I've read and taken a great deal of info from the other build ups I have followed.
For reasons such as school and $$ my build up will probably be extended through the end of the year, and upgrades for who knows how long.
But on to business. I got a '95 motorset that I'm gonna put in my '90 hatch. Since it has over 160k on it (the engine) I want to rebuild it now before I put it in.
As of now, the rebuild will consist of:
9:1 CP pistons
Cometic Metal HG
King Race Rod and Main Bearings
Block bored to 89.5mm
Block Acid dipped, cleaned and checked
File fit rings
New timing assembly, chains, tensioners, guides, and sprockets
New Water Pump
New Oil pump gears, and relief spring
Head cleaned and tested
Full rotating assemble balanced
This all comes at a price a little over my initial budget, but I am getting more than I planed on. I was thinking of ARP head and main studs, and possibly, as Ivan suggested, rod bolts as well. Is there any thing else I should get taken care of while the engine is apart?
Planning on going N/A while I save up for a turbo kit. After that, having initial horsepower under boost to be in the 200 range, to keep fuel upgrades to a minimum, with a Safc II to watch over things. Then get the parts needed for around 300 on a daily basis. Thats a ways down the road though.
Thanks in advance
Another Ka-t build up
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WDRacing
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Well all of the above except maybe the tensioner system isn't needed until you approach 380WHP. The piston ring lands let go at much over 400whp. SO if I were you, I'd build the motor after I did the turbo kit. So you can get all the tuning done and figure out if your ready to take the plunge into big numbers. With 380WHP you'll be faster then most cars on the road.
The engine had good leak down and compression numbers (I'm told) before it came out of the s14 it was in. With atleast 160k miles on it I figured a rebuild was due seeing as how it would see boost, let alone not knowing if it would even run. (sat on a shop floor for a few months). More than anything I want it in my car running so I'm not stuck w/o a car when my integra sells. Plus, all the money from that is going back into the turbo fund.
Was originally planning on just getting it re-manned, back to factory quality. Only gonna run about 400$ more than if they only did the gaskets and file fit the rings.
Soon as it gets in the car and I sell my intgra, I'm gonna get the turbo on there. Good quality turbo, prob t3/t4, BD or Phat ka-t mani and intecooler and just run about 6psi. Then as budget allows, upgrade fuel system, Controlers, and yes, AEM-ems to replace the safc 2 that will hold me over untill then.
Soon as it gets in the car and I sell my intgra, I'm gonna get the turbo on there. Good quality turbo, prob t3/t4, BD or Phat ka-t mani and intecooler and just run about 6psi. Then as budget allows, upgrade fuel system, Controlers, and yes, AEM-ems to replace the safc 2 that will hold me over untill then.
yeah i'll jump on the bandwagon and say spend your money on the turbo kit and accessories... a built engine isn't necessary for your initial setup ...
you want your first engine to be sort of a test engine because it's not terribly hard to blow them up, especially if you're new to this sort of thing. no matter if you build the engine or not bad tuning will result in a blown engine, and i would rather blow up a stock internal engine and replace it for a few hundred bones than blow up a built engine i just spent a few thousand on... like wd said, once you start to approach the limits of the stock engine then think about the rebuild, because by then it may really need it and you'll be in great shape with a good kit and everything necessary to do it right...
if you were to blow up the stock engine and you wanted to get a built one, well generally people will charge like $200 for a core if you can't supply one (phat ka-t and BD do)... that's pocket change when you're doing turbo projects looking for 400+ hp to the ground.
you want your first engine to be sort of a test engine because it's not terribly hard to blow them up, especially if you're new to this sort of thing. no matter if you build the engine or not bad tuning will result in a blown engine, and i would rather blow up a stock internal engine and replace it for a few hundred bones than blow up a built engine i just spent a few thousand on... like wd said, once you start to approach the limits of the stock engine then think about the rebuild, because by then it may really need it and you'll be in great shape with a good kit and everything necessary to do it right...
if you were to blow up the stock engine and you wanted to get a built one, well generally people will charge like $200 for a core if you can't supply one (phat ka-t and BD do)... that's pocket change when you're doing turbo projects looking for 400+ hp to the ground.
