Engine- need advice

Joined
3 September 2002
Messages
42
Last year, I blew a head gasket in my 2000 and had a chance thru NSX Prime to buy a used engine so I didnt have to rush into deciding what to do with my original engine. My original engine had 250,000 miles on it so I knew just replacing the gasket wasnt wise. Ultimately I decided to have the orig engine rebuilt and it is in the process of being installed. This leaves me with the 98 engine that is being removed and as luck would have it , I believe the head gasket is now blown on it. So, I would appreciate the group's advice on whether I should part the 98 engine , send it somewhere to be rebuilt and then sell it, or sell it as is. I dont think the block is damaged because I promptly cut off the engine but only an inspection can tell for sure. Your thoughts?
 
* How many miles on the 98 engine?
* What testing methods helped you conclude you have a HG issue? Leak down test would be a good way to know for sure.

It is my opinion that NSX engines are built with such specificity that I would try to avoid rebuilding the bottom end even if the car has over 250k miles. Again, knowing how well the rings are still sealing would help determine this. You could send your oil to Blackstone for analysis.

I've seen/heard of more rebuilds blowing up or having issues like excessive oil burn or blowby than high mile engines that have been properly cared for.
 
First off, where are you located? A good nsx specific shop can answer your questions and steer you in the correct direction you should go. I would start there but that is just me...
 
It is my opinion that NSX engines are built with such specificity that I would try to avoid rebuilding the bottom end even if the car has over 250k miles. Again, knowing how well the rings are still sealing would help determine this. You could send your oil to Blackstone for analysis.

I've seen/heard of more rebuilds blowing up or having issues like excessive oil burn or blowby than high mile engines that have been properly cared for.
I have 200k on my '91 and was thinking of doing some kind of refresh next year since it will be time for another major service interval so I'd be interested in knowing more details on what kinds of rebuilds you're talking about that have had these problems. Pls PM me if you're not comfortable making public statements. I'm aware Hugh was consuming more oil than normal for a while but I think that has recently settled down. I've also heard that the cylinder bores become a "little oval" over time so are you suggesting leaving them as is if the compression/leak down numbers are acceptable? Tks ...Ian
 
Rebuild it! I recently refreshed my '91 C30A at the 230,000 miles mark. I wanted to change the TB/WP, learn more about the mechanicals and ultimately gain an appreciation for the engineering of this motor. Upon teardown, you could still see the original hone marks in the bores so I didn't touch the short block. Before the refresh, it didn't burn oil, had good compression numbers and no signs of piston gas blow-by. I had a local machine shop rebuild the heads: faces milled, valves ground, seats turned, new valve spring retainers. My machine shop didn't change the valve guides since they all checked within tolerance. I replaced the OEM graphite head gaskets with steels from SOS. I did not use Heli-Coil inserts in the block, but did use them in the head covers since the majority of the threads in the magnesium casting were stripped. Every gasket/seal/O-ring was replaced. New TB/WP, pulleys, a new knock sensor harness (the plastic frame had melted). I did the work (except the heads) myself. Cost approximately $5K. I also recently replace the fuel injectors. I figure it's ready for another 230,000 miles.
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I have 200k on my '91 and was thinking of doing some kind of refresh next year since it will be time for another major service interval so I'd be interested in knowing more details on what kinds of rebuilds you're talking about that have had these problems. Pls PM me if you're not comfortable making public statements. I'm aware Hugh was consuming more oil than normal for a while but I think that has recently settled down. I've also heard that the cylinder bores become a "little oval" over time so are you suggesting leaving them as is if the compression/leak down numbers are acceptable? Tks ...Ian
I personally have been impressed with the longevity of these motors if properly cared for. Even mildly supercharged ones (3.0L only). I'm of the opinion that these engines were essentially overbuilt to some degree.. Again, i'm talking about the 3.0L. I defer the expert analysis and engine building feedback to my trusted friends [MENTION=4034]Coz[/MENTION], Nick (Applied Motorsports), and Jon Martin.

