J36 turbo 6th gen Accord coupe
03-30-2010, 11:29 AM
#283
Senior Moderator
Looks really good. Much better sans eye lids.
03-30-2010, 11:32 AM
#284
Chapter Leader (Southern Region)
03-30-2010, 04:45 PM
#286
Whats up with RDX owners?
iTrader: (9)
Looking good. Details on the retro?
03-30-2010, 05:38 PM
#287
Thanks fellas.
In retrospecs
:
E46 projectors with functional Bi-xenon
Custom curve-shields
Authentic E46 chrome shrouds shot with matte clear
D2S Phillips 85122+ bulbs
55W Xenith Xenon ballasts
eBay D2S adapters
I actually built these on Sunday with some leftover parts I had laying around the house, and had intentions to sell them at an affordable price. I am loving the Bi-xenon so much I ended up rocking them and selling my previous TSX retro. Cutoff was better on the TSX, but the spread/bi-xenon combined with the larger lense (aesthetics mainly) sold me on the E46. Flame-on, I need the $$ for med school. Lol.
Stock E46 projector:
E46 with custom shield:
In retrospecs
:E46 projectors with functional Bi-xenon
Custom curve-shields
Authentic E46 chrome shrouds shot with matte clear
D2S Phillips 85122+ bulbs
55W Xenith Xenon ballasts
eBay D2S adapters
I actually built these on Sunday with some leftover parts I had laying around the house, and had intentions to sell them at an affordable price. I am loving the Bi-xenon so much I ended up rocking them and selling my previous TSX retro. Cutoff was better on the TSX, but the spread/bi-xenon combined with the larger lense (aesthetics mainly) sold me on the E46. Flame-on, I need the $$ for med school. Lol.
Stock E46 projector:
E46 with custom shield:
03-30-2010, 05:47 PM
#288
Whats up with RDX owners?
iTrader: (9)
The custom shield looks a shit-ton better then then stock. That stock cutoff is annoying. The spread looks better with the new shield as well.
Any output shots at 25 feet?
Any output shots at 25 feet?
Last edited by civicdrivr; 03-30-2010 at 05:49 PM.
03-30-2010, 06:47 PM
#290
Whats up with RDX owners?
iTrader: (9)
Nice. I need to start my next retro. Its killing me seeing all the damn parts lying around.
03-30-2010, 10:23 PM
#292
Whats up with RDX owners?
iTrader: (9)
Alittle bit of this, alittle bit of that 
03-31-2010, 07:54 AM
#293
Looking good. I definately like that front lip over the other one.
One question for you. Thats an oem urathane front lip right? If so what did you use to mold the top in the correct shape?
One question for you. Thats an oem urathane front lip right? If so what did you use to mold the top in the correct shape?
03-31-2010, 11:13 AM
#294
The OEM PU is more like ABS than actual PU, but I guess they do consider it to be PU. It's weak though.
I took a section of an old bumper and plastic welded it onto the top to extend the flange, then used kitty hair to get the exact shape I wanted. There is actually no straight body filler on the lip, it's all kitty hair, so it should take some abuse and stay strong. We shall see
It flows so well with the rest of the OEM kit, it makes my pants twitch.
I took a section of an old bumper and plastic welded it onto the top to extend the flange, then used kitty hair to get the exact shape I wanted. There is actually no straight body filler on the lip, it's all kitty hair, so it should take some abuse and stay strong. We shall see
It flows so well with the rest of the OEM kit, it makes my pants twitch.
04-07-2010, 09:32 PM
#296
Once again, one step forward, ten steps back. The car got to knocking after a few wot runs for some backroad tuning. I was expecting it to be an accessory, because the knock was very inconsistent and noncharacteristic of a rod knock. After a few mins with the boroscope, pistons/cylinder walls were clean and no source could be identified. I pulled the pan and was greeted with metalflake oil. The culprit? Spun a main bearing. Crank was still fine, no other engine issues whatsoever. I ordered up a new set of main/ thrust/ rod bearings and will have those in by the weekend.
As long as all goes well, I should be on the dyno the third week of April.
Last edited by MoneyPit; 04-07-2010 at 09:34 PM.
04-07-2010, 09:55 PM
#297
Chapter Leader (Southern Region)
damn.. well it could've been worse. Hope you get up and running again soon! 
04-08-2010, 12:52 AM
#299
Whats up with RDX owners?
iTrader: (9)
That sucks, good thing you caught it early. Id like to see what numbers you are putting down. Two questions though:
1 - What are you tuning with (sorry if I missed it) ?
2 - Where the fuck do you find the time to do all this???
1 - What are you tuning with (sorry if I missed it) ?
2 - Where the fuck do you find the time to do all this???
