32 year old EK1 CVCC junkyard donor motor to resurrect my 1981 Accord ***PICS***

[lostscotiaguy]

I wouldn't be suprised if you could hear me clapping. This is an awesome post Vinty, oh, and I couldn't agree more with you in your comment about replacement bearings.

[81vintyminty]

I wouldn't be suprised if you could hear me clapping. This is an awesome post Vinty, oh, and I couldn't agree more with you in your comment about replacement bearings.

Thanks Lost

[81vintyminty]

*************FRESHLY POWDERCOATED PARTS*************


BEFORE



AFTER






I was going to powdercoat the belt pulleys but decided im going to get them yellow zinc coated as well as the crank pulley. Im not too thrilled with the looks of the powdercoated oil cap so im going to get one zinc coated along with all the nuts, bolts, washers, hose clamps, and small brackets for that new factory look. Once i pull the motor/trans out and strip the engine bay i will take pics of everything getting coated.


EXAMPLE of zinc coating

[79cord]

Wow, beautiful bits. Matte/crackle finish on cam cover unexpected.

[Hazwan]

OMG that is so pretty!

[81vintyminty]

OMG that is so pretty!

Thanks Haz! Hey did you modify your stock air cleaner or did you do some custom stuff? Im thinking about doing a similar set up, post a pic if you can.

[2ndGenGuy]

Looks gorgeous! Nice work on the zinc and powdercoating! Looks awesome!

[Dr_Snooz]

****Disclaimer: the views expressed are strictly my views and opinions and have nothing against people using aftermarket bearings!**** Dealing with moving parts seperated by a thin layer of lubrication rotating at different rpm's and loads it just isn't worth (imo) the risk not having factory exact clearances. Curious, say when you plastigauged the bearings and the clearence was too tight on say one or two main or rod bearings, would you then have to machine the crank/block to get the correct fitment/measurement since all the bearings in your aftermarket set are all the same size? Honda engineered and produced engines that were way ahead of their time as far as reliability, efficiency, not to mention durability to handle constant high rpm beatings where other companies motors would fail. I believe this has alot to do in part with tight/ precise clearences. I worked at a independant honda shop that sold strictly "remanufactured" engines with all "new or machined parts" (reground cranks, reconditioned rods, pistons, aftermarket bearings, etc). Some of these motors were complete junk and did not last. When they would do an "in car" rebuild say for an oil consumption issue or upsell a hg job they would always install aftermarket bearings even when ALL the factory bearings looked brand new, that really blew my mind. They wouldnt even plastigauge! Some but not all of those cars would return with knock. Needless to say i chose not to continue working there! I'd take a clean used motor that was assembled by honda anyday over a zero mile reman motor. Not to say your motor or anyone that uses aftermarket/oversized bearings are "doomed" as i've also had friends that have ran acl race bearings in high hp b-series with no issue's what so ever, you and 2ndGenGuy can also attest to this. Its just not worth the hit or miss aspect and as you stated "the tolerances WERE ALMOST all exactly equal" know what i mean? At the end of the day its all personal preference and views!! I understand in some cases dealing with these older cars and engines oem bearings are not an option but if it is an option i say oem, always!

No need to apologize. I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want your honest opinion. I probably should have mentioned in my earlier post that all my plastigauge measures were well within Honda tolerance. Both engines worked (and work) well enough, so I'm not too worried about it. Kudos to you for keeping yours Honda original.

Your powder-coated parts are awesome! I have never bothered spray painting anything in my builds because I can't stand watching it all flake off in a month. I will definitely be powder-coating more stuff now.

This is an inspiring build!

[81vintyminty]

Looks gorgeous! Nice work on the zinc and powdercoating! Looks awesome!

Thanks. No zinc coating yet still need to gather all the doo-dads from the bay once the motor is pulled out.

[81vintyminty]

****************FLYWHEEL MACHINED AND LIGHTENED***************


RESURFACE






BEFORE REDUCTION



AFTER. Now needs to be balanced with pressure plate.

[81vintyminty]

HEAD BACK FROM MACHINE SHOP







PISTONS CLEANED

[81vintyminty]

Block masked and ready for paint.







After applying a few coats of Rustoleum "GM BLUE" engine paint the tape was removed then the block recieved a few coats of Rustoleum engine clear coat for added shine and to protect the bare metal surfaces on the exterior of the block from corrosion. It is now ready for re-assembly. Looks much brighter in these pics than it actually is thanks to the bright California sun.

[Hazwan]

Yeah just the stock air cleaner cut

Here are some pics before I cut the bottom part too




This ones after I had the bottom cut to match. So much cleaner! (lol)


OMG is that bad that I literally drooled over that head pic? It looks brand new! Can't wait to see them put back together again (Y)

[79cord]

More shinyness.
So what was the weight difference now on your flywheel? I have found my '77 1600.EG with their smaller Dia. flywheel revs a little nicer than the shorter stroke '79 1602.EL even if it doesn't have quite the torque. Though the gearing is all different too so early g/box has higher 1st & 2nd?, and doesn't have the big gap between 2nd & 3rd.

