Jub

The issue with rebuilds is mostly the cylinder walls being coated in FRM. You essentially can't hone them so the only option is to sleeve it. Pressed in sleeves are pretty much never as reliable as a factory casting. Bearing clearances and balancing was done incredibly well from the factory and the factory had a ton of resources available with stacks of bearings to match the best pairs possible. The issue with resurfacing the head is not the head gasket sealing. The issue that shaving the head causes is related to the geometry of the timing cam chain system and cam gears. I can't write a dissertation on that but someone more knowledgeable may be able to elaborate. I had my head re-done this year by InlinePro and I insisted they do not skim the head. They insisted they do. They told me they have a machine that finds the lowest point on the head's surface and skim only to that point. From what I've seen they seem to have the most experience and knowledge on rebuilds so I let them do what the suggested. So far so good. To a certain extent, you have to let go and trust the people to do the job. If you aren't willing to trust them, don't have them do the job. The issue is when you're skimming tons of material off.

The stock engine builds and internals on these are really good. It's just that they're getting old now and all of them have miles. The ones that don't are attached to very expensive chassis. The stock block is considered "reliable" with anywhere from 400-600 HP depending on who you talk to. Well beyond the scope of what you can really do with the stock trans/diff. I haven't seen anyone do it yet, but I don't see why you couldn't buy a bare factory block and build a reliable engine from it. Of course, that's $$$. Someone is going to really need to take care building with proper clearances and maybe purchase a bunch of extra bearings to get the best matched pairs.

My stance has been for a while now that people hate on rebuilds too much and ofc, not all are created equal. If everyone just has a gut reaction to be against them, there's no incentive for a shop to even offer the product. I'd bet that InlinePro or 4Piston could build you a pretty good block at this point. However, with the pricing of F series blocks compared to K series and how similar the engines are, K has become a more sensible option. It would hurt me to let go of my F series car, but my money would probably be on K. Only thing is emissions... If you live in an OBD-II emissions state, you've gotta consider that. I don't think I could get away with it here.

SaturnV

Thanks for your thoughts everyone. I'm sad that this has happened and it seems like the engine is probably cooked. I'll disassemble it at some point and see if it will point me towards any obvious failure mode, but now I know that I'm not going to try again for the third time to get it to work, lol. Keeping the F22 in my car until I eventually K swap. Cheers.

Chuck S

Failed engine rebuild stories abound here. Even skimming the cylinder head or top of the block can bugger the valves and I've not seen successful stories with cylinder sleeves. Your unaltered replacement AP2 (F22C1) engine should work fine as long as you keep the revs below 8400. Are you using the AP2 gearbox and ECU?

I've often wondered if the Honda/Acura V6 would work in the S2000. It apparently fits unless this was photoshopped. . Has significantly more torque than the F-motors. And how it would perform supercharged.



-- Chuck

JWN6264

I vaguely remember Honda of America taking a corporate S2000 headed for the crusher and dropping a V6 into it, but damned if I can find it anywhere...

SaturnV

I had the AP2 trans in, but swapped it back for the AP1 due to the notorious second gear grind lol. Couldn't even get it into second by the time I was done with it. Running it with the AP1 ECU. Was a bit worried about this, but from some research it seems that people have had good success. Other than the perpetual CEL for the engine sucking in .2 L more air than the computer thinks it should, ha.

The J swaps do look like a riot. Bit more weight up front but that torque would be lovely in this car.

Chuck S

I've seen LS V8 and Viper V10 engines in S2000 which makes me wonder about the appeal of a Honda K-series engine (even super or turbocharged). When Carol Shelby wanted to increase the power of the AC Ace sports car he wasn't looking at another 4-cylinder engine. 60 years and we're still fascinated idea and performance of the AC/Shelby Cobra.

Tastes and goals differ but why go half way with an engine swap?

-- Chuck

Car Analogy

Because weight.

Small, perfectly balanced sports car renowned for its handling. Why neuter that to make it a one trick pony?