Updates! Pistons came in yesterday but I was too busy working on the geo to post any pics. We fixed the headgasket problem but the timing is off so its reving really high at idle. The timing belt on that stupid geo is nearly impossible to get on even with the tensioner completely loose so its a real pain in the butt to get the thing on and off. We think its probably just off a couple teeth which is making it idle terrible. Anyway back to the main project. Im going to wait a few days to see if my buddy can get his air compressor working so we can take the block completelyapart so I can save myself $70 having the maching shop do it. If its not fixedby monday Im just going to have to bite the bullet and dish out the cash cause Im too impatient and I want all the machine work to be done before saturday. We will then spend the whole next weekend assembling the block andhopefully within the next 2 to 3 weeks if there are no major set backs we will have the thing in the car and readyfor the very scary first start up. heres some pics of the beautifuljewels that came in the mail yesterday.




Im still trying to decide if Im going to use some type of block support. I havent heard anything good about block gaurds but I read a littleabout block staking on HMT and it looks like a pretty good idea. Anybody have any other ideas on something togivethe sleeves a little support?

Remmy,I would love tosend all my stuff up to your place. It looks like they did areally nice job on all your stuff but Im a poor 20 year oldcollege kid with about $800 left to finish this build and that includes bearings, water pump, timing belt, probably a new radiator andany other miscellaneous parts I need to pick up so the stardard bore, honeand hot tank is about all Im going to be able to do as far as machine work.

 

Thats cool and all but your cars long term dependability will depend on hwo you do you build. Its up to you. I think to get the head redone is like $100

 

I'll probably get the head resurfaced as well but I think the b16 head flows well enough to spend the extra money in other places. Iknowthe moreI had a preofessional engine builder do thebetter I would probably feel better about its reliability but I dont think I wouldnt have near the satisfaction I would having done it myself.After alot of research and talking to alot of people who have built honda blocks I really dont feel its necessary to do much more than what I have planned as far as machine work.We will be taking our time and making very sure we are doing everything correctly.

Remmy if you want, you canpm mesome price info and stuff from that place. I would beinterested to see what kind ofstuff they can do andfor what kind ofprices.

 

Nice build, looks like it's going to be a sick setup.

 

I didnt mean to get it to breath better but I meant to get it cleanded and polished professionally. Pretty much refurbish it.

 

im sooo jealous...u have a Geo Metro[sm=loveeyes.gif]why are u wasting time/money on the SI???

 

lol Yeah we plan on mounting a b18 ls motor over the rear axles making it rwd and putting the gas tank under the hoodbut thats probably pretty far into the future. Refurbishing the head doesnt sound like a bad idea. Theres probably quite a bit of exhuast build up and crapin the ports. I'll probably look into something like that. The place Im getting my machine work done at is pretty reputable so Im sure they can do some pretty good work on the head. Keep the suggestions coming, like the title of this thread says this is my first block build so Im still looking into different options for things.

 

Ok its been a while and the project is going a little slower than I wanted but there have been a few changes of plan. It looks like I am going to go completely broke on the build, which I dont mind, but Im not going to have enough money to put the turbo setup together that I want. The block is at the machine shop right now getting bored honed and hot tanked. Im having them assemble the whole thing mostly cause I dont have the time to do it myself before school starts and I really need everything done in the next 3 weeks. Im having them put in a new water pump, oil pump, all new bearings and thrust washersand all new gaskets in the bottom endand I'll be putting a new timing belt on too when I put the motor back together. Its really going to be a brand spanking new block when its all done. Im going to do alot of cleaning to the head myself just to get alot of exhaust deposots and stuff out of the ports. The plan is to put a really ghetto turbo setup on it temporarily just so my car isnt really slow for the next4-5 months. Im going to pick up a free volvo t3 from a friends volvo yard and make a really ghetto topmount manifold out of a stock exhaustmanifold and make my own downpipe. Pretty much a $50 setup that will at least keep me boosting for the fall semester till I have enough money to afford what I really want.

 

Well since I always hear about broken ringlands and never see any pictures of this I thought I would post up what actually happened to my motor. Piston #3 got beat pretty badly. The top of the piston was completely melted on the side and I when I took the rings off the ringlands just crumbled off.

Pretty sweet looking carnage pics:




Im going to pick the block up today completely fresh, rebuilt and brand new with every little thing replaced down the the last gasket!Cant wait!

 

Well I finally have the block out of the machine shop and got a little bit of work done today. It seems that nobody in the state of florida has a water pump for a b16 and it was almost as hard to find a timing belt! I didnt have a lot of time but at least I got a little start on everything. Heres some pics of the progress made so far.










I also got the head resurfaced, hot tanked and cleaned. Im so excited about my shiny beautiful motor!


I ended up getting the headstuds in finger tight and putting the head on the block but nothing is torqued down yet. Im hoping to get time to work on it some more in the next day or two. Id like toget the rest of the motor assembled, bolt thetranny on and have it all ready to be dropped into the engine baynext weekend. I really cant wait to get this thing back on the road.