N/A build advice..little bit about everything

Camshafts:
ITR Cams
-Be carefull about where you buy them as people claim STOCK GSR/B16 cams as ITR all the time. make sure you know what your buying, or buy them new.



Skunk2 PRO1 Cams
-Probably the BEST entry level cam on the market . Great Midrange power, awesome topend power. VERY Affodable.


Buddy Club 3+
-Good cams, not bad power. Soft midrange, but decent top end. Would rather have PRO1s ^^^^

Jun3
-Good cams, outdated profile, but proven. Too much money.

VALVETRAIN:

Valve Springs and Retainers
For MOST applications you can use Rocket Motorsports, OmniPower, Skunk2, Buddy CLub, TOda, etc.

If you use the BIGGER CAMS on the market (Skunk2 PRO2s, BC 4 or BC 5s) you need to use the Skunk2 PRO series valvesprings an retainers. Heres why:
Their are certain characteristics to valvetrain that you need to be aware of when selecting your camshaft. High lift and duration camshafts have a great effect of causing coilbind. If you run WEAKER Springs rates with big cams, the springs will coilbind (touch) and cause you to drop a valve, smash valve stem seals, or cause upward force on the rocker arm pad which will wear out costly Honda rocker arms and your camshafts.

Contrary to what people say, Titanium retainers are PERFECTLY FINE. i have used Rocket Motorsports, Omni power, SKunk2 numerous times over the last 4 years with NO ISSUES. as long as they are installed correctly, valve adjustments done when neccesary, and cams an head are inspected occasionally, youll have no problems. dont be scared to run them.

VALVES:
Many people overlook valves. You definetly should NOT. If your spending $500 on cams and $300 on valvetrain, why are you going to trust 5-15 year old stock valves? For mild setups its ok. but once you switch to bigger cams, bigger springs and ret, its time to start looking at valves. most people dont know that some of the biggest gains come from valve work.

Ferrea Valves
Stainless steel, EXCELLENT quality, awesome price. you can get them if you look hard enough for $11 a piece, sometimes cheaper. They are excellent in terms of resistance to heat, detonation and breaking. WHat i always like about Ferreas is that 9/10 times if you get contact from them to a piston , they BEND, not BREAK. CHeaper valves break an shatter an usually take a piston or sleeve with them. Ferreas tend not to.

Omnipower Valves
Great flow characteristics, great price, shatter like glass LOL. These are REALLY good valves, but your giving up some things when you run them. THe omnis are a 2 piece design and made of a metal that likes to shatter. If you ever over rev or get contact, they will shatter the face of the valve off and take your bottom end with them. Not a bad valve but be careful .

Skunk2 Valves
Like Omnis, great valve, but can break if they encounter contact.

Supertech Valves
Very good company, very good product. Highly reccomend.

REV Valves
Very good company, very good product, have used, and would use again

OVERSIZE VALVES:
Unless your shooting for 260-300whp, KEEP STOCK VALVES. Running oversized valves just creates clearance problems and issues. For instance on a b16a2 there is about 20 thousandths of clearance just when running a larger cam. You have to remember that in an NA motor, your running bigger cams, higher piston domes, and that means stuff operates VERY close to each other. Run an oversize valve, and your asking for valve to valve or valve to piston issues.

Header:
DC JDM 4-1 with 2.5in collector
-the MINIMUM you should be running. Tried an true, it can be found for as cheap as $200.

Rage Header
-when your ready to step up to a bigger header, the RAGE header delivers power at an affordable price. Usually in stock and ready to ship, they come with a lifetime warranty. $649

RMF Header
-The long thought king of header makers. Usually beats everything its tested against, VERY LONG wait, almost 3 months to get one. $700+

SMSP
-Been around a LONG TIME, also one of the King of the header makers. Usually beats everything its tested against. Quality is second to none, still hard to get ahold of as waits can last 4-6 weeks and longer. $650+

Hy-tech
- one of the best headers on the market. gains in the 10+ at the wheels is not uncommon. but it can be on the pricey end.

HEAD PORTING
This is probably the aspect of NA that gets overlooked or overtalked about. everyone is quick to throw around the words Port and Polish without really knowing what it means.

It is my PERSONAL experience that Stock Honda heads can support 185-190whp before they hit a wall flow wise. I have buillt and dynoed OEM motors with stock heads (port and chamber wise) that have made 185whp. Now, heres my guidlines for porting a head:

1) What year an what mileage is your cylinder head? if its a 14 year old B16 OBD0 head, you probably would be wise to invest in a 3 angle valve job and replace the valves. It would probably be wise to get all the guides checked as well.

