So, today at work I get a phone call from a local guy. And he asks me, “Do know anyone interested in a B17A1 short block” Long story short I offered him $100 and he took it. Which I’m excited as a kid on Christmas about it. It needs rebuilt, which I’ve never done. I’ve spent idk how many hours reading about rebuilding engines and watching videos. In theory I know what to do. And I know there more than one way to skin a cat. What I was wondering was. Where would you guys start? Should I clean it, get the crank and pistons balanced first? Should I get all of my parts for the rebuild perched first? And anyone that’s messed the B17; from what I know it runs off of a vacum powdered v tech. So should rebuild with the B17 head? Or use another gsr head? Thanks for any input.
I’d pay the machine shop to clean it… The amount of time you’ll be in it to clean it up yourself, imo it’s worth the funds to have everything hot-tanked.
You can opt to soda-blast the block and head… they will look brand new when finished.
Basically, you’ll want the cylinders checked for roundness, and have them honed… If it’s high mileage they may need to be honed out to 81.5mm, but then you won’t be able to use those B17 pistons, you’d need OEM oversized, or aftermarket units.
The same goes for the main bolts, rod bolts and head bolts… They’re old. And if they’re high mileage, they’ve likely stretchhed and no longer hold proper torque… Revving high with improper torque will shred your motor quickly… I’d swap them out for ARP units.
Check the block and the head mating surfaces, makeing sure they’re perfectly flat.
Get all new bearings, seals, water pump, oil pump, tensioner, timing belt… Etc.
And it really comes down to what you’re trying to achieve… would you be happy with a stock rebuild? Or are you going for more power than that?
The vtec system is the same in the B16/17/18c, etc… They’re all the same, they run off oil pressure, which is where the vtec solenoid and pressure switch come into play.
You need to have a clear goal in mind before you can start doing work to it.
Sorry I didn’t really clarify. I would love to use oem. I work at an O’reilly’s so I can get some stuff. I’ve never rebuilt an engine so I wasn’t sure if I should stick to OEM or what. I’d like to make some power but nothing crazy. I thought about V-tech killer cams. Possible boost. My number one thing is getting it done right. I know I’d like to put a thicker head gasket then stock in.
Provided the motor is in good condition, as welfare pointed out… The next big things are:
Budget
Purpose for the car (Daily Driving, AutoX/Road Course, Drag Strip)
Power Goals
Once you have a clear direction/goal in mind, throwing together a parts list is easy.
As DA6XSI06 said, vtec killers aren’t going to work unless you put in aftermarket pistons and up your compression by a big margin. You want all of your parts to work together… just because JoeBob ran Vtec Killers in his setup doesn’t mean they’ll do what YOU need them to.
Long story short. The guy, I got it from had a shop with another gentlemen. The parted ways, apparently he had gotten it on a crate of engines. He had planned to rebuild it but he said he had 0 interest from anyone. So he wanted to sale it. I being a DA guy nee what it was, so I snatched it up. The idea of my DA is just to have a project idk when it’s done if I will really do anything like auto cross or anything. Maybe drive to meets and maybe dribe long distance for IA and stuff. I’d live to build it for a specific purpose but I don’t have the best of resources and no one to help me out. Besides you guys lol the main reason for the vtech killer cams are I love the sound of the lobe. I know I’m done I’ll drive it but I don’t want to daily it. The car has A LOT of meaning to me.
Sounds like you really want to restore/rebuild the b17 as a daily.
Honestly the goals you have in mind doesn’t include the b17. Your better off building on a lsv, b20vtec or gsr. More tq, hp and cheaper. Being that a b17a is rare now days you should just rebuild and rock it.
Well after listening to what you guys said. And thinking about it for a couple days. Plus the guy at work that keeps telling mey car is just a P.O.S. integra over and over. I want something I can have fun with and take to the track. I have an idea of where I want to take the car. It’s just where to start first.
keep us posted, im about in the same situation you are right now except my b17 is still in my car. im curious to see what you do with it, to give me some ideas for mine. if you decide against it im right on the indiana border if you wanted to make a quick buck on that block
OK, so from reading all your posts, it sounds to me like you want a mildly built b17. Something aggressive enough for the streets, but not just a basic stock rebuild, and you don’t seem to be wanting to dump a bunch of money into it. Here’s my opinion, do a LOT of research! V-tec killer cams is a horrible idea. Like they said, with a stock block and pistons, your bottom end won’t even make close to enough power to use them. This is my opinion: bring the block to a machine shop and get it hot tanked, honed (possibly bored bigger if need be), balanced crank, and a resurface job. Get your rods and pistons, I’d stay with B17 rods because the only aftermarket company to make them is crower, and they cost a pretty penny, and B16 pistons on them would bump up the compression a little bit. DO NOT try to alter your compression by using a thicker or thinner head gasket, go OEM or OEM specs (cometic). Other than that I’d go with the B17/B16 head and upgrade the cams to Type R or stage 1 Crower or Skunk2 Cams. Don’t choose a set of cams based on the sound they make…poor decision. And a few bolt ons to go with the build will keep the budget relatively low (staged clutch, flywheel, intake manifold, exhaust, etc). But like the other members said, you need to get YOUR goal in mind of exactly what you want, and do more research. There’s always something to learn.
By the way, there is a thread already created on here where people posted their setups specifically on B17 blocks, you should take a look, that way you can get some further ideas
