Decided to rebulid my a20

[hanginbyaccord]

Hey guys,

I decided considering my 89 LXi runs perfect but has 266K on it , I would just rebulid it . Its a winter project and I dont plan on driving it till next spring.Wondering what all I should replace and etc. on the motor and where I can find parts. I want to go aftermarket on some of it :

heres what i have planned:

GATES High Capacity V-Belt
GATES PBelt Drive Pulley Steel V-Ribbed 4 Grooved
BECK/ARNLEY Idler Pulley Bearing
GATES Automotive V-Ribbed Belt
Short Shifter - pacesetter
Clutch,Pressure Plate, Flywheel - clutchnet
Cam Gears- Golden Eagle
Crank- Unorthdox
Koyo radiator
Plugs & Wires- NGK
Cams- Colt Tri Flow
Maxbore stock throttle body
Maxbore port matched intake manifold
OEM replacement radiator hoses
ARP rod bolts
Welded Combustion chambers, P&P head
pacesetter ceramic coated header
B18a Eagle H Rods
Injectors - DSM not sure size
Fuel Pump - walbro 255 lph
lower deck height
3 angle valve job
Clevite Connecting rod bearings
Full gasket set
all new motor mounts
Felpro blue headgasket
Pistons - Sealed power unless someone knows something better
Premuim Piston rings


let me know if I am missing anything or if you have any better brands or advice.

[2drSE-i]

ive got a set of NGK wires, used but in good shape. pm me if your interested


nothing to add, id go ahead and do the valve guides while your at it, if thats not included with the valve job

[LX-incredible]

For the timing belt tensioner, I would go with a koyo over that beck/arnley chinese crap. Stock injectors are good past 170, so unless you are going turbo or batfuck crazy with the build, i wouldn't go with anything too large... With those rods you will need B18 or custom pistons. The set of eagles that I got had ARP bolts. B series intake manifolds will fit with some modification. The stocker is pretty restrictive. If I had to do pacesetter again I would get it uncoated, clean up the shitty work, grind the emission tubes that protrude into the pipe, install a flex joint, and THEN get it coated.

[rjudgey]

If your going to keep the plenum style oem honda manifold then at least have it polished inside from the machinist. And i'd still do the big valve conversion you won't believe howmuch extra that will help you and you really need to convert ignition and ECU to megasquirt or at least OBD1 and then Crome

[cygnus x-1]

Ok, several things here. First I'll address the small stuff, then talk about the bigger stuff in a second post.


Don't worry too much about belts and hoses. You can't go wrong with OEM Honda here but you can just as easily get this stuff at NAPA or wherever is convenient. The timing belt and tensioner are the exception. OEM Honda is good. Gates is also good and has a timing set that includes a belt and tensioner in one box.

Keep the stock crank pulley, it's fine.

If you want an adjustable cam gear buy it NOW from Phil as there aren't many left.

I don't think Unorthodox makes ANY parts for 'A' engines and they don't do cranks at all. The stock A20 crank is more than adequate.

Keep your stock radiator unless you know it's bad. You can replace this at any time without too much trouble.

I wouldn't spend big bucks on plugs and wires either since these won't really gain you any extra performance by themselves. But don't cheap out either. NGK is a good choice.

Colt cams are good, as well as Delta. Both of them require that you send in a stock cam for regrinding. Budget a few weeks lead time for Colt since they're in Canada.

I agree with a previous comment about the header. Get an uncoated one and do any needed cleanup on it first. Then get it coated.

I wouldn't replace the fuel pump unless you know it's bad or you know that it won't be able to keep up. I'm not knowledgable about the FI fuel pumps though.

I would go with a full bearing set, rod and crank bearings. Clevite is good. Toga also makes god ones as well.

Felpro makes a complete gasket set that is pretty good and includes the blue head gasket.

I would keep stock mounts unless they are shot.


The rest of the stuff I'll address later.

C|

[MessyHonda]

ok...how much money you have saved up?

[ZackieDarko]

ok...how much money you have saved up?

i think his answer will be NONE

i have been collecting parts for 2 years and im no where close to being done

[cygnus x-1]

I still think you should find a spare engine to rebuild, but it's your call. These projects always take way longer than anticipated.


