Well I am quite good mechanically, just am not an authority on hondas. Extent of my honda knowledge has been building this car. Bought a DX with a huge dent on the drivers side (gas filler door area was shoved in 4 inches) bad engine and nasty seatsfor $350. So first thing I did was swap in a ZCengine and trany, made a new harness myself (amazingly simple if you plan it out well as I did) yanked the old engine and trany put the new ones in after I put new clutch, seals, gaskets, water pump, timing belt and tune up. All with no assistance or help. outside of online. And it worked the first try. and has ran like a top the last year and 30,000 miles. no problems whatsoever. I did Suspension techniques springs and new KYB struts I bought off a guy for $200, got a set of GSR rims and tires for $250 from another guy. $100 for sets from a '95 CX hach, welded my own brakets to fit stock mounting points. Got the side repaired and car painted for another $650 so I have a grant total of $2,500 in my car. Been working on my own cars and my parrents cars since I was 11. that has been 30 years now. I am craving the seat in the pants kick a tourque monster can give. But don't have megabucks to spend. I drive for work and most of my milage is reimbursed by the company at 33 cents a mile. So I have to make sure 1) its reliable, and 2) is cheap to own and operate. I knew the B20 is a tight squeeze and I never thought the H22 was even doable until I saw a mount kit for sale. I thought it was physicallly to tall to fit. but at 210 hp and about 160 ft lbs of tourque in a '89 dx at about 2,100 lbs oh that is a sweet thought. if it was practical. I know a B18C5 would be sweet too. but at over $5,000 it is no more than a dream. Wife and mortgage obligations keep that from becoming a reality. After hearing abouth the downsides and stuff needed I have all but given this one up. I have thought of turbo but those costs really escalate if you want to do it right. and then to boost a ZC, it has spindly rods that won't take much ( word is about 200hp max) and then when you fix that you have to deal with the limits of the open deck design and the limits the stock cylinders impose on you (8 to 10 psi boost max for longterm reliability) or you are into megabucks getting the block sleeved. THen the survivability of the ZC syncros and trans. and the days of $150 ZC trans are limited. And parts aren't availible this side of the pacific for this grearbox. I was hoping to keep it N/A without over stressing anything. Since I need it to last foremost. Since this is a driver and not a track car.
