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danks s>si conversion progress thread! =) Start up vid on page 10!

18K views 323 replies 33 participants last post by  Federal way 3rd gen 
#1 · (Edited)
ok so here i go. going to be spending the next 3-4 days gutting the lude and interrogating squishypanda probably lol fo help on this. i have my honda fsm to guide me along the way and some of my ******* college buddies to help out as well. i picked up a jdm b20a from a member on here mkrommes and he gave me a great deal on it or i would never be able to afford this! everything for the swap for pennies lol. its also a fresh rebuilt motor with recipts. you'd never belive how well this guy hooked me up. a GREAT many thanks to him for making this possible for me and being willing to take payments from my broke ass lol. ill have pics up tonight of th progress today and will post up more later! thanks for looking and keep an eye ot for me. also im doing this work in marengo il which is about 45 min away from the city of chicago. if any of you il luders want to come turn some wrenches with me i got a brew waitin for ya. i cant wait to finish this cuz up till now i havent driven for a year! the ludes been broken and i had to sell my teggy to pay off some debt so it was a sad year last year. cross your fingers for me as im hopin this goes smoothly (lol when does that ever happen?) anywho. ill have some spare parts laying around after. ill list in the fs section. wish me luck and hope to see some of you. pm me for my cell and come on out! btw if you wanna see the engine i think the thread is still open in the fs section. check it. its clean. ill be on later with questions im sure so take care fellow luders and thanks to everyone on the site! :turn:
 
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#3 ·
oh no rush my friend. i saved and saved and saved to afford all this. too forever on my ultra low budget. im takin my time and doin her right. damn i love my car just way too much. its gotta be un healthy lol. right now im just waiting for the shop to be open so i can get lift time in. i cant belive i actually got a fi engine finnaly! totally leaving the S badge on it for braggin rights and to confuse non honda ppl. =)
 
#5 ·
^ ty ty = D yeah its well worth it. besides now that ill have a running car to drive and my licence back i can get a better job and start paying down the tremendous debt i have lol. im so so so so so super excited! im freaking out just waiting for the call to go to the shop and get started. damn it why do i have to wait! i want it in now now now!!! i have been pacing around the engine for like an hour taking pics and oogling it and its sexyness and all the OMG wiring that needs to be done. ill keep you all updated and thanks for any comments or advice about the swap you all might have!
 
#7 ·
havent decided if im sellin it yet. i may keeps it cuz i will dearly miss my carbs. but i just couldnt pass this deal up. saved all winter to fix her and then bam this came along. like a sign from the lude heavens beaming down on me saying LET THERE BE LUDING! lol. but im sure if he really needs it i cant say no to another luder. tell him to shoot me a line.
 
#8 ·
g/l man--happy i could help u w the swap im gonna subscribe to the thread so i can see what uve done--
 
#9 · (Edited)
ok so i have run into some serious issues. the engine that was rebuilt. will not bar over. i took the timing belt off and the cams spin. but the crank wont budge. locked the fuck up. took the plugs out and even with no plugs or t belt i cant move the bitch with a foot and a half long breaker bar. i looked down into the cylinders and they look scratched and shit on the top. they dont look new. im not pointing fingers or blaming anyone but i just dont get it. but the pistons do not look as though they were replaced. so now im stuck. i only have so much time to use the shop and no idea what could be wrong yet. could be so so many things. going to pull the oil pan off tom and see if anything looks fucked up. dont know whats going on but atm im not vry happy. i kinda want to cry. well i left you a message matt although it was late at night im sure you were sleeping sorry to wake you if i did. call me tom asap please as i need to know what you did to the engine exactly to try and trace whats wrong with it and why it wont turn over at all. i am just so fuckin lost right now and super tired. i dont know what to do and i sure cant afford machine work to the eng to make it run atm. cant keep the engine at my buddies house too long so time has now become an issue. any luders with any ideas please please please help me. i hope there isnt a locked main or rod bearing or worse yet a fucked rod itself. im going to talk to matt tom before i tear into it. maybe something stupid. i hope. well any advice is greatly apriciated thanks all!
 
#10 · (Edited)
ok so after some searching i found that if it sits a while the rings can sieze in the bores?? and you can free this up with some marvel mystery is what i saw that luzer said. im going to try this first. i didnt see anywhere how long to let it sit before tryin to crank it again. about how long? hopefully thats all it is as i believe matt said it had sat a little bit. matt has been so great and helpfull throughout this whole process. it has to be something dumb. cross your fingers guys and hope for the best for your broke luder friend! hopin for the rings. now if thats the case shouldnt the rings still be good after freein it up? so weird that our engines do that i havent ever heard of something like that. my friend had an engine rolling around in his pickup bed for months and threw it in a car and bam ran fine. turned over and everything. well let me know what you guys think and ill try some lube in the cylinders. is atf ok or should i really use the marvel mystery?
 
#11 ·
ok so i just talked to matt. and he was really nice on the phone and very shocked it didnt turn over. i am going to try the atf fix and be back on in a little bit here with the update after that. come on guys no ideas? any and all help apriciated PLEASE HELP!!! = )
 
#13 ·
Did you take the oil pan off and look up at the crank? If so, does everything look normal?
 