Ian, these are just my opinion. Take it for what it's worth :)

Btw, Coz rebuilt the top end on my 3.0L. I have high miles as well. I track the sh*t out of this car and i'm not apologetic about driving this car hard. With Cometic head gaskets, stock compression, OEM head studs torqued to 3.2L spec, 3 angle valve job, etc but all components basically stock... after 3 yrs it's still pushing strong at 8psi of boost. We made the conscious decision not to touch the bottom end except for swapping out the oil ring gear to a JDM brand. Can't thank Coz enough for the TLC. 3yrs and probably about 25k miles and GOING....

Maybe Coz can weigh in if he feels like it.
 
Sure, I'll weigh in a little.
Don't know everything, but have learned a little after all these years with the NSX.

Refresh and rebuild are pretty much the same thing. Just depends on how far you go HP wise and what parts you use.

Both require the cylinders be be honed or bored to get rid of the oval-ing caused by time and heat which will include new pistons and ring packs. Other things that get replaced are the bearings, rod and crank, head gaskets and new head bolts. At the same time the block & heads are sent out for resurfacing, heads are gone through, valves, guides and springs replaced, should be anyway if done right. Then everything is put back together with new timing belt, water pump, oil gear & housing, gaskets, O rings and hoses.

Refresh, replacing what you currently have in its pretty much stock form.
Rebuild, replacing with upgraded parts, closed deck or floating sleeves, upgraded parts throughout, specialized boring and piston sizes way beyond stock, etc.
Both require balancing, bearing clearances set, etc. There's really not a whole lot of difference other than the money you spend doing it.

Whether or not you dive into the bottom end really matters on whats going on the with motor at the time. Is it burning oil, is it using water, leak down and compression numbers, etc.
I've seen many motors with 150,000+ miles on them that don't burn a drop of oil and tolerances are still tight when cylinder holes are measured. In other words, rings are still sealing around the cylinder walls. You have to remember than even though cylinder holes go out of round, the rings wear to match them. So just because a cylinder might be out of round doesn't mean the bottom end needs to be rebuilt. Burning oil, smoking or a lot of blow by are indications the rings are no longer sealing which means it's time to refresh/rebuild the bottom....and sometimes that can turn out to just be the heads as well.

Most motors if taken care of really don't need much other than the top end being gone through. Heads, gaskets, WP, TB, Gaskets, O Rings, Oil gear and housing, etc. But again, it all goes back to whats going on with the motor and what your end goal is.

Regan's motor was a perfect example of not needing a complete refresh/rebuild. Because he has taken such good care of his motor, oil changes continually, not letting it over heat continually, servicing it as required and not over boosting a stock motor, there was nothing wrong with his bottom end, even though he's tracked the hell out of it and driven it many miles on the street. As a testament to that, as he says, we did only the top end 3 years ago, he's still tracking it, still putting miles on it driving it on the street, 25,000 miles have gone by since, and it's not burning any oil and still running strong. Regan's motor actually uses head bolts, not studs, and yes, I torq'd them to 70 ft pds because his motor is boosted. He has a 3.0 block, which allowed this, whereas a 3.2 block should be time certed before switching to head bolts instead of using studs and torq'd to 70 lbs, since I found the 3.2 blocks are weaker in the threads and don't do well with higher torq for boosted motors if changing over to bolts.

All of which is just my opinion, for what it's worth :-)
...and thanks Regan, I very much appreciate the confidence you have in my work and the fact you would say so.



Btw, Coz rebuilt the top end on my 3.0L. I have high miles as well. I track the sh*t out of this car and i'm not apologetic about driving this car hard. With Cometic head gaskets, stock compression, OEM head studs torqued to 3.2L spec, 3 angle valve job, etc but all components basically stock... after 3 yrs it's still pushing strong at 8psi of boost. We made the conscious decision not to touch the bottom end except for swapping out the oil ring gear to a JDM brand. Can't thank Coz enough for the TLC. 3yrs and probably about 25k miles and GOING....

