Raf99 : 1993 Accord EX

[Raf99]

Ug... having the hardest time with this. Kind of bummed out.... My 17" wheels have a ...... "lip" as you get closer to the outside edge of the wheel. So where you would put the wheel sticky weights. It's thicker there than the rest of the wheel and and it hits against the caliper. WITH... a 15mm spacer and with washers on top of that. But it hits..... on only two spots. Soooo i think we may grind these spots down. You won't notice it when it's on the car anyways as it's the wheel face side...

[SSMAccord]

lol. I think I had to put GM spec ARP extended studs in my rear hubs a couple of years ago due to that same mix/match parts issue.

[Raf99]

I did stop by the tuners today and showed him the pistons. He was amazed of course and was immediately said long term detonation. He asked the setup again as it's been 10 years since the initial tune and I mentioned no meth. He started LOL. He said he'd never do an H22 / pump gas / 15psi / with the ignition timing (can't remember what it is) for 420HP & no meth........ now. Just too dangerous. He noted how the burn was on one side of the piston and said it was definitely a fuel burn issue (too long / too hot / bad fuel / etc.). He is available to support me with future tuning. & I'm still aiming for 500HP on a graph, but he's got a dyno which makes tuning easy and safe.
For the engine rebuild he said the only thing he would of done is had the crank polished. I agree. But I also think the crank will just wear the bearings the same way it wore the old bearings. I'm going to build a lot of oil pressure before I try to start it (disconnect fuel and spark). If the engine breaks I'm ok with that as this is my first time. I'm going to buy some random synthetic 5w30 oil and put 400km on the car. If it doesn't drip/puke and keeps good A/F I'll call it a success! Wish me luck.

Going with 15mm spacers. Have yet to test these ...


Love the length as any longer and I would need open ended lug nuts. But the knurl (ya... learned a new word...) was too small and the lug would spin in the hole. So need to order a new set. It's complicated when the brake setup is from 3? different cars. The spacer kit was for an accord but i have a 98-99 Acura 2.3L CL hub. What's funny is the company helping me with this already found replacements but they are for a Chevy. But the specs are all there, 63mm (2.5") / 12.8mm knurl / M12 x 1.50 ........... but they are ARP and I think they are expensive..

[Raf99]

This does look like impressive work. I’m impressed you got this done within a few months.

Always appreciate ya stopping by

New inner drivers fender lining. This time I need to find a way to secure it better. Clean engine bay = less fasteners for this thing. At high speeds two of them got sucked out now....


New rear calipers and brackets for the painter guy....


More assemble... there's always so much. It's just finding better ways to do it. To hide something or make it look cleaner.



More.... sometimes spend hours one one thing. This is the pulley side. I'm routing the alternator power wire / PS fluid line / and turbo oil feed line under the engine mount but they also can't rub the power steering belt.
I really wish I could do that MR2 electric pump idea! Dam pumps are expensive, i should add it to the watch list....!




Centric hub wheel spacers are on the way + extended lugs....

[SSMAccord]

This does look like impressive work. I’m impressed you got this done within a few months.

[Raf99]

Big thanks to Jacob for helping put the engine in! I have a great method now where I don't need to tilt the engine. The trans side (no mount on) goes in the corner of the passenger side & the drivers side goes in the opposing corner. I lower it down past the passenger side mount, turn it and bring it back up. Rear mount and passenger mount first, then drivers side.

Think she needs them. Gapped new plugs to .28. Old were .25




Oh the fun begins.... just takes time.

[Raf99]

I have this process now where I put the trans hanging off a board. The board is on a jack. I can usually get it to slide in with out much muscle.



Reason I can't take the trans off when it's in the bay...


Ready to go...
- anything broken - fixed / replaced
- new coolant sensor on the way as well
- all bolts torqued to spec
- Honda oil filter filled with oil
- going to leave the transmission as is. 3rd and 4th was harder to get in than 1st / 2nd. But I'll assume this is the carbon fiber synchros wearing down, not sure. I can feel it when manually shifting it, so it's inside. Also I really hate trying to seal the trans properly.
- going to install it with the plenum off, tired of hitting the IACV on the firewall



Still really want to re-route the intercooler piping so the car can accept fog lights. I know it's possible....

[Raf99]

Sooo lot's of progress. Starting putting the engine back together without any issues. It's easier to do without the balancer shafts for setting timing etc. East to get TDC #1, the cams use the allen key inserts and the kstuned tensioner is easy to use.
It's a shame to have to cover all this up to be honest.... I almost feel like leaving the top half of the timing cover off (outside part).

