I just bought a 1990 Honda Prelude, 2.0 carb w/ auto transmission. Normally I wouldn't have bought this because I was in the market for a 92+ Civic, but the lady sold me the car for $200 not realizing that someone had installed over a grand worth of stereo equipment including some nice soundstream amps and alpine subs, so I snatched up that deal quick. However, now I'm left with this worthless (to me) prelude and I HAVE to get it running.

From what she told me, her son (or someone) drove it with a broken water pump quite a long way with the engine overheated until it finally just gave up. The head gasket went and now the exhaust billows smoke. I started the car and it cranks, but I'm not sure what to do. I know I can't do any hybrid swaps because of the mounts and I'm not lookin to spend a fortune on this thing. What would be my best option for repairing it? Should I just pay to have this engine rebuilt (gaskets, rings, water pump)? What are the possible damages that I am overlooking?

If it were under 4k I'd go for an H22 swap... any ideas in that area?

 

i dont know about the other stuff but i got my h22 complete swap from hmotorsonline for about 3000 if u minus lsd thats like 2700. im not sure about how much more you need to make it fit in your lude but im betting you can get it in for around 4 grand

 

just remember a 3rd gen isn't a direct drop in, so it might cost more than 4k

you will need custom mounts/axles at the very least