JohnTurbo's B18C EK4 Race Car


This is from my conversations with a guy who's to this day built 9 EK4s for the Czech Rally championship - according to him there's absolutely no advantage from using an oil thinner than 10w40. In a stock motor I'd always stick to the recommended oil type, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if the engine failure you encountered was a least in part due to the oil you used.
 
Who designed those sump baffles?
To me they look like they will keep oil from sloshing around but restrict the speed that the oil can return from the end to the pick up area. The u shape gap should be wider and lower I would think, more like the normal kits you can buy/make which are essentially copy's of the expensive branded sumps
 
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I use 10w 60 in my b18c , castrol edge FST . Do not but cheap oil it does not last . I change my oil every two races and gearbox oil . John 0w30 tooo thin . For next season if yr racing use a oil catch tank . I put one on and it improved my oil mpg . Got rid of my Pcv valve . Good luck for Saturday u can beat the puma .
 
My oil choice was based on Honda recommended viscosity for our climate and also the comparative dyno gains found vs 10w40 in my book (xtreme b series).

If the oil pressure is good with 30 weight oil there should be no issue, and due to vtec dropping out on bends before the engine went Im confident it was oil level related.

My last b16b ran 10w40 btw.

In any case, I ordered some 10w50 cfs yesterday as Im a bit superstitious about it now. I used to use cfs in my skyline as millers is just down the road and it was 30quid for 5litres. Hell has it shot up in price!

In other news...car passed uts MOT today. Lol.
 
And the puma...not so sure. I can keep up with Lisa but not Toby!

I had a similar thought about the sump. That was made by Mardi Gras for either a CRX challenge car or a Honda works team EF rally car. Its not cleat which.
 
Good news about the car passing MOT, it passed 1st time every time while I had it which is great for a heavily used track car

OW30 is recommended by Honda for a new engine which is daily driven and will only reach an average of 80 degree oil temps, where as when you have a high mileage engine with oil temperatures up around 125+ degrees on the track its a different story all together

You can't go wrong with a good millars 10w50 for n/a track use imo and I think you just bought a bad engine when the b16b bottom end failed on you
 
The b16b fail is a funny one.

It did do a full trackday at Oulton, and also the pistons and bores were in truely good condition.
 
Is that xtreme b series book American?
They seem obsessed with using pissy 20w and 30w oil out there.

When do you check your oil level?

I think the Honda manuals (for k series engine, cant read my b series manual so not 100% sure) recommend bringing it up to full temp then leaving it sit for a few minutes then checking it.

If you bring it up to temp then park it up for a few hours or overnight you will get a different reading. I used to do it this way, (old school) but now do it the other way.

It can be a few hundred ml's difference
 
Regarding the oil, the superfast EF Civic in Tintops is owned by a chap who owns a Honda tuning company - he uses 30w oil. So there you go huh?

Anyway, the car is sat on my driveway but I've not been sat on my arse. I have been aquiring engine parts to give me a bit more go next year.

Got some Toda C cams off Ijwhiteman(?) on here, and my Toda valves springs arrived today. I don't want to risk em' failing so I spent the extra. Toda C cams seem to have a certain reputation for lunching valvetrain, but I have seen no account of Toda springs fail, so lets see!

Bottom end will be a budget job, as though it was tempting as hell, the forged bits aren't necessary unless you're going monster power (impossible on NA) or monster revs, and I am doing neither.

Pistons to be delivered tomorrow. 0.5mm oversize, high comp.

I don't give too much of a crap about power, I want a high torque figure between 6 and 8.5k rpm.
 
Good choice on the toda valve springs :) should be looking at decent power with a built setup I assume that's Dan @ AME's car the EF mad bit of kit
Thinner makes more power needs changing more often
Thicker oil less power lasts longer
 
Matt - I hope to do some races at least!

Yeah Dan Turner - he is a knowledgeable chap, had a good chat with him. Rather daftly he told me he is using a b16b block which is technically cheating in that shape civic - but TBH he'd still be a million miles ahead with a 16a1 block so who is counting?!
He was basically of the opinion that you should run the thinnest possible oil that gives you decent oil pressure.

There is also a saxo or 106 with a sequential box!!
 
Love the dedication to this and the '**** happens, rebuild' ethos.

Also the oil, Xw number is a reference to the viscosity at low temps, the last 2 digit no. is the viscosity at high temps. I would not be using a Xw30 for track work at all, minium 40 IMO. I run a 0w40 Castrol edge in mine, fully synthetic and It's awesome stuff I think, much better than the motul 5w40 which burnt off easily on track. You probably know this stuff, but just having my input on oil choice :nice:.

Oh and yes, overfill the stick and baffle the sump if you already haven't done so.

Good luck with the next block!
 
Haha! I should point out that the 50w millers synth and baffled sump left my b16b running fine. Its still alive! Nice clean engine :)
 
I ran motul 15w 50 300 v competition when I raced at a track where the ambient temperature is around 32c+ .
 
A few updates on this engine.

First up I checked the Toda cams from IJ as they'd been in his (very sadly) spoiled engine. There was runnout well within Honda Spec on the centre bearing.

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Bought the head to go with the bottom end from StrictlyBoost. Stripped it down, including he rockers, valves and LMAs, as well as the dowels, sensors etc..

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Bottom end, fully stripped. I'm reusing the crank and stock rods but with new overbore pistons. Bores are in great shape.
I did the codes on the bearings and all the big ends are green/brown, whereas the mains are 1 size and 2 sizes up on green. A bit of extra clearance should be ok with ACL bearings. - better than too little!

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Black and head are now in my boot to take to "Impulse Developments" in Rochdale. They seem to know what they are doing. I'm getting a rebore and new valve guides.

Here is y sorted box of parts for the head and the inlet valves soaking in oven cleaner.

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And no build thread is complete without pictures of random new parts.... This is the above bits with Skunk2 valve seals and Carbon lined synchros for my gearbox.

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