Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

CyborgGT : 1993 Accord EX wagon

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    I do appreciate the offer (it's really an absurd coincidence that you had that), but to be honest, at this point my mindset is quickly losing interest in what would only be a 'placeholder' mod.


    Good news/not exactly "bad" news. The good: I picked up the H22 head today. In the couple of times I talked to this guy, it's very obvious that he's very passionate about his job; I definitely went to the right guy, so my hopes are high that this will be a reliable head. One thing that deviated from plan is that he didn't use the Supertech guides I had supplied, and instead swapped them out with GSC B-series guides, as you'll see in the invoice below. While he's a Supertech fan, he's not comfortable with their guides because of how they're not quite big enough to properly grip the valve seals. You could literally put the seals on and pull them off again by hand. GSC has been one of his go-to brands for a while. But since it took so long to get my head done (setbacks with other customers' heads), he didn't charge me for them. There weren't any other real hiccups; he said mine was the nicest H-series heads he's had come through - those HMO motors, man! He included a full reassembly and valve lash adjustment, so all I have to do is pull the cams and bolt the head onto the block, and it's ready to go. An expensive job in the end, but I did opt to replace everything. Photos of the head were all supplied by Drew:

    Memory refresher on the full head setup, once running:

    - Ishino/Stone (OEM) top-end gasket set
    - Fel-pro MLS head gasket
    - ARP head studs
    - New OEM '97-'01 spring-style lost motion assemblies
    - New OEM valve spring seats
    - Supertech 79lb valve springs
    - Supertech titanium spring retainers
    - Supertech machine hardened valve locks
    - Supertech black nitrided dish valves
    - GSC Power-Division manganese bronze B-series valve guides
    - Supertech valve seals
    - Skunk2 Pro 2 cams
    - Skunk2 Pro Black Series cam gears
    - OEM manual timing tensioner conversion kit
    - Skunk2 cam seal
    - "Skunk2 Inside" VTEC solenoid cover










    Install specs below... and because I did a lot of searching beforehand on pricing to get an idea of what to budget for, I left the prices in for anyone it might help. It might be worth noting that my intake manifold gasket surface was a bit messed up and he had to spend time sanding it down smooth. I did also have the head completely disassembled and the parts very neatly organized and labeled in Zip-Loc bags in a tote before taking it in:




    The not-as-good: After PFI got my block back from their machinist, they looked it over and saw that while it had been re-sleeved, it wasn't bored to my pistons. Jamie told me it'd be done tonight, but with my work schedule vs the hours those guys are actually at the shop, I probably won't have time to pick it up until next Monday. Once I get it back, I'll be doing the bearing sizing and assembly myself - fingers crossed on that one. I need to pick up a caliper and dial bore gauge.


    The even less good: I overshot my budget a bit (probably from all my nickel-and-diming on the aesthetic restoration), and it'll be a couple more months before I can afford the tune (I was quoted about $650 at the high end) and whatever the labor on getting the full exhaust system welded up will cost - I definitely don't want muffler shop welds on this system, so I'll be trying for Hayden (Metigulous) or Shawn at PFI, if they can. Otherwise, all I've got left, which will be purchased as soon as the block is paid for, is a Phearable base-mapped Hondata S300 system (I don't want to be another of PFI's basket cases if they end up using my car for YT content, so I'm making sure it runs smooth first) and the parts I'm still missing for the manual conversion.
    Last edited by CyborgGT; 06-15-2020, 07:54 PM.

    Accord Aero-R

    Comment


      Just a slight plug, that head work price isn’t that bad. For what they did that is very reasonable! Have you looked into e tuning? I went with Steve at Etunez and he specializes in k and H series and it won’t break the bank. I think 275-350 for a full street tune. I went with them and I am very happy. Plus I love the fact that I could tune on my own time and be a part of the process instead of simply watching it on a dyno. Will (Rilas) also got tuned by them and I think he will back me up when I say that Steve is awesome to work with and their customer Service is fantastic.
      ~Nick~
      FSAE (F Series Accord Enthusiasts) ..."A dying breed thats taking it to the next level" Lucky #13
      MR Thread:http://www.cb7tuner.com/vbb/showthre...ight=Grumpys93

      Comment


        Steve at e-tunez did a good job. I'm even going to have him retune the H22 again after I throw the delta 262 cams in it.

        What you could do is get it street tuned by e-tunez or someone else for a good bit cheaper and get the car running well. Then take it to PFI or whoever and only pay for an hour or two of dyno time and have them clean up the tune with the dyno to help. Should end up running cheaper than $650 not a lot, but you've over run the budget in other places, doesn't hurt to save a bit in other places if possible for the same results.
        MRT: 1993 Honda Accord SE Coupe (Lola)

        Comment


          It's not that big a deal, I can pull overtime at work and possibly cut that timeframe in half. But delay is delay, and I've had too much of that already, haha. As far as tuning, I'd just rather have a professional there (or a couple of them, in PFI's case) who can look and listen to the engine in person. I've been watching PFI's channel for as long as it's been a thing, and have seen them catch enough sounds and leaks, etc before they evolved into something worse. Suppose I end up with an issue that I couldn't spot myself? Adding a pre-tuning session over the internet/phone seems like it'd be needlessly complicating things. Keep it simple: a known good basemap to get it started and make sure it runs smooth enough to drive to the shop without a tow, then hand it over to a pro and be done with it.

