kylej420

f22b2 non vtech is it worth the money to do a head swap. and can u go from sohc to dohc

jollyhonda

It all depends on the condition of the car. If it is just a beater that broke down, it may not be worth fixing. I am in the middle of a motor swap right now on a 1994 sedan. But it is a car that I plan to keep for a long time because I really like it. As far as DOHC, I think some have taken the H22 head and put it on the F motors. I chose to do a motor swap because a quality gasket set and head bolt set was going to cost me around $250. I bought a JDM F23A for the same money. My car had around 310k on it, and was beginning to burn oil, and had been overheated multiple times, and quite badly. So I decided putting a newly rebuild head on that bottom end would be counterproductive. Oh yeah, 200 something at the machine shop for the valve job and decking the head...So it is really all about what you want out of your car, and how bad you want to keep it.

ROb

kylej420

Thank you for the help i do plan on keeping this honda for a while.

jollyhonda

How many miles are on the bottom end? Are you doing the work yourself? Do you know any maintenance history on the car, such as timing belt replacement? If you aren't in a time crunch and have the ability, a motor swap may be a good choice.

jollyhonda

Ok, so looking back at the post...is the car still running and driving? If so, I would definitely say motor swap. You can pick up the motor aND get all the maintenance done and gather all your parts for the swap, thus reducing downtime. You can pick up a complete JDM F23A for probably less than parts and machine work on the head. Here is one on Ebay...
Look at this on eBay http://www.ebay.com/itm/201736656534

That gets you a fresher bottom end, a better flowing intake and exhaust manifold, and higher compression ratio. Plus a touch more displacement. See my thread for details on this swap.

kylej420

Its says 99k and yes most of the work i will be doing. Not really on a time crunch but it is gonna be my daily.

smithers646

Recommend you do dry and wet compression checks and compare the results. If wet >> dry, then your oil burning issue is in the lower end (rings/cylinder fit is loose) and changing the head will not fix that problem.
Overheating can knock the temper out of the rings, along with the other bad things it does.

jollyhonda

If it is running and driving, the cheaper option is probably just picking up the motor you want and then swapping it in.