Project-sleeve my own block for under $200

[HBoy]

This forum does not get enough valuable use so I decided to post something meaningful and moderately educational.

My block was kind enough to grenade itself beyond repairable use. With a new baby on the way I can't redirect funds to my car. Engine sleeving quotes started out at an even $G so I started looking to do it cheaper.

I picked up some raw iron sleeve, 4" OD 3" ID for $120 (2 ft). I then cut it in to 6" lengths on the band saw.

pic coming soon

After that I chucked then in the lathe with a 6 jaw chuck and large live center to turn the main OD to 3.875" +/- .001" (reason for this size was to clean up material imperfections without removing too much material).
Length was turned to 5.600", enough to remove all the stock iron sleeve and leave .100" to stick out the top (and compensate for any boring boo-boo's)

pic coming soon

I then turned the press fit diameter to roughly 90mm (3.5433"). Finished size of this will be determined after I bose the recieving holes in the block.

http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/814/enginerebuild002vm3.th.jpg (http://img526.imageshack.us/my.php?image=enginerebuild002vm3.jpg)

http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/7858/enginerebuild001ek7.th.jpg (http://img526.imageshack.us/my.php?image=enginerebuild001ek7.jpg)

The block is a well seasoned B18A with about 250,000 km on it. Motor ran well when removed but had excessive ring blow by and the head was very tired.

http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/9971/enginerebuild003ux3.th.jpg (http://img526.imageshack.us/my.php?image=enginerebuild003ux3.jpg)

http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/7771/enginerebuild004xi7.th.jpg (http://img526.imageshack.us/my.php?image=enginerebuild004xi7.jpg)

That's all the bottom end pics I have for now, my work frowns on cameras in the shop. I will have some more of the cleaned and prepped block next week hopefully with the completed sleeves.

I'll post the top end work and planned mods later today.

[HBoy]

The "How not to" section.

Don't let your rod out of your block.

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/128/img2752ep8.th.jpg (http://img337.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img2752ep8.jpg)

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/5097/img2754ty0.th.jpg (http://img337.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img2754ty0.jpg)

Don't let your valves and piston get to cozy with each other

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/9721/img2758js7.th.jpg (http://img337.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img2758js7.jpg)

No oil + 10K rpm = unhappy bearing

http://img112.imageshack.us/img112/6845/img2764fa9.th.jpg (http://img112.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img2764fa9.jpg)

Regardless of what the internet or myself may have said, B20 + .040 overbore does = cracked sleeves

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/453/img2755nf2.th.jpg (http://img337.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img2755nf2.jpg)

And finally, even though Kenny says you can, a dropped Civic with 4-1 headers is not a good idea

http://img112.imageshack.us/img112/9799/img2762lc2.th.jpg (http://img112.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img2762lc2.jpg)

[HBoy]

Now for more "How to" and other bits of the build

Surviving rods and pistons

http://img112.imageshack.us/img112/7499/img2750yx4.th.jpg (http://img112.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img2750yx4.jpg)

Skunk stage 3 cams

http://img112.imageshack.us/img112/1315/img2765sl9.th.jpg (http://img112.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img2765sl9.jpg)

Home made 51mm ITB's (Ford parts are of use every once in a while) :twisted:

http://img112.imageshack.us/img112/3553/img2751ai0.th.jpg (http://img112.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img2751ai0.jpg)

Quiet

http://img112.imageshack.us/img112/4610/img2759pm6.th.jpg (http://img112.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img2759pm6.jpg)

Loud

http://img112.imageshack.us/img112/7096/img2761op5.th.jpg (http://img112.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img2761op5.jpg)

[BrettR]

Same bore size as last seasons engine? How are you sealing the sleeve in place?

It'll be need to see this thing work or not.

[pitobread]

Aaron just makes stuff work.

Looks tits mang!

[HBoy]

The steel sleeves will have 2.5" of the aluminum left to press in to (1/2 will be the remaining 2.5mm AL cylinder wall, the rest will actaully be in the main part of the block).

I'm going for a .0005" press fit wilth sleeve sealer. Thought about posting them in place as well but I think that would be more trouble than it's worth.

I'll bake the block to about 250C or so and use dry ice on the sleeves. Should be more than enough so that they can be lightly pressed in.

Once they are all in I will torque on a spare head and let it sit for the day before surfacing or boring.

Same bore (using the same pistons) but I'm gonna tighten up to a .003" piston to wall and tighten up my ring end gaps as well.

Compression will be the same since I plan to run a stock head gasket as opposed to a 2 layer but I'll be taking a few thou off the block and head.

[HBoy]

Media blasted the block today (really fine aerospace shit, took forever) and heli-coiled the threads for the head studs.