          Accord Aero-R

          Comment


            Went back to the junkyard for more manual swap parts. Picked up the clutch and brake pedals (stupid brake pedal spring...), a clutch fluid reservoir, shift boot retaining ring, and managed to find two good cigarette lighter bezels. ESP conversion mount is on order. I believe that leaves me with starter and axles (to be bought new), and the transmission itself with all of its directly associated parts, but I'm still going to hold out a bit longer for an H-series trans to appear.

            And this classy little scamp was in the parking lot




            I did see the inside of a CR-Z for the first time in the yard. The seats in those things look like a great alternative to an RSX/EP3/S2000 seat swap...

            Accord Aero-R

            Comment


              The manuals use a stationary half shaft across the back of the engine and a short axle on both sides (vs. long left axle for automatics) - you have the half shaft?

              What is the issue with lighter sockets and bezels - do people break these regularly? I've sent several out in the last few years.
              90 LX 4dr 5 spd 396,014 (sold 1/1/2022) - MRT: http://www.cb7tuner.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=201450
              08 Element LX FWD AT 229,000 - MRT: fleetw00d : 2008 Honda Element LX - CB7Tuner Forums

              Comment


                Half of the time in the junkyards they're broken, and a couple times they've broken as I tried to remove them. Maybe the plastic's just become brittle from age?

                I'll grab a half shaft when I pull the trans. I've already picked up a new bearing and seals from Honda.



                I got the block back. Sleeved, bored, honed, and head surface redone. The sleeves have a step designed into them, so no worry about sinking. The crank was "checked," but the bearing surfaces all look untouched. My original request to have the crank polished evidently got lost at some point. And the pistons weren't marked to match up with specific cylinders. And my rod and main bearings are all missing, so I'm going to have to start from scratch there and go to a machine shop (a different one) for measurements. Hopefully I can source new OEM bearings in the right size. The guy didn't bother to really clean the block either, like how the head guy seemed to put the complete effort into his work. Between this, and the tiny garage I'm working out of that's barely got enough space to walk around, let alone work in so I'm constantly tripping over crap... so many little frustrations piling up.

                Accord Aero-R

                Comment


                  Maybe it's just the tooling from decking the block. But the deck of the block just doesn't look smooth in the picture. That sucks that your having a lot of small issues. Although missing bearing I would be grumpy about, if OEM that's a small pile of cash.

                  Otherwise your making great progress.
                  MRT: 1993 Honda Accord SE Coupe (Lola)

                  Comment


                    I would be upset about the bearings as well. I agree is the block smooth, sort of looks stepped up? most shops usually hit it with pressure washer or parts tub, then hit it with paint.
                    ~Nick~
                    FSAE (F Series Accord Enthusiasts) ..."A dying breed thats taking it to the next level" Lucky #13
                    MR Thread:http://www.cb7tuner.com/vbb/showthre...ight=Grumpys93

                    Comment


                      I think a good cleaning would take care of that head surface, it feels perfect.

                      Accord Aero-R

                      Comment


                        Was going to take the block back to a machine shop for more work surrounding the crank but ran out of time. I replaced the cat in my RSX last year, and finally got around to selling the old OEM one to a specialist cat recycler and got $205 for it. Nice budget boost! I then went to check out a BB6 that was being parted out, hoping to buy the transmission, but it was cracked and JB Welded around the drain plug. It did, however, have a gauge cluster so I can attempt that again.

                        Accord Aero-R

                        Comment


                          Dug into the budget some more and finally got a proper tool box-slash-work bench. I still need one or two more of something like this for the massive amount of random tools I have, but I was able to cut down a bit on shuffling through a bunch of small boxes within my tight work space every time I needed something.




                          That meant the car also finally came out of the garage for the first time since all the exterior work was done, to be able to get a proper look at it. It's coming along nicely, I think. I discovered the A/C condenser has a hole in it. The A/C does seem to work, but the gas leaks right out.






                          Tomorrow I'm taking the block and crank into another machine shop to have all of the bearing surfaces polished and measured for new bearings. I'm considering having the rotating assembly balanced before assembly as well. Sounds like the smart thing to do, since the rods and pistons are both different from stock. *ED. - took the bottom end in. To be polished, balanced, they're going to source bearings for me (Kings or ACLs), check line bore, double-check cylinder bore against pistons, file fit rings. Said it could be done within a week! We'll see. Nice talk with the machinist, though.
                          Last edited by CyborgGT; 07-06-2020, 06:20 PM.

                          Accord Aero-R

                          Comment


                            Nice, thanks for the update! I'm jealous of the tool box.

                            Comment


                              Wagon looks really good man!
                              Henry R
                              Koni/Neuspeed
                              1992 Accord LX R.I.P
                              1993 Accord EX OG since 'o3
                              Legend FSM

                              'You see we human beings are not born with prejudices, always they are made for us,
                              made by someone who wants something' -1943 US War Department video

                              Comment


                                I love where this is going especially for a wagon! Lots of go fast parts. I hopefully can do the same for my heavy ass wagon. Need a bit more power.

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X