I've heard that it is a bad idea to just pull off the head and drop in a block guard. They say you should do it during a build up(bottom end).

I'm planning on turbo'ing my B20 this spring. I was going to put on a thicker gasket anyways and thought I might drop in a blockguard for extra durability.
What are your opinions on this?

 

I heard that these block guards make your engines overheat. I'm sure there will be a barrage of people saying that's not true, but why risk it? If you're going turbo, you should definitely also upgrade your safety stuff too, like radiator, better coolant, oil cooler, etc.

Jay Kim

 

yeah, turbo hondas run hot anyways, and blockguards dont help that. the reason you shouldnt just drop in a BC is because it (very, very slightly) pushes the tops of the cylinder walls together, and youre supposed to install the BC, then take it and have the cylinders bored/honed afterwards. i found this out the hard way, and ruined a $500 set of JEs. but i got an STR BC and it was really nice as far as quality goes, but when i build my new engine, im gonna sleeve it. much better and, IMO, worth the money. it seems as if the engine would run really hot with a closed deck, so im gonna look further into that, but no, dont just pull the head and drop in a BC.