Engine of the Week is presented by
When planning our trip for Sick Week 2024, we knew we’d be exploring areas all throughout central Florida. We figured, rather than simply hop city to city, let’s see what engine shops we can visit in an effort to showcase what they have going on. First on the list was JBR Engines in Plant City, FL, just outside of the Bradenton area.
We’ve known shop owner Jose Bello for a few years, and well before that, we knew his shop was one of the top shops in the Honda and import engine scene. After getting a full tour of the JBR Engines facility, Jose took us into the engine assembly room where an all-billet K24 2.2L Honda engine was getting prepped to become a world beater. He was kind enough to give us the full details of the engine.
“This is actually for a 5-second four-cylinder car in the quarter mile,” Bello says. “This is his engine for 2024. We start with a Bullet billet K-series K24 deck height block, which we machine. We bore it, hone it and set it up for fire rings that Bullet makes. We also do all the clearancing and everything to get it set up. Then, we’ve got a Callies 2.2L billet crank, R&R connecting rods, Diamond pistons, Trend wrist pins, and all the nice stuff.”
The engine also features a billet Honda cylinder head, which gets ported in-house and helps the engine make 1,800-2,000 horsepower on the track, according to Jose. As for the 2.2L size of the engine, Jose says that was done for a specific purpose.
“With the crankshafts that are available with the K24, the journals are kind of narrow, so we’re just looking for a little more support on the rod journal,” he says. “Then, destroking it we’ll get a little more out of the power band and it just works.”
While the billet cylinder head gets ported in-house, JBR also dropped some nice valvetrain goodies into it with custom Ferrea valves, Ferrea 150-lb. springs and a Drag Cartel camshaft. Additionally, the engine gets 75-80-lbs. of boost thanks to being turbocharged.
“In the quarter mile, the customer’s personal best is 5.867 at 233 mph, if I’m not mistaken,” Bello says.
An engine like this also runs a Peterson dry sump oiling system. While the customer is already one of the fastest out there in a Honda, this new billet K24 2.2L build is sure to up the ante even further!
Engine of the Week is sponsored by PennGrade1, Elring – Das Original and NPW Companies. If you have an engine you’d like to highlight in this series, please email Engine Builder Editor Greg Jones at [email protected].
