engine overhaul/mods 86 civic

[pepper]

got a AH 1986 civic No 2 son holed sump and stuffed main bearings, I'm
in the process of taking motor out:
Question: are these easy enough to work on and are there mods to suit motor eg carbs?

[Spunkymonkey]

sorry don't quite understand what your asking? if your asking about upgrading the motor, you could consider the motor out of the ed civics. ALLMTR on the forums used to have an ah with a b16a in it so its certainly possible. Or you could just sell it for parts and buy something else...they aren't worth much these days the ah....

[pepper]

what i'm asking is, is rebuild straight forward and are there any mods I can make to motor.
this is my first go at doing up a car at home and i'll stick with this civic as its small and I like it.

[Setanta]

Basic motor, not too hard to rebuild. get a mild cam for it and the head ported while it's off. The 12 valve EW can really wake up with these mods alone especially with a slight bump in compression. Have the crank/rods/(new 1 mm over factory size) pistons balanced along with the flywheel and have the rods crack-tested or replace them. Make sure the block is decked as there is often a mild leak between two of the cylinders. Replace the oil pump even if it seems ok. All new bearings (goes without saying) and you MUST replace the con-rod bolts with new ones (personally, I used to replace ALL bolts and dowels). Personally I would also replace the valve springs too. New water pump goes without saying.

By doing all of this, you set yourself up with a nicely tweaked, reliable, drivable motor that will benefit from extractors and the existing carby. Later on you could upgrade to a single downdraft webber or twin 45 side-drafts choked to at least 40mm and a wilder cam. Having done everything properly with the head and bottom end, a lot can be done with the top.

Make sure everything is clean - parts, hands, working surface etc. Constantly clean as you build. Make sure that bearings etc all fit the right tolerances (use bearing crush gauges on a dry fit). In particular, check the block and head for any metal shavings - this includes oil galleries and water galleries - some places don't do as good a job as they can cleaning. air or water blasting the galleries is a good idea (air is much much better). I once found a ton of metal shavings in the water jacket of a block I was working on.

You can NOT afford to scratch the cylinder walls. If the machinist has done a good job of honing the walls, you will see a nice crosshatch effect. Do NOT polish this off (as one of my friends did :D ). Lightly lubricate the walls to protect from rusting and when inserting pistons/rings (don't forget to buy a ring compressor).

Finally, make sure you have the proper torque settings and a decent (expensive) torque wrench. Don't use settings in Gregory's manuals as quite often they are wrong (!!!!) and a snapped bolt or threaded alloy block makes baby jesus cry. Use proper stud removers not mole-grips to remove.install studs.

Thats all I can think of right now - it's been years since I've built a Honda motor.

Stay cool while you build - if something stuffs up, don't assume it's "good enough"... disassemble and fix it and above all - keep it all clean.

The EW motors can be made to make 150bhp reliably in reasonably drivable form. With mild mods, 115-120bhp isn't out of the question.

Enjoy

[Setanta]

Oh... DON'T buy a non-genuine VRS gasket set. They are shit (!!!!) Go genuine with as many parts as you can.

[pepper]

Thanks Setanta
thats what I wanted to know.
doen't anyone like these things or are they to old + me

[pepper]

[QUOTE=Setanta;1026094]Have the crank/rods/(new 1 mm over factory size) pistons balanced along with the flywheel and have the rods crack-tested or replace them.

What do you mean - new 1mm over factory?

[Setanta]

[quote=Setanta;1026094]Have the crank/rods/(new 1 mm over factory size) pistons balanced along with the flywheel and have the rods crack-tested or replace them.

What do you mean - new 1mm over factory?

1mm oversize = 1mm greater in diameter than the original factory spec pistons. I say it that was as if the engine has been rebuilt before (possible) then there's a good chance they will have gone 0.5 oversize on the rebuild. You don't want to go too far out on the bores (the inserts are not the meatiest) so you measure from the factory spec rather than the pistons you have to be on the safe size.

BTW - I have a feeling Gary Cooke used 1st gen CRX pistons on Ted Wrigg's 1st gen Civic with 150bhp EW2 conversion. McChook would know.

[Setanta]

BTW - I love the AT series - but mostly for the JDM Si DOHC ZC powered beasts :)

[pepper]

will get local engine rebuilder to measure bores and checkover when I strip
motor. thanks:wave: