B16a build advice - cams, valvetrain, pistons

We may earn a small commission from affiliate links and paid advertisements. Terms

omninmo

New Member
Hey hey! This is my first time posting here but i've been doing quite a bit of reading to catch up on the B-Series engines for a while, and some doubts popped up along the way.. Hopefully someone can help me out or point me in the right direction? :D

Well, i'm currently eyeing a 91 CRX with a B16A (european).. The owner claims it's fully stock and I don't see any evidence otherwise, however it's got circa 100K miles on it's engine. Since the pricing is pretty decent and the interior/exterior is almost mint I thought this would be a nice project to delve into Hondas and was thinking to rebuild that little engine for up to 175 to 185 whp NA, mostly with OEM parts and a couple aftermarket boltons. BTW, in my country we use 95 octane. :p

So, this is what I had planned:
- CTR cams OR Skunk2 Stage 1 cams?
- CTR or ITR valvetrain
- ITR intake manifold
- ITR throttle body (62mm)
- ITR exhaust headers
- CTR pistons/milled stock rods/OEM 3L head gasket OR JDM P30 pistons/stock rods/2L head gasket
- AEM CAI intake
- Custom 2.5" exhaust with sports cat
- Hondata s200 w/ tune

I'm also thinking of replacing the usual maintenance parts and all that, but what I really wanted to know is if it is a good selection to reliably meet my power target and remain street legal in terms of emissions? I'm intending to go for a rev limit between 8500 to 8900.

Also on the underlined points I presented 2 choices, which one would you think I should go for? Am I gonna be safe on valve clearance and such?

Should I consider sleeving or any other special procedure like head porting for a project "as lowly" as this?

Thanks in advance for your help and sorry for the noobish questions! :rolleyes:
 
You can make that power with the following: I made 175whp with that combo on my b16a3.

- CTR cams
- ITR intake manifold
- ITR throttle body (62mm)
- ITR exhaust headers
- AEM CAI intake
- Custom 2.5" exhaust with sports cat
- Hondata s200 w/ tune


My dyno chart on 91 octane.

 
ahhh brilliant! just what i wanted to hear :D

thank you for that particular info, I had tried asking for help to some of my friends but they all said "go turbo" and on some other forums but i kept getting "go b16b"

so basically you're telling me i don't even need all my list :D but since every engine ain't the same, and just for good measure, or if i wanted to push it a little bit more, and since the engine will be open anyway, do you reckon I should fit a thinner 2 layer head gasket from spoon and get the JDM P30 pistons or just go for the PCT pistons from the CTR and keep the stock gasket?

thx again for the info, much appreciated!
 
I would go the PCT piston route with stock HG. I will be rebuilding my B16A3 next year exactly that way; so I am biased. :)
 
thank you for the heads up! you keep learning every day ^_^

I knew we used the RON system, i just didnt know you guys had it different in america :D lololol and here I was filled with joy that our gas was better than yours :X should've known better

oh well, I can just as easily go for 98RON if it's necessary, the price difference ain't really that much lol bout 6 cents per liter

now i wonder if anyone has some thought's about the possibility of a drivetrain like this passing emissions test when inspection comes along? that's one of the main reasons i stick to mostly oem parts, even if they are from different cars :rolleyes:
 
I'm sure it could; they are OEM parts. Only thing that would really affect the emissions is the tune. You could tune it to pass emissions; then tune it for power. Keep two maps.

I haven't smogged my Honda in 5 years...
 
:D

more great news ^^

another question! :D (sorry if i'm rolling out too many :X ) i've talked to some friends who've run hondas before and another concern they've raised is that in Portugal, Honda's are like Cop magnets and one of them SWORE he allways got pulled over whenever there was a road check lol

And cop's here are real jerks in what comes to mods, so I'm concerned about the AEM CAI... couple of my friends had to go to a forced inspection because they had cone air filters showing...

any chance i can camouflage it? or will it already by hidden low in the engine bay?

Also is there any other intake that will perform well and look stock? I heard about comptech icebox or mugen airbox but i tried searching and couldnt find one for eg6?

thanks for your help! :D
 
JDM CRX SiR B16 airbox with a K&N filter???
 
JDM CRX SiR B16 airbox with a K&N filter???

i was under the impression the JDM and EDM CRX airboxes were the same since both of them come stock with B16A engines?

anyway a friend of mine with an EG6 mentioned he was looking into a comptech icebox kit and that I should be doing the same, only that he wasnt sure yet if it there was any that would fit his EG6, let alone the CRX?

can anyone help in this regard? is there an icebox/SRI kit that will fit the EG6 or CRX?

thanks for all the help folks, really appreciate it! :D
 
Maybe hack the stock airbox to put over the cone filter? Some people do that on the evo.
 
i dont think Comptech is around any more
at very least they are not making stuff for civics any more

i have the IceBox on my car
i like the design, but as ive said before, you can make your own for a fraction of the price

get a generic short ram intake arm (3" if you can find one)
use your stock air box or try to get your hands on an integra air box
pick up a stock replacement flat K&N filter or the stock replacement cone K&N filter for the integra box
remove the resonator assembly from the fender well (if its still there)
fab up a snorkel to go from the air box inlet into the lower front fender area that a CAI would normally sit... for this you can use part of the resonator with the main restrictive box cut off, or use some ducting material

there you have it... home made icebox
 
Comptech is not making headers anymore. But when I went to the Wek Sos car show in San Fransisco, (last spring/summer), they had brand new air boxes at their booth but it sounds like they are hard to find? I was interested but their rep at the show was hard to find too!
 
thank you very much for all your feedback, guys!

I think i've pretty much sorted all my doubts at the moment and will probably go for the modded ITR box with DIY airduct+velocity stack

I've already looked this up and saw a couple of DIY write'ups with pics and dyno graphs and it seems IDEAL for our needs! :D

one final question.. why the generic SRI arm? can't i use the stock intake arm of the ITR box or from my current airbox? also, will I even find a generic SRI arm with the propper length, angle and placement to connect to the ITR box?

thx a bunch! :D
 
hey b16. i have ctr pistons for my b16a and plan to mil the head .020. will i have any clarence problems ?
Let me know asap. head is at machine shop so i dont want to ruin perfectly good heads and not be able to run those pistons. Thanks..
 
I am starting to build a b16 as well but am starting from scratch. I'm telling you now that you won't be satisfied with 175hp. You should just go all out on it. And if I can, I reccomend getting eagle rods and pistons.
 
Back
Top