Photo from usedcar-pilipinas.info

A question for the AUTO GUROs came in from one of our loyal readers. And it goes:

“Sir meron pa kaming Nissan Series 4, sobrang init po ng engine nya lately at may konting langis po sa radiator. Ano po kaya ang problema?”
- Hazrat Villafranca via Facebook

Translation:
“We have a Nissan Sentra Series 4. Lately, there seems to be excessive heat in the engine, and a little oil in the radiator. What seems to be the problem?”

AUTO GURO Ben Alameda provides his Expert Opinion on this…

AUTO GURO Ben Alameda says:
“Sounds like your head gasket is leaking. I am not familiar with this engine but that is the most logical explanation specially after you said its running hot.

Check the thermostat and make sure the fans are coming in maybe its not. And after, pull the valve covers and re-torque the head bolts one by one as per factory sequence. Before you do this take one bolt and reverse-loosen it just a touch to break the rust on the threads and come back and torque to specs. Do this on all of it.

If this helped, it is the head gaskets. It will buy you some time. Do a compression test as well before you re-torque the heads.”

Hope this helps! For any other questions, feel free to ask away on our comments section.

Who is AUTO GURO Ben Alameda? <– Find out by clicking on this link!

A question for the AUTO GUROs came in from one of our loyal readers. And it goes:
“Good day. It’s my first time. I have a Corolla XL 12-valve and I know such is not a powerful car but I’m wondering how would I increase my engine’s power. Can you put a turbo on a 12-valve engine? If not what are the possibilities of increasing the horsepower? Can you help me out on engine customization?”
- Victor Morales via CustomPinoyRides.com

We are always glad to help our kababayans with their rides. So here’s what the AUTO GUROs have to say:

Kevin Carlos says:
“Hmm I think its better if you do an engine swap. I think a lot of work will be needed if you put a turbo on that? Internals, etc, etc. A swap will save time maybe money. And it will also be good durability-wise.”

The King, Ian King says:
“You can do both, but if you want a quick fix then engine swap is the easiest way. ”

Ben Alameda says:
“Thanks for the question, Kevin and Ian are correct. My advice to this individuals who do “off-beat or uncommon engines” is to be aware of the the “Potential” of any engines you do! The availability of parts like a Forged Crank for a turbo application, even the most basic things like, is there a Racing Clutch that can take the projected upgrades?… So the “swap” advice is the best. But if you want to be a “lone wolf” and want to do something that has never been done, and if you are successful, then you have proven all of us wrong… I have seen this!”

THE aSTIG says:
“If you’re looking to increase the potential of that 12-valve engine while retaining reliability, then just change the air intake/filter, headers, and exhaust system into more free-flowing units. There are also other tips and tricks for modifying a stock engine <– written by Ben Alameda. But your current engine was actually designed to take you from point A to point B reliably and using the least amount of fuel as possible. So I don’t think it is really worth your time or money to modify it all-out. So it’s best to go for an all-out engine swap. Depending on your budget and the amount of horsepower you want to achieve, there are plenty of options available to you. There’s actually the 2E Turbo, which is still a 1.3L but turbocharged. The 4AGE which comes in various horsepower ratings all the way to 165bhp (which is the one shown on the picture above). If you want more then there’s the 4AGZE Supercharged version. If you want bigger displacement, there’s the 3SGE, and if you want to go hardcore, take the turbocharged 3SGTE version.”

Hope this helps you bro! To all other readers, if you have any questions for the AUTO GUROs, feel free to ask away in the comments section.

Yo, I’m Kevin Carlos, graduating from Industrial Design, member of ClubSilviaPH, a big fan of the stance scene, specially that Filipinos are dominating it internationally, hoping someday it will become BIG here in our country. What i basically do is modify cars through mock-ups using Photoshop. I help friends by helping them choose their mag wheels, body kit, paint, anything goes. (I call it PhotoTune) before installing the real deal. I would love to help other Filipino car enthusiasts here at Custompinoyrides.com, through creating mock-ups of their cars.

Godspeed.

PhotoTuning the Impreza:

Subaru Impreza

Mitsubishi Montero Sport:

So how would you want your ride to look like?

CustomPinoyRides.com welcomes AUTO GURO and Engine Specialist Ben Alameda of Ben Alameda Racing and Philippine-American Racing-Association.

Ben Alameda builds custom race engines to fit just about every application. He works about any idea and build an engine to fit one’s specific need, and custom design a package that works for you and your budget.

Every engine Ben Alameda works on is a piece of art. Each engine built has its own combination, as all parameters and limitations are considered. Thus, no two engines are alike.

Best of all, customers are provided with support and assistance once they are ready to be at the race track.

Who is Ben Alameda?