Seriously, go stock block with maybe some of the new crower cams at first, you could probalby do 350 whp on that safely for quite a while. If you want/need more power or you get a boost spike or something and blow the stock block, then get the built engine. If you're going to make the plunge for a built engine shoot for at least like 450 whp...all that additional cash outlay just to make 400 whp rather than 350 doesnt seem worth it to me.
Build cost is 1800. That would put total cost of the project at 3500, including the car with 1.5k in suspension mods.
If I knew the engine was good, I would def throw on the turbo first, but I'm not 100% sure the engine even works as is, seeign how its in my friends garage, 5 miles from the 240.
I just want to make sure I do things right. But I know I will get proper tuing, but stay streetable at the same time.
If I knew the engine was good, I would def throw on the turbo first, but I'm not 100% sure the engine even works as is, seeign how its in my friends garage, 5 miles from the 240.
I just want to make sure I do things right. But I know I will get proper tuing, but stay streetable at the same time.
look at it this way:scenario 1:you put the kit on and blow up the engine. regardless of how good or bad the engine was it didn't cost you anything and everything else on the car will still be good.
scenario 2:you build the engine and blow it up very quickly because of bad tuning. big deal because that's $2000 wasted, and then you are out $2000 and you have a car that doesn't run and a turbo kit that has no engine to work on. of course in this case you could then go buy another stock engine for cheap, in which case you are just in the same situation as the beginning of scenario 1...
the engine doesn't need to be built to be a good reliable fast car making 350 hp... i don't know you but i'll just assume you haven't had a car with that much power before, and that your lack of experience driving a car with a power to weight ratio like that will take a lot of getting used to. hell even a entry level 7 psi setup takes some getting used to for inexperienced drivers, so forget about building the engine for now, and just increase power as your driving skill improves, because it would also be a shame not only to blow up a 450 hp engine but to wreck the car because you're not ready for it. do a lot of reading about driving technique and learn as much as you can about all this because there is a lot involved in having a high powered car like that, aside from just having the car running properly.
the great thing about turboed cars is that pretty much any power level is streetable, as long as you dont have a lead foot and an idiotic take on driving. if you're one of those people who likes to drive fast all the time then power and streetability are factors, but like the 640 hp car ivan built for his customers is streetable.
anyhow it just seems logical to start out with the turbo kit and spend money on good tuning. and then as money allows build the engine when it needs it and turn up the boost, or don't because you'll be able to have a really fast car with the stock engine and a turbo kit with good tuning... you don't necessarily have to turn up the boost even with a built engine...
i would suggest you see how comfortable you are with the power levels the stock engine can handle safely and if it's not enough then spend the money on a good build... going with the build right away you may decide that the capabilities of the engine just outweigh what you will do with it...
this is all coming from a person who likes a well balanced car... i'm not much of a drag racing type... i like a car whose handling characteristics are well balanced all around from turning to acceleration to you name it... different people like different things, but i still think it's a good idea to increase at a reasonable rate rather than just jumping on to 400hp. it's a lot to try and handle.
scenario 2:you build the engine and blow it up very quickly because of bad tuning. big deal because that's $2000 wasted, and then you are out $2000 and you have a car that doesn't run and a turbo kit that has no engine to work on. of course in this case you could then go buy another stock engine for cheap, in which case you are just in the same situation as the beginning of scenario 1...
the engine doesn't need to be built to be a good reliable fast car making 350 hp... i don't know you but i'll just assume you haven't had a car with that much power before, and that your lack of experience driving a car with a power to weight ratio like that will take a lot of getting used to. hell even a entry level 7 psi setup takes some getting used to for inexperienced drivers, so forget about building the engine for now, and just increase power as your driving skill improves, because it would also be a shame not only to blow up a 450 hp engine but to wreck the car because you're not ready for it. do a lot of reading about driving technique and learn as much as you can about all this because there is a lot involved in having a high powered car like that, aside from just having the car running properly.
the great thing about turboed cars is that pretty much any power level is streetable, as long as you dont have a lead foot and an idiotic take on driving. if you're one of those people who likes to drive fast all the time then power and streetability are factors, but like the 640 hp car ivan built for his customers is streetable.
anyhow it just seems logical to start out with the turbo kit and spend money on good tuning. and then as money allows build the engine when it needs it and turn up the boost, or don't because you'll be able to have a really fast car with the stock engine and a turbo kit with good tuning... you don't necessarily have to turn up the boost even with a built engine...
i would suggest you see how comfortable you are with the power levels the stock engine can handle safely and if it's not enough then spend the money on a good build... going with the build right away you may decide that the capabilities of the engine just outweigh what you will do with it...
this is all coming from a person who likes a well balanced car... i'm not much of a drag racing type... i like a car whose handling characteristics are well balanced all around from turning to acceleration to you name it... different people like different things, but i still think it's a good idea to increase at a reasonable rate rather than just jumping on to 400hp. it's a lot to try and handle.
