Build It

i've had plenty of time to think about what is cost effective and what i really want to do. crank bearings have gone on my 3gee, so its been parked for some time now. so it needs a new bottom end.

being that it has about 150000 miles of mostly my hard driving on it, i might as well go farther than machining the crank and putting new bearings in.

i'd like to maybe order a crank, or have mine precision machined, ballanced and all. i want to put some lighter rods, and pistons of a larger size. dont know what kind of increase to the cylinder bore i want to go to, but something thats going to make a difference. probably .040 over what it sits at now, which is stock. being that it will likely turn higher rpms, new valve springs are going to be a must, i've had float issues already. as far as the head goes, its been rebuilt and is good to go, except for the valve springs.

with performance in mind, i will likely try and find a manual transmission. i'd like to swap one in without having to rebuild it. but in the case i find one really cheap that just needs a simple rebuild, no gear replacement, i'd probably go with the integra gears like a few others have done.

i'm just tired of letting the car sit. it has a lot of good parts already that i dont want going to waste.

what i'm going to try and accomplish is a build that requires less money than a ready to go bottom end. will have a significant effect on performance. and really make the car into something i should have been years ago. something other than just an economy car.

how much money you got for it? you want to do high performance on a auto...be prepaired to change out the tranny.

I have been quietly contemplating this myself. It really depends on what you want. As for the crank, get either a stock one shotpeened and balanced, or get a stroked one. This will get you some serious horses with more displacement. Pistons and bore size: Either get stock +.020 over, or bore to .030.
If you go to .040, your not gonna have a lot of room to bore more later for rebuilding.

Rods, do the B series h-beam rods. They're lighter and stronger.

I wouldn't really remove much material from the crank. I dont really care what they say about how knife-edging doesnt touch the stress points in the crank, but any time you remove material, do you not create new stress points?

Don't bother boring unless it's required to get the cylinders straight. It will make very little if any difference in power. The money would be better spent on something significant like a cam or a lighter flywheel. Or you could have the stock flywheel lightened.

C|

i'd only be boring it to the first o/s
would have the crank crack tested then machined,balanced and polished to suit new bearing which would require taking the whole block to the engine builders.
and with balancing they require the crank and everythig attached to it to do it properly anyway, and that includes the flywheel and clutch and front pulley as well as the pistons and rods.
i fyou know a machinist you could get a flywheel made for a couple hundred dollars.
even if its made to same dimensions as a standard one, if its made from steel instead of the standard cast iron it will be way lighter and stronger.
would suggest not lightening factory flywheels to much as it makes them weaker.
and if you plan on giving it big revs , its better than picking exploded flywheel from uself.
may save cash doing a standard flywheel but is saving a few bucks worth it.
a mild port job, header and a weber conversion or aftermarket ecu depending on what you have for induction.

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Originally Posted by Hauntd ca3

and with balancing they require the crank and everythig attached to it to do it properly anyway, and that includes the flywheel and clutch and front pulley as well as the pistons and rods.

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Not really on an inline 4 cylinder. I4s are internally balanced so the crank and flywheel can be balance separately. The pistons can be weighed and the heavier pistons shaved down to match the lightest one. I did this my self with a cheap postage scale and a dremel. You just carefully grind away material in non-critical areas on the inside of the pistons, like around the bottom of the skirts. Or if there are any casting irregularities inside, start with those. The same can be done for the rods, but there you want to also match the weights of the crank ends of the rods. The pulley you could balance as well but it's a pretty small mass compared to the rest of the rotating assembly. Depends on how anal you want to get.

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Originally Posted by Hauntd ca3

i fyou know a machinist you could get a flywheel made for a couple hundred dollars.

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I find that hard to believe. I suppose if you could find a shop that had equipment specifically for making engine flywheels; then *maybe*.

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Originally Posted by Hauntd ca3

even if its made to same dimensions as a standard one, if its made from steel instead of the standard cast iron it will be way lighter and stronger.

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Stronger yes, but lighter no. Steel is actually a little more dense than cast iron, so for the same physical dimensions steel is a little heavier. But steel is much stronger than cast iron so you could definitely make a lighter and stronger part.

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Originally Posted by Hauntd ca3

would suggest not lightening factory flywheels to much as it makes them weaker. and if you plan on giving it big revs , its better than picking exploded flywheel from uself. may save cash doing a standard flywheel but is saving a few bucks worth it.

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Care is certainly warranted when machining a stock flywheel, but I wouldn't be paranoid about it. The shop that did my stock A18 flywheel cut off the flange around the edge where the timing marks are. That flange contributes nothing to the strength of the part and is only there to add mass. As I recall it was an extra $50 to do it. The Clutchnet Al flywheel is about $350. Whether or not it's worth the cost is up to the individual.

A cheaper steel flywheel in the $200 range would indeed be cool. Perhaps that would be something Bisimoto could make???

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Originally Posted by Hauntd ca3

a mild port job, header and a weber conversion or aftermarket ecu depending on what you have for induction.

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Anything to improve airflow through the engine is good, especially on the "A" engines.

C|

the place that does our machining at work will do me a flywheel for 200nzd so thats bout 100 usd at the mo so you guys should be ale to get one made for a few hundy, 300 at max.
its just me so i'd rather balance the entire bottom end as a whole just so its right.
to make a flywheel all you really need is a shop with a lathe that has a big enuff swing to turn it and a decent machinist.
am sure lost could do it without a prob
the hardest bit is really getting the ring gear put on and then have it balanced with the rest of the bottom end
as far as the material, i was given the impression that stel was lighter but since it is stronger i spose there dosnt have to be the same amount of material so it would be lighter.
may be just a rotary thing with lightened factory flywheels, they just all seem to explode, more the arguement for a steel one to me.
but at the end of it, its up to the individual to what they use, and when i get the cash together, i just want to doit right and not worry bout anything

"Rotary thing"? You mean rotary engines? Those things run higher RPMs though don't they?

I could make a flywheel but I'm not sure our machines have quite the capacity. Where would the ring gear come from? Just reuse the factory one?

C|

yeah rotary engines is what as talking about
they are big down here and in australia
they tend to explod flywheels at launch if using a lightened factory flywheel and big revs off the line.
measure the diameter of the factory flywheel and as long as the swing of the lathe is greater, sweet, you should be able to make one.
ring gears are generally just shrunk on to the flywheel so if you are careful with one, use an oxy acethylene torch to gently heat the ring gear just enuff to expand it so it can be levered off the old flywheel.
if you dont want to try it yourself, an engineering shop or engine rebuilding shop should be able t get it off without stuffing it.
and you put it back on backwards so you get to use the side of the teeth.
puttig them on isnt hard.
freeze the flywheel and heat the ring gear up in the oven then just drop it on and make sure it goes on straight

Yeah, the ring gear is a simple shrink fit. I don't think it would be too hard to make a Honda flywheel on any lathe other than the smallest ones. Hell, my shop has lates that'll turn an entire V8 engine block.