ResearchTeam
05-06-2006, 06:00 PM
Honda Tuning demystifies the effort and expense that go into creating a competitive all-motor drag car by building our own CRX racer. For chapter one we cover weight reduction, roll bar installation, and the first step to squeezing the most out of our GS-R powerplant: sleeving.
In the realm of drag racing, a single straight strip of road measuring 1,320 feet separates the grain from the chaff. To successfully traverse that road, you not only need wits and a lead foot, you also need the right machine. This is a game of tenths- and hundredths-of-a-second, after all; stage with an ill-equipped bucket and your day could end real quick.
It seems a romanticized description of a pretty straightforward (pardon the pun) pastime, but the fact of the matter is if you don't run an automobile that is fast, agile, and, perhaps most importantly, safe, your future in drag racing is doubtful. But just what does it take to make a car that's competitive? We were wondering that very thing when we came up with this crazy idea.
Our stated objective is a simple one: build a 1988 CRX Si into a naturally aspirated, 12-second dragstrip contender. In the pursuit of this objective we will cover everything from chassis and engine prep to testing on the dyno and at the track. Plus, we will match up against other cars at events throughout the greater Southwest and bring you the results.
Now we can already hear your first question: Hasn't that been done already? If you are a regular reader of HT, you know that just recently we published a feature on all-motor sensation Erick Aguilar, who is just about to break the nines in his Civic, so why 12 seconds? Why not 11, or 10?
Quite simply, we wanted to make the project believable and attainable. We could have easily used the magazine's influence to get a newer platform, then utilize some high-profile shop to build us a tuned monster that would smoke others right out of the chute, but we really wanted you to see every step, right down to the last torqued bolt and final dyno pull. We also want you to know that drag racing is by no means a cheap sport. This project is but a starting point; there's plenty more you could do to make the car faster, but it'll come with a price. If you want to walk the walk, you will definitely need to kick down serious green.
That being said, we do have an accomplice in this endeavor that will be aiding us throughout the project's life. Serenity Sound Performance is a renowned audio and tuner shop in Fountain Valley, Calif., that has a name for building sick custom show cars. Proprietor Thai Nguyen is actually one of the visionaries behind this enterprise and has worked tirelessly at tracking down manufacturers that would be appropriate and amenable to our cause.
We have also largely relied on the generosity of many other contributing players, without whom this project could not be possible. One of them is Golden Eagle Manufacturing in San Dimas. The family-owned company has been around 25 years and began as an aerospace manufacturer, working with defense contractors like Hughes and Raytheon. Hit hard by post-Cold War defense spending cuts, GE has shifted its emphasis to engine prep, specifically sleeving and assembly, and has built itself a reputation doing work for the likes of Bergenholtz, Kubo, and Leone. If you built blocks rated to handle 60 psi of boost, though, you'd be pretty popular too.
But first we head south to San Diego to another family-owned operation with motorsports in its veins, Autopower Industries. The company builds bolt-in and weld-in roll bars and cages primarily for road race applications, although drag racing is nothing foreign to them either. In fact, co-owner Rick White is a drag racing hobbyist, running a nostalgia top-fuel dragster of his own when he has time, and company founder Nolan White happens to be the holder of the land-speed record for piston-driven cars. Tragically the elder White lost his life last year when he was trying to break his own record, but his sons Rick and brother Don are carrying on the Autopower tradition.
