How hard is it?

Alright guys im a 14 year old kid (yeah yeah im a newbie) and i know my first car will be a 92-96 prelude. The thing is when i search for ludes with vtecs all the ones i find have at least 100,000 miles...my question is are these engines gonna be a bit weaker than say a jdm motor with 30,000 miles? and my second question is how hard would it be for me, my dad and say a few friends to swap a jdm h22a into a non-vtec lude? like what tools would be needed, how much would it cost, and would we have enough knowldge to complete the swap succesfully? Any informationon on these topics would greatly be appreiciated. Thanks!

A Honda engine with 100,000 miles still has a lot of life left in it (if you don't abuse it). Naturally a newer, lower milage JDM engine will make more power, and JDM engines are usually spec'ed ~10 hp more than USDM anyway. It sounds like you've already decided you want to do a swap, so I'd suggest an S or SI (paying for a USDM VTEC then swapping it out for a JDM VTEC doesn't make much sense for only a 10 hp gain). If your dad or your friends have never done a swap before then you're going to run into difficulty (even if they have done a swap you'll run in to difficulty), but that's how you learn.

honda engines last a long time anyway. my sisters got a friend with a civic an he just rounded 300,000 miles last week, still runnin strong (for a honda). if your gonna do a swap, your gonna wanna get a engine hoist, cost no more than 100. gonna be a bitch tryin to get it out by just manpower unless your dad an friends are built like whoa. i'm pretty sure you're gonna hav to get a new wiring harness, should come with the engine, i'm not 100% sure, i'm not an electrical guy. i'm only 15 an i've started modifying my 95 si. i found a site where you can order the engine, tranny, an ecu for no more than 4-5 grand. will post it when i find it again, maybe thursday.

You can get them for waaaaaaay cheaper than 4-5 grand. try totaljdm.com or jaydm.com, those are just some i remember off the top of my head. Do a search too, I've seen people mention finding that combo for around $2500.

i've found the combo for 1900 plus another 500 for shipping. at least you know that many many people have done this swap before you. no matter what trim you buy, swapping in an h22 into any 4th gen lude will be about the same. good luck. theres lots of information on this subject, just look around.