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OK.... after a LONG hiatus, I got the itch again and I'm starting to get back into car stuff.
My previous project stalled and now I'm finally picking back up after getting some really good deal on the B20 block and B16 head.
I suppose it's time for the B20V swap this little hatch

Previous log thread is here

My plans for this car is a reliable daily driver that will see occasional autocross and track time.
Since this car is a daily driver, it will have ALL of the creature comfort. (AC, P/S, Power Accessories)
It will definitely not be the lightest EG hatchback for sure.

Here is how the car looks currently

 

Here are some progress of the engine build in the past two weeks.

Picked block and head for a really good deal locally.



Head has some random intake manifold. It almost looks like the type R manifold, but it does NOT have any stamp.
I'm going to guess it's some type of Chinese replica manifold.
If anybody knows what it is, let me know.


Inspecting the crank and block stamp to figure out the factory bearing clearances.
Block is stamped with "C B C C C"
Crank stamping is here "1 2 2 2 1" for mains "C C B B" for rod journals


So the factory bearing clearance is GRN/YEL for main and GRN/BRWN for rod bearings.
Break down are here


Thought about using OEM Honda bearings but mains/rods combo would cost about $300 so... I decided on the ACLs.
I went with regular ACLs instead of ACL race bearings. Reason for this is, I wanted to run slightly tighter bearings.
From the research I did, people were mentioning ACL Race bearings fit slightly loose.


Disassembling the head.




The Machine shop:
Surfaced Head 0.005
Surfaced Block 0.006
Total of 0.011 milled from both head and block
This puts the B20V combo with about 10.3:1 compression ratio.
This is perfect for me.
I wanted to stay under 10.5, since this will be a daily driver build. And IF in the future, if I ever decide to go F/I, compression is low enough to run some boost.



Night and day difference after resurface.



Start of assembling:
Plastigauge the mains


all of them around 0.0015


all falls in within factory specs


Part cleaning:
All four single pistons had the oil control ring seized and oil holes clogged...


All cleaned up


Cleaning and inspecting the oil pump.


0.0025 for gear to gear clearance and 0.003 rotor axial clearance.
These specs actually fall within the "NEW" limit of the oil pump.
Not sure how many miles this block had but it seems like oil pump didn't wear much at all.




Hasting Rings for CRV/84mm pistons:



Top rings measured 0.017 Second Ring 0.021 but Oil ring was 0.034-0.036.
I was rather really surprise how large the gap was on the oil control rings.
I know most builders only have minimum oil ring gap of 0.015 but Honda FSM states service limit of oil control ring @ 0.028, having a new with with 0.035 seems slightly too large.


I emailed hasting about my concern about 2 days ago but I did not get any reply from them.
So, I currently have new Honda OEM piston rings on order to see how they fit.

Honda OEM piston rings:


Checking the end gaps to see how much they differ from Hastings


Both compression and wiper rings are 0.001 off from falling into the "NEW" spec.


Honda rings and Hastings rings also have completely different shape/design.
Compression/Top Ring: Honda has taper on the inner ring; Hastings is completely rectangular and reversible.
Wiper/Second Ring: Honda has the oil scraper at the outer edge of the ring; Hastings has taper inside(??) and rectangular outer edge (no oil scraper)
Oil Control Ring: Overall very similar design but ring gap 0.02 (Honda) vs 0.034-0.036 (couldn't get a exact measure because I had to double up filler gauges to measure)

Honda (Left is Top, Right is Second)


Hastings (Left is Top, Right is Second)


Oil Control Ring difference:
Honda OEM Left, Hastings on Right. You can clearly see the difference w/o measuring here.


ARP Rod Bolts:
Replacing rod bolts but will NOT be resizing the big end.
I saw a couple of posts here recommending getting the rod bolt put in, shot-peened and resize the rod for safety.
But if someone to do all that to a OEM rods, it would cost as much as complete set of aftermarket rods.
Factory torque spec is 23 ft/lbs and ARP rod bolts are 26 ft/lb. If a mere 3 ft/lb makes the big end go out of round....
I'm just going to take my chances on this one.

Driving out the OEM Rods


Piston Ring Clocking and Driving them in:


Pencil marks are the ring gap location.
~7 o'clock: Top Ring
~10 o'clock: Second Ring
~5 o'clock: Oil Control Ring spring gap. Spacers are 15 degrees off of the spring on both sides. (Service manual orientation picture is above)


Checking the Rod Bolt Gap:
Pistons 2/3, seems to be around 0.0015



Pistons 1/4, same thing here around 0.0015


OEM limits here


All tighten down


All buttoned up and installed a new oil control orifice.

 

Converting and Chipping ECU for CobraRTP:
The ECU I'm using is a P05, which is paired with D15B8 found in USDM CX Model.