But enough talk. You know where we're at and where we're headed. Time to get wrenching.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx02_z.jpg
Relatively speaking, our project medium, an '88 CRX, is a common but accommodating dragging platform. Generally, engine swaps are straightforward and there's no shortage of aftermarket race parts available for the mighty mite.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx03_z.jpg
And since we've brought up the topic of swaps, the Si's SOHC D16A6 powerplant had to go. In its stead we're transplanting a B18C1 that sells these days used for around $3,000 and comes spec'ed at 170 horses and 128 lb-ft of torque from the factory. We'll need more than that to be competitive, but for now the motor gets pushed aside as we tackle chassis prep.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx04_z.jpg
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx05_z.jpg
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx06_z.jpg
Thai Nguyen and his team at Serenity began by dumping all the interior ballast, basically gutting the whip. The Si weighs about 2,017 pounds left stock, but to be in the running we need to pare that down as much as we can.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx07_z.jpg
Once the baby bullet has been relieved of seats, panels, and carpet, it is taken to Autopower for the roll bar. We will be relying on NHRA regulations to guide us, and its rulebook states that roll bars are "mandatory in all cars running 11.99 or quicker." Since we're aiming for 12 seconds or better we figured a six-point was the ticket. However, those thinking they can go 10.99 or better need to invest in a full cage, per NHRA regulations.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx08_z.jpg
Autopower's Ignacio "Nacho" De Alba starts us off by determining where the reinforcing steel base plates for the main hoop should go and scuffing the welding surface. Using a die grinder he removes any paint, adhesive, and insulation from the metal, then goes over it again with a wire wheel bit. The end result is a bare surface to weld to.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx09_z.jpg
NHRA mandates the base plates be six-inches square and 1/8-inch thick, so Nacho cuts six plates (one for each of the roll bar's "points") with the shop's 40-ton hydraulic ironworker.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx10_z.jpg
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx11_z.jpg
Nacho rounds off the edges of the plates with a belt grinder. This measure protects the welding surface in the car from any sharp edges created when the plate was cut, plus it strengthens the integrity of the plate.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx12_z.jpg
At both ends of the main hoop the floor dips where it meets the side wall, so Nacho has to tweak the base plates to accommodate the uneven surfaces. To do this he takes measurements of the two mounting areas and transfers them to the plates, then bends the plates with the shop's custom plate break, fine-tuning the folds with a hammer.Satisfied with the fit, Nacho fires up the MIG welder and mounts the two plates for the main hoop.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx13_z.jpg
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx14_z.jpg
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx15_z.jpg
Satisfied with the fit, Nacho fires up the MIG welder and mounts the two plates for the main hoop.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx16_z.jpg
Nacho grabs some measurements from the interior for the main hoop, then gets a length of seamless drawn over mandrel steel tubing to form on the shop's semi-automatic mandrel tube bending machine. The tubing has an outside diameter of 1-3/4 inches and a wall thickness of 0.120 inches.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx17_z.jpg
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx18_z.jpg
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx19_z.jpg
Turns out there's an excess of tubing on each end of the hoop, so Nacho retakes the measurements and cuts off the extra with a cold saw. He also takes the opportunity to straighten out the hoop so it is square to the floor of the car
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx20_z.jpg
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx21_z.jpg
Nacho welds the main hoop into position.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx22_z.jpg
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx23_z.jpg
With the main hoop in, Nacho can determine the orientation of the rest of the base plates and the lengths of tubing he will need for the supporting braces. NHRA requires that all roll bars include a sidebar and be adequately supported to prevent forward or lateral collapse.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx24_z.jpg
For the remaining base plates the floor required some flattening out with a hammer before the final welds were made
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx25_z.jpg
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx26_z.jpg
The support braces need to be notched at the hoop and cut at an angle on the opposite end where they connect to the plates, so Nacho returns to the cold saw to achieve this.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx27_z.jpg
A crossbar that acts as a seat brace and a shoulder harness attachment point is also required per NHRA, and Nacho welds in one of those, too.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx28_z.jpg
Most of the welds up to this point have been cursory, but with all the bars true and oriented correctly Nacho can now finish welding all the joints so that they are permanent. For this, he had to raise one side of the car with a jack so that the frame would bow. Anytime you do something to the chassis to make it more rigid, you run the risk of altering it and not being able to close the doors. Jacking up the car creates opposite tension and prevents the "shrinkage" from happening.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx29_z.jpg
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx30_z.jpg
