In the last installment of our pump gas Honda K Motor project, we discussed the engines top end with a Drag Cartel cylinder head which was going to nicely complement our bottom end which was fortified with parts from JE Pistons, K1 Technologies, and King Bearings. In this segment, we are going to assemble our engine’s long block to get it ready to drop into the RSX.
For more on our Project DC5 RSX’s K24, including all the part numbers, be sure to check out the whole series of articles:
We start with our block which has been measured for the proper piston to wall and bearing clearances, flex honed to give the rings a seating surface, and cleaned, ready for assembly
The first step in our assembly is putting the King XP main bearings into the blocks saddle. We are keeping the bearing backs and the block saddles dry while lubing up the face of the bearing with assembly lube in preparation for dropping in the crank.
As we talked about earlier, we are using the stock K24 crank which has been measured, balanced, micro-polished and had the journals WPC treated for reduced friction and longer fatigue life. The crank journals were pre-lubricated with assembly lube and the crank was set in place in the block.
The lower King XP main bearings were set in the blocks bedplate and coated with assembly lube on their faces with their backs kept bone dry. Bedplate motors are exceptionally stiff and strong and can withstand a lot of power.
We applied sealant on the outer edges of the bedplate to prevent oil leakage to the outside of the engine.
A thin bead is all we used. You don’t want excessive sealant to be squeezed out to where it could break off and migrate around inside the engine blocking oil passages and doing bad things like jamming the oil pump relief valve!
3 comments
I am relieved You didn’t use the ARP main studs mentioned in Part One of this build.
That would’ve been total overkill on that power level.
In my previous life, I used to work for a motorsport shop that built rally, rallycross and circuit racing K-series engines among other things.
On NA builds with limited budget (which most of them were), we reused OEM Honda main studs up to 4 times, even head studs were reused up to 3 times.
Only difference was, they were always torqued to a specific value with a certain type of lubricant.
And not one time did we have a problem with bolts backing out or losing tension. If a headgasket did blow, it was always due to severe knock or overheating.
This looks like it’s going to be a fun package! What kind of power and torque is expected? Will engine speeds remain about stock?
Using WPC on the camshaft is beneficial on a Honda’s B series as well since these engines don’t have a bearing on the followers like the K series.
Looking forward to seeing what Motoiq does with the transmission of the RSX!