I heard from a friend that this is a pretty good combination, it this true?

yes it is!! look up "b20 vtec" on youtube. good bottom end power and good top end.

oooo now i c thanks

All day baby! B20 block with a B16 head is a sweet everlasting marriage. Just make sure you get good head bolts, vtec oil pump, golden eagle conversion kit, and at least a really good tune. There's more if you need assistance.

doesn't arp have head studs for the b20??? those are preferred over head bolts.

yea thats awesome. I bought an 86 civic and it had a b20 block with a b16 head. it was F**king ridiculous. are you gonna turbo it or anything?

be careful with it. the bottom end is the weakest link. do what GodspeedCRV said.

exactly

and more exactly

if done right its quite the nice mix of low and high power

theirs a lot more to it then a conversion kit. arp makes head studs just for a b20/vtec by the way. b20s sleeves arent the strongest, a block guard will help keep the integrity of the block, but it doesnt make it bullet proof. dont plan on revving TOO high either.

thats the problem, most people will throw the vtec head on there then go revving to 8000+rpms. not a good idea. i had a cammed b20 that i over revved to about 8200. thing exploded.

Yes bentegrity is totally right about over-revving! Knucklehead tuning shops tell you its ok to up your redline and rev high all you want. Don't do it. Unless you're building a race car (which you're not) build it conservatively. I've heard mixed results with the block guards and girdles and I'm not partial to either one. Def go with the ARP studs like I did.

here's to forged internals and high revving!!!

It would have been awesome if you had a video or pictures.

ARP has head studs, rod bolts, and main cap bolts. If you go the B20/VTEC route, use those at the very least.

Do some extensive research, and if you think you've done enough research, do it again. You can never know everything there is to know about engine work.

i wasnt really expecting it to happen. my friend was driving behind me and to the left and he saw it. almost 2 feet of blue flame came put the exhaust when it happened. good times.

I could be so wrong, but I dont think it's as much the strength of the block asit is the purpose of it in the first place. It came out of a CRV, it wasnt ment to have the shit revved out of it to begin with. Proper balence of the bottom end would be the solution in my eyes.

The above posts are to give the OP an idea as to the absolute basics required for a B20/VTEC build.

Of course, you would need:

-sleeve the block (B20 sleeves are shitty for performance)
-forged aluminum pistons
-h- or i-beam rods
-balanced, shotpeened, micropolished, and knifedged crank
-VTEC oil and water pumps
-light weight flywheel and clutch
-new seals, gaskets, and bearings
-good cams (ITR or CTR at least)
-good valves, springs, and retainers (at least ITR or CTR)
-good rod bolts, head studs/bolts, main bolts, cam holder bolts, etc.
-good intake mani, and tube (diameter and flow)
-good exhaust mani, and tubing (diameter and flow)
-good tuning
-and ultimately a good driver to not overrev the engine

There's a lot involved with making a B20/VTEC engine a high reving engine. All of which is completely up to the driver of the car it's going into. All of which will total out to be an expensive build if done right.

its pretty crazy about all the BS on revving on a b20. and the valvetrain. i'm running stage 2 cams, stock everything else, rev it to 7200. keep in mind i dont really daily drive this car but its been running with the cams for a good 2k miles strong. a lot of those miles being race miles, lol.

not to mention i've had this motor in general for 11k miles already. and again, most of those miles being revved to 7300rpm max. i've heard people daily driving b20 vtecs, never revving past maybe 7800rpm, and not really doing it often, and the motor lives forever. it just seems to me that people forget why they're raising displacement; its to have the power in the lower part of the powerband, not to be making power only at the top like b16s. the bottom end power of the b20 is awesome. i chase down b16s all day. in fact, with the stock cams, i would benefit from shifting early sometimes...and thats with a shitty LS tranny.

This post was last modified: 07-19-2008 09:48 PM by bentegrity.

its pretty crazy about all the BS on revving on a b20. and the valvetrain. i'm running stage 2 cams, stock everything else, rev it to 7200. keep in mind i dont really daily drive this car but its been running with the cams for a good 2k miles strong. a lot of those miles being race miles, lol.

not to mention i've had this motor in general for 11k miles already. and again, most of those miles being revved to 7300rpm max. i've heard people daily driving b20 vtecs, never revving past maybe 7800rpm, and not really doing it often, and the motor lives forever. it just seems to me that people forget why they're raising displacement; its to have the power in the lower part of the powerband, not to be making power only at the top like b16s. the bottom end power of the b20 is awesome. i chase down b16s all day. in fact, with the stock cams, i would benefit from shifting early sometimes...and thats with a shitty LS tranny.