04-08-2010, 11:55 AM
#300
Bearings are made soft for a reason (this example is prime) so that they are the first to fail without inflicting damage on the crankshaft.
2 -
I'm nocturnal, lol. I'm concerned about how I could've spun a bearing on this setup with everything being only a few thousand miles old with not one episode of oil starvation/high boost squishing/over-rev/cold-rev. I'm concerned that the crank was improperly balanced and the spun bearing could be a result of crank vibration, but am keeping my fingers crossed that one of the main bolts stretched/was stretched before the j36 was ever built. Obviously, I'll be replacing all the main bolts/rod endcap bolts as well, just to be sure.
04-08-2010, 01:35 PM
#301
Team Owner
Your auto knowledge is superior. You sure you wanna be a doc? I know the money's there but you should be like Jesse James and build shit and hook up with rich actresses.
04-08-2010, 01:39 PM
#302
Chapter Leader (Southern Region)
and nazi whores?
04-08-2010, 06:30 PM
#303
Whats up with RDX owners?
iTrader: (9)
04-08-2010, 07:32 PM
#304
Team Owner
Thanks bud! I hope to have it back in tip-top shape before Monday.
Bearings are made soft for a reason (this example is prime) so that they are the first to fail without inflicting damage on the crankshaft.
1 - J32A2 AT ecu and E-manage blue with injection/ignition/boost harnesses.
2 - I'm nocturnal, lol.
I'm concerned about how I could've spun a bearing on this setup with everything being only a few thousand miles old with not one episode of oil starvation/high boost squishing/over-rev/cold-rev. I'm concerned that the crank was improperly balanced and the spun bearing could be a result of crank vibration, but am keeping my fingers crossed that one of the main bolts stretched/was stretched before the j36 was ever built. Obviously, I'll be replacing all the main bolts/rod endcap bolts as well, just to be sure.
Bearings are made soft for a reason (this example is prime) so that they are the first to fail without inflicting damage on the crankshaft.
1 - J32A2 AT ecu and E-manage blue with injection/ignition/boost harnesses.
2 -
I'm nocturnal, lol. I'm concerned about how I could've spun a bearing on this setup with everything being only a few thousand miles old with not one episode of oil starvation/high boost squishing/over-rev/cold-rev. I'm concerned that the crank was improperly balanced and the spun bearing could be a result of crank vibration, but am keeping my fingers crossed that one of the main bolts stretched/was stretched before the j36 was ever built. Obviously, I'll be replacing all the main bolts/rod endcap bolts as well, just to be sure.
Just out of curiosity, are you re-using main and rod bolts? Unless you're using something like ARPs, that's a big no-no, no matter what anyone tells you. I would try and find the source of the problem before you put it all back together.
At a minimum I would plastiguage that journal with the new bearing to make sure it's in spec and to make sure it's round. It may have been set up too tight or out of round from a bad line bore/hone.
Most of the time if a crank is under or over balanced you will feel it inside the caf before it takes out a bearing or worse.
Do you know the before and after oil pressure?
What kind of oil are you using?
Monitoring knock?
04-13-2010, 04:37 PM
#305
The rod-bolts were new for the j36 assembly, as they are stretch-bolts/torque-spec and cannot be safely re-used. The main bolts were re-used at that time, as they are not stretch-bolts and can safely be re-used when bottom-end damage was never an issue. The j32a2 I started with had only 29k and had never been opened-up, so I re-used them.
Of course we're looking into the problem before we button the bottom-end back up, that goes without saying...
For oil it's the Valvoline Turbo 5w30 with 5% Lucas Oil Stabilizer.
No isolated knock monitoring at this time other than good ol' hearing
Half of the bearings are on backorder from Acura, so my car is currently in an unhappy waiting state. Anyone who has ever assembled the bottom end of a J-series knows how bass ackwards the bearing specs are, I've got seven different bearing specs in one bottom-end
Hope to have an update this weekend with good news!
05-05-2010, 11:49 AM
#306
The car is back on the road, unfortunately the tuning appt was pushed back as a result of the backordered bearings from American Honda, and I will be moving out of the state before the company has any available Saturdays 
I'll be looking for a tuner in SoCal, so I'm up for any recommendations as to who may have capable hands with the j-series!
Nothin' crazy, just a celebratory freeway cruise:
http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z55/yuhatn4/th_IMG_0077.jpg
I'll be looking for a tuner in SoCal, so I'm up for any recommendations as to who may have capable hands with the j-series!Nothin' crazy, just a celebratory freeway cruise:
http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z55/yuhatn4/th_IMG_0077.jpg
05-05-2010, 11:52 PM
#308
Whats up with RDX owners?
iTrader: (9)
^ Looks like it to me. Hatch Im guessing judging by the dash.