The support braces that extend from the top of the hoop backward could not be welded all the way around because of the ceiling, so gussets were welded in. Anytime you can't weld the joint all the way around the tube gussets are required
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx31_z.jpg
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx32_z.jpg
Autopower's custom six-point roll bar is a work of art that'll set ya back around 900 bones. We feel safer just looking at it.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx33_z.jpg
We leave San Diego and head for San Dimas next, where we drop off our B18C1 block at Golden Eagle Manufacturing for sleeving. The shop does cylinder work on scores of blocks every year and each one starts off here, tagged and on the floor. Each tag indicates when the block was received, what work has been requested (bore, hone, etc.), and what piston size will be used.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx34_z.jpg
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx35_z.jpg
Blocks first receive a thorough cleaning and degreasing in an automatic parts washer. A turntable within the unit rotates the block while jets spray a special cleansing solvent.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx36_z.jpg
Golden Eagle employee Fernando Sandoval loads the block onto this CNC miller next. A single block is mounted to a large sliding plate on the unit via a slab of billet and a pair of locating pins, and the plate then moves the block underneath the boring bits. The machine is insanely precise, getting to within thousandths of an inch to center bores. After the block is done here it goes back to the parts washer.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx37_z.jpg
All the sleeves that Golden Eagle uses are also machined in-house on a manual lathe that forms the sleeves from pieces of centrifugally cast ductile iron.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx38_z.jpg
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx39_z.jpg
The sleeves then head for another CNC machine that cuts the distinctive contoured notches or "fingers" that Golden Eagle is known for.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx40_z.jpg
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx41_z.jpg
With the sleeves milled and block prepped, it's time to seat the sleeves with this 20-ton hydraulic press. All four sleeves are first seated in together at once, then each individual sleeve is pressed a second time.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx42_z.jpg
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx43_z.jpg
The B18C1 is returned to the original miller, new sleeves and all, so it can get decked. A 5/8-inch diameter bit trams across the surface of the deck to remove any imperfections. The method is somewhat unconventional, as most machine shops use a large cutter to plane the entire surface at once, but the folks at GE say this is an imperfect technique because if the cutter isn't exactly square to the deck it could potentially dish portions of it.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx44_z.jpg
Golden Eagle is also a practitioner of the step deck process, a technique pioneered by the engineers at Lamborghini that leaves the sleeves sticking out above the deck about 0.002 to 0.003 of an inch, helping to create a better seal to the head. From this point the block goes back to the parts washer for one final cleaning, then it's ready for assembly. The shop says to expect a turn-around time of 10 to 15 work days for any block you bring in for sleeving, and basic services begin at $750 and move up from there depending on the options you choose
Continue---> (http://www.hondatech.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=407)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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reference: honda tuning magazine
In the realm of drag racing, a single straight strip of road measuring 1,320 feet separates the grain from the chaff. To successfully traverse that road, you not only need wits and a lead foot, you also need the right machine. This is a game of tenths- and hundredths-of-a-second, after all; stage with an ill-equipped bucket and your day could end real quick.
It seems a romanticized description of a pretty straightforward (pardon the pun) pastime, but the fact of the matter is if you don't run an automobile that is fast, agile, and, perhaps most importantly, safe, your future in drag racing is doubtful. But just what does it take to make a car that's competitive? We were wondering that very thing when we came up with this crazy idea.
Our stated objective is a simple one: build a 1988 CRX Si into a naturally aspirated, 12-second dragstrip contender. In the pursuit of this objective we will cover everything from chassis and engine prep to testing on the dyno and at the track. Plus, we will match up against other cars at events throughout the greater Southwest and bring you the results.
Now we can already hear your first question: Hasn't that been done already? If you are a regular reader of HT, you know that just recently we published a feature on all-motor sensation Erick Aguilar, who is just about to break the nines in his Civic, so why 12 seconds? Why not 11, or 10?
Quite simply, we wanted to make the project believable and attainable. We could have easily used the magazine's influence to get a newer platform, then utilize some high-profile shop to build us a tuned monster that would smoke others right out of the chute, but we really wanted you to see every step, right down to the last torqued bolt and final dyno pull. We also want you to know that drag racing is by no means a cheap sport. This project is but a starting point; there's plenty more you could do to make the car faster, but it'll come with a price. If you want to walk the walk, you will definitely need to kick down serious green.
That being said, we do have an accomplice in this endeavor that will be aiding us throughout the project's life. Serenity Sound Performance is a renowned audio and tuner shop in Fountain Valley, Calif., that has a name for building sick custom show cars. Proprietor Thai Nguyen is actually one of the visionaries behind this enterprise and has worked tirelessly at tracking down manufacturers that would be appropriate and amenable to our cause.
