DA Integra

Polishing Valve Cover.




Okay guys....here we go. This is how I polished my 2 valve covers. Understand that it takes A LOT of work and patience. It's going to look worse before it looks better. The more time you spend on it, the better it will look. First let's start off with a list of "what you'll need":



1. Aircraft Paint Stripper

2. Rubber Gloves

3. Old toothbrush or paintbrush (that you don't plan on using again

4. Dremel tool with the small sandpaper drum (for those nooks and crannies), and the polishing pads.

5. Hot Glue Gun

6. Coarse Sandpaper (5 sheets each)

200 grit

300 grit

400 grit

7. Fine Sandpaper (3 sheets each)

600 grit

800 grit

1000 grit

8. Heavy Duty Polishing Compound (red)

9. Light Polishing compound (white)

10. Mother's Mag & Aluminum Polish

11. A polishing wheel is VERY helpful...but not necessary



Steps:



1. OUTSIDE (have a hose with high pressure nozzle ready). Put on the rubber gloves and brush the aircraft stripper LIBERALLY onto the valve cover. DO NOT

INHALE....NASTY STUFF. Make sure you got everything and let it sit for 10 minutes. Get the hose and spray it off (make sure there the residue doesn't fly onto any other painted surfaces...like nearby cars). Check to see that all the black crinkle paint is stripped off. If not reapply to the "stubborn areas" and wait another 10 min. Hose it off THOROUGHLY! Repeat until all paint is gone. Should only take 2 times at most.



2. Get the 200 grit sandpaper and go to town on all the "flat" areas. This will take some time and it a VERY laborous task. Take MANY breaks. Once you have all of the texture off. Go to the next step.



3. Take the Dremel sanding drum (remove the coarse sandpaper by loosening the screw) and wrap a small piece of 200 grit around the rubber drum. Use the hot

glue gun and glue the back of the sandpaper to itself. Make sure all glue is covered by sandpaper. Tighten screw and you now have a small portable high speed sander. Use this at the SLOWEST setting on the Dremel to remove the texture from the hard to reach areas (nooks and crannies). Be careful not to remove too much material. Move around a lot.



4. Repeat steps 2 & 3 with 300 grit sandpaper but since there is none or little texture to remove, simply work until the DEEP scratches from the 200 grit are gone.



5. Repeat step 4 with 400 grit sandpaper until the scratches from the 300 grit are gone.



6. Repeat step 4 with 600 grit sandpaper until all the scratches from the 400 grit are gone.



(YOU GET THE POINT). Repeat until you go through all grits (200, 300, 400, 600, 800, 1000).



7. Now get out the heavy duty rubbing compound (red paste). Use the Dremel polishing wheel to apply this to the whole valve cover. Work it in real good. Be careful not to nick the valve cover with the Dremel chuck.



8. Remove the heavy duty compound with a clean rag.



9. Repeat steps 8 & 9 with the light polishing compound (white). The valve cover should be looking pretty dang good by now.



10. Repeat steps 8 & 9 with the Mother's Mag and Aluminum Polish but after it's been worked in, remove it using a fine terry cloth or cotton towel.



Now wash the valve cover thoroughly (inside and out) and you're done.

Milling your cylinder head is a cheap way to raise compression, much cheaper than swapping out pistons. But then why not do this? The main reason is that when you mill the head, you are putting slack in your timing belt because essentially the head is getting "shorter". Needless to say this is a bad thing. Now I know many people that have milled their heads 30 thousandths and are fine...and 30 thousandths is a lot. Expect this to raise your compression approximately 1 whole point. So if you're at 10.2:1, you'll be at 11.2:1. This is just and approximation. Here's the formula you need to calculate true CR....




CCV = combustion chamber volume

CV = cylinder volume

MHV = milled head volume

CR = ( CCV + CV ) / CCV



To calculate CV (cylinder volume)

CV = (stroke) x (bore)^2 x (Pi/4)

CV = 7.7 cm x 8.1 cm^2 x .7853981633974

CV = 396.8 cc



To calculate CCV (combustion chamber volume)

Rearranging the equation CR = (CCV + CV) / CCV

CCV = CV / (CR - 1)

CCV = 396.8 cc / (10.2 - 1) = 43.1 cc



To calculate MHV (milled head volume)

(amount head was milled) x (bore)^2 x (Pi/4)

.030" mill off the head = .076cm

MHV = (0.076 cm) x (8.1 cm)^2 x .7853981633974 = 3.92 cc.



