I'm currently trying to replace my valve seals on my B18c1 with the head on the block. I am following this THIS guide and am on step 14. I do not have an air compressor and was looking into the "rope method" of where you stuff rope into the cylinder to prevent the valve from dropping.
Does anyone know how to do this method correctly? I read that you are supposed to crank the piston up slightly to compress the rope against the valve but I don't know if its okay if i crank my bottom end with my cam belt loosely hanging. any help is appreciated!

 

since you have the cams out, you can do whatever you want to the bottom end. all the valves are closed.

 

Agree^ OP why not just rent a air compressor for a few bucks ?

 

Crank engine, [by hand] so piston of the cylinder your working on is at the top, valve can not drop. 94

 

but how's he going to put the keeper back in ?, the valve need to be sung in the seat.

 

sorry to not help, but I was going to be doing this soon as well. How easy is it so far? It doesn't seem TOO complicated but still, I don't want to **** something up, because my car is my DD

 

Yup this happened, I just stuffed rope into the cylinder before i compressed it to TDC, kept the valves pushed up so the keepers were no problem.


Hasn't been too difficult, I am 17 still in high school doing this by myself. I printed out the whole guide i linked earlier and followed it step by step aside from the air compressor. Main problem I ran into was getting all the tools and removing the old seals with needlenose pliers. I found hitting them with a heat gun for a few moments makes it a whole lot easier. I wish i had the specific valve seal remover tool though. I also found that http://www.ebay.com/itm/Honda-Acura-B18C1-VTEC-VALVE-SPRING-COMPRESSOR-TOOL-/121194641037?pt=Motors_Automotive_Tools&hash=item1c37c3768d&vxp=mtr valve spring compressor was extremely invaluable and have to say, its worth the price. It made removing and installing keepers way less sketchy i didn't lose a single one. I can't imagine someone trying to accurately use the method where you whack the spring with a rubber mallet.

But i've run into another problem. I am now at step #41 where i have to put my crankshaft back at TDC. However I do not have any TDC marks on my crank pully, the previous owner replaced them with AEM ones which do not have marks. I used a chopstick to check for TDC through cylinder #1 and am not sure if cylinder #1 is at TDC or the exhaust stroke. I read somewhere that it doesn't matter and TDC is TDC, but I am worried im 180degrees off TDC. My cams aren't attached to the belt yet btw. Any ideas?

 

Simple solution ^

stick a 12'' 3/8dr extension down the #1 spark plug well, then spin the engine "by hand" and watch the extension go up n down it's highest point is TDC.


Hmmm strange pulley the one's I know just have one grove for the alt belt in effort to save weight and reduce rotational mass.

 

Okay so i just finished the job. She started right up no problem and idled at 1500 RPM. I got out of the car and checked out the engine bay and I noticed thin smoke coming out of the exhaust side of my valve cover gasket just a few moments after starting. Smoke smelt like burnt rubber. I shut her off right away still at 1500 rpm before anything warmed up. Any advice on this? any help is appreciated.

 

Okay now im scared. I started the engine again because thought the smoke was coming from the exhaust pipes heating up and burning off oil that might have dripped on there. The smoke is coming through the exhaust headers and smells like burnt rubber just a few moments after the motor starts. motor idles at 1500 rpm almost exactly, but seems to sound more muffled and quieter than i remember. Both camshafts are still in correct timing. The car would not start a 3rd time, chugged twice and didn't start i stopped trying and unplugged the battery. What should i do??? A possibility is i tightened my timing belt too much, but would this cause the car not to start?

Here are two videos i made after putting everything back together, hopefully it will help with diagnosing the problem.

 

x2 check timing, my guess is what you're smelling is just some oil that dripped onto the exhaust manifold or maybe something touching it that shouldn't. I've never replaced seats, seals or stems yet so I can't really give personal experience. confirm spark and fuel then go from there