Rep Power: 325

After PWing in many threads I made the final decision. I am now looking for suggestions and personal opinions...

KMS Head Gasket
KMS Block Gaurd
JE Pistons (8.5:1)
Forged Eagle rods
Either Polk Performance or DH Racing PnP head

Does this sound good? I figure for the money it should be pretty reliable and handle a decent amount of boost.

I finally got my Apexi VAFC2 now, you think that with this setup, and upgraded injectors 15psi is a safe number? Thanks in advance.

BTW- Feel free to comment on what I went with, and/or make suggestions. I'm looking at an AEM cam gear is well to help cope with the thicker HG.

 
Rep Power: 335

have you seen ricerburner's PnP Headwork done by DH?

http://www.7thgencivic.com/forums/sh...hreadid=145271

looks very nice if you ask me.

 
Rep Power: 325

yes it looks pretty nice, Just dont think I can afford that kind of job, and still be able to upgrade the internals I NEED to run higher, safer boost...

 
Rep Power: 0

You should be able to run 15-18psi safetly if tuned properly... I would watch out for our plastic intake manifold though... Not sure how much boost it can take at the end of the day...

 
Rep Power: 583

u dont have to touch the head in order to run a lil higher boost, i did 14-15psi and i havent done anything to the head, i dont like block guards, and id go with polk

 
Rep Power: 327

just curious about the rods ive been looking around for info on who makes what but can never seem to get a reply from the manufactures and i work ALL the damn time it seems. Are the rods that your going with an off the shelf made for the d17 or are they a rod that fits our dimension requirements? if you have part numbers that would be very benifical and maybe a link to a site that has them listed? I'm thinking about building a second motor in the future and just want to get my ducks in a row.

 
Rep Power: 583

ROD PART NUMBER

 
Rep Power: 301

Do they make all the parts to fully build our engine?

Rods, Retainers, Valves, Valve springs, Pistons, Rings, all that stuff?

 
Rep Power: 329

I bought the KMS block guard. Its kinda flimsy comapred to one made by STR for a d16...I hope it holds up.

HEY C2i0v0i1C: Im not trying to start a brand name war Im just curious......but Why would you recomend polk over DH?

 
Rep Power: 329

Oh and one more thing I called crower about thoose rods about a month ago and they said that they cannot be used w/ stock pistons. Not that I would upgrade one w/out the other but just trying to let everyone know.

 
Rep Power: 0

Where are you getting the JE pistons and the rods from? price? link?
I too have been doing a little research for internals but cant seem to make up my mind. Anyway, let us know how all this works out if you go ahead with it!

 
Rep Power: 327

The pistons madwheel went with are a dished piston correct? Im assuming to lower compression so that you can run higher boost? Has anyone run across an aftermarket piston thats equal to stock compression but more along the lines of being able to handle more boost/NoS ?

 
Rep Power: 327

Why the thicker head gasket? I can understand how it would lower the compression ratio, but wouldnt it also increase the possibility of blowing the gasket out? I've read of people stacking head gaskets and i still dont understand why they would do that or what the realistic benift would be.

Im by no means a engine building god, but from what i have read and my understandings the items that you have selected sound like a good combination that should give you many years of service. From what i've been seeing recently it seems like a lot of head gasket failures on boosted and NoS cars. Maybe its just dumb luck. Is this the main failure that should be expected on a boosted / nos D17? And has anyone found a tried and proven solution to this issue? Im looking to build a LONG term reliable engine and i may go boosted but for the mean time im staying on the bottle until C.A.R.B. is passsed by someone on a turbo kit.

 
Rep Power: 402

any kind of FI is better with a lower compression ratio, any type of NA requires high CR

 
Rep Power: 335

there are techincally like 2 schools of thoughts on head gaskets.

1. Some people want a thicker, stronger head gasket so that it wont blow and take their car out of service for a little while.

2. Some people like using OEM head gaskets. Why? Its usually the weakest link, which can be good and bad. Good that it'll blow before anything else, like a rod or the block. Bad that you might be replacing it a lot for no reason. It is A LOT easier to replace a head gasket than it is to replace a broken rod/piston, or fix a hole in the block.

 
Rep Power: 412

Joe, looks like you have covered pretty decently the basic stuff...

The only thing I would add would be a good set of piston rings. Talk to the piston manufacturer and see who they recommend for rings and ring gap on a high boost motor... Nothing is worst than building the motor up to handle 20 psi than having severe blowby and having to rebuild it all over again...

Also, make sure you use top quality bolt hardware... I use all ARP studs, but I know a member or two have had some bad experiences with them... I haven't though....

Good luck with it

 
Rep Power: 325

OK guys thanks for yoru responses... I am ordering my parts throughout the next few weeks and should have a built beast within a month or so...

I will let know you what I bought, how much, and my results including dyno numbers...

 
Rep Power: 327

i for one look forward to the info, good luck!

 
Rep Power: 325

thanks