Strenghtening the D-Series Bottom-end on a budget

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D-Series Guide: Bottom end build up on a budget
Contributed by rolldub

I know that there are many of you on this board are interested in running high boost on their SOHC and are looking for ways to strengthen their motors. This guide is simply a compilation of information I've gathered during my countless hours of surfing this board and others. This mainly focuses on a few budget minded ways of building the bottom end of a D-series engine.

B18B parts integration

Upgraded bottom end components:
-LS rods with stock SOHC pistons
-LS rods can be found cheap as well as d16 pistons
-Big end bore width milled to match D16 crank's rod journals. Small end bore bushed to match D16 piston's smaller pin size. The difference in big-end width is about 0.035". The pin on the LS pistons is 0.826", the pin on the D16 pistons is 0.748. You need the custom made bushing that crower sells.

Approximate Cost:
-4 LS rods rebushed= $32
-Custom bushings from Crower= $32
-Mill the sides of the large end of the 4 rods to fit crank= $35
-Remove LS pistons from rods, remove Y8 pistons from rods and put Y8 pistons on LS rods= $40
Total: $139

This set-up is probably good for about 250-300 hp, of course, this only as strong as your tuning effectiveness.

B16A Pistons matched with non-US Supra 1G-GTE pistons

Not too much is known about this set-up but is supposedly used widely in Thailand. This is information has been gathered from Turbopanda. He sells this set-up for about $400. This set-up will net a lower compression ratio.

If you grab a D16Y8 connecting rod, and a B16A connecting rod, and put them side-by-side, the D-series rods are toothpicks compared to the B16A rods. The Toyota pistons' height make up for the length of the rod, that's why it’s still usable in a D series engine.

D16 pistons are 75mm. 1G-GTE supra pistons are also 75mm. B16A rods are a lot stronger than D16 rods, and can handle boost way better. The rods are modified in order to accept the Toyota pistons.

Prices per Turbopanda:
-4 used pistons ($113.40) + 4 new piston rings ($46.60) + 4 connecting rods ($95) + machinework ($65) + shipping costs ($95) = $415 total.

-6 used pistons ($170) + 6 new piston rings ($70) + 4 connecting rods ($95) + machinework ($65) + shipping costs ($95) = $495 total.
(shipping prices are from Thailand)

This seems to be a good set-up as the supra pistons are forged and not cast. And B16a pistons have been known to hold some good HP levels.

Stock pistons on Eagle rods
This set-up is not often used because when most people go through the trouble of replacing the connecting rods they will go ahead and get forged pistons. Thing is piston usually cost 400$ and up. So this is a deterrent.

A machine shop can machine grooves into stock pistons so that it can accept aftermarket clips. This will allow you to use an Eagle rod or any other aftermarket rod with a floating pin.
-Eagle Rods= 325$
-Machine work= 25-75$

Block Posting

This is a great way of reinforcing the stock open deck sleeves. This is an alternative to full re-sleeving for the budget minded individual. Endyn does block posting for about 250-400$. You can also do it yourself. This is best illustrated here:

http://www.muller.net/sonny/crx/
and more from www.homemadeturbo.com

Using aluminum studs to support the sleeves under boost conditions, this is what Larry Widmer supposedly uses on his 25psi Daily Driven Civic. These are Alot better then controversial blockguards since they dont take away the cooling from the top of the cylinder.

I hope this proves to be useful to some of you out

-This awesome compilation was a result of long hours of researched conducted by Rolldub-