So now to the big stuff. Before you start you need to decide what to do about pistons. You can either go with stock type pistons and keep your stock connecting rods, or you can get custom forged pistons and after market rods. Forged pistons are stronger and will let you bump up the compression ratio. For any more than maybe 160bhp you will really need the higher compression ratio. Forged pistons cost more of course. And in order to use any other connecting rods than stock you will also have to get forged pistons. Diamond, JE, and Wiseco all make these.

Lowering the deck height and welding up the combustion chambers are both done to increase compression ratio. If you get forged pistons though you won't need to do either of these since you can just order the pistons with flat tops to increase CR.

Look for rjudgey's old posts for everything you need to know about head porting and polishing. If you're serious you can also do a big valve conversion like he did.

Since you're getting a regrind on the cam you should also replace the valve rockers. Otherwise the new cam will wear funny.

By the time you get to more serious mods like forged pistons and major headwork, you'll probably want to put on a better flowing intake manifold, like from a B18 for example. The modifications to make it fit an A20 head are pretty easy. Just pull the entire intake assembly from a 90-93 Integra. Then you'll have the injectors and fuel rail as well.

Once the mechanicals are worked out you will want/need decent engine management and tuning capability. Megasquirt is the cheapest and probably the most configurable but it requires some knowledge of electronics and engine tuning. Fortunately there is lots of online help available.

That's all I can think of for now.

C|

[ghettogeddy]

theres alot of really good info in this thread its for my rebuild but shouldent make a dif
https://www.3geez.com/forum/showthread.php?t=59489

[LiTtLe xOx BitT]

unless your going with a major turbo setup you dont need ARP bolts, B18 rods, dsm injectors, walbro 255lph fuel pump and stuff like that. If you do the fuel upgrades then you need to manage it somehow, also go with a modified B18 intake manifold because it flows better and you can use the B18 performance fuel rails. I also reccommend getting a spare engine just incase something happens, and it just makes everything easier. Have you ever done an engine rebuild before?? If not i suggest you get help from someone who has because reeming and honing and headwork is a bitch the first time. But like you already know i have pretty much everything your looking for and its all for sale and the hard parts are already done so if you want any of it let me know when you get the money up.

[snoopyloopy]

i say you should plan more by power level you're shooting for then see what parts you need to reach that and check with your wallet. bc unless you have a moderately specific plan, you may very well end up with a build that doesn't satisfy you or parts that don't go together. or worse yet, you get half way in with the build and run out of money and end up having to make concessions on parts.

[88Accord-DX]

I'll be straight up. We can tell you all day which part to get, what part not to get all day long. I'm not that kind of person. I'm the type of person that will ask if you have all the tools & knowledge to do it. First thing first, shell out the cash for the parts, bust out the tools & knowledge, fork out some pics on how it's going. Then we might get somewhere with this thread. Your list looks fine to me. We can talk all day long on what you need & don't need. (my $.02)

Set all the BS aside.

[2oodoor]

I'll be straight up. We can tell you all day which part to get, what part not to get all day long. I'm not that kind of person. I'm the type of person that will ask if you have all the tools & knowledge to do it. First thing first, shell out the cash for the parts, bust out the tools & knowledge, fork out some pics on how it's going. Then we might get somewhere with this thread. Your list looks fine to me. We can talk all day long on what you need & don't need. (my $.02)

Set all the BS aside.

Exactly my thoughts, keeping it real

You have a some good info here to do what you want, But understand the reality of where you want to be in one, two years. The kind of project you have laid out will require hundreds of hours, and a couple of grand cash (charge it and it doubles, so say its four grand or more then!!!) Add to that the time, time is money in trades my friend, last time I checked the average national shop labor rate is swinging around 100 bucks an hour.If you do most of it yourself, you still have to factor in your time, if you have that much spare time great, if not you will be paying for time in some form or other.
So you have to really be in love with this car to do that when you could buy a 96 and up import or domestic compact cruise machine with already 150 plus ponies under the hood and have less money invested.

Ok, you still want to do this.. lets move on.. You may find your motor not needing a lot of the bottom end parts you are planning on. These motors are built extremly well from the factory, but maintenance issues cause various problems. You could find your cylinders like new still with hone marks and all, You may only need.. rings and rod bearings & seals to freshen up your block.