Talk to me about building a motor yourself
 

Alright here's the deal, basically I have a OBD-0 B16 that needs freshened up. It still runs like a champ but it's starting to smoke coolant or oil, though I haven't confirmed which yet. The motor has been overheated a few times due to the radiator fan not working and leaving the car idling unattended for a few minutes, so I'm assuming the head gasket is bad and the head needs milled which a shop will have to do.

I have another car to drive every day so I'm considering building up the motor over the winter. Basically I just want to know what kind of tools and ---- I'll need to do it properly without over-doing it HT style.

My main concerns are boring/honing the cylinder walls and getting correctly sized crankshaft bearings. I've been told a lot of things like I don't even need to bore the cylinders if there aren't any deep scratches or anything, however honing is important. I've also heard a lot of debate on doing a hone yourself versus letting a shop do it. Supposedly renting a ball hone from auto zone is just as good as having a machine shop do it, is there any truth to that?

The reason I want to avoid sending it off to the machine shop is that the only machine shop around here is anti-import and called VTEC an "engineers nightmare." According to somebody I sold a cylinder head to that was milled .010 when they received it the head was still warped, though it was shipped cross country in poor packaging. If that was true I don't want to begin to think what these guys would do to a bottom end.

So how difficult is it really to build a motor yourself without consulting a machine shop? I realize that the head and block will probably need milled on my motor but past that do I really need to take it to them for anything?

Re: Talk to me about building a motor yourself
 

Simple find a good machine shop. Do your homework. A good torque wrench and a helms manual will lead you the right way

Re: Talk to me about building a motor yourself
 

Block Seal for the win. I'm a believer

Re: Talk to me about building a motor yourself
 

Vtec isn't an engineer's nightmare. The way it works is really simple actually, but that shouldn't matter because it has nothing to do with the block. That guy is an idiot. You should take your motor to a Carquest or a Napa and have them check everything out. They know what they're doing unlike that fuckbag you've been talking to.

Re: Talk to me about building a motor yourself
 

There has to be a decent machinist in your area. I use an old timer close by me...and he doesn't hate on imports at all. And yea...get a good torque wrench my Kobalt Lowes special is junk.

Re: Talk to me about building a motor yourself
 

He said that when I took a B16 head to him that was a nightmare. Said it was an engineer's nightmare because he had to take out 3 rocker arms instead of 2 in order to get to the valve seals. I basically told him to cry more and he was getting paid good to do it. All the domestic guys swear by this guy so I'll probably give him another chance, it can't be that hard just to mill something to a given specification.

Re: Talk to me about building a motor yourself
 

taking apart the head, block, taking all parts to machine shop is usually better than giving them complete ----, taking it apart yourself and putting it back is better than paying someone who you aren't watching

Re: Talk to me about building a motor yourself
 

you dont need to pull the rockers to do that....

Re: Talk to me about building a motor yourself
 

Its a nightmare to him because its new. How would like to work on an old chevy head if you havent? Be nice and bring him extra work all at the same time and you will be fine

Re: Talk to me about building a motor yourself
 

Honestly I don't know about the old school Chevy machinists any more. I took my Z6 block to be bored .5mm over for some CP's and he said he did them to CP's specs for wall clearance. All I know is I have a ton of slap. It sounds like a diesel. It doesn't burn oil or anything like that and my catchcans haven't been filling up, but it's still irritating.

Re: Talk to me about building a motor yourself
 

Carquest/NAPA 99% of the time is ----, the people who usually work there are the ones who aren't good enough to go off on their own or work for a better machine shop.

Jesus christ, go find a machinist that knows what the ---- he is doing when it comes to building a Honda, and try and find one who's built a few before that havn't blown to bits.

Re: Talk to me about building a motor yourself
 

Around here there are none of those guys. We have a dirt track that people run stock cars on, but the only 4cyls people run are Mustangs. The shops here cater to these guys. There's no import scene except for AR Fabrication (Howard's a cocksucker btw) and the shops in Fairfax and MD. Most shops don't even do their own boring and decking and ----, they outsource that to Napa and Carquest. Places like AR Fab just mail order a bunch of parts and blocks and piece them together, then blow them up and charge out the ass. AR is seriously shady, and they're the only import speed shop around here.

Brian Arbogast (r.i.p.) had his machine work done at the same Napa and Carquest I went to and he had a 502whp Z6/Y8 before selling it to my friend Phil, so I think they do decent work usually.

Re: Talk to me about building a motor yourself
 

I never knew that NAPA actually does this kind of work....just any old NAPA can get the job done?

This guy has a corner on the machining market in this town, if I wanted to get a serious good machine shop I'd have to go about 100 miles to Indy or Chicago. If anybody knows of a reputable but still affordable machine shop in either of these areas let me know.

Tell me more about this NAPA machining ---- though....that's interesting stuff since we've got a NAPA around here that has some older seemingly knowledgeable guys there.

Re: Talk to me about building a motor yourself
 

The builder at our Napa makes tons of race engines. They even do porting and polishing and intricate stuff like that there. The main builder is Mark Hottle, from the Hottle family that's famous for stock car racing here at the local dirt tracks. He does 50% at least of the motor rebuilds in Winchester. Walk into the shop and there's a hundred motors sitting on the floor waiting in line. The guy is good generally, but mine has a ton of piston slap. Runs so far :S

Re: Talk to me about building a motor yourself
 

Did my first vitara/tt rod turbo 98 ex myself recently. No help from shops. on 1900 miles already. Oh plus im :8..

Re: Talk to me about building a motor yourself
 

a good manual and a torque wrench are key. I think that its best to find a shop that can do the machine work, though. Piston to wall clearances are pretty crucial..

Re: Talk to me about building a motor yourself
 

That's what I did. I had Napa hot tank the block and bore/hone for .5mm over. I notched the block and assembled myself. It's not hard. If you have all the parts you can put one together in an afternoon.

Re: Talk to me about building a motor yourself
 

I'll agree. NAPA/Carquest is just really hit or miss around here I find. It sounds like you've got a hit though.

Re: Talk to me about building a motor yourself
 

Well as far as piston to wall clearances goes couldn't I just get a set of standard bore pistons and throw a quick ball hone on that bitch and be good to go? I'm just wondering if a ball hone will be good enough to get the job done as far as a cross hatch goes.

Re: Talk to me about building a motor yourself
 

It might be decent. I'm not 100% but i think the walls sort of ..."egg" over time and won't be perfectly round. Someone help me out here.

Re: Talk to me about building a motor yourself
 

^^ Truth.

What you need to do to the engine can't be determined by posting on the internet. Get a helms manual and see the recommended tools and procedures needed to tear apart/rebuild. Disassemble, label all parts, measure, assess, decide. If you want to just buy parts for the hell of it ahead of time, go over-sized and bore the cylinders out.

Re: Talk to me about building a motor yourself
 

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