We have also largely relied on the generosity of many other contributing players, without whom this project could not be possible. One of them is Golden Eagle Manufacturing in San Dimas. The family-owned company has been around 25 years and began as an aerospace manufacturer, working with defense contractors like Hughes and Raytheon. Hit hard by post-Cold War defense spending cuts, GE has shifted its emphasis to engine prep, specifically sleeving and assembly, and has built itself a reputation doing work for the likes of Bergenholtz, Kubo, and Leone. If you built blocks rated to handle 60 psi of boost, though, you'd be pretty popular too.
But first we head south to San Diego to another family-owned operation with motorsports in its veins, Autopower Industries. The company builds bolt-in and weld-in roll bars and cages primarily for road race applications, although drag racing is nothing foreign to them either. In fact, co-owner Rick White is a drag racing hobbyist, running a nostalgia top-fuel dragster of his own when he has time, and company founder Nolan White happens to be the holder of the land-speed record for piston-driven cars. Tragically the elder White lost his life last year when he was trying to break his own record, but his sons Rick and brother Don are carrying on the Autopower tradition.
But enough talk. You know where we're at and where we're headed. Time to get wrenching.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx02_z.jpg
Relatively speaking, our project medium, an '88 CRX, is a common but accommodating dragging platform. Generally, engine swaps are straightforward and there's no shortage of aftermarket race parts available for the mighty mite.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx03_z.jpg
And since we've brought up the topic of swaps, the Si's SOHC D16A6 powerplant had to go. In its stead we're transplanting a B18C1 that sells these days used for around $3,000 and comes spec'ed at 170 horses and 128 lb-ft of torque from the factory. We'll need more than that to be competitive, but for now the motor gets pushed aside as we tackle chassis prep.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx04_z.jpg
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx05_z.jpg
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx06_z.jpg
Thai Nguyen and his team at Serenity began by dumping all the interior ballast, basically gutting the whip. The Si weighs about 2,017 pounds left stock, but to be in the running we need to pare that down as much as we can.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx07_z.jpg
Once the baby bullet has been relieved of seats, panels, and carpet, it is taken to Autopower for the roll bar. We will be relying on NHRA regulations to guide us, and its rulebook states that roll bars are "mandatory in all cars running 11.99 or quicker." Since we're aiming for 12 seconds or better we figured a six-point was the ticket. However, those thinking they can go 10.99 or better need to invest in a full cage, per NHRA regulations.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx08_z.jpg
Autopower's Ignacio "Nacho" De Alba starts us off by determining where the reinforcing steel base plates for the main hoop should go and scuffing the welding surface. Using a die grinder he removes any paint, adhesive, and insulation from the metal, then goes over it again with a wire wheel bit. The end result is a bare surface to weld to.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx09_z.jpg
NHRA mandates the base plates be six-inches square and 1/8-inch thick, so Nacho cuts six plates (one for each of the roll bar's "points") with the shop's 40-ton hydraulic ironworker.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx10_z.jpg
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx11_z.jpg
Nacho rounds off the edges of the plates with a belt grinder. This measure protects the welding surface in the car from any sharp edges created when the plate was cut, plus it strengthens the integrity of the plate.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx12_z.jpg
At both ends of the main hoop the floor dips where it meets the side wall, so Nacho has to tweak the base plates to accommodate the uneven surfaces. To do this he takes measurements of the two mounting areas and transfers them to the plates, then bends the plates with the shop's custom plate break, fine-tuning the folds with a hammer.Satisfied with the fit, Nacho fires up the MIG welder and mounts the two plates for the main hoop.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx13_z.jpg
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx14_z.jpg
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx15_z.jpg
Satisfied with the fit, Nacho fires up the MIG welder and mounts the two plates for the main hoop.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx16_z.jpg
Nacho grabs some measurements from the interior for the main hoop, then gets a length of seamless drawn over mandrel steel tubing to form on the shop's semi-automatic mandrel tube bending machine. The tubing has an outside diameter of 1-3/4 inches and a wall thickness of 0.120 inches.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx17_z.jpg
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx18_z.jpg
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx19_z.jpg
Turns out there's an excess of tubing on each end of the hoop, so Nacho retakes the measurements and cuts off the extra with a cold saw. He also takes the opportunity to straighten out the hoop so it is square to the floor of the car
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx20_z.jpg
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx21_z.jpg
