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
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50010194943_a20af835de_b.jpg)
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50010724261_4c224813a7_b.jpg)
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50010194058_b8391435a9_c.jpg)
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50010723546_c6ee50a5eb_c.jpg)
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:
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50010986532_53e9d59161_b.jpg)
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.
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
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50010194943_a20af835de_b.jpg)
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50010724261_4c224813a7_b.jpg)
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50010194058_b8391435a9_c.jpg)
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50010723546_c6ee50a5eb_c.jpg)
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:
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50010986532_53e9d59161_b.jpg)
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.
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