Maybe Coz can weigh in if he feels like it.
 
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seems like keeping the bottom end intact is more important than doing headwork.
 
Yup, head work is easy....bottom work is expensive and time consuming....

seems like keeping the bottom end intact is more important than doing headwork.
 
Sure, I'll weigh in a little.
Coz .. tks very much for taking the time and effort to provide such a thoughtful 'weigh in' .. very much appreciated. Also tks to Dr. JL and RYU for their comments. I also talked to Larry B. about this at the NSXPO in Ohio and my interpretation was that he wouldn't advise rebuilding the bottom end either as long as there were no bad signs such as oil usage; imbalanced compression; etc. And I even remember Brian (Source1) or Larry talking about an NSX with close to 300k on it that they had just added a Comptech blower to without issues .. but that seemed to be a bit of Russian roulette to me. If you're thinking of any kind of FI on a 200k motor, does that change the recommendation to rebuild/refresh the bottom end or not? I've been around since the days of the BB failures and I know that some of those were probably due to the SS box .. but I also remember reading about a lot of 'ring land' failures which may have been tied to age and should have been refreshed. I'm not expert on FI and am not trying to start a flame war .. just leaning that way at the moment and interested in your perspectives. At 200k, this is likely to be my last rebuild .. just wanting to make good decisions.
Tks in advance. ...Ian
 
Coz .. tks very much for taking the time and effort to provide such a thoughtful 'weigh in' .. very much appreciated. Also tks to Dr. JL and RYU for their comments. I also talked to Larry B. about this at the NSXPO in Ohio and my interpretation was that he wouldn't advise rebuilding the bottom end either as long as there were no bad signs such as oil usage; imbalanced compression; etc. And I even remember Brian (Source1) or Larry talking about an NSX with close to 300k on it that they had just added a Comptech blower to without issues .. but that seemed to be a bit of Russian roulette to me. If you're thinking of any kind of FI on a 200k motor, does that change the recommendation to rebuild/refresh the bottom end or not? I've been around since the days of the BB failures and I know that some of those were probably due to the SS box .. but I also remember reading about a lot of 'ring land' failures which may have been tied to age and should have been refreshed. I'm not expert on FI and am not trying to start a flame war .. just leaning that way at the moment and interested in your perspectives. At 200k, this is likely to be my last rebuild .. just wanting to make good decisions.
Tks in advance. ...Ian
$0.02

Assuming your bottom end checks out fine (good compression test, leak down, doesn't burn oil, etc) then stock compression or up to 7-8psi of boost is fine (i.e. <380wHP). In my experience even mild boost is within Honda's threshold of reliability. Again, I think the 3.0L was overbuilt to some degree.

Ring lands start to fail at higher than 400wHP. 3.2L (as Coz mentioned) is a different animal when talking about boost. The only known failure point on an early 3.0L is the OEM paper head gaskets. After 2yrs of boost and track driving, the paper head gaskets started to weap in cyl #5 & 6 in my car.

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I need to caveat this... a proper tune is MANDATORY. You can blow up an engine with no boost if accompanied by an improper tune. There are several other considerations when going boost best kept for another thread. Matter of fact, it's been covered here on nsxprime several times :)

I spend hours and hours and hours on my tune. I'd like to say the car runs even better than when it came out of the factory. A proper tune is important and the most overlooked here on prime IMHO.
 
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Coz, thank you for the advice regarding my engine question. I have a 98 engine with a probable blown HG. I had the original engine in my 2000 rebuilt and thus want to do something with the now not needed 98 engine.Based on your experience should I part my 98 engine with 130,00 miles on it , or get it repaired and then sell or should I sell as is? If I get it rebuilt do you have any idea of the value?
 
To the OP:

I would sell it as-is. It's my opinion that it would be valuable to a wider base of buyers that way. Some may want to rebuild it to OEM specs, whereas others may want to build it up a bit for higher power goals.

