H22A... MOney Pit? or no?

[Michalob]

Hey guys, I've been thinking about getting a H22A swap. My F22 is about to kick the can and well my sncros have had better days so i was wondering? Is the H22A a reliable swap? I personally don't want to find myself paying for all these little problems due to the swap and finding myself buried in debts. Any advice or help would be great. Thanks!

[NutBucket]

There are little things to work out to get everything working right but after that it's no different then having the F22. This is assuming you buy a good motor to swap in of course. I've already put about 10k miles on my swap just changing oil.

[Maple50175]

hey fizzbob did u do those turn singles on ur fender urself? jw

[DrLove'sKuDang]

ive had no problems with the motor, but a couple little things here and there have happened. pays to know someone though, a bunch of little fixes i didnt pay for.

before the motor is put in, i suggest doing a tensioner conversion. and have the shop take apart the tranny and check the gears and synchros. after a couple months of driving i started getting a 3rd grind and i got locked out of reverse by a stuck gear. but they put in all new synchros and everything is like butter now.

but other than that, its been fine.

[deevergote]

Keeping in mind that you are getting a USED motor, it's definitely a good choice. For a decent price, you can get considerable full-time power with stock reliability. I've had no problems with mine... I'm a little more concious of how I treat it than I was with the F, but that's about it (I let it warm up before I go above 2500, never let the gas get too low, etc.)

If you're considering forced induction of any kind though, the H22 is not the cheap way to go. If you do it right ($) then it's a good choice... However, boosting the F would cost far less and still give considerable power.

Think about it. If you want turbo in the future, replace the F with a lower milage, newer F series... or plan on shelling out tunso cash for the H (like I plan to...). If turbo doesn't interest you, then by all means go for the H22!

[BustedLX]

It's as reliable as a Honda Prelude. Now if you start mistreating it then it won't last.

My swap has 15K miles since September, Honda brand oil and filters every 2,500-4,000 miles, a 55 shot zex sprayed ocassionally (about 4 bottles worth) countless Dyno runs, and about every other Friday at the track pulling runs, practicing, and tring out different things.

Still running well and I plan to have it running perfectly till I'm ready to build up end of this year.

Usual maintance is a must, Filter cleaned, PCV valve changed, Spark plugs, things like that are necassary to maintain the engine running perfectly.

[h22sparkle]

Yeah its like this different things you may have to do with your new swap like i did. Things tend to go cause remember your motor is old so you may have to replace the motor mounts the one in the front went on mine like a while back.


As far aas the motor lasting it will last a good minute if you dont beat on the engine once you beat on the engine its only so much it can take. But usually honda motors takes a beating and considering you get one with lower mileage froman owner that was keeping up with it you should have no problems.

I take care of mine every week just about i keep up with maintenance like checkin the oil changing it fuel filters . After all of that you should have no problem and yes it is a reliable swap give me a shoutout if you wanna do a swap in the spring lemme know bro we can probably arrange something with me and people from cb7tuner deever whoever can come down here and help out ya never know

[Michalob]

hey guys, thanks a bunch for the info. its more than helpful. I really can't wait till i get enough money to put it it. Other than basic maintenance, i have no worries about it. prolly this summer i'll be running a nice h22a. i dont plan on turboing any time soon. The whole reason why i was asking reliabilty is because this is my only car. i dont want to find myself having to take the bus to get to work and school. and also i plan on going on vacation a couple of times (many many miles). once again thanks for the info, and im now a proud member of cb7tuner.com.

[deevergote]

If you get yours installed (like I did) make sure the mechanics know exactly what they're getting into, and make sure they know all the different things (like VTEC, fuel delivery, etc)... It took my mechanics 2 weeks to finish the swap because they didn't quite know what to do... and they didn't want to blow anything up by trying something they weren't sure of.

A swap can be done in 2 or 3 days tops by the right people. Do your research first, and be prepared to guide a mechanic, or do it yourself.

Install costs should realistically be somewhere around $1000... too much less and the mechanic doesn't know what he's getting into. More, and you're getting cheated (or, as in my case, it takes far too long). Add a bit more for a auto to manual conversion (I forget what you have... or if you even said. I didn't go back and read...)

[DrLove'sKuDang]

im assuming he has manual from the pic.

i would say dont pay over $1000, and since youre already manual it should probably be less. i paid $1,100, but that was including the tranny conversion.

[Michalob]

yeah the place that might swap it is an import shop. Redshift Motorsports. They are big with honda and even have a couple of 90-91 civic hatches that are gutted, swapped, and auto-x all the time. I've talked with the guy awhile back and he gave me an estimate of 700 for labor, and a bunch of other wacked out prices for engine, tranny, axles, ecu, blah, blah. Came out to be a good 4000+ which is kinda out there cuz I can get everything i need for 2,300 (including shipping). So in time, once i save up enough, i'm gonna see if i can make an agreement with the guy and see if i can ship the engine to them and once they get it they can just swap it there. So in time, hopefully i can get this damn engine in. Thanks for the help guys.

[DrLove'sKuDang]

make sure they dont try and screw you on labor then. since youre bringing all the parts yourself, they might wanna try and make a few extra dollars with that "oh, you need a new one of these.." or "we had to do this, so..." you know, shit like that.

[Michalob]

fizzman, i have a manual. and if i can get the engine for 2,300, add labor. it shouldnt be 4 grand until i had a new flywheel, clutch, and lsd . i made sure to do my math... lol. pretty sad. oh yeah. when i buy my engine, should i buy the shift linkage from the engine, or can they use my old one?

[BustedLX]

Use the old one.

[h22sparkle]

yup then all you will have to do is after that is imporve your driving skills