Project DC5: Engine Builds for Dummies! Part 5

Engine Builds for Dummies!  Part 5

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Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

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Ok, so in the last article we went over the disassembly of the motor, including the cylinder head and the girdle and ultimately, the removal of all of the pistons and con-rods.  In this addition, I will go over the unwrapping and visual inspection of my new K24A2 RBB-1 cylinder head!!!!

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At this point, you are left with a bare block and a crank.  For me, these are the only things I need.  

This is because the CRV motor has a relatively low stock compression for an all motor, performance application and it comes with a cylinder head that only has VTEC on one camshaft.  

Although its cylinder head flows extremely well, I would need to run a VTEC killer setup on this head or modify the head to accept VTEC roller-rockers, if I remember correctly.  

And even then I would only be running on two lobes, rather than three.  And if I plan on increasing reliability, my intuition leads me to believe that this would not be the best option.

So I sold the K24a1 head for only 10 dollars less than what I paid for the whole motor and bought a K24A2 RBB-1 TSX head for the sole fact that it has true VTEC (intake and exhaust VTEC).

Here's the box when it arrived!  I was so excited.

Let's take a closer look at the head shall we?  Good 'ole Canada post was probably a little rough with the head...judging by this bent stud.  No biggy though.  I can have this removed and replaced with an OEM part in no time.

Here's a shot of the VTC cam gear and the exhaust cam gear.  On the RBB-1 TSX head, the VTC cam gear only has 25 degrees of cam angle adjustability.

In comparison to the VTC gear from my current motor, the K20Z1 from the 05-06 RSX Type-S, this is not much adjustability.  The reason for this may partly be due to emissions or other design factors from Honda.  However, it is known that running a K20Z1 VTC gear, or any other VTC gear with 50 degrees of adjustability on a stock TSX motor, results in an increased risk for piston to valve contact.  Hondata recommends a maximum adjustability range of 45 degrees.

However, I plan on checking clearances on this motor before it is put together, so this will allow me to decide for myself what will be safe in terms of VTC adjustability.

Looking at the camshafts and the roller-rocker mechanisms and the springs and lost-motion assemblies (jeez) nothing seemed out of the ordinary.  

The main things I was looking for included any abnormal wear on the camshaft lobes and the roller-rockers.  I wanted to make sure that oil was getting to all of the rotating parts.  I also wanted to be sure that this motor didn't suffer from any oil starvation.

Check out the shots of the exhaust cam side:

Now check out the shots of the intake side:

Shots of the LMA's on the intake side:

Shots of the exhaust side LMA's:

Shots of the intake and exhaust spring retainers and roller-rockers to speed things up a bit:

I wanted to check and see if any of the valves were bent.  So, I shined a light into each port, intake and exhaust, and looked at each valve for each port to see if it wasn't sitting correctly.

Finally, I took a look at the combustion chambers.  To see if these valves are truly sealing I will do a leak down test with some water.  I'll show you guys how I do this later when I start to show how I blueprinted and inspected the whole motor using machinist tools!

Until that time, I'll talk to you guys later.  Hope you enjoyed my cylinder head hahah.  More importantly, however, I hope you learned a lot.  There's way more stuff to come.