So I pulled my B18C1 head off to replace the head gasket, and am also getting the head cleaned up, surfaced, and the valve seats cleaned up, and also new valve seals. Plus all new o-rings, gaskets, etc. on the top end.

Will it be necessary to use things like assembly lube on the camshafts when I put it all back together? I guess the head will be dry inside since it will be cleaned, but right now my camshafts still have a coating of oil on them. Or could I just pour oil over the camshaft bearing surfaces?

And what about using straight 30-wt non-detergent oil like when the entire engine is built up? Would that be necessary since I haven't pulled anything apart in the block?

 

For piston skirts, rings, valve seals, front/rear main seals:
Use motor oil. Thicker is better if you need to wait a little while between assembling and starting the motor.

For the bottom-end - rods, crank, bearings, wrist pins:
http://www.torcousa.com/torco_product/mpz_engine.html

For the cylinder head - cams, rockers, rocker shafts, VTEC pins:
http://www.torcousa.com/torco_produc...engine_hp.html

There's not much you can do about the cylinder walls/piston ring + skirts. It's best to lube, assemble, and start as soon as possible to minimize lubrication loss.

 

So what about all this stuff, I don't have access to a parts washer or anything like that. Should I clean all the oil off of those parts and then use the engine lube on them during reassembly?

Also should I use a special oil at first and drain it soon after starting, then fill with my usual Mobil1 0w30?

 

Razor blade then scotch-brite pad with lacquer thinner to remove the Hondabond or whatever silicone sealant you use.

Everything else you can use Simple Green then dish soap/water to clean. You just have to relube it immediately to prevent rusting.

I change the oil and filter after the first warm-up (fuel pressure check, leak check, set timing, bleed coolant, etc). I don't use synthetic for the first start because I'm just going to throw it away anyways. It's probably safer to break it in on non-synthetic since I don't know how much testing has been done with synthetics and this era of motors.

 

You would do all that even though no work has been done on the block? Just the head resurface, new valve seals and cut the valve seats, and clean up everything. If you think it's best though then I'll do it.

 

At a minimum the fastener threads need to be clean. Whether you do it now or during assembly is up to you.

I'd clean off the cam caps since the outside caps tend to collect a lot of outside contaminants. Putting them all in a bag is spreading the dirt.

Any internal parts that don't need to be cleaned, I'd bag to keep the dust off of them.

 

well they've all been sitting there on the bench arranged like that so I know where everything goes. I'll be cleaning all the mating surfaces, yes. And then clean the head bolt threads and apply clean oil to the threads and underneath the bolt head like the Helms manual calls for.