B16 Allspeed std roundnose

[jsouroufis]

Just wait until I actually test it on the road and review back, but the feel with the engine off looks very promising!
Unfortunately the radiator is not ready..
Wish I had a TIG in times likes this..relying on others for small bits and pieces is really annoying!
A TIG is the thing missing in my garage but never found myself justify buying one until this built..maybe its time to practise and invest

[jsouroufis]

Received the rad and it's mostly fitted. I'm missing the new hoses (hopefully today) and a bottom mount to hold it in place.

the baffle



filler neck moved on top



lower neck and drain plug



a bit of cutting



almost there. It sits more level but it doesn't have the bottom mount to hold it in place, but it sits very well. The slam panel and grille were already a little trimmed for the previous rad I had, so no further cutting is needed. They all fit quite well.



subframe clearence



cut the shroud to clear the frame



a lot of space for the shroud and fan!

[Oz]

Does the bonnet close with the rad cap where it is ? It looks like it sticks up quite high

[jsouroufis]

Marginally! Maybe less than 1mm gap
I'll see tonight once I have it's final position since i'll try to make it sit just a little bit lower eitherway.

[Oz]

I've got a star shaped crack in the paint on my F/G bonnet where the rad has expanded just enough to push on the underside of the bonnet when it gets hot so just watch for that if you haven't got a huge amount of clearance there.

Can I ask why the rad has been made with the tanks at the sides ? It's just if I were making it I'd have put the tanks at the top and the bottom like the standard Honda rad so I could have the filler cap out the back of the rad at the very top of the tank (highest point) and the top and bottom tanks would give some options to where the top and bottom hose outlet are. Also this way there is less likely to be any trapped air as the cap outlet would be at the highest point. Just keep an eye out for overheating as this may actually be caused by trapped air rather than an issue with the cooling capacity of the rad.

Also are you running any sort of expansion tank ?

[jsouroufis]

Good to know, didn't think about any expansion of the rad! Thanks!

A few reasons I went with this setup:
-upper and lower tanks gave me smaller surface area with direct air flow. Measured with a cardboard, i have almost 300 cm^2 more than the previous rad and about 100 cm^2 more if the same rad had the tanks up and down.
-I wanted a dual pass radiator to force any coolant trapped beside the wing/headlamp though the core that has direct airflow.
-so the easiest way to make a dual pass was to rotate the honda rad 90 degrees and baffle one side.
-the radiator was cheap. Not a very good point but wanted to check if this dual pass system will work before making another custom one. (already had 2!)
-You're right about the cap thought. I had it like this in the previous rad. It makes it easier and safer.
But I don't worry about air in the system that much, even with the previous rad, I put the coolant with the front of the car slightly raised. Bleed the system as per Honda instructions and was ok.

Yes, I have the Del Sol expansion tank.

Surely if i had a clubman or extended front, i would just leave the honda radiator with the tanks up and down, but now i had to get creative. Hope it works, i'll know in a few hours, after work.

[Oz]

Cool, its always good to see other peoples thoughts processes for these sorts of tricky situations

Good luck when you get it started and test it

[jsouroufis]

Cheers man! Also happy for any comments/concerns/ideas!!

[jsouroufis]

Radiator fitted. Made the mounts, hood close properly, new hoses etc.

Turn it on to take it for a ride, check for leaks all good!

Sit in the car, 1st gear aaaaaandd, not engaging very good...hmm
Short ride and something feels wrong..the clutch is too light.

Back home and after inspection the HRB split some fluid.

Go to clutchamasters website, came across the installation pdf, it mentions the clearance between the bearing and diaphragm should be around 0.150'. Wait, what clearance? Look for the box, no specific instructions like this. No shims either! I was assured from a Clutchmasters rep that it will work!

Now, I will remove the radiator and measure my clearance.
If it's off, then what? Drop the engine again? No way!

Maybe put some kind of spacer behind the HRB from the hole on the trans without removing the hole frame/engine again.

On the plus side, during this small test ride, the radiator worked fantastic! Even with the kind of hot weather, it kept the temps below 90c. Didn't thrash it thought.

LS 5th gear also feel good! 3rd and 4th not much different.

Pics and further review once i'll figure out what to do now with the HRB..

