Has anyone heard of this??? When I first heard about it i thought this guy was a nut. But he has built a name for himself for the past couple years with this technique and has a 0 return rate. He hasn’t had a block returned 100% satisfaction so far. A buddy i grew up with works for him on things including his 3.2 honda block that is going in his mid engine sand rail. He has built twin turbo 3.2’s that push 570hp. What he does is uses stirofoam to use as a molding guide for the epoxy. This keeps it from going all the way down the sleeves. he drills holes for coolant and some how poors the epoxy down in the sleeves and uses a cemical to remove the stirofoam and than hot tanks it. He than puts a copper head gasket and punches holes for the custom coolant holes. He owns a machine shop and has been doing this for quite sometime and knows what he is talking about from what it sounds like. Anyone had expierence with this kinda thing please post.
Sounds interesting. Zero returns is great, but how many customers?
Well here is the deal. Our family has been in building sand rails and high powered VW’s and V8’s for years and years. The guy that is doing this is being approached by people that are VERY high in the food chain i guess u could say. How many i can get that number shortly but for now all I know is he has been doing this for a couple years on end. Im personally worried about the fact most of the blocks were used in sand rails. EXTREME heat and very high PSI levels but these are only ran on the weekends. But they dont push mild boost were talking 15psi constantly when theyre ran. He has built some street ran blocks but I need to research the topic more. Ill post the results back here Im very interested as well. After talking with the old man who is a known for his mechanical skills he says epoxy is some tuff **** and he doesnt doubt the guy at all(he knows a couple guys that use him that dont trust no one). But still thinks i should get a rwd car. :roll:
I don’t doubt you at all, I know epoxy CAN be very tough if used properly.
That’s the cool thing about what we do, someone’s always got a different way to get around a problem. Let us know if he’s had reliable motors on daily drivers. I have a B17A block that could use some reinforcing.
Has anyone every heard of using cement in their blocks? Supposed to strengthen the bottom end. Someone told me it’s an “old school trick”, but I haven’t heard anything of this sort.
yes old drag racers have done it. im sure thats for trailor queens though.
I know cement is very brittle and porous unless sealed. That would be a bit weird to see a cement mixer at your local machine shop :tsk:
ok here is the score. i talked to my friends again that works with this guy. he has done more then he can count using this technique. he has been doing this sort of thing for 15 years. he has done this to many 3.0 (i think they usually take the RL motors???)and goto 3.2-3.5 with them. they run them on 20psi and he hasnt had a block come back. i asked him to estimate how many honda blocks he has done and he said if he had to guess about 30+blocks. some are NSX blocks but most 3.0’s. he also uses this type of block in his OWN sand rail. they run big aluminum radiators. i will meet with him again soon and keep u posted SE-37k
Originally posted by SE-37K
I have a B17A block that could use some reinforcing.
Are you serious? Where did you get that block??? Let me know if you ever want to sell it…if I ever had one I’d never sell it.
Whats up man? Haven’t started work on that motor yet?
-Steve
Originally posted by DAY U IZ
-Steve
What’s up Steve! I just did a seach and found this thread.
I have that block on the stand but havn’t started on it yet. Still gathering parts and stuff. It’s what I get for being cheap 
How’s it going in VA?
Oh, no problem man. I think I’m going to end up using a Z10 type girdle (prototype) and a block guard.
yeah i think im gonna go block gaurd as well on my b20b. im gonna boost 12psi at most(tire spin im sure will be insane) but thats exactly why im not boosting anymore. after seeing the GE design they appear to sink the gaurd. i wanna take a STR and sink it as well to keep the top of the cylinder, the hottest part, the coolest i can. ill have to talk to a couple of machinist thogh to see if its even a good idea. i dont think its the answer but heat is what im most worried about.
O.K. So yes this will work. Would I recommend it ? No.
Epoxy or cement has different expansion incomparison to metals. How it works with antifreeze is another question. The substances used to make epoxy usually contain silicons or borates. Both of these substances have been known to degrade the life of water pumps. Honda has spent a lot of time making their antifreeze slilcate and borate free. There fore I don’t recommend this type of work on street.
Also the stock honda sleeves are weak. Golden eagle and Darton use ductile iron which is great for boost vehicles.
I’ve heard of people using using pins and/or epoxy to re-enforce the bottom ends of open deck blocks. However, since there are companies that specialize in making sleeve kits that close the deck and structurally re-enforce them I would suggest you look there instead.
Remember when years ago corrective vision used to be callen RK ( radial karatonomy or some thing like that ) they used a diamond blade to make 8 incisions on your eyes. Your eyes would generally heal with good vision. Today no one would touch that. LASIC is the only recommended procedure. When technology advances why would you turn back? Don’t tell me you are looking into pushrod technology.
OMG!! I said pushrod and technology in the same sentence! Worse yet consecutively! DAMN!! what is this world comming to…?
If you feel like experimenting with this idea go for it. I just don’t think it will be advisable to go with this route.
Joe