05-08-2010, 08:50 PM
#311
Team Owner
The car is back on the road, unfortunately the tuning appt was pushed back as a result of the backordered bearings from American Honda, and I will be moving out of the state before the company has any available Saturdays I'll be looking for a tuner in SoCal, so I'm up for any recommendations as to who may have capable hands with the j-series!
I'll be looking for a tuner in SoCal, so I'm up for any recommendations as to who may have capable hands with the j-series!So I'm assuming that bearing was within spec when you checked it?
Could've been a freak thing but I would almost bet it was a result of knock. I've knocked a whole set of rod bearings and rings out from too much knock and much worse. If you monitor nothing else, this is what you monitor.
The only thing I would've done different is ditch the Lucas, it lowers the HTHS of the oil which you need in a turbo application. I don't particularly like TTY bolts especially in the bottom end. They are ok for some solid headgasket applications but for rod bolts I would go with an ARP set.
They have their place in a factory setup but once you increase torque by 80%, some things need to change.
I'm sure the oil wasn't the problem but again, much more torque at a much lower rpm requires a thicker oil or at least a higher HTHS. If you want to stay with a 30wt, I suggest Redline 5w-30. It's the most robust 30wt out there. Plus, with the SoCal weather you could probably get away with a 40wt year round if you wanted to.
05-09-2010, 02:21 AM
#312
Whats up with RDX owners?
iTrader: (9)
05-12-2010, 11:47 AM
#313
What part of So Cal are you moving to? There are quite a few decent tuners around.
So I'm assuming that bearing was within spec when you checked it?
Could've been a freak thing but I would almost bet it was a result of knock. I've knocked a whole set of rod bearings and rings out from too much knock and much worse. If you monitor nothing else, this is what you monitor.
The only thing I would've done different is ditch the Lucas, it lowers the HTHS of the oil which you need in a turbo application. I don't particularly like TTY bolts especially in the bottom end. They are ok for some solid headgasket applications but for rod bolts I would go with an ARP set.
They have their place in a factory setup but once you increase torque by 80%, some things need to change.
I'm sure the oil wasn't the problem but again, much more torque at a much lower rpm requires a thicker oil or at least a higher HTHS. If you want to stay with a 30wt, I suggest Redline 5w-30. It's the most robust 30wt out there. Plus, with the SoCal weather you could probably get away with a 40wt year round if you wanted to.
So I'm assuming that bearing was within spec when you checked it?
Could've been a freak thing but I would almost bet it was a result of knock. I've knocked a whole set of rod bearings and rings out from too much knock and much worse. If you monitor nothing else, this is what you monitor.
The only thing I would've done different is ditch the Lucas, it lowers the HTHS of the oil which you need in a turbo application. I don't particularly like TTY bolts especially in the bottom end. They are ok for some solid headgasket applications but for rod bolts I would go with an ARP set.
They have their place in a factory setup but once you increase torque by 80%, some things need to change.
I'm sure the oil wasn't the problem but again, much more torque at a much lower rpm requires a thicker oil or at least a higher HTHS. If you want to stay with a 30wt, I suggest Redline 5w-30. It's the most robust 30wt out there. Plus, with the SoCal weather you could probably get away with a 40wt year round if you wanted to.
I'm truly humbled to say, this motor will RIP. Unfortunately, my knowledge/skills have seen their end and I can no longer diagnose the problem, nor can I continue "learning" with this setup as I cannot afford to throw any more $$ at it.
After the first ten-or-so runs to hone the a/f with the new hardware, lo-and-behold, the knock reared its ugly head again. At this point, I am going to assume the crank was improperly balanced as I absolutely CANNOT find any other cause for the crank to be eating the bearings. I've got a a/f ~12 at full boost, with ~12.4 being the leanest I see during any datalogging sessions, so I'm pretty sure it's not a lean condition. In any case, I don't have the time or $$ to continue replacing bearings to trying to figure out the problem.
Fuck.
I ordered up a basically-new j35a4 with ~12k on it, I'll be dropping my RL pistons in and throwing the motor in this weekend with my P&P type-s heads as well. Unfortunately, I know the bottom-ends on the j35a4's are hit-and-miss factory forged, but I took the risk and hope to be one of the lucky ones. The motor is arriving tomorrow.
I stand corrected sir, that is a 1991 civic. For some reason I thought the ED chassis was produced until '93
05-12-2010, 06:03 PM
#314
Whats up with RDX owners?
iTrader: (9)
Good luck. Keep us posted.
05-12-2010, 06:58 PM
#315
Team Owner
I'm moving to LA County, I know there are a few well-known shops there, and I'm hoping to find one that doesn't laugh me off the dyno in tuning my j-series. Unfortunately, the two very well-known tuners here in the PacNW didn't want to tune the car because neither were familiar with the j's.
