First my buddy took the head off of his 97 EX and we brought it to my buddies machine shop...

He took this head

These parts


And turned it into this...




Today we took this car...


And began to throw it all together...


Here's the owner (Mike) trying to get the bolt to the FPR that he dropped, and disappeared into the subframe, to never be found again...


Here he is still messin with the FPR 1 1/2 hours later... (FYI, if you loose FPR bolts, the Radiator bracket bolts work perfectly)


For those that are wondering why we took the bumper off, its easier to work around, and we didn't want to bang up his new Mugen bumper (Courtesy of BodykitsNW)


And YES it will be painted before its driven on... He refuses to drive it otherwise...

Now onto the questions... Started the car up, fired up first time, no CEL or anything... WOOHOO!! Rev'd it to 3k rpms for 5 minutes for cam break in (As recommended by machine shop). Car was idling fine; Little low, but doable. Turned it off, let it cool some, started it up, and it seems to be running sluggish now... I think the timing is off a tooth or 2... That what you guys this? Or anything else i might have missed? pull the throttle to rev it, and it slugs...

And as for the setup, its the Crower Stage 2 Turbo Cam, Crower Valvesprings, and Titanium Retainers.

Now one more question... He also has a venom intake manifold that he bought a long time ago... It made him LOSE power so he took it off... Think he can put it back on now with the bigger cam and gain power with it? or is he better off to wait until the turbo install to put the venom back on?

Sorry for being a pic *****, but i love takin pics...



[Modified by ScrapinSi, 9:02 PM 4/2/2003]

 

don't know jack about your problem but do you mind if i ask about how much that set your bud back(labor and all)? was thinking of also upgrading my valve train with crower.

 

I cant divuldge his exact pricing, but here's the prices he sells it for to H-T members...

SOHC VTEC crower cam (Any stage), valvesprings, & titanium retainers, Thermally Cleaned, Inspected, Machined, Includes Cams $849.00 is what he charges...

 

thanks man...not as much as i thought it would be

 

if your interested, e-mail matt@golenengineservice.com I believe he has a SOHC VTEC package in stock... Good turnaround time too...

 

Very nice.

 

now, would that sluggish feeling be associated with having a turbo cam and no turbo?? i mean, i dont know specs on turbo cam profiles but would that be a problem?

 

no... this cam should give a stock idle, and wouldn't cause a power loss... especially not this much... I was told it should react like stock... I think its just off a tooth or 2... He has an Unorthodox Racing Crank Pulley, which has **** for timing marks on it..

 

There's nothing like meaty SOHC power!

I can't tell everyone how happy I am that people are actually getting back into the SOHC scene. I'm a hardcore SOHC guy, and will never swap my motor. Good luck with your motor, and I hope it all goes well.

 

does a turbo cam give any gains on an n/a engine... like if you do what this guy did and just get the cam before the turbo???

 

Everything line up at #1 TDC?
Edit: more questions. If everything lines up, where
is the ignition timing? Crappy timing leads to sluggishness.


[Modified by Eee Pee, 9:16 PM 3/30/2003]

 

 

I'm not positive on the timing... i THOUGHT it was when i put the head on... cylinder looked exactly at TDC, but he has an Unorthodox Racing Crank Pulley, and I couldn't make the marks out exactly... So i made my own mark on what LOOKED like TDC... This car was a tooth off before we took it apart.... I think i might have it 2 teeth off... Anybody know how to read an aftermarket crank pulley? It has 2 notches, about 3-4" apart.

And now that i think about it, can you put a SOHC distributor in 180 degrees out? Because i know the b16 you can't, because its keyed... Should i pull the distributor back out and rotate it 180? Distributor is dead center right now... I haven't set the base timing yet.

 

If the timing belt is a tooth off, the base ignition will be off, no matter what.
As the distributor is directly connected to the cam.
You have to get the cam degree'd in correctly.
If the pistons are TDC #1, the cam needs to be there too.
There should be marks to line the cam gear correctly.
The distributor cap can be removed to be certain the rotor
is at #1.

