Some may remember that I have opened several blocks only to be disappointed at deeply scared piston walls. I happened to be at the local shop the other day and they had a 93-94 prelude there getting a motor swap. Was told it was leaking oil out one of the balance shaft seals. After being told the h23 an h22 p13 blocks are the same, I decided to spend an hour or two to see if the block was worth saving. After taking the valve cover off and seeing the DEEP bronze/brown head, I was starting to think, "here we go again". But much to my surprise, the piston walls are in great shape. Taking the auto trans off is a pain with all the torque convertor bolts, huh? Anyway, I salvaged the oil squirters from another block and also got a spare vtec head. Why I don't know but cant hurt nothing having a spare.

Pics will be up shortly... And does anyone have the stock pistons they want to sell for a usdm or jdm h22?

 

As promised, PICS-
excuse the blurry ones---









O.k. , I have a couple of questions.

1. Yall see that nice ring of carbon? The helms says to use a ridge reamer to make sure the piston is not damaged. Is there any other way to do this? I really don't care about the piston I just do not want to scratch the walls.

2. The plug that is in the fifth picture, is it removable in order to get vtec or do I still have to run an external line? Anyone says Search will get a list of sites with broken picture links or sites that the search function just aint jiving.

I have decided to go ahead with the h23 crank and rods. some say they have used the h23 crank with no problems spinning past 7600 rpms. I will use the crank, but I want to get it balanced. I would like to go with the stock h22 (usdm or jdm) pistons to keep the compression in a respectable "street DD" range. I know from the AAAA marking that my bore is currently 87.010mm - 87.020mm. So I need a set of pistons not having a B on top.
Does anyone want to sell their stock pistons?

Thanks and have a blessed day- Casey

 

I will have an extra set of stock USDM H22 pistons in the near future.

 

Let me know

 

i have jdm h22 pistons PM me if you want them.

 

PM'ed

 

Block is finally disassembled. Although I am unsure if it is usable.
here are some pics-

Cylinder pics





here is what I found in the oil pan-


found out why and where. The piston bearings looked really good but the crank bearings look like this





What caused this? low oil? overheating?

H23 crank

All of the crank journals look like this

except this one- there is no scratches it just looks that way


This is how the bearing mating surface on the block looks like


this one looked a little different. Is this o.k?


Its hard to see, but where the oil hole is there is almost like a casting imperfection.

And what is the significance of this?

 

Are you talking about the numbers (last picture). If so those are for your main bearings. You take that number and then the number for the coresponding main journal and that is what *should* be your bearing color.

 

Thanks! learn something new everyday!

 

here are some more pics of the crank and journal I am concerned over.





Is this a Honda bearing?

 

the mains look toasted. Have it inspected by a machine shop.

 

Yeah I was just told by a highly regarded engine builder (thank you very much) that it is indeed toast.



I have a love hate relationship with the Hs. Got to love it!

Oh well the search is on......

 

For those like me that want to DIY, and have no prior experience, this is for you!

A little show and tell-- Enjoy (someone has to)

The GREEN circle- this notch, well it is NOT supposed to be there. The notch at the top IS.
Closest thing to not having a spun bearing. Almost little Timmy but not quite. Still enough to ruin my day!

The RED circle- oh that thing, you know the thing that looks like a crack? I thought it was hip to have a crack in your block. (sigh)

The many BLUE circles- those look and FEEL like someone took a punch to them.




The moral to the story kids is when someone tells you that the reason that the motor was swapped is because the balance shaft seal was leaking, DON'T get your hopes up. Because you might find that the motor was run with hardly any or no oil. Swell!

Alllllllllrighty then, off to clean up and throw a block away. Thanks for all that helped. You know who you are. Have a blessed day!!!


*****BTW bjones has a nice H22a crank pistons and rods he is selling*****

 

if you are going to throw the block away, you can send it to me!!

btw, i will look around and see if i have any friends with some spare blocks

 

would an align hone correct that damage? Or is that chip what is writting the block off?

