Going from dead h23 to JDM h22a...newbie needs help!!!

Well I am definately a newbie when it comes to motor swaps, but now I'm sort of jumping in seeing as I have an h23 out of commission.

I have searched, but I'm still confused on a few things.

First, this is for a '93 Prelude Si so the harness in there "should" play nice with the new motor. I know it's pre-wired for vtec as I've found the two plugs dangling by the passenger side strut mounth. The only thing I can think of is that since I'm going from auto to manual I might have to rewire the cruise control. Does anyone else have any experience with this?

Secondly, I know that I need to swap distributor and coil from my H23 onto the new motor, and I'm under the impression that I need to swap the fuel rail too, what about injectors? Should I just swap the whole H23 intake manifold onto the H22 and put the H22 throttle body on the manifold? I also just had to buy a new oil pan, will this mate up with the h22 if the one on the h22 is abused?

I also found a post about swapping on the tensioner, which I'm assuming is the serp belt tensioner. Do I need to do this?

Hopefully someone who has done this swap will chime in and let me know exactly what I need to swap. Obviously I understand the clutch and shifter parts, and the dizzy, but the rest I'm a little fuzzy on.



Also, what steps should I take when I get my motor to ensure that it is in good working condition? I'm guessing a compression check, and maybe a leakdown test, but would it be a good idea to open it up and do valve clearance checks and such? What about opening it up from the bottom end too?


I know I gave a lot of questions but I really don't understand it all very well. I have an experienced swapper that is going to do this for me, but I'd rather know what I need to do going in so that I can be of some use to him (we'll already have tool bitches) :iceslolan ... I'm just a little worried, my car expertise extends into audio, while I'm not an idiot when it comes to motor work, this is a much bigger job than I'm accustomed to.

Well, thanks for any help in advance, and if you have any tips or tidbits that I didn't ask about feel free to educate me. I'm still searching around on forums but it's frustrating when you see two contradicting answers. Thanks!

allright, well ill help out where i can, i just did the swap, although it was not an auto to manual...

as far as the cruise control, im not sure how that would work out

yes, youll have to swap the fuel rail, just take it from the h23 and swap it on, same with the dizzy. Stick with the injectors from the h22, there better anyway. Its not a big job anyway.

Im not quite sure about the oil pan, my oil pan that came on the h22 came in fine, wasnt bad at all, if i had to guess, i would say that it would fit on, seein that the h22 and h23 blocks are the same, unless yo needed more clearance er something for the extra oil squirters in the h22, which i believe there isnt. Chances are, your oil pan will be fine anyway.

I didnt have to swap anything else on the motor, except for the fuel rail, and the distributor and coil. As far as the tensioner i think its fine, i havent heard of anything like that.

when i got my motor, i didnt do much to check it out, i was interested at how the vtec worked and everything (actually seeing it i mean) and so i took off the valve cover to check out how the cams looked and to see if there was any burnt oil, see if it was beat on a ton or anything. Nothing major, the compression test is a very good idea, as far as checking out the bottom end, you can never be too safe, as long as u got some time on yur hands.

well enjoy the swap and if u have any questions along the way, i still have a lot of it stuck in my memory, so feel free to PM me about anything, and hope i helped out a bit. Enjoy!

Excellent, thanks for the clarification!
Should my Injen intake work too? or does the manifold end at a different location?

P.S: Where did you get your motor from? Good experience or not?

Thanks!

Yup, your intake will work just fine.

I bought mine believe it or not from Ebay. Some people may think its a bad idea, but it was just a regular company, listing also on ebay, and i read nothing but good feedback from all his engine sales. I cant remember the name of it, but as long as you do your research, ebay is just fine. I got it cheap, and its nothing short of what i was expecting. Very happy, and glad i did it. I hope you have the same experience, as you will enjoy it. Good luck!!