A lot of people say many Honda motors are bad for forced induction because of their "open deck" design.

What exactly is the difference between an open and closed deck block, and why is an open deck block bad?

 

yep yep...thats why we sleeve our motors...to turn them from open deck to closed deck design

 

I see. Is the water jacket mostly for cooling/ long term reliability purposes?

 

Both designs actually have water jackets around the cylinder itself for cooling. Some are open all the way around each cylinder, and others have the cylinders attached (siamesed), but that's another thread The difference is the deck itself, as you can see in the pictures. An open deck block has just that, the cylinders only attach to the block at the base which can allow movement/distortion at higher power levels. A closed deck block has the cylinders attached at not only the base, but also at the top (deck) which is much more solid when it comes time to make more power. If I remember correctly, sleeving a Honda block does not close the deck, it replaces the factory sleeved aluminum cylinders with all steel cylinders which resists cracking and flexing much better than the original design.

 

It depends which sleeves you get... Some maintain the open deck, and some are closer to a closed deck, although I dont know if I would consider them a true closed deck....

Bensons - open deck sleeving


AEBS- more of a closed deck design

 

aebs sleeves rock!

 

I'll take the AEBS...

 

I love the AEBS sleeves, but for a boosted daily driver, I dont think I would reccomend them... They have been known to have cooling issues on street cars..... I was stuck on them for a while, then did some research and decided against them... Bensons are just as strong, despite the look....

 

good info...i think Golden Eagle is what alot of daily drivers are going for these days