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Good Morning all. i have a few questions concerning parts for a rebuild. I have an '03 civic, 222k miles, D17A1. This is more of a 'bucket list' item for me. I want to rebuild it (1st time builder) and I wanted to know about purchasing parts.

1.) Looking at the crank info in the FSM, not all of the crank bearings are the same!?!? What is the advantage for that??? (Doesn't make sense to me...)
2.) Are there any aftermarket retailers (brands) that are good to use (affordable)??? Not trying to add boost, turbo, or anything. Will possibly a daily driver...
3.) As far as the crankshaft goes, do I need the machinist to make all of the journals match (crank bearings matching, rod bearings matching, etc.)???
So, where do I start with this process??? Again, this is a fun project, to get the car back on the road (bucket list). Thanks in advance for the info...

 
Rep Power: 513

When I was researching the same thing, varying clearances was my understanding. Luckily for me, all the bearing clearances for the engine I tore down were all in fantastic working order and within spec (checked with plastigauge) so I didn't have to change any of those bearings.
Not sure if there are any reputable ones, but I was going to go with Honda OEM. Hondaautomotiveparts.com is my go-to online parts dealer, and can almost always be found at a fraction of the price of a dealership ordering parts, especially if you have the luxury of waiting for the slowest shipping method. Even when I got a quote to overnight a headgasket kit from them, it was still much cheaper than a dealership parts department.
If you want to go with a full rebuild, probably a great idea to have them make sure all the clearances are proper and everything is balanced. Make sure you research clearance tolerances just in case you need to hand those off to whatever machine shop.
First, gather specs: torque specs, clearance specs, etc. for anything you'd be touching or handing off. Sure, you have a service manual, and that's great to have, but if you had a cheat sheet, no endless searching when you have your hands dirty.
Next, start shopping around, finding best prices for quality parts. Figure out whatever specialty tools you'll need and/or parts you know you'll have to replace. I can think of 2 off the top of my head: big *** c-clamp valve spring compressor (the overhead ones you can buy at AutoZone won't work) and a Honda crankshaft pulley tool. You can rent them, but if you plan on getting into Honda engine building or tinkering, might not be a bad idea to have them. Proper torque wrenches are a must if you want to do it properly. You'll also need a 12-point socket for the head bolts, if you don't have them already. Parts (and materials) you'll need to replace if you're doing a full teardown: gaskets and head bolts, at the least. Timing belt/tensioner, accessory belts, and water pump might be a good idea if you're gonna have it all apart anyways.
Fluids and consumables you'll need: coolant (I honestly used prestone 50/50 in my rebuild), oil, filter, assembly lube. Grab you a tube of HondaBond, too. I also had a bottle of Marvel's Mystery Oil on hand. That was a recommendation from the machine shop I used, and that stuff worked fantastically cleaning a lot of the carbon gunk in the engine (particularly the EGR passages). I used so many cans of brake cleaner to clean everything before reassembly, so everything was going in clean and dry (save for assembly lube).
Also, since you'll need a machine shop, find one that you can trust. The selling point on the shop I used was the fact that they gave me zero BS answers, gave me alternatives that saved me money and downtime, even if it cut into their profits.
After that, if you can afford to have the car down while you're doing this whole project, start tearing it apart little by little. The intake mani is gonna be a pain in the *** to remove, FYI. Depending on where you're located, exhaust components might be rusted as hell, and thus a pain in the ***, as well. I know I've snapped so many studs that hold the exhaust mani to the head.

 
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Awesome!!! I appreciate all of the info provided!!! I will probably start the actual teardown in the Spring. I will go ahead and search for pistons, rings, rods, bearings, crank (spun rod bearing), etc. Thanks a lot!!!

 
Rep Power: 513

Honestly, the crank might be fine. Those bearings are really soft in comparison to that cast crank. Your rods and pistons might be good, too, rings just might need to be replaced, which would be infinitely cheaper than replacing all of the internals. If you can help it, I'd only replace internals if you were building for boost or something to that effect.

Here are pics from when I did my D17 teardown.
https://imgur.com/a/spare-engine-block-v2-0-1p1St
https://imgur.com/a/spare-engine-block-jz3gM
I had a spare engine that was sitting around exposed to the elements that allegedly had <1000mi. Lots of surface rust on the cylinder walls, questionable stains and marks on the bearings, pistons, and walls. Machine shop I trust basically refused to do hardcore refinishing on it because dude said, "man, you can see the OEM honing marks on the cylinder walls. We'll run a quick hone, but nothing major. I guarantee this has less than 500 miles on it." They also, as a courtesy, did some quick things to remove the surface rust and clean up the stains, but they said everything was in spec. At the end of the day, the only thing I replaced internally (other than gaskets and seals) were the piston rings, which... honestly I count as seals, so hardware-wise, I didn't replace a thing. Now, my teardown was vastly different than what you're about to undergo since your engine has more miles than my car had when I got rid of her, but take home message: if it's reusable, save the cash. Clean and freshen up the reusable stuff and reuse them. If those rods are bent, those pistons kissed some valves, or that crank has some gnarly gouges on the bearing surfaces, sure, swap them.

Apparently Majestic Honda doesn't carry a lot of internals for the D17 anymore. Seemingly hard to come by. However, here are links to OEM parts (with part numbers and link to places that have 'em in stock) if you want to either buy Honda OEM or use them as a cross reference

• Rings (for standard 75mm bore), 13011-PMP-A01, $55/set here : https://www.hondafactoryparts.com/oe...ng-13011pmpa01
• Pistons (also standard 75mm bore), 13010-PLM-A00, $104/ea here: https://www.bernardiparts.com/Honda-...1-a9c0c09555a7
• Connecting rods, 13210-PLM-A00, $177/set here: https://www.bernardiparts.com/Produc...0-PLM-A00.aspx
• Crankshaft, 13310-PLM-A00, $1500 here: https://www.bernardiparts.com/Produc...0-PLM-A00.aspx ($1500 for a D17 part. Yeah, no. Reuse the crank if you can help it. I got my <1000mi whole engine assembly for $750 shipped).
• Head gasket kit (you'll need this), 06110-PLC-010, $400 here : https://www.bernardiparts.com/Produc...0-PLC-010.aspx
• Engine block gasket kit (if you're doing a complete teardown, you'll need this, too), 06111-PMM-A21, erm.. good luck finding Honda OEM here. Not sure what brands would be comparable. It's really the crank oil seal, oil pump seal, oil pan gasket, and water pump gaskets. I think that's all that's in that kit.

My headgasket thread is also a great reference, since you'll be doing all of this during the rebuild: https://www.civicforums.com/forums/1...arts-list.html.