Hi guys I been working on my 93 gsr for about three or four years now. I had this motor before I had my gsr. It started as a B20/vtec. I had the block machine to fit n some wisco pistons. The B16 head has Buddy club spec 3 cams omin spring vals and retaners. I went all out you name it this motor had it. So after a year of saving I started putting things in to motion. I got some RC 340s and hondata n said what hell lets see what the gsr can do. So I headed off to the dyno. It laid down 140 whp n 113 lbs. Not to bad for it to have 200k plus on it. But no I had to Mr man with the B20/vtec. I told my to a buddy that did my civic ls/vtec back in the day. For him to do a wire tuck and put the motor in. That is when all hell broke loose. Between his work getting sick traveling out of town my car sat for almost a year. When he got the car together it smoke and sounded like it had tin cans for pistons.:argh: The machine shop over bore my block to the point of on return. One of the rods was install backward. And they close down before I get the motor in the car so I couldnt get my 550 bucks back. Pretty bad huh? Thats just the start. That was about a 2000 lost parts and labor. My buddy said i needed a new block. So i found a B18 gsr block for 400 bucks. The guy I bought the block from said it had never been boosted or nothing. When my buddy took the block apart crack pistons! I bought new pistons. He put it together and it ran like a champ? Ofcourse not it smoke its ass off. Well my buddy didnt want to work my car anymore he just felt really bad for me. So now Im at about 3000k now. But I didnt give up. Found a new guy to work on my teg. This is was the shit he said his turn around time was a week at the longest. So another 300 for a rebuilt they order the wrong pistons ctrs instead of itrs no big deal. He got the car done n about a week yay. I get the car back after paying him 900 bucks I cant cant tune yet no money left. The car still smoke some he says it needs to be tune ok cool. I get all my ducks in a row. Head off to tune after two days of waiting. Its finally time to ride off in to the sunset. The tuner takes me back to the dyno in shows me the number did a hit the 200 mark i hope for hell naw! 131 whp 121lbs WTF!!! He tells me the set up im running is not working together or something I should try switch cams. And on top of that my is burning oil still. I GIVE UP. :argh: As of now Im trying to get my B17 put back in so I dont have wash my car with purple power every week. Thanks for reading this please share your heart break stories and it anyone any pointers for mild builts for B17. Thanks
Damn dude. That sounds like a combination of bad luck and trusting people who don’t know what the fuck they are doing but who should.
I’m surprised you didn’t have clearance issues with those PCT pistons. By my calculations your compression is around 12.7:1 if you are using a B18C bottom end with PCT pistons and B16 head.
A great mild build for a B17 is exactly what I am planning and Colin (and many others) have done. Basically, you use B16 pistons to bump up the compression a little bit and use Integra Type R OEM valve springs and cams. You end up with an engine that is basically right in between the performance of your stock engine and a stock type R and as long as the machine work and assembly is good you have OEM reliability and longevity.
Sucks to be you but your story has certainly inspired me. I had been going back and forth between using a fancy engine builder or using the shop down the street and assembling myself but you have convinced me it could be worth it to just pay a fancy engine builder who has been around a long time and will stand behind their work.
Ya, you should really do your research on who is a good builder in your area. Don’t trust just anyone with your build. And although a builder may have alot of experience with other motors, be sure that he knows how to build honda motors. The principles are the same, but honda’s seem to have their own little quirks which only an experienced Honda builder would know about.
Spend a little more money to pay a good reputable builder and wait a little longer. To the OP, 1 week turn around time is very fast for a full engine build, but sometimes it pays to be a little more patient then to have the builder rush a job.
i feel your pain man my ls/vtec at 15psi lasted 700km. and it destroyed my gt28 that had 2000km on it. then almost destroyed my second gt28 that i put on but luckily i removed it just in time and got it checked out. 2500$ just in turbo’s and the engine of course. but something didnt feel right since the first day i started it. going for round two with hopefully more success.
Thanks guys for the replies. I feels good talk folk in the same boat. I like the OEM type R guts idea. I love my gsr its a great ride. And I dont want to give up on tuning it. Im going to keep updating the thread with good news and the bad.
Back at it again! This time got a whole lot of goodies from AEM and Bisimoto. I got another GSR 1.8 bottom end. This one has a LS crank and Type R slugs. The is together and in the car just waiting to get some more money. All that left to get is the AEM 4 channel wideband. I plan to do a complete write up. But im going to way til it all done. Kause i hate when guys start a build up post and never finish them. Talk to yall later! Peace brothers DA luv from VA.
Just make sure you use a good reputable builder and a well known tuner bc it’s better to spend a little more at first than to throw it all away and be shit out of luck again. Word of advise do lots of research first and you’ll be glad you did. Hopefully this build will come together for you and not fall all apart again.
When you do a b20vtec, don’t you do something to the oil passages in the head? Maybe that’s what’s messing up your blocks?? Probably not but worth taking another look at that head. +1 on the mild gsr build. I had that setup and loved it.
B20/VTEC’s are called Frankstien’s for a reason, they are a beast and itchy butt to make work, but when they work, get out of the way and be happy.
The most common problem I have seen with ls/vtec and b20 vtec is the oil pumps, and the oil guides for the blocks, The non VTEC’s are not designed with the oil pressure system that the VTEC’s need, and because of that it causes VTEC failure, and even oil lubrication failure (smoking). I think this is why the NEW TYPE-R’s run an eletrical oil pump pressure system to keep the pressure and lube at the spec’s required to operate the system.
(I had a Delta Special Ops trainer in Kuwait tell me this, “Anything good needs a little bit of Lube”)
The other problem with the LS/VTEC and the B20/VTEC is the head/block gap, timing, and like what you had boring size of the block to match the pistons.
BUDS Machine Shop here in Lakewood Washington is a very good machinist, he is no new be to modifications of engines. Look him up if you can. He has been around for over 30 yrs.