b18a engine build questions

hey club integra! for thoose of you who dont know, i race an oval car. im looking to build a new motor for next season... and am looking for some advice. the main thing is, the motor must be stock, but it can be modified. my setup im looking to build will be including the following:

arp rod bolts
shot peened stock rods
blueprinted rod and main bearings
chipped ecu, bumped redline + tune
balance and polish crank

and i have a few questions.

1) how much would i benefit from arp main studs?
2) how high could i safely rev the built b18a? i was thinking 7500? or could i safely do it to 8000? i will be hitting high rpms approximately 60 times a week, for 15 weeks or so a year.
3) are there any drawbacks from tuning on come free? what are the biggest pros of crome pro? or what would you guys recomend instead? the add on device needs to be relatively hidden, so something like a hondata s200 or s300, or other standalones are out of the question.
4)what other things coould i do to make more power/rev high reliably, with stock honda parts?

I'm not sure about your questions. I would like to know where in Alabama you race though?

1)ARP studs don't add power, their just reusable as opposed to stock rod bolts. Once OEM head studs have been installed and fully torqued down, they can't removed and installed again. ARP's can be removed and put back in repeatedly.

2) You don't want to rev past stock redline unless you upgrade the valvetrain, or the valvesprings won't be able to control the valves and they'll be slamming back into the head uncontrollabley, called valve float, and you'll mushroom your valves and possibly ruin the head's intake ports too.

Can you run any part as long as its oem honda? If so then put some b16 pistons in there and raise the compression, you can also run obd1 h22 290cc injectors for some extra fuel (it'll need tuned), ITR header, ITR throttle body...I know some of the rules are nit picky, just not sure how they are in Bama

guy_from_nerk said:

Can you run any part as long as its oem honda? If so then put some b16 pistons in there and raise the compression, you can also run obd1 h22 290cc injectors for some extra fuel (it'll need tuned), ITR header, ITR throttle body...I know some of the rules are nit picky, just not sure how they are in Bama

Click to expand...

good advice!!!!! lol

i am using arp rod bolts for reliability, not power. im pretty sure i could get away with using any honda oem parts. i thought about using b16 pistons... but i just dont have the money for them right now, unless i can find them for cheap. as far as valvetrain goes, could i get away with just using new springs? its on a stock cam so its not like the profile is super aggressive. i may switch to b18b1 cams though. and i am definately getting a tune

i am using arp rod bolts for reliability, not power. im pretty sure i could get away with using any honda oem parts. i thought about using b16 pistons... but i just dont have the money for them right now, unless i can find them for cheap. as far as valvetrain goes, could i get away with just using new springs? its on a stock cam so its not like the profile is super aggressive. i may switch to b18b1 cams though. and i am definately getting a tune

ebay is your friend for pistons, get a 3 or 5 angle valve job. What about milling the head is that legal or not?

I dont wanna start a whole debate but if you look up the part number for b18a1 and b18b1 cams, they are the exact same part number. That means they are the same part....supposedly B20 cams are a little different but I have also heard that they are the same as LS

1) how much would i benefit from arp main studs?

None they just strengthen stuff and just replace oem stuff
2) how high could i safely rev the built b18a? i was thinking 7500? or could i safely do it to 8000? i will be hitting high rpms approximately 60 times a week, for 15 weeks or so a year.
Depends on the internals and what they can handle, the oem cams stop making power at 6800
3) are there any drawbacks from tuning on come free? what are the biggest pros of crome pro? or what would you guys recomend instead? the add on device needs to be relatively hidden, so something like a hondata s200 or s300, or other standalones are out of the question.
S300 IMO is for boost, while the S100 is fine for just NA builds. Chrome is the same thing as its based off of the Hondata system
4)what other things coould i do to make more power/rev high reliably, with stock honda parts?
You can raise compression with b16 pistons, not sure if you can do a hybrid set up like the LS Vtec in NASA H1, but if you could then you open up a different world

i can shave the head, porting is illegal though. im trying to figure out how much the arp main bolts will strengthen the bottom end. also the reason i would be bumping the redline is not for more power, but because currently i hit the redline for 3-4 seconds in second gear before i have to let off, and im riding on 215's. i've though about doing lsvtec, but i think ill just stay with the stock head.

i can shave the head, porting is illegal though. im trying to figure out how much the arp main bolts will strengthen the bottom end. also the reason i would be bumping the redline is not for more power, but because currently i hit the redline for 3-4 seconds in second gear before i have to let off, and im riding on 215's. i've though about doing lsvtec, but i think ill just stay with the stock head.

is this dirt track were talking about or oval dry ground? The ARP's main bolts are just for piece of mind, I have them in my motor. The thing is you need to get the block align honed after installing them so figure in extra money on top of the $100 bucks for the studs alone, to have the hone done.

can you use a different transmission? a GSR transmission will shorten your gears

^^ thats why i was asking if it was dirt track or what, if its dirt track those guys basically only use 2 gears and just beat it off the limiter the whole time lol

i have zero dirt experience lol. ive watched one event and thought it wasnt my cup of tea. Either way i say upgrading the transmission would be better than building the motor as the LS tranny doesnt have the stronger syncros as the vtec transmissions do