Engine rebuild kit

James 5th gen · Post by **James 5th gen** » Wed Jun 27, 2018 7:28 pm

Okay so I’ve mentioned it before but I’ve been given a jdm h22a. A seal went on the bottom end and it’s been in someone’s shed for a good few years. I’ve been really unsure of what to do with it but I recently ordered an engine stand. So I’m now looking to rebuild it. I know only the bottom end needs doing but I want to redo the whole lot. I’ve asked about at a few part shops but they only have a kit for the h22a5. Is everything still the same?

Basically could someone point me in the right direction or recommend me a rebuild kit?

probably didn’t need my life story but it’s done now, thanks

89 UKDM BA4 4WS (resto job!) · Post by **wurlycorner** » Wed Jun 27, 2018 8:48 pm

How much of an overhaul are you looking to do?
Literally every seal, bearing and piston ring, or..?

Scott560 · Post by **Scott560** » Wed Jun 27, 2018 9:05 pm

If you've never rebuilt an engine before - best to avoid wasting time and money trying to rebuild yourself. Or at least start with something more forgiving.

The parts, time, and money/tools will really stack up.

I went through a similar experience on behalf of a mate (he paid for all the parts, his car, i did most of the work/time), only 400miles later to end up with bottom end issues once more. This is after performing over many cars at least 10 top end rebuilds as well as many other spannering jobs over the years which gave me a reasonable sense of confidence.

Even Maz gave me a hint of advice (half way through i might add) saying that reground cranks don't last.

when you say the bottom end needs redoing, there really isn't much you can do by yourself.

If the crank is damaged/scored - the honda manual says not to regrind any surface (surface hardened)
If bores are scored - you cant really hone the FRM i believe.
if you are lucky, and its just a bit worn, you can replace piston rings and bearing shells. But even then, the skill and patience required to correctly tollerance the bottom end is a skill in itself. We used plastiguage but i suspect its no where near accurate enough.

You would need to buy all matching sets of bearing colours from honda, and refit them all to get it just right.

the tools to correctly measure the tolerances are mega bucks, so don't even go there.

I wish i had this advice before attempting a rebuild on the b16a2 (thats the 160bhp odd 1.6 so similar performance per litre) - i can only assume that there was a blockage inside the crank that we didnt shift/clear, leading to yet another bottom end oil starvation issue.

When the bottom end went in my wifes car - a replacement engine was a much safer bet.

Unless you are a machinist, know an experienced engine builder or have access to all the tools - there probably isn't much useful work you can do. And this is coming from someone who would encourage anyone to have a go.

If the engine has small issues, and there is no damage, then by all means replace/repair as you see fit to install it. Or take it apart to see what its all about, but i wouldn't want to put anyone under the illusion that you can do anything substantial to the bottom end and call it a good job (no disrespect to your skill level what ever that might be).

James 5th gen · Post by **James 5th gen** » Wed Jun 27, 2018 9:27 pm

Thanks for the replies, especially Scott

I’ve been told that it’s only the cam seal that went and that he was going to replace the bottom bearings. But to be honest I just wanted to learn a bit about engines and have something to do/learn on the side. I’ve successfully done a head gasket and pieces together a head on my friends bmw recently.

This gave me the itch and that’s when I ordered an engine stand. I’m not going to do every single thing on the engine or try something that’s out of my depth. I just wanted a basic kit. I don’t think I’ll be touching the pistons but I’ll do everything that’s easy enough to do I guess

As for specific tools, my dad has a lot of engine tools as he’s rebuilt a fair few bike engines in his time. I don’t mind spending out a bit of cash either. If anything needs machining aswell then I’ll leave that to some of my friends.

I don’t even know if the engine will ever be ran again to be honest. I would still prefer to have it all together though and ready for potential use.

89 UKDM BA4 4WS (resto job!) · Post by **wurlycorner** » Wed Jun 27, 2018 10:16 pm

So all seals and head gasket, belts and water pump then, that would be perfectly do-able.
Avoid doing the crank and pistons and the rest is pretty straight forward.

James 5th gen · Post by **James 5th gen** » Thu Jun 28, 2018 7:23 am

wurlycorner wrote:So all seals and head gasket, belts and water pump then, that would be perfectly do-able.
Avoid doing the crank and pistons and the rest is pretty straight forward.

Sounds good to me, that’s exactly what I’ll be looking for now

so back to the question, do all h22 versions have all the same gaskets and seals. All the kits I’ve seen seem to say either a4 or a5 on them?

Scott560 · Post by **Scott560** » Thu Jun 28, 2018 8:09 am

Generally speaking, the seals will all be the same. If not, the vast majority of a kit will fit leaving perhaps 1 or 2 differences to be sourced separately.

the valve stem seals are a right bitch to remove - i had to get some needle nose vice grips and use the blowtorch on them

another specialist tool exists also - but couldn't stretch to that on top of the rest i had bought.

Also, your engine stand probably wont come with any bolts to mount the engine to it - you will need to find out the 4 outer most threads/diameter of the block , get suitably long and strong bolts from ebay, along with a substantial number of washers to pack out the differences in length between the bolts and the block recesses to accommodate them. Hope you have a crane to aid the mounting, i wouldn't like to think of doing it without. all bolts must be in and tight before you let go!