Topic: The E85 build begins... (Read 411 times)

Corey872 · « **on:** April 19, 2010, 07:43:47 PM »

Well, had some time this weekend to tear into the car. Got the engine pulled and mostly dismantled. Sad part is, still researching a few goodies to put back into it. So a couple more weeks before I can even think of reassembly, but here are some pics to look at until then:

Moror/trans pulled:

The issue which started it all... I just can't seem to keep these crappy little clutches together for more than ~15K miles. Sad part is, it's not even due to overpower. The springs vibrate enough they chew through the 'cage' and fall out:

Pulled the head. Pistons weren't as clean as I'd wanted or as bad as I'd feared. This car was about 60k miles on gasoline, ~40K on E85 - this was just pulling the head and blotting up some of the fluids I spilled. Seems the E85 can scrub off quite a bit of carbon, but can't work wonders...

Bearings look to be in good shape for 100K miles + turbo + E85. The OEM bearings come in a whole range of sizes so an exact clearance can be established with the crankshaft. I plan to get the equivalent replacements for these.

I sure don't mind running synthetic oil. I haven't found a trace of varnish or sludge in this entire engine. Synthetic + clean burning E85 and the whole engine looks like new inside. I pulled the oilpan and drained the residual oil...no sludge or varnish anywhere (the little black specks are bits of sawdust which got in after I took the pan off) - otherwise CLEAN!

So, come back in 2-3 weeks (or 4+ with my luck) maybe some new parts will show up, a bit of machine work to do and get ready to put her back together. So start the pool on how many nuts and bolts I have left over!

Update: Finally got my bore gauge tuned up. Seeing about .0030 to .0035 taper on the bores and a bit of scoring on #3 (which tends to run a bit hot due to the firing order) So it looks like I'll be doing a bore & hone as opposed to only the glaze breaking I'd hoped for. Oh well, I'll pick up a few more cc's of displacement and know everything is straight and true when it goes back together.

Corey872 · « **Reply #5 on:** April 19, 2010, 07:45:06 PM »

Reserved for additional pics and commentary...

Corey872 · « **Reply #4 on:** April 19, 2010, 07:44:48 PM »

Still plugging away. Had to take some time off to get some house renovation done, but really trying to make up some time over the long weekend. I have all the parts coated with their respective coatings:

A little detail of the coatings on the pistons and rods. The ceramic coating on the piston crowns is supposed to reflect heat back into the combustion chamber for improved power and efficiency. I have a dry film lube on the piston skirts to prevent scuffing and reduce friction between the skirt and the block. A phosphate coating is applied in the ring land areas to retain oil and keep the rings free. Ultrahigh pressure lube is applied to the wrist pin journals on both the piston and con-rod to reduce friction and prevent galling. Finally, an oil shedding / thermal transfer coating is applied to the underside of the piston. This is supposed to help with heat transfer and because the coating sheds oil, the reciprocating parts are as light as possible for more efficiency. Even shaking a few grams of extra oil back and forth several thousand times every minute gobbles some power!

Corresponding ceramic coating on the cylinder head:

So after a day of measuring, cleaning, careful assembly, tweaking, torquing, ring filing, etc I've got the block assembled. I had planned to set the rings up according to the specs for forced induction alcohol engine which would have been ~.016 gap for the first ring and ~.018 for the second. But out of the box, the top rings had ~.0185 gap, so I wound up taking just a thou or two off the second rings to get a .019 gap. The general thought is to run the second ring gab a little bigger so any blowby coming through the first ring has an easy path to exit. This prevents ring 'flutter' at high speeds. But I feel as long as the second ring gap is at least equal, there should not be an issue. The top ring sees more heat, so even if the gaps are equal at rest, the top ring which make a smaller gap under operating conditions. I also set the second rings as a 'loose' .019. A lot of guides seem to say the feeler gauge should have a slight drag, but I like to make sure the ring is filed enough to let the proper size gauge almost free float through the gap. I figure you'll never miss the .01 hp loss if the rings are .0005 inch over gaped, but if they are under gaped and the ends butt together...there goes the engine!

Time to install the ARP head studs. This is probably a bit of overkill as there are guys making 500+HP on stock bolts. But at barely $100 for the kit, I figure it is cheap insurance especially considering the 12.5:1CR plus boost:

So I'm starting to get excited about the possibility of wrapping the engine up Saturday or early Sunday and having the Monday holiday to get it back in the car and...wait a minute.... :

Looks like one of the head stud nuts missed the threading operation! Dang! Well, time to kick the effort into neutral once again and wait for ARP to open on Tuesday so I can get this sorted out.

