92 Accord - timing belt snapped - how hard to fix??

Im looking at a 92 Accord that I can get for cheap. The timing belt on the engine has snapped. I assume this means that it has some valve\head damage. How hard of a fix would this be if I used my 93 Accord as a donor?

The 93 runs fine, but has more miles, body rust, and no AC for starters.

http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiBroker?ForwardPage=/az/cds/en_us/0900823d/80/0c/f7/06/0900823d800cf706.jsp


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It's trouble. Once the timing belt snapped, the valve could be damaged which is a big deal. A donor car won't do too much good for that since you want to use new stuff for the job.

A donor car won't do too much good for that since you want to use new stuff for the job.
New head? New valves? Why? Nice if you've got the money, but not essential.

The valve job is a lengthy one. You want to do it thoroughly and right the first time. If you would like to use old stuff, make sure you measure all the dimensions to make sure it's within the specs. Even though, it's very possible you will end up with doing it all over again if you use old parts.

Not to mention the seals and gaskets like head gasket, intake and exhaust gasket, valve seals, along with many other seals, you have to use new ones. For the head, if you take it off, there are many tasks you should do before you put it back, like clean it up, leak test, flatness check, etc. Not to say if the valves are bent, you have to replace with new ones. A new valve doesn't cost a lot, compared to the cost to do it all over again, it doesn't worth to use an old one. I believe you have to reseat them no matter it's new or old.

So, if you have time and enjoy the work, you can try you luck. You may take off the the whole head and just swap to another car. It may work fine. But if not, it's not a fun job to start over again.

I agree!! I have seen my friends trying to save couple bucks by using used parts on head rebuild. It always haunt them back within couple months. Doesn't worth it. Use new/genuine parts is the best bet.

Why not swap the head from the donor motor to the one with the bad timing belt. The damage might not be that extensive. You make it sound like its an impossible job. If you do it right then theres no problems. Another thing you can look into is an engine swap. Im doing an h23 turbo in my 90, you can use the same transmission, wiring harness and ecu if you can find the motor cheap.

Usually 1 or 2 valves on the f22. I have done lots of these new valves $9-11 apiece headgasket $60 use valvegrinding compound and valve lapper and have never had a problem. Dont do a complete head rebuild you will push out the oil control rings and have to rebuild whole engine.