All of the old capacitor removed and replaced for a good measure.


ECU mods:

• VTEC(P28) Conversion- Installation instruction by HAMOTORSPORTS
• 4 wire O2 sensor Conversion - adding another NPN transistor on Q30 slot (right above Q26)
• Chipped ECU - Installation instruction by HAMOTORSPORTS

Emulator of choice: CobraRTP R8


Getting ready for paint


Painted Black


Wrapped in carbon fiber

 

In for a practical build and to see your EPAS setup!

 

S2000 Pedals and RSX Steering Wheel Re-finish

Picked up some junk yard 95 Civic EX Manual Pedals.
They do have a cruise control arm. I won't be fitting in a cruise control BUT, doesn't really hurt to have an option.


Removing the rust


Painted the pedals! and these S2000 pedal inserts are from my own S2000.
I actually have aftermarket pedal on my S2k for easier heel and toe. Putting them for a good use.


Using 3.2mm rivets. This pains me... I had no idea that accelerator pedal rubber insert was removable... so I missed a spot..



All riveted on and done!



Pedal assembly will be installed on the car at a later time.

Tan colored RSX Steering Wheel from the junkyard.
Since the junkyard does not sell "airbags" I had to remove the airbag assembly from the horn cover when i bought this.
It's really not that important, because I was going to use an aftermarket steering wheel until I found the RSX steering wheel from the local junk yard.


Airbag cover without the airbag assembly is really squish and it's not ideal since you have to push the horn cover to activate the horn.


Adding fiberglass to make it sturdy. All it needs is a 1 layer of fiber and resin.



Remounting the horn cover frame using 4.8mm rivets.


Disassembling the steering wheel all the way


Steering wheel wrap from


Sewing it all up and assembled. Also painted the steering wheel cover using Duplicolor HVP106


Update 1/6/2023
Doing the red "H" lettering mod from this thread
https://www.clubrsx.com/threads/diy-...mblems.419297/

Wrap the emblem in chrome first using 3M chrome wrap.


Cutting out the red. I have multiple sample piece of red and seems like the closest color is the 3M 1080 Gloss Dragon Fire Red Vinyl Wrap.


Came out pretty good. You can still slightly see the Acura indentation even after 2 layers of the wrap.


On the steering wheel.


Update 1/8/2023
Cruise control button modification.
I'm going to repurpose these 3 buttons to trigger "i don't know what" in the future.
In order to do that, I’m converting the circuit to make them ground triggering switches.

Disassembling the unit


Notice the diodes? They need to be removed and jumped in order to make them functional.


With the diode removed, ran wire from contact to Pin 4 of the harness.


Run the new WHT wire through the loom


Replacing BLK/WHT (trigger wire) with the WHT wire I ran from the board


Testing the ground triggering buttons!
All working

 

Thanks for checking it out.
I actually have the EPAS working, I just need to gather all the pics and update it sometime. haha

 

Wow, the steering wheel wrap turned out fantastic! How difficult was it?

 

Thanks! It’s not hard but very tedious. The key is to keep adjusting until all the ends meet up and sewing looks uniformed.
Also, if I were to do it again, I probably sew it all the way slightly loose and then keep adjusting and tightening until everything lines up and looks good.
Not knowing that, I just started out sewing it too tight which makes it very hard to adjust the fabric.

Fabric from the Chinese seller on Amazon is really on point.

 

Back from the dead once again.
I've been very slowly making progress because of my work.
But lately, I've been a little more busy due to possible move around next summer.
Which means I need to get this car to a good working order prior to that.

ENGINE UPDATE:
I'm super indecisive and I decided to change a bit on the engine side. I'm expecting to see around 11.8~12:1 comp ratio according to the calculation.
I'm trying my best to stay under 12:1 comp ratio since this engine will not see any e85.
Notice the head gasket thickness (0.051), super thick to compensate for 0.011 decked head/block and to stay under 12:1 CR


Block:
Pistons: HPR 84mm Pistons (YCP copy)
Piston Rings: Honda OEM Rings
Rods: Stock with ARP studs
Bearings: Honda OEM bearings (above post has info)
Head Studs: ARP studs

Head:
Cams: Skunk2 Tuner 1 Cams
Valve springs: ITR valve spring Dual Intake/Exhaust
Valve Guides: Supertech Bronze Guides
Valves: Supertech Flat valves
Valve Retainers: Supertech
Valve Seals: Supertech ALL EXHAUST gaskets (blues)
LMA: BLOX
Cam Gears: Black Golden Eagle

Accessories:
Head Gasket: Cometic 0.051
Intake Manifold: Skunk2 Pro
TB: 67mm Unknown brand




