Boosting an H22A

Im getting (hopefully it arrives soon) a JDM h22a for my 92 accord. I want to try to keep the compression at the stock 10.6:1 for power, and i was wondering how much i can safely boost with it. I dont really want to lower the compression because i want to keep the benefits of the high compression from that motor.

I'd say probably a max of 6psi if even that with stock compression. I wouldn't even try it if i were you.

I knew i wouldnt get much. What hp would 6 lbs gain?

Aren't there flaws in the H22A when it comes to bossting it?(weak walls etc)

Aren't there flaws in the H22A when it comes to bossting it?(weak walls etc)

yeah, i would look into forged parts and resleeving it before anything. but since its only 6psi...maybe he'll be ok? :dunno:

I was worried about weak pistons (didnt know about the sleeves), but if i were to get these stronger pistons and sleeves, could i boost at maybe 8-10 with the high compression. Right now its just a thought, but im trying to avoid lowering the compression. Just dont want to lose any natural motor power.

you have thin cylinder walls. so sleeving = good idea

just curious, but do you have a turbo kit already or have a deal on one?? if youre still gonna be spending money, id say build it up and stay n/a. but thats just me, i prefer all motor.

No deals, but i wanted too explore some options. I really like the idea of all motor, but turbo can be hard to resist...

another question for you guys....i got offered a complete nitrous kit for 500, he said i could safely do 50 shots on the h22, but im skeptical. Whats a safe limitation?

strodda, you have an h22 in your accord right?

h22a is a kick A$$ motor for N/A applications...They have weak cylinder walls and deck. you will need to sleeve the walls and deck it before you run any boost in there otherwise within a yr your gonna be out a brand new motor. As far as getting new pistons and keeping the same compression and raising the boost...that is a huge NO NO... if you are hell bent on boosting this plant and not lowering your compression, you need to get new pistons yes and new rods as well along with the cylinder sleeves and your still gonna be limited to 6psi MAX..I think you need to learn how a turbo works and makes its power before you explore this because you would then learn that a turbo cannot operate under high compression..you will DETONATE...If you wanan boost you need to lower your compression, if you want to leave your compression then forget the turbo idea ...it boils down to physics..YOU CANT HAVE BOTH ..you need to pic one bro, turbo or compression

roger that tranzlogic. your right i dont know shit about turbos. but thats why i posted this thread, to see what i can do. thanks for all the info.

not a problom man, after all thats what all of us are here for...Q and A and sharing matters of opinions.

I was worried about weak pistons (didnt know about the sleeves), but if i were to get these stronger pistons and sleeves, could i boost at maybe 8-10 with the high compression. Right now its just a thought, but im trying to avoid lowering the compression. Just dont want to lose any natural motor power.

If you sleeve the motor and drop the compression to 8.5:1 or 9:1 you will still make more low end torque than any naturally aspirated B16 or B18 would, so why are you so stuck up on keeping 10.6:1? You may only make another 15 horsepower naturally aspirated, but going to 8.5:1 may allow you to run another 12 pounds of boost on pump gas, and making a ton more top end power. Besides, how much racing do you do before your turbo spools? First gear, then you shift, then you never fall out of boost and if you had high compression that's when you would be wishing you had low compression so you could run more boost and power.

so would a turbo also increase my torque at about the same ratio it increases h.p?

for the most part yeah..give or take depending on the turbo and the tune of the engine. But they will pretty much go hand in hand...you have to remember that in tech. terms the bigger tourque=bigger plant ..so it is hard for us to get alot of torque at the line due to out engine sizes...but 2nd gear is where the turbo would really be gettin its boogie on and you would start to generate alot more percentage of tourque, but at that point you are getting more and more into HP moving the vehicle because the main pull from still to speed has been made...remember tourque moves the car..HP pulls you there

so i guess unless im revving the engine on the line and also have a damn good turbo, im not going to have much increased torque to pull the car off the line?

does anyone know where to get h22 cylindar sleeves?? cant seem to find them.

have you checked the darton and golded eagle websites ???

golden eagle rather

What year is the h22a from. Check the head on the intake side and look for 3 circles. The middle circle will have 2 digits with a line in between it. Mine look like this 9|2, meaning 1992. If you have a 92-96 h22a, it has a solid deck on it which in that case all you would need to do is sleeve it. I don't believe the stock pistons and rods would be able to take 10psi on a sleeved block. If you are gonna sleeve it, might as well throw in some rods and pistons. H22's can take a lot of boost, don't believe the crap that they can't be boosted. They just have to be built to do it, but all honda motors are that way. 2 local guys are both running in the 20psi range and well over 500whp with their h22's. I will be in the same range when I'm done building mine.

to my knowlege i dont believe any of us said they could " never " be boosted...I and others have just said that you would need to build up the internals 1st, just as you stated before being able to boost it.

don't believe the crap that they can't be boosted. They just have to be built to do it,

yeah, you pretty much repeated what everyone else said. Of course they can be boosted with internal work. Ive done some research, and if im not mistaken, its at least 600 for resleeving, then 500 for pistons, i think 300 for rods....and then i need to get a fucking turbo. I think right now im going to just leave it N/A, cuz i just cant afford that. But hell, if you can build an h22 running 20 psi, your the man!

to my knowlege i dont believe any of us said they could " never " be boosted...I and others have just said that you would need to build up the internals 1st, just as you stated before being able to boost it.

I never said anyone else said they couldn't be boosted either. What I meant was that alot of people say that h22's don't handle boost very well. No stock honda engine handles boost all that well. They all take a beating from the increase in air. H22's are no different than any other Honda engine, if you wanna make a lot of power, you must build it.

No deals, but i wanted too explore some options. I really like the idea of all motor, but turbo can be hard to resist...

another question for you guys....i got offered a complete nitrous kit for 500, he said i could safely do 50 shots on the h22, but im skeptical. Whats a safe limitation?

I put 60 shots on my h22a in my civic and use it all the time and still going strong 1 year later, I motor 260hp and gas up to 320hp so the nos makes me hard to beat and my torqe puts me three car lenths in front of the b engine boys and they never can catch up.

I put 60 shots on my h22a in my civic and use it all the time and still going strong 1 year later, I motor 260hp and gas up to 320hp so the nos makes me hard to beat and my torqe puts me three car lenths in front of the b engine boys and they never can catch up.


Thats nuts man, what did you do to the motor to get 260 hp out of it all motor?

You can boost up to 7psi safely on a stock H22A. The weakest part about the block is the ringlands. If you resleeve the block and get forged pistons the H22A becomes more or less impenetrable.

whats a ringland? something to do with piston rings?? and if the engine was resleeved, would i have to get special sized pistons to fit inside the sleeves?

whats a ringland? something to do with piston rings?? and if the engine was resleeved, would i have to get special sized pistons to fit inside the sleeves?

The ringlands are the areas between the pistons rings.

If you got sleeves, yes, you would need new pistons. You can run stock bore pistons, or you can bore it out a few MM, whatever you chose there are a lot of companies that will make off-the-shelf pistons for you.