I've also been working with a company called https://canadianlugnuts.ca/ & they are sending me some 15mm spacers and lugs to complete the big brake upgrade. & lot's of gaskets and other parts new too. Everything get's painted / cleaned.

--Final wheel / brake setup will be----
DAI Mirage 17" rims, 17x7.5 / 8x100/114.3 / 38 offset / 73.1 Hub
05-12 Acura RL Front Calipers (4 piston)
98-99 Acura 2.3CL Front hubs & bearings (supplied by FFC)
05-06 Nissan 350Z re-drilled / slotted rotors 4 x 114/.3 (supplied by FFC)
FFC Centric rings (64.1mm to 73.1mm)
FFC caliper bracket set

New water pump tube gaskets











Hmmm.... new sensor is not like the old. & looking at H22 coolant sensors I'm not sure where to find a replacement .....




It really is impossible to clean these skunk2 intakes...


Weird piece of plastic caught in between the spacer..... only on one side






Every time I forget to do this.......




It's a shame to cover this up...

[Raf99]

While I don't have the money for a whole skunk2 head setup (cams, springs, retainers, seats?) I am starting to think at the minimum I should throw in a set of supertech springs. The current springs are how old? Haha.. so are the other parts but they are solid pieces of steel.

What ya'all think?

PS - the head always had a "chatter" to it. But all looks fine. Lash in spec. Tred to show it in a prior video/ post. So
either cams or I dunno. Never affected performance.

[Raf99]

Almost art. Turned out better than the last time I had it out....

[Raf99]

Rod cap bolts torqued. Oil bridge / cradle bolts torqued.



Need a oil pickup gasket. Ordered.




Need ARP assembly lube. Ordered.

[Raf99]

This piece of garbage does not work.... grrr. Tried for days and different ways but nope....



Bought this. 1st try, no problem!

[Raf99]

Nice to see you pulled this apart. For the Rear Main, I always just use the older seal & flip it over & tap it in the same way you used the roll of duct tape.

What fuel were you using previously? Looks like some crazy detonation for sure, for the top of the piston to look like that. Maybe try backing down the timing in the map. I have found success with lower timing.

Nice measure on the rings. I did my tops 0.021 & bottoms 0.024 for my Evo Wiseco Pistons with the H22 Rods on the F22. The looser the better so when the rings expand they can't but ends which is the usual cause of broken ring lands.

Thanks for checking in. Fuel was always 91/93 octane (supreme) and I know the tuner always noted I should get meth (cool things down). No idea how to tune yet, so "backing down the timing" means nothing to me. I have a basic idea... it's the ignition timing and you are moving it forward or back to burn longer / affect the TDC / spark blah blah. And I've seen tuners / videos where they try increasing the timing for more power and get no-where, so they drop it back down. I don't even know how to make more HP on the current hardware I have (which is sad haha). I always assumed you simply adjusting the "trim" ....... so ya at this point more reading required. And there's tons! of FAQ and knowledge bases / videos out there, I just haven't found the time.


Was trying this cheap piston installer tool. What a piece of garbage. Could not! get it to work. Tried multiple days, pistons, etc. Hangs up on the oil rings, which have more than enough space to get in there (0.015-). So i ordered a different one...

[G. Wiffington]

Nice to see you pulled this apart. For the Rear Main, I always just use the older seal & flip it over & tap it in the same way you used the roll of duct tape.

What fuel were you using previously? Looks like some crazy detonation for sure, for the top of the piston to look like that. Maybe try backing down the timing in the map. I have found success with lower timing.

Nice measure on the rings. I did my tops 0.021 & bottoms 0.024 for my Evo Wiseco Pistons with the H22 Rods on the F22. The looser the better so when the rings expand they can't but ends which is the usual cause of broken ring lands.

[Raf99]

Time consuming process, that's for sure. But fun to learn and do.

So the specs for the top two rings are 0.020 for turbo and 0.023 for "racing" turbo. The rings that were on the old pistons were 0.025. From what I've read and learned the more open the better, no harm done.
I only have a 0.025 and a 0.022 feeler gauge. So as long as the 0.022 fits without issues and 0.025 is snug... I should be good. I did the top rings last night and will re-check them all today. There's about 0.05 worth of material to remove from the rings.