Swap In A 90 Prelude

[Prdtr15]

i have a 90 Prelude Si 2.1, there isnt much after market for it, so i am considering an engine swap for it, good idea or bad idea? and if it is a good idea, what engine would be a good swap into it? thanx

 

[MaaseyRacer]

i do not know of any company making mounts, or axels, for the 3rd gen lude. There is not much support for that gen at all. I do not even know what motor you would drop in there. maybe an h22, and that would take custom mounts, shift linkage, wire, and axels.... IMO it is not worth it, for the price of the swap you could find a low milage 92+ prelude with an h22 already in it.

 

[Azn]

Haha - H22 is, well, possible. place racing makes mounts, axles, harnesses. Good luck making that car fast. I thought about, but it is too much effort.

 

[vroomvroomHB]

3rd Gen Preludes are nice, I would be pissed if they didn't make alot of aftermarket items if i had a 90-91 prelude, but money talks, you can pay for whatever you want done, just take it to the right guy for the right price, just make sure all the fabrication done to your car is legit, you dont want your car to split into 2 on the highway.

 

[racerx h23]

Something I'd like to see is a b18 or b16 in the 3g. It would be much better for the overall performance of the car since the engines don't weigh 180lbs more than the b21 like the h22 does.

However, the mounts have to be fabed and the shift linkage has to be changed to pushrod. Unless you can get your hands on a b17 tranny thats already setup for cable.

 

[mariowc]

Yea, that's a good idea - let's put an engine that has no torque in a 3000lb car. That thing would be powerless which is why no one has really attempted it.

Basically, the only drop in engine for your 3rd gen is a JDM b20a - most 3rd gen'ers do this to build it up for boost or to just have a low-milage engine.

To do an h22a swap in a 3rd gen, it will cost around $6,000 including the h22a itself. The Place Racing Mounts are not even fabricated correctly, so you'll have to get them done custom - I heard the axles that they give you are too long too. Basically, don't depend on PR for anything.

Third gens have parts... they are just harder to find.

 

[dohcvtec_accord]

Actually, the older Ludes were much lighter....around 2600 pounds. But still, you definitely wouldn't want to put a B16 in there. B18, maybe, if you built it. A B20 obviously does alright, since it came in the car stock. But an H22 would be the best choice, in my opinion.

 

[racerx h23]

IMO, the h22 would ruin the 3gs street handeling. With the added weight of the h22, it would put the weight distrabution at 70/30. To me thats counter productive unless you want a drag racer.

 

[JDMPowersales]

I'd drop a B series in a 90 prelude. I've been thinking about getting a sleeper 87 accord hatch w/ a b16a.

 

[kango]

Originally posted by mariowc@Jun 30 2003, 08:10 PM
Yea, that's a good idea - let's put an engine that has no torque in a 3000lb car. That thing would be powerless which is why no one has really attempted it.

Basically, the only drop in engine for your 3rd gen is a JDM b20a - most 3rd gen'ers do this to build it up for boost or to just have a low-milage engine.

To do an h22a swap in a 3rd gen, it will cost around $6,000 including the h22a itself. The Place Racing Mounts are not even fabricated correctly, so you'll have to get them done custom - I heard the axles that they give you are too long too. Basically, don't depend on PR for anything.

Third gens have parts... they are just harder to find.

Holy shit, there IS somebody else that knows something about 3rd gen ludes. I'm damn tired of Civic drivers telling us to dump our cars for something else, because "there's no support for them." BAH!! Just because we can't find our parts in every import magazine on the rack doesn't mean they don't exist.

 

[poid]

I am guessing the B20B CRV engine wont fit without a lot of modification either? My bro has to replace his engine at the moment cos of the cam belt snapping and looks like nothing will fit without major mods.

Too expensive to repair/build the current engine as well

 

[racerx h23]

poid: I dunno about the b20b. The b20/ 21a has pretty much nothing in common with the newer b16/ 18/ 20s. Plus I don't think its been done.


JDMPowersales: The b20a should fit. It came in the jdm 2g Lude.

 

[mariowc]

A b20a in a 3rd gen is a pretty much straight drop-in. I have never heard of anyone doing a b20b swap - however the b20b and b20a* are fairly different from what I've heard.

Yea - well, you can build up a b20a like any other Honda engine - it's not as common but it's been done.

 

[poid]

The B20B swap has been done, there is a guy here in Australia that has one. but as far as i have been able to tell its similar to the B18 etc so will be a PITA to drop in.

So either get another stock engine from Japan or see if there isnt too much buggered in the current one...still have to price a heap of stuff!

The B20A certainly has potential, there is a boosted one going around here making 450+hp at the wheels

 

[mariowc]

Yep - and there is a person who has boosted a h22a in a 3rd gen who is making 600hp at the crank, and around 430whp... he's running 12's untuned.

 

[JDMPowersales]

Theres a company that makes mounts for Accords and Ludes. The old school ones.

 

[racerx h23]

Like swap mounts or oems???

The b20a will drop in but its got 5hp less than the b21.

 

[mariowc]

Yea, Place Racing does... however their mounts are f---ed up - they don't work basically, they made them wrong.