Alternator brackets installation. Again, self explanatory. Tighten till tight, duh.:

Time to install the tensioner pulley. make sure to align the spring properly. Then, bolt the pulley down. Don't tighten it all the way just yet, we will need it loose to install the timing belt later.



Last thing to do to the block before we install the head...install the driver's side engine mount bracket. Another no-brainer. Tighten the 3 bolts down till they are tight. It may be to your advantage though to keep them a little loose to give you some room in installing this Bseries into your smaller honda chassis, especially if you have an EF (88-91 civic/crx) chassis like I do.



Block now fully assembled:



Now, we need to begin with the head installation. Make sure you have already installed the oil galley plug into the head and that it sits flush, this is imperative to redirect the oil flow via the external oil lines to activate vtec. Alot of people complain about oil leaks with lsvtec setups. You ask them if they installed this plug and they ask you "what is that"?.....just turn around and walk away. Ok, now the very first thing you need to do is set the block to TDC. This means setting the 1 and 4 pistons to the very top of their stroke. This will aid in the ease of the installation of the timing belt later. You can do this by putting on the crank pulley bolt and tightening it on enough so that when you rotate the crank counter clockwise, it will not come loose. Always rotate the crank counter clockwise! The motor does not naturally spin clockwise, so do not force it to spin that way. Now, there is a mark on the crank gear as well as an arrow on the oil pump. Align the crank gear to this small arrow above the gear and you will notice that the motor becomes set to TDC when the marks are aligned. Now for the head installation...begin by sliding the LS/CRV (90-01 LS or 96-00 CRV, whichever block you have) head gasket over the head studs onto the block. Now install the dowel pins into the exhaust side of the head (for lsvtec motors). Slide the head over the head studs and rest on the block. Make sure the dowel pins line up as this is critical. If the head needs a little persuasion, tap it with a rubber mallet. Next, slide on the ARP washers and nuts. Torque them down to ARP's recommendation (70 ft/lbs on GSR/ITR studs, which is what you use for lsvtec's), not honda's, using the ARP moly lube. But, follow honda's recommended torque sequence. If you bought the studs used, and if you can't find ARP moly lube, use solid 30w oil (not 10w30). If you do this, torque the studs down to 80 ft/lbs, as per ARP's instruction. To torque the head down, you do it in 25 ft/lb increments. First 25 ft/lbs, then 50, then 70 (if using ARP supplied moly lube), or to 75 and then 80 (if using 30w oil). After you torque to the final torque value, go back and retorque in the proper order, to the same final torque value (70 or 80 depending on what lube you use). I like to add 2 ft/lbs to all my head installs because I know they are going to be abused and because I know not every torque wrench is calibrated perfectly. So, in my opinion, you should torque your head to 72 ft/lbs to be sure. Head installed and torqued down:





Vtec solenoid housing and both coolant temp sensors installation. Tighten the coolant temp sensors down until they are fully threaded and tightened; easy enough. The single pin sensor is the sensor for the coolant temp in your gauge cluster, whereas the two pin sensor is used by the ecu to read engine coolant temp, and dictate air/fuel ratio. Torque the solenoid's 10mm bolts down to spec.



Coolant housing installation. Pretty simple; spread a thick bead of RTV where the housing bolts to the head. Torque it's 10mm bolts down to spec.



Cams and cam gears installation. Be careful in choosing cams. GSR cams are great for a stock compression LS block. ITR/CTR cams are also a great upgrade if you can get them for cheap. I believe it's necessary to run AT LEAST ITR dual valve springs with these cams, however, there are some that don't and get away with it. I would caution this though, as I've personally seen two separate motors drop a valve at high rpms with ctr cams/stock b16 valve springs. Other than that, any set of cams you decide to go with is going to require higher compression to make any amount of power. I suggest AT LEAST 11.5:1 compression, if not higher in the 12:1-12.5:1 range (but don't forget to clay your motor for piston to valve clearance). There are plenty of great cams to choose from out there on the market. I would keep it simple and go with the proven cams like Skunk 2 stage 2/3's, Rocket M22x's, Buddy club spec 3/4's, Toda B/C's, or Jun 3's. Tuning will be key to how much power you make. On to the installation. First, make sure you slide the two rubber cam seals that go on the end of the cams behind the cam gears. Then, slide the cam gears onto the cams. Make sure to properly align them with the small woodruff keys, as it is very easy to misplace. Tighten down the cam gears until they cannot be tightened any more. Now the cams. Make sure to apply a GENEROUS amount of assembly lube /cam lube to all the cam lobes and the journals on the cams. This is VERY important. Make sure the cam with the slot on the end goes on the intake side. That slot is for the distributor. Then lay the cams in their respective positions. Here, I am installing a set of Buddy Club Spec III cams:













