89' CRX D16a6 (Detailed) Rebuild Write Up LOTS OF PICS!!

I am rebuilding my D16a6 engine with OEM parts to OEM specs. I made this thread to help anyone that may need to know how-to rebuild this engine, as well as receive suggestions and feedback on my project. I looked in a lot of places for a good write-up and could not find a proper write- up (maybe I did not look hard enough), so I am giving it a fair shot. I hope that this will help anyone else that is new to rebuilding an engine as well. This block will be used with a D16y8 VTEC head, and that is pretty much why I am rebuilding it.

*THIS BLOCK IS ALREADY OUT OF THE CAR AND IS ON MY WORKBENCH. THIS POST ASSUMES THAT THE BLOCK IS ALREADY OUT OF THE CAR AND EVERY EXTERNAL PART REMOVED!. I AM STARTING WITH THE OIL PAN AND WILL WORK MY WAY INTO THE GUTS OF THIS BEAST.

*IMPORTANT NOTICE:
You should REALLY mark all parts to their PROPER location with a baggie and a sharpie marker!!!!!!!!!. Saves a lot of time and frustration and you NEED to for the piston rods and if you are using the same pistons and only doing rings.

Disassembly:

I took the oil sending unit off, it only had 2 (10mm) bolts and (2) 12mm bolts holding it on, it is the part that has the round top with a slot in it.

I used feeler guages to figure out the end play for the crankshaft, my measurement was 0.015" which wasn't in accordance to my Haynes manual that indicates it must be between:
Standard 0.004 - 0.014"
Service Limit 0.018" (I fall under this category)
I also checked the connecting rod end-play and it was at 0.013" which was out of spec. because the manual tells me that I need the end play to be between:
Standard 0.006 to 0.012
Service Limit 0.016 (I fall under this category)

*Sorry I didn't get pics of me measuring these specs., it's because I got a little ahead of myself and my camera died. I will be sure to post VERY detailed/accurate pictures in the assembly because it is much harder to assemble the block in my opinion. You should make sure you measure and write down all the information from the measurement on a piece of paper and put it somewhere good.

BLOCK RE-ASSEMBLY
Ok, $700 later and here I sit writing about my detailed D16a6 block re-assembly. I will start by listing some of the services aquired and completed, these services are:
-> deck resurfacing
-> bored .5mm over, the bores are now 75.5mm in diameter
-> polished crank
-> hot tanked
-> pin installed in piston
-> machine shop checked all clearances, so not too many measuring tools are needed.

Now on to some pictures;
Cleaning of Cylinder Block
PICTURE #1

The WD-40 is used to lube the cylinder walls so that the rings being sized do not scratch the cylinder walls. You do not want to scratch your cylinder walls at all!


The cylinder that the piston rings will be installed into. Notice the cross-hatch pattern from the bored out cylinder wallsÉ


The piston ring to be gapped in the cylinder bore.


This is my #4 piston pushing the piston ring into the bore. This is done to ensure the piston ring is properly seated in the cylinder. I actually pushed it down to the piston skirt and removed the piston, then proceeded to the next step.


This is a feeler gauge set, I used this to measure the piston ring gap.


This is a more detailed picture of the oil separator piston ring being measured by the feeler gauge. I received the piston rings already sized for my cylinders. While using the feeler gauges, the clearances were way too loose with the (.006") feeler gauge so I knew that I needed to use a (.014") feeler gauge, but there is not one, so in order to do this, I combined both (.006" and .008") gauges to come up with (.014"). Notice the 2 gauges paired together? Also, the clearances for the D16a6 block is (.006" - .014").


This is the piston ring expander I chose to use, it cost me $5, rather than just doing it by hand and risking breaking one of the rings.


This is me using the piston ring expander on my compression ring. This tool cannot be used on any of the oil rings. They are too flimsy and it just does not work. Only use on the compression rings.


This is the piston with the oil separator ring installed (bottom groove). This was done by placing the ring horizontal on the piston and working it around the circumference of the piston. *Remember, the oil rings cannot be expanded with the piston ring expander*.


The piston with all piston rings installed. I just needed to space them 180 degrees from eachother. For example, I placed the (top) compression ring 180 degrees from the second ring. Then I placed the oil rings likewise. This is done to ensure no 2 rings are lined up which could cause for lost compression. *There is a factory way of doing this but I could not find the diagram. Doing the procedure this way is just fine.