Armed with degrees in Automotive Technology at U.S. National Technical Schools, and Airframe and Powerplant (specializing in reciprocating aircarft engines and turbines), Ben pursued his passion for speed. He dreamt to be a pilot like his father who was a fighter pilot in the air force, but for some reason, Ben decided to “fly” on the ground. As his schedule permits, Ben attends continuous studies at the University of Colorado’s accredited Superflow Advance Engine Technology . He has been featured in numerous publications such as Mustang Ford Performance, 5.0 Magazine, Turbo & High Tech Performance, Super Ford Magazine, 5.0 Tire Truckers, Hot Rod, Musclecar Review, Mustang Illustrated, Car Craft, , 5.0 Mustang Performance among others. And not to mention the Ford Windsor Small Block Performance book he collaborated with Isaac Martin, as well as magazine articles with the legendary Hot Rod writer Bob McClurg.

Behind Ben Alameda’s success is Charles “Chuck” Stevens of Stevens Racing Enterprises of Somis, CA. Chuck, as he is fondly called by his peers, has been a mentor and the guiding force in Ben’s career since 1985. He instilled in him the importance of education to understand more fully the dynamics of a racing engine. As Chuck would put it “education + racing experience = success!”. Through his encouragement and support, Ben furthered his studies in advance engineering technology at Denver, Colorado.

Ben is also with Los Angeles Police Department Motor Division for almost 30 years, and is one of the pioneers of LAPD charity project “Cops for Tots” held annually for the benefit of Los Angeles City’s children in need.

Career Milestones:

• 1994-1997 undefeated at Terminal Island racetrack in Long Beach, CA; famously known as Brotherhood Raceway. Numerous wins at “no rules match races”.
• Rated #1 in the West Coast PRO 5.0 ranks; held West Coast Elapsed Time and Top speed.
• Rated #5 in 1992 by American Autosports Production featuring the best Ford Performers across America.
• 1986/ 87/ 88 Low Elapsed Time at Carlsbad Raceway (in California); numerous Ben Alameda powered cars dominated at the Carlsbad raceway until it closed its track in 2003.
• 1988 Musclecar Nationals champion at Bakersfield; first to win nationwide event in America with a small block engine.
• 1992 PRO 5.0 champion at Los Angeles County Raceway in Pomona, CA.
• 1992 C/Modified champion at Bakersfield.

So if you have any engine tech questions, anything at all, Ask the AUTO GUROs, and Ben will look into providing you with the best and most details engine tech answers possible.

A question for our AUTO GUROs was raised by one of our loyal readers CustomPinoyRides.com. And it goes:

Hey all you Auto Experts of Custom Pinoy Rides.com!

This may not be related to the above article (Was referring to the Poor Man’s Type-R) but this is the fastest way I could write up to you guys coz I’m a little bit in a hurry so here goes…

I have a friend that owns a classic Levin. An even older model than the Levin featured in Initial D. It used to be a Head turner in SLEX. There was even a time in SLEX that a tuned up civic esi chased it, drove beside it, and rolled down its window just to flip out a sign showing the question “Are you selling your car?” Of course my flattered friend just waved his hand to reject the offer. Unfortunately it was left parked at his house in Marikina when Ondoy struck our country. I’m sure you already know what happened to it.
F**kin S**t! right? Anyway, I guess I could relate this comment to your article above by asking Whats the “Poor Man’s” way of restoring a Levin drowned up by Ondoy? The owner ain’t that poor. He just wants to bring his Precious Levin back to life without having to wait for a dozen or more monthly 15s and 30s just to come up with the cash to fix up his drowned up Levin. It doesn’t need to be tuned up to be a monster Drift car to unleash its inborn talent. He just wants it to be good enough for an everyday car. Me and my friend would appreciate your advice. Thanks guys! More Power to CustomPinoyRides.com! Ow! and by the way, Good luck with your upcoming car show. Looking forward to it. Keep Reving you guyz! Vroom Vroooooom! Tsssss! (Blow off valve!!!)

-Brian Dude via CustomPinoyRides.com

A Toyota Corolla Hachi-Roku (Not the drowned Levin)

The King says:
Ohh, Ondoy devastated alot of the car world locally!

He should have stripped the car down right after ondoy, now depending on the flood water, was it muddy or just water?

Either way he should have washed the carpets out, removed the dash, change all the engine oils!

Was he able to remove the battery before the flood? if he did then all the electronics should be ok! if not clean them out with contact cleaner and a hair dryer then try them out one by one.

Goodluck!

THE aSTIG says:
I’ve written an article a while back on How to deal with a Flooded Car. <– Check it out by clicking the link!

I hope this helps.

