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Why do we choose Benson
sleeves.....
What makes a Benson signature series sleeved block better?
Several sleeve manufacturers have working designs. Each
manufacturer comes about their design by different means.
They all work to some degree. All sleeves are made out
of the same strength and quality nodular iron as it
a necessary material to seat rings. Therefore sleeve
strength is determined by bore size and bore centerlines.
No matter how fat the sleeve may be, the weak spot is
between the cylinders. Nothing is secret about that.
What sets Benson apart from everyone else is the precision
of his machine work and his method of installation.
First, Benson has no employees, so no rookie or uninterested
machinist touches your block. Only Benson. His method
of installation insures that a sleeve can never drop,
shift or leak. You never have to align bore your block
with his sleeves because of the block core shifting.
This is because he takes less material from the block
during installation than other sleeve designs require.
That keeps the block stronger by default and does not
let the main saddles move, thus causing the need for
an expensive align bore.
The important thing is his name is on every block and
there are no excuses. He uses a sleeve designed by himself,
manufactured by Darton to his specs and no one else
can purchase it from Darton. It has been perfected over
the last 10 years to work flawlessly. The real secret
is in the person that does the install and the precision
quality they demand of themselves. This is what sets
Benson way apart from the others.
The original sleeves done by Benson (at least 12 years
ago) were closed deck. He soon discovered that within
the block, the aluminum, when heating up, was expanding
at a different rate than the nodular iron sleeves. This
caused the sleeves to distort out of round at operating
temperature, thus hurting ring seal. Another benefit
of keeping the deck open (as Honda engineers designed
it) is the extra cooling that is afforded to the head
gasket, thus less gasket failure and more efficient
head cooling.
Certain sleeve installers seat their sleeves to the
block using only a wedged fit to hold the sleeve in
place. They do not butt them to a ledge cut into the
block. As the aluminum block heats and expands, the
crush can change and allow the sleeve to drop. Others
manufacturers use an o-ring for sealing. The o-ring
has a receiver groove cut into the outside of the sleeve.
Unfortunately this groove weakens the sleeve to the
point that high boost cannot be used safely. Benson
uses a precision machined interference fit along with
a proprietary sealer to insure no sleeve movement or
leaks.
How your block is built.....
When your block is returned from sleeving, it has been
hot tanked, surfaced and bored/honed to size. We then
wash your block with soap and water, blow dry it and
coat it with wd40. Your crank is crack checked, micropolished
and balanced. We choose CP Pistons and rings for all
out builds as we consider them to be the finest piston
made at any price. Pauter rods with OEM bearings are
used. All parts are precision measured and assembled.
Pricing is as follows:
Most parts for the S2000/S2200
engine are of a custom nature and can take 6-8 weeks
to have made. It is important to start with a core that
does not have a frozen crank (spun bearings). We offer
the following on your core:
Benson sleeved block
Benson balanced and micropolished crank
CP custom pistons and rings (choice of size and compression
ratio)
Pauter rods
OEM bearings
Gaskets as required
Blueprint and assembly
Boxing, return shipping and insurance (lower 48 only)
Total $3550 |
