-KangaRod-

The Cost of LsVtec
In the last few days many people have asked me, “What the best performance upgrade for their 88-91 (EF style chassis) is?” That is without a doubt the addition of another camshaft and variable valve timing (with electronic lift control) known only by its street name, the infamous B16. B16’s are cheap and plentiful and for many a weekend racer is the best first step. This is well documented around the Internet, and cost is somewhere in the neighbourhood of around $3000 installed. As I said, I’ve found this to be more than sufficiently documented on the Internet, but if anyone has any specific questions about it, feel free to ask. The 2nd, and more important question is; “What comes next?” For most people they like to drag race their motors. In drag, torque is key (after suspension and tire upgrades), and torque is what the B16 lacks, and cannot be found in the stock bottom end. The solution lies in the addition of the bottom end found in the 90-01 Integra LS, RS, or GS or one off SE. The B18A (found in the cable operated clutch applications years 90 – 93) is a much more suitable candidate mainly because of cost. Their high km’s, and vintage make them much more plentiful in scrap yards and garages, and thus bring down the cost. Since rebuilding is something I would strongly recommend, km’s are a bit of a non-issue. The B18B (found in the newer hydraulic operated clutch applications years 94-01) also features a different style PCV valve which differentiates from the VTEC motors and the earlier generation of B18 motors making it more difficult (all be it, still possible) to integrate on to the VTEC head. B18A’s can easily be found locally in the $500 range, and have been known to go as cheaply as $100 for a short block in decent shape. Other than your B16 (which you should already have) that is your biggest cost. Since cost is the primary concern for most people I’ve decided to break it down with as many specifics as possible. Things with a variable price, I’ve listed with a variable price (as you’ve seen), but will try to keep it as specific as possible from this point on. The first thing we must understand is the weak points on the Ls bottom end. These are

The rod bolts: LsVtec had a reputation ****** that it was an unreliable build. This is mostly because of cut corners on the part of the builder, but can be linked back to the rod bolts. The most important upgrade, and only one I would deem necessary is the addition of ARP rod bolts (part number 208-6401 for Honda 1.2L – 1.8L) which retail for $79.99. The will also need to be pressed in by a machine shop, I paid $42.50 to have mine done.

skilled individuals can do this on their own although some specialty tools are needed since some precision is required.

The pistons: Ls bottom ends have dish style pistons which actually add 3.2 cc to the combustion chamber, and would yield a compression ratio of 9.55:1 with a stock B16 head. This is bad for NA applications because compression is what makes your power. This can be remedied by the reuse of your stock PR3 pistons (the pistons which came from your B16) that push out a total of 6.01 cc from the chamber size (a difference of 9.21 cc) for a compression ratio of 11.33:1 on the same set-up. That is what I would recommend, unless price wasn’t a major concern. That would come out to a total cost of about $50 to have the pistons pressed off and pressed on to the new rods. If cost weren’t as big a concern I’d recommend a set of PCT (Civic Type R pistons) that would displace a total of 8.63 cc, and yield a compression ratio of 12.03:1 (if used in standard .25mm oversize). If oversize pistons were used, you of course would need new pistons which retail in the range of $200-$250. You will also need new piston rings that will cost $140. You will need the block honed over. Any competent machine shop should be able to do this for $80. As well, 1 mm will need to be shaved from each side of the connection rod, to allow the pistons (CTR) to fit. I was charged $55.80 for this procedure.

The harmonics:GsR and Type R (comparable factory set-ups) come stock with a crank girdle. This is basically a piece of metal with sits across the 3 centre main caps, and keeps the crank from doing The Macarena at 8000 rpm. You can either machine a stock GsR or Type R one to fit (if you can find one, they are un usually rare because they cannot be bought new, they only come with the entire block assembly) or can purchase a new one from Z10 Engineering (http://www.z10eng.com/products.cfm) for $229.99 American. This upgrade is not necessary, but highly recommended. Since you will be changing the specifications of your bottom end you will need to purchase a new oil pickup (part no: 15220-P72-000, retail: $53.98), a new windage tray (part no: 11221-P72-000, retail: $48.65), 4 new outer main cap bolts (part no: 90007-P75-003, retail: 4 @ $5.20/piece) and 6 new inner main cap bolts (part no: 90007-PAA-T01, retail: 6 @ $6.30/piece), 6 dowel pins to hold the girdle in place (part no: 90715-PC6-000, retail: 6 @ $2.20/piece) and machining the girdle / main caps to accept the dowel pins ($90).

The use of the girdle is questionable if you are on a budget, more important is getting the rotating mass balanced

Now that we have gotten rid of the weaknesses, there are a few things that you will need to change on the head to allow it to accept the non-vtec block. The two big things you would need to change will be the oil hole in the head. It will be to be tapped and plugged which will cost ballpark $12. As well, we will need to have two dowel pin holes drilled out, to accept the standard placement of the dowel pins on the Ls block / Ls head gasket (part no: 12251-PR4-004, retail: $95.56), this procedure will cost $35. Finally (since we tapped and plugged the oil hole in the head) we will need to bring the oil to the head another way. Many people craft their own using the lines and plugs for less than $20. I prefer the custom made kits found on the Internet (like this one: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...item=2435019017) which retail for approximately $80 American. It is one less thing for you to worry about, which is always nice. There we have it. Short of assembling the motor (which will cost about $500 if you don’t do it yourself) we have a total cost of just shy of $5000 (including the cost of the B16). This will more than be sufficient for beating most Mustangs, F-bodies, J-Bodies, Turbo GP’s, old man cars, Tiburons, MR2’s, turbo Dodges, lowered trucks, D-series, and some FD’s that the streets of Winnipeg will throw at you. This does not include the cost of buying new rebuilt parts, which I would recommend to most people, but will significantly increase the cost of the whole operation. I’ll break it down as briefly as possible:
Plastigage - $2.82, rebuild lube - $ 5.27, bearings - $220, timing belt - $94.86 (14400-p72-014), oil pump - $164.99 (15100-P72-A01), water pump - $125.22 (19200-P72-013), head bolts – 10 @ $13.**/piece (90006-P72-003), upper end gasket kit - $198.58 (06110-P73-A03, you can sell the extra VTEC head gasket you will get with this one for around $50), lower end gasket kit - $78.42 (061B1-PR4-A01), throttle body gasket - $5.57 (16176-P73-004), outer cam cap bolts –15 @ $1.52 / piece (95701-0805000), inner cam cap bolts – 4 @ $6.78 /piece(90014-PR3-000) and finally new flywheel bolts – 8 @ $3.30 / piece (90011-PH3-000) which would bring our total costs to around $6000. Not cheap by a long shot, but speed does cost money. The only question is; how fast do you want to go?

If you have patience most of the cost can be cut down buy shopping around. Remember, you’re not limited to OEM parts. For example a set of ACL race bearings sell for $177.00 and are arguably better than OEM bearings which sell for $220.00.