How to: B-series Block build-up

When beginning my engine build for the SirromMotorsports.com Project Street Car (SMPSC), I thought I'd create a block build up guide/article to hopefully help others that had a build similar to our project. This article is based on my particular motor (B18C5) so the torque specs, etc.. may differ from other b-series engines so its a good idea to purchase a hayes/chiltons manual for your particular application for correct specifications. To start things off, in order to attain the higher output that we were looking for in this particular project, bumping up the compression was the key factory in our build. With the 11:1cr from our factory J-Spec ITR motor spinning 8400rpms, we will raise the compression of our SMPSC block to over 13:1cr that will with hold 9500+ rpms.

Disclaimer: The following information is intended as a guide only and should be treated as such. Our purpose is to show you what is involved in the process of such a build-up. There is much more time, intensive and painstaking steps involved that we do not show or cover in this article. We must stress that patience is very important when doing such a job like this, and do not expect this to be an overnight or weekend escapade.

Starting with our bare engine block, we started by attaching the oil cooler which is mounted between the oil filter and the engine block. There is is large 30mm nut/bolt that slides in the center of the oil cooler and separates the oil cooler from the engine block. When installing, be sure to use a new O-ring between the block and oil cooler (lubricate the O-ring with clean engine oil before installation). Once the oil cooler is connected you can go ahead and screw in the larger oil stem that threads into the block that's located slightly to the right of the oil cooler. (larger stem uses a 20mm socket)

The rectangle black oil reservoir box was next in line... The box uses a O-ring on the lower section of the piece and installation is as simple as sliding the piece into the block... Following the simple push-in type install we thread in the smaller stem that's located above the black reservoir with a 14mm deep socket.. Once complete, you can connect the rubber hose that runs from the top of the oil reservoir to the smaller 14mm stem you just finished threading into the block

Prep the water pump by applying a thin layer of "Ultra Gray RTV Sealant" to the O-ring groove of the pump, then carefully set a new O-ring into the groove. Connect the water pump to the block be attaching the (5) 10mm bolts and torquing them down each at 104 in-lbs. Remember aluminum is a soft material so you do not want to over torque down your bolts which could cause them to strip out

After you have the water pump torqued down to the proper specs you can now put new O-rings on each end of the the tube that connects between the water pump and the thermostat housing. Lubricate the O-rings on each end of the tube and slide the end into the back side of the water pump. Now you can attach your hoses that run from the oil cooler.. The left stem on the oil cooler connects to the large 20mm stem that we mentioned above, while the right stem on the oil cooler connects to the large outlet tube that's on the water pump tube.

After threading in the knock sensor that's located at the top center section of the block near the cylinders snug tight, we then tapped our oil feed line fitting in the location where your oil sending sensor would be attached.. (normally your factory oil sending sensor would fill this threaded hole)
Next, move on to mounting the thermostat housing to the block where the coolant tube that runs from the water pump that we just finished up will attach into the center of the housing... The thermostat housing is attached to the block with (2) longer 10mm bolts which are torqued to 96 in-lbs

Attatch your Timing Belt Tensioner Pulley by threading in its 12mm nut and washer, while connecting the tensioner spring to the nipple thats tapped into the block. You'll need to adjust this tensioner (40ft-lbs) once you apply the timing belt later on in your build once the cylinder heads attached. We now have the majority of the external block parts/peices attatched where you can now focus your attention and patience towards the lower internals of the block.