Nacho welds the main hoop into position.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx22_z.jpg
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx23_z.jpg
With the main hoop in, Nacho can determine the orientation of the rest of the base plates and the lengths of tubing he will need for the supporting braces. NHRA requires that all roll bars include a sidebar and be adequately supported to prevent forward or lateral collapse.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx24_z.jpg
For the remaining base plates the floor required some flattening out with a hammer before the final welds were made
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx25_z.jpg
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx26_z.jpg
The support braces need to be notched at the hoop and cut at an angle on the opposite end where they connect to the plates, so Nacho returns to the cold saw to achieve this.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx27_z.jpg
A crossbar that acts as a seat brace and a shoulder harness attachment point is also required per NHRA, and Nacho welds in one of those, too.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx28_z.jpg
Most of the welds up to this point have been cursory, but with all the bars true and oriented correctly Nacho can now finish welding all the joints so that they are permanent. For this, he had to raise one side of the car with a jack so that the frame would bow. Anytime you do something to the chassis to make it more rigid, you run the risk of altering it and not being able to close the doors. Jacking up the car creates opposite tension and prevents the "shrinkage" from happening.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx29_z.jpg
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx30_z.jpg
The support braces that extend from the top of the hoop backward could not be welded all the way around because of the ceiling, so gussets were welded in. Anytime you can't weld the joint all the way around the tube gussets are required
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx31_z.jpg
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx32_z.jpg
Autopower's custom six-point roll bar is a work of art that'll set ya back around 900 bones. We feel safer just looking at it.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx33_z.jpg
We leave San Diego and head for San Dimas next, where we drop off our B18C1 block at Golden Eagle Manufacturing for sleeving. The shop does cylinder work on scores of blocks every year and each one starts off here, tagged and on the floor. Each tag indicates when the block was received, what work has been requested (bore, hone, etc.), and what piston size will be used.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx34_z.jpg
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx35_z.jpg
Blocks first receive a thorough cleaning and degreasing in an automatic parts washer. A turntable within the unit rotates the block while jets spray a special cleansing solvent.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx36_z.jpg
Golden Eagle employee Fernando Sandoval loads the block onto this CNC miller next. A single block is mounted to a large sliding plate on the unit via a slab of billet and a pair of locating pins, and the plate then moves the block underneath the boring bits. The machine is insanely precise, getting to within thousandths of an inch to center bores. After the block is done here it goes back to the parts washer.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx37_z.jpg
All the sleeves that Golden Eagle uses are also machined in-house on a manual lathe that forms the sleeves from pieces of centrifugally cast ductile iron.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx38_z.jpg
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx39_z.jpg
The sleeves then head for another CNC machine that cuts the distinctive contoured notches or "fingers" that Golden Eagle is known for.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx40_z.jpg
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx41_z.jpg
With the sleeves milled and block prepped, it's time to seat the sleeves with this 20-ton hydraulic press. All four sleeves are first seated in together at once, then each individual sleeve is pressed a second time.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx42_z.jpg
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx43_z.jpg
The B18C1 is returned to the original miller, new sleeves and all, so it can get decked. A 5/8-inch diameter bit trams across the surface of the deck to remove any imperfections. The method is somewhat unconventional, as most machine shops use a large cutter to plane the entire surface at once, but the folks at GE say this is an imperfect technique because if the cutter isn't exactly square to the deck it could potentially dish portions of it.
http://photo.hondatech.com.au/DragCarAllMotor/0306ht_projectcrx44_z.jpg
Golden Eagle is also a practitioner of the step deck process, a technique pioneered by the engineers at Lamborghini that leaves the sleeves sticking out above the deck about 0.002 to 0.003 of an inch, helping to create a better seal to the head. From this point the block goes back to the parts washer for one final cleaning, then it's ready for assembly. The shop says to expect a turn-around time of 10 to 15 work days for any block you bring in for sleeving, and basic services begin at $750 and move up from there depending on the options you choose
Continue---> (http://www.hondatech.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=407)
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reference: honda tuning magazine