i have a '90 GS. in the next month i plan on buying a B20 of some sort. what i’m wanting to do is buy a motor, tear it down, get the machine work done, and build it back up with all the appropriate goodies such as cams, pistons, etc. i haven’t completely decided yet, but i don’t believe i will be going VTEC on it.
my first question is, should i buy one of these JDM B20B deals with less than 50,000 miles that you can find all over the internet and build off of it, or should i just start off by finding a B20 block in a junk yard and build off of it? with the first choice i imagine there would be no concerns with needing to bore or resleeve the cylinders, but is that any cheaper than buying a US motor with a few more miles and running the motor on freshly bored or freshly honed cylinders. also, with the first option, i imagine i’d be getting rid of alot of good parts anyways.
my goal is to get about 200 whp with an all motor setup without going so high compression that i have to add octane booster to every tank of gas to keep it from pinging. i’d like to put about $3000 usd into the motor and complete the setup with a LSD gearbox. while this is far from the first motor i’ve ever built, it is the first aluminum and/or import motor i’ve built.
another major question, with the motor being aluminum, are there any concerns with motor warpage from being on an engine stand for any long amount of time. (my engine stand is a typical one where the motor mounts where the transmission bolts up. i’m not sure what most of you use) i plan on doing the engine build throughout the summer and put it sometime probably around august, but if the project gets more expensive than i imagined, it may be next spring before the motor gets in the car. i’m in no rush with this project, so i don’t mind waiting to get the money to do it right.
a couple other things to mention. i may decide to run a nitrous kit at some point after i get things going right with it. nothing huge, just something for a little extra kick. that being said, is there anything particular that i should do or include in building up my motor? is it possible to do this swap without any major modification to wiring?
any input or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks