H23 With A H22 Vtec Head

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greenhotrod

Junior Member
i have a h23 in my crx runs great. Just wondering about swapping a h22 vtec head onto it I found a h22 motor & wiring for about $600 also if I do this should I use the h23 tranny or the h22 trans
 
both trannys are the same. so pick one. as far as the h22/h23 frankenstien dont know. heard good and bad. i would assume h22 with diff stroke and more displacement would be just like ls/vtec or b20/vtec. double check oil passages though. when i rebuilt my first h22 order headgasket and got h23 bolts line up so do dowels but oil passages different shapes (longer on the corners of the block/head). never saw a 23 block w/o head so not sure if the headgasket is just different. anyone else???
 
I have been doing research about this frankinstein motor build up and I am planning on doing this soon. I have asked various people and they said that the h22 head gasket is the one you want to use Im not sure myself but this is what I have heard and the oil passages are the same. You will need to remove a few oil plugs here and there and that should allow the oil to flow like a h22 vtec should. I recommend using the h22a tranny since the gear ratio is shorter if you are building for 1/4 mile. If you are going for top speed use the h23 same bolt pattern. Hope that helps..
 
Originally posted by boostdlude@Feb 25 2003, 08:05 PM
both trannys are the same. so pick one.

Wrong. Like ludester said, the H22 is shorter-geared. Use it if staying n/a, or get the H23 if boosting or planning on boosting.
 
I plan on switching my h23 to Vtec too. Does anyone have any information on accually doing the swap. Any information would be great such as parts i'd need and stuff like that. Thanx
 
I don't think anyone here has done it. ludester1 seemed to have a little info on it a few posts ago. I imagine that the swap is very similar to an LS/VTEC swap (run an external oil line for VTEC, etc). Check around in the B-series forums and in our reference sections on how to do an LS/VTEC setup, and I'll bet you'll have a great starting platform for the swap. Posting specific questions helps alot, too.
 
Also were in the reference section does it talk about doing a LS/VTEC swap?
 
Sorry, it will be posted soon. Until then, check the forums, there have been 347384349 questions on how to do any LS/VTEC.

I don't see why you couldn't use an OBD2 head on an OBD1 block, but you're going to have to modify the wiring harness to make the combination work. Make sure you match OBD's between the head and the car though.
 
I have done the tranny swap in my lude. I put an H23 (lude si) tranny into my vtec lude and also put in a JDM H22 at the same time. In a CRX I would recommend using the H23 tranny because with a car that light 1st, 2nd, and most of 3rd with the H22 tranny would be almost useless because you would be spinning the tires through all 3 gears. With the H23 tranny, there's not a whole lot of difference in 2nd but 3rd is definatley taller. Not to mention it will do 105 mph at 7200 rpm and top speed is around 145-150 mph and I can vouch for that. I just think in a car that light, you'd get more use out of the H23 tranny even on slicks. The one thing you made need to do would be get a Vtec controller and set the vtec to engage around 4500-4800 rpm because if I'm not right at redline in 2nd gear when I shift to 3rd, my revs end up around 4600 rpm. The stock vtec set up engages at 5200 rpm. Once again, just some knowledge from someone who is running the H22a H23 tranny setup in a lude.
 
im ALSO running a jdm h22a with an si tranny, i love it. 3rd gear pulls like a raped ape! and i can vouch for the top speed thing too ;) although, with me shifting at 7200 and my vtec engaging at 5, i never drop out of vtec when i shift except if i fuck up the launch and shift into 2nd at the wrong time, if you shift right, hold on cuz its a fun ride ;) i would recommend the h23 tranny as well, with a car that light you'll fly through the gears with a frank 23/22 anyway!
 
so when u take the h23 motor....and swap the head From a h22..u basically have a h22 motor with mostly h23 internals or what? what is the hp rated at after this......this sounds like a great idea, and really cheap too...why havent more people done this?...i have heard of it but never really looked into it..this could help my friend out alot.....I have 97 prelude vtec....and i love it... :ph34r:
 
Don't do a 97 up H22 onto an H23! From what I remember they do NOT match up (92-96 closed deck, 97 up open deck) Thats why the older H22's and H23's are better to boost as well (stronger). The advantage of the frankenstein is the displacement increase, which is 89cc if I remember right, good for a few horses. These engines are quite reliable (when done correctly) especially if compared to LS/Vtec (which from what I hear lasts about 20- 30k miles).

I was about to do the frankenstein on my lude right before I sold it. If anyone in the western washington area needs a shop to do it I know a good one, they built a bunch of race frankensteins. :D

Dan
 
Head Swap

A buddy of mine did this swap and blew the first one, and said that the very first thing that you HAVE TO DO is...balance the crank and knife the crank. I also am doing the H22 head-H23 Block in my 92 CB7 Lx. And using the CB7 tranny and BOOSTING the hell out of it-25-35psi. This also comes with a hefty price. I am having my buddies that build racing motors help with this project b/c they have all the nessesarry equiptment. so bottom line find your self a engine builder and become good friends with him cause you blow it and he's gonna be seeing alot of you.
 
From what Ive been told you need to change some of the timing stuff. Like put the h22 water pump and one of the timing belt tensioners (I think the lower one but I deleted the email and dont remember anything else) on the h23. So h22 gasket, remove some oil plugs, h22 timing stuff on h23 block and that is all I have found on doing this.
 
I just bought a H22A head from a friend of mine yesterday and i intend to do the head swap really soon. But so far the posts that i have read on this thread are correct about the oil plugs, the gasket and the h23 tranny. Though one thing was left out. If you're going to do the swap, you're going to need to use the p13 ecu or chip the p14 for vtec to engage properly. A friend of mine did the head swap a few years back with the automatic tranny, boosted it and used a b&m quick shifter and ripped everyone apart til he wrecked it. I have heard of this swap bone stock with a good tune putting down 270 to the wheels. Modding the head or the block will make even more power as well. Good luck to all that try this swap and i will give info on it when i finish.
 
I just bought a H22A head from a friend of mine yesterday and i intend to do the head swap really soon. But so far the posts that i have read on this thread are correct about the oil plugs, the gasket and the h23 tranny. Though one thing was left out. If you're going to do the swap, you're going to need to use the p13 ecu or chip the p14 for vtec to engage properly. A friend of mine did the head swap a few years back with the automatic tranny, boosted it and used a b&m quick shifter and ripped everyone apart til he wrecked it. I have heard of this swap bone stock with a good tune putting down 270 to the wheels. Modding the head or the block will make even more power as well. Good luck to all that try this swap and i will give info on it when i finish.

This thread is two years old. I doubt that anyone who posted here cares anymore. Next time check the dates before you hit "reply" please...
 
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