HPR Pistons are YCP copies; YCP are also copy of USDM ITR; HPR = 84mm USDM ITR??
I bought both YCP and HPR pistons but decided to go with HPR because of the finish were superior on HPR.
Left is the HPR and Right is the YCP.
I could be wrong but casting and piston ring skirt looks better on HPR.
Not shown on pic but HPR are also compatible with both press fit and floating (aftermarket rods)




Cometic vs OEM head gasket, I love the quality and service of cometic.
I was able to talk to them on the phone and modify my order to get the specific thickness I wanted.
This is the hybrid non-VTEC block and VTEC head, head gasket from them.
rivets are in correct place (no need to drilled out) and dowel pin holes are enlarged to fit the VTEC head dowels.
Part number C4193-051 (last 3 numbers are the thickness in thousandth)


Pretty much all assembled.
Still need to install couple seals/change out some bolts but pretty much put together for now.


Skunk2 Pro Series Intake Manifold, it's dirty but not a Chinese copy nor ebay fake.
You can tell by the runners here. Smooth transitions from chamber to runners.



Cleaned up and getting ready for paint.
Throttle body is some 67mm no-brand that came with the manifold. Better than the stock size imo, so I'm using it


Painted in wrinkle black.
Also adjusted butterfly plate for stickiness (it was sticking when I got it), and installed PLM TPS

 

What all does that emulator enable?

 

It’s very similar to Hondata S300 but instead of SManager, you are using HTS/eCtune/Crome or some other obd1 compatible software for tuning.

Nothing really special about it just an alternative to Hondata.

 

Nice!

 

Working on AP1 Gauge Cluster
I got an old AP1 cluster for pretty cheap. It's definitely not perfect, numerous scratches and upon testing, some of the light bulbs needs to be replaced.
Kind of a perfect restore project.


A lot of wet sanding and hand buffing




Currently bench testing the gauge with some scripts I retrieved from honda-tech forum.
User DiSCLAiMER uploaded the arduino code and a great description of the script he has written to convert ECT and VSS values.
https://honda-tech.com/forums/appear.../#post47062386

I initially tried to merge both script into one since my original plan was to use the ESP32, which is a whole lot more capable vs the atmega328p but even with the dual core processor and using separate threads to process ECT and VSS simultaneously, the VSS value dipped during sending ECT signal to the gauge.
So, I scrapped the idea and now using 2x Seeduino XIAO SAMD21. I have like 4 of these laying around from past projects.


If anybody is curious, S2000 gauge is capable of upto 199mph or 300kmh for the speedo display.

 

Body/Chasis Update
Engine is out


Stripping interior as well.



Engine bay completely stripped and getting ready for some paint.


Choice of color is Championship White. Nothing fancy.


Taking off the old heat/sound deadening material out.
Just the old heat gun and scraper method to remove. It’s pretty easy but it does leave some residue.
Seems like the CX model only has the sound deadening material under the front seat.
It’s really not anywhere else.


Old sound deadening is out but since this is not a full time “race car”, I’m going to be sound deadening with 4mm closed foam.
This material is SUPER light. they weigh less than 2lb per roll of 35 square feet.
I’m estimating about 3 full rolls to do entire car including the headliner/door/hatch.



Powerwash/cleaning up the wheel wells


Removed Fuel Tank and started to undercoat/rubber coat the underside of the car.



I cleaned up the Fuel Feed/Return/Evap, Rear left/right brake lines.
Not shown on the pic, but I removed the Evap, fuel tank fresh air inlet.


This is the 2 way valve for the fuel tank fresh air inlet/purge.
Fresh hoses and clips


New fuel tank feed hose, old one was collapsing, so this was well worth doing.


Fuel tank is back in after the fresh coat of undercoat and cleaning.
And this is how the new fresh air inlet/purge is going to get air instead of the line going all the way to the engine bay for no reason.



Will update more at a later time

 

Battery Relocation
I pulled a 0 AWG power wire from a 7-series, only $11 from my local pull-a-part but these wires are much better quality than most of the wires you can buy on amazon/ebay.
Well worth the trouble pulling it from the car.


You can see how much copper strand is in this 0AWG wire.
This power wire is so thick that you have to trim enough of copper stand to fit over the 3/8inch copper rings.


Test fitted the evaporator box and this location clears while providing good location under the hood for distribution block.
Not entirely sure of where I’m placing the battery right now but I know it will be inside the cabin/rear hatch area.
I do have couple ideas in mind but have not committed to it yet.