 

yeah... i knew that about the timing being off... thats the reason i haven't set it...

Anybody know how to read an Unorthodox Racing Cranky Pulley? LOL

 

Ok... retimed the cam timing tonight... its dead nuts on... started the car, ran 10x better... Rev'd it to 3k for 5 mins to break the cam in a little bit more, then let off, and car didn't want to idle... let it cool for a bit, tried to set the idle, so i disconnected the IAC, and screwed the idle screw all the way in and then backed it out 1 1/2 turns... Then reset the ECU, and car idled great... seems to be sluggish under 2k rpms, but if you rev it to like 3k, hold it there, and give it a punch, motor revs GREAT! There is some kinda problem with his MSD... Not sure what... But upon a test drive in the garage (Big Garage) car died... we pushed it back, wiggled wires, nothing... then all of a sudden, it started again and ran good... Damn MSD ignitions... Any other suggestions?

 

SOHC powaaaaaaa = to you!

most times a sluggishnessafter cam install is indeed the timing belt being off one tooth or the distributor being turned too much in either direction.

 

These are directly related with a SOHC motor. Make sure the cam is *degreed in* properly. A tooth off is about 9.5 degrees off dead Zero. That knocks the ignition timing off that much. Depending on which direction the timing belt is off,
~6.5 degrees, or ~25.5 degrees (ping!).

Edit: spell much?



[Modified by Eee Pee, 9:40 PM 3/31/2003]

 

I thought one tooth was 5 degrees.... I made sure the distributor was dead center before we started it. I think the sluggishness might have to do with his Multiply Shitty Dickhead Ignition system... I think he has a loose wire in it...

 

well we got it right last night.... Had to advance the distributor all the way to get rid of the low end bog, but that could be because of the size of the cam causing the low end bog...

And the problem was a loose wire coming out of the distributor...

Now the only thing we need to watch is a SLIGHT SLIGHT SLIGHT coolant leak... not sure if its the water neck or the head gasket... No coolant in the oil, no water on the plugs, no smoke out the exhaust, just a DRIP that comes down in between where the motor and tranny meet. I RTV'd the Water neck and there was no stock gasket... should i have just tightened it really tight without any RTV? is that where its leaking from? I mean we are talkin 3-5 drops after 5 minutes of runtime... I dont think its a big deal, but we're gonna keep an eye on it...

 

wow...I was going to sell a BRAND NEW professionally ported/polished(bench flowed), ZEX cam, Crower springs and retainers for 450....

sorry to jack the thread, but 849 seems WAY too steap, especially without much machine work.

Most places charge....

15 for hot tank
free inspection
120 for valve grind
cam(say 300)
springs(say 170)
retainers(say 130)
assembly- 60 bucks an hour x 1hour for assembly....

comes to about 735...at a local machine shop, paying full price WITH a valve grind and new guide liners...


What is the ignition timing set at now??? If the cam is dead TDC, you won't need to "advance" it all the way to run right....now you don't even know what your timing is?? I would buy/rent/borrow a timing light and make sure everything is at spec. You DO NOT want to be up in the 20+ degrees to get your car idling right at idle.....

 

1/2 tooth = ~4.75 degrees.
1 tooth = ~9.5 degrees.

 

Where is this machine shop???

 

the machine shop is in north MA right near NH....

I checked it with a timing light... I still think the cam might be off, but i'm not sure... the stock SOHC cam gear just says UP on it, with no exact mark... He has an Unorthodox Racing Cam Gear, which we have to install... And when we do, i'll recheck the timing again. maybe it is still off a bit... but for now its runnin pretty good with no ping...

And as far as pricing goes, look up pricing on Crower parts... Most places sell the crower SOHC head package for $320 for the cam, and $300 for the springs & retainers... Then add disassembly of the head, hot tank & thermal clean, milling the head, 3 angle valve job, and full reassembly isn't that bad... Plus he hooked my buddy up with a port job too...