A20A3 questions....

[RamThis]

I'm preparing to rebuild a PGM-FI A20A3 to drop in my car. I want to bump up the perforance of the engine some during the rebuild process. Here are a few questions I have....

Boring the cylinders? Is this something that is ok to do on these engines? If so, what is considered safe? Will I notice enough of a difference to even bother with it?

Milling the head to gain some compression. How much should I go? I want to keep it where it will still run 87 pump gas without ping or detonation.

Cam? Is there a cam that will wake up the engine some yet not kill the mileage?

Any other suggestions? I want to keep the rebuild around $500 to $750, maybe a bit more if I have to in order to do any mods that need to be done while the engine is out and torn down if that helps narrow down the possibilities....

[snoopyloopy]

you can bore the cylinders to .050 as a max. the popular notion is that .030 is the largest you can go and still be pretty safe. and when you do that, you might be able to order some new pistons as well that will up the compression in addition to the milling. but any substantial increase in compression will take you out of 87 territory. and for cams, delta cams in the 272 and 282 grind are the most popular ones i've seen talked about on the board and one of the threads has a link to the site where you order them.

[RamThis]

I saw some pistons in some rebuild kits showing .020 over, .040 over, and I think .060 over. Yikes! .060 over would be paper thin between the water jacket wouldnt it??? LOL. Would have to be a drag race only thing, dont think that would fly on a daily driver LOL.

Anyone else?? I'm in the dark here on these lil imports, this is the FIRST import engine I've planned a rebuild for, and I dont know any of the "good" parts manufacturers.....

[BITESIZE]

What do you have for an existing setup....headers, intake, muffler.........

[cygnus x-1]

I'm doing a mild performance rebuild on an A20 right now. Check out the thread over on Preludepower.com.

http://www.preludepower.com/forums/showthread.php?t=238337

There is a parts cost list that might be helpful.

C|

[MessyHonda]

I'm doing a mild performance rebuild on an A20 right now. Check out the thread over on Preludepower.com.

http://www.preludepower.com/forums/showthread.php?t=238337

There is a parts cost list that might be helpful.

C|

sweet oh yeah :welcome: to 3geez we have more info than prelude power...lol

[shepherd79]

you want to spend $500-750 on rebuild, i hope you have milling machine at home because just milling can cost you $500+.

IMO here is what you should do.
1.take the engine apart and check the cylinder walls if they have any dip cuts into them. if they do you need to go to the mill. otherwise just take honing tool and drill and do it yourself.
2. get your self ring kit. you can probably reuse your old pistons or you can get new ones, but you will start getting close to your budget.
3. rebuild the nead. again it should be easy. take all the valves out. make sure you mark which one goes where. clean them up, i used dremel and high speed cutter (http://www.dremel.com/en-us/attachments-and-accessories/attachment-accessory-detail.htm?H=188537&G=66237&I=66262) after that i used grinding compound to grind the valves to make them seat tight. replace the valve seals.
4. make sure you buy headgasket set and bottom gasket set or full gasket set. again that can cost anywhere from $50 to $100+ lets not forget some gaskets that you will probably have to order form honda dealership directly. I know i had to, but i don't remember which ones.
5. put the engine back together and you should be done.
you can do the stock rebuild for cheap if you cut the corners a lot, but you can say good bye to performance parts.
7. don't shave the head to make higher compression, you will screw up timing.
8. performance camshaft, anything over stock will lower your gas mileage. i had delta 272 cam and my mileage went down. not a lot but i could tell. plus if you want lower power band than you may want to go with smaller grind cam.

[cygnus x-1]

sweet oh yeah :welcome: to 3geez we have more info than prelude power...lol

Thanks. And yeah, I noticed! :lol: I'm still digging through all the old threads and stickies.

C|

[bobafett]

even the manual says to run 89 octane in a 3g. so if u are talking about bumping compression then either prepare to run premium gas 91/92/93 whatever you have, or forget about raising compression.

boring it out wont make u any power, welding the head or shaving it might make some, but for the most part, the a20 is a crappy motor for modding unless you boost it. there is not a lot of aftermarket, so after bolt ons you are pretty much stuck with expensive engine work, and needing to boost the car to make any power.

but yeah i would focus on just getting a nice stock rebuild for now, and spend you money on the bolt ons like cam, full exhaust, header, efi swap, etc.... $750 would almost cover a good stock rebuild i bet, so don't spend all your money on boring and pistons, when it won't necessarily help you out.

[RamThis]

Cool guys thanks. I have a engine builder/machine shop lined out for my minor machine work, going to have the head and block hot tanked, they will do a full 3 angle valve job and have the head ready for me, will run a couple hundred, and hone the block and true the deck, that was going to be 150. The rest is just gaskets and rebuild parts and tune-up parts. The entirety of my car has already been gone through, so all my expense will be just in getting the engine ready to drop in, and swapping over the wiring harnesses and mounting the ECU under the seat.

Hoping for a pretty spunky A20A3 when I'm done. Nothing fast, but should be a hell of a difference from the old carbureted A20A1 that is in there now....

[LiTtLe xOx BitT]

What do you already have done?? If your running stock then start off with CAI, header and exhaust.

[RamThis]

Well the engine is still in the donor car, so, nothing has been done, literally lol.
I did get the jock strap and the nut protector out of the trunk though, guess that counts for something..... :ugh2: