So i rebuilt my integra at the end of summer and thought id be the cool kid in town and be high compression. Threw in high comp pistons and put her together. ran for about 6 hours lacking power. it then developed a rod knock and 5 seconds later a grenade went off. a rod bolt let go, sending the bottom cap and bearing went for a ride.

now we have a b18b1 block and head. well the head is b1 with a1 internals. i still want to go high comp though. i have arp rod bolts this time so that won't be an issue. do i need main bolts or will stock do? from what i understand(not much lol) to really make worth of the pistons i should a more agressive cam setup, better v spring (thinking supertech ds), better retainers (crower chromoly or ti?), aftermarket valves (would new stock be okay?) i would like to do the chromoly retainers, st ds valve springs, and some h rod beams with hc pistons and arp rod bolts. would this work or am i looking at another disaster? also heard a gsr intake cam would do well, anyone confirm or deny? sorry so many questions i just want to do it right this time.

 

Sorry for you luck, I'm guessing you didn't use at least 500$ worth of tools to check clearances etc lol ?. Either way this time got for an LS/Vtec set up you have way more options,more power. As for the bottom end i'll list what I used in my b20v: ARP rod/main bolts, ACL rod/main bearings, Manly h-beam rods, wiseco 12:1 85mm pistons and arp head studs. Do you have a list and specs of all the parts you're looking at ? hard to give good info without knowing

 

I don't really want to go for VTEC. I was happy with the car when I got it, but it needed to be rebuilt. I have a 91 ED that I just got a D16Z6 for to fullfill my VTEC needs. The bottom end is...

• B18B1 block
• Stock crank (main bolts with new bearings)
• ARP rod bolts
• CX Racing h beam connectors
• High compression pistons (don't know the brand, they are new, second-hand)

Top end

• B18B1 head
• New OSVAT(?) valves
• Supertech Dual spring valve spring
• Brian Crower chromoly retainers
• Stock keepers

Now my other setup idea is to just put it all back together stock and just drive it. Thoughts?

 

with out knowing what compression those pistons are could be your down fall again did you check clearances when you assembled the block ?. I highly recommend claying the engine when you don't know what pistons you're running is the block already assembled ?.

 

the block is together but on a stand so its not hard to get it. the pistons were stock bore, just slightly different higher middle section of the piston. honestly I'm quite sick of not having a car i think i will just put the stock pistons on stock rods with new rings and be done with the bottom. oh but use the arp rod bolts.

can i still use my supertech dual springs and bc chromolys with my otherwise stock valve train? or will there be issues?

 

sorry for the double post but as far as why the engine blew, it was definitely the rod bolt letting go. whether it was weak or improprerly torqued i dont know. i did not do it, my friend did. there was no damage to the pistons or cylinder walls, just shavings from the bearing & the offending bolt in the pan. and the rod cap welded to the block. i had an a1.

 

I'd just throw the stock items back tbh especially without knowing the C/R of those pistons, don't let your friend near the car serious....!.

 

that's what I'm leaning towards. but is it safe to add my valve train parts? or go stock there too?

 

You're setting yourself up for disaster again. Short version of what went wrong is: Motor was down on power because it was running lean and detonating, that hammered the **** out of the rod bearings and then a rod let go completely. That is certainly not the only way things could have happened, but based on what you've said it's just my best guess. You've already said you don't know much so maybe consider reading more about engine building, blueprinting, and assembly (in books not on internet forums) before you attempt another build. I would be happy to help you build a reliable engine, but I won't hold your hand.

 

you make a good point sir. stock parts it is. you don't need to hold my hand but i do ask for good advice. between this 93integra and 91 civic sedan, i plan on becoming a decent member of this community and sharing my hobby with these cars. I'm not a novice in the garage my father either fixed cars, sold cars, or sold parts his whole life and he taught me a lot. this is just my first forray into internal work. i will post progress regardless. just waiting on parts.

 

I'm not trying to deter you from doing a high comp build and using aftermarket parts. I'm simply saying there is a right way and a wrong way to handle a non stock parts build. Hell, a stock parts build can fly apart just as easily as a "built" engine if the person putting it together is careless. You have to be a lot more careful when using non-oem parts. Checking clearances is paramount to any successful build. Honda spoiled us with color coded bearings among other things and as a result many people think that throwing standard ACL bearings in a build and not measuring the clearances is perfectly fine. It's not difficult to build a reliable engine, the struggle is learning what it takes to do so. Once the engine is blueprinted, assembled, and in the car, the next most important thing is the tune. Trailer the car to a reputable tuner, let them break the engine in on the dyno and fully tune it.

 

I'm going to go stock i think. save performance for my civic. i have an a1 head, just got to extract a cam cap bolt. hence whhy i bought new valve train parts lol i will build that and find a block to suit it.

 

I would not use pistons if I didn't know what they were. Of course you can always get different pistons.

I'm 1998GsRIntegra; without knowing details I'd guess you did not properly tune and ran the engine into the ground. If you notice it is down on power and run the engine hard without knowing why... well it's never a good idea. If I were you I would stick with OEM parts or commonly used parts with well understood clearances, and get a competent builder/tuner to help you out.

How are you tuning this engine? How high are you revving it?

 

who said i ran the engine hard when it seemed down on power....? it never left the driveway. when i started this build i was pretty scattered about what i wanted. i just wanted high comp. but after lots of research and my past experience i know for sure what i want. a stock RUNNING car lol

 

considering you can get rs machines or nippon new pistons with ring that you know the compression of for less than 200 bucks on ebay, i would do that.

also stock cams and high compression can really be a bad combo and lead to detonation.

maybe some 404's or i know rocket makes a good cam for the nonvtec. go into the all motor and search out slowsleeper, him and charlie and those guys out in minnesota have done a bunch of builds and experiments with nonvtecs and have a few threads that are very informative.

overall, you gotta get it tuned. no way around it

 

i believe they were nippon high comp actually since you mention it. yellow box? and thanks! that's like the info i wanted. i read somewheere the gsr intake cam is advantageous? any truth there?

 

How did you know it was down on power if it never left the driveway? And are you saying it threw a rod idling? Why did you run it for 6 hours in the driveway without diagnosing the unsafe condition? I'm not calling you out I'm just saying ther is more to the story here. More to the point, your problem may have had nothing to do with the parts you used, meaning that history could repeat itself even if you stick with oem parts.

 

you can tell when a car just isn't all there even idling. we thought the timing was off possibly. again it did not throw a rod, damage any cylinder walls, or damage any pistons. it was certainly either a rod bolt not torqued correctly or a weak bolt. when the knock started i didn't have time get to the key before it let go. I'm headed to the garage today i will have pics of my ish. but anyways, stock is the plan and i am going to triple check everything this time.

also ignore my gsr cam question lol i got my answer.

 

found out my pistons have a. 10.2:1 compresssion ratio.

 

So...I was under the impression you were out driving the car under load...This sounds like assembly error more than anything. Disregard what I said about it running lean if it never left the driveway, it's certainly possible that it was, but if it was never under any load it wouldn't have done much damage. 10.2:1 is pretty much the stock comp ratio for a b18c1 gsr engine. When you said high comp I was thinking 13:1 or maybe even 15:1 like the h23 I'm building right now. If it wasn't idling properly timing being off is a good possibility. Oh and cylinder three runs the hottest out of the four cylinders on these cars so in many cases the piston top will be a bit cleaner than the other three.

 

Yeah seems like it to me too. GL OP. I bet you'll have more luck the next time around.