To calculate new CCV with milled head

CCV = CCV = 43.1 cc - 3.92 cc = 39.2 cc



To calculate new CR with milled head

CR = ( CCV + CV ) / CCV

CR = (39.2 cc + 396.8 cc) / 39.2 cc

CR = 11.12:1

Fix Bouncing Tachometer.




Your tach bounces around, you get a misfire, and you get a code 15. Ok, the reason this is happening is because you are not getting a GOOD connection on your igniter. Those connections have to be TIGHT! Also, dielectric grease will help a TON! This is how you fix the problem.



Remove your distributor cap. If you still have the dist shield in place under the cap, then you will have to remove the rotor, and the shield. If your shield is already gone, you do not need to remove the rotor. When looking down onto the distributor, you will see the coil, the rotor, and some wires leading to a small, brown thing. This is the igniter. There will be 4 connections. 1 on the side, and 3 on top. Honda uses spade connectors to make these connections to the igniter. Remove, and work on only ONE CONNECTOR AT A TIME. Take each connector, and with it removed from the igniter, place it in the needle-nose pliers and crimp down a little tighter on the spade connector. Then put a dab of dielectric grease inside the spade connector. Then put the connector back on the igniter. The connection should be very tight. Do this with all the connections to the igniter. Replace the rotor (if you removed it) and then the cap. Then, under the fuse panel under the hood, remove the ECU and Hazard fuses for about 60 seconds. Replace both, and restart the car WITHOUT touching the gas. Let it run for 60 seconds without ANY accessories on. Then after 60 seconds, turn ALL the accessories on and let it run for 60 seconds. Turn the car off, restart it, and go have fun.



I was having this very same problem with my 92 GSR. After trial and error I found this to be the problem. I fixed it the first time without dielectric grease. The problem came back a few days later. I then redid the procedure and used dielectric grease. It has now been one month, no problems. Also, I did pick up a power gain as well.

Cleaning Your Engine.




Stuff you'll need:

1. Simple Green or some other degreaser

2. Liquid Dish Soap

3. Sponge or wash mitt

4. Bucket

5. Old tooth brush

6. 3 small plastic bags

7. Masking tape

8. Hose/water/high pressure nozzle

9. Towel or air compressor with air nozzle (for drying)



Steps:

1. Wait till engine is cool and then wrap your filter (if you have an air intake) with a plastic bag. Also wrap your distributor with a plastic bag. If you have an MSD or other external ignition device, cover that too.



2. Pull spark plug wires and use masking tape to cover the spark plug holes. This will prevent water from getting down near the spark plugs and rusting them out.



3. Now pre-rinse your engine with a light spray of water (you should have put your car in a shaded area if possible to avoid water spots).



4. Take the degreaser and spray it on the "nasty" areas. Try to stay away from belts and rubber parts. Also, if you have polished parts, try to keep it off of those. Let it soak for about 5 minutes.



5. Agitate the real "nasty" areas with built up grease with the old tooth brush. It shouldn't be hard after the degreaser has had time to do it's job.



6. Put some liquid dish soap in a bucket and add water. I personally like "JOY". Anyway, use the sponge or wash mitt and run it over your underhood and anything you can get to. Once again, stay away from the belts.



7. Now use the hose with a high pressure rinse to remove all of the degreaser and soap (along with all of the grease, dirt and grime). It's a good idea to spray your fenders and surrounding area as well in case any degreaser or dish soap got on the outer paint.



8. Get a towel to dry out your engine bay and under hood. If you have access to an air compressor with air nozzle, that works great to blow the water off of the engine. No towel necessary.



9. Remove all of the plastic bags/masking tape and reinstall your spark plug wires.



10. Now at this point, you can use some 2001 or other vinyl protectant to plastic parts and Mother's Mag & Aluminum Polish for the polished parts. If you are real eccentric, get some paint polish and do the underside of your hood and shock towers.



That's it. It's really simple and if done once every couple months, will be easier every time you do it. Best of luck and if you have any questions, just let me know. Later.

Painting Valve Cover.




ATTN: It is NOT RECOMMENDED to pry off the valve cover with a flat head screw driver. Damage may result.



This is not as hard as it sounds… I am just telling you in great detail.



1: What you will need



A: Aircraft coating remover: You can pick this up at Wal-Mart where they keep all their sand paper and automotive paints, if I was doing it I would buy 2 cans of it because while your valve is off you aren’t driving your car anywhere to get more supplies. This stuff should be more then $5 a can.



Total: $5



B: 500-Degree Engine paints: I picked this up at my local part store. It will say right on the "High Temperature Engine Paint" most of them will say 500 Degrees. Choose whatever color you want you should have a good selection. Again I don’t think this will be over $5 a can.