Cam seal. This one goes at the end of the exhaust cam shaft on the passenger side. Stick it in. Done. (nice shiny one from azracemachine.com)



Installing the cam caps and cam rails. Make sure they are both clean and free of debri. Don't be frightened as to which ones go into which spots. Conveniently, they are all labeled. They have Either an "I" or an "E" on them for intake and exhaust. The caps are also labeled with numbers. Start with "1" on the timing belt side and go from there. On the timing belt side, you must place the cam seals that are behind the cam gears, underneath the first cam caps. These are there so that oil does not leak out from under the cam caps and behind the cam gears. Next, place the rails on the caps. If you look at the underside of the rails, you will be able to see where they lined up with the cam caps to see which one is the intake rail and exhaust rail. Some rails also are stamped with a very faint "I" and "E", but this is not always true. You'll have to see for yourself to know what I am talking about. Now, lube up all of the bolts with 10w30 oil first before you install them as per honda's guidelines. Torque the 12mm's down to 20 ft/lbs and the 10mm's down to 7.2 ft/lbs; follow honda's recommended sequence. Make sure those rubber cam seals stay underneath the first set of cam caps. Installed:



Intake manifold, injectors, and fuel rail installation. ITR/B16 intake manifolds use the same bolt patterns, but GSR heads use a totally different bolt pattern so you must use a GSR intake manifold with them or aftermarket equivalent. I chose to use an ITR intake manifold and the larger ITR throttle body because they just dominate the B16 manifold past 6-7k. But, on the downside, as a general rule, the B16 manifold makes more power upto 6-7k. It just really depends on where you plan on making power. This would also be a good time to buy one of those nice cooler intake manifold gaskets that hondata and passwordjdm make. It is not necessary, but are good for a 1-2 HP increase for only $35-60 which is well worth the money. As for the injectors, contrary to popular belief, ALL Honda B and Dseries motors use the same size injectors (240cc). So, it doesn't matter if you use 92 civic dx injectors or 01 jdm integra type-r injectors, or anything in between, they're all the same size.
Now, align the intake manifold gasket onto the head. Torque down the intake manifold's 12mm to spec. Install the injectors with their rubber gaskets. Then, install the fuel rail. Stick with stock on this, I've seen more problems with casting flaws in aftermarket fuel rails, than you'd care to deal with. Stock honda fuel rails are good for over 500 HP, so don't worry. Remember, keep things simple. Make sure not to overtighten the 10mm nuts holding the fuel rail on. Injectors - I would suggest AT LEAST 310cc injectors for a build reaching 180 whp or more, although it is proven to not be necessary. You will just need to run the stock injectors at an extremely high and inefficient fuel pressure, which would require you to own an FPR to adjust the fuel pressure. Keep in mind, higher fuel pressures are bad for fuel atomization so it's best to run larger injectors in the 40-50 psi range.











Now that the head is installed, we may install the oil line and timing belt. Follow the instructions included with your lsvtec oil line kit, as every kit is different. But, what ever you do, don't forget to teflon tape all fittings! The kit I am using is from full-race.com and is a proven kit. It replaces the factory oil pressure sending unit with a "T" in which the unit and oil line are screwed into. It's simple, and that's why I like it. I like the Golden Eagles oil sandwich adapter, but they include the wrong head gasket in there kits, which is why I will never use one.









Installing the GSR/ITR timing belt (Or LS timing belt if using the LS 19T water pump). Re-verify that the block is still at TDC. Now, rotate your cam gears until the timing marks are aligned (consult your manual for further illustrations and guidance). Once the crank and cams are aligned, you can now install the timing belt. I like to start with sliding it over the cam gears, then work it down over the water pump and tensioner. Then, take the tensioner and pull down on it until it is fully loosened and tighten the 14mm bolt so the tensioner is tightened in the fully loosened position. Slide the belt over the tensioner now and then the crank pulley. Easy. Now, loosen the tensioner with the belt on. Then, use a flat head screw driver or something of the like and use it to wedge the tensioner pulley up while you tighten it's 14mm bolt. Now the belt is tight. But, do not overtighten it as this can cause strain on the motor. Follow your manual to find out how much play is recommended.



Now we can install the lower timing belt cover, crank pulley, alternator and alternator belt. The LS cover will need to be trimmed to fit over the newer oil pump. No biggy. The cover slips on over the crank gear. Tighten all of it's 10mm bolts down tight. Then slide over the crank pulley and make sure to install another one of those pesky woodruff keys. Tighten the crank pulley bolt down to specs. An impact gun will tighten it just fine. Slap the alternator on it's brackets. Don't tighten it down just yet. Slide on the belt, and push out the alternator with a pry bar or the likes. Tighten the upper and lower alternator bolts now. Please do NOT ever use a broken/cracked/chipped crank pulley. It will throw off the balance of the crankshaft and can be detrimental to the oil pumps operation. This would be especially dumb if you paid to get your crankshaft balanced, as I always do, because it would throw off the balance again. The crank pulley installed below is for visual purposes ONLY.