I don't think anyone can answer your last question as there are too many unknowns. Is it only a blown HG or are there other problems you may discover when tearing the engine down? What are you using to rebuild it? OEM parts or aftermarket? Which company is doing the work (these vary widely, and even well-known NSX specialist shops have had engine failures after their rebuilds).

You probably won't recover your investment if you decide to rebuild it before selling.

Dave

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On my C30 with different cylinder walls than your C32, my cylinder bore measurements were as follows:

Taper was almost non-existent at ~0.0005", and the worst "ovalization" I measured at the top of the cylinders was ~0.0015".

Not bad after 130k miles! It only seems to be an issue if you've increased cylinder pressure over the years with boost. The short blocks seem to hold up well if you've kept them near stock power levels most of their lives.
 
I would probably leave the bottom as is, keep your boost low and drive it until it starts having issues. The key is, when it does start having issues is stop driving it before you do any serious damage. Then rebuild the motor with boost in mind. In the mean time, start saving your money for the rebuild and enjoy the car now.
Yes, the BB's were mostly total failures, but much was from detonation issues. Much has been learned since then and better systems have been developed. It was a starting point to get us where we are now.

Coz .. tks very much for taking the time and effort to provide such a thoughtful 'weigh in' .. very much appreciated. Also tks to Dr. JL and RYU for their comments. I also talked to Larry B. about this at the NSXPO in Ohio and my interpretation was that he wouldn't advise rebuilding the bottom end either as long as there were no bad signs such as oil usage; imbalanced compression; etc. And I even remember Brian (Source1) or Larry talking about an NSX with close to 300k on it that they had just added a Comptech blower to without issues .. but that seemed to be a bit of Russian roulette to me. If you're thinking of any kind of FI on a 200k motor, does that change the recommendation to rebuild/refresh the bottom end or not? I've been around since the days of the BB failures and I know that some of those were probably due to the SS box .. but I also remember reading about a lot of 'ring land' failures which may have been tied to age and should have been refreshed. I'm not expert on FI and am not trying to start a flame war .. just leaning that way at the moment and interested in your perspectives. At 200k, this is likely to be my last rebuild .. just wanting to make good decisions.
Tks in advance. ...Ian

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Couldn't have said it better.

$0.02

Assuming your bottom end checks out fine (good compression test, leak down, doesn't burn oil, etc) then stock compression or up to 7-8psi of boost is fine (i.e. <380wHP). In my experience even mild boost is within Honda's threshold of reliability. Again, I think the 3.0L was overbuilt to some degree.

Ring lands start to fail at higher than 400wHP. 3.2L (as Coz mentioned) is a different animal when talking about boost. The only known failure point on an early 3.0L is the OEM paper head gaskets. After 2yrs of boost and track driving, the paper head gaskets started to weap in cyl #5 & 6 in my car.

- - - Updated - - -

I need to caveat this... a proper tune is MANDATORY. You can blow up an engine with no boost if accompanied by an improper tune. There are several other considerations when going boost best kept for another thread. Matter of fact, it's been covered here on nsxprime several times :)

I spend hours and hours and hours on my tune. I'd like to say the car runs even better than when it came out of the factory. A proper tune is important and the most overlooked here on prime IMHO.

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Personally. I would replace the the head gaskets, time cert the block and replace the head studs with head bolts. IF...it was to become a FI motor. If it was to stay a stock no FI motor, I would just replace the head gaskets before selling it since it's already out of the car. A running motor is worth more than a non running motor and will sell easier for those looking for a stock no hassle drop in replacement, which I've done many times for others over the years.. A low mileage, in excellent shape. running 3.2 motor is worth 7500.00 as a long block, not running, maybe 4500.00. 80% of those out there are not going to FI their car. Now if money wasn't an issue, I would keep it. Motors and parts are getting harder to come by. I've made the mistake of parting with things I should have kept over the years. Especially since this is a 3.2, which has a stronger crank, 3.2 rods that fit the crank and 3.2 intake valves already. Can't even buy 3.2 cranks anymore from Acura.

