B Series suggestions - new bottom end

[noahf]

Old school disclaimer: ive searched.

So I own a k20 itr that I feel is perfectly balanced, drives amazing, and hows great power. It dailys fine and rips well. Its stock except intake/headers. This is what i consider baseline. Reliable and fun.

And now my “dilemma”: my ek9 with the b16b is super gutless. honestly, if i try to accelerate in gear below 5k, the car just feeeeeels sooooooooo Slllllllloooooooooowwwwwwwww. Anything over 6200 (vtec) and it feels pretty zippy, but not what i would consider moving. Its almost like the feeling of going isnt there.

So as any true blooded american, time to hot rod it. Some friends have talked to me out of a k20r swap. And it wasnt until one of them drove it that he realized how torqueless it was.

So here is what I would like some suggestions on: whats the good/ideal b series build?

Requirements: torque. Reliability. Distant possible track days/hpde things. Like 5%.

Ive been doing a bunch of research between b18 and b20 builds. Ive only had b16a’s, b’s, and c5’s. I remember the c5 being pretty snappy but that was also pre k swap days.

I just hope some of you can share some builds that you have experience with. It will be on honda s300 and tuned by a pro. I just dont know if i ahould go ls vtec, build out the b16b bottom end, go b20vtec, what comp ratio, what bore, what stroke.

Also, i kinda miss discussions of the old days.

Tldr; whats the ideal b series build for streetability, reliability, and starting with a b16b base, in an ek9.

Thanks and hopefully i dont get Flamed.

[Dave7CDMTYPER]

Toda

[noahf]

That doesnt help

[Dave7CDMTYPER]

The b20 vtec seems like a great idea for you. More displacement and more torque.

[RTW DC2R]

Its almost impossible to answer this one, there are so many options.

A B series motor will never have killer torque without doing a pretty extensive build or adding boost. Whereas starting with a stock K24 you are already ahead of the game.

Why go with a B when you already know what its like in the K series world?

What about throwing a small quality turbo kit or s/c on the B16? Maybe do a block guard and bearings and bolts and freshen up the bottom end while you're in there to help with reliability.

I always wanted to do a B20V but ended up going with different iterations of my B16 and B18 motors (all motor builds, turbo builds).

[DC231]

get you a good B20 block and get you some ARP Rod bolts and use the OEM rods with the ARP Rod bolts and some Nippon P30 Pistons you will net about 12-13 compression depending on the cylinder head and be able to rev That Thing Up to 9000 all day I've been doing it for years bro with the same exact setup on multiple people's Vehicles here in town that I've helped build. This is a proven set up bro that has been known to work and make reliable power. this exact set up in my buddy's car with a ported B16 head and Skunk2 Pro 2 cams made 220 to the wheels on a low reading Dyno on e85. this is the same build spec I always give people that are wanting to make decent torque without having to spend K series money.. you will not be disappointed.. you can do something like this for probably less than 12 to $1,300 depending on machine shop costs and things like that and depending on what all you already have but I can assure you that it will be much much much cheaper than going K series

[noahf]

The b20 vtec seems like a great idea for you. More displacement and more torque.

yeah think this might be what i end up with.

Its almost impossible to answer this one, there are so many options.

A B series motor will never have killer torque without doing a pretty extensive build or adding boost. Whereas starting with a stock K24 you are already ahead of the game.

Why go with a B when you already know what its like in the K series world?

What about throwing a small quality turbo kit or s/c on the B16? Maybe do a block guard and bearings and bolts and freshen up the bottom end while you're in there to help with reliability.

I always wanted to do a B20V but ended up going with different iterations of my B16 and B18 motors (all motor builds, turbo builds).

1 reason for not going k is to not make the "og honda gods" mad at me for swapping a k into yet another b chassis. the other reason is, a k swap is going to be 7-8k.

i had considered a supercharger but i really want it to be a bit less complex / more reliable. i will end up putting a ton of miles on it, and i dont want to deal with the complexity of a turbo setup. i know it can be done right, but again, a good full race kit is going to be 6k after everything. supercharger would be a bit cheaper, maybe 2500. this hasnt been discounted yet, but not leaning towards it.

get you a good B20 block and get you some ARP Rod bolts and use the OEM rods with the ARP Rod bolts and some Nippon P30 Pistons you will net about 12-13 compression depending on the cylinder head and be able to rev That Thing Up to 9000 all day I've been doing it for years bro with the same exact setup on multiple people's Vehicles here in town that I've helped build. This is a proven set up bro that has been known to work and make reliable power. this exact set up in my buddy's car with a ported B16 head and Skunk2 Pro 2 cams made 220 to the wheels on a low reading Dyno on e85. this is the same build spec I always give people that are wanting to make decent torque without having to spend K series money.. you will not be disappointed.. you can do something like this for probably less than 12 to $1,300 depending on machine shop costs and things like that and depending on what all you already have but I can assure you that it will be much much much cheaper than going K series

this is kind of what i was looking for. thanks.

[DC231]

always glad to help

[aw614]

Call me weird, but I prefer using the B18c block with an LS crank and if you have the funds, resleeve it to 84mm. I like that the b18c blocks have the girdle and not having to run an external oil feed line from the block to the head for VTEC.

[jayhaire]

Yes, you have sooooo many choices here. If it's a legit b16b motor, that's kind of a special item. Don't mess with it. If you want to upgrade the car, definitely use a different motor without messing with the b16b.

Besides the obvious k-series route, I absolutely loved (and to this day miss) my old 95 GS-R's setup. It utilized a b18c5 short block, ITR trans, and GS-R / P72 head with ITR / CTR cams along with reinforced valve springs. After tuning, that car had a nice low and mid-range torque thanks to the GS-R's dual plenum intake manifold while still having good power at the higher RPM range.

That was arguably my favorite b-series engine combination. It's easy to build something similar to it.