300hp wont even be in the picture for a good while. And either way you look at it, the engine needs to be rebuilt, and I just figured why not built it a bit at the same time.
Like I said, I'm gonna take my time, but since its gonna be my DD I cant have any down time on it. I couldn't afford to have something with 160k miles of wear on it fail, on boost or not.
again, bad tuning will never be an issue. I'm gonna take all the time I need to make sure everything is done right. I know I'm on a budget, but deff not gonna rush things, like throwing any ind of boost at this engine.
But I still don't understand why a few hundred dollars on top of a rebuild the engine needs would be a bad decision. And if its something that I would get down the road anyways.
I'm greatful for the replies and sugestions, just not sure if you understand all I'm worried about and don't want to happen.
Like I said, I'm gonna take my time, but since its gonna be my DD I cant have any down time on it. I couldn't afford to have something with 160k miles of wear on it fail, on boost or not.
again, bad tuning will never be an issue. I'm gonna take all the time I need to make sure everything is done right. I know I'm on a budget, but deff not gonna rush things, like throwing any ind of boost at this engine.
But I still don't understand why a few hundred dollars on top of a rebuild the engine needs would be a bad decision. And if its something that I would get down the road anyways.
I'm greatful for the replies and sugestions, just not sure if you understand all I'm worried about and don't want to happen.
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turbo98_240sx
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turbo98_240sx
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hey if you want to build it right away i'm not saying that's a bad idea. what i am saying is that if this is the frist engine you have messed with (performance wise) then it may be a good idea to play with it as a stock engine first . and see how it goes.
7 psi will not harm a stock engine. 350 hp won't harm a stock engine, as long as it's don right, like you're talking about...
i think if you wait on the rebuild you'll get more miles out of everything before you need a rebuild againm. deterimine for sure that the engine has bad compression or something like that that indicates it needs rebuild then consider the rebuild because there are people on here with more miles than you putting down power just fine...
by the way detonation kills engines. it doesn't matter how well built it is detonation will kill an engine at the very least 9 times out of 10. so why risk detonation a $2k engine on your first shot at turboing your car rather than risking blowing up a stock engine? that's all i'm getting at.
if it's all done right that's fine but things still go wrong... you can check and double check everything and still screw something up... i'm just trying to say that it's a safety net, and blowing up a stock engine doesn't suck quite as bad as blowing up a freshly built one. this just gives you time to do everything and learn from mistakes/mishaps. anyhow good luck no matter what you do cause it'll be sweet either way.
yeah and regardless of what you do just make sure you tap the pan before putting it in... oh doing that while it's on the car sucks.
7 psi will not harm a stock engine. 350 hp won't harm a stock engine, as long as it's don right, like you're talking about...
i think if you wait on the rebuild you'll get more miles out of everything before you need a rebuild againm. deterimine for sure that the engine has bad compression or something like that that indicates it needs rebuild then consider the rebuild because there are people on here with more miles than you putting down power just fine...
by the way detonation kills engines. it doesn't matter how well built it is detonation will kill an engine at the very least 9 times out of 10. so why risk detonation a $2k engine on your first shot at turboing your car rather than risking blowing up a stock engine? that's all i'm getting at.
if it's all done right that's fine but things still go wrong... you can check and double check everything and still screw something up... i'm just trying to say that it's a safety net, and blowing up a stock engine doesn't suck quite as bad as blowing up a freshly built one. this just gives you time to do everything and learn from mistakes/mishaps. anyhow good luck no matter what you do cause it'll be sweet either way.
yeah and regardless of what you do just make sure you tap the pan before putting it in... oh doing that while it's on the car sucks.