If any of you readers have a question for the AUTO GUROs, feel free to ask away!

A question for the AUTO GUROs was raised by one of our Facebook buddys:

How do you guys feel about the poormans swap??? Do you think it’s worth it??? And if so, how would you go about building it?? I’m tryin to make at least 250-300hp all motor. – Anthony Liranzo via Facebook

Honda Poor Man’s Type-R Engine

Here’s what our AUTO GUROs have to say:

THE KING says:
I use to own a Honda SiR with a B18C5 Type-R swap. It was a very fun car to drive! But to get the power up, you need to do alot of bolt-ons. All-motor at 300hp is tricky and may cost money. I’m not up to date with the prices anymore for the stuff.

There is a local group called H3 I think. I saw them tuning their turbo single-cam hatchback (Civic) in Autoplus before. He hit 300whp!

Good luck!

THE aSTIG says:
Before I answer this question, I’d like to explain what the Honda Poor Man’s Type-R swap is for the sake of the uninitiated.

A Poor Man’s Type-R is actually what it says it is – a cheap version of the B18C5 found on the Integra Type-R. Due to the high prices of the real Type-R engine, people have resorted to combining the B18C1 block from the old non-VTEC Integra GSR, and topping it off with a B16 VTEC head. Then just purchasing the real Type-R pistons and camshafts to complete the package. Oh and you also need the B16 water and oil pump.

Update: Here’s a good article from Wikipedia describing the Poor Man’s Type-R setup.

So now to answer the question.

If you want to hit 250-300hp all-motor, I doubt if you’ll be able to achieve that on a Poor Man’s Type-R swap. And as Ian King mentioned, it’s going to be real tricky and will cost a lot of money. It will no longer a Poor Man’s swap so to speak.

If you’d want to hit 200-plus horsepower on a naturally-aspirated Honda engine, there are two better alternatives than the Poor Man’s Type-R swap:

The LS/VTEC swap: This is the swap that replaced the Poor-Man’s Type-R, simply because it’s waaay better. If you’d want to try this out, follow this detailed article on Honda Tuning Magazine.

The B20 Frankenstein swap: This involves taking a non-VTEC B20B bottom from the Honda CRV, and mating it with a B16 or B18 VTEC top. The bigger 2.0-liter displacement means you’ll get way more torque than the 1.8-liter B18C5 Type-R engine. Anthony Go was able to achieve 246hp on his Honda Civic Dragster with this setup, plus running it on methanol fuel.

Hope this helps. And good luck on your project! Let us know if you’re successful with any of these.

If any of you would like to ask any questions for the pros and experts about anything and everything to do with customizing, restoring, maintaining, and repairing your ride, you can always Ask The AUTO GUROs here at CustomPinoyRides.com.

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Aside from being the man behind Land Craft 4×4, Beeboy Bargas is currently the Associate Off Road Editor of BBC Top Gear Philippines Magazine.

4x4s are in his staple diet. And he is involved in just about any 4×4 and offroad event you can imagine. But it doesn’t mean he doesn’t know slack about cars and other forms of motorsports. Try talking about the nitty-gritty stuff there is to do with any motor vehicle, and you’ll be put to shame. Because under his belt, he has years and years of experience working for various automotive brands, as well as being service crew manager in the fields of karting and auto rallye.

Being a consultant for key players in the Philippine automotive manufacturing industry for 4×4 and non 4×4 matters, Beeboy is truly a go-to person when it comes to anything and everything to do about rides. And he’s here to help you out for free as an AUTO GURO. So start ASK THE AUTO GUROs Now!

Contact Beeboy:

Website: LandCraft4x4.com
Email: wolfpackinc@landcraft4×4.com, landcraft@4×4ph.com
Mobile: +63 919 4916008
Land Craft 4×4 Training Center GPS coordinates: 14 degrees 37?00.29 NORTH, 121 degrees 25? 17.14 EAST

Land Craft 4×4 Services:

-4X4 OFF ROAD DRIVER TRAINING FOR RECREATIONAL AMD COMMERCIAL
-4X4 ADVENTURE TOURS
-MOTORING EVENT MANAGEMENT and VENUE
-CAMP SITE
-CORPORATE 4X4 TEAM BUILDING
-EXPEDITION/4X4 OFF ROAD VEHICLE PREPARATION AND CREW TRAINING
-HUMANITARIAN/ENVIROMENTAL MISSIONS
-SEARCH and RESCUE
-LOGISTICS/TRANSPORT FOR PHOTO/VIDEO SHOOTS
-AERIAL CAM (aeroeyeasia)
-CONSULTING
-ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING 4WD
-SPECIAL DRIVING TRAINING

Beeboy’s Other Activities:

