When the guys at Pro Street Import in La Mirada, Calif., called to tell us that their resident wrench turner, "Fat Kid" Aaron, was planning a motor build for his new Sport FWD Class drag car, we knew something cool was in store. They explained that it was an RS Machine-sleeved B18B block using a stock LS crank, Eagle H-beam rods, and Arias 9.5:1 compression pistons. Cool.
| Honda LS/VTEC Engine Build - Big, Bad Boosted B A stout bottom end is one thing, but most power is made in the head. Ricky at Industrial Flow in nearby Carson, heavily modified a GS-R head to fit the nature of this build. Huge square ports on the intake side set this head apart from the rest. A custom valve job, some combustion chamber work, and a port job on the exhaust side ready the head for battle.
Aaron also planned a custom turbo setup capable of 600-wheel hp, the equivalent of three K20A Type-R motors under the hood (almost four times what this motor would make without the boost). The 84mm bore and the stock B18B stroke equate to almost precisely 2.0 liters, so not only will this motor make power, it'll also have gobs of torque on tap. We follow along as Eugene Castro and Fat Kid Aaron build the turbo LS/VTEC of your dreams.
| Eugene has already made all of the measurements required to decide which bearings are necessary in the rod and main journals prior to starting the build. With the measurements done and main bearings in place, he applies Torco assembly lube to each of the five main bearing halves. Refresher Course: LS/VTEC
LS/VTEC setups are so common that it's become too repetitive to show the head preparations every time we follow a build. We figured it was time for a quick refresher course in LS/VTEC head preparation. Eugene modifies the GS-R head slated for Fat Kid's motor.
