My bottom end has eagle rods, je pistons, polished crank, block guard, and all bolts are ARP; I rev her to 8000 rpms and she pulls hard and evenly all the way to 8200 rpms. I dont rev her that high to often, but I do rev her to 7500 alot more then I should.
just finished mine too. b18a block, balanced crank & rods, magnafluxed rods, CTR oversize pistons, AC blockguard, b18c head,cams, and valvetrain, AEM camgears, type r oil pump, all new seals, gaskets ect…arp head studs,skunk2 IM,DC 4>2>1 ceramic, hollow cat, custom cat back out passenger side, iceman, gsr TB,injectors, fuel rail, B&M FPR.
reprog’d PR3 ecu. LS tranny, CM stage 5 clutch, aluminum flywheel.any suggestions on what i should do to make her run the best? i eventually am getting skunk2 III cams and cooresponding valvetrain.
thanks,
bryan
there are many people that run CRVtec’s to 9000.
i plan to as well. basic pistons/rods and having the full crank balanced are all you really need.
but it is a performance engine and dont forget no matter what you do it isnt gonna last as long. i plan on pulling the pan and inspecting my bearings on a regular basis. every 6 months at most. i drive my current engine hard and will with the new one.
just gotta take care of it.
heres a quote from Michael Delaney from ti.net
define better.
first point, we had a 5 page thread on whether to build up an LS by using an LS VTEC, turbo, or swap before. Why are we rehashing this question again over and over? Is there some confusion about a 5 page thread that we did not cover? If so, pinpoint that confusion rather than posting a broad general question like this please. Again I plead with 14-18 yr olds on this board and the new members…PLEASE USE THE SEARCH FUNCTION FIRST TO SEE IF YOUR QUESTION HAS ALREADY BEEN ANSWERED (CHOOSE THE MAIN BODY AND NOT TITLE OPTION IN THE SEARCH).
Secondly, personally, I think people who have never done an LS VTEC should stop posting “what other people say…”. If they have owned an LS VTEC for more than 2 years then I would listen to them, if they give both the pluses and minuses (nothing is just good always). If they just had theirs done and are in the middle of thumping them in the first year and they say it’s reliable, then take it with a grain of salt. BTW just because an import magazine does a story on a turbo LS VTEC, it doesn’t mean you should run out and do one too. Have you not noticed that the magazine failed to mention how much boost that guy runs anywhwere in the article? Don’t you find that one bit interesting (is it a low 6-8 psi or is it 10 psi or is it 14-16 psi? I doubt that it is 10-16 psi personally). DId you also notice the magazine article failed to mention how long he has been running the engine. Everyone knows reliability is a huge issue and so why did they not address that? Please think about what info you aren’t being hyped about.
Can it be done by yourself? if you are mechanically inclined? sure. However, you would still want to send it to a machine shop to align the dowel pin holes PROPERLY at the very minimum, even if you were doing the assembling job yourself. You can do the Home Depot method of blocking that oil line in the VTEC head draining to the VTEC solenoid or you can have the machine shop do it.
Is it reliable? Put it this way…it runs. The question of how long it lasts really depends on the preparation & installation, how picky you are about details, and how hard you drive it. The anal retentive type personalities do better in this situation…paying attention to details and choosing a good shop that is equally anal about what they do is a good thing. If you resurface the block deck and head deck, use ARP head studs for more clamping force, and a new head gasket, you know the mating surfaces are flat and clean…ensuring that any effect warpage or grime will not affect leaks.
Ensuring the mismatched ducts are closed, like the VTEC solenoid oil line is closed off properly and that your head deck is flat/flush with the plug in, reduces the chances of leaking in the future.
Vacuum leaks, coolant temperature, and oil leaks are the first problems to crop up with these motors. They are the symptoms of where the details were not paid attention to.
When people say you should blueprint the engine, which blueprint clearances does the machine shop use?: The LS clearances or the VTEC head’s clearances?
As I have said over and over about this topic, the person who assembles and machines the engine parts to make an LS VTEC fit is THE MOST IMPORTANT factor in making the package work for a long time. Finding an experienced shop who has done many of these and who give a sh*t about what they do (not punching the clock and thinking about their GF when they are working on your engine) is huge.
It would be wise not to run above 8000 rpm in an LS VTEC if you still have the same LS crank and stock rod length. Remember the rod ratio is still only 1.54. Sure people have revved them to 10K rpm…ask them how long the engine lasted.
If you are looking for less worries about these sorts of issues, then sticking with a turbo and tuning the air fuel ratio/torque will give you as reliable an engine as a stock LS…seriously. People who say that turbos are less reliable have never had a tuning day in their life or don’t understand the limits of how long and how much boost you can run under certain limitations. As long as you know that running at peak boost for a long time at WOT is not going to help and know how to fuel tune, you will be fine even at 11-12 psi boost. 10 psi boost in a stock LS block is reliable… if you tune it. This is not an intake. You don’t just bolt it on and your done.
The easiest installation is by far the GSR swap. Does it make more power than the turbo? no. Does it make more power than the LS VTEC? not necessarily (depending on the package used in the LS VTEC). Is it more reliable than the LS VTEC with less oil & vacuum leaks? if it was an engine that was hammered and not maintained by the previous owner and the LS VTEC was built by a dependable expereinced builder, no.
Last point, if you plan to waste your money and build an LS VTEC WITH boost rather than just running boost on a stock LS… remember, that boost adds pressure inside a cylinder. The LS VTEC has a head and block that were never meant to be put together and you are “Frankensteining” the fit. If you add a lot more pressure inside the cylinder from boost, which one has more chance of having a head gasket leak or a head lifting off the block?: a stock engine with a head and block that were meant to fit together from the factory or a Frankenstein fitted head and block???
so does “better” mean ease of installation without hassles and having to be overly anal about every step of the process, or more power, or more reliability ?
what IS “better”?