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***Mattyd DC5R Blog

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    ***Mattyd DC5R Blog

    Hey Guys,

    Following in the same style as Charger and Mugsee, I thought I would start my own blog for the Mods done to my DC5R.

    There are a few things lacking images, so you can use your imagination.

    IN THE BEGINING

    It was about 4 years ago that I purchased my DC5R. I bought it used with about 60,000kms. It had some custom exhaust, a shitty SRI intake and some King lowering springs. It did me well while i was getting used to the car. I changed to a fujitsubo RM01 cat back and i was happy.
    Then dreaded things started happening. It was buring oil profusely, which ended up being about 1 litre per 1000kms... so as any normal person did i had it inspected. First thinking it was the valve stemseals that had gone, I put it in the shop to have a look.
    What we found was devastating, Burnt valves, valves that werent straight (sort of like a zig zag pattern), there was bugger all tension on the pistion rings and the pistons were able to move side to side with a slight touch of hand. We we all amazed that the engine was still running. ( a testament to the engineering from Honda). What we also found was that the head had previously been off the car before. I was as if a shitty slap up rebuild had been completed after an over rev of the engine. We didnt even know what could be salvaged
    At the same time, up opened the catalouges, and we started shopping.
    Financing this build my self was massive. I dont recommend this type of modification unless you are really open to being broke and spending every last cent you have available.

    We knew we had to replace the bottom end, and we decided to keep it N/A and push it for all it was worth. We decided on a set of Toda oversize High comp pistons, Eagle Rods and a lightened and balanced standard Crank to handle the bottom end duties. Up top we went for Toda Spec C cams, Toda valve springs, Honda OEM Valves and Buddy club Ti Retainers.

    At this point in time (im taking 3 years ago) the knowledge in Australia and the availabilty of parts for the k20 were offered by only a few. We couldnt be picky when sourcing, as there wasnt much available. We chose the best of what we could. Toda being the best still imo.

    To finish off the car, a set of Toda Headers with Welded in Metal Cat, JDM Yard Baffled sump, RC 550cc Injectors, and a Hondata tune the car managed a very potent 175.5fwkw @ 8500rpm with a red line of 9200rpm.
    There is more potential power to be gained, and it will be as time and money go on.


    I was in love... driving the car after the final tune was something awe inspiring. The time, the heartache, the money was all worth it at that moment. Hell it is still worth it now.

    After being forced into completing all Engine mods first, i started noticing the inadequacies of other components of the car. Other than the whiteline front sway bar that had to do in for the header install there were no other right suspension upgrades.

    When blasting in first gear, the front drivers side wheel would basically pound the inner guard when grabbing for traction. This wasnt fun. I fitted HKS Hypermax II coils, Energy suspension mount inserts, and an ingalls engine dampner. After a few plays with the coils I got the suspension just the way i like to drive it, plenty of feel on the turn in, plenty of grip, and a slight oversteer feeling at the rear. No so much as to lose it around corners, but just enough to know that the back still has grip.
    i dont know the exact settings, they are buried somewhere deep in my glovebox.

    That was the car until a few months ago....
    Last edited by mattyd; 01-08-09, 11:03 PM.
    skinned knuckle racing

    #2
    PART 2

    Driving my car in its above described vise for about 2 years and I was loving it. The sound that the engine makes when it hits 9000rpm made me feel better that any song could. ( im a massive muso and love music, ive been playing drums for about 12 years). Snapping through gears, in the cabin i knew the hellish sound i was unleashing, scaring old ladies and getting looks of awe that my standard looking car could spin so fast and sound so fucking raw.

    quick throttle response, instant acceleration, and being able to pull in any gear with minimal effort. cruising in 6th on the freeway is now so much fun.

    After the motor was complete and driving for a few weeks, i noticed that this engine was getting hot... oil temps were getting to about 100 degrees in a short amount of time. So we fitted an oil cooler, and it did do its job nicely, with about a 10 to 15 degree drop in temps which meant a slight increase in oil pressure too. I didnt feel like the engine was going to suffer heat exhaustion as much when giving it a hard time on certain twisty roads.
    This set up last about a year, before i pulled out the stock oiling system.. and went for a DRY SUMP SET UP...

    I knew from postings on k20a.org that as much as we didnt want to it admit it, there was a way that this seemingly indestructable engine combo could fail at high rpm. With the stock oil pump being geared so highly that at 9000rpm, the oil pump is spinning at 14,000rpm.... thus whipping the oil into a foamy milkshake of engine killing, useless liquid. They also identified that the head, when on idle and before vtc is actuated sees only less than 10% of base oil pressure... think about it.. warm oil at idles is about 40psi.. the head is receiving less than 4 psi... and with the heavy duty valve springs and lumpy toda cams, it just wasnt going to cut it.
    We tossed up the idea of fitting a dry sump and started finding a few kits on offer from clockwise racing, pace and adr. The benefits and cost of the dry sump system beat the alternaative of fitting an f20c oil pump and k24 oil pan because the parts were all custom adjusted in the U.S and cost relatively the same to purchase as the dry sump, but without the added benefits. SO we chose thee Pace system and waited the 2 months of shipping time from the UK.

