First I'd like to say Hi since this is my first post here. I've been a member of PreludeOnline for some time and I always notice people referring to Honda-Tech for info so I thought I'd check it out.

Anyways I've been searching all over this site and PO.com for info about rebuilding my H23. I cannot find any good solid info. I know that I want to go with Crower stage 2 cams, Crower springs/retainers, and H22 pistons.

What I don't know is everything else, like:
1. Where is the best place to buy my rebuild kit, should I get everything from HONDA?
2. I plan on using my stock rods, do I need to have them shot-peened?
3. How vital is it that I get Hondata or something similar, or can I stick with my stock ecu?

I don't want to spend outrageous amounts of money but I do want a decent build.
If anyone can help me I would greatly appreciate it.
By the way I am an autobody tech, so if anyone needs some guidance in that area I would be glad to help.


Modified by MuscleByRussell at 11:57 AM 10/6/2008

 

For longevity and reliability, I would say do the following:

Have the whole bottom end (including the flywheel, crank pulley and pressure plate) balanced. If you want to spend a little extra cash get the rods shotpeened. It's not necessary but it's nice to have.

Have ARP rod bolts installed, and use ARP head studs since stock head bolts tend to stretch. ARP studs are actually cheaper too!

Use OEM Honda rings. I went with ACL bearings but if I had the cash and the time to wait for Honda to get me OEM bearings I would have went this route.

And most importantly, find a good machine shop!!

Of course I am speaking from my own experience here, and my motor is an ls/vtec with stock rods and b16 pistons. But I think the same basic principles apply here. I wish I had ponied up the extra money for rods and pistons, but if you're on a budget build this might not be feasible.

Still, I've been drag racing that motor for a few years now, revving to 8500 rpm, and I've had zero problems so far


Modified by Malgerus at 12:10 PM 10/2/2008

 

What's a ballpark price on getting everything balanced? I know a guy that does great engine machine work, but I recently found out he has cancer really bad so now I have to search for a new shop to go to.

Thanks for your reply Malgerus

 

No problem, happy to help!

Balancing is really not expensive, I would say probably under 300 bucks to have the entire bottom end done. Just make sure you find a good machinist and also a good precision balancer (usually not the same person). For example, my machine shop sent the whole bottom end to another place to have it balanced before he reassembled it himself. I got a deal on it too, I think it only added about 200 bucks to my total cost

 

Russ, you need an ECU upgrade for those cams. I wouldn't bother with the shot peening. If you intend to rev real high often then I'd just run some Acura Integra GSR ARP rod bolts.

If you rebuild the head I would not mill it if I had a choice. H22 pistons will protrude from the H23 deck a few thousandths.

I'm running the Crower 3s on my sorta-H23 build FWIW.

Pirate

 

What if I went with stage 1 cams. Then I wouldn't need the springs/retainers, correct? But then again the motor has 190,000miles on it. It could use all new hardware. I just don't want my wife flippin out because I'm spending big bucks on a car she's not too fond of in the first place, hehehe.
I don't want to shortcut and take the cheap way out on anything. I'm going to do all the work I can myself.
What about honing? I've heard both get it done and don't bother, what should I do there?

Thanks

 

Thanks for your post Pirate.

The ECU thing could be an issue finding somewhere to tune it. I live in a very rural area and I'd have to drive over an hour to Pittsburgh to find somewhere to tune anything. Is there a system that I can tune myself? There is a dyno close by, but the guy who runs it is not a tuner. Most of his customers are stock car guys who do their tuning themselves.

I'll do what ever may be necessary as far as the ECU. What about injectors? Do I need bigger ones?

Thanks

 

Bump

 

The most comprehensive tuning options will require a decent sized investment in the hardware required to tune the H23.

You need a laptop or other portable computer, a wideband O2 sensor to fine tune your fuel, a 28pin EEPROM chip programmer and a socketed OBD1 Civic ECU.

I think that Neptune and ECTune might have a proprietary USB/WIFI connection that eliminates the EEPROM programmer but I've not had to look at price for so long I don't know what's the least expensive route anymore.

If you have an adjustable fuel pressure regulator then you might be able to get away with using the OEM 235cc/min H23 injectors. Otherwise I would recommend a set of OBD1 345cc H22 injectors.

 

You can use your stock injectors unless you're going to go with some big cams. Mild cams shouldn't be a problem. We use Crome for our tuning purposes. A cheap laptop, a cheap chip burner, a wideband 02, and an ostrich are our best friends.

Also a good trick for tuning purposes is to make a detonation detector. In fact, I consider it an essential part of tuning. Do a search for det cans, you'll see some interesting stuff.

 

ECU from any OBD1 Civic?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MuscleByRussell &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">ECU from any OBD1 Civic?</TD></TR></TABLE>

a.k.a. P28, P30, P72, P06, etc. Not quite "any" obd 1 civic, but just about any (because you don't need VTEC). The P07 lean burn Civic VX is one exception. These ecu's are all pretty similar and the various tuning software out there like hondaduh, neptune, crome, etc. let you edit the ROM for these to tune the fuel and ignition. There is little support for the prelude P14/P13, OBD II, V6 engine ECU's etc.

Check out the FAQ in the prelude forum, lots of info there.