This is a picture of a piston ring compressor already compressing the piston rings and placed into the bore. Make sure that you place the piston in with the IN stamp on the intake manifold side. If you are having a tough time knowing the difference, the (oil dipstick) is on the exhaust manifold -or- header side of the engine. Note: make sure you use rubber rod bolt boots in order to make sure you do not scratch the cylinder walls. I was very careful in placing the piston in the bore because I did not obtain these boots for the bolts. StupidÉ, I know now!


The piston installed.

Good luck, I am hoping to do a D16 swap into my hatch as soon as I get a job again

Thanks, if you need any wiring, engine rebuilding, or swapping help, let me know.

I need a suggestion, I have a lightweight crank pulley that I bought off eBay.ca and I was wondering if I should use my old crank pulley considering it has a harmonic balancer on it and the lightweight pulley doesn't.

in for the build! and you've been repped. thank you for this thread!

Hey, thank you for the rep. I am posting some more pictures when my camera battery is recharged. I'm going to the machine shop on Monday to have my block cleaned and inspected as well as my bores will be honed .20 over to accept my new 75.5mm pistons. I will be purchasing the rebuild kit for this engine on Monday as well. I will be sure to add many more pictures of the teardown as possible.

While youre at the machine shop you should ask about the crank pulley, I think most engine machine shops can check to make sure things like that are still balanced (or they can balance it for you and make it work)

Again best of luck! What are your plans for the engine? Just a mild rebuild or are you going turbo/supercharger?

I should re-build my Mini-Me soon too. Both the block and the head have over 300,000 KMS. I can't wait to see how yours turns out! Best of luck!

Ya an A6 thread woooot

My plans for this build are just OEM parts, this is my first engine rebuild and I want to have fun with it. I plan on going B20 someday so I won't sink that much money into this rebuild. I tore the head down and threw out the camshaft, the head has: new valve stem seals, new camshaft seals, new Crower "stage 1" camshaft on the way, new Vision cam gear that I got off eBay.ca, and the valves are lapped (I didn't bother replacing them seeing as how the head only had 120k on it). My block rebuild is going to consist of: new OEM pistons and rings, new wrist pins, new Honda OEM main bearings -and- rod bearings, new z6 oil pump, ALL new seals, new thrust washers, and the crank is going to be micro-polished, new water pump, new tensioner kit, new D16y8 HG, and the mixed (a6/y8) ARP head bolts.

EDIT: I'm sticking with the a6 oil pump. Also, the crank was micro-polished and my machinist told me he had to machine it (thank god I got it rebuilt!). I am going to purchase a "Stage 2" Crower camshaft and stiffer valve springs to accomodate the "Stage 2" camshaft

bet she will drive like a champ when your done.

Yeah man, hopefully!. I have decided to sell my lightweight crank pulley because my car has pretty much no mods and it won't do anything, it might even wreck something.

89' Project Civic said:

it might even wreck something.

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For sure. Ditch that thing.

where are you getting the parts? I would love to know cause i most likely will go this route

I have an ad website named "kijiji.ca" that I use to buy all my parts. It's a classified internet ad search. You should have one local to yourself, I HIGHLY recommend using them. I bought the D16y8 head for $100, and the D16a6 block for $40 (which is why I'm rebuilding it though. Take care.

89' Project Civic said:

I have an ad website named "kijiji.ca" that I use to buy all my parts. It's a classified internet ad search. You should have one local to yourself, I HIGHLY recommend using them. I bought the D16y8 head for $100, and the D16a6 block for $40 (which is why I'm rebuilding it though. Take care.

Click to expand...

I use Used Victoria, its been good to me. There is a Used Ontario too.

Yeah for sure. I used the Ontario one for awhile, but seeing as I have all the parts off there now I don't use it as much. Very useful tool in your rebuild, I highly suggest it!.

I figured that since I was rebuilding the whole engine I would not bother with making sure it was good low kilometerage motor.

TurboRex90 said:

For sure. Ditch that thing.

Click to expand...

Off the topic a little here, was it hard to turbo your Rex?. What kit did you use and what motor do you have?.

^^^bump