92 Prelude motor swap?

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proford

New Member
Hi i just bought a 92 Prelude with a bad motor to fix up for my son. I Dont know much about Hondas so im coming here for some guidance. This car has a H23A
motor in it. Ive been told the H23A is hard to find and Expensive. Ive also been told to put a H22A motor in it as they are better motor? I went to the local salvage yard Friday to look at a 2.2 for a 92 prelude but it was not even a DOHC motor
so i don't know what it was. Ive got a 95 accord with a F22B motor but ive been told sinse one is OBD1 and the other is OBD2 its not worth the hassle to try and swap it in there. OK heres my question "Is the H22A the motor i should be looking for? What does it come in? i mean what do i ask the salvage yard for a motor out of? whaen i asked about a H22A they don't understand all they want is year make and motor size. Thanks and i hope all this makes sense.

Mike
 
honestly here is the true question.... what are you building this car for?? performance? daily driver? mild race car?

what exactly took a crap on the H23??? hole in the block???

now if it were me personally what i would do is go back to that junk yard and pick up that 2.2 non-vtec... its most likely a F22a1 or a F22a6... now niether one of these two motors should be junk, these motors take a beating all day long and are cheap... i wouldnt spend no more then $300 on either one... they both bolt onto the trans of the H23...no matter what if its a manual or a auto, they do interchange...

now if your looking for a lil performance out of this car (since it is a 4th gen prelude lets face it... its a heavy car lol)... what i would personally do and for the cheapest route would be to.... take the H23 head (given thats its still good) and put it on the F22 block... also snatch the H23 intake manifold.... the F22 block is pretty beefy from the factory and can take alot of abuse... so a typical teenager's foot will be just fine... but now if you wanna go even further.... with this H23 head and F22 block combo, time to turbo it.... there are kits out there or you can piece together something rather decently and still pay less then $1000 for a faster (then stock) car....

lastly... yes the H22 motor is a really solid motor and you can find aftermarket parts all day long.... now you can buy one of these motors, but in my opinion you are just wasting your money unless your gonna build a race motor.... also with the H23 motor thats in the car now (or F22 for that matter) they are both non-vtec, which is nice... saves you from having to do some wiring and also swapping ECU's...

so really.... the choice is yours:D
 
Uncle Buck
Thanks for this info. I've raced Fords all my life and can tell you most everything you'd need to know about them, but im clueless on Honda's. Im looking to just put him something together to drive that looks sporty and gets decent milage. The motor in the Accord is a 2.2 vtec sohc, would the 2.3 dohc head fit on it? it was a F22something but i cant remember? Do the valve reliefs in the pistons match up?
You sound like you know what you are talking about if you dont mind, would you send me a email to ford706@aol.com so i can ask you a couple more questions.
thanks again

mike
 
the H23 head will fit on the F22a1 block without any issues... just remember to always match the headgasket with the head that your swapping... but swapping a non-vtec head onto a block that was vtec will bring up some issues....

now here is a thread on the accord forums..... guys have been doing this head swap for years and should help you find any info you need...

YES! the H23 head does fit on the F22ax block.. - CB7Tuner Forums
 
If you're looking for a direct motor replacement the JDM (Japanese market) dual-cam F22B is essentially the same thing as the H23, and they're usually not that expensive. Also, H23's should be super expensive or hard to find. There is a very rare VTEC version that they put in some of the Japanese models, but just the regular non-VTEC H23 shouldn't cost that much...
 
indeed the F22b (Dohc) goes for about $500... so about $700 shipped to your doorstep....
 
proford said:
Hi i just bought a 92 Prelude with a bad motor to fix up for my son. I Dont know much about Hondas so im coming here for some guidance. This car has a H23A
motor in it. Ive been told the H23A is hard to find and Expensive. Ive also been told to put a H22A motor in it as they are better motor? I went to the local salvage yard Friday to look at a 2.2 for a 92 prelude but it was not even a DOHC motor
so i don't know what it was. Ive got a 95 accord with a F22B motor but ive been told sinse one is OBD1 and the other is OBD2 its not worth the hassle to try and swap it in there. OK heres my question "Is the H22A the motor i should be looking for? What does it come in? i mean what do i ask the salvage yard for a motor out of? whaen i asked about a H22A they don't understand all they want is year make and motor size. Thanks and i hope all this makes sense.

Mike
Click to expand...
ok. what u saw must have been F22 that comes in older preludes. (same as the one from an accord). i would too go for an H22A. it would be really hard to find it at a junk yard( at least here in PA it is.) your best bet would be to get it online or any engine places around. on of the online places is Hmotorsonline.com u can get a whole OBD1 swap for under 2k. the only thing u gonna have to do is run wires for Vtec.
 
hey man im doing the same thing right now i also had the H23 in mine, but now i got the F22b2 in it none Vtec i did not want anything more just a Get around car that looked Nice, but im having a hard time getting all the plugs to plug into the car the car is turning over, i think it's getting spark but No fuel , Please help
 
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