hey guys, im new here and i'll tell you right off the bat im more of an american car guy then a honda guy, however when my camaro is broken (which is always) i rely on my 93 prelude to get me around.
i recently threw a rod through the side of my preludes block, its a 93 DOHC with a H23A (and it doesnt say vtec on the valve cover so im assuming its not) , to fix it i bought a totaled 93 accord 5 speed off of a friend of mine for a good price, the accord has an F22B (also non vtec), i pulled the motor out of the accord tonight and noticed some differences from the preludes motor, aside from being a SHOC the accords motor has a different distributer (with different plugs) and the MAP and TPS sensors are in different places, that's the only thing i have really seen different, the blocks look relativly similar when it comes to the accesory mounting and motor mounts, however im worried about the different distrbuter sinply because they mount to the side of the head differently so i dont believe i could just swap them, so im thinking that i'll just swap the SHOC F22 head with the DOHC H23 head (intakes also) so that the wiring in my prelude will work... what i want to know is can the prelude head bolt onto the accord block? and is there an easier way to get around the plugs being different other then swapping the whole head?
i know im putting a slower motor in but im not looking for any performance out of this car, just something to get me where i need to go. any help from you all is greatly appriciated
also i have a 5 speed set up out of the accord for sale if you're interested and in the delaware PA or jersey area PM me and we can set something up.
thanks again and please forgive my shitty spelling
-Tom

 

ttt c'mon guys im dyin here i need help!!!

 

First if you had gotten an F22A instead of the F22B things would have been a little easier.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 95cam &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> what i want to know is can the prelude head bolt onto the accord block? and is there an easier way to get around the plugs being different other then swapping the whole head?</TD></TR></TABLE>

That would be a very similar thing to what I did. I originally put an H23 nonVTEC head on my F23A nonvtec block. Here's the link.

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1046336

Just ignore the extra stuff I did to the block. The F22A block is essentially the same so it should all line up okay. Use the F23A head gasket (from 1998-2002 Accord 4 cylinders) there will be a slight gasket mismatch around an (unpressurized) oil drain (on the timing belt side) but take some Permatex Grey RTV and fill the void and you should not get any oil leaking there.

Use your H23's lower timing belt gear instead fo the F22's (the one behind the crank pulley)

If your F22 has a crank position sensor on the oil pump you will not need it. Your Prelude's crank position sensor is located in your H23's Distributor.

If you can get a coolant pipe (underneath the intake manifold) from an F22A (1990-1993 Accord) then you will not have to cut and splice together your H23 and F22B coolant pipes.

If you end up swapping the H23 head onto the F22 block use an Acura Integra GSR 1.8L DOHC VTEC timing belt or there will be excessive slack. You can use the H23 belt but it will be looser than I think would be comfortable.

The wiring harnesses between the Accord and Prelude are quite similar but there are various differences in some sensor lead lengths and ECU pinouts that will have you soldering and splicing for longer than it would take to just swap the block (without some detailed wiring schematics)

There's also more info on this sort of thing that can be found here (generally look into JDM DOHC F22B head swaps onto F22's it's almost exactly the same as the H23's):
http://www.cb7tuner.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=35008
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=776837 (it's more oriented towards the DOHC H22 VTEC head though if desperate it could be worth going through )
http://www.cb7tuner.com/vbb/sh...=5423 potential wiring info

There's a lot of searchable information. You can generally search for "DOHC head swap" on CB7tuner.com, Accordinglydone.com or even on Honda-Tech (with limited success) for more info.

Sorry about your dilemma. If I can answer any more of your questions let me know I hope you're not in a hurry.

Pirate

 

Oh and you won't be able to use the Accord's driver's side engine mount, under the timing covers. You can modify (egg a bolt hole) on the H23's mount to get the holes to line up on the F22 block.

It's acutally really easy, just a few little details. That's why the F22A would have been better.

Pirate

 

Oh and be sure you have # 21/22 in the F22 block before you swap the head, it can be scavenged from your H23 block if necessary.


decent parts microfiche can be found at slhondaparts.com too.

Pirate

... really I am done for now. I swear.

 

thanks pirate, i currently have everything torn down to the shortblocks and im waiting on the headgasket and timing belt to come in so i can get this together, my one question is, should i remove the crank position sensor on the oil pump or can i leave it there and not have it plugged in, im gonna sound like an idiot but it wasnt until about ten mins ago that i realized that the oil pump was not inside the oil pan, im used to putting together SBC's so you know, thats where the oil pump is on those haha
anyway, i'll let you know how it goes, thanks again

 

No problem.

If your car is OBD1 then I would just run the OBD1 Distributor and leave the hall effect sensor on the oil pump be.

Pirate

 

I have no input on this but I just wanted to say that PirateMcFred has come through again...