The easiest way to start, is to rotate the block 180 degrees to it's upside down position where you can work from overhead looking down onto the block. We started by placing our new upper main bearings (upper=closest to cylinders) into their correct locations. Once pressed into their desired spots, we lubricated the (5) upper bearings using "Federal Mogul Assembly Lubricant." Once you have the upper bearings (upper bearings also will have a round oil hold machined into the bearing) well lubricated we then set the crankshaft into its correct settings so we could measure correct bearing to journal clearance using (green) plexigage

After pressing in and lubricating the lower main bearings into the lower main cap bridge, it is now time for you to find a clearance measurement. To check main bearing-to-journal oil clearance, clean each main journal and bearing half with a clean shop towel. Place one strip of plastigage across each main journal on the crankshaft. Reinstall the bearing caps and main cap bridge then torque the main cap bolts down to the correct specs. For our particular block we torqued main caps 1 and 5 to 56ft-lbs while torquing the others (Main Caps 2, 3, and 4) slightly lower at 49ft-lbs

NOTE: Do not rotate the crankshaft during this inspeciton and measurement.

Once torqued down properly, you'll now need to un-torque the (10) 14mm main cap bridge bolts so you can remove the lower main caps and bearings again. Once you've remove the main cap bridges and bearings you'll now have a mark on your crank left by your plastigage where you can get an accurate clearance reading.. When measuring for clearances, you want to measure the widest part of the plastigage. (Journals Number 1, 2, 4, and 5 should measure between 0.0009 - 0.0017 inch, while Journal Number 3 should measure between 0.0012 - 0.0019).

If the plastigage measures too wide or too narrow, remove the crankshaft, and replace with a completely new set of bearings specifically designed for your application. Some engine builders go the cheaper route using ACL bearing kits, though I personally used and recommend OEM factory bearings to allow for propper and correct fitment

Once you have all your measurements set, correct, and squared away, you can relube your main bearings, set in place your two thrust washers with the grooved sides facing out and reattach your main cap bridge and retorque to the correct specifications.. Like mentioned above, we torqued our bolts to the 49ft-lbs and 56ft-lbs settings and were ready to attach the oil pump and main seal housing.

First we started with the replacements of the rear main seal and front oil seal... Remove the seals from the retainer with a hammer and punch by driving it out from the back side. Be sure to note how far its recessed into the retainer bore before removing it; the new seal will have to be recessed an equal amount. Be very careful not to scratch or otherwise damage the bore in the retainer or oil leaks could develop. Make sure the new ring seal is clean. Apply a think coat of engine oil around the outer edge. I used a rubber mallet to evening beat the new rings into there correct locations. Once those were set in place we then ran a thin bead of Ultra Gray RTV Sealant around the outer edge of both the front main seal and oil pump housings.

(oil pump bead pic)

Once the thin sealant bead was finished we started with the front main seal which attaches to the crank pulley side of the block using (5) 10mm bolts. Following the front mail main seal housing attachment, you'll slide on in order your inner belt guide, crankshaft sprocket, outer belt guide and finally your 19mm crank pulley bolt for the time being which will eventually be torqued down to 130ft-lbs once the crankshaft pully is in place. Around to the other side of the block where you'll attach your oil pump by torquing down (4) 10mm bolts at 86in-lbs and (2) 12mm bolts at 17ft-lbs.

Now its time to slide the high domed pistons and rods which again will become yet another long but patient process. Start by prepping the pistons. Clean each piston and rod combination (we cleaned them with non-chlorinated break cleaner) then carefully install the rings. Most ring sets will come with 5 rings (2 skinnie oil side rail rings, 1 spacer/expander oil ring, 1 center thick compression ring, and 1 upper compression ring) to fit inside the piston grooves... When installing the rings (bottom grooves first, working your way up) you'll have 1 super skinny oil ring on each side of the expander ring on the bottom grove... the middle sectional groove will host your thicker compression ring while the top groove will host the last compression oil ring thats left. Be sure to space your ring end gaps in differnet locations to re-asure good reing seal. (So you might space the bottom three ring gaps at 12 o'clock, 3 o'clock and 6 o'clock while the upper two are at 8 o'clock and 10 o'clock). Next thing we did was prep the rod bearings by lubricating each of the UPPER bearing (the bearings that attach to the actual rods, NOT the rod caps.. rod cap bearings will come later) with our Federal Mogul lubricant

