Engine: Block and Rotating Assemblies

The block of choice for my build up was the B16B from the Honda Civic EK9.  Quite simply because since it is from the "R" family, so supposedly it should be able to take the high revving beatings that we plan on giving it.  And since it shares the same dimensions as its big brother the B18CR means that it can be stroked up to 1800cc while maintaining its modest appearance as if it is a 1600cc engine.  Its original internals (77.4mm crankshaft and 142.42mm connecting rod) were ditched, probably had ended up somewhere in the metal junkyard.  Luckily its PCT 81mm pistons had some worth in the second hand markets, so they were sold to a friend.

A used set of 87.2mm crankshaft and 137.9mm connecting rods from the B18CR engine were bought from a friend, Chris Tan of Pentagon Enterprise.  He is also the responsible guy who had introduced me to the whole line of Skunk2 product, and eventually became the main supplier of the majority of the engine component for this build.  These are the crankshafts and connecting rods when I got them from him.

The physical proofs that they are indeed Type R parts.

The pistons were 82mm Wiseco Forged pistons (P/N: K566M82), which was considered as medium compression that would produce 11.8 - 12.25:1 static compression ratio.  This was my first engine build, so I figured, let's be modest and safe first, rather than aiming for the sky.  If we survive this, perhaps we'll gather enough knowledge and experience to build something more extreme later on.   Here are the pistons.

 

The pistons and the connecting rods now assembled and ready for installation.

The block was earlier sent to a machine shop in Sg Besi for the the process of boring, honing and fitting of the 82mm pistons, as well as balancing all the rotating assembly components (including the flywheel).  It was a basic and simple process actually, but since there were very, very few machining shop that are capable of doing it at that time, it took almost 3-4 months, where the majority of the time was waiting for my turn for the machine.  And the queue was very, very long indeed.  Once done, all of them were taken back to the workshop, where my chief mechanic, Din (a.k.a. Din Danau Kota, Din Kecik) of Speedtune Autoworks, will demonstrate his excellent skills on engine building.

And here's the engine block, completely assembled, with the block brace in place as well.