I also made the third sleeve, I'll make the last one tomorrow.

front

http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/4219/image039br9.th.jpg (http://img231.imageshack.us/my.php?image=image039br9.jpg)

back

http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/5557/image040xh2.th.jpg (http://img231.imageshack.us/my.php?image=image040xh2.jpg)

inside with sleeves

http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/2796/image041dn6.th.jpg (http://img231.imageshack.us/my.php?image=image041dn6.jpg)

sleeves in different states of turning

http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/7044/image043fp0.th.jpg (http://img231.imageshack.us/my.php?image=image043fp0.jpg)

[civic_lover87]

wow all that stuff actually looks really nice and very well done , if that all works out perfect you will officially be my god :)

[NoLimits]

Good job man, your definatly not shy to try something on your own, Get R Done!

Where you working now?

[kingpin]

Looks good. Aaron seems to definitely know his shit.

Keep us posted on how it runs when assembled again.

Looks like a really cool project. Just be aware that one reason commercially available sleeves are so expensive is that they're spun cast. A normal piece of extruded pipe will not have the same properties and it's grain structure will be significantly different. Either way your sleeving will probably be stronger than the stock sleeves.

-Michael

[HBoy]

I'm working at the CRC now. Lot's of cool shit to do there.

Spin cast is like colesteral free vegetable oil, as in all cast pipes pretty much are. Water pipe is where spin casting came from in the 1930's and has been the sole casting method since the 60's.
It's more for consistency over the length of pipe as well as density sompared to the regular sand cast. (moulds are poured vertical and the denser material sinks to the bottom)

What I used is non-welded D.O.M. mechanical tubing (A-513) which is denser and stronger than any cast pipe. It also has to be ultrasonic tested for defects and weak spots. The cores themselve may even be spun cast then run through the mandrel.

If I had the big bucks I could have used 4340 chromoly tubing but it would have been 3-4 times the price.

[Jdc]

Awesome project man! Just the stuff I love to watch and (hopefully) learn.

[turbo6967]

ya man good job man i would also love to learn how to do that

[b17gsr]

So how does it idle? :D

[HBoy]

So how does it idle? :D

Bite me :P

[HBoy]

Update.

I'm broke and damn busy so the sleeving is on break for a bit.
Going to drop this block in so I can drive for the rest of the summer.

http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/4782/image039st6.th.jpg (http://img110.imageshack.us/my.php?image=image039st6.jpg)

LS block with PR3 pistons. Needs a rebuild (actaully the whole block) since the 2nd last owner brutally stripped 5 of 10 head bolt holes, the alternator bracket holes and some others. I lost count. Just going to use another block I have. I am going to deck the block about .020" to get it to the compression I want.

The sleeve block is still slowly coming together only now I am going to use a GSR block that has some fucked sleeves.

http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/5369/image041xc0.th.jpg (http://img527.imageshack.us/my.php?image=image041xc0.jpg)

And just for fun a pick of one of the nicest OEM headers I have seen.

http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/2175/image042ay5.th.jpg (http://img527.imageshack.us/my.php?image=image042ay5.jpg)

[BrettR]

Update.

I'm broke and damn busy so the sleeving is on break for a bit.
Going to drop this block in so I can drive for the rest of the summer.


But you already have the sleeves and everything done...why stop now?

[HBoy]

I need it to run now, so the other block is my priority. The sleeve block still needs new Eagle rods ($450), a Cometic head gasket and bearings.

I also have to make a decision on using the GSR crank, the LS crank or moving to a 95mm crank.

[quickspool]

I've always wondered about making my own sleeves. I'm a bit skeptic but this is totally awesome. I really hope it works out for you. I wouldn't block post it because of the difference in expansion rate. Again I give way bigtime props for this one.

[HBoy]

I've always wondered about making my own sleeves. I'm a bit skeptic but this is totally awesome. I really hope it works out for you. I wouldn't block post it because of the difference in expansion rate. Again I give way bigtime props for this one.

If you've ever seen how the "big" companies do it and you have a lathe it's pretty straight forward.
The only sleeves I have seen with a reasonable amount of machining done are the Darton Modular. The rest are just very simple rounds with flat sides on them.

As for the posting, I would have made my own large diameter aluminum posts (maybe 1/2 inch or so). The tricky part would have been getting a useable amount of tension on them without shifting the sleeves or having unequal pressre.
As an alternative I am considering filling the bottom inch or so of the water jackets with Devcon to add some stability (there's only 2.5 mm of aluminum left on the upper part of the stock bores).

[HBoy]

Some delayed progress pics on the 'temporary' 1.8L block.

I ended up taking .015" off the block, .005" already taken off the head and a stock 3 layer head gasket. Piston to deck was reduced from .018" to .003".

It has suprisingly more clearance than I thought it would. With both cams advanced about 4 deg. I still had about .090" P2V on the EX and .110" on the IN. Piston to head was about .080".