Coz, thank you for the advice regarding my engine question. I have a 98 engine with a probable blown HG. I had the original engine in my 2000 rebuilt and thus want to do something with the now not needed 98 engine.Based on your experience should I part my 98 engine with 130,00 miles on it , or get it repaired and then sell or should I sell as is? If I get it rebuilt do you have any idea of the value?
 
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Personally. I would replace the the head gaskets, time cert the block and replace the head studs with head bolts. IF...it was to become a FI motor. If it was to stay a stock no FI motor, I would just replace the head gaskets before selling it since it's already out of the car. A running motor is worth more than a non running motor and will sell easier for those looking for a stock no hassle drop in replacement, which I've done many times for others over the years.. A low mileage, in excellent shape. running 3.2 motor is worth 7500.00 as a long block, not running, maybe 4500.00. 80% of those out there are not going to FI their car. Now if money wasn't an issue, I would keep it. Motors and parts are getting harder to come by. I've made the mistake of parting with things I should have kept over the years. Especially since this is a 3.2, which has a stronger crank, 3.2 rods that fit the crank and 3.2 intake valves already. Can't even buy 3.2 cranks anymore from Acura.

With respect, the $7500 figure would be for a motor that hadn't been opened up. One that was rebuilt may only be worth $6k... whereas one that had an assumed HG failure only would be $4500.

Ultimately, it depends on the market and who is desperate at the time. I would obviously start high and then work it down if there are no takers. Or keep it as Coz noted.

One other thing I need to point out is that we are talking about a C32 in this case. For others that read this in the future and assume it applies to their C30's, I would say it doesn't. You can't just take a C30 with a blown HG and "upgrade" to later MLS HG's. MLS HG's require a smoother finished surface on the block and heads to properly seal. I don't know if this is what people have done keeping the C30 short block intact and just upgrading to MLS HG, studs (with or without TimeSerts), and head work. The C30's came with carbon/paper HG's that required a rough surface finish from the factory.

I don't recall offhand what the Ra is for MLS HG's, but my machined block and heads were almost a mirror finish. I TimeSerted the block, and torqued the ARP studs to around 80-85 ft-lbs using ARP lube. I'd have to look at my build sheet to make sure what I torqued them to but it was pretty high. ARP has a tech sheet on the different stud torque values based on the lube you use... assuming your block threads will hold.
 
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Thats news to me, I've done just that on the 30+ head gasket changes on C30 motors with only the heads resurfaced and never had an issue changing them over as long as the blocks are in surface spec and those motors are still out there holding fine. But I also use a Permatec gasket spray on the gaskets before installing them as well. As a matter of fact, Regans car, which I replaced the head gaskets on 3 years ago from stock to Cometic's, and we are now at several track events and 25,000 miles later since, are they are still holding fine and he is FI. I torq OEM bolts to 70 ft pnds all the time in C30 blocks now. I stopped using over priced ARP bolts long ago except for the rod caps in which I still use ARP's.

As for using studs, it's a known fact that studs are supposed to be retorqed after they gone through a heat cycle. That might be fine in motors that you can get the the head stud nuts, but is not quite as easy with the NSX motor since the cams, girdles, caps, rocker shafts and lifters all have to come off to get to them. Which usually means another motor out situation. Yes, you can torq them to the 80-85 ft pd you speak of, but I personally would never trust it to hold it's torq value with a motor that has FI. To much work to have to do it twice.

Nick and I are currently building a motor for one of our FI NSX owners that has had nothing but issues with his 3.2 with lifting heads using studs, who however, wants to continue use studs anyway, even though we be both think bolts are a better alternative. The one change that is taking place with his 3.2 block is being time certed to make sure it can handle the additional torq and..... what we did and found in this latest build using studs. We torqed them down to 80 ft pds. We then set up a system using a turkey fryer to heat the water to 210 degrees and cycled it through the motor for a couple of hours and then let it cool. Went back and found a variance of 10 to 20% difference in all the studs torq value after the heat cycle when re-torqing to the original 80 lbs we started with. a 10 to 20% variance is not good after it's first heat cycle. You might get away with it with a non FI motor, but not for long with a FI motor.

