H23 Questions need fast reply

[Heffe55]

I have found a guy that is trying to sell a H23 and says its all there. from what i had to go by the block is all there and assembled. the head is all there but not assembled. he said that the spring retainer would need replaced.

I know that this is one of the engines that I have been looking at for swaping in to my car. I just dont know enough to know if the H23 came in any other versions i need to be aware of. its a small trip to look at the engine and i have asked for pics. What questions should i be asking and what do i need to be looking for.

This guy is trying to sell the engine as is for 250.00 or if i have to make payments i have a like a month to have 300.00 paid off with a 150.00 down payment.

Does the H23 come in a SOHC or non VTEC? Really in my noobish mind thoughs are the two things i do not want to see that i know of.

Sorry i feel im in a time crunch and need to make this deal happen as fast as i can so i did not look for other threads if the big hitters here can just tell me really fast what i need to be looking for in a H23 swap engine that would be great. I plan on tearing it all the way down and completely rebuilding it from the ground up so minor stuff is no big deal. the main thing im worried about is that the head is disassembled and not put back together and i have no problems do that i just did it on my F22A6 but im worried that there maybe an issue with the head it self. i have asked the guy but prolly wont hear from him i get off work speaking of work im late for work. but the boss understands whats going on so no big deal but i still need to get to the shop.

Thanks
Jeff

[judonoh]

the H23 is a DOHC engine. Make sure that the black box under the intake isn't broken/cracked and that there is a diaphram on the right side of the intake for the butterflies. Take a 19mm socket and wrench to turn the crank. If there is binding, thats not good. Since the head is off press down on the top of each cylinder, should not move. As for the head smell the oil for a burned smell. Count everthing, make sure all is there. Look for any scoring on the cam. Ask why the retainers need replacing as this is not a common wear problem.