H22A engine for baja

I am looking to put a honda motor into a baja bug/sandrail. I am going to keep it naturally aspirated with only a few performance upgrades for reliablity. I am leaning towards an H22A b/c of the numbers it puts out. it will be adapted to vw trans. so i know i will need to get an adapter. any suggestions, comments or recommendations on this engine choice. I like honda engines but not familiar and have never worked on them. any suggestions as far as wiring hareness or type of ECU? i am school teacher, so budget is a key word here.
thanks.

Why a vw transmission? Someone else help me out on this, don't the d's, b's and h's all spin the opposite way of most other engines? Why not an h-series or f-series tranny? People have hard enough of a time mating b and d series to the h-series blocks, and those are all honda parts. Which ever one you go with, you'll want the ecu and harness from the car it came from. In the case of the h22a, you'll want the OBD1 "P13" ecu and a '92-'95 Prelude harness. Luckily pretty much every service manual for honda is online if you know where to look (aka free wiring diagrams).

I don't know anything about a baja bug/sandrail, what kind of performance are you looking for (more hp than tq or more tq than hp)? Sounds cool though, I'd love to see pics when it's done.

I am trying to go with something a little different than many offroaders are putting in there sand cars. the h22a has power and torque to get me up hills and will turn 31 inch tires. i actually have a 6-rib type 2 tranny out of 78 vw bus that will go in the car giving it a higher gear ratio and and lot more strength and rigidity. i am not faliliar with honda motors and which way they rotate (counter or clockwise?). from what i have read the h22a puts out about 200-210hp with stock parts. this a great starting point for me. does anyone know the difference in weight if i decide to go with a V6 j32a or something like this? many people are running subaru motors any recommendations?

my recommendation is to either buy something and boost it or get something bigger than an H22 to start w/. Those engines may make some power, but honda's aren't known for their low end torque. You could easily boost an H or B series and get more than enough power.....

my recommendation is to either buy something and boost it or get something bigger than an H22 to start w/. Those engines may make some power, but honda's aren't known for their low end torque. You could easily boost an H or B series and get more than enough power.....

You also have to remember that they normally use tiny vw bug motors for these things. An h22 has more than enough horsepower and torque; Hell, even a B series motor would be damn sufficient.

To Hisel22:
My father and I recently dropped a 1776cc dual port into a Gazelle (Mercedes SSK Roadster replica; I'm sure you've heard of them since you're obviously part of the kit/bug scene)

I also happen to own an H22 Prelude, and also recently had my clutch replaced. Having first hand experience dealing with both types of motors and trannies, I highly advise you try and keep the h22 tranny. I know it might not be possible for your application (I don't know why style chassis you're mounting it into) but having seen the bell housings on both the vw tranny and the h22 tranny, it looks like its gonna be one hell of a job trying to make an adapter for it.

Best of luck to you! Keep us posted!

Wow, i'm very skeptical on using a H22 and a VW trans. I'd just keep the H22 trans too. It seems like itd be alot easier.

:iagree:

sandrails are pretty much limitless as far as adapting a non VW motor to a early style VW tranny. there are adapter plates available. but what i am wondering is the rotation of the engines? which way do they rotate (h22a, j32a, j35a, b-series). i plan on keeping it naturally aspirated, with a few bolt-ons like a header, air filter, possibly cam. any recommendations as far as motors. what about subaru or toyota. again i plan on keeping it pretty stock. so no bolt on boost will be added.
thanks

I dont know, i still don't see how your going to put a VW trans on a Honda. I say leave it alone. If your looking for other motots and dont want boost, then Subaru is out, seeing as how all their newer motors are turbo'd. And toyota, well theres a couple you could use but shiiit, I still say H22 all the way.

kennedy makes an adpater for almost anything. i can not use the stock honda tranny b/c of the articulation of the suspension. i just purchased a c32a that will go in this project. thanks for the info.
any performance recommedations i can do with a c32a. again, i would like to keep the boost away.