Under the hood distribution.
From this distribution, it will have 12V going to starter (4/6AWG), alternator (6/8AWG), and fuse box(8AWG).


will update some more later

 

Transmission Update
Took awhile to collect all the parts for the tranny because I wanted it to be exactly to my liking.
Some requirements I had:
- I wanted a tranny with an LSD
- For AX events, I wanted my second gear to top out around high 60s/low 70s, so in a bigger lot events, there are no need to shift from 2nd to 3rd back and forth.
-​ ​​​​​B16/Type R gears are nice and short for 1-4, but they are kind of too short and 2nd gear will top out in low 60s.
- Wanted my 5th gear to be long enough for nice comfortable cruise on highway without drone.
- Wanted something that can take the abuse

So, what I decided to do is..
- GSR 1-4th gear
...... shorter than LS but longer than B16
- LS 5th gear
...... long highway gear, 5th rarely ever get used on track, so... that's not too big of a deal.
...... also it's a better transition from 4th to 5th with a GSR vs B16 anyway.
- Integra Type R LSD
...... Uses bigger and stronger ring gear. Direct swap for a GSR diff
- Carbon synchros and brand new bearings
...... all carbon synchros except for the reverse synchro

Synchrotech rebuild kit.
1-5 carbon synchros, Reverse is brass. NTN Bearings


Pic of open vs LSD diff


LS vs GSR 5th



Input shaft with carbon synchros laid out


Output shaft with carbon synchros laid out



Assembled


LSD with 4.4 FD from GSR

 

I've been working on it slow and consistently just haven't updated in a while.

Integra/DC power subframe with Blox subframe collar.


De-powering steering column completely since I'm using EPAS.
disassemble


assemble


440cc RDX injectors with 1/2 inch rubber damper.
1/2 inch damper gets you to a perfect height for this setup.


Installed. This is how the injector sits


LUK flywheel and Exedy Stage 1


Installed


Mark/Painted the TDC/16 Degree marks


Re-wrapped multiple wiring harness
Engine


Passenger side


Driver side


Relocated engine harness bracket.


Engine is now inside the car.
Using Innovative 60 durometer poly mounts.


Don't mind the extra stuff you see here that I didn't mention yet. I currently have the wiring complete but still need to install sensors and finish plumbing

 

Nice work dude

 

Thank you!

Some more updates!

Rebuilding the heater core/AC control unit/Blower motor/CRV Evap unit.
30+ year old foams/seals are completely falling apart, so I decided to redo all of the seals.



New foams on all the flaps


Four seasons heater core


Put all back with new seals on the outside


CRV Evaporator housing / four seasons evap / New seals/foam on blower motor housing


Dead pedal prep. Using 3x m6 rivet nut to hold down the S2000 dead peal.


All of them installed


Not completely finished but here are some money shots.
S2000 cluster / RSX steering wheel / S2000 start button / S2000 pedals / Black Odyssey Climate control unit.

 

Some more updates!

Oil Pan
Got a new oil pan. (ebay special)
It's a 4 quart pan, includes the oil baffle and has 2 additional bungs for oil return and oil temp sensor for ~$90.




Fuel setup.
Nothing special but adapted -6AN lines for feed/return and using EK/CRV style fuel filter for cleaner look and easier upgrade to a better setup if I ever decide to do so.
But to be honest, only thing I will change will be most likely an adjustable fuel pressure regulator in the future.
I personally like the OEM rail because it uses fuel damper, and fuel pressure regulator that is rock solid and never fails.




RADIATOR
KOYORAD Universal Pocket Radiator RH249525
I'm using all OEM style filler neck and radiator hose for easy replacement.
I thought about AN style radiator hose but other than looking pretty, it only has downsides.
It's expensive, smaller inner diameter than stock 1.25 inch tube, and impossible to be find replacement in a crunch.
I might do a write up on this one later for all the parts I used.
In the mean time, here are some pics






preview of the AC condenser mount in the near future.



Getting pretty close to first start.

 

Finishing up the radiator hose.
Using plastic clamp to separate hoses from rubbing. No more rubbing now.






Transmission linkage and shifter installed.
Using Energy Suspension poly mounts and KTuned B series shifter.
Shift is super solid and short.

 

Man, I love this project! Looking good.
hoping to see videos with some rips soon!
where did you find the plastic hose clamp separator? I’m trying to locate a replacement for my D16Y8, and have been coming up short.

 

Thanks!
B and D series has different size clamps.

They are all junkyard pickups.
Double big hose clamp is from a newer Honda Passport.
Heater to Radiator Hose clamp is actually a hybrid. Smaller (Heater Hose) side is from 93 Civic EX and Big (Radiator Hose) side is from a Honda Passport. They clip in together like a LEGO.

So, what I have here might not fit your setup. D series has smaller diameter radiator hoses.
I think your best bet is to just find exact replacement at the junkyard. If you pull it from 92-00 Civic, it should fit your application.

 

Thank you, appreciate it. I was hoping to find a new one, so it might last longer than my 26 year old clamp, but I’ll look for a j/y one.

 

yeah. sorry not sure about new ones. i’m going to just guess they are discontinued at this point.

but the good news is they are $1.50 at my local junkyard. so you can get couple extras.