#14 ·
i didnt take the head off yet as i dont want to unless i know i have to! thanks cad! i just put some atf down in there and im going to let her sit for about an hour or so and try spinning it again. ill post with the results. any other ideas are welcome = )
 
#16 ·
havent take the pan off yet either. trying the oil in cylinders fix before anything else comes off. took the valve cover off and everything seems normal. the pistons looked a little scratched from what i could see with a flashlight looking down in the cyl. but that shouldnt stop it. well running to autozone to pick up the axle seal. keep the ideas comin guys and thanks in advance!
 
#17 ·
Don't take the head off!!!! do that last if at all.
If the oil does not work, I would take the pan off and look at that crank. Worst thing might have to change the oil pan gasket, no biggy.

How long has the motor sat?
 
#18 ·
damn dank. i hope you get it figured out man. I want to see you get this thing running.

let me know if i can help out.
 
#19 ·
hey guys i just got back from autozone. i borrowed a friends card adapter so i can post up some pics. left atf in it since my last post and still solid as a rock. they guy i got it from said it sat for a bit but not that long. prob like a month or two. can i spray some blast in there? or will that fuck shit up? i have been waiting on the atf sitting in there for a few hours and its done nothing. how long should it sit? if i should wait on it longer before pulling the pan i will but i think droppin that off will give me some answers. im so frustrated! well thanks for the ideas so far guys. ill post up pics of the bottom of the eng as soon as i get the pan off. gonna have some lunch and try barin it again. if nothing then the pan is comin off. unless you all think some pb blast or silicon spray lube would be safe to spray in there. i dont thing it would be good but you all know more about this particular engine than i. what are your thoughts guys?
 
#20 ·
dank make sure you have your valves all closed. i'm sure you already thought of this but i thought i'd throw it out there anyway. Have you tried moving it clockwise? I am hoping it's just the rings. if not it means the bearing clearances are too tight. That's the only other thing i can think of. Unless the tranny is still attached to the motor and it's locked up.
 
#21 ·
pb blaster will be fine. Alot of people use it during engine assembly to help drop the pistons into the bore.
 
#22 · (Edited)
















ok so here are the best pics i could get of the bottom end. i cant belive the con rods are rusty. this thing prob sat for a good while for this to happen. so now i dunno what to do. aside from let that shit sit in the cyl bores and hope for the best. or i could try to re torque the rod caps. and main caps. fuck me man this shit is ridiculous. what do you guys think? you ever seen anything like this before? so im guessing at this point its siezed but shit what do i know. any ideas are helpful at this point. even if your idea is jump off a roof at this point it might help lol. and ima spray some blast in that shit here in a few. and if you guys want more pics i have some more i can put up or even go take more. thanks for the help guys
 
#23 ·
That rod is not supposed to be like that. I dont know who gave you that block, but no rod on earth inside an engine should ever had rust.

It sat for a while, and that is for sure.

The engine is sezied, and the only option you have at this point is take the head off and start from scratch, and that is going on the assumption that this block can be reworked.

I know time is of the essance, so there is not time to spare, start taking it apart or get another engine and start from there.

I am sorry I could not be of any help at this point, but from the beginning of your issue not starting and not turning, it sound like how a sezied engine woud respond.

Sean
 
#24 · (Edited)
the fact it sat for a while is an understatement....those journals look fuckin bone dry...anyone with any mechanical smarts knows lube is necessary when reassembling and engine...ESPECIALLY on the bearing faces and making sure to coat parts in oil once the engine is reassembled!!!

that is a sad sad engine my friend...

this is what my engine looked like when i ripped it apart...and it had been sitting for...5 months in the winter weather outside in my car (or whats left of my car):



after 5 months and still coated with oil and spun just fine.
 
#25 ·
yea.. ive seen stuff rust pretty quick. but its only the light surface stuff.

that rust looks pretty thick.

it looks like its been outside for a looong time from the rods.
maybe remove rod caps and see if the crank will turn..i dont know...
 
#27 ·
Thats fuckin crazy..Rods were NOT rusted AT ALL when installed. Everything was perfectly clean and we were very anal about it being clean while it being assembled..I would never put rusty ass rods like that in a brand new rebuild. The rods did go to the machine shop and were checked and cleaned with the block and then the piston pins were pressed into the pistons.

Motor was assembled WITH RED ASSEMBLY LUBE, rings gapped perfectly, bearing clearances were double checked. Once it was assembled we put oil it in so it always had fresh oil in it and it SPUN over fine..like butter. Only thing i can think is it somehow there was moisture in it which caused the rods to rust. Look at big end of the rods..no rust. Once i ran out of time to work on the car the motor sat in my garage on a tire for maybe 2 months. Sitting right next to my motorcycle and its not that moist in my garage.

From what i can see it looks like theres is rust on the cylinder walls so there is a chance that the rings are rusted. Try that PB blaster in the cylinders and it will probably loosen up the rings..But i hope they're not fucked. Shit blows my mind.
 
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