Heads off ! effective HP GAIN??

[WaGigKpn]

I am in the same boat as the original poster. blown head gasket and figured if i am taking the engine apart i might as well make a few changes to increase the power a little without compromising reliability.

I am curious about the B16 pistons...i did a search and i never found a good thread about what the deal is on them. I hear they are lower compression but wont that make less power unless your putting a turbo on the car?

second...if i get b16 pistons (this may be a dumb question) do they fit on the stock rods? or do they come with their own rods?

if i am going that far as to drop the oil pan off...what are some things i can do to the bottom end? new oil pump? any mods i can do with the crank? have it balanced or something? more durable barrings?

when you talk about milling the head down...how much are we talking? 1 mm? 2?

i just want to make sure that before i start buying something that i dont get into one of those, if you get A you need to get B, if you get B you need C....and on and on then i run out of money and dont have a car...lol.

if someone can point me to a good build thread on this i would appreciate it.

i have a 91 ls. 1.8l

 

[Da9ls]

I was told by a (real) honda-tech that it is desireable to add a VTEC head ONLY...
That is, don't install the rest of the vtec stuff, but just installing the VTEC HEAD will increase compression
and therefor increase power.

Not sure what else would be involved besides the head on that particular swap. Anyone done this before?

reply: or u can get the head shaved or go with type r pistons to get high compression as long as ur not gonna turbo it

 

[hidenplanvew]

Ok vtec head with/o vtec engaging your going to just cook the head the small lobes on a vtec head shouldnt be run over 5500 rpm so you wuld just lose Hp and waste a head..

B16 pistons are 11 to 1 your b18 is only 9.2 or something like that I dont remember all the number right now but b16 are much higher then ls pistons... Some b16 or gsr injectors will work well with that set up, b16 wrist pins are the same as ls so it should be a bolt on affare.

Shaving the head... Take it to a good shop 1st dont do lowest bidder pay the little extra for the correct work and you dont messure it in mm its all in .001 or thousands but if you do b16 pistons you wont want to shave to much maybe .002 to .003 cause then you have to worry about piston to valve clearance. just something to think about

 

[BrokenTalon27]

I was told by a (real) honda-tech that it is desireable to add a VTEC head ONLY...
That is, don't install the rest of the vtec stuff, but just installing the VTEC HEAD will increase compression
and therefor increase power.

Not sure what else would be involved besides the head on that particular swap. Anyone done this before?

Just because he works at the Parts counter or does the oil changes at a Honda Dealership doesn't make him a real Honda Certified Tech. I don't believe for one minute that a true Honda Technician would make such a ridiculous comment.