Is there Anyone that could tell me what/how much to machine off the girdle OR main caps? I don't want to mess up a critical part of the motor. Thanx a whole lot.

 

Pay close attention to the last several posts of this thread:
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=93545&page=2

 

you would need to have a machinist align bore the center replacement cap, and you would also need the 6 longer main bolts from 94+ GSR/97+ Type R and oil pickup and oil windage tray for GSR/Type R.

You also have another option of using the Z10 which I see is a lot sturdier, no align-boring but you would need the same 6 GSR bolts and windage tray.

Greg

 

Notorious BAE:

Thanx that was really informative. I know that I can just take a file to the arrows onthe 2 side caps. 2 mm sounds about right for the height on them. I was really needing to know the amount that need to be taken off of the center cap or the middle "foot" on the girdle. Now i'm good to go as soon as my parts get here.

CHEETAH:

I have already decided on using the GS-R/ITR block girdle. I purchased it, along with the 6 main bolts, windage tray, oil pan and oil pickup ~ new from Acura for $300 shipped to my door. You can barely get a z10 gidle for that much shipped. I'm not clowning you, the z10 is a good option, but this way is cheaper and just as effective if you're willing to do abit of work.
If you modiy the girdle itself you don't have to line bore. With a z10 you still need the oil pickup and pan too.

Here is what i've searched and found

Milling the center "foot" down 14mm on the GS-R girdle and then filing away the casting arrows on the 2 side main caps. Will provide a proper fit without having to align bore the block:

~~~ I'm going to use the pics from your site, HX-Guy, to show my point. Let me know if this bothers you Val, and i'll edit the post. ~~


Look at the center "foot" here, you can see that it has been milled down to sit correctly.


Here you can see the casted "arrow" on the main cap that need to be filled down. Although HX_Guy had the girdle milled down 2mm in the center section to accomidate the casting mark(s)

Hope this is as informative to everyone else as it is to me. Thanx for the wonderful pic HX_Guy

~Steven


[Modified by Speed PHreak, 8:48 PM 3/27/2002]

 

HX Guy's girdle is installed OK but is not really the correct way of doing it. machining down the girdle in the center will weaken the strenght a little.

my machine shop did an excelent job in instaling the crank girdle on my B20 engine.





bassically the middle main cap has to be machined to the same hight of the the others.

 

Ok, i'll take that. But I'm not removing engine from the bay. Sooooo, I can't really take the block to a machine shop. I'm not real sure about taking the main cap(s) off to have them machined. I'm sure after that they'll need an alighment bore. Also i'm sure Honda had a reason to put more meat in the center main cap on the LS engines. I'd perfer not to compromise the integrity of the bearing cap by having it machined. Furthermore, the girdle is just for added support, weakening it's structure even maginally isn't going to weaken the rest of the crank assembly like milling down a main cap would..........Also, i'm not 100% sure but aren't the main cap forged/cast steel? I'm just thinking that they'd be more susceptable to fractruing after a milling than the softer aluminum of the girdle. Am I off base here? I'm not trying to argue or be an ***, just bring up some possible issues that could arise.

Although i'm not really sure which way i'm going to go. By milling the gridle i'll have less down time than with removing the main caps to have them machined.

 

having a modified GS-R girdle is better than having no girdle at all.

only problem your gonna have is getting the right ammount milled off the girdle without the engine at the machine shop.


[Modified by non-VTEC, 7:57 PM 3/27/2002]

 

Guess I'll be "milling" this one over for awhile. I've still got a week before my parts get here. After that, I'm waiting on those new crower turbo cams(62402T) to start shipping out. Ben says it'll be a few weeks before they start getting them in.......I just want 8000 RPM on a turbo LS is that too much to ask?

We've covered that main cap, but what about those side caps? I've heard that the arrow markins on the cap just need to be filed off to get it to mate it up right. Any comments on that non-VTEC?

BTW: I appreciate your time and help with this.

~steven


[Modified by Speed PHreak, 8:30 PM 3/27/2002]

 

you can file down the arrows on the 2 and 4 main caps. or you can simply shave a little material on the girdle where it contacts the those arrows......either way it's not much modification needed on those parts.

 

Coolness, looks like i've got some thinking to do.

Let me go off on a tangent for a second. Ok i'm gonna have the girdle under the bottom-end plus a Crower dual spring/retainer kit and a set of Crower cams. I'm un-decided on the cams at this point, kinda torn between the 62403's and the 62402T's. I'm wanting the engine to handle 7600~8000 RPM duties every now and then. Do you think these mods will let me do that with relative saftey?

I'm kinda building my engine in stages, the next will be a complete tear down and rebuild with Wiseco 9.8:1 pistons(81.5mm), Eagle rods, crank balance, and a Nice P&P job on the head. That'll prolly happen sometime over the summer.

Honestly tho thanx for answering all my n00b-ish questions. Hopefully this thread will be useful to others seeking this kinda of info.

 

it should work ok...........but if your plans are for turbo then deffinatly go for the 402T's. the specs on those look incredible for turbo application. and they might work pretty good for N/A as well.

the 403's will work for N/A and a small turbo. but if your gonna go out and spend the cash on forged pistons and stronger rods you will deffinatly be boosting big power. and the 403's dont like big boost. to much overlap.

i remember asking brian crower himself about the 403's with turbo and he said they would be OK for up to about 8psi tops.......

7600-8000rpm......the engine should take it with the girdle inplace and the upgraded valve train. you better atleast get a new set of rod bearings if you plan to buzz the engine up that high.......older bearings are more prone to being "spun"

good luck.

 

Ok, new rod bearings........do you have to plastic guage those? I haven't ever rebuilt the bottom-end of an engine before. I can do it, I've just never done it. Put the engine in, turbo(what a bitch), and everything else on my car myself.

 

if your gonna use the stock rods you can just simply replace the bearings with the same colour bearings that came out.

when you replace the rods you should deffinatly plastiguage them.

and of course always use OEM honda bearings.

 

I would just go with a Z10 girdle. They are hella simple and stronger than a GSR. Also if you plan to stick with stock rods i would have them shotpeened.

 

Sweet.

Dunno I think i'm just gonna replace the rod bearings and run on that till I decide to do a full out build. That'll give a bit of saftey. For the occasionaly 8K RPM zing. The car is only a weekend warrior and may be drive a total of 3~400 miles a month.

Like I siad before i've already bought all the stuff the to the GS-R girdle conversion. Some of us don't want to wast the money on somthing shinny that is just gonna get covered up by the oil pan. I got ALL of my OEM acura part for the cost of just the Z10 girdle......

 

** Update **

I got my all my GS-R girdle conversion parts in yesterday(thurs). Off to the machine shop the gridle went this morning. Machining it down to the required depth only cost $20 bux at a local shop. Guy did some great work and gave me props on my Rex, even tho V8 d00d.

Now i've got to tap that brand new GS-R oil pan for an oil return bung for my turbo. Then i'll be ready to install this junk. To bad my cams aren't here yet.

 

hmm i wonder if you could use the gsr main cap to get around modifing the girdle or the cap?

 

maybe but it would totally throw off the line bore of the crank since your using a diffrent main cap. it probably coule work but would have to be re-line bored and carfully pastiguaged for the correct bearing selection........