DIY Valvetrain (courtesy Erik Loza CRSX)

[davisj3537]

I just finished assembling the the head for my new engine and thought it might make an interesting DIY. To give some background, the tear-down occurred at JustinC's over a year ago. A local member had hydrolocked his K20 and we decided to swap over the beefier valvetrain components into STLunatics K24A2-powered RSX (since that year of TSX motor had much wimpier springs).

This poor K20 met its fate too early, but will be a good parts donor...




Let's start by stripping the head. By this point, we already have removed the cams and cam tray. First, we use the dedicated valve spring popper tool to unseat the keepers from the retainers. You place the end of the tool over the retainer, smack it sharply with a mallet, and the magnets inside grab the keepers as the spring compresses...



You can then simply remove the retainers and springs. Now, we are going to pull the old valve stem seals. These require a special set of pliers to remove....



The engine heat really bakes them onto the valve guides and you have to get a running start to pop them loose. They won't be re-used and can be discarded...



Once the seals are off, we can now remove the spring bases. The surface tension of engine oil really sucks them down, so we again use the special spring popper tool and its internal magnet to remove them. Place the tool over the spring base and spin it with your wrist as you lift, to break the tension. It might take a couple of tries...




OK, we're done! You can now back out the head bolts and remove the head from the engine. Part II, rebuilding, to follow...

[davisj3537]

The head I am rebuilding came from that grenaded K20. This is what it looked like a year ago...



If you look closely, you can see the damage that occurred from PTV (piston-to-valve) contact. I sent the head to a local machine shop for the following treatment:

1.) Pressure wash and hot tank.
2.) Deck the head surface.
3.) Replace damaged seats.
4.) Replace damaged valve guides (with OEM Honda units).
5.) 5-angle valve job.
6.) K-Line bronze-phosphor valve guide sleeves installed.

Here is the head, back from the machine shop and ready for assembly...



Since I will be using OEM Honda cams, all new spring bases and keepers were purchased from a local dealership...



These K20Z3 springs and retainers that I picked up for $60 will be ideal for the build...


Supertech flat-faced valves...



New OEM Honda seals, soaking in clean oil prior to installation. Please note that the intake and exhaust seals are different. Exhaust seems thicker to me (to handle the heat???). They are differentiated by color of the tiny spring. Silver is intake, black is exhaust. Don't mix and match...



The spring bases get dropped in now...



I must have forgotten to take a photo but you want to lightly coat the valve stems in oil before you slide them up into their guides. I used a wadded cloth towel in the combustion chamber to keep the valves up while installing the springs. If you were doing this in-car, compressed air would do the same thing. I recommend doing the valves in pairs. It makes things easier.

Once the valves are in, we can install the valve stem seals. You can use a socket to drive them on but this pair of pliers is the proper tool...




To be continued....

[davisj3537]

Remember: Spring base > stem seal. Now that the valve is in and the seal is on, we can install the spring and retainer with a special in-the-car compressor...





Once the compressed unit is in place, you now install the keepers...




This may seem awkward at first but it gets easier with practice. Here is how I do it:

1.) Position compressed spring unit.
2.) Insert the first keeper from inboard side the head.
3.) Once the first keeper is in, use a tiny pick or pair of forceps to rotate it toward the bottom half of the valve stem.
4.) Now, insert the second keeper exactly as above.
5. Pull up on the whole spring tool and wiggle as you got. You will see the keepers seat themselves. At that point, you may relive the pressure and remove the tool.
One very important note: If you are doing this in-car you must plug the oil drainback holes in the cylinder head with shop towels, etc. You absolutely do not want to drop a keeper down one of those holes!

Once the spring and retainer are properly installed, get your valve spring popper and give the retainer a couple of good, quick taps to seat the keepers. If you didn't seat one right, now is the time to find out...



The exhaust side is done...



Exact same procedure for the intake side and here is the final result...




The head is finished and now ready to be bolted to the short block and have the cam tray and cams installed. Thanks again to JustinC, STLunatic, and Wukillabee for sharing their time and parts and I hope this helps with your future projects.

[shadowmd]

nice write up. that head in the last pic looks purdy!

[Chazwick05]

ugh this is so much easier when the head is off the car. nice writeup!

[Tnhatch03]

awesome find!

[T_Virus]

wow...

[maconperformanc]

nice write up... valves look nice. :)

[02EP3SI]

its a lot easier than it looks.. good write up

[soncep]

1.) Position compressed spring unit.
2.) Insert the first keeper from inboard side the head.
3.) Once the first keeper is in, use a tiny pick or pair of forceps to rotate it toward the bottom half of the valve stem.
4.) Now, insert the second keeper exactly as above.
5. Pull up on the whole spring tool and wiggle as you got. You will see the keepers seat themselves. At that point, you may relive the pressure and remove the tool.
One very important note: If you are doing this in-car you must plug the oil drainback holes in the cylinder head with shop towels, etc. You absolutely do not want to drop a keeper down one of those holes!

Nice write up!
One tick i found to put the retainers is to use vaseline on a small screw driver.
You pick up the retainer with the vaseline dipped scred driver and pop it on the valve stem. The vaseline will make it stick there and your job will be so easy!

[civiCholo]

damn davis... this is one bad ass write up... whoever did it... hahahaaha...