You may have found something different in all the motors you build and I could be wrong since we have different idea's on motor builds, but this is not what we've found to be the case in the 80+ motors we've built over the years between us.

Thats just not a risk I'd be willing to take, especially when building a motor for someone else that costs as much as they do. Come backs suck....



One other thing I need to point out is that we are talking about a C32 in this case. For others that read this in the future and assume it applies to their C30's, I would say it doesn't. You can't just take a C30 with a blown HG and "upgrade" to later MLS HG's. MLS HG's require a smoother finished surface on the block and heads to properly seal.

I don't know if this is what people have done keeping the C30 short block intact and just upgrading to MLS HG, studs (with or without TimeSerts), and head work. The C30's came with carbon/paper HG's that required a rough surface finish from the factory.

I don't recall offhand what the Ra is for MLS HG's, but my machined block and heads were almost a mirror finish. I TimeSerted the block, and torqued the ARP studs to around 80-85 ft-lbs using ARP lube. I'd have to look at my build sheet to make sure what I torqued them to but it was pretty high. ARP has a tech sheet on the different stud torque values based on the lube you use... assuming your block threads will hold.
 
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It appears you've done 80 times the motors I have, so I would certainly keep doing what you're doing!

As far as ARP studs, yes they may be overpriced compared to re-used OEM bolts, but studs are a superior design, have a higher tensile strength than OEM (leading to less head lift all other things being equal), and therefore are cheap insurance. Also, according to ARP, studs do not need to be re-torqued if installed properly (http://arp-bolts.com/p/FAQ.php). I'd like to think they know this stuff by now! I torqued my studs in three passes at ~30 ft-lbs, then ~60 ft-lbs, then finally ~85 ft-lbs. I let the engine sit for a week then removed all studs, cleaned, re-lubed, and re-torqued in the sequence above. I don't want to rebuild this engine again!

I've heard good and bad about using Permatec spray on HG's, but that would probably be a requirement if the block and head surfaces are not prepared according to the MLS gasket manufacturer's requirement. If you use Cometic, they recommend smoother than 50 Ra and the gaskets be installed dry (http://www.cometic.com/faq.html#q31023). IIRC, Benson did my block at ~10 Ra. My heads were the same. Like I said before, it was almost like a mirror. The smoother the better with MLS gaskets!

80 NSX engine rebuilds... That's a lot. If my engine goes I am just going to convert it to electric rather than go through another rebuild.
 
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I trust your judgement Dave, really I do, you're a smart and articulate man, this I do know.
I've just never had any luck with studs and never had any issues with bolts. Its always been a torq issue more than anything else.
Having done this a few times, been through some failures you just get to the point you do what you know works and stick with it.
The Permatec is great stuff, its a great sealer for very tiny imperfections for sealing. Once it gone through a heat cycle, it becomes part of the gasket and a permanent seal.
Picture is a head gasket coated with Permatec.
I never put head gaskets on now without it.
...and, which is why I'm doing a J swap on my car in December, LOL



It appears you've done 80 times the motors I have, so I would certainly keep doing what you're doing!

As far as ARP studs, yes they may be overpriced compared to re-used OEM bolts, but studs are a superior design, have a higher tensile strength than OEM (leading to less head lift all other things being equal), and therefore are cheap insurance. Also, according to ARP, studs do not need to be re-torqued if installed properly (http://arp-bolts.com/p/FAQ.php). I'd like to think they know this stuff by now! I torqued my studs in three passes at ~30 ft-lbs, then ~60 ft-lbs, then finally ~85 ft-lbs. I let the engine sit for a week then removed all studs, cleaned, re-lubed, and re-torqued in the sequence above. I don't want to rebuild this engine again!

