Hi guys I am building a motor, and this will be my first all motor build. It's going in my EK9 and will be used mostly as a weekend car, but driveability is a must and reliability is important as wel; i do plan to use it to go to work and school now and again. I am shooting for around 220 to the wheels, and I have a relative idea of what I want, but am not very familiar with this type of build. The car will be tuned on CA 91 by church automotive. I come to you HT, to help me with my build list.

Here's what I have so far

Wiseco 11.8:1 pistons $490
Eagle H beam rods $340
ACL race rod & main bearings $160
Skunk2 pro stage 2 cams $650
Skunk2 cam gears $240
Supertech dual valve springs & retainers $470
OBX ITBs bored to 48mm, polished, all hardware replaced & lubricated throttle plates $1000
ARP Head Studs $160
ARP Main Studs $95
DSM 450cc injectors $100
Hondata S300 $490
RMF narrow header $300
Apexi WS2 catback $600

Now I know some of my prices might be a little off. This is not a low budget build, but I'm also not trying to overpay for unnecessary parts. So tell me; what am I missing? What should I change? What are the weak points in my build?

By the way, I'm conflicted between 12.5:1 pistons and 11.8:1 pistons. Any suggestions there? I know the PR3 head will lower my compression a tiny bit, and I know different thickness head gaskets can affect that as well.
Also I'm debating between using an LS crank and rods, or just sticking to the factory bore. Any feedback on that?
Thanks in advance guys .

 

I could go 12.5:1 or 13:1 and tune on 110 octane and go for higher numbers

 

220 whp at Church's should be easy.

You can skip the ARP main studs as OEM main fasteners are known to hold up fine. Main studs will require the main caps to be align honed.

The OBX ITBs a must? You can probably a the same amount of power for less money with a shelf IM.

I'd personally get better injectors as there's some gain in power and reliability there itself.

Filling up fuel on 110 will be pricey. If you've got the budget for higher octane fuel, might as well get that compression up as much as the fuel can support.

The LS crank/rod setup isn't a big deal. Your overall combination will determine whether the power/torque will be there. I've got 2 slightly different setups in my sig, check those out as they'll probably answer some of your possible questions. Both LS/GSR cranks are capable of 150+ tq in 1.8L BVTEC engines IF the combo is right.

 

Ok great I will skip the ARP main studs. As for injectors, I could go with PTE 525s, or I suppose FIC 525s, but I prefer PTEs.
The OBX ITBs are not entirely necessary, and I understand they will require more money for tuning, but seeing as a performer X IM and a decent TB ends up costing only a few hundred less had me thinking. Then i was surprised to see some guys getting good results as far as reliability and performance out of the OBX ITBs. I've always wanted ITBs so I think it'd just be fun to have them.
Here's the obx itb thread;
https://honda-tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2219288&styleid=18

Apparently they're just Toda replicas, and with a little porting & polishing & stronger hardware & a little grease on the throttle plates, they perform even better. So for an investment of $700 plus cost of a good P&P and hardware costs, and a few hours of my time, I can have something I've always wanted at a price I can afford.

 

Use some better rods. Nothin wrong with their strength, it's their weight and big end tolerances that aren't the best for a reliable AM application. Some Carrillo rods would be my choice. Or arp studs on some stock rods would work just swell.
I'd also choose a different muffler. The sound is beautiful, but it's too restrictive if you're after the most potential power output.

 

Carrillo rods are supremely expensive. I think I might go with the LS rods and crank. As far as exhaust, what would you suggest? I'm not trying to be TOO loud, would an evo2 be sufficient?

 

Given the choice, I'd pick an 89mm crank every time.

 

x2. The added displacement will make power a little easier to make. I would go with the higher compression personally.
The ws2 catback is VERY restrictive in the upper rpm range as well. A 3" with a good cat and muffler and a couple resonators will make good power and still be easy on the ears.
I would look into RDX, grams or ID injectors with upped fuel pressure via FPR and a bigger fuel pump.

 

Is there a way i can map 2 different tunes (one for 91 and one for VP 110) and easily alternate between them?

