I am looking to have a short block built. I'm hoping to have a fully forged, blue printed motor. I am not looking for max HP. I have a brand new head that I'm going to have ported and want to add it to a reliable, performance build. My track days are behind me so I'm looking for a fun toy.

I would love to hear recommendations for shops and personal experiences. Budget is a big factor as I'm retired so funds aren't unlimited. Thanks for everyone's input and advice.

 

nobody I would use sells them, if I was forced to do it I would find a local shop that builds honda engines and knows how to make a high rpm engine reliable.

lot of expense for no reward the bottom ends on these last 300k miles if cared for, even with track use

 

Thanks Mr blah. I just moved to rural Montana so there aren't a lot of options out here. I'll keep searching.

 

why not just use a stock rebuild ? My lower mileage engine has full Boltons , 21psi , meth and shifting at 8k ect on stock bottom end and its been going strong 0 issues.
Not personally but ive seen videos and read about people doing turbo builds on stock lower ends and not one has put down enough power to cause reliability issues.. imo I'd look into a good stock rebuild with just better rods and pistons with propper gapping of rings for extra boost and power you plan to run.
don't get me wrong , its nice having the piece of mind buy all these built engines I see people having built or buying , the failure rate is pretty high.

 

^^ This ^^
Is why I "liked" @MrBlah 's post.
With no intention of going big HP, a fully built motor is just not needed if you can find a reliable machine shop that will build to factory spec with your used components (Crank, Pistons, Rods) as long as yours aren't damaged.
If you need a bottom end rebuild at all.
Cylinder walls on my 213k mile short block still looked perfect, even with the abuse I put it through. And had I not intended to do a turbo build, I would have just slapped a new Head on it and kept on going.

As alluded to, 20 ish PSI or less, and under 7000 RPM, OEM is plenty "strong" if that's what your worried about.

 

I have never liked the idea of sintered aluminum rods which iirc is what's in our stock motors. I guess I just am from the school of "while you're in there". I may just source a block and a set of forged rods and pistons. I was hoping to have someone recommended to build it rather than try it myself. But I may just dive in and try my luck...

 

If your going to do upgrade, CP for pistons and Crower for Rods have been a popular choice.
But as alluded to, there aren't just any "go to, one size fits all" builders for our engines.

 

I bought a Remanufactured block from Thumpr a few months ago. I also talked to RMW and Way. I like all 3 and have done business with all 3. I went with Thumpr mainly because he had one ready to ship, and it was for my DD so I couldn't wait longer.

So far no issues, but it's only been a few months. Customer service has been great, but I've also had great (recent) experience with Way and Jan. I agree with previous posts that the bottem end on a stock block is pretty stout. You, don't need, to spend big $ on internals.

 

Thanks for the update. Those are the usual suspects. Glad to hear that thumper worked out well. Mike seems good to work with...

 

1 - You mean "powdered" metal ?
And second...exactly where have you seen powdered..."aluminum" rods ? The rods in my JCW are...steel. Are they powered material, possibly, I don't know. But with todays technology, powdered metal rods will easily stand up to the OEM power of a Mini, and probably as much as 350hp.

Aluminum rods are made by machining aluminum plate, or by forging from a little square piece of billet material.
Better aluminum today is made by the forging method.

Mike

 

Sintered aluminum is a thing, I just may be getting the tritec motor in the mini confused with the tritec srt4 motor. Or more than likely I am completely wrong. I do remember that the bottom end in the tritec is incredibly strong esp compared to stock floating cylinder Honda motors,etc. The rods always being the weak point. Again that's iirc.

I may just go with a stock bottom end. But for a little more investment it seemed wise to ante up for forged parts. Heck, my car has only 58k on it. Maybe I'll just pull it, check rings and bearings and freshen it up. I plan on keeping this car forever if possible.

 

You guys might be right. I may be wasting time going all forged. The stock bottom end mat very well be all I pursue. Thanks again for the input...