I need an everyday car and this dude around my way is selling one for $800. It has a lot of miles but I was thinking of dropping in a fresher motor later on in the future. Its a 1992 Prelude SI 5 speed and the body is in excellent condition.

If I do purchase, how much can I expect to pay when it comes time to drop a new motor? Or is a rebuild a better alternative? I don't race. I just need a decent looking everyday car.

 

If the body is rust free, that's a steal. Even if it ran like garbage, it's hard to find shells in good condition for under $1000.

 

buy it. if you have plans to swap motors than its definately a steal. but just to make sure since you want it to be a daily ask to take it for a test drive

 

Hell yeah bro, thats a steal. the H22A swap is very nice, match that with a chipped ecu for the s300 and you have about 190 wheel horsepower with a few bolt-ons

 

I think for the swap its about 1000$ depend what place u decide to do it

 

in was in your shoes just about a yr ago. i got my 93 lude si for 8bills. the day i bought it took me from santa monica to whittier with a bad oil leak and oil burning. Now this thing came with 150k on the cluster and a clean title. The interior was great, it even had the original honda cassette player(< spellcheck i even forgot nor do i own a music tape). This car was adult own and the owner wanted to get rid of the car.

i tried working on the motor by changing the valve seals. (thinking it would solve my oil consumption). At the end it didn't so i went ahead and bought an h22 from hmotorsonline.com. i went ahead and dropped that in within two months and payed a mechanic to go over the work and catch anything that i missed. $2,500 +/- after i have my lude up and running at 100%.

93 lude si = $8bills
h22 motor= $1100
registration, insurance,mechanic, water pump, timming belt (full tune up on h22) $600

smoking out and having great times in my 4th gen= PRICELESS!!!!! -_-

 

any more thoughts?


And can someone enlighten me on rebuilds vs. swaps?

 

Thanks for the input, ya'll.


I really don't care about added power. My main concern is reliability. My camaro gives me all of the power I need.


I'm still debating. I've had some bad luck with preludes but I still love the way they look. I actually prefer 4 gen over 5th.

 

if the body and interior is clean 800 is a steal...if you want reliability just swap a non vtec h23 and its plug and play no wiring necessary...just have a friend help you swap it out..it should take one full day if you dont BS and cost about 1000 give or take....4th gens do look better imho...throw some jdm headlights, fog lights , window visors and call it a day

 

Man, I wish i knew anyone that does swaps...or rebuilds. That's what's holding me up. You live in Monte...about 15 minutes away. You know of any good shops?

 

If there's no rust, for $3000 more, you can have mechanically sound car. That's with a JDM H22 and tranny, fresh clutch, and I recommend changing the t-belt and water pump before swapping the new motor in and just do a general inspection.

www.hmotorsonline.com is a good place to buy from. Good luck!

 

a pretty good shop near me is Ericks racing in baldwin park (off of sanbernadino before it crosses ramona)......you can try searching google for their phone number..its been a while since ive called them for anything...the last time was when they tuned my buddys b16turbo hatch a few months back...

 

ha ha no kidding man...i have a '01 z28 vert with a few "minor" mods..but dude you are in the same position like me. the reason why i got lude is to save gas, milage and on the meantime mod my Z. lol..

Like i mentioned below i got the H22 which i am not complaining and that thing just bolted right in. i still have