The point of the CR-VTEC is to have the extra torque and be able to pull on the top end as well. Imagine a 2liter making power from 3k to 9k

its pretty crazy about all the BS on revving on a b20. and the valvetrain. i'm running stage 2 cams, stock everything else, rev it to 7200. keep in mind i dont really daily drive this car but its been running with the cams for a good 2k miles strong. a lot of those miles being race miles, lol.

not to mention i've had this motor in general for 11k miles already. and again, most of those miles being revved to 7300rpm max. i've heard people daily driving b20 vtecs, never revving past maybe 7800rpm, and not really doing it often, and the motor lives forever. it just seems to me that people forget why they're raising displacement; its to have the power in the lower part of the powerband, not to be making power only at the top like b16s. the bottom end power of the b20 is awesome. i chase down b16s all day. in fact, with the stock cams, i would benefit from shifting early sometimes...and thats with a shitty LS tranny.

thats all good, but i was talking about people who throw a vtec head on a b20, and then assume it can go to 8200-8500 like a gsr or b16. the bottom end cant take it unless its built properly.

bentegrity Wrote:

its pretty crazy about all the BS on revving on a b20. and the valvetrain. i'm running stage 2 cams, stock everything else, rev it to 7200. keep in mind i dont really daily drive this car but its been running with the cams for a good 2k miles strong. a lot of those miles being race miles, lol.

not to mention i've had this motor in general for 11k miles already. and again, most of those miles being revved to 7300rpm max. i've heard people daily driving b20 vtecs, never revving past maybe 7800rpm, and not really doing it often, and the motor lives forever. it just seems to me that people forget why they're raising displacement; its to have the power in the lower part of the powerband, not to be making power only at the top like b16s. the bottom end power of the b20 is awesome. i chase down b16s all day. in fact, with the stock cams, i would benefit from shifting early sometimes...and thats with a shitty LS tranny.

The point of the CR-VTEC is to have the extra torque and be able to pull on the top end as well. Imagine a 2liter making power from 3k to 9k

ha, i know, i think thats the point i was trying to make. people are expecting the motor to do the typical honda thing which is making power by revving the hell out of it. the whole point is to carry the option that vtec gives you, with a bigger lobe up for top end, yet the bottom end is so full of torque, that the lack of horsepower pull the motor has when vtec isn't engaged in lower rpms, it doesnt matter, you still have your torque.

the thing i saying about the head on a b20/vtec has to do with the problem people are having piston to valve clearence. theirs a lot more than the not-so-strong bottom end of a b20 to worry about when doing this. this is usually the reason people dont run GSR heads on b20/vtecs. i think the gsr head sits a little lower which will up the compression a little bit more than usual. then people want to slap in aftermarket cams, even ITR cams, then they start pinging. i've seen this happen on more than one occasion. its usually the way a b20/vtec will go out even if its not ragged on, just daily driven.

to me the cr-vtec and ls-vtec pull really hard but, wont last. i agree with the bottom ends being weak. but i think its the pcv system on the crv and ls, thats the problem with head gaskets leaking oil and crank case pressure. just the way i see it. i'm not hating on anyones set up. its just experience.

I agree that LS/VTEC and CRVTEC are unreliable to an extent.

If you deck the block, and head, make sure the valve clearance is good, make sure the compression is good, make sure you have a good headgasket with proper thickness to ensure good clearances and compression numbers, proper sparkplugs for your setup, strong internals, proper crankcase ventilation, and proper lubrication, your LS/VTEC or CRVTEC setup will last a hundred thousand miles or more. You just have to make sure you don't pinch pennies when it comes to lubrication. A good, strong, reliable, and fast setup will NEVER be cheap unless you have some rediculous hookups...which I don't...

get the crank balanced and you wont have that problem. When i had my stock LS I had it chipped for 8500 rpms raced all the time it never blow on me hell i even beat a jdm gsr he thought i had vtec lol.and my motor had 300,000 mile on it before i but the type r head on it.