Of course the '77 engine may be healthier than the '79, with the '81 prelude even less healthy.
Tempted to try lightening the later flywheel.

[2ndGenGuy]

Damn! So much clean and shiny. I remember when my engine looked like that. I wish I could make my valve cover quit leaking. Kinda trashed out my whole engine bay.

[81vintyminty]

Yeah just the stock air cleaner cut

Here are some pics before I cut the bottom part too
http://i.imgur.com/jw9gq.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/EVWoD.jpg

This ones after I had the bottom cut to match. So much cleaner! (lo)

http://i.imgur.com/wil8m.jpg

OMG is that bad that I literally drooled over that head pic? It looks brand new! Can't wait to see them put back together again (Y)

Thanks for the pics. Im still undecided which direction i want to go with the air cleaner so we shall see. You did an awesome job on your engine bay btw!

[81vintyminty]

..

[81vintyminty]

More shinyness.
So what was the weight difference now on your flywheel? I have found my '77 1600.EG with their smaller Dia. flywheel revs a little nicer than the shorter stroke '79 1602.EL even if it doesn't have quite the torque. Though the gearing is all different too so early g/box has higher 1st & 2nd?, and doesn't have the big gap between 2nd & 3rd.

Of course the '77 engine may be healthier than the '79, with the '81 prelude even less healthy.
Tempted to try lightening the later flywheel.

Oh yeah going to be alot of shinyness going on in this thread! Im not sure on the actual weight of the flywheel i just dropped it off at the machine shop and told him to shave around 4.5lb's off of it. He told me the weight b4 and after but i dont recall. He removed a little over 4lbs of material so it should rev a bit quicker without sacrificing much torque (hopefully).

[81vintyminty]

Damn! So much clean and shiny. I remember when my engine looked like that. I wish I could make my valve cover quit leaking. Kinda trashed out my whole engine bay.

Thats no good. Had that problem with a brand new vc gasket for my 1G a few years back that i could not get to seal for the life of me. I think it was just twisted in the package for so long it wouldnt sit flush on the head to seal. I couldnt take the mess so that thing ended up in the trash!

[2ndGenGuy]

Yeah, thinking maybe I should get a new valve cover and a new gasket and see what happens. Maybe I even mixed my valve cover up with a *slightly* different year, or maybe with the VC from the Canadian EL head I had...

[Dr_Snooz]

Those 1g valve covers bend pretty easily. My '76 had a cast aluminum one, which was vastly superior to the later, stamped sheet metal variety.

[81vintyminty]

*************ENGINE ASSEMBLY*******************

So with the crank and head back from the machine shop, block machined and painted, and all parts and gaskets in hand this junkyard motor was finally ready for assembly. I had several hours of detailed work ahead of me so i didnt take as many detailed "step by step" pics of the longblock assembly as i wanted too. I really wanted to document/photograph every stage with tech info like the FSM but I was a tad bit anxious too see this motor back together! Now for some pics, enjoy.

Oil pump cleaned and inspected prior to installation. Excellent condition.



Pistons cleaned of all oil and carbon build up, ready for new rings.



Head studs cleaned and lubed.



Rebuilt cylinder head. Also had them replace the valve guides while it was apart.



Block hot tanked and clean.

[81vintyminty]

Block rehoned and bores checked for roundness.. good to go..



Original factory bearings cleaned and returned to thier original location. (pre-lube)



With assembly lube applied to upper main bearings the polished/balanced factory crank is put into place, thrust bearings are also installed at this time. Again, lubed crank journals for lower bearings/caps.



With lower crank bearings returned to original location the main cap bolts are cleaned, lubricated, and snugged. Once all caps are installed they are torqued in factory sequence and to spec, this is done several times after rotating crankshaft several times. Crank spun incredibly smooth! With crank installed it was time to install pistons, rings, rods. Sorry for lack of pics as its an oily mess and timely process of checking and double checking everything. I install each marked rod/piston 1 at a time to insure everything returns to its original location and to prevent any mix up starting with #1-4-2-3. Once bearings are cleaned and returned to their original location the rings are then installed and ring gaps are off-set on pistons on both skirt sides. The piston rings recieve a heavy amount of oil as well as the cylinder walls, bearings recieve assembly lube. Rings are then compressed and the piston/rod is then installed in the block and rod bolts threads lubricated then snugged. Once all piston/rods are installed the rod bolts are then torqued to factory spec which is checked several times after a few crankshaft rotations.



Once the oil pump is installed with new gaskets it is again lubricated with oil. I also pour a hefty amount oil on the complete rotating assembly and piston wrist pins prior to oil pan installation.



With gray silicone added to recommended areas the new gasket and powdercoated pan is installed



New crank and rear main seal installed as well as t-belt tensioner and waterpump.

[81vintyminty]

Assembled shortblock completed.



Each piston returned to original location and position.





New headgasket in place.



With headstuds cleaned and lubricated the head is installed and torqued in sequence and to factory spec via fsm.



Oil pump gear cleaned and lubed. Journals and related areas lubed prior to camshaft and rocker assembly installation.





Camshaft installed and lubed.



New cam seal with gray silicone in needed areas.

[81vintyminty]

..