Carefully place each piston in a piston ring compressor and prepare to lower them into each cylinder one at a time. Position the pistons so that they are facing the correct way.. (intake releives in the pistons are on the intake side of the motor, and vise versa with the exhaust valve releives) If you are using OEM rods which have the rod bolt studs attached to the actual rod itself, its a good idea to cover up the threaded rod stud by placing a thin oil hose over them, or what I've done in the past is used heat shrink wrap.. Since the rods we were using did not have threaded rod studs, but used rod bolts instead, we could bypass this worry. Gently seat the compressor flush onto the deck serface of the block and then using a rubber mallet hammer, gently tap the piston down into the cylinder. Becareful at this point that the rod is lined up correctly with the crank journal so that it does not hit or bind against it. Repeat this procedure for the remaining cylinders that are left. Once all cylinders are filled with your new slugs, its now time to measure the clearances on you connecting rod bearings which you'll follow the general precedures and steps that you did when checking the clearance on the main bearings

Before connecting the lower half of the rod cap and lower bearing half, make sure that the crankshaft rod journals and lower bearing half (these bearings are the ones that attach to the rod caps and not the actual connecting rod itself) are clean . Place a small strip of plexigage across the rod journal. Now install the bearing half and rod cap, and torque the rod bolts/nuts to the correct specifications. (We torqued our ARP2000 rod bolts to 38ft-lbs.. If we were using OEM nuts, we'd had torqued to the OEM 33ft-lbs)

NOTE: Do not rotate the crankshaft during inspection.

Once the rod caps have been torqued down properly, you'll now need to un-torque the (8) rod bolts/nuts so you can remove the rod caps and bearings again. Once you've remove the rod caps and bearings you'll now have a mark on your crank left by your green plastigage where you can get an accurate clearance reading.. When measuring for rod bearing clearances, you want to measure the widest part of the plastigage using the printed ruler from the paper that the plexigage came in... To measure the clearance, you'll follow the same steps as you did measuring for the main bearings that you did earlier in the build. (Connecting Rod Bearing-to-Journal Oil Clearance for our specific ITR block platform was between 0.0015 - 0.0020 inch. Other applications differ, so check your helms/chiltons manual for your particular clearance specs.)

Once you have all your measurements completed, you can relube your rod bolts, lubricate your rod bearings, reattach the rod caps and retorque to the correct specifications.. Like mentioned above, we torqued our bolts to the 38ft-lbs.) When using ARP stretch bolts you'll need to torque all (8) rod bolts to spec, then re-loosen them, torque to spec again, re-loosen again, and finally torque all (8) rod bolts again to get the proper installation. Torquing and loosening the bolts three times allows the bolts to properly stretch so you'll have optimal use of their product.

Now that your pistons/rods are all complete, you can go ahead and put on your oil baffle plate and tighten down the half a dozen 10mm screws to 96 in-lbs. Once the baffle plate was secure, we added our oil pick-up tubes paper gasket then finished with the oil pickup tube which is fastened down with (4) 10mm bolts to the same torque specs. Finally to the last part of your block build; The oil pan. After setting your new oil pan rubber gasket in place (it'll only fit on one way) you can next attach your oil pan to the block by tightening down the handful of 10mm nuts and bolts to 104 in-lbs...

Hopefully this small article will help you feel more confident about tackling a block build... This is only intended as a guide for others, so please treat it as such.. I'll be adding a head build article later on in the near future as well as a complete all said and done article... My goal is to create a article that guides one through an entire build turning every nut and bolt.

Article Provided by: www.SirromMotorsports.com

 

 

 

 

This website has been gradually growing since I started it in early 2002. Originally I was simply documenting modifications and repairs to my car but I decided to publish it when I began to discover others were interested in the information. If you need help or have a how-to relating to Honda B series VTEC engines, or DA or DC2R Integras you can
email me.

While all care is taken to provide correct information, mistakes are occasionally made and I cannot be responsible for any damage that occurs to readers vehicles.