H22 Motor Swap

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HCivic08

New Member
Ok, I've looked on almost every forum site and can't find the info i'm looking for a user recommended I put a thread here. So here it goes I have been searching for an H22 motor ever since I found out the hp and torque, and they would go in my car. I have a 1997 honda civic hx coupe I actually found this car 3 days ago. The car is a 1997 honda prelude type sh with 111090 on the odometer the car is wrecked in the front with nothing but a broken radiator and a broken motor mount (the part that goes to the car not on the motor) The guy wants $1500 for the car good deal? So i'm gonna buy the car and just put the motor in mine.So I need to know how hard this is going to be, and what all I need to get the motor in and get it to run right. I'm planning on getting the car either this weekend or next so any info will be greatly appreciated. Thanks
 
Are both cars manual transmission? That's pretty much a necessity here. I've never heard of anyone doing an H22 swap into a Civic and keeping it automatic.

As far as how hard it's gonna be, you're going to need after-market mounts, and an appropriate shift linkage. It's not the easiest of swaps, but it's not the hardest either. Note that the Civic's transmission will NOT bolt up to the H22. You'll need to use the Prelude's tranny to make this work.

The price for the Prelude sounds good (a full H22 swap usually costs at least $2,000), so if both cars are manual transmissions, then I'd say go for it.
 
Thanks for the reply man, but my car is an automatic but I can change it to a stick right? Find the console piece from some junkyard or ebay, the shifter and everything from the prelude?
 
your enthusiasm is great and this sounds like a good deal, but as brutal was pointing out you are in for a major project. i always say to myself... if it is humanly possible, i can do it. keep that mentality and a lot of patients and it can be done. i am not a swap expert, but i know enough to realize the difficulty of this swap, and make sure if you attempt it that you are able to let the car sit in your garage unused for an indefinite period of time as you iron out the kinks that you come across.

tell you what... if you really want some good advice from people on here that know a lot more than i do, respond with your budget, time frame, and mechanical abilities. keep in mind that you will be facing either an aftermarket wiring harness (rywire?) or re-wiring the harness yourself. if this helps to get you started, feel free to leave me some rep. :)

happy honda tuning!
 
Well I really want this to be a spring/summer type project so i've got all the time I need I have a pretty good paying job so money isn't a prob, but the car im swapping to is like my daily driver. But ill just borrow the parents vehicle as for now I just want to try and iron out all the kinks before I get to them. So once again any problem area I might encounter or parts i'll need if you know please tell me, I want this swap to go as smooth as possible. Oh and just to add I've got an entire prelude to my disposle so I might have most of what I need Thanks alot for the replies guys it really helps!
 
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Thanks for the reply man, but my car is an automatic but I can change it to a stick right? Find the console piece from some junkyard or ebay, the shifter and everything from the prelude?

Yeah, you can swap your car over. You'll need more than just the center console though. You'll also need a clutch pedal (you should probably just buy the whole pedal assembly from a manual tranny Civic), plus all the lines and plumbing for the clutch. You also might want to try and find a gauge cluster from a manual Civic. Otherwise you're gonna be stuck with the useless auto tranny display lights that will permanently show the car as being in park.

If I were you, I would check out Hasport (Hasport Performance, Inc.). They'll have the mounts and the shift linkage you'll need, plus they also have installation instructions posted on their site, so that way you can take a look and see what you're getting into before you buy anything.
 
Wow didn't even think about the cluster, so the lines and everything from the prelude and the pedal wouldn't work if I swapped it to my car? Thanks brutalb83 lots of help man!!!
 
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