sublimeluder

I've got a stock 2000 prelude with 150,000 miles. It's burning 2qt between changes. I recently did a compression test 210,210,205,208 surprisingly good. I dogged the crap out of it the other day and when I came to a stop it was sputtering,smoking and the check engine light was on. I let idle for a few then shut it off and disconnected the battery. It started fine I believe it just blew oil on plugs or sensors.

sublimeluder

So im gonna be rebuilding it in the next few months. As I stated poor mans build. I just purchased a felpro head gasket set and a exedy clutch kit/replacement flywheel. Im on a budget and relying on overtime to buy parts. Im going with king bearings and NPR rings. I've used king and NPR in a few builds and never had isues. Of coarse I've gotta get a few go fast parts.

yohan

Get yourself a leakdown tester would be my first step... see if it might be valves, 2 qt is a lot.. i had an engine that was blowing a bit of oil (1qt between changes) eventuallyfailed with spun bearring.

sublimeluder

Yohan thanks for the reply. Im not to concerned about leak down test. As im about to rebuild. I know I've got bad valve seals but that wouldn't amount to 2qts. I purchased a euro r head on Ebay a few months ago. Well so I thought it's pde but I measured the cam lobes and realized I got ripped off. Oh well I've been p&p it and im going to have 3 angle vj and new valve guides installed.

sublimeluder

Lol well I should say im attempting to p&p it. Im having a difficult time blending the bowls. Im not really doing Much porting just smoothing. As ya know ludes are kinda slow. I'd like to 190-200 HP I just don't know if it's gonna be possible with out getting a loan. Im planning on having finished by September

thirsk66

iTrader: (2)

Its really up to the tuner you go to and how much power they can pull from the engine to get you to your 200hp goal def not impossible.

yohan

Pretty much disregard my post, didn't see the 2nd post at the time.

What are you going to put on for Cams then? gotta go at least stage 2 to get those numbers.

sublimeluder

Yea I know im probably just dreaming. I would love to get a h23a crank but was out bid on Ebay. To be honest im probably just gonna get a Lil shaved off head,tri y header, srs catback, bs delete, cam gear and tune. Im really wanting type s pistons anda pro2 cams. Idk will see

sublimeluder

I know obx is cheap but I have yet to hear Of a obx camshaft snapping. I've heard a few claim abnormal rocker arm wear. I really don't wanna skimp on camshafts but hey I don't mind to year it back down in a year or 2. When im able to replace with s2 pro1 or 2's.

CD8

We had bone stock h22a with intake, open header, and vafc put down 195whp 10-12 years ago.

Do a stock refresh, a quality header, quality intake, a little more fuel, most importantly, a quality tune. Should have no problem getting over 200 whp.

yohan

Look into Delta for some regrinds, I think they charge under $200 and you pay your own shipping to get your cams reground... probably some dyno's avail somewhere.

sublimeluder

Thanks for the info guys I'll check out the regrinds. I think if I can't come up with funds to get pistons and cams. Im just gonna do pistons. It would be a lot easier to swap cams a few months down the road vs tearing down bottom end againagain. I may install exedy clutch kit and flywheel this wknd. If so I'll take pics of install. Im gonna stop after work and get a Chilton lude manual. This is gonna be my first clutch replacement and I'll probably be doing it by myself. I should be able to borrow a transmission jack but idk if theirs gonna be enough clearance to use it. I

snobordboy

Don't spend money on a Chiltons, just use the link in our faqs to download the Helms factory service guide.

There were some good write-ups on clutch jobs here as well, but the pictures may be gone. In that case there are probably decent walk-throughs on you-tube as well. Just take time and pay attention to where it all goes when taking it apart.

So far as an egnine build, I will make a huge suggestion here.

Buy a jdm engine from a supplier and drop that in to get the car running and happy.

Once that job is done, then take apart your old engine, learning how to check all of the clearances, see where it all goes, and work through it slowly, as engine builds always get delayed somehow from what I have seen.

You can then see if you need standard pistons, or need to hone and go overbore, if your crank is in good shape or needs to be replaced etc.

I have used King bearings and Nippon rings with good success, just ensure clearances are correct.

If you want to use cams in the future, be VERY carefull and measure clearances well, as you don't want to destroy a head or full build with p2v or v2v contact.

yohan

Quick question, do you have another car to drive while yours will be up on blocks ?

This should be the greatest influence on if you should even attempt rebuilding this motor vs. a drop in as snobordboy says.

