What are the advantages of the two different setups, race vs. street?
Are there downsides to doing the race other than a longer install?
Thanks,
Cruzer
Hondata Heatshield Gasket Install
Race Heatshield
The difference between a normal and race Heatshield is that the race gasket has any water passages through the intake blocked. Not all intakes have these passages, but the B16 and B18 do. We generally only sell normal gaskets now, but in the past offered race gaskets or gaskets with the hole partially blocked so you could make them race or street. The issue with the race gaskets is that you need to provide an alternative route for water from the cylinder head to reach the back of the thermostat, otherwise the thermostat never gets hot, never opens, and you'll blow the coolant out. In a stock engine the water hose from the intake goes to the back of the thermostat via the throttle body to heat the back of the thermostat. If you block or remove this bypass then the you need to provide a water bypass. If you don't run a thermostat then there is no problem. Otherwise the easiest thing to do is to drill a few holes in the thermostat so that water slowly circulates, but this is not optimum as the water has to go through the radiator first. Ideally you put in a small diameter hose from the cylinder head to the back of the thermostat like stock. Because of the possibility of people not drilling the thermostat and overheating the engine we decided to only offer gaskets with the hole drilled out (however to my knowledge no-one has actually overheated their engine).
Hondata
I've been using the race setup for over a year without any problems. I simply routed the hose from the back of the thermostat housing to the heater return hose with a T fitting. This basically restore the proper coolant flow like stock, as the heater return hose goes straight to the end of the cylinder head only inches away from the original location.
Additionally, the water flow is from the water pump -> large water pipe -> thermostat housing -> cylinder head. Not from the cylinder head to the back of the thermostat housing. This is the key point which makes the hose routing works so well. The hose from the back of the thermostat housing is used as a bypass for water flow to the cylinder head when the thermostat is closed. When the thermostat is open, then the flow will go through the thermostat as well as the bypass hose.
Additionally, the water flow is from the water pump -> large water pipe -> thermostat housing -> cylinder head. Not from the cylinder head to the back of the thermostat housing. This is the key point which makes the hose routing works so well. The hose from the back of the thermostat housing is used as a bypass for water flow to the cylinder head when the thermostat is closed. When the thermostat is open, then the flow will go through the thermostat as well as the bypass hose.
Hayasa15,
Here is a picture of how the coolant hose is routed for the race setup. The hose from the thermostat housing is now routed to the heater return hose, which restores the proper coolant flow and not affecting heater operation. This routing method should be the same for D and B series engines. I've also bypassed the IAC and TB coolant lines as well. I have a D-series, so the hose to the IAC is simply capped off. If you have a B-series, I think the hose that normally goes to the IAC can be routed to the head after the TB. If you only want to bypass the TB, then just remove the inlet and outlet lines from the TB and join them together with a fitting.
HTH...
Here is a picture of how the coolant hose is routed for the race setup. The hose from the thermostat housing is now routed to the heater return hose, which restores the proper coolant flow and not affecting heater operation. This routing method should be the same for D and B series engines. I've also bypassed the IAC and TB coolant lines as well. I have a D-series, so the hose to the IAC is simply capped off. If you have a B-series, I think the hose that normally goes to the IAC can be routed to the head after the TB. If you only want to bypass the TB, then just remove the inlet and outlet lines from the TB and join them together with a fitting.
HTH...