[Oz]

Aw man, I feel for you It is a bit odd that there are not really any decent Installation Instructions. Does it suggest how you measure the clearance ? Once everything is bolted up it doesn't look like there is much room through the clutch actuator arm hole to measure this in a meaningful way. It does sound like spacers under the bearing does sound the only option for you but you'd expect that if spacers were required they'd provide them. Have you contacted them since you discovered this issue ? I'd do so just in case there is an issue with your bearing. One thing I've learnt over the years is never assume something works just because it's brand new

EDIT - I've just read the Install Instruction on their Website and it says that more shims are provided. Definitely get on the phone to them and find out what's going on but I'm afraid it does look like you'll need to get the engine and box out and do this on the floor

[jsouroufis]

Yes, Oz, these instructions were not included! Neither any kind of shims! Also, take a look at their other instruction for the HRB, they are the same! Not excactly specific for the B series.

They say:

Unit includes the following:

Aluminum Housing and Piston
High Speed Roller Bearing
Steel Braided lines

Already contact them and waiting for the reply!

Yes the clearance is very small and difficult to measure but i'm hoping that mine should be bigger than 0.175" to be obvious by naked eye or at least to know if the clearance is the problem in the first place.

Bummer really if I need to remove the engine again..

[Oz]

Actually there is one other thing that concerns me on this installation. It is not bolted in place it instead appears to just slip over an rubber o-ring which holds it in place. Now if you set the clearance on the "bench" then I would expect that after some use having God-knows how much PSI pressing against it the bear will surely shift backwards and settle on the o-ring which may also compress a bit so the clearance potentially should be re-checked after some running.

[jsouroufis]

Originally Posted by Oz

Actually there is one other thing that concerns me on this installation. It is not bolted in place it instead appears to just slip over an rubber o-ring which holds it in place. Now if you set the clearance on the "bench" then I would expect that after some use having God-knows how much PSI pressing against it the bear will surely shift backwards and settle on the o-ring which may also compress a bit so the clearance potentially should be re-checked after some running.

Oz, the bearing is secured in place with one bolt (where the fork(?) from the normal slave cylinder sits). Don't wory about the O-ring, it's flat in the back plate.

Anyway, I measured my clearance and it was 4,8 mm (0.189''). The max clearance they say is 4,44 mm (0.175''). Now, the max the bearing can open is 0.250''. If we assume that the clearance should be 0.150'', then the pressure plate presses the clutch further 0.1''? Is this how much it takes to engage/disengage?
If so, then I have overthrown the Bearing by (0.189+0.1)-0.250=0.039''. It could be enough for the bearing to leak..?

I'll put a 0.04-0.05'' spacer behind the HRB and see how it'll work.
Luckily, a friend is turbocharging his b16, so i can fabricate a spacer and test it on his box without having to remove mine! It will be a "U" shape to go around the input shaft.

If nothing works, then I think it's time to make my front end removable..Don't want to but it's a pain to remove the engine and already done it too many times..

[Kam]

What a pain, that clutch installation should not be that complicated or without instructions if its out of the ordinary

Hopefully they will come good!

On another note what size wheels are you using with this? Is that 12's?

How you finding it with the 4.05 M factory Final? I know you have changed the gears but it must still be crazy short?

[jsouroufis]

I am yet to try and fix it, looking for some inspiration!
That's what i thought. It was supposed to be a straight forward swap but apparently after a bit of research most hydraulic release bearings need strict clearances, universal or not.

These are 13's. I'm very happy with the transmission setup! The longer 3rd and 4th didn't make any noticeable difference until 3000rpm but the 5th did! Even at 100 kph from the small test ride, i was about 500 rpm lower.
Also as a reference, the previous 4th gear (1.107) put 180 kph@~9100 measured with GPS.
I have a video somewhere with the 3rd and 4th up to revlimit.

I believe that the maximum longer FD should be 4.0 for our vtec minis and an LS 5th gear.
If I were to do it again I'd go from the start with an S9B (LSD) and swap the 5th.
Even at the track, I think that the weight of the mini would outperform any benefit from a shorter combination while loosing time changing gears.

Just my thoughts. Interested to hear others experience and opinions!