Building for the road course...again

[Enki]

Is it a failure if it was never right to begin with? I wasn't aware of this, but Wiseco rings can't be used in a factory honed block.

My cyl 4 stopped making the bang bangs so I figured it was a catastrophic ringland failure, but when I pulled the fuel rail, there was tons of nasty shit in there likely as a result of the horrendous blowby the engine has had its entire life.

 

[gotovato]

Is it a failure if it was never right to begin with? I wasn't aware of this, but Wiseco rings can't be used in a factory honed block.

My cyl 4 stopped making the bang bangs so I figured it was a catastrophic ringland failure, but when I pulled the fuel rail, there was tons of nasty shit in there likely as a result of the horrendous blowby the engine has had its entire life.

I mean in my case, Wiseco provided me with a part they guaranteed would do what I needed and it failed. So I’d say it’s still a failure just not mine or yours. It’s Wisecos. I was never aware I’d need more wrist pin for my needs and Wiseco clearly wasn’t aware either. All the other big brands provide a nice pin with their pistons. Not this cheap garbage.


I have sold 2 speed engines I assembled with Wiseco pistons. Both are still running and it’s been years. That said, these guys are just daily driving with cst4’s or bnr s3/4. Street usage. No racing. I can’t remember the hone setup but I did contact total seal and they gave me some specs.

 

[Enki]

Yeah, I guess my mistake was thinking a brand new factory block (never had pistons in it, even) with the factory hone would be sufficient. It wasn't.

 

[gotovato]

Unfortunately that’s how it goes sometimes. It’s part of the game I’ve learned. R&D isn’t easy or cheap. That’s why these companies don’t do it. We have to

 

[Enki]

R&D isn’t easy or cheap. That’s why these companies don’t do it. We have to

*Cries in destroke high-compression DISI*

 

[gotovato]

*Cries in destroke high-compression DISI*

I hear ya. They can’t even get a wrist pin right. That’s cost me an engine now as well. Bummer for both of us

 

[gotovato]

Video of the engine failure caught by my friend in his mustang. Failure occurred at 8600rpm. 91c oil temp. 96c water temp. 67psi oil pressure.

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[L337TurboZ]

I still say BMW simply because of the ability to run the absolute dog shit out of them with just bolt ons. For example my M6 with just intakes, downpipes and a Stage 2 tune puts down around 700 wheel horsepower (granted im V8 twin turbo)

Only major thing I needed to do? Upgrade my rod bearings. 600 dollars for ACL bearings that were WPC treated and add another 500 for parts (oil pan bolts, connecting rod bolts etc)

No platform is perfect. Every brand has it's own issues. For me it comes down to power/handling vs money. If all else fails M.I.A.T.A.

Miata is always the answer.

 

[gotovato]

Miata is always the answer.

if i could only fit lol....

there are a few cars im simply not interested in. Miata, BRZ, hyundai N. Theyre all just borning they sound terrible and everyone has one or two of those. Its just not for me. The civics screaming 2liter engine sounds lightyears better than almost anything you can buy now. Specially on the race track. Thats part of it too you know? race car must sound like race car!

BMWs are stupid fast. as you mentioned bolt ons and tuning gets you 500whp+ with one of their turbo straight 6 engines.

That being said, if i lost a BMW engine that would be the end of my driving career. The car loses all value so selling it is useless. Those engines are DUMB money in Canada. I know they are solid and i shouldnt need to squeeze it as hard id still be in a higher class with other 500hp+ cars so the car would still get driven HARD to stay competitive.

Budget block is in the works. We'll see how we go this time. My failed wiseco engine showed no signs of any struggle aside from those shitty wrist pins. Now that i have the big boy wrist pins i think it should be a solid setup. Service interval is still going to be every 2 seasons pull it, bearings, piston rings, hone, reassemble. Gotta stop thinking about the civic like its a steet car thats going to get 200k miles on an engine. Thats just not realistic with what im doing here

 

[gotovato]

Well seems my budget rebuild plan is dead. BC couldn’t find a rod heavy enough to match my set. I an SOL.

options are either sit the rest of the season out, or grab the cheapest long block off market place and send it. There are some cheap units out there($600-800cad). One for $600 sounds good lol

 

[gotovato]

Heard back from BC. They offered me a stupid deal on a brand new set of rods. Crazy good price so 4 new rods it is. 2 week wait time as they gotta make them but that’s OK. Gives me time to collect funds for machining and buying a cylinder head.

Won’t be back up and running for August but mid September should be doable

 

[Easter Bunny]

Possibly dumb question but is there any possibility of machining the crank and using Chevy rods/pistons? Chevy shit is cheap. I know that for my Oldsmobile 455 its cheaper to bring down the crank and turn it into a 500 using Chevy rods than it is to buy Oldsmobile rods

 

[gotovato]

For the K series there are tons of aftermarket crank options but they’re all still Honda based. Cranks with B series rod journals. All different stroker cranks.

im sure a custom crank could be done but for the cost it’s better to just buy the rods. The exchange rate is what really gets me

 

[Easter Bunny]

Depends on what size the bearing are if the Honda is bigger grinding it down isn't that expensive

 

[gotovato]

Well pulled the engine out. Too impatient to wait for assistance so did it myself.

I don’t think this is where a valve belongs lol

 

[Enki]

As long as it's not in the transmission, everything is fine.

 

[Easter Bunny]

If your going to blow it up make sure its really blown up

 

[gotovato]

Ok I broke it good for sure lol. Transmission is OK this time thankfully.


I’ll pull this engine apart tomorrow and we’ll see what’s up. I think rod bolt or the rod itself maybe? We’ll see

 

[Enki]

Interested to know if the rod pulled apart or not; I doubt it would suffer a compression break/bend without boost or huge amounts of det.

 

[gotovato]

This would’ve occurred on the exhaust stroke for sure. Nothing to slow the piston but the rod, rod bolts, and wrist pin. We will see. The pistons can also come apart.

It’s just fatigue. Shits got higher mileage and I’m sure the previous owners weren’t nice to it. Then I come and raise the limiter a lot for 7 races. Something pulled apart for sure