Back in the day, my 92 4ws was a daily driver, when it blew a ring I was without my car for 3 weeks and did a JDM drop. Some of that was waiting on parts, it was in a friends garage I needed to schedule time to work on it with .. today I would have it done over a weekend and have all parts in advance, but things can and will go wrong ... if you need your car and are convinced to rebuild, get a $300 dollar beater...

jdmsource.ca sells an H23aVtec w/ Euro R head for ~$900 cdn probably incl. p14 ecu.

Weigh your options, your cash, and reliance on your vehicle.. this won't be a weekend job - and no offence, if you're asking a bout a Chilton manual ... I'm going to assume you may not have done this heavy of work before, which means you'll be experiencing learning experiences and hold ups while you figure some things out on the fly. It's not just parts, you want to buy fluids (coolant, oil, lock tite, gasket sealer, cam grease) it all adds up ... and include the "might as well factor" .. while I'm in here I might as well .. replace the fuel filter, flush the clutch and/or brakes, replace the cv axles, etc etc etc.

It's a great experience to do a build, I haven't done one myself so I hope you do it, but I also wish for you to have a great experience and not get stuck on anything while you need your whip.

sublimeluder

Thanks for the info but im pretty confident in my mechanic skills. Im old school I've bought a book for every car I've ever owned. It's good to have the clearances and tq specs in front of ya. Lol my phone could break accidentally break if I get pissed during the swap. Im no expert but I've been fixing/building my own cars for 15 years. I've never been able to afford to pay some one. Lol or couldn't bring my self to.

sublimeluder

I grew up owning muscle cars and have helped dad with a few builds. Im still new to engine building though. I've only rebuilt 1 b18a1 and 2 d16z6 by myself. This is my only car well besides the wifes civic. I'd love to do a h23a swap that's what I originally had planned for. But I don't really have funds and im really wanting a fresh engine. I don't wanna worry when I beat on it.

yohan

Well then, Let 'er rip!! I look forward to seeing the build progress here!

sublimeluder

Hell ya I'll try to keep this updated and interesting. Here's what I got so far. Exedy clutch, luk flywheel, fel-pro head gasket set, supertech valve seals and rear engine mount. I've already installed new front mount and clutch master cylinder.

sublimeluder

sublimeluder

Im getting all the over time I can Another supervisor is taking off sat and im covering him.So that'll give me 28hrs over time.kinda sucks I was planning on installing clutch sat. Good news is I should be able to get timing belt kit, rings, bearings and catback outa this check.

sublimeluder

SYohan I believe im gonna do a leak down test this wknd. I believe it will be good idk. My theory is with.compression that good. It should be good but if not hopefully I'll be able to hear air entering valve cover. Im doing this in hopes of finding out if my cylinder walls are in good condition. I know this isn't that accurate but hey it can't hurt. I suspect everything to be good. The lude still runs good but I can tell it's lost a few hp since oil consumption has went up. It doesn't really smoke except when vtec hits. When it's idling u barely can see some and upon deceleration(engine breaking) I can smell it on acceleration but it's not to visible. Lol im really picky about cars. Im sure I could make it to 200,000 if I wanted to but I'd rather dog the **** out of it and not worry. By the way im still a little confused about honing/deglazing frm cylinder walls. I know some say know need and others say use scotch BRITE. I read a guy had good success using a flex hone from brush research. Im probably gonna do that maybe 800 grit

snobordboy

Honestly, with FRM, if you are not going to an overbore size for damaged walls, don't hone it. Put new rings in and gap them properly, and break it in well.

FRM is super strong, and more damage can be done trying to "hone" it than leaving it alone. Even the factory service guide says to leave it alone unless you have scratchs that are deep enough to warrant it.

sublimeluder

Thanks for reply. Im probably just over thinking it. Who am I to second guess Honda lol. I just talked to my machinist. He quoted $230 for resurface head install new guides and a 3angle valve job. That's a pretty awesome price. It may be a little more or him to mill head. It's probably gonna have to be milled .02-.03 it's got a deep scratch Wright beside the combustion chamber. It looks like it was banged on the head stud.

sublimeluder

I just spoke with my brother in-law (master mechanic) he said he's got a little camera I can use to inspect cylinder walls. As I said before this is my daily so im trying make sure there's no hidden issues. I never could just let the presents set under the tree without peeking lol. I was wondering what do ya'll think of doing a BS delete? I know this has been covered many times but I gotta ask. I've got new front and rear mounts. Do ya think I'd still get vibration? I was also planning on keeping the auto tensioned. Should I drain and refill it's fluid or leave alone.

snobordboy

Don't do it, either go to the manual setup from H23, or get a kaizenspeed tensioner.

Why do I say this? I lost an engine to a failed auto tensioner.