Corey872 · « **Reply #3 on:** April 19, 2010, 07:44:38 PM »

Guess it's time for an update. Things are moving slower than I'd hoped...but as usual, other projects always creep up, so haven't had a chance to devote full time to the engine. Anyway, for better or worse, NAPA has advised the machine work was done on the engine:

Rinse block (*required fee, thing was already spotless!)
Bore and Hone 4 cyls and fit pistons
Turn flywheel required fee ('cause my 15,000 mile flywheel sure didn't need it!)
Balance rotating assembly (crank, flywheel, balancer)
Micropolish Crank

So 440 bucks for NAPA, 30 bucks for my rich uncle and 9 bucks to keep the EPA off my back and the block is ready. I've spent a few days to blueprint everything out and see how good the work is. Looks like everything is OK, though I got duped a bit... Dropped the parts off on a Sunday because I was going to be out of town for the week. Left a few basic specs on paper and told them to call for the rest. Didn't hear anything for the next couple of days and when I finally had a chance to call in, they said "The block is done, we turned your flywheel, crank is on the machine" So I didn't get a chance to discuss the fine points of the work I wanted done, see if they could meet the surface finish specs for the cylinder hone and make sure they used a torque plate.

Overall, the machinist is very hard to talk to. Seems to be in that "Too busy workin' to talk" mode all the time. Conversation of letting me know the block was done: "Hey just wanted to let you know the engine is done and you can pick it up anytime". Me: "Ok I will swing by over lunch and pick it up... Can you tell me... [click...dial tone]... what the...total cost was ?? for the machine work?

" Hope he realizes that part of the reason he has work is because I'm forking over big bucks for some relatively simple machine work!

Anyway, here are some of the measurements:

Honda shoots to have all the oil clearances within .0002 on the main and con-rod journals for general use and .0001 in performance applications. Consequently, you don't just buy a set of bearings and drop them in. Mains and con rods each have a set of 7 different bearing sizes which differ by .0001 and the sets can be mixed and matched to form combinations in .00005 increments to fit the journal. Consequently a lot of measuring and calculation is in order. I also had the crank micropolished, then measured out all the main and con rod bores. The micropolish bumped the size a few ten-thousandths, so the new bearings are slightly different sizes.

I also took the time to get some surface finish measurements of a section of OEM honing which never saw ring wear and of the new hone.

In the old days, they would run some 300 grit stones or maybe a 'bottle brush' through the bore and call it good. This resulted in a rough hone with a lot of sharp edges which were sheared off during break in. Modern honing follows the stones with a 600 grit finish to break off all the sharp edges and smooth the bore. The resulting 'plateau hone' maintains the deep grooves for oiling, but also smooths the running surface meaning little or no 'break-in' for the rings. This also allows for running synthetic oil from the start as no 'cutting action' is needed to seat the rings.

Overall, napa did a pretty good job and brought the surface finish in to a very good range. The height of the highest peak (Rp) is a little higher than what is considered 'good', but is still about half of the OEM hone was. These are the peaks which will be sheared off during break-in.

Since I had the whole rotating assembly balanced, I also took the time to weigh and balance the reciprocating parts. By mixing and matching heavy and light components, I was able to keep the overall unbalance to 0.07 gram.

So on to coatings -

I've been in contact with a company which makes various coatings which are 'supposed' to increase efficiency, reduce wear and friction, etc. Along with most good schemes, there seems to be a kernel of truth - surrounded by some pretty outlandish claims. But if there is ever a time to apply the coatings it's while the engine is apart. So here is what I have:

Ceramic piston / combustion chamber coating: This is supposed to keep more heat in the combustion chamber which increases efficiency and reduces wear/tear on other parts. In various research, I've found everything from "gives a 70hp boost on a 550hp engine" to a FEA study which shows a few hundred degrees drop in piston temp, to another study which claims no notable gains/effects at all.

Thermal transfer / oil shedding coating for pistons backs, con rods, crank throws, oil pan, etc: The idea here is the coating increases thermal transfer so the parts run cooler and they also shed oil easier so less mass in motion / less drag from internal windage.

