So far this season, I've been racing my '90 crx si with a junkyard '94 dx engine. A friend/mechanic was supposedly working on building a race engine for me, but 4 months into the season, there's no race engine in sight. The more I race with this dx engine, I'm getting serious about building the engine myself. I have all of the components except the block, which would need to be overbored to fit my pistons.

I was wondering if there is any mystical quality that goes into assembling a race engine that a shade tree mechanic like me would not possess. Or, if I took all the parts to a speed shop to build my race engine, would they most likely follow the same instructions in Helms that I would follow? Now, I'm not trying to compare myself to a highly reputable speed shop that's known for building winning IT engines. I'd just like to know if the engine that I can assemble "by the book" will be comparable to an engine assembled from the same parts by a speed shop.

 

It isn't really the assmbly process that is voodoo - it's the math applied to the parts that get assembled. I'll let someone else ask about the backdate issue.

K

 

I would like to see a write up of a blueprinted D16. What goes into these motors, how do they blueprint them? I know what blueprinting is, I would just like to talk to someone who also knows....(does this make any sense)

 

Assembling a race engine is nothing special BUT.....

there are certain tricks by engine

AND certain tricks for race vs. street

for example...Honda uses special coded bearings to achieve clearances, some will cut the crank and use standard type bearings..
race clearances TEND to be wider than street clearances
Factory specs give a range. Being at the high side of this and the low side of that makes all the difference in the world.
Stock rings come with gaps cut wide for saftey. Racers get oversize rings and cut their own gaps for a perfect fit.

For your first engine, watch someone who knows the tricks for MAXIMUM power with the same parts. Two people can assemble the same parts and get way different HP outputs. But both engines will be assembled within specs and will run fine.

Pick your race engine builder by RACE reputation. A GREAT stock engine builder just won't get the HP.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Grumpy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Assembling a race engine is nothing special BUT.....

there are certain tricks by engine

AND certain tricks for race vs. street

for example...Honda uses special coded bearings to achieve clearances, some will cut the crank and use standard type bearings..
race clearances TEND to be wider than street clearances
Factory specs give a range. Being at the high side of this and the low side of that makes all the difference in the world.
Stock rings come with gaps cut wide for saftey. Racers get oversize rings and cut their own gaps for a perfect fit.

For your first engine, watch someone who knows the tricks for MAXIMUM power with the same parts. Two people can assemble the same parts and get way different HP outputs. But both engines will be assembled within specs and will run fine.

Pick your race engine builder by RACE reputation. A GREAT stock engine builder just won't get the HP.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Good info! Anyone else want to throw out some secrets?

 

Grumpy said a mouthful....good advice.!! If you look at the front running cars, check who is putting their engines together......

 

Good info Grumpy. It's probably safe to assume that while I could build an engine to factory spec, I wouldn't know where to start monkeying with the tolerances to maximize power output.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Batoutahell &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Good info Grumpy. It's probably safe to assume that while I could build an engine to factory spec, I wouldn't know where to start monkeying with the tolerances to maximize power output.</TD></TR></TABLE>

You might not know the secrets, but I'd wager you could build a decent motor on your own just by maximizing whats obvious in the FSM and GCR/ITCS (shaving head, valve job limits, over-bore, etc).

You might be able to get a hint or two if you ask around at the track, improvedtouring.com, etc. You'd be surprised what "secrets" some people will openly share - you just have to ask the right questions.

 

so who wants to share these secrets. I wouldnt even know what to ask!

 

OK who wants to start with main and rod clearances?

Also I say bore it to .030 not .040 to start, so you can go to .040 later.

 

there was a feature in grass roots motorsports where they built a stock toyota engine for maximum horsepower while staying within stock autox rules. it talks about bearings clearances and other cool stuff. when i get home from work ill post up the information.

 

Great, I'm looking forward to seeing it!

 

Doesthe GCR allow you to port oil galleries and things like that ?
if so there is a massive difference between novice and pro engine building..

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Want2race &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Doesthe GCR allow you to port oil galleries and things like that ?
if so there is a massive difference between novice and pro engine building.. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Not for SS, Touring, or IT. Maybe for Prod and GT - I haven't read those rules.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Grumpy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">OK who wants to start with main and rod clearances?

Also I say bore it to .030 not .040 to start, so you can go to .040 later.</TD></TR></TABLE>


can bore to .030 and not run legal pistons!!! you would need custom pistons then....which equals BIG BUCKS!~!!!!!

i'd say don't bore if the block does not need it....if it does then bore the appropriate overbore for that engine....

 

The standard overbore OEM pistons are .010" and .020" over for a D16. Like Chad says, anything else is custom. I spoke to someone recently that builds race cars and engines, and they say a D16 with .020" over pistons (and everything else IT rules allow) is good enough to win the ARRC.

If you can get a copy of the original "High Performance Honda Builder's Handbook" by Joe Pettitt, there is a step-by-step build up of an IT 1.6L motor. It is a decent book.


-Jeff

 

See It just proves what I said. Each engine has its own tricks. All the stuff I worked with would take a .040 bore.

 

Even though each engine has its own tricks, I'd still be interested in learning about what people have found and take it from there.

Definately an interesting topic...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RexRacer19 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The standard overbore OEM pistons are .010" and .020" over for a D16. Like Chad says, anything else is custom. I spoke to someone recently that builds race cars and engines, and they say a D16 with .020" over pistons (and everything else IT rules allow) is good enough to win the ARRC.

If you can get a copy of the original "High Performance Honda Builder's Handbook" by Joe Pettitt, there is a step-by-step build up of an IT 1.6L motor. It is a decent book.


-Jeff</TD></TR></TABLE>

I cant find the origonal one. I know what you are talking about though. I would love to see this article again!

 

is this the book???
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reade...-link

 

That is volume II. The one I have is volume I. The cover has a GSR Turbo motor on it. The ISBN # is 1-884089-21-6. I'll do some searching and see what I get.

HTH

 

Found it ...and cheap too

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obi...71004

 

yeah that is it. I know there is another one out there to. its a hige article on blueprinting a D series, its in the back of the book like the last few pages. I would like to see that one to! anyone know what im talkin about?

 

t

 

the grassroots motorports december 2003 issue talks about an engine rebuild of their project celica following the autox stock rules while maximizing power. they gained 7 horsepower over their worn engine.