Total: $5



C: 500-Degree Engine Grey Primer: Should be in the same can your paint come in, you can try to paint without this but I wouldn’t suggest it. Paint without primer won’t stick very well and you may get "fish eye’s".



Total: $5



D: New Valve Cover Gasket: This is where you get into some money, I just when to my local parts store and went up to the desk and told them what I needed and told them what kinda car, then they ordered it, it took 2 days to get in.



NOTE: you MAY not need this you can try to put your old one back on, but a new one is suggested.



Total: $43* (see additional comments below)



E: High temp gasket glue: Again I picked this up at my local parts store, you might be able to get it at Wal-Mart. My gasket glue was orange.



Total: $3* (see additional comments below)



F: 10.m.m Socket, 12.m.m, socket driver, maybe a few other things but all this should be stuff you have around the house, if you don't have any tools I would not attempt this.



G: Sanding block and an assortment pack of sandpaper.



Total: $5



Total project cost around $68.00



Removing the valve cover.



A: Removing Valve cover



B: Remove all spark plug wires and mark some sort of marking on them so you can remember which ones went where.



C: Remove all the bolts off of the valve cover, there will be between 8-10 holding the valve cover down, just look at it closely you will see them.

Most of the bolts are 10 mm.



D: Remove valve cover.



E: Remove little black "O" rings from the top of the valve cover, they should be under where you removed the nuts and bolts from on top.



F: Pull off valve cover seal, be sure to take off the "O" that are under the spark plugs holes too, this will prevent you from losing them.





2: Removing Factory black finish.* (see additional comments below)



A: Lay valve cover out on the sidewalk or a cement surface where there is a hose around, hose the entire valve cover down with the air craft coating remover, let it soak on for about 10-15 min., then take a small brush over the valve cover to loosen all the paint, then hose it off with water. You may have to repeat the procedure a few times to get all the factory finish off.



WARNING: Try not to get any of the aircraft coating remover on you it BURNS!



3: Cleaning your valve cover



The aircraft coating remover make like a sticky film on the metal which paint does not stick to, there are 2 way of cleaning your valve cover…



1: Run it in a EMPTY dishwasher, make sure it’s ok with the folks first, this is the way I use and it works great, gets off ALL the grease and film,

and it doesn’t hurt your dishwasher. Then allow it to dry for about a half-hour. I know it sounds wired but this is the best way I found… and it

was my old man’s idea.



2: Go buy some Castrol Super Clean or some Mean Green degrease, then soak the valve cover down the take a brush over it then hose it off, repeat this 2 or 3 times. Then towel it off, then allow it to set for about an hour to dry.



4: Primer your valve cover.



A: Find a good place to paint lay some newspapers if needed.



B: Spray your valve cover down with a light coat of primer, then give it another coat of primer about 10 min. later.



C: After 2 coat of primer are on the valve cover let sit for 5 more min. Before starting the next step.



5: Painting you valve cover.* (see additional comments below)



A: Get your chosen color of paint out, and begin by spray light coats on the valve cover just like you were with the primer.



B: Just continue step 4 (b) (just use paint instead of primer) till the entire valve cover is entirely covered with paint.



C: After you are done painting I would suggest letting your valve cover dry for 5-7 hours before trying to but it back together.



6: Putting it all back together.



A: Take a dry rag around where the valve cover seal goes on the valve cover and the engine and remove all access oil.



B: Get the high temp gasket glue out and the valve cover seal (new or used) and place a small dot of gasket glue on the lip where the seal goes on both the valve cover and where the valve cover goes on the head, make a small dot every 1/2 inch (don’t forget about the "0" rings that go under the spark plug holes). Remember I said you may be able to reuse your old one, just good judgment, I recommend replacing it.

After that, place you valve cover down on top of your head, make sure you valve cover seal stay’s in place.



C: Re-install the hard black rings that go under the bolts on top.



D: Re-bolt your valve cover on, re-install spark plug wires, and the spark plug wire holders and anything else you took apart.



E: Wipe off and excess gasket glue that may have came out. It will have cam out between where the valve cover and head meet, just wipe it off with a dry rag.



7: Polishing the "H" emblem.* (see additional comments below)



A: Take the sanding block and a piece of 600 grit sand paper and lightly sand the emblem and what ever else like the letters "VTEC" or whatever. BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL. Sand slowly if your sanding block slides off the letters and on to your valve cover it can screw the paint all up.

Advanced Timing.