Extreme high pressure lube for cylinder walls: The idea here is to use a 'buff on' coating which bonds an extremely thin layer to the cylinder walls. This reduces friction and wear to the piston rings and improves sealing. How well does this coating hold up to a flaming ball of fire several thousand times a minute?!?! Well, we will see...

Dry film lube for bearing surfaces: Another type of lube applied on top of the main, conrod, bearings, wrist pin bushings etc. Ideally, an oil film is maintained and this lube is never even used, but in extreme cases it offers a first line of protection. Oddly, the mfr recommends application to both bearings and journals. But the golden rule of tribology is never to have 'like' surfaces against each other. Ie: lead bearings/steel crank, steel shaft/brass bushing, chromemoly steel rings/cast iron cylinder are all perfectly acceptable. But a steel shaft in a steel bushing will be a quick death by galling.

Turbo / exhaust coatings: These are supposed to keep heat in the exhaust which should make for a more efficient turbo. The kick here is most temp measurements are made with an IR temp gun. These are wildly susceptible to the 'emissivity' of the surface being measured. Emissivity is basically describing how the surface 'shines' in the IR wavelengths. A shiny piece of steel has a very low emissivity while a flat black surface is very high...consequently the two will register different temps on an IR gun even though both are setting beside each other at the exact same temperature. But I figure even if the coating doesn't do much for heat, it still provides a good corrosion barrier.

Anyway, the (hopefully) last parts orders have been placed. So as soon as the ship leaves Japan and hits the west coast, I should be getting a delivery soon after. Then the rebuild begins!

Corey872 · « **Reply #2 on:** April 19, 2010, 07:44:24 PM »

And another box from the Fed Ex sleigh. The Eagle rods came with this shipment, along with the 12.5:1 pistons which I now have photos of:

New piston/con rod (left) compared to OEM (right)

Detail of the pistons

Going to try an ACT XTSS clutch this time. It has the most torque capability without having to go back to the 6-puck clutch. Should be good for 320 lb. ft, which doesn't sound like much. But certainly enough for a 2800 pound FWD car, and works out to about 550 hp @ 9000 rpm!

Dropped the block off at the machine shop yesterday. I'm putting my faith in NAPA, so we'll see if their work will hold up, or if they turn all my nice parts into boat anchors. Should be a couple weeks turn-around on that.

Also sent in the crank for re-balance with the new pistons and rods. Once the rods arrived I was able to finish up my weighing, then mix-n-match heavy rods, light pistons, medium wrist pins, etc. When the matching was done, all the combos are within 0.07 gram!

Corey872 · « **Reply #1 on:** April 19, 2010, 07:44:13 PM »

A few weeks ago, I finished up researching parts, took a week off for vacation, then started placing orders when I got back. This past week. The first $2k in jewelery is starting to roll in. Wish I had a picture of the two FedEx trucks showing up at once, but we'll have to settle for part instead.

General Parts

I decided to go with a Precision 5857 turbo. I spec'd a T3 .63AR turbine which is one of the smaller options on this turbo. It should have plenty of flow to meet the modest 400hp goal, but be small enough to spool fast...hoping ot have full boost by 3500-4000rpm. I also went with the V-band option to save some weight and make for easy hook-up to the down pipe.

I went with the .60AR E cover vs the .70AR ported S-cover. The AR ratio doesn't make a big difference on the compressor side and this turbo is well sized for the engine so surging shouldn't be an issue...no need for the ported S cover means I can pick up a little bit more efficiency and save some space with the non-ported E cover. Since this is a new turbo from Precision, it also comes with a billet compressor wheel. Stronger and thinner than a cast wheel, the aerodynamics have also been optimized so it's more efficient than a comparably outfitted turbo.

This is where the magic happens. These turbos run the newest billet wheels. They are thinner than cast, so less rotating mass and thinner cross sections mean more efficiency and faster spool. Must be quite a CNC machine which can make one of these from a solid block of material!

Pic of the turbine section. Pretty wild to imagine this part spinning 100,000rpm and heated to glowing orange heat.

My 750cc injectors are pretty much maxed out already, so I decided to step up to Injector Dynamics 1000cc injectors. These reportedly have a spray pattern as fine as some 600cc injectors and come flow tested and matched as a set so all injectors are within 1% flow. This should make for a for a more efficient burn and also not waste fuel by having some cylinders rich and some lean due to flow variations.