I did search but I couldn't find anything recent or very relevant, maybe I suck at searching.
I am looking to do a stock rebuild on a JDM ITR engine.
Has anyone had an experience with the complete kits that are offered on ebay/amazon?
They typically use King bearing and NPR rings.
I have used NPR twice previously(Mazda GTX and a 12psi Miata) with no problems.

Any constructive feedback is welcome.


97 01 Acura Integra Type R 1 8L DOHC Master Overhaul Engine Rebuild Kit B18C5 | eBay

 

In for this... I've always wanted to know as well.

 

Why when I'm pretty sure HMO sells genuine itr pistons, and slugs usually come with pin and rings. Me personally I would piece together genuine OEM parts. Just my .o2

 

The pistons are about the only thing that I wouldn't use as the JDM are quoted as 11.1:1 and the the kit ones are 10.6:1.
I can only imagine how much Honda would want for OEM Type R pistons, probably $400/piston(just a guess).

 

anything Nippon has always been great for stockish rebuilds in my experience.
King bearings on the other hand, I've used 5 times, in 3 different motors, and all 5 times resulted in catastrophic failures of the crank getting ground to hell to the point of flopping around in the block. clearances were flawless, and cranks were all well within spec and no damage beforehand. I will never use King bearings ever again. I know a lot of people have used them with no issues, but that has not been my experience over the course of several years. all other brands I have had zero issues with ever. personally I prefer ACL bearings; Race version when available for performance setups, and the standard duraglide version for stockish setups. the duraglide version is much lower cost than the race versions.

 

Thanks for that info

I have built a few dozen engines in my carreer and have never had any known issues but I have never noticed installing King brand bearings.
I will certainly take your experience into consideration.

 

Maybe I'll just piece together a kit:
Master gasket set,oil pump, water pump, t/belt kit
Hastings rings
ACL bearings

 

thats an excellent kit there, as long as the belt is Gates

 

How are you setting clearances? Which King bearings are you using? From my experience (100+ engine builds) the standard sets offered by ACL, Clevite, and King give you too little clearance. I stay away from factory specs when it comes to bearing clearancing. I have built many 700+ honda motors and 340+ all motor k s using King racing bearings without a hitch and its the only brand I recommend.

 

What do you set rod and main bearing clearances to?
I've always looked for 0.0015-0.003"