Being new to this...are there any specific areas to this car that have known problems or anything to look for particularly during a restoration? Could someone explain the different engines available for a 2000 Prelude? I see blue top, red top, no color top, etc.! All I know is it is suppose to be an H22A4. I would like to either buy a rebuilt or maybe a used motor from Japan. Any help would be appreciated. Mine has a 5 speed.

 

They can be very tempermental cars. Just make sure you keep up with the tuneups and she'll be good to go for many years to come

Base/Se/Sh H22a4 blacktop
H22a redtop
H23a bluetop

 

Maintence is the key to your motor. As for engine types or colour some are Accord euro R motors, some are type S, and some are H22a. Do your research depending on what you plan on doing some motors are better then others. ex(obd1-h22a motors have a closed deck. good for turbo and 97-01 motors dont have a closed deck results in weaker heads.)

 

Fixt.

These are the direct bolt in motors for a Prelude. Some will require ECU changes.

The H23A only came in an automatic Accord, so you will need to do an OBD2 -> OBD1 jumper harness and a chipped OBD1 ECU to tune it properly. They can be run with an H22 basemap, but the fuel tables aren't right, so tuning is required.

I think there are other minor technical things you need to do with the JDM H23A, but nothing you couldn't get off your H22A