Building for the road course...again

Not sure if your point is price or availability; either way, racecar is racecar.

 

you said we like he had the same car as you, i just assumed you were lost

 

Oh no I just thought it was funny when that popped up after clicking the link.

Edit: My old timers is acting up. I see what you mean, but I'm pretty sure that both cars have a dry sump solution available, but at the same time it's not *REALLY* available for the likes of "us."

 

Racecar.

 

Shhh! You'll wake the Honda kids.

 

Rods and pistons have been assembled. I’ve got a buddy coming by tomorrow to help put the short block together

Room is prepped. I’ve brought all the sealants and cleaning solvents inside as it’s cold AF outside and shits freezing. Brought the brake clean inside too. We’ll use the garbage to give everything a serious cleaning before going inside for assembly

removed in the spirit of competition

Borrowed this unit from my buddy. Never used one but I’ve been told the recommended torque spec isn’t even close to what’s required and for all the effort I’ve put in so far, might as well do this part right as well. Using 3/8 ARP 625+ rod bolts.


Should be a good time. Will be nice finally having some solid progress here.

 

Just out of curiosity, what are your rod, piston and pin weights (roughly)?

 

Rods weigh approx 440grams with bolts. Pistons weigh 330grams. Pins weigh around 73grams

 

I will say the rod bolt stretch gauge was 100% necessary. 55-60 ftlbs wasn’t even close. We did in fact need 80ftlbs on the dot to be at 0.0065” stretch
75ftlbs was 0.0063” and 80ftlbs was bang on at 0.0065”



Crankshaft end play was mint. Measured end play and was hoping it would be within spec. Oem has a huge tolerance so that’s helps.

mains ended up slightly looser then target but only by about 0.0001” which is OK. I’ll run a 5w40 if need be. Due to the rpm’s I’m turning these oil clearances really do matter. There’s even power to be found there.

Rest of the rods/pistons will get loaded later this week. I really wanted to do one so I could plastigauge it and measure rod bolt stretch. Now I know my calculations for rod oil clearance was bang on the money. Technically I don’t even need to plastigauge the rest of the rods but I’m gonna just because best practice

 

I feel like you should be running heavier oil regardless

 

My tuner wants 5w30. I always ran a 5w40 even last summer when he also wanted me to run a 5w30.

This motors loose on mains and rods so me personally I would like to run a 40 but we’ll see. Maybe I’ll try both and see what’s what.



There is power to be gained with thinner oil. Less work for that oil pump and all

 

I think that having them *slightly* looser on a 5-30 should help with high-RPM shearing, but I'm not an expert on this subject.

 

I guess the idea is there will still be plenty of flow. My tuner basically gave me two options. Run my tighter mains at 0.0015” with a 5w30. It’ll be OK at 10,000rpm at an oil temp of 105-110c. OR I can run at 0.002” and just be OK having lower oil pressure values at all times basically.

The K series block/crank is stiff enough that even at 0.0015” 10k rpm you’re safe. A bmw s54 engine on the other hand would die very quickly that tight. They need .0026” just to survive and in turn they run a 10w60 oil. Shit flex’s too much and they eat bearings. Notoriously bad for it.

Basically, there is actually a lot to consider here but for most it doesn’t matter. At rpm shit matters more. Or so I’m learning anyways. There are cooling and power benefits as well

 

I'm just thinking more about the heat. Lighter oil is going to run much hotter

 

I’ll try the 5w30 first and collect data. Then I can switch if need be. I logged oil temp/pressure last season so I have some data to go off of. I also know the clearances of that engine so that helps

 

What oil were you running last year and what was the peak oil temp?

 

5w40 motul xcess 8100
Peak temps around 102c(215f)

 

Seems like right where you should be.

 

my tuner would agree.

 

Crankshaft end play measured perfect so I’m happy there.
wiseco piston ring compressor tool was great as well. Much easier then a universal ring compressor

Prepping the block. Some guys do this while others told me "whats the point, the machine shop cleans it".

Here are some pictures of “it was cleaned at the machine shop”.
This is not the first time me and my buddy here have done this with the same results. Stuff needs to be cleaned. Don’t over look this.

ATF on a coffee filter. Coffee filters are truly lint free. This is the first pass.



In order here you can see is clearly. Keep going till it’s CLEAN


Here’s what the crank left behind after giving it a brake clean bath


And this. Was completely clean fresh white rag before


I have always done my own cleanings. Always always always. Specially if it sits for any length of time. Dust builds. Metal dust. Shavings. Honing dust. Sand. It’s all stuff you just don’t want anywhere in your engine.

We went heavy on brake clean and also used a compressor to blow out everything. You’d be surprised what comes out.