 

The S300 has dual tables
http://www.hondata.com/s300.html

 

truth to this statement.

for the exhaust, i think making you own/having one made will be better than buying an complete system.


i just did one without a cat and used a 24" magnaflow 4" round muffler in the b pipe instead of a resonator. combined with a vibrant flat black muffler its the best sounding exhaust ive had. zero rasp and with the radio on you cant even hear it cruising on the highway.

ill leave this thread in the hands of everyone else, you have some great experience and advice in here

 

Ok I will have an exhaust shop fab up an exhaust. Does it really have to be 3" or would 2.75 suffice?

And what size pistons do I want? I am about to send the block out to be bored/honed, decked & jet washed, so it will help to know what bore I want.

 

You need to have the bores measured first, then just go.to the next oversize. Order the pistons, give them to the shop.so they can measure them when they bore/hone it to get proper.p2w clearance

 

I was going to say ditch the OBXs, but it sounds like you have that figured out

For injectors I'd personally get the RDX for the OEM reliability and power. Plus they're not terribly expensive even with the mods needed

 

Oh that makes sense. I was going to go with the Grams 550s per recommendation, but if RDXs are big enough to do the job adequately, I'll go that route. 220 whp was a goal but if I can eek a little more out of my setup safely, I will. Now how do I know which RDX injectors are OEM? Online I see 'K-Tuned' and Bosch. I'm assuming the Bosch injectors are the ones I want?

 

I don't think K-Tuned makes their own version of RDX injectors...they just sell it. RDX injectors probably are Bosch, honestly I've never thought to look that up. If you just go to Rywire.com, they have everything you'll need. I'm sure other places do to, but rywire is just where I got mine. They flow much more than enough for your application. And they may be listed as 410s, but they are actually 550s, if I remember right. I can find the thread that explains it and link it, if you are interested

 

Excuse me, not Bosch; Denso

 

No explanation necessary, I think you've got the right idea on OEM quality, and I'll go with it. Now I think I've got my build pretty much dialed in. Are the skunk2 pro2 cams going to be an ideal choice for my setup, or is there a better choice for the money? And as far as cam gears; are they all the same or should I choose those carefully?

 

Any name brand cam gear is going to be good, but if you're putting the motor together yourself, make sure you torque all bolts to spec. People complain about broken cams and slipping gears but when you don't torque everything properly, that's what happens. From what I've read, Bisimoto gears are probably the safest bet.

Someone else could probably help you better on cams for your particular application

 

I see so many people just cranking the hell out of their bolts with a ratchet set and wondering why their car isn't reliable. It's one of the things that bugs me about the honda culture. But that's a rant for another day. I've never been one to skip the basics. Good advice, and thanks for the suggestion I'll keep it in mind.

 

one time when i was a young lad about 10 years ago i broke a cam by improperly torquing the cam caps. you want to follow specs. the only acceptable deviation from that is on the arp headstuds. they are best done in 3 steps, 25-50-80, or im sure you could use 20-40-75. just make sure the last step is a bigger increase than the previous ones or you run the risk of twisting the stud in the block rather than tightening the nut. this is all first hand experience.


someone else can chime in, but the pro2 may be a bit big for your bore/compression....

 

I will probably end up going with a custom grind from Kelford or Comp Cams unless anyone has a better suggestion. Now last question, I have been looking on spoolin performance and am confused as to which header is the RMF narrow replica, and which is the Toda replica. I am pretty set on one of those, want to make sure I have a good quality header, and was hoping to keep it under $600. Can anyone straighten me out on that?

 

The Skunk2 Alpha header is better quality than those replicas, and it makes the same power.

Also, Pro 2 cams are pretty big, you'd probably want to replace your LMAs. I personally think the Pro 2s are a bit big for your setup.

 

Pro 2's will be pushing it on the 11.8 which is why I recommended he run the higher comp slugs. I don't think it would be TERRIBLE, just not ideal. I might be selling my M22x cams OP. If you're interested PM me. They would fit this setup pretty nice.

 

I may just do that 93. Give me some time to think on it.
Edit: will probably just go with the Skunk2 Alpha and suck up the ground clearance issue. I run 15s and PIC Coilovers, but if it really is a much higher quality than the PLR's replicas than it's worth the sacrifice.