Building for the road course...again

That would be good for me. With the garage door closed maybe 30minutes to an hour at most and it would be warm enough in there.

i don’t have garage access from the house though so the second that garage door opens up that’s it. Heats gone lol

 

Some work happened today. It was cold af but I got some stuff done.

Windage tray, oil pump, new chain. All installed.


Cylinder head is bolted to the block now.


torque range is pretty hectic. 29ftlbs to start. Then 3x 90* turns. Insane lol.

I started getting cold so did the 29ftlbs and left it for the night. Tomorrow I’ll go and do the stretch part. Then I can start loading in the cams. Do the timing and timing cover. Then drop the subframe one more time to rtv the oil pan. Then final reassembly!

 

Random question. Do the torque specs have an expected temperature range? You are torquing at ~100 degrees below what I would think would be "normal" temps.

 

He's in Canada using celcius so not as big of a temp difference. Good question though.

 

Interesting question. I checked the temp rating for the ultra black rtv im using and all it says is if it’s applied in colder weather curing time can exceed 24 hours. No big.

As for torque specs I haven’t stumbled upon any temp numbers

 

Had a hell of a day today.

first up. 3x90* for the head bolts. So much stretch lol but that went over no problem. That 3rd 90* turn felt real real tight that’s for sure

next was the rocker arm assembly. This is a bit of a pain getting installed but it went on. Then cams and caps…now we get a little off track…


Above we see a cam cap bolt. Broke. Snapped clean. 16ftlbs is all it calls for. I knew 100% it didn’t feel right but the wrench wasn’t clicking…then it broke. Great.

I chased ALL threads. Cleaned them all up. I grabbed a spare bolt from my other cylinder head(having a complete spare head is fantastic)

took care of this pain in my ass and moved on. I lost a freaking vtec pin/spring. Popped right out and down my header it went. Great. Back to the spare head we go lol.

Next up was timing. Lining all the marks and blue chain links up as they needed to be. Pretty straight forward.
check this fancy chain guard. It’s aftermarket but now even if the tensioner dies the chain cannot come off/skip timing. There is an oem chain guard on the cam side that sits so closed the chain also cannot jump off up there. Good design Honda


this is where I left it today. Engine timed. Turned over a few times. Those valves springs are stifffffff lol it’s very noticeable.


Next up I gotta get the timing cover RTV’d and installed. Did a dry test today and it’s gonna suck so much getting that cover on when it’s coated in rtv. Damn. Not looking forward to that part.

can I rtv the block instead of the timing cover lol?

 

Yes you can RTV the block instead of the cover. I'm sure you're excited to get this thing going again.

 

Man I just want that first start lol. I really hope everything is OK and I didn’t mess anything up

 

Progress.

It was a whole 34f today. Felt great! I started at around 1pm and finished this around 7pm

timing cover installed. First shot. No messing around required. I did do like 5 practice dry runs first though lol. Had to zip tie a hose out of the way but otherwise it was pretty smooth installing.


Next up. Drop the subframe again. 2x4 back in place. Drop oil pan. REMEMBER TO INSTALL CLEAN OIL PAN WITH BAFFLE. Not old dirty pan by mistake lol.
I remembered.


here we have it. Pan installed. Subframe back up. Motor mounts back on. No more jack under the engine!!! No more 2x4!


Put the passenger side motor mount back together. It’s pretty involved lol it’s a big mount with all sorts of extra supports and shit everywhere. It’s nuts for 139ftlbs of torque.


there’s one coolant line that seals with an oring. It goes across the timing cover then into the water pump. One 8mm bolt and an oring. There’s about 4” between the frame rail and this fitting shit.

HELLLLLLL to install. It did not want to go in. Forget about cleaning the install surface you can’t get in there with anything. I scraped out what I could. Oiled it up. Sent it as best I could. Used a big pry bar in the most crazy way to really try and seat that shit. It LOOKS OK but it might leaks. Please don’t leak lol. Fuck.

need to put the vvt solenoid back in, the starter, the wiring behind the head. Then the valve cover. Then I’m gonna flush the coolant best it can. The water pump has a drain plug on it I can pull and fully drain the dirty shit out. I’m gonna do a coolant flush anyways but yea. Once that’s done I can install the rad and hope she starts and runs

 

I got a question about Canada land. When it's 34°F and you're used to close to zero or negative temperatures (in Fahrenheit) does it feel like spring to you?

 

I was out there for so long only cause of how warm it was. I was sweating some of the time lol. It felt like spring even though I hate winter and hate the cold. Just gotta get shit done ya know. Felt like spring after the last 2 weeks

 

Doing some deep reading on the k20 forums. Turns out my engine is rpm limited firstly by the stock oil pump, then the stock valve train(8400-8500rpm). After that is addressed it is limited by the pistons.

apparently 8800rpm is the acceptable safe upper limit for extended use. 9000rpm+ shortens life expectancy by a significant amount.

this is due to piston material fatigue. I guess they just get tired and fail.

Just about any forged piston solves this problem and allows for 9500rpm pretty reliably.

damn. It’s only 200rpm but I really wanted to see 9k+.

 

It's not too late to pull everything back off and drop a set of pistons in there....

 

Trust me the thought crossed my mind then and now lol. I’ll just wait for my built motor. Maybe I’ll see 9 once in a while this season. If it’s even making power up there that is.

 

Well guys. Happy new year!!

it’s been so warm the last few days I’ve been enjoying working in the garage lol

did final reassembly yesterday / today. The plan was always to fire it today. That was the goal providing all went well.

I grabbed some cheap oil and a few filters to flush this thing out after first start. Grabbed some coolant.

Forgot to install the vtec solenoids on the head before bolting the head on. That was annoying lol but I got it. Replaced a few seals and gaskets. New valve cover gasket. “Newer” valve cover(from my other engine).

This was last nights state


And today


I was so nervous and anxious the last few days but today. Oh man. Didn’t know what to expect.

Started by priming it real good with no spark plugs. Then added the plugs. Kept priming. Then installed coils. Primed some more.


fuel pump fuse back in. Time to send it. Oil pressure light went off almost immediately. Basically like doing an oil change. Freaking perfect

First start after reassembly
https://youtube.com/shorts/QipX8oAWVA8?feature=share

 

Did you hit 9000 rpms yet

 

Gotta bleed this coolant first lol

 

Might I suggest this tool if you don't have one already. I think it's awesome you got the motor and everything together right before the start of the year.

https://www.jbtools.com/uview-55000...OKKY3aoueg484jtgxPGkHal0lSEKBDhRoCAzYQAvD_BwE

 

Yea it was definitely cool getting it fired just before the new year!!

a buddy suggested that tool. I’d need a compressor too I guess. Borrow my buddies again lol.

I just have one of those big bleed funnel things. It worked last time on the civic but I also didn’t fully drain the block last time.


Anyways I gave it another go tonight. That damn lower rad hose just wasn’t getting hot. Nothin. Trying holding the rpm up. Tried heat on/off. Tried plugging the funnel. Everything.

Squeezed the shit outta that lower hose. No luck. Finally I’m about to give up for the night but decided to do an oil change here. Flush out any crap. Oil looked great. Nothing alarming.

fired the car back up let it idle. Gets up to temp. Fans kicks on. Then off. I’m like oh here we goo. Yup. It’s working. Lower rad hose HOT. Bottom of rad HOT. coolant temp finally dropping below 212 back down into the 180’s. Fans kick off. Back to 208. Fans kick on. Back to 180. Fucking beauty

 

Engines broken. Let’s just close this thread off here now.

it’s been real. Thanks for following along