Honda cylinder heads for SB Chevy
MagicRat
08-29-2004, 09:44 PM
Hey, folks, I came across this article which stated that around 1973-74 Honda did a bit of experimental engineering work with Chevy 350's.
Has anyone heard of this before? It's news to me.
(I would post this in the Honda section, but I don't think any of the kids there remember 1984, much less 1974. )
The Honda Motor Co. was clearly on its way in the four-wheel world. And the Civic was to prove that the Japanese engineers were a force to be reckoned with, that they could do more than just design a good little economy car.
In the early 1970s auto emission standards were being established in North America. American automakers resisted strongly, and complained bitterly that they were being forced to fit expensive catalytic converters and other power-robbing devices to meet these standards.
Honda set to work and came up with a low-pollution engine with three valves per cylinder. They called their system Compound Vortex - Controlled Combustion (CVCC), and when tested by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1973, it comfortably met all of the pollution standards without a converter or other add-on hardware.
When American engineers responded by saying that this was easy to do on a small four-cylinder engine, but not on Detroit's large powerplants, Honda's engineers went to work again. They quietly took two 5.7 litre (350 cu in.) Chevrolet V-8s, fitted them with the CVCC system, and proceeded to pass the EPA standards with them. Needless to say there were some red faces around Detroit.
The entire article can be found here:
http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/bv/73civic.htm
Has anyone heard of this before? It's news to me.
(I would post this in the Honda section, but I don't think any of the kids there remember 1984, much less 1974. )
The Honda Motor Co. was clearly on its way in the four-wheel world. And the Civic was to prove that the Japanese engineers were a force to be reckoned with, that they could do more than just design a good little economy car.
In the early 1970s auto emission standards were being established in North America. American automakers resisted strongly, and complained bitterly that they were being forced to fit expensive catalytic converters and other power-robbing devices to meet these standards.
Honda set to work and came up with a low-pollution engine with three valves per cylinder. They called their system Compound Vortex - Controlled Combustion (CVCC), and when tested by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1973, it comfortably met all of the pollution standards without a converter or other add-on hardware.
When American engineers responded by saying that this was easy to do on a small four-cylinder engine, but not on Detroit's large powerplants, Honda's engineers went to work again. They quietly took two 5.7 litre (350 cu in.) Chevrolet V-8s, fitted them with the CVCC system, and proceeded to pass the EPA standards with them. Needless to say there were some red faces around Detroit.
The entire article can be found here:
http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/bv/73civic.htm
Ground Rat
09-01-2004, 04:56 PM
Interesting, I would like to learn more about this. I wonder what kind of power it put out? I could give two shits about emissions, lol.
Shortbus
09-02-2004, 12:42 PM
Interesting article. First time I ever heard about it.
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