Distributor. Align the inside marks on the back of the distributor (there are a few lines and marks, just line them up). If the motor is still at TDC, the distributor should go on and be timed perfectly. Tighten it's 12mm bolts down. If you are using an LS disributor, you will have to cut off the front mounting leg, as it hits the vtec solenoid housing, and only the upper bolt will line up. Be prepared for a very small oil leak if you do this (nothing to worry about though). This is not a problem because internally, all obd1/2 distributors are identical (timing wise), it's just the mounting legs that are different.



Installing the valve cover. First, make sure to replace all valve cover gaskets with new ones. Slap on the valve cover. Now, put on the grommets, then the 10mm nuts. Tighten them down until they are just past hand tight. Do not overtighten as these are easy to strip.


Last but not least, the spark plug and spark plug wires. If you are using the stock LS pistons, use stock B16 spark plugs. If you are running compression in the 10.8-12.0 range go with one stage colder spark plug (NGK BKR7E). If you are running over 12.0:1 compression as I am, run the two stages colder NGK's (#7173, pictured below). First, gap them to the desired range. You want to have as large as a gap as possible until the ignition can't bridge the gap, which is why it's good to increase the gap with aftermarket ignitions, to achieve it's full spark potential. A good gap to start with is .44. At this time, you may apply a thin coat of anti-sieze to the spark plug threads. Install the spark plugs with a spark plug socket, or 16mm deep socket. Tighten them till they stop. Do NOT overtighten. As for the spark plug wires, start with the first cylinder (timing belt side) and work your way to cylinder #4. The firing order is 1,3,4,2. It always is with 4 cylinder hondas. 1 is the top right corner of the rounded side of the distributor cap (look at the cap you'll see what I mean. There's a rounded side and a square side). Plug in the wires going clockwise from there using the correct firing order I gave you. Done.



Now, the engine is fully assembled!




Initial startup process for new cylinders/rings:
Fill the motor up with 30W non detergent oil (quality does not matter). Just buy the cheapest you can find. Also, pick up the cheapest oil filter you can find (usually Fram). Check the dipstick periodically to see when the oil pan is full. Try not to fill higher than the upper most dot on the dip stick. It should be around 4 quarts (remember, you need a little extra oil for the vtec oil line).
Fill the motor with a 50/50 mixture of coolant to water. Believe it or not, the more water this mixture has, the cooler the engine will run. But, you need antifreeze in colder climates to prevent coolant freeze/expansion, as well as to prevent the water pump and sleeves from corroding.
Now, disconnect the ecu and turn the motor over for roughly 30 seconds to build up oil pressure. This is the easiest way to ensure you will not be injecting fuel and spark into the cylinders. Reinstall the ecu you will be using.
Fire the motor up and check for leaks. Make sure the oil pressure light extinguishes immediately. If not, turn the car off and troubleshoot. Let the car reach full operating temperature. Immediately begin to tune the car for a 14.1-15.1 AFR. The closer to 14.7:1 the better. That's it. For the rest of the tuning, I'd suggest a street tune first then tune on the dyno, but every tuner has his/her own ways.
Oil changing schedule:
Initial - 30w non detergent
after 20 miles - 30w non detergent
after 100 miles - your favorite non-syn
after 500 miles - your favorite non-syn
after 1000 miles - your favorite non-syn/synthetic

You should stop seeing metal shavings in the oil after the 100 mile oil change. I strongly recommend using a magnetic oil drain plug for freshly built motors. You don't want all those shavings being pumped to the bearings, cams, or splashing on the cylinder walls...bad. Don't worry though, they will be there, no matter how close the clearances are.

Now for the break in, try to vary the revs as much as possible, with alot of short blasts. It is very important that you let the engine "brake" itself by just letting off the throttle and letting the vehicle slow down on it's own, while in gear. This creates a vaccum in the cylinder and forces the rings outward, which wears down the peaks in the cylinder's fresh hone. Do this for the first 20 miles, and then proceed to beat the shit out of the motor, up to it's maximum rev range, as long as it is tuned accordingly. As long as the bearings are within spec and the rod bolts were torqued correctly, there is NOTHING to worry about.
I guarantee you WILL NOT burn oil using this break in method. If you do, you probably have leaky valve seals or bad rings/cylinder hone.
I also posted this on another forum, so don't complain if you saw it there. I'm just trying to spread my wealth of information and better educate the honda community.