I've heard good and bad about using Permatec spray on HG's, but that would probably be a requirement if the block and head surfaces are not prepared according to the MLS gasket manufacturer's requirement. If you use Cometic, they recommend smoother than 50 Ra and the gaskets be installed dry (http://www.cometic.com/faq.html#q31023). IIRC, Benson did my block at ~10 Ra. My heads were the same. Like I said before, it was almost like a mirror. The smoother the better with MLS gaskets!

80 NSX engine rebuilds... That's a lot. If my engine goes I am just going to convert it to electric rather than go through another rebuild.
 

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I'm sure I did, I dust them all with it, especially when the block isn't being sent out for resurfacing as yours wasn't.
It's insurance.

Edit....Yup, here's the run off of it after the heads were torq'd down. This was your motor.

I don't think Coz used Permatec on mine. Did you [MENTION=4034]Coz[/MENTION]? :)
 

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Actually my education started many years and motors before yours with Nick.
I was finally at a point Nick trusted me alone, LOL.
Do you know anyone else thats allowed to work on motors at Nicks shop unsupervised ?
;-)
Trust me, it took many years to get to that point with Nick.

HAHA! But wasn't mine like #2 or 3 of the 80? i'm sure you were still experimenting and honing your skills with mine. HAHA!
 
I trust your judgement Dave, really I do, you're a smart and articulate man, this I do know.
I've just never had any luck with studs and never had any issues with bolts. Its always been a torq issue more than anything else.
Having done this a few times, been through some failures you just get to the point you do what you know works and stick with it.
The Permatec is great stuff, its a great sealer for very tiny imperfections for sealing. Once it gone through a heat cycle, it becomes part of the gasket and a permanent seal.
Picture is a head gasket coated with Permatec.
I never put head gaskets on now without it.
...and, which is why I'm doing a J swap on my car in December, LOL

Oooohlala, the J-swap is something that is super interesting and I've been reading up on it here and also on the Honda-Tech forum. Care to share YOUR reasoning for going with the J motor? Which flavor of it? 32 or 35?
 
Simply put.... :-)
I race my NSX 10 to 12 weekends a year and I'm not taking anymore chances with motor builds that cost $14,000.00 + (Thats doing it myself)
I can build 3 J motors for that cost, maybe even 4.
I'm going J32A2S for the higher revving capabilities. With the change of upgraded valve springs and a little head work, I can safely take it to 7800 rpm. The J-35 caps out at around 6200.
Both motors will make a bunch of torq, J-32 around 425, the J35, upwards toward 500 and probably beyond.
Love the high torq, but it's not the NSX gearboxes friend for long on track running slicks in the 315 to 335 sizes in the rear I run. 425 area is enough for me.

Oooohlala, the J-swap is something that is super interesting and I've been reading up on it here and also on the Honda-Tech forum. Care to share YOUR reasoning for going with the J motor? Which flavor of it? 32 or 35?
 
Simply put.... :-)
I race my NSX 10 to 12 weekends a year and I'm not taking anymore chances with motor builds that cost $14,000.00 + (Thats doing it myself)
I can build 3 J motors for that cost, maybe even 4.
I'm going J32A2S for the higher revving capabilities. With the change of upgraded valve springs and a little head work, I can safely take it to 7800 rpm. The J-35 caps out at around 6200.
Both motors will make a bunch of torq, J-32 around 425, the J35, upwards toward 500 and probably beyond.
Love the high torq, but it's not the NSX gearboxes friend for long on track running slicks in the 315 to 335 sizes in the rear I run. 425 area is enough for me.

I've said it in another thread and I'll say it again here. You, sir, are doing the lord's work. The feasibility of the J-swap was one of the deciding factors in an NSX purchase; was wary of what would happen when the C motor blew up or tired out. With the J swap kit and the work you and others are doing with it, owners now have another powerplant option.
 
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