goes.

What a time-costly mistake!

 

GSR bolts wont fit in LS rods.
B/Vtec rod bolts - 9mm shank
B/nonV rod bolts - 7(maybe 8?)mm shank

Either way, they are a different size.

As to removing them, yes it IS possible. I have done it. Just use a heavy mallet and very accurate, smooth taps.

 

Not sure how high you are planning to rev the engine but I take mine to 9000 rpms at the track and have been doing so for over a year.

LS ARP rod bolts here as well. You should be just fine.

 

Yes it is 8mm as I found out… but I thought people were just modifying the LS rods to be able to take the vtec rod bolts… I may be misunderstanding completely, that has happened before.

But yah I didn't know how much pressure the crank could handle from hitting it with a hammer. Or if I would damage anything such as the rods, rod caps, or whatever. Wasn't sure how tight they were pressed in. I've spent this much time being as careful and precise as possible (and I may be a little too cautious), last thing I want is to wish I had done/not done something…


Thanks for the clarifications