new engine!

[racerx]

I bought an A20A1 from my reserve unit the other week. It was actually just sitting in a storage shed collecting dust... No one even knew it was there. Anyway, the engine is immaculate, the head is in good working order, and the cylinders have a near perfect finish with the exception of some minor scoring. So my question is what kind of gaskets should I get for it? As in brand name, not like head, intake, exaust...
The motor supposedly only has no more than 30k on it, so what kind of increase in power do you think I'll get? My engine is scored badly and the blow-by is terrible. Oil turns black in a month at most.
How hard is it to do a motor swap in the accord? I've torn the head off while the engine stayed in and that was a pain, but not too bad...

I'll post pics later.

[shepherd79]

if your old engine was bad and had no power, you should see some diff.
brand for the gaskets. a lot of people would say go with Honda gaskets. the only problem with them is that they will cost you an arm and a leg.
here is the link to great OEM stuff. http://www.drivewire.com/

about the oil turning black after one month. it is normal. every engine will do that no matter how old it is.
the reason the oil gets black is because some kind chemical evaporates and it turns black.
Black oil doesn't mean it is dirty.
if you read Honda manual you will see that they recomend changing oil every 5000-8000 miles.

[AccordEpicenter]

for little stuff like exaust gaskets and vc gaskets, use generic shit, theyre cheap and easy to replace. For big important stuff, like headgasket and rear main seal replacement, use ONLY GENIUNE HONDA Parts. Do it once, do it right... Umm if you swap the engine and tranny at the same time its a little easier because you dont have to worry about getting them apart in the car, you can just undo the mount bolts and cherrypick it out.

[Dibbs]

Originally posted by shepherd79

about the oil turning black after one month. it is normal. every engine will do that no matter how old it is.
the reason the oil gets black is because some kind chemical evaporates and it turns black.
Black oil doesn't mean it is dirty.
if you read Honda manual you will see that they recomend changing oil every 5000-8000 miles.

That chemical is a combustion product (mainly carbon) that becomes suspended in the oil mere minutes after use. I would worry more if your oil does not turn black. If it didn't you would have a problem because those combustion products would most likely become deposited on the internals of your engine instead of being suspended in your oil. The combustion products get drained out with your oil when you change it. This is a normal function of your oil and why it is changed so frequently.

[racerx]

cool, thanks alot. I checked out the parts. Too bad gaskets cost so much, but yeah, if I'm gonna do it, might as well do it right.
I don't have a tranny to go with my engine, so is it going to be the world's greatest accomplishment to swap or what? Can I get this done in a weekend?