2) Porting as i said is not really necessary on a stock bottom end. What will make a BIG Difference however is a VALVE JOB. Youd be suprised the amount of power you can pick up with a proper valve job.

3) If you insist on having your head ported, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE leave it to a professional.

BOTTOM END WORK
Now if you decide that you want to swap pistons out, here is what i recommend.

PISTONS
If its a stock OEM piston you want to use, then i would recommend the PR3 Piston from the B16 in a 1.8L motor. This piston in a GSR/LS block gives a nice moderate compression of around 11.5:1. Great for pump gas, street setups. Not alot of money to buy them.
If you have a B16, your handicapped as any other B series OEM pistons will yield LESS than stock compression (with the exception of the CTR Piston)

Highest compression is not the best. Stay away from CTR pistons in 1.8l blocks as you will have an astronomically high comp ratio and makes for a very inefficient motor.

Ill recommend a CTR Piston only in a B16 engine where you really have no other choice when it comes to an OEM piston.

FORGED PISTONS
If you decide to go with a forged piston, You've chosen a path with many options. This is the time to figure out what is the goal with your motor, do you plan to spray on it at anytime? what is a realistic HP goal, what cams will you be running, etc.

CP Pistons:
I love them, i ran them in my 2.0l LSVTEC motor , never had a problem out of them. Great design, great price, GREAT RINGS.

JE Pistons:
Good pistons, HATE their rings. JE has low tension oil control rings which are prone to making your motor smoke like a chimney. I would buy their pistons, but use CP RINGS.

Wiseco Pistons:
Great company, great product, built a few motors with their pistons , very similar to CP.


RODS
Sp you chose to stay with factory ROds. Good for you, they are pretty strong.
GSR RODS
ARP Rod bolts are your friend. when building an OEM motor, be sure to spend the $50 to pick up a set. GSR rods with ARP bolts can withstand 9500rpm pulls pretty regularly.

LS/B20 RODS
The weakest of the B series rods, they have smaller rod bolts and wider bearings. Not good for high revs. If you have to stick with these, i would strongly recommend ARP fasteners, and balancing. DO NOT SHOTPEEN. I would also get them cryo treated for added insurance.

B16 RODS
THe old faithfull rods. Can be revved to 9000+rpms stock. Short stroke, well rounded motor. Id still use ARP fasteners, but they can last awhile at the high revs.

FORGED RODS
When using FORGED PISTONS, purchase FORGED rods. Its almost too easy to get rods nowadays due to their price an abundance.

Eagle:
Tried an true, cheap, can be found for under $300. Bullet proof, GET THE BIG BOLTS ARP2000 style. I revved mine to 9800rpms with no problems. A little on the heavy side, but will suffice.

Carrillo:
so you stepped up to the big plate big baller. these rods are lighter, stronger, custom made. you are the NA king, but it costs $800-1200 for rods now

Cunningham:
so you stepped up to the big plate big baller. these rods are lighter, stronger, custom made. you are the NA king, but it costs $800-1200 for rods now
CRANKSHAFTS
Stock is best. I see people "knife-edging" and doing all sorts of crazy ****. Its NOT NEEDED. I made 237whp with a STOCK OFF THE SHELF unworked LS crank. I recommend that you balance and chamfer your crank, but otherwise leave it UNTOUCHED. there is no need to knife-edge or cut down a crank( unless its a complete all out race motor). your playing with a major engine component that was well thought of from the factory.

STROKER KITS

Stroker kits are not off the shelf type parts like most companies play it out to be. you really need to know what you are doing or a motor can just be turned into a time bomb. if done right they can last as long as the honda name has been around. but a good way to get more displacement is bore.

BORE:
boring a motor is the safest way to get more power and displacement. You can keep factory honda geometry of the rods, crank and get more liters by boring a motor out.

Stock honda sleeves B16, LS, GSR can go up to .40/1mm over. Stock bore is 81mm. YOu cna go up to 82mm on a STREET motor.

If you sleeve,
84.5mm will make your 1.6L motor a 1.8L
84.5mm will make your 1.8l motor a 2.0l

Typically you bore when you get new pistons an ringsets. Most people will do a .10/.25mm or .20/.50mm over.


hope is helps!!
CJ
Owner

Nice write up! Very Helpful, Glad you decided to join the site!