Hi all,
I owned many sports cars before and even an ap1 s2k 2 years ago. After long consideration I bought myself an S2000 again for a long term fun project. The car came in great spec with BC coilovers iNvidia exhaust etc but the bottom end has a slight knock (reckon it’s the big end bearings, but will inspect once disassembled)
Had trouble selecting the correct section but went for the S/C forum as I’m tempted more by the S/C idea.

So my question is:
What is the best combination of parts for an s2000 F20 engine?
Since it needs to come apart I would like to replace the major parts with something improved and either build a:
high revving beasty N/A (more head work, high compression, high flowing intake/exhaust) In this case everything needs to be very precise and some bits cost a small fortune (Cams? ITB? Or a bigger intake manifold etc) guess I could only expect around 250-280bhp going this way?
S/C prepared- head port and polish, but original cams, valves etc, low compression pistons, stronger rods and have a bigger investment in the charger later on (run it in n/a and after doing around 2-5k miles install the charger) I would be happy with 300-350bhp so don’t want a uncontrollable beast, just want a nice reliable car that can be used daily and good enough for some track fun.

All the auxiliary mods will be done as well- mishimoto rad, silicone coolant pipes, new gasets etc

So in your opinion what would be a more fun route? I’m building it for myself and planning to do most of these things myself so would need a nice repair manual (Haynes? Bentley? What is the best one available for an s2k?) What internals are you running in your modified s2k’s?

I’m budgeting around £2000 only for parts (without S/C) so should be a good enough budget to build myself a nice F20 motor 

Any advice, suggestions, your custom engine specs welcome!!
Thanks!
Dimitry

 

If your goal is less than 500 whp, just use a bone stock motor. Nothing else will come close to matching its reliability, and it will take that power level for many years.

 

It needs a rebuild anyway so I might aswell spend a few quid extra to make it better I guess? + I budgeted for performance parts as the car didnt stand me much in the first place

 

For s/c just keep the block stock. You will be fine.

 

I'm about to rebuild a motor you know where to get the parts you will get everything you need to build a new bottom end for less than £2000,is that Gbp£ ?.

I'd put a new crank,con rods, oil pump, chains,pistons.Depending if your going forced induction or not will depend on the direction you need to go with pistons ect.

Mine is being built for a Turbo so I already know the direction I need to go.you need to make the decision before you start.

 

2.4l stroker!

 

I'm 90% convinced I want to supercharge it the stroker kit would be nice but you cant replace the lovely sounds F/I makes and the power gains are limitless (I only want 300-400 tops so should be fine)
the 2000 is indeed Gbp and I was thinking:
New:
rods (stronger ones), oil pump, chains, tensioners, pistons (Wiseco? low compression?),rings,bearings (stronger ones), ARP studs, similar to stock thickness HG, valve seals?(not sure how they are called), have the head rebuilt- ported and polished at the same time.
But reuse
Crankshaft (don't see a reason to change it?), valves, cams etc in the head

Also was thinking to add:
An oil cooler (is it worth it?) and one of these crank balancers (not too sure how they are called, round thing with fluid inside- heard it balances the engine better)

I might sound a bit newbie as my original plan was to stroke my e34 from 2.5 to 3.1 and turbo it(knew everything about it), already had the stroker kit but I reconsidered at the very last moment and sold it so I could go for something a bit more special- and got a S2K (which I'm still slowly doing the research and give it the looks every time I walk to the garage as the big ends are gone and I cant enjoy it YET :>)

 

The factory motor is good for 500-600 whp, comfortably. Rebuilt motors seldom have the long term reliability of factory built f20's. So again, why do you want to spend the money changing out parts inside the motor?

 

ok spent around 2h reading and it seems that anything inside the block is limited to FRM...
Almost all the piston selection needs custom sleeves (+ finding a custom shop to redo them = big ££££)
What makes it even worse a nice kit popped up for sale
Including (around 500$ asking price atm) :
Honda S2000 CP pistons and BC forged conrods.
Standard 87mm bore size. 9.1 compression.
Bought to build a low compression turbo engine but have since lost interest.
Supertech block guard
Cometic 2mm head gasket
Arp head studs

As I understand CP pistons will not work with FRM sleeves, the bore size can be different (can only find out once I open the engine? + see if it needs any work)
Didn't see many people using block guards.. (did research and it seems that it makes the block stronger but can cause more heat... so I guess its a no no as well?)
So out of that kit I could use- conrods? head gasket and studs? (all are new)

After all of this research and your comments- going OEM seems to be the best option... I am not experienced in engine building and only did it as a hobby before (the e34 bmw was a lot less complicated with an iron block and parts fitting from the newer 3.0 model which kept the cost down and was not too complex). Only asking all of this as if the engine is coming apart, I would like to invest more in it to have future potential(supercharger)+better reliability.


So if I go for the OEM setup, would I benefit form any of the parts I found in the kit? What would i have to replace once the engine is apart to make it more future proof? (stronger bearings? stronger rods? arp studs? new rings.)

Thanks for all your feedback/suggestions! really appreciate it!

 

Oil cooler is always good,I paid around £1300 for inlinePRO 6.6mm valve train set up and X beam rods,you won't need to go that far,I've got a Turbo ported/built head ill have for sale around xmas time.Ive got Toda timing and oil pump chains,oem chain guides,balladssport tct,oem oil pump, new oil sprayers and bolts on there way.

I'm not sure weather to stick with oem mains/big ends or not.You will get away with an oem head gasket.

I got all my oem stuff from Japan through Matt@injection imports,a trader on here and a great guy to deal with.All my souped up bits I got from Bernard Jjautowerks,another great guy to deal with.Speak to both of these if you are buying new parts.Drop me a pm if there is anything I can help/advise you on,I'm no expert but I believe the only way to to a job is to do it right......and good luck.

Oh and that crank balancer filled with fluid is called a fluid damper,bloody expensive for what they are and I'm not sure of there benefits.....having said that I've got one.