what piston are you running?

[2ndgenludedude1986]

im in the amrket for pistons for my a20a3. i was oringinally planning on going for the diamond 10.0 compression pistons. but i dont feel like spending the money for them. so i was just wondering what everyone one is running after there rebuilds, or are planning on using for there motors that are getting rebuilt? :)

[SteveDX89]

If you're looking at NA power, you will need aftermarket pistons. You're gonna want anywhere from 11:1 to 12:1 compression. If you're going turbo (no more than 10-12 psi) or nitrous, use stock pistons.

[hondamanlxi]

With .07 total shaving off the head/block AND not using a screwed cam i got 265psi a cylinder, Someone did the math and said thats roughly 10.3/1! Its a cheap alternative.

PS: Im still sprayin the shit out of it too(100shot)!

[rjudgey]

I think the stock Honda ones a pretty good, Mahle used ot do 81mm pistons which were pretty nice, but if you go Honda try and get lighter piston pins cause the Honda ones are overkill and weigh a tonne!! If you can titanium but even oem stock ones from Sealed power etc are lighter!! If you get stuck should have a few spare floating around somewhere!!

[AccordEpicenter]

yea im with rjudgey... with good managemant stockers are ok to use to 10psi roughly but after that they tend to break, but aftermarket cast ones tend to be lighter, even forged ones are lighter than the stock ones too. Im not sure how you will use 12:1 pistons without race gas, i bet itll ping like crazy.

[SteveDX89]

yea im with rjudgey... with good managemant stockers are ok to use to 10psi roughly but after that they tend to break, but aftermarket cast ones tend to be lighter, even forged ones are lighter than the stock ones too. Im not sure how you will use 12:1 pistons without race gas, i bet itll ping like crazy.

It's all in tuning. B folks do it all the time.

[AccordEpicenter]

It's all in tuning. B folks do it all the time.
Yeah i figured as much... i really dont know much about B series N/A performance

[hondamanlxi]

nor does he care! lol j/p

[Justin86]

more is better, it all lies in the tuning, and our stock ECU can't do crap. Got to go with Sean's set up or OBD-1 swap.

[smufguy]

im in the amrket for pistons for my a20a3. i was oringinally planning on going for the diamond 10.0 compression pistons. but i dont feel like spending the money for them. so i was just wondering what everyone one is running after there rebuilds, or are planning on using for there motors that are getting rebuilt? :)

Piston manufacturers such as Sealed power, Tick flow, Summit, Diamond, Keith Black, Mahle, Wiseco, JE pistons and such make pistons for a large amount of cars. So ur part is to call them up and ask them to find u a good enough piston with what kinda compression u need (max of 11:1 for good operation) with the stock piston specs at hand. Also u need to balance the crank as you know and get some rods that are ligheter and yet stronger to make that kinda power. U will be spinning a lot faster than any of the guys here and u need to be able to keep it all under control.

here are the specs on the piston and connecting rod is here

piston

Skirt OD (at 21mm from bottom of skirt) 82.67 – 82.68 mm [ Piston A ; 82.66 mm ( SL ) ] ; 82.66 – 82.67 mm [ Piston B ; 82.65 mm ( SL ) ]

Piston to block clearance 0.02 – 0.04 mm ( N ) ; 0.08 mm ( SL )
Piston to ring clearance 0.03 – 0.06 mm ( Top ) , 0.03 – 0.055 mm ( 2nd )
Piston pin-to-piston clearance 0.012 – 0.024 mm ( SL )

OVERSIZE PISTON DIAMETER :: Standard 0.30 82.98 – 82.99 mm

Connecting rod

Normal Bore Size 45 mm
Pin-to-rod interference 0.013 - 0.032 mm
Large end bore diameter Nominal: 48 mm ( 1.89 )
End play installed on crankshaf 0.15 – 0.3 mm

[2ndgenludedude1986]

thanks smurf guy. i am planning on having the crank balanced. but i was goign to go ahead and use the stock rods. i was going to have them balanced as well. i only plan on getting aorund 200 hp in all. im not planning on running a nitrious or turbo system of any kinda. just dcoe webers.

[AccordEpicenter]

shot peen the stock rods as well, and use arp rod bolts and your set

[smufguy]

yeah like Jason said, shot peen them and get better rod bolts. But like i mentioned above. You are gonna be spinning more than 7K to get 200hp NA so get ur camshaft and valve train done right. also Talk to Mike (A20A1) and see what kinda exhaust manifold u will need to make that power.

[2ndgenludedude1986]

i have a lightspeed header. im in the process of welding a new flange on it because the old one was warped somehow. what is "shot peen" ive heard of it but i dont know what it is.

[AccordEpicenter]

a guy told me that the B16/B18 rod bolts fit but you need to grind them a little to get them to fit... theyre like $60 but i seriously would reccomend them, ive seen tons of failures from stretched rod bolts in hondas that are over revved

[2ndgenludedude1986]

rjudgey runs over 200 whp in his dcoe lude. with a big valve upgrade, and jstu about every single head mod you cna think of, beefed up cam and a few other lttle goodies up his sleve. he said that hes never had a problem witht he stock rod bolts. bu i have heard differant things about the rod bolts, that the stock ones can hold up to 200-250,a dn some say they cant. lets remeber my car is going to be a street car and not beat ona track!

[AccordEpicenter]

its not about power level, its about rev range. Rev over 7k rpm regularly=get better rod bolts

[smufguy]

its not about power level, its about rev range. Rev over 7k rpm regularly=get better rod bolts

exactly.

Thats why we keep stressing the point that you will be revving ur engine much higher than the rest of us, stock guys and also boosted guys. For a turbo motor, we dont need to rev high to get 200hp, but for you and ur NA motor, u need to rev a lot higher than us, so ur bottom end need to be strong to go thru all that revolutions. Motor condition changes and differes from owner to owner. Just cause one dude is pushing 200hp and does not break anything, does not mean u wont. He might be running his car once in a blue moon and u might be driving it everyday. Bottom end stress is somehting you should not take lightly. Its better to do it right the very first time, rather than ripping everything apart, and doing it all over again for double the price.

[AccordEpicenter]

well the rod bolts tend to strech... while they dont fail entirely the stretch makes you spin bearings and that eats up cranks... little things go a long way, like rod bolts, dont skimp here

[rjudgey]

Hmm although i tend to use stock rod bolts and lately even re-use the old ones, it would be a good idea to get at least new Honda ones or talk to Contra and get the ARP ones modded to fit, I don't care if it throws a rod as my engines are constantly in and out with me trying various mods, plus i can pull and replace an engine in half a day, but in your case best do what you can to beef up the bottom end!! Also if you plan on putting down 200bhp your gonna need a good exhaust system most likely 2.5" might get away with 2.25" and you'll definately have to look into making your inlet valves bigger and maybe even use a A20 head instead of A18/ET.
BTW i haven't broken a Rod bolt yet and my engines turn to 7.5-8K and is driven all day on track days at race speed, also car is used lots on the road getting to drag and track events and also whenever i get bored!! But as you say you never know what might happen!!

[2ndgenludedude1986]

im not palnning on beating this thing every day. it is goign to be a dailydriver driven under normal conditions. i just want the extra power when i need it or want to have some fun. what needs to be modded for the arp ones to fit? isnt that on the rod itself that needs to be modded?