Questions and comments about "Project B20A thread"

[YK86]

Please post any questions or comments you may have about the thread "Project B20A" (near the top of this section) here.

[gr3k0sLaV]

are you putting in a b-series wiring harness or are you keeping the existing ECU & harness and going the route of the TEG distributor and or b16a Intake manifold?

[YK86]

I haven't decided yet but as of right now, I will be using the 86 USDM A20A3 manifold and harness (harness for sure), JDM B20A distributor, crank angle sensor, USDM 88-91 2.0SI ignitor (same as the B20A ingnitor), and 86/87 JDM B20A ECU.

[anchovies]

Are you putting it on the 86 or 88 =)?

[YK86]

The 86!

[RCracer]

How many miles has the engine got on it?
How did you get the crankshaft pulley off witout the engine being in a car? I have tried to undo the crankshaft pulley bolt on mine and it is tight. I can get the flywheel off but cant seem to jam the crank (without fear of breaking the block) to get the pulley off.

[YK86]

I'm not 100% sure about the mileage but that importer usually brings in engines ranging from 20,000kms to 90,000kms just so he can say "It's under 100,000 kms". Worst case scenario, it's 90,000kms which is about 56,250miles. Considering Japan is hard on inspections and stuff, I'm sure it's not in too bad a shape. I am pulling the head off hopefully tommorrow so I can get a good look at the internals then.

As for the crank pulley, I bought one of the best tools a month ago! It's a chain style strap wrench which wraps around round objects and you clamp it tight just like a vise grip (made by the same company that makes vise grips). That thing grabs it VERY tight. I use a pipe on the end of it to hold the crank pulley while I use a long breaker bar with 17mm impact socket to break it loose. I also use the strap wrench to get the crank bolt loose when changing the timing belt in a car. It costs about $20 and is very much worth it! I can post a pic if you like.

[RCracer]

That sounds like a beefy version of the chain wrench I use to remove oil filters etc. Not to sure my chain wrench will be up to that.
I am going to take the head off my engine soon (it has 141,000 miles on it) and may need some head parts (which I cant get at the moment). I can get pistons etc (all at a price) but had no luck in locating top end parts other than from honda (bloody expensive in the UK)
Do you have the torque setings for the bolts on the engine?
The only referancve I have to the DOHC engine is in the Chilterns prelude/accord manual. Do those engines have to same bolt tightness as our engines?
Can't get a honda manual on the B20a due to cost. Honda want £150 for their Workshop manuals(per section).
They told me it would cost me about £400-£550++ to get all the 3rd Gen accord manual. (so I downloaded it from Paul Aerodecks Site:cool: )

[YK86]

What kind of head parts? Like head gasket and seals and stuff?? As for torque specs, I am going to base mine on the B20A5 Prelude motor (I have the factory service manual). If you want to compare numbers, let me know and I will look them up. I'll give you a number now so you can compare: cylinder head bolts tighten to 22 ft-lbs first in the proper order/sequence and then in the same sequence, tighten to 49 ft-lbs.

[carotman]

Sweet Yasu, As soon as I make some space in My garage, I'll put my motor onthe bench too.

YOu'll have to get the B20A P/S pump tough, it's not the same as the B20A..... The alternator seems to be fine tough.

[YK86]

No worries! Mike gave me one with the proper bracket.

[RobT5580]

Thats nice Yasu, i was hoping to see that engine that mike had but that fell through. Its too bad he had to part it out like that. If i were you i would have taken the whole thing so you have all new parts just in case you have any problems. Good Luck

[YK86]

We actually pretty much stripped the whole block including the water pump and oil pump so there's not much left except the block itself, the pistons and rings, rods, crank, bearings, etc and I won't be needing those. A 3rd gen Lude guys is supposed to be coming to pick up the rest from Washington.

[RobT5580]

Good so you have some spare parts. That was one nice motor that mike built. But it went to a good home so cant wait to see how it turns out for you....That was one bad thing about the B20A is getting parts because their are still many that cant be sourced from other honda motors. If i did get the motor i was gonna stock up and have some spares imported for me. The sad thing is i wanted to run turbo so it was perfect for my purpose but their is a slight possibility of a B20A. I cant make up my mind i want a turbo but it all has pros and cons no matter what i do. A20 Turbo, B20 Turbo or B16A Turbo. My cheapest bet is the A20 but if i front the extra money for a B16 i have a motor that is easier to part with if need be or use in another honda.

[YK86]

Have you thought about B20A turbo's stock B20A set, and the Ludespeed kit Mike sold him?? I know the tough part for Mike was that he is quite busy and didn't have the time to look into shipping something huge like the engine and tranny.

[gr3k0sLaV]

What parts off the A20 can be used in the b20a?

how much different are the water pumps, oil pumps, etc.

Wonder if pumps and stuff off other car would fit.

[YK86]

Not very much can be used. The only thing I will be using is the intake manifold or at the very least the JG throttlebody and the alternator. I will have a better list soon.

[89SE-ICoupe]

Do many parts from the USDM B20A5( water pump, oil pump, head gasket, and various seals etc.) work with the JDM B20A? Do you basically have to raid the 88'-91 Prelude parts bin to to complete the conversion? Will the original A/C work with your new set up? That is important to me because I live in Texas!

[YK86]

I don't have A/C so I'm not sure. I will look up the part numbers when I have time. Which compressor do you have?? I'm looking up Prelude part numbers but alot of them are slightly different from the JDM B20A.

[carotman]

Ok, here is what I found regardingthe B20A5 and B20A parts

The Pistons/rings/rods are the same
The exhaust manifold upper part is the same.

All the other part numbers do not match.

This doesn't mean they will not fit tough. The distributor and crank sensor from the B20A5 will bolt to the B20A.. It's just that it uses a different system.

[RobT5580]

Yasu, I thought about it but put the money in other things i needed. But i really wanted Mikes because it was all new and built for turbo which i wanted anyway. My major gripe about the B20A was parts and with Mikes engine i would have been ok until i could import spares. I really like the B20A because its a nice clean fit and its proper and as a big big fan of our style accords it would be perfect to open the hood with the original (Rare) motor. Not many know about it and the torque is rather impressive to me. We will see i have time before i do a swap but im leaning towards Place Racing because of the resourses available for other B-series.

[YK86]

Yeah, if you can afford it, that would be the way to go! I know for sure I am not interested in going turbo or nitrous so I had to have a stock block. I have relatives in Japan but considering they don't normally fix their own cars, I'm not even sure they can or know where to order parts for me. I'll be okay for now EXCEPT the clutch release bearing.

[MoonScryer]

Yasu: talk to carotman about getting you the part number for the release bearing. He has the JDM parts catalog. I'd get it to ya, but I forgot how to work the thing to bring up the part numbers :D

[YK86]

Thanks for the offer but I have the catalogue from Carot! I've been using it every chance I get to get all part numbers from a bunch of things. I also have a USDM Accord parts list but it doesn't list everything. I found a release bearing though after doing alot of searching and comparing at the local Honda/Acura parts department and the local auto store.

[carotman]

And from what car is that bearing from????