F23/H22 + manual conversion in 1995 Honda Odyssey

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Ben Jam1974

New Member
First off, I didn't see an Odyssey specific category, so mods, go ahead and move this thread wherever seems most appropriate.

Ok, so some of us Honda guys are a little older now, had a few kids, and then the kids want to have friends over, etc. And we all don't fit in a Civic hatchback anymore. We need a Honda with a lot of seats, and the Odyssey is it. Except for the fact that the newer Odysseys have transmission problems, they are huge, heavy and drink gas, they scream "soccer mom" and are no fun to drive. That got me thinking, why not do a manual swap in a mid-90s Odyssey? You could easily swap a F23/H22 hybrid (G23), which opens up infinite performance options. There are also plenty of options for wheels/tires/suspension, etc. That just leaves the auto to manual conversion. Why not weld in a section of firewall from an accord or prelude, mount the pedal set, and then create a custom shifter mount? I have done several auto to manual swaps in Civics and Integras - and while those are fairly easy, I am not afraid to strip a car to the shell, cut it up and weld on it. I am seriously thinking about building one, and possibly chopping the top while I'm at it. Has anyone else attempted anything like this? How cool would it be to piss off all the school moms with a loud, low, turbo minivan? Or to beat some douche in a Camaro that thinks his shit is fast? I think it would be fun.
 
Anything can be done with a cutter and welder. But just because you can doesn't mean you should :)

the later oddyssey's were 3.5 v6's, so I don't know how easy an inline 4 would mount up. Maybe a mount kit exists... doubtful though unless an accord mount set up would work.
still, you're better off just throwing an accord 6sp on the v6 (assuming that works too) than going down to a 4 banger I think.

so, you'd want a pre 98 if you want to do that G23 set up.
 
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dude, that was you. lol
I know. It's surprising that "B" missed that. In his post, he suggested doing the swap on a pre-98 Odyssey.
I might be confused, but wouldn't "mid 90s" mean '95-'96? and late 90's mean '98-99? I don't think he read the OP, which is why I repeated myself.
OK, so I get that swapping a '95 Odyssey is a crazy idea. But so much has been done with Hondas, it's difficult to break new ground. Plus I like the fact that people think it's a stupid idea! Fuck em! I don't build cars to make people happy anyway. I'd build it just to be different. Plus I love a sleeper. Imagine the look on people's faces when you destroy them in a minivan. Priceless.
 
I love sleepers- ask any of the old school guys here. There was actually a mom in Hawaii that got into racing her 1st gen Odyssey because her sons were racing their Hondas... it was in an oooooooooooold issue of Stupid Street way back probably a decade ago. You can convert an Odyssey to manual and stuff all the H22 goodness into it if you have the time- the engine bay will accept it without too much fuss as long as you can fab up some of your own hardware. Then again, that applies to any car customizing job.

Or you could look at the Mazda 5 (I have one). It's the only sliding door vehicle available in the US from the factory with a manual transmission. 2006-2010 = 2.3L with 5 speed (mine), 2012+ = 2.5L with 6 speed. All drivetrain, brake, and suspension hardware is shared with the 3, so performance upgrades are easy to come by.
 
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