Building for the road course...again

Time to spend more money. This exhaust is FINALLY back in stock.

total weight = 20lbs. Less then most mufflers lol.

I’m just confirming with my Honda guy but I think I’m gonna go pick one of these up. They are local so no shipping to mess with.

 

doesnt seem like a bad price for full ti. hopefully there is an option for a different tip...

 

Tip isnt something some ol rattle canning cant resolve?

 

Maybe I can polish that tip or something. It ain’t great but the price is right for full 3” titanium. It’s a China exhaust yes, but this company is known for their clones. They just copy and paste real brands exhausts but for way less money. They receive great reviews on most of the platforms they serve.

if the tip bugs me I’ll chop it and have something else done. My guess is it’ll be black after a few weeks anyways and I’ll never clean it lol

 

I mean it fits for a honduh but .....

 

It’s gonna look funny with my red car.

I’m lucky I couldn’t give a shit about appearance. Function > form.

I agree it ain’t the best though lol

 

So 12 lbs for balance shafts, 20 lbs less for exhaust. Congratulations you've just done a battery delete in terms of weight.

 

And yet some people think that a light weight battery that won’t even start your car is somehow better for weight reduction…

it’s all little shit but it adds up. The car is 2880lbs stock. The car now weighs 2790lbs.

you couldn’t find where I took the weight out if I asked you too. I promise. You wouldn’t have a clue. For classing this is cheat codes since weight reduction is hit pretty heavily.

They can’t ding me because I spent more money on my exhaust and brakes then the next guy. It’s not my fault that’s a ~50lbs weight savings without even trying.

 

With my Miata I don't even care about weight. I just went for more power. Though I'm sure my Wilwood calipers are lighter than the stock ones and that my coilovers are lighter as well. But I added weight with the turbo setup, roll bar, oil cooler etc. It's stupid fast now and almost too difficult to drive in some instances. That's with my small turbo and I want to put a bigger one on. 350 wheel horsepower is my target.

Though I'm now considering finishing the Miata up and either getting an Exocet and tossing a rotary in there or a 4AGE 20V setup with the same specs they use in Formula Atlantic.

 

I’m just kinda trying for a full package. Little weight reduction, little power addition now, way more later lol.

the point of my build is to keep it a street car. Interior intact. Not a tin can.
Sure once it’s making 450whp and in a class where a gutted tin can is required then at that point ok. It’s no longer a street car. That’ll be a while still as I can’t afford a tow rig/trailer yet and I have nowhere to park that even if I could.

for now I still enjoy driving the thing on the street and with some more power, I should enjoy it even more. Power definitely helps make the car more fun on the street where there really aren’t many corners around here lol.

 

One of the only videos I could find of titanium exhaust on a k20 civic of some sort.

fuck does it ever scream. Guess I won’t be doing street pulls anymore. Jeez

Timestamped for your convenience

 

Sounds like my neighborhood at 3am

 

Sounds like it’s gonna be my neighborhood but at 6am as I’m on my way to the track

 

Ordered my oil pan baffle tonight. Called the shop and talked to the owner I guess. He said no problem I could do local pick up and if I bring my pan they’ll weld it in for me. I just gotta do a little clean up first.

awesome. I have a spare pan sitting I can clean up and use for this. I dug it out and gave it a quick brake clean spray down. I’ll wash it in the sink tomorrow.

what’s interesting is my oem pan off my engine is RRB stamped. The usdm engine code for k20z3.

my other oil pan off that other motor I bought is somehow stamped RRC. That’s the jdm engine code for the k20a setup in the civic type R. They are physically identical so it works out but it’s cool since I’m putting what’s stamped an RRC oil pump from Japan into my car. With now a matching oil pan. Cool lol

 

Oil pump has arrived. Woohoo. Looks good to me.

According to 4piston racing they modify these pumps. They are ported, and most likely they shim the spring. Says this pump provides 25% more flow over stock and is cavitation free beyond 11,000rpm. Perfect.

 

Picked up the head today. Also got the baffle done. Both pieces look great.

the baffle is awesome. They welded it in for me all proper like. Heated up the pan cleaned it up extra then welded it in.

it’s a cool design. It’s serviceable. The bottom is welded in the top bolts down. This way it can be cleaned up if need be.


They welded it in free of charge which was awesome lol. I’m happy with it. It’s a nice part.


Cylinder head looks awesome. It was decked the minimum amount needed, had the valve guides done, and had the valves cut. He also back cut the intake valves for me. This helps with flow apparently. Nice.

 

Assembled. Honestly took about half as long as I thought it would. The keepers are a little annoying but having done the Mazda head last year this was nothing new.

decided to do this on my dining room table. Nice and warm. Lots of light. If I drop a black keeper on my white carpet maybe I’ll actually be able to find it lol.


And done


I’m usually not one to notice small shit like this but it’s so clearly evident why this valve train costs what it does. The machining and the fit and finish on the keepers/retainers/springs is all beautiful. The retainer weighs literally nothing. Kinda trippy. Nice and clean, well made and at least I can see where the $$ went.

titanium wooo


It’s been -15f here lately. Too cold to mess around in the garage.

next week it’s warming way up so I’ll be out there.

list of reinstall
1) temporarily bolt up oil pan and subframe
2) install at minimum front engine mount
3) install/torque head
4) install cams
5) timing chain/gear
6) time the engine
7) struggle to hell with timing cover reinstall. The rtv part is gonna suck bad
8) drop subframe / oil pan again. Clean pan out again
9) rtv oil pan for final install
10) vteccccccc to 9k+ all day every day every shift

 

Coming along nicely

You gotta get that 240v plug out in the garage my dude, I've got something like this https://www.princessauto.com/en/4800w-240v-electric-shop-heater/product/PA0008993263
in the double garage in Manitoba and it does the job until -25c to keep me at about 15C in the garage, below that I'm still around 5-10c, garage door leaks like a mofo looking to replace and insulate it.

 

With how small my garage is that thing would be killer! It would be more then enough for sure.

i definitely don’t have 240 out there though unfortunately. A 120v version would be great though. With my garage door closed it would be nice in there. I gotta get some heat.

it’s gonna warm up a bunch next week so I plan to get that first start going soon!

 

The amount of work you do out there it may be worth wiring it for 240v that's what I'm saying.
As for 120v heaters I have found this little guy to be amazing and actually have two so I can keep the house a little cooler and just heat an office in the basement if needed

https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/...eramic-space-heater-1500w-white-0435127p.html