General Questions on Honda Engines

I don't know a lot about engines (basic theory and operation, along with some mechanical work) and I have quite a few questions that I'm sure can be answered here. These are the ones I have now, I'm sure more will come.

1.)
As far as the actual engines go (I'll refer to the b18 engine) I see that some have varying HP ratings as the 'model' of the car increases. As the HP rating increases I also see the compression ratio rising as well. I know that more compression = more HP output. So if I were to fully rebuild an engine, with a turbo setup does it really matter if I have a b18c5 or b18c1 or b18b ect ect since I will be replacing the pistons in order to handle the boost without blowing up the motor? Are the blocks / heads the same is what I'm basically asking. Can I take a b18b and put the same sutff in it as a b18c5 and get the same output HP? If yes I could save a lot of money getting a non c5 engine.

2.)
When it comes to replacing pistons and have the cylinders remachined what do I need to know before I get it done? Do I have to find out what pistons are availiable for that engine? Or do I just need the diameter of the piston, stroke, ect ect?

3.)
Anyone know of some online guides to rebuilding an engine? b18 in perticular.

Thanks A Lot :iceslolan
-Colin

The heads and blocks are different from eachother. The vtec heads (b18c1, b18c5, b16a, b16b) are more similar than the non-vtec (b18b1, b18a, b20; which are practically the same as eachother) however. The cams of each engine are all different. The b16b has the most aggressive cams, the b18c5 has the next aggressive, after that I believe that it's the b16a then the b18c1. The B18c1 is even more different, the compression area (I'm just not thinking clearly at the moment to think of the correct technical term) is smaller than the other vtec head; so it will give you a higher compression than the others. The b16b, b16a, and b18c5 are almost identical to eachother in that respect; though the b18c5 (and possibly the b16b head; not to sure on that), come stock with a mild port and polish. But honestly, if you're going to rebuild it anyways, you're far better off just getting the b18c1 block over the more expensive b18c5 block. The differences between the b18c's and the B18b is the vtec head as well as the longer stroke of the b18b. With the vtec heads, you can make more power, because that's what they're made for. But you could also do what is called an ls/vtec, where you put a vtec head onto a non-vtec block.

You should buy pistons that are specifically made for a specific engine. There are quite a few companies out there that make them; CP, Wisco, JE/SRP, and many more.

Here's a good walkthrough http://www.evans-tuning.com/tech1.html Other than that, you should get a service manual for your specific engine (you can find them for free if you do a search here on AF, if you don't want to buy one.)

Thanks a lot! I'll give this a good read through probably 5 or 6 times if not more.