Is a torque plate worth it?

[CrunkGoat]

I know for high horsepower applications it's a must. My setup is a 11:1 compression NA Sr20de/ve hybrid with big cams and itbs. Have 86.5mm pistons I want to use but being on the east coast of Canada limits my options on sending my block somewhere and no local shops have sr20 plates.

A cheap torque plate runs almost $700 Canadian by the time it gets here, if you were in my shoes what would you do?

[RalliartRsX]

You can probably get away with not using one for your application.

[brndck]

You can probably get away with not using one for your application.

I would disagree. I think its good insurance to make sure that your cylinder bores are true, esp if you're aiming for north of 400whp

is it absolutely essential? no.
is it a wise idea? yeah.

it would be cheaper to just get a stock sr20 head, and have a machine shop cut holes through it, rather than machine a new one from a billet.

you might also hit up Bardabe, iirc he just had one made for his sr20VEt project

[brndck]

check this post (pix aren't working for me tho)
http://zilvia.net/f/showpost.php?p=6186386&postcount=100

[CrunkGoat]

Thanks for the replies everyone, I do have an extra NA head around so could check into getting some holes cut in that.

We don't have a terrible amount of shops around who do stuff like that unfortunately, east coast of Canada isn't exactly known for its car culture haha. Only have 2 engine shops within an hour drive of me, one said they don't use torque plates on anything except for very high hp builds and the other didn't know what a Sr20 was. Seemed confused on why I'd be building a 4 cylinder when I explained...both great candidates.

[hanzbrady]

Thanks for the replies everyone, I do have an extra NA head around so could check into getting some holes cut in that.

We don't have a terrible amount of shops around who do stuff like that unfortunately, east coast of Canada isn't exactly known for its car culture haha. Only have 2 engine shops within an hour drive of me, one said they don't use torque plates on anything except for very high hp builds and the other didn't know what a Sr20 was. Seemed confused on why I'd be building a 4 cylinder when I explained...both great candidates.

I'm not quite sure where Autodream is actually located in Canada in respect to you but I did sell them a SR20 torque plate so I'd ask about renting theirs.

[outlawstar1023]

I have a torque plate you can borrow at a cost you are willing to pay. Return it when you are done.

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[anti tyler]

Don't bore holes in a head trying to use it as a torque plate, that is just plane silly.


Most likely the head wont survive you drilling cylinder sized holes in it, in it's cast state anyway.

[CrunkGoat]

I have a torque plate you can borrow at a cost you are willing to pay. Return it when you are done.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Thanks! Sent you a PM

[Kingtal0n]

That is one reason why a forum can become an incredible worldly tool that we who share a love can express

[RalliartRsX]

I would disagree. I think its good insurance to make sure that your cylinder bores are true, esp if you're aiming for north of 400whp

is it absolutely essential? no.
is it a wise idea? yeah.

it would be cheaper to just get a stock sr20 head, and have a machine shop cut holes through it, rather than machine a new one from a billet.

you might also hit up Bardabe, iirc he just had one made for his sr20VEt project


Meh
It's a high commission non turbo build with a standard oversize (factory recommended oversize is .5 mm)

Good idea, but for a low cylinder pressure build, I think it will be fine

Shoot. The factory never used torque plates when they built all these SR engines (including the DETs) lol. Not saying its the proper way to do it, but it isn't the end of the world as long as the machine shop is capable

Agreed I recommend it, but not a necessity for such a simple build

I'd be more worried about the inability and inexperience of machine shops available to the OP more than actually having access to a torque plate

The fact that one shop doesn't use torque plates and the other has zero idea on SR specs and aluminum block with steel liners, there's a 50/50 chance either shop will screw it up.

YMMV

[RalliartRsX]

OP I would do the math to ship the block to the states too proper machine shop. The cost of the torque plate will probably be less than shipping it stateside.

Also inexperienced shops. Tools are only as good as the operators

[PoorMans180SX]

Meh


Good idea, but for a low cylinder pressure build, I think it will be fine

Shoot. The factory never used torque plates when they built all these SR engines (including the DETs) lol. Not saying its the proper way to do it, but it isn't the end of the world as long as the machine shop is capable


Not so important when using factory head bolts, but if the engine is running headstuds that are torqued to higher-than-factory values, the top end cylinder bore distortion is significantly more. I've seen the results personally on 4G63 blocks, and we all know how much stiffer those are than SR20's.

http://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/1-2-head-studs-block-cylinder-deformation.417746/page-3

[CrunkGoat]

Meh
It's a high commission non turbo build with a standard oversize (factory recommended oversize is .5 mm)

Good idea, but for a low cylinder pressure build, I think it will be fine

Shoot. The factory never used torque plates when they built all these SR engines (including the DETs) lol. Not saying its the proper way to do it, but it isn't the end of the world as long as the machine shop is capable

Agreed I recommend it, but not a necessity for such a simple build

I'd be more worried about the inability and inexperience of machine shops available to the OP more than actually having access to a torque plate

The fact that one shop doesn't use torque plates and the other has zero idea on SR specs and aluminum block with steel liners, there's a 50/50 chance either shop will screw it up.

YMMV

Yeah the machine shop situation is a large concern at the moment. The one that had no idea about SRs has built some wicked powerful LSX family engines and have been in business for over 40 years so they do know their stuff and i'm definitely taking my big turbo 5.3 there for machine work. They don't seem to understand that people build things other than V8s though haha. Hopefully if i supply them with a torque plate and some general instructions they should be able to bore out the cylinders and deck the block though :-/