Civic-EG.com Forum 3.3.1

- Mon Jul 07, 2014 8:51 pm #347048 Well, bad luck with the hatch.

After replacing the bolt on the exhaust, the car stalled out and wouldn't restart. Long story short, the bolt holding the cam gear to the camshaft on the exhaust side was loose and backed out over time, which when I tilted the car to put fix the exhaust, made the key fly out of the gear/shaft. The exhaust camshaft spun 180*s out from the intake camshaft. Pulled the shafts out and apart and put everything back together and got it mechanically timed. Car starts and idles, but wont rev. I want to do a compression test, but i'm already positive valves are bent.

So, it's time to pull the head off and tear it apart to rebuild.

- Fri Oct 10, 2014 1:11 am #349070 Started pulling it apart now that I had some free time (fall break!)









Fearing the exhaust valves were toast, and possible piston damage, I pulled the head off. So after I got the head off, I took a look. Pistons were perfectly fine.



And so where the valves. Everything was still pretty much perfect. So I started digging around, and pulled the camgear and shaft apart, and noticed this:



and the key I used to replace the one that fell out was toast too. SO on the bright side, I don't need pistons or valves. But now I have to get a head gasket kit, and a new set of cam gears and keys. The shafts were undamaged, so after I get that on, it should be great.

- Fri Oct 10, 2014 8:16 pm #349083 Ran to the junkyard today and found an unmolested B20A sitting in an older model prelude. Grabbed both gears, keys, and bolts. So now once my head gasket kit comes in, I'll be able to put it all back together.

- Sat Oct 11, 2014 11:58 pm #349095 New ARP moly grease and gasket should all be here by Wednesday... The wait is killing me, I miss driving it!

[teal_dx]

- Sun Oct 12, 2014 2:25 am #349102 Glad this worked out with minimal damage. I think this car is good luck

Do Not PM me your technical questions. Post them in the forum!
My 1992 SOHC Turbo Hatch
My Youtube Channel: 6th Gear Garage

- Sun Oct 12, 2014 4:24 am #349107 So I did a little research, and apparently the B20A engines from the older preludes are not 100% B-series compatible. The gears are larger. But the B20A's can take B-series gears with belt/pump modifications, so I know the keys are the right size.

So what I'll probably do is test fit the keys, and if they do work, I'll smooth out the inside of the cam gear and bolt it back on. The problem I had is the replacement key I used was too small and it allowed the cam gear to rotate separately from the shaft, which is what caused it to idle fine unless I gave it some revs, then it bogged down hard.

I have a very semi-educated strong feeling that with a proper sized key installed it will be just fine, even with the scratches. So reassembly will commence this week as planned, but I will reused the B16 gears, since I know they are the right size.

- Sun Oct 19, 2014 2:18 pm #349254 So I started getting this back together, and ran into a couple snags. Primary one being that when I went to reinstall the timing belt, I discovered that the tensioner spring went on vacation and never returned. So I had to source a new one, which is on it's way.

That's all that's keeping me from bolting everything back on fully and cranking it up. Also, stripping the horrible industrial orange paint off of the valve cover and will probably respray it OD green.

- Sun Oct 26, 2014 12:17 am #349410 Got it up and running!



And while I was at it, I resprayed the valve cover to match the car.



Stripped the orange off, which took tremendous effort considering it was engine enamel high temp paint...





I don't have pics of it installed, since I was just too excited that it cranked up and ran... I'll get some when I top off the coolant after driving it a little.

Next up, is new motor mounts. The custom ones the previous owner made sit the engine WAY too low, and I can see the headers under the front bumper.

- Sun Oct 26, 2014 4:17 am #349414 New mounts ordered.

- Thu Oct 30, 2014 11:54 pm #349529 Vc looks good man!

FS: Eg8 oem headllights+tail-lights, oem air intake box, jdm amber corners, d15 shaved/chrome valve cover, gauge cluster, sri, dc sports header

- Sat Nov 08, 2014 1:40 am #349724 Couple engine shots





Here's the home-made mount I replaced. I didn't realize it until I got it off, but it was damned near about to split in half! Never trust mounts someone else made!!







It also lifted the engine a little bit, but it still hangs down. Looking at it again, I think it's just the brand of header, because there's an inch or so gap between the header and the oil pan.

[teal_dx]

- Mon Nov 10, 2014 2:12 pm #349782 What are those 2 red/black things on the pass. side?

Do Not PM me your technical questions. Post them in the forum!
My 1992 SOHC Turbo Hatch
My Youtube Channel: 6th Gear Garage

- Mon Nov 10, 2014 2:16 pm #349783

What are those 2 red/black things on the pass. side?

Twin horns! The OEM horn was unresponsive, so I removed it and mounted those in the bay using the original harness.

And yes, they are as loud as they look.

- Fri Jan 02, 2015 12:50 am #350690 I'm getting really tired of not being able to drive this thing anywhere without scraping. It's not even fun to drive, because I worry too much about what damage I'm causing.

So:

Operation rally-style is commencing... Next mods to this car are being lifted and will probably look for a way to custom weld a light-bar and skid plate on the front.

- Thu Jan 08, 2015 5:15 am #350874 Pretty bad when I can run my sedan over bumps with no issues at all, but the hatch hits anything jutting out of the road.

That got me thinking, since the sedan has factory spec shocks and EX springs and it rides how I want the hatch to perform, that I'm just gonna rip the shock/spring assemblies off of a 92-00 civic from the junkyard and swap them over to the hatch. It would at least make it driveable on these Louisiana roads.

I think the shocks on the hatch may be trash, but I believe the springs are Tein's. They'll be up for sale after I take them off.