Talk to me about building a motor yourself
Thread Starter
3.0 BAR
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 2,027
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?
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?
1.5 BAR
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 1,156
Re: Talk to me about building a motor yourself
Originally Posted by n1ghtm0nkey
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?
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?
3.0 BAR
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 3,693
From: Your mom's panties
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.
1.5 BAR
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 1,030
From: Westminster,MD
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.
Thread Starter
3.0 BAR
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 2,027
Re: Talk to me about building a motor yourself
Originally Posted by TorganFM
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.
0.0 BAR
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 0
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
!! UNCONFIRMED EMAIL !!
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 6,654
Re: Talk to me about building a motor yourself
Originally Posted by n1ghtm0nkey
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.
3.0 BAR
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 3,693
From: Your mom's panties
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.