I'm truly humbled to say, this motor will RIP. Unfortunately, my knowledge/skills have seen their end and I can no longer diagnose the problem, nor can I continue "learning" with this setup as I cannot afford to throw any more $$ at it.
After the first ten-or-so runs to hone the a/f with the new hardware, lo-and-behold, the knock reared its ugly head again. At this point, I am going to assume the crank was improperly balanced as I absolutely CANNOT find any other cause for the crank to be eating the bearings. I've got a a/f ~12 at full boost, with ~12.4 being the leanest I see during any datalogging sessions, so I'm pretty sure it's not a lean condition. In any case, I don't have the time or $$ to continue replacing bearings to trying to figure out the problem.
Fuck.
I ordered up a basically-new j35a4 with ~12k on it, I'll be dropping my RL pistons in and throwing the motor in this weekend with my P&P type-s heads as well. Unfortunately, I know the bottom-ends on the j35a4's are hit-and-miss factory forged, but I took the risk and hope to be one of the lucky ones. The motor is arriving tomorrow.
I stand corrected sir, that is a 1991 civic. For some reason I thought the ED chassis was produced until '93
I'm truly humbled to say, this motor will RIP. Unfortunately, my knowledge/skills have seen their end and I can no longer diagnose the problem, nor can I continue "learning" with this setup as I cannot afford to throw any more $$ at it.
After the first ten-or-so runs to hone the a/f with the new hardware, lo-and-behold, the knock reared its ugly head again. At this point, I am going to assume the crank was improperly balanced as I absolutely CANNOT find any other cause for the crank to be eating the bearings. I've got a a/f ~12 at full boost, with ~12.4 being the leanest I see during any datalogging sessions, so I'm pretty sure it's not a lean condition. In any case, I don't have the time or $$ to continue replacing bearings to trying to figure out the problem.
Fuck.
I ordered up a basically-new j35a4 with ~12k on it, I'll be dropping my RL pistons in and throwing the motor in this weekend with my P&P type-s heads as well. Unfortunately, I know the bottom-ends on the j35a4's are hit-and-miss factory forged, but I took the risk and hope to be one of the lucky ones. The motor is arriving tomorrow.
I stand corrected sir, that is a 1991 civic. For some reason I thought the ED chassis was produced until '93
I'm assuming it's the same cylinder again? What did the plug look like on that cylinder? Have you run it hard yet or were you just driving it normal?
Don't feel too bad. I felt like you when I killed 3 engines in a year. It's beyond frustrating but you learn a little more each time and in the end it's still worth it.
05-17-2010, 12:48 AM
#316
Thanks for the support fellas.
Yesterday we got up early, tore the J35A4 down completely, replaced the stock pistons with my machined RL's and new rings, re-assembled the motor then tore my J36 outta the car and swapped the heads over along with everything else. About 11 hours into the job we had a completely assembled new motor waiting to go in. We'll be finishing tomorrow.
I was pleasantly surprised to see the crank/rods in the J35 I got were factory forged. Apparently Honda just assembled these motors with whatever they had on hand, because of the three I've been inside, this is the first that had factory forged components. Wo0T!
New setup:
J35A4 block
J35A4 rods
2005 RL pistons, machined dome
J32A2 heads
Yesterday we got up early, tore the J35A4 down completely, replaced the stock pistons with my machined RL's and new rings, re-assembled the motor then tore my J36 outta the car and swapped the heads over along with everything else. About 11 hours into the job we had a completely assembled new motor waiting to go in. We'll be finishing tomorrow.
I was pleasantly surprised to see the crank/rods in the J35 I got were factory forged. Apparently Honda just assembled these motors with whatever they had on hand, because of the three I've been inside, this is the first that had factory forged components. Wo0T!
New setup:
J35A4 block
J35A4 rods
2005 RL pistons, machined dome
J32A2 heads
05-17-2010, 01:02 AM
#317
Whats up with RDX owners?
iTrader: (9)
Sweet.
05-17-2010, 09:00 AM
#318
Chapter Leader (Southern Region)
I think several members came to the conclusion that the factory rods while forged are done moreso for weight reduction than strength so several members have gone with Paulter rods instead.
05-17-2010, 09:06 AM
#319
Chapter Leader (Southern Region)
Our rods are weak also and should be given consideration for replacement. Yes they are forged, but it was done by Honda to reduce weight, not for strength. Unfortunately the only AM rods I know of at this point are made by Paulter, they are gorgeous and have used a set, but damn $1200 a set.
12-01-2010, 02:51 PM
#320
Chapter Leader (Southern Region)