This leaves me with about 12.5-1 compression, I'll end up setting the rev limit at 8K so the stock rods may live.

http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/7901/img2889ig1.th.jpg (http://img263.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img2889ig1.jpg)

http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/6929/img2890rg4.th.jpg (http://img263.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img2890rg4.jpg)

http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/3361/img2891jv0.th.jpg (http://img263.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img2891jv0.jpg)

Some sleeve pics should be available next week if I can get my other work done.

[turbo6967]

nice work bud.... let me know how she runs?

[HBoy]

We'll see next week. I'm planning to put the engine in tomorrow, we'll see what the rest of the family has to say about that.

Also need to repack the axles and put new clamps on them as they were spitting all the grease out of them before.

It should be peppy though.

[HBoy]

!.8L engine is assembled. Going to try and get it in tonight.

At work today I started on the sleeved block my milling the oil pan rails parallel to the head surface so I can just sit it down on the table.

Then I went home.

[Dan]

Update ?

[HBoy]

Finally, here's some updates on the sleeving.

First I cut down the stock sleeves 2.8" from the deck with a 1" carbide insert endmill. (No pics of this, sorry)

I then used a carbide boring bar to bore the remaining iron liner out to 3.5433" +/- .0005" to recieve the new sleeve.

I stiil have to fine tune the sleeves for press fit, flatten off the sides, press them in, deck the block and finish bore.

Sorry for the crappy cell phone pics.

http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/8784/image051bu0.th.jpg (http://img444.imageshack.us/my.php?image=image051bu0.jpg)


http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/2443/image049ex0.th.jpg (http://img444.imageshack.us/my.php?image=image049ex0.jpg)


http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/9929/image047do6.th.jpg (http://img444.imageshack.us/my.php?image=image047do6.jpg)

I'll take some pics of the finshed bore block later today.

[Simpo]

am i drunk or what?

looking good. how much hours have you put in yet (approx)

Simon.. :shock:

[HBoy]

am i drunk or what?

looking good. how much hours have you put in yet (approx)

Simon.. :shock:

Well it is early Saturday morning so you could be :twisted:

Actual meaningful labour, about 6 hours. Fiddling with tooling and set ups, about 20 hours. Most normal machine shops aren't equipped for simple engine work.

Here's the assembled 1.8L motor that my wife tells me I can put in tomorrow if I'm a good boy. Should be a strong motor but it's limited by the stock LS rods rev limits.

http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/1092/sleeveb18cblock001uj3.th.jpg (http://img249.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sleeveb18cblock001uj3.jpg)

Here is a few quick shots of the bored B18C block ready for sleeves.


http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/4821/sleeveb18cblock003ui9.th.jpg (http://img402.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sleeveb18cblock003ui9.jpg)

http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/9885/sleeveb18cblock006ei5.th.jpg (http://img402.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sleeveb18cblock006ei5.jpg)

The VTec castings are so much nicer/cleaner than the LS/CRV motors.

http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/2070/sleeveb18cblock005mq3.th.jpg (http://img402.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sleeveb18cblock005mq3.jpg)

[Simpo]

Wow, awesome work!! u work like champ.. none the less

[jason0911]

nice Block :D

[HBoy]

nice Block :D

It is now, and the price was right. :P

[ncctek]

wanna do mine? ill give you a tip 250 :D

[HBoy]

For the amount of work it takes with the set up and actual cutting, I will have to decline your generous cash tip :(

In other news, the 'temp' motor is in and may even get some tuning on it.

I didn't know if the 200cc would make much of a difference, but even with crude tuning it is quite obvious. The stock innards are much more civilized though- less knocking, smoking, etc.

Maybe I'll get some pics and a tire smoking engine 'break-in' shot if I can manage this weekend.

[Simpo]

any work done since?

The main place the extra 200cc makes a difference is in low RPM fuel and timing. At the top end I've usually found that a stock head/cam combo is the limiting factor so it only works to move the powerband down slightly before the head limitation starts to have an effect.

-Michael


For the amount of work it takes with the set up and actual cutting, I will have to decline your generous cash tip :(

In other news, the 'temp' motor is in and may even get some tuning on it.

I didn't know if the 200cc would make much of a difference, but even with crude tuning it is quite obvious. The stock innards are much more civilized though- less knocking, smoking, etc.

Maybe I'll get some pics and a tire smoking engine 'break-in' shot if I can manage this weekend.

[mphysk]

update? still running?

[Daniel-san]

is this thing installed and tuned yet ?

[HBoy]

Should have some updates shortly, no shop access lately to finish it, plus I might just sell the car.

If I don't sell I need to decide if I'm going to use the GSR crank and OEM rods that I already have, an LS crank and buy some new aftermarket rods or buy a 95mm crank and use the B16 Eagle rods I already have (small 5/16 bolts).