Im looking into getting an H22 for my 96 Si because of engine problems with my H23, and most of the sites I look at for an H22 say they are for 92-95 preludes... and they also have engines for the years 97-01. But most of the time they don't include the year 96.

Why isn't the year 96 included?

 

96 should be included in the 96-01 group. in 96 all car companies went to obdII. 95 was the last year for obdI.

 

96 isnt included because its the odd man out.

Its true that is was the first OBD2 motor as 218luder stated. The difference is your going to have a very hard time from a 96 because they still used the H22a1 and H23a1, although they adapted these motors to OBD2 standards.

You can honeslty use any of those motors from 92-01, but your going to have to do some modifications no matter what (unless you find a 96 OBD2 H22 ECU and obd2 96 h22 harness). It could be as simple as wiring vtec, converting to obd1, bypassing certain things, etc.

 

I've been looking at a 92-95 JDM H22a4. Would it be beneficial to convert to obd1 or would it be better to just get a 97-01?

 

convert to OBD1 if its legal and you plan on modifying the car