 

I would really appreciate it. I'm still undecided about the block. It would take a couple hundred to repair it (if it is repairable) and then I am still looking at a hone and several other things. I'm just trying to do it the right way the first time. I love my setup now, I just don't want it to blow and not be prepared. I haven't paid the $150 that the shop is asking for the h23, but if I tell and show him what's up, he probably won't charge me. Then it might be worth it to fix it.

H22a long block from Hmotors- $1350 to my door
F20b long block - $1200 to the door
piecing one together- cheaper and I know its done right

BTW is a lsd transmission worth $800? They have one on the side for me at the shop. OR is it just wasting money? Same gears just with lsd.

 

have you ever considering using an f23 bottom? It can be bored out to run the h22 pistons....You can find someone with a used h22a4 crank and basically run an h22 setup in the f23 block.

my local pickNpull is littered with f23 blocks.

 

To be honest, I don't know all that would be needed to fix the problem. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think there is some material needs to be taken off to make the "dents" go away. If that is corrected by the thickness of the bearing and an align hone, I would be super stoked. Then of course there is the issue with the material where the bearing almost spun. I have no Idea how to fix that. From the pictures it looks like there is a crack in the block, but of course with the machinist that I am trusting with my block in another state it is hard to tell.

Please forgive me, but I live in Meraux, La. (about 10 min from N.O.) We don't even have our Wal*mart back yet after almost four years so there isn't a machinist I can go to or trust.
So we are trying our best with pictures.

 

I have considered that. The only thing I am concerned about is blocking off the oil returns in the head. I am still a little fuzzy on how reliable that would be. I know that T.O.O. suggests running an external oil line to the head anyway. ( which I need to get off my butt and do anyway with the Crower cams and springs and such)

Is there a link that shows pics of the blocked off returns and how to? Everyone I've seen form the g23 in I.T. to the thread he posted on here, it just isn't clear to me.

 

Hmmm, a lot of questions. Basically, I think the block could be salvaged with not too much work. The crank, less so if you don't want to use oversize bearings. Can you just use a crank from one of the other blocks you mentioned? The F22 crank is the same as the H23, and F22's are really cheap. The cause? It looks a little bit like water or coolant got mixed into the oil. Yes, that plug (oil control orifice) can be removed to run a vtec head; no external line is required like on the CR-VTEC setups. To run an F block with and H head is not too hard, check out the prelude forum and faq there. If you can get good deals on slightly tweaked parts, then just treat it as an experiment/learning experience. Do the work yourself and if it pops, then you've gained good experience without blowing a lot of money. If it runs strong, then congrats. For example, some of those dents can just be fixed with a file and some care. A really spun bearing is when you need a machine shop or a new block. Good luck.

 

The mix of oil and coolant you see only happened after transport and my lack of an engine stand. Just imagine a big mess.

I am however contemplating a f block. Just as you pointed out, my questions keep coming.
f block question
would the f block work with my hasport eg mounts.

Putting all h components in a f block sounds nice. I just need to research it more to make sure everything would work.

Thanks for any and all help.-- Casey

 

your ?'s are not stupid,thats how we learn. i ask ?'s all the time though usually through pm.
if that journal got that hot i would say its warped. i would have it lined honed,and get another crank. also if you can catch a nail on the cylinder scares i would have it bored,if there not bad like the other blocks you had. i would consult who ever is gonna do the machining and see if there comfortable with fixing it.

 

https://honda-tech.com/forums/showth...2#post37474782 These are the plugs that i had made from RMS specs. Im not sure if he is an active member anymore but i found a link to the specs in prelittleludes build thread (25th page *i think*) These cost me 30 bucks to be made here at a local machine shop

 

i wouldn't pay $800 for an LSD tranny, you can buy an MFactory LSD for what, around $600? and if you can do engine work, you can do tranny work. throw it in yourself and you know the gears that are already in your own transmission

 

^ good point. And while you are at it take that other $200 and buy a mfactory light weight flywheel