The problem with my motor was diagnosed by two known mechanics. They told me the problem was "a rocking/dancing piston".Hence, the loud knocking sound coming from the hood. So now i basically need a new motor. First, i have 4000 to spend, i actually have 5000 but i would like to spend only 4000. The first mechanic told me he would charge me 5000 and he would sleeve the block, port and polish the head and put forged pistons. What i dont like is that he told me "ohhh just give me the 5000 and you'll have a bad aSS motor. Now i went on ebay and the prices ranged from 3500 to 4000 but i would need to add the labor cost. So im still looking at 5000, now the problem with buying a used motor is the fortune cookie theory. I dont have the money to make mistakes. My question to you guys is
-Do i go with the guy charging me 5000 to build a Bad Ass motor (he also said he would guarantee his work and would write it in paper).
- Or do i buy a used motor and pray everything is well with it ?

THanks

 

Go to your local forum and ask about a respectable tuner in the area. If you guy's store/name comes up, go with the local tuner. I live in the Tampa area and can personnaly vouch for S&R. Jeff and Bobby are great. Both extremely professional and went out of their way to make things right. Quality service by a local is worth the 5K!

 

If the problem is isolated to the rotating assembly and your head is good, I would order a new shortblock from hondaautomotiveparts.com for $2076.17. Another option is a used junkyard motor. I paid $3k for a complete F22 with accessories that had 23k miles on it. You can find used motors in the $2500-$3k range with low miles. If you're looking to go with a boosted setup, then the sleeve/pistons/etc route may be more appealing.

 

^^agreed it just depends on your future plans for the car is. if its boosted then yes go with the sleeved block and ported head but if its just a normal daily or weekend car just find a low mile motor at a salvage or get the short block from hondasutomotiveparts.com

 

call laskey racing, for 5k you can get a built motor with head shipped to your door with the CR that you want.

i think for 3500 you can get the shortblock again with the CR you want shipped to your door assembled. just slap your head on and bam, ready to rock.

 

"built" engines dont last as long as factory ones. thats something you should factor in before blowing your money on a built engine. aftermarket forged pistons dont last as long as oem.

 

that makes no sense. do you have proof to back this up? my buddy has a built h22 motor in his accord and has 20k miles on it so far with zero problems and it still compressions tests perfect.

the built motor is resleeved, and pistons are new with new rings. new rods. if you dont run it on the ragged edge it will last just fine.

 

aftermarket forged pistons wear out faster than oem. and im not saying they will wear out in 20k miles. it is dependent on usage but it probably wont last 100k that an oem piston would easily go

 

so your saying aftermarket forged pistons will handle more stress for more horsepower, but won't last as long for normal driving compared to an oem?

Would you care to elaborate more?

 

In my experience over the past 10 years, aftermarket forged pistons / aftermarket piston rings don't last as long as OEM. More power doesn't mean long term endurance. OEM S2000 pistons are already forged, not cast like K series and B series OEM.

Think of it this way, JE, Arias, CP, etc piston companies are 10 to 15 million dollar companies. So therefore they only have X amount of budget for R&D. Honda is a Billion dollar company and has much higher budget for research and development to manufacture the highest grade/long lasting products, which have to satisfy an entire globe of customers. Aftermarket piston companies only have to satisfy a very insignificant percentage of customers by comparison.

In other words, they simply don't have the technology to be better. Sure, they can reverse engineer what Honda has already made / and tweak a spec here and there, but these companies rely on the customers to give them feedback if they did well or not.

My friend used to work for JE pistons. He was a designer for pistons. JE sent him to school for 6 weeks and then put him to work. He still knows almost nothing about engines. He would just set up a design and they would see how they work after being sold to the public. Yes, aftermarket pistons can make you more power, however re-building an engine to be equally reliable as Honda and make more power is very difficult. I have yet to see a rebuilt motor w/ aftermarket internals hit 150k+ miles and have zero oil consumption or sinking sleeve, worn rings, polished bearings etc.

I say find a used low mileage Ap2 motor, complete longblock and have a good mechanic install that. Cost is most effective and you still get a little fun having a 2.2L opposed to a 2.0L. You will also be able to sell your broken longblock for a few hundred for anyone looking to build a stroker / race motor, etc.