Engine Rebuild

[Honda_Lady]

I am wanting to do an engine rebuild on my F22A6, without messing with the crankshaft, the question is, is that possible? I have a friend that works at the Honda dealership, and I had asked him if he would help me to rebuild an engine for me, and he said no. The reason for it is, he said that the new bearings that go around the crankshaft are super hard to get put in the right place. If they got put in the wrong place, trying to start the engine, would make it seize up so he doesn't do rebuilds anymore at all. I want to replace all gaskets and piston rings, timing belt, and water pump without messing with the crankshaft at all since that seems to be where he said was the biggest problem.

I really don't want to attempt to just do a swap with an already rebuilt engine, far too expensive for a good one, including shipping it to me. I don't have those kinds of funds but know I need to get SOMETHING done to the car, to keep it going, or I am going to be stranded with no funds to buy another car. I have a friend that is willing to help me get all of this done, and I am already planning on buying more tools with this years income taxes, in order to be able to get more done to my car.

I don't want to get rid of this car, and have to deal with someone else's problems, by buying used, and don't have credit to buy new, and don't have the finances to afford payments to buy new either. We had looked into buying a small truck once, and our finances aren't stable enough, to be able to keep making the payments. Something always happens, no matter what.

Thank you in advance for any advice, I am not looking to be spoon fed (I just haven't seen this covered, in a complete way, to help me get this done)

[illinois_erik]

I am wanting to do an engine rebuild on my F22A6, without messing with the crankshaft, the question is, is that possible? I have a friend that works at the Honda dealership, and I had asked him if he would help me to rebuild an engine for me, and he said no. The reason for it is, he said that the new bearings that go around the crankshaft are super hard to get put in the right place. If they got put in the wrong place, trying to start the engine, would make it seize up so he doesn't do rebuilds anymore at all. I want to replace all gaskets and piston rings, timing belt, and water pump without messing with the crankshaft at all since that seems to be where he said was the biggest problem.

I really don't want to attempt to just do a swap with an already rebuilt engine, far too expensive for a good one, including shipping it to me. I don't have those kinds of funds but know I need to get SOMETHING done to the car, to keep it going, or I am going to be stranded with no funds to buy another car. I have a friend that is willing to help me get all of this done, and I am already planning on buying more tools with this years income taxes, in order to be able to get more done to my car.

I don't want to get rid of this car, and have to deal with someone else's problems, by buying used, and don't have credit to buy new, and don't have the finances to afford payments to buy new either. We had looked into buying a small truck once, and our finances aren't stable enough, to be able to keep making the payments. Something always happens, no matter what.

Thank you in advance for any advice, I am not looking to be spoon fed (I just haven't seen this covered, in a complete way, to help me get this done)

a rebuild is no cheap endeavor also. lol at his explanation of things, i think he just doesnt know what he's talking about. You also have to consider some investment in tools, like torque wrenches and a ball hone, and some measuring tools. Also a little bit of machine shop time may be needed. The bearing clearances are the least of your worries.

To do it cheap, you would get a ball hone (looks like dingle berries on a big bottle scrub brush) But even before that you would have to measure the cylinder bores to see where they're at in the spectrum of acceptable tolerances, if theyre far too out from wear + loss of material from a hone, youd need them bored and rehoned, now youre looking at new pistons. Thats "worse" case. .. meh i could go on and on, buying a JDM engine (if they can be found) or a verified low milage engine, would probably be the cheaper route, maybe even a swap for a CD5 jdm (f22b2) engine and changing it back to obd1 with the parts you have already. There is no cheap way about it unfortunately and you can expect lengthy down time doing a rebuild yourself.

with a possible lack in reliability, sure, you can tear it down, do a quick hone with the ball hone, slap in some rings, while youre in there inspect the crank & rod bearings hoping theyre good still, and have the short block complete, youd need to replace at that time the front and main real seals, oil pan gasket, an o-ring under one of the main caps, oil pump pickup gasket, water pump, water pump o-ring....i could go on and on again, maybe a remanned short block would be feasible ive seen them on ebay for pretty cheap.

Next would be your head work, lapping the valves, new valve seals, cam seals. thats about the majority of that. then all of your intake gaskets and o-rings. You do NOT want to get parts store stuff for this.

Anyway, you might just want to drive it as long as you can while saving up some money and formulating a plan of attack/gathering parts to have a smooth experience.


Oh and what tripped my reply trigger was the honda guys explanation of the crank bearings.. LoL with just a bare block and crank and maincaps installed, youd spin the assembly by hand at the very least to check for bind..no one worth their salt would just slap shit together drop it in and then hope and pray when they hit the key...pfft.

[Jarrett]

A JDM F23A can be had here for $400 with very low miles. Removing the head and installing the F22A6 head would get you a refreshed bottom end and the ability to bolt it all back together like stock. You could even remove the valves yourself and replace the valve seals. then, have a machine shop lap and reinstall the valves (~$40), replace the valve cover gasket set and timing belt and you're set.

[Honda_Lady]

Thank you illinois_erik, for your insight, I guess I might as well buy an engine. I really do appreciate it. If it won't save me any money I might as well just swap in an engine. Unless, I keep the other as a backup and rebuild it at my leisure, clean it up as I go. Replacing parts as I need to.

Thank you Jarret, I will look into that. I know of a machine shop that I could go to (never had to go there before) but I will look into their price before beginning this endeavor.

[wagon-r]

Connecting rod bearings are easy to replace, although you have to be super careful about ordering exactly the right size for each cylinder, which can vary from cylinder to cylinder. You don't have to remove the crankshaft and crankshaft bearing problems are not nearly as frequent as rod bearing.

As Erik says, bearings are not one of your primary worries in rebuilding an engine.

[Honda_Lady]

Thank you Wagon-r for that tidbit of information as well.