Show Me the Number, B16B on the spot

There will be a lot of individual opinions when it comes to "Which is the greatest 1.6L atmo-fed production motor ever" question. Some may say Nissan's SR16 VVL N1, plenty of Mitsi die-hard will say MIVEC and Toyota hardcore fan will bet on their 20-valve 4AGEs. My vote is to the legendary ass-kicking Honda B16B; which came with CTR EK9. Available worldwide (even though it was produced as a JDM; go thank your local junkyard), this masterpiece is a re-work of an already good engine; B16A.

Take note that swapping B16B head into B16A will not make it a Type-R, not even close to it. The internals for B16B were far way better from what the stock B16A is having. Plenty of vital parts right from the top of the cylinder head down to the bottom of the block (which actually is a de-stroke version from Integra's B18CR block) were revised to create this 8400 rpm screamer with an ass-whipping 185ps on the fly. Check out the specification below.
* direct translation
** credit to http://asia.vtec.net/

In order to increase the power output by 15 hp, and the max RPM by 200RPM, the engine goes through many upgrades. It should be noted that the B18C spec.R's cylinder block is used for its endurance.

The translations for the numbered labels in the diagram are:

1. Cylinder Head - Complete port & polish
2. Exhaust Valve Spring - High-lift, dual-layered spring
3. Sparkplug - High-heat-type #7 platinum plug
4. Pistons - High-compression, low-friction, custom pistons
5. Connecting Rod - High-output, high-durability, lightened, custom conrod
6. Engine Stiffener - Aluminum die-cast, high-durability, one-piece type
7. Crankshaft - Full-balancer, 8-weight, high-output, custom crankshaft
8. Inlet Valves - Lightened inlet valves
9. Inlet Valve Springs - High-lift, flat-surfaced, dual-layered spring
10. Camshaft - Wide-angled, high-lift, high-durability camshaft
11. Intake Manifold - High-RPM type.

Engine specifications between 4G92, B16A and B16B.

The camshaft profiles (wild cam) change from 4G92, B16A 160ps to 170ps and finally to B16B are :

If It Is Broken, Go Fix It

From my poor analytical observation, I think the engine is not in it's prime condition anymore. Nobody is keen enough to have a serious fuel drinker and oil burner car; it is a signal for some refreshments need to be done; top overhaul. Textbook says, 'top overhaul is meant the lapping of valves and the making of necessary repairs of those parts on the crankcase which are accessible without disassembling the crankcase. It includes the removal of cylinders, pistons, piston rings and valve gear for replacement or service'. The cam belt was retained since it just being used for ard 8000 km. The old clucth slipped whenever I push the car hard so a new clutch set is needed then. The condition under the valve cover is quite ok. Some oil residue and varnish indicates the previous owner seems to neglected the service routine quite a bit; stretching his oil change interval a bit too long. But it wasn't that bad as there was no indication for sludge.

The main bearings were good but the rings showed it's age, so I went for a new set of stock sized piston ring replacing the old one. The cylinder head is key to the performance of the internal combustion engine, it determines a major portion of the volumetric effeciency and compression ratio of the engine. So a leaky valves are a big no-no as they do not act as a 'sealer' as it supposed to due to carbon build up. Valve need to 'seat' on the port passage without any crap in between them. So valve grinding and seating was done. Throttle body was cleaned, inlet manifold was flushed with chemical to get rid of the harden oily junk inside, pcv valve inspected, cam tray chemically washed, all seals were replaced and new gaskets (head, intake/exhaust manifold, throttle body & valve cover).

I'm not a fan of thick motor oil but in this case, I opted to use ENEOS conventional 20W-50 motor oil for the break in period. Gearbox was fill with some 80W-90 Arrow 'whatever..' gear oil and coolant is a mix of water and Totoya Long Life Coolant. Oh, yea.. I manage to paint my cover rocker to matte black just to match with the plug cover.

MIVEC, VTEC & VVT Comparison

A video which comparing MIVEC, VTEC and VVT in term of design and it's functionality. In Japanese language though.

Credit to mivec.co.nz

Time sWarp

Bought this front-cut of Mirage Cyborg back in 2006. The dashboard wasn't good in conditon (a lot of cracks and tears) so i opted a 'new' dashboard along with A/C climate control (mine came with the manual control unit) and rear disc brake. Plus, the usual item in the 'package' were gearbox, wiring, ecu, whole aircond unit, clusters and fuel tank. It costed me RM6400. I managed to trade my 4G13 engine with gearbox for RM700.

I bet everybody knew (especially Proton's kaki) the technical spec for this infamous 'vtec-version' of Mitsubishi engine. For you who 1) drives hi-tech European cars which not only freaking fast but also came with super safety features, and 2) don't give a crap about cheap Japanese cars, here's the spec.

Engine 1.6L 4 cyclinder DOHC 16-valve MIVEC
Model 4G92 (Gen. 1)
Capacity 1597cc
Bore 81mm
Stroke 77.5 mm
Compression Ratio 11:1
Valve Timing Intake : Open (BTDC) 17' (primary cam) / 47.5' (secondary cam) Close (ABDC) 31' (primary cam) / 72.5' (secondary cam)
Exhaust : Open (BBDC) 41' (primary cam) / 70' (secondary cam) Close (ATDC) 11' (primary cam) / 35' (secondary cam)
Cam Spec Intake : duration : 228' / lift : 7.58mm (primary cam) 285' / 10.41mm (secondary cam)
Exhaust : duration : 232' / 8.24mm (primary cam) 300' / 9.83mm (secondary cam)
Maximum Power 175ps @ 7500rpm
Maximum Torque 17.0kg/m @ 7000rpm

TRANSMISSION
Manual 5-speed

Gear Ratio:

1..........3.083
2..........1.947
3..........1.285
4..........0.939
5..........0.756
R..........3.083

FDR......4.592

Yea, it's no brainer to compare with the latest M3 or Porsche's 911T with VTG engines, but pair it with a light chassis, this is quite a pocket rocket. The happy-revving engine came with short-ratio gearbox. The individual gear ratio is actually the same like 1.6L or 1.8L Mitsu 4G9X ratios, only the final drive on the MIVEC version is bigger hence the shorter ratio. In my opinion, that's what makes this engine not up the par with Honda's B-series which came with "more-revised" gear ratios. Nevertheless, this is the only atmo-fed 8200rpm screamer from Mitsu. Came also with the front cut was a set of front SR damper complete with coils. Since money was a big big concern for me at that time, I use the ugly looking absorber which turn out to perform like charm. It was stiff enough to handle the car with no funny 'aging-symptom' noise. The at rear, me being so poor opted to re-use back my factory APM damper. Kinda scary when the car travel above 120km/h. You will feel like you're no longer on a car, more like on a boat. Alas, cheap cars + poor owner..

*sighing.. yet again