Has anyone done this?

I have a 1994 Del Sol VTEC with 165k+ miles. It burns a bit of oil and the tranny grinds in 3rd & 4th. I want to do a swap. Should I:

A) Forget about the stuff I have and buy a H22A conversion kit w/tranny.

B) Forget about the stuff I have and buy a B20 and a B16 or B18 conversion w/tranny kit and create a B20 - VTEC.

C) Rebuild my head (Port, polish, etc.), rebuild my tranny (new synchros, etc), and buy a B20 to create a B20 - VTEC.

I know that option A might be hard and the car might not handle well. I think option B will be the most expensive, but easiest. Option C might be the cheapest, but there will be a lot of downtime for my car and I've never rebuilt either a head or tranny. Does anyone have any advice? What should I expect if I choose C? I have a good idea of the parts I'll need, but does anyone know where I can find a comprehensive list? Also, while the head is apart is there anything in specific I should do for performance gains?

Thanks for any help.

just rebiuld thats a great engine a b16 also plan on boost

Keeping what you have and rebuilding it is your best bet in my book and is actually what i plan on for mine. All B16A3's grind going into 3rd at high RPM's and will eventually start at low RPM's; its a fact of life. I installed my short throw, and it got rid of the grind. Although, i can feel it coming back. Throw some GM syncro mesh trani fluid in there. I plan on it with mine. It is supposed to cure all noises and grinds and is not a "temporary fix" like many products. When you rebuild your head it really depends on whot you are going for with the engine. Boost, N/A, etc.....Ask the shop that will port and polish your head.

IMO, I would just rebuild the B16 or if you're hell bent on a swap, put in a B18. Personally, I will be keeping my B16 and working on that platform in the future.

Throw some GM syncro mesh trani fluid in there. I plan on it with mine. It is supposed to cure all noises and grinds and is not a "temporary fix"

I'll try it. Where can i find it? Any auto parts place?


IMO, I would just rebuild the B16 or if you're hell bent on a swap, put in a B18. Personally, I will be keeping my B16 and working on that platform in the future.

This is a car that i want to keep for a long time. I'll buy another car for a daily driver. I plan on continually putting money into the Sol. I want to start with a larger displacement engine now and get the full benefit from it later. I feel like if i keep the B16, I wont get as much power later, or at least it will cost MUCH more to get the same amount of power anyway.

I've given up on the H22 because I don't think it has any benefit over a 2 liter B motor.

You can get it at any GM dealership, or look online. It averages at about $8 a quart.

This is a car that i want to keep for a long time. I'll buy another car for a daily driver. I plan on continually putting money into the Sol. I want to start with a larger displacement engine now and get the full benefit from it later. I feel like if i keep the B16, I wont get as much power later, or at least it will cost MUCH more to get the same amount of power anyway.

I've given up on the H22 because I don't think it has any benefit over a 2 liter B motor.

Do you have plans with F/I or are you keeping it N/A? If you are not going to run F/I then a B20 wouldn't be such a bad idea, but I've heard too many bad stories about B20's on boost though they may have not been reinforced properly.

As for the H22, I really don't see the necessity of putting one in. The weight difference isn't that much, but the fabrication necessary to install one isn't worth the effort if you ask me. Plus I believe they pitch in the opposite direction of the B-series motors when revved, so this can affect your car's dynamics.

I don't have any plans for FI. If I do decide to throw a turbo on it, I'll resleve the engine, among other things, to strengthen it.

Just a FYI the H22A tranny alone weighs 100lbs more than the Bseries trannies. Just an FYI so ya know.


I am with everybody else rebuild, but you need to know what you plan on doing before porting the head. You really need the static compression along with the specs of the cams you want to use and figure the dynamic compression ratio and then tell the head porter that info and he can port it more precisely. But that is if you are going N/A if boost is your thing then you will need to tell them that. The amount and shape that you contour the ports is dependant on what the motor is gong to be set up for.

The biggest thing I think you are going to run into is that you will be able to make a good amount of hp with the B16 but you will still be lacking TQ. I am still working on those calculations for you but I do have to say that if you are not experienced in rebuilding a motor than you should let someone who is do it. This is not like just replacing something that is broken with a part that is the same. There are alot of things that if done wrong will cause drastic falure, and some of these things are very little things but extremely important.

For the tranny rebuild though here is a link to help you out some. http://www.honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=795700 and
http://www.performanceforum.com/wesvann/honda/trans/trans.html

Wow. Thanks whtteg. I'm going to go N/A with the B16 head I have. I will take the head to someone who has experience with Honda. I'll probably rebuild the tranny with some help. For the block, I've heard the the B16 can be bored to 84mm and stroked to 89mm with an LS or CRV crank. If this is true and works well, I may do that. Otherwise I'll use the B20 block.

It would probably be cheaper to use the B20 block if you are wanting to go 84mm.

cant go wrong with the b16, not only is it a great motor for anything you could ever want it to be but it was also oem for a sol. Dont stray away from a sure thing ...h22 in a sol is blah