 

one last question, what is the #21 and 22 you refer to in that pic, it looks like an oil pressure sending unit, but they look identical in both blocks and im not sure how to get them out.... i was going to bolt the head on tonight (the motors actually in my dining room because its too cold to work in the garage haha) but i didnt want to do it incase that peice caused some deck clearence issues so i figured i'd make another post and wait one more day to but this back together..... if this all works i owe you a drink haha
let me know thanks
-tom

 

I believe the oil control orifices are the same across the board

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PirateMcFred &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">No problem.

If your car is OBD1 then I would just run the OBD1 Distributor and leave the hall effect sensor on the oil pump be.

Pirate</TD></TR></TABLE>

I always wondered if they used the hall effect with those magnets....

Gotta love physics.....right hand rule FTW

 

It's just a little piece of aluminum with a .040" hole through the middle of it (don't quote me on the hole size) with an O-ring around the outside. You can pull it out with a regular 10 mm bolt, just thread it in part way and pull it out. But they are the same so you shouldn't have to.

Pirate

 

okay cool, last question that i just thought of, which should have been my first question, is my piston to valve clearence going to be okay? from the looks of it it should be fine, but it was just a last minute panic haha
thanks again i'll try to take some pics while im bolting it all up so you guys can check it out
-tom

 

As soon as I read the OP's original post my first thought was "where's pirate."

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 95cam &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Is my piston to valve clearence going to be okay?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Unless you get the timing belt off a tooth or two you will be more than okay for stock cams. If you start doing something out of the ordinary then you might consider claying the engine but if it's just a straight swap then it'll be okay.

Pirate

 

okay so i've gotten everything together pretty much (i know i've been draggin my feet because its snowing its *** off here and its kinda tough to drop a motor in in the snow)
but i do have another question, will i have to readjust the valves? i was looking at it today and it's obviously wildly different then an SBC
any recomendations on this? i would think it would be fine since the head is all the same as it was (same cams) but im just checking all my bases

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 95cam &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
but i do have another question, will i have to readjust the valves? i was looking at it today and it's obviously wildly different then an SBC
any recomendations on this? i would think it would be fine since the head is all the same as it was (same cams) but im just checking all my bases
</TD></TR></TABLE>

YES! Definately adjust the valves. It's pretty simple and bad things can happen if the valve lash is too far off.

Here's a how-to on an H22 just to give you an idea--https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=618786

I'm sorry, but which head were you using again? You don't have VTEC so it will be easier than in that write-up...

 

non vtec h23 head

and i just read the write up it seems fairly simple

one question, right now the motor is at TDC and the distributor is not bolted on
the timeing belt and all of the marks are lined up and the arrows on the cam gears are pointing up, is it okay to move the motor with the distributor off? after the giant pain in the *** it was to get the timing belt perfect im a little scared to turn the crank (im sure its fine to turn, but since i have only done timing chains in pushrod motors in the past the timing belt took my like 2 hours and a million trys to get it perfect haha)

 

For the H23 head valve lash-

Intake: 0.07mm-0.11mm (0.003-0.004 in)
Exhaust: 0.15mm-0.19mm (0.006-0.007 in)

Yeah, you can turn the engine without the distributor.

 

Like Hawk said. It's fine to turn it over without the distributor. The distributor is keyed so that it really only goes in one way. Just don't force anything. The notch in the cam is offset to one side a little bit. It's just not obvious. If you are having issues getting the distributor to seat flush tun the shaft another 180˚ and try again.

Pirate

 

so far so good guys, got it in the other day and buttoned it up last night and fired her up, have to readjust the valves because the are loud as hell, and it's surging really bad like maybe it has a vacume leake that i cant track down, but im gonna put some more time on it after work tonight and things are looking promising i'll let you know

any clue what that surging might be?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 95cam &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
any clue what that surging might be?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Vacuum leak somewhere...take off your intake and look at those holes on the inside bore of the throttle body. Put your finger over those holes while the car is running and see if the surging goes away. Could also be bad intake manifold gaskets...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by WhiteBB2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I have no input on this but I just wanted to say that PirateMcFred has come through again... </TD></TR></TABLE>

he's like the Smoky Yunick of Honda's

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 4WSi_guy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

he's like the Smoky Yunick of Honda's </TD></TR></TABLE>

haha i hope he reads that..

also the OP i don't know if there will be interference with the copper orings that cold the head gasket together. but just make sure that when mating the h23 head to the F block to see that none of the copper orings get pinched inbetween the head and block. this would result in improper sealing of the head. Also note that the F block doesn't have a knock snesor, so you will have to like weld a nut to your alternator braket or some other place.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 4WSi_guy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

he's like the Smoky Yunick of Honda's </TD></TR></TABLE>

i would say more like mcgiver

 

i put a brand new intake gasket on, and last night we went over the vacume lines and made sure they were all hooked up properly (or as properly as we think)


and what do you mean weld a nut to the alternator bracket? i dont know how that would fix not having a knock sensor.