Timing @18 deg BTDC works well... More power and MPG! However, you have to use Premium Fuel. Ignition timing should be 16 +or- 2 degrees BTDC. That means you can run the car reliably in 14 or 18 BTDC.

To advance your timing properly (as directed in the manual), you need a timing light. A timing gun with adjustable knob is recommended. I think you can borrow one from any auto parts store. And Yes, the way to advance your ignition is to turn the distributor counterclockwise (toward the firewall).

*NOTE: Before attempting this make sure you have high octane fuel 92 or better.

1) Since you will be turning the distributor to adjust, loosen the distributor housing bolts slightly (not the distributor cap screws).

2) Find the "Timing adjustment connector" under the dash (passenger kick panel area). This connector has a green/white wire & a brown wire. You need to connect the two somehow (do not cut into the wires). Connect them by using a jumper wire (bent paperclip).

3) Start the engine and let it warm up to normal operating temperature.

4) Connect timing gun. The timing light has connectors to your car battery (+ & -), and a Clip for hugging the #1 cylinder spark plug wire. Clip the Cyl#1 spark plug wire (dont disconnect wire from spark plug). Then, connect + & - to the car battery. The timing gun will emit a strobe light when the trigger is pulled. Locate the marker (aiming point) on the timing belt cover. It is located above the crank pulley and its the one you'll be aiming at.

5) Adjust the timing knob on the timing gun at +18deg. Aim the light down towards marker on timing belt cover and the crank pulley.

6) You should see the red timing line on the crank pulley. This is the line that you have to line up with the marker on the timing belt cover. With your left hand, turn the distributor until the timing line on the crank pulley lines up with the marker.

7) When both are aligned, tighten the distributor housing bolts, disconnect the timing light and your jumper wire under the dash. Done!

*Note: If you couldn't find the red mark on your crank pulley, you'll have to make it visible somehow. The marks sit inside grooves on the crank pulley. With motor off, I used a red pen to remark the timing line.

For the LS/VTEC you'll need the following:


1. b16a/b18c/b17 head, cams, head bolts, cam seals, and ECU.

Most people get the b16 head 'cause it's way cheaper and easier to find. the gsr combustion chamber is smaller yielding a higher CR and more hp (slightly). The best reason to use the b16a head is you can use Integra typeR (ITR) intake manifold with it, shown in figure1. As you can see, the TypeR manifold has much shorter/fatter runners than that of the b18a (1993 shown).

2. If you get a b16 head, you need a b16 intake manifold. Same goes for the other: you'll need the respective intake manifolds.

3. You'll also need a 92+ b16a fuel rail or 92+ Integra one if you use the ITR manifold.

4. You can use your (teg) distributor but you have to chop off one of the legs to make it fit (the one that gets in the way of the VTEC solenoid.).

5. You need to tap and seal an oil-line on the back distributor side of the head (shown below) and bore out two of the dowel pin holes on your new head. The dowel pins on the b18a/b are in the Back but the ones on the VTEC heads are on the Front so you need to enlarge the ones on the back of the head to 14mm to match your block (shown as #1 and #4 on the pic below).




6. You'll have to get a steel braided oil line, fittings, and a T joint to run the oil from the block (oil press. sender hole) to the VTEC Solenoid.

7. You need a B18a/b head gasket and an intake manifold gasket that corresponds to your manifold. not to mention a VTEC valve cover and VTEC sparkplug wires.

8. You can use your b18a/bTB, but a gsr/ITR one is recommended due to their superior flow characteristics.

9. Also, your upper radiator hose will be about 2" too short. You'll need to get a universal hose from pep boys ($10).

10. Since the most common b16a heads come from 89-91 b16a's, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND getting better/new Valve springs because after a decade or so they become soft and this can happen:



You should expect to pay the following:

b16a head: $300-350 USED

head bolts(10) $60 NEW

intake man $250 NEW

cams around $250 each NEW

Ecu $300

head gasket: $50 NEW

fuel rail $50 used

wires: $70

spark plugs: $10

valve cover $180 NEW or $50 USED

cam seals $15

steal braided oil line: $20-50

fittings: $10

I think that's it. this comes to $1300-1700 depending on what kinda deals you get. Expect not to rev more than 8K* without problems and 185-195hp. If you get b16a2 pistons, properly tuned you should have about 190-200 hp to the flywheel. This is more than enough to take out your local G3 GS-R! That's all I can think of.

*Disclaimer: REV AT YOUR OWN RISK!!! Although, if built properly, this can be a very reliable and powerful setup, you can serious jack-up your motor if you don't take the proper precautions. Examples of this would be assuming that 10yr old springs or rod bolts are as strong as new.