I now most honda guys are all about vtec, not me. I want to build a 91 b18a1 up to the 300 horespower range, I know it can be done. I just want to hear from people who have actually built these motors, sorry mines a 91. All i need to know is the downfalls and best method of going about this. I want to build this right the first time, so all winter i will be gathering parts and when summer hits i will build it. Let me know all your positives and what happened to these motors, blowing up and how it happened, what parts failed. The more i can learn about this build the better. All I Ask Is You Help Me Not Criticise Me. By the way the motor will eventually be in an 88-91 civic hatch, fully gutted. Thanks for the help
B18a1 Help
- Thread starter dubricer21
- Start date
To get to your 300whp mark, you'll need forced induction.
For the motor to be safe for this HP goal I would add these to your list of upgrades.
type r oil pump/water pump
a thicker head gasket can lower your compression (which gives you more room to stay away from detonation)
ARP rod bolts, head bolts or any other manufacturer that makes stronger bolts
with a motor being this old I would send the block out to be cleaned and honed.
While you are there might as well swap out rods and pistons to something stronger (you can research that and stay with low compression)
I'd take the crank and rotating assembly to be balanced.
That will get you to 300whp with a decent turbo setup and be safe. I would also work on the head as well with dual valve springs at the least and a port and polish.
But this is all being safe. I've seen people run stock ls motors with turbo and make 250whp and daily drive with no problems. But ls engines are not as balanced as say a type r motor. They have greater tolerances and with higher horsepower can cause problems. If you see people with stock ls and they slap a vtec head on and start reving to 8200rpm, you'll see their motor doesn't last as long. I've seen a few ls/vtec blow up because the bottom end was stock.
ls vtec can rev over 8k with only rod bolts. theres a local guy with a b20/vtec only rod bolts and that car i know makes power over 9k and hes had it this way ever since ive known him. still runs strong. the rod bolts are the weak point in that bottom end. back on topic, you can do 300 on a bone stock ls. just make sure you get a good tune. but if you can afford to do new rods and pistons might as well do it and save you from having to do it later if you decide you want more power.
i can repair your car call me