-Contributing writer to various broadsheets and magazines
-Rainforest Challenge of Malaysia Philippine representative 2000/2001
-King of the Hill 4×4 competition Event Organizer 2002
- Silverstone 4×4 Rallye of Asia Philippine representative 2002
- Consulting service for key players in the Philippine automotive manufacturing industry for 4×4 and non 4×4 matters
- Logistic support group for various NGO’s for medical, educational and relief missions
-Sales training instructor
-Trained session facilitator by Wilson Learning U.S.A.
-Sale and Marketing manager for various automotive brands 1992 to 2000
-Service Crew Manager Masigs Auto rallye team 1985/92
-Service Crew Manager Karting 1988/93

Affiliates:

www.4×4ph.com, Maven Management, Rainforest Challenge Team Philippines, BBC Top Gear Philippines. Car Awards Group Inc., Team Extreme Adventure Motorsports. Land Rover Club of the Philippines. Hotwire TV 23

THE aSTIG is the name given to the mysterious custom-vehicle connoisseur of CustomPinoyRides.com. He is not to be confused with The Stig of Top Gear, though attribution goes to The Stig.

THE aSTIG’s name is derived from the Filipino word “ASTIG” – a slang for “TIGAS”, which, when used as an adjective, translates to English as “HARD”, “TOUGH”, “INTENSE”, and “UNFAZED”.

THE aSTIG’s true identity is kept a mystery. In order to maintain secrecy, all his pictures portray him covered in an all-white racing suit with matching white racing helmet. The only clue, as what can be seen from the gap between his suit and helmet, is that he is male, with fair skin, and dark hair. Those who know him say he wears size 10 racing boots.

The CustomPinoyRides.com editors claim that there is a clause in THE aSTIG’s contract which states that should his identity be revealed, either by his own doing or through a member of the CustomPinoyRides staff, he has to be fired. It was later revealed that this is because people will forget about the cars and focus on him instead, as his physical charisma rivals that of his ability to write about, and photograph cars.

His primary function is to write about, and take photographs of anything and everything to do about customizing cars. All his work, extraordinary ideas, and coverage about never-before seen or made customs can be found at CustomPinoyRides.com – the premier online car show and e-magazine featuring custom cars, bikes, and 4x4s in the Philippines.

Some say that his secret to making tuner cars go faster is by mixing three drops of Manny Pacquiao’s sweat with every liter of fuel. And that the immense low-pressure area caused when he did a burnout on a twin-charged (turbo and supercharged) Honda Civic running this fuel mixture brought forth the arrival of Typhoon Ondoy; and when he did it again on a diesel 4×4 Toyota Fortuner on 20-inch Dubs and 35-inch Mud-Terrain tires, Typhoon Pepeng arrived. All we know is… he’s called THE aSTIG.

CustomPinoyRides.com brings you: ASK THE AUTO GURO.

What is an AUTO GURO?

AUTO GURO was derived from the words AUTO – which is short from AUTOMOBILE, and the Filipino word GURO-which means GURU or TEACHER in English.

CustomPinoyRides.com aims to bring you a means to ask the pros and experts about anything and everything to do with customizing, restoring, maintaining, and repairing your ride. You’re assured that your questions will be answered by real experts and professionals in our motoring industry.

No more having to go through online forums to ask for advice, only to get unsatisfactory or incorrect answers from “posers” or self-proclaimed “gurus” pretending to be pros.

Who are THE AUTO GUROs?

• Beeboy Bargas of BBC Top Gear Philippines and LandCraft 4×4
• Carl Casiño of K&N Source
• THE aSTIG of CustomPinoyRides.com
• The King – Drifting extraordinaire and Custom Car Builder Ian King of Car Porn Productions
• Video Candy specialist Struan Wallace of Car Porn Productions
• Expert PhotoTuner Kevin Carlos
• And Engine Specialist Ben Alameda of Ben Alameda Racing and Philippine-American Racing-Association

The list continues to expand as more experts and professionals become part of THE AUTO GUROs. I will update this post accordingly.

How to ASK THE AUTO GUROs?

There are 3 ways for you to ask:

1. Post your questions on any comments section at CustomPinoyRides.com
2. Email your questions to custompinoyrides@gmail.com
3. Add us up on Facebook and post your questions on the wall.

How will you receive the answers?

We will collate all your questions, and post it all, with the answers, every Friday of the week at the ASK THE AUTO GURO section of CustomPinoyRides.com.

If you want to receive the answers automatically, you can subscribe to us through the following free channels:

1. RSS
2. Email
3. Facebook

We are all looking forward to addressing your questions.

Note that there is no charge for any of this. This is sort of a “Pinoy Bayanihan” for fellow car enthusiasts. So feel free to ask away!

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