    It finally arrived and we started to measure up what we wanted and get fabricating from there.. here are the results....







    and the pump





    When I bought the kit, and showing the images to my mechanic we thought it would be a bolt on affair. All the brakets were supplied, all we had to puchase on top was a tank, lines, oil cooler, and filter block adapter.... we were wrong. It seems that the kit, no matter how much Pace say it will, will not fit on a FWD car, on the exhaust side of the engine as the driveshafts are right where the pump is mounted.... So my mechanic and master fabricator went about fitting this into the confines of my engine bay... and as you can see from the images, he did an awesome job of keeping pretty much everything out of the line of site...



    He also custom made an oil tank to fit within the engine bay in the space where the battery used to be.. and as you can again see, it is genious how it all fits behind the head light, yet will hold 8 to 10 liters of fresh oil to be circulated through the engine... and subseqently keep oil temps down to a minimum..






    So the oil block adapter comes from the NASCAR racing series out of states, being a billet piece of aluminium and machined out to what you see here. Pressure on another line out can also be adjusted, but until further mods to the oiling system are completed, is current blocked off.
    Also what has come from the NASCAR series is a new oil cooler.. there is still more...................................... part 3
    Last edited by mattyd; 01-08-09, 11:03 PM.
    skinned knuckle racing

    Comment


      #3
      nice write up, waitting for the part 2 and photos
      Project: DC5R>>S2000>>NSX

      Comment


        #4
        you f@#kin tease! come on, part 2 and photos now
        02 Indy Yellow s2000::::::04 Arctic Blue Pearl DC5R::::::05 White B2600::::::10 Ibis White Q5

        Comment


          #5
          Nice work Matt! In for pics and part 2.

          Comment


            #6
            nice write up! looking forward to reading more!
            183.2KW ATW
            BUILT BY DR HONDA
            Tuned by INSIGHT MOTORSPORT

            12.44@109.9mph

            Comment


              #7
              less talk more pictures!!!!!!

              Comment


                #8
                part 3 continues..........

                now the oil cooler is massive, and it is thick.. keeping oil temps to below 50 degrees when cruising the freeways



                We also sourced info from k20a.org on the cam tower oiling mod, and the gutsy fabricator my mechanic is, took the number 5 cam cap and milled a journal for increased oil flow... he also tapped a thread into the cam cap for an independent oil feed coming straight from the block, the head is now seeing the same oil pressure as what is flowing through the block. Also had to block the the standard 2mm holes in the cam cap 2 where the oil flows from. I will post more images of this later.




                A custom breather tank had to be fabricated to fit into the engine bay and be standard looking lol






                think that is it???
                nope... check out part 4
                skinned knuckle racing

                Comment


                  #9
                  PART 4...

                  always part of the plan was an airbox to get rid of the shitty SRI that i previously had.
                  Putting his fabricating skills up to the test againn here are the results









                  my mechanics head in the reflection lol




                  The airbox is awesome. A massive panel filter is ensuring that there is no restriction to flow, and the cold air is taken from underneath the car. There is a velocity stack welded into the lid, and the box size has been calculated to pick up power in the lower and mid range, and the 4' cold air feed supplies more than enough cold air so the top end doesnt suffer.. and with the shortest route possible to the throttle body, it has increased the sharpness of the throttle... it is nothing short of fantastic.
                  Last edited by mattyd; 01-08-09, 11:04 PM.
                  skinned knuckle racing

                  Comment


                    #10
                    more shots of the airbox






                    This is the end of the current bout of mods.
                    The Dry sump is fantastic, the airbox is great and the combo of these two has again transformed the feeling of power in the car. It has picked up power everywhere in the rev range and feels so solid to drive. The engine revs so freely and smoothly all the way up to redline and feels like it may have another 1000rpm in it.
                    The flow on effect of having an over adequate oiling system is fantastic, I am extremely confident of taking the car all the way to red line and throwing it hard through long corners, it feels like a different engine.

                    Sorry about some of the image quality, they were taken usually on my phone camera as it was all i would remember to bring with me on my weekly visits. I took some more photos today of a higher quality and look slightly more artistic and will post them up later.

                    When i wash my car next i will post some full car shots.

                    so stay tuned in the coming days for PART 5
                    skinned knuckle racing

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Nice write up and review of your car and its mods Matty!

                      Looking forward to seeing your future progression.
                      Official ClubITR Sponsor: www.autosphere.com.au - For all your maintenance, oils and track needs.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        yeah, what mugsee said
                        k20A DC2R

                        Comment


                          #13
                          fk JDM, DIY all the way!!!

                          i have lots of questions in my mind though...

                          main one is - is there only one dash 8 breather outlet? or is it dash 10? seems tiny?
                          ... retired/

                          Comment


                            #14
                            PS - not being negative, i LOVE what you have done!!!!111 drysump is just soooo awesome for reliability!!!

                            just interested in how such a tiny outlet on the rocker cover lets it breath enough at 9k+
                            ... retired/

                            Comment


                              #15
                              whoa.. awesome write up!
                              ClubITR | Like

                              Comment

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