Newbie has 89 Prelude 4ws blown head

Just bought an 89 Prelude from a friend. Nice looking car. No rust, nice interior, 5 speed 2.o liter.4Wheel steer, 275,000 miles. He ran it till the timing belt broke. No idea what it did except break valves I suppose. I've loooked over the posts and a lot of people refer to problems when just rebuilding the head with oil consumption, lower end damage after reworking the head. WHat's the cheap solution here? I'd like to get this car running again before I dump a ton of money into it. Or sell it as is?
So...is a used engine the best bet? If so from where? Same engine or bigger? Or can I do what I'd do on a 1950 Chevy truck and just rebuild the head? Oh..... and do I need to pull the engine to pull the head. Looks awfully tight against the strut there in front on the fan etc belt end of the engine. Thanks in advance for helping the geezer newbie.

Let me tell you, get a new engine. Thats the easiest And cheapest way to go about it. A JDM b20a is your best bet. They cost anywhere from 500-700dollars and they have 30-40k miles on them only. And they have more power than the US b20a5's. Stick with the b20a, dont try to swap in a different type of engine, it's not like a civic, it will be very very costly to swap. Yes you probably bent a whole bunch of vavles an possibly scarred a piston or two...It's much cheaper to buy a JDM replacement! For more information on this, go to www.preludepower.com and search under "3rd gen" and put in your key words (ie: jdm replacement)...If you join the place, you will find people will help you out and all that, they know So much about 3rd gen preludes its not even funny.

Thanks Car Boy 16. One question.....what's a JDM engine versus a US engine? $500-700 with 30K miles sounds great.

JDM stands for "Japanese Domestic Market" and it simply means that they come from Japan. USDM engines have more emissions controls and also lower compression so that makes the JDM engines more powerful. Its 135hp for USDM b20a5 and 145hp for the JDM b20a.
But if you get a jdm b20a you should change some stuff on it like the timing belt, water pump, timing belt tensioner, wires, plugs, cap and rotor...just to freshen the motor up before installation. Believe me this is the best way to go about it.

or you could swap a JDM B21A3 into it. It has a duel cam, 10.5 comp ratio, and ayso has 165hp with around 30-40k miles on it. I had a '91 prelude with with a clutchmasters stage 1 clutch and stock B20A1 emissions, and I could take '99 civic Si's all day @ the strip. If you could mill the head about .010 in, port and polish,w/ multi-angle valve job the JDM B21 head before instalation, this would make about 20-25 more horses.

Your V-8 can't touch this sweet Honda Integra XSi....

I never heard of a b21a3...JDM engines dont have the number at the end either so I dont know how that makes sense. Either way, b21's have the experimental carbon fiber/aluminum cylinder walls and they tend to eat piston rings and burn oil like a bitch. B20a is a much better engine with more longevity and reliability than a b21a. Oh and have fun paying for a b21a3, an engine so rare that I have never even heard of it lol.

the motor says B21A, but is in reality a B21A3 (i.e. B18C - B18C5/B18C4/B18C3/ect) ya got it???? the JDM B21A(B21A3) had an aluminum block with iron sleeves, and aluminum head. You can buy one for about $1400.

LoL Go to Preludepower.com and tell them that. Everyone is talking about the almighty unknown JDM b21a...Please show me a little proof, for my own sake. Because this is just too much for me to take in, lol...jdm b21a(3).

1400 is too much anyways...why spend that much??? 165hp huh...yeah I'll believe that when I see proof...I'll be waiting for some type of documentation on that.

as long as this thread continues....what about some tips on where to buy a JDMB20?? I've found Nippon Motors but not much else. Thanks for all the tips so far....ethanol

Besides Nippon Motors, Try www.importengines.com , www.asapmotors.com , and www.soshinusa.com . I know there are countless local JDM engine importers that aren't really popular, maybe that would be better for you, going local, so if the engine is bad (it can happen, but uncommon) you can bring it back and deal with them personally...Some guys at www.Preludepower.com go through Nippon, some say they are great, some tell horror stories, it's really your call. Just make sure, if you get a JDM b20a, that you retain all your b20a5 accesories so you can install them on the JDM b20a...If you get extras like alternator, power steering pump, ect those are all bonuss.

A couple more links just in case.
http://www.osakajdmmotors.com/
www.nyblock.com
www.ebay.com

Thanks for the tips. There's no one local here that's for sure. I mean there are junkyards but no one selling low mileage JDM engines. I'm really curious why these engines are available. What's going on that you can by a 30 or 40K mileage engine for $500 or so?? Seems strange. You sure can't do that for a Chevy 350, which must be the most common engine in the USA.

Yeah I agree, they do seem kind of cheap. They are for two reasons (that I can think of). 1:They buy JDM engines by the shipload, so they are cheap for them. 2: Our engines are not really in high demand, but they still ship them over, so they need to get rid of them for cheap, thus 500-700dollars per JDM b20a.
If your wondering if there is any illegal play with buying a JDM engine, there is none, the price is just cheaper than you thought.

BTW, I dont know why you dont think you can get a chevy 350 for 500 dollars...In minnesota, there are 350s for sale all over the place for cheap cheap prices...Some guys rebuild them and find out they want a big block so they just get rid of them for real cheap, word of mouth kind of stuff... And unless you live in the middle of nowhere, you should be able to find a place that, even if they dont sell JDM engines, can hook you up with one if needbe.
Good Luck.

or you could do a D13A( that JDM Honda truck ) swap and put a D16Z6 head on it with a reprogramed ECU. Just think 1.3l's @ 18,000 rpm's. mad