R18 Engine - Half the Battle

Once you stick the head gasket on, everything looks normal and circular again.

Tucked underneath this covering is a brand new cylinder head. I'm pretty sure I've never seen one of these before.

At least the combustion chambers look pretty familiar. Check out the little dots of blue paint on the valves so you know they're brand new.

Just like with any other motor, we can't forget to stick the dowel pins in the block before we drop the head on. That hasn't changed.

We're clear to drop the head on, and then torque it to proper spec.

After the last D17 left the factory in 2005, every Honda four-cylinder motor rocks a timing chain instead of a belt, hence the sprocket.

The chain tensioning system looks similar to the drive chain tensioner on some of Honda's dirt bikes.

The new timing gear looks kind of cool with its weird tapered end on the crank side.

The chain slides right into place.

This is the hydraulic tensioner. The little green pushpin is this dealership's "specialty tool" for installing the timing chain.

If you've ever taken a look at the group of J-series V6's found in Accords, Odysseys, TLs, etc., you will have seen a single exhaust port head. These heads, along with this R18, have the exhaust manifold runners built into the casting. One single exhaust port exits to the cat and eventually to atmosphere. Think it's dumb? Picture it as a built in turbo manifold.

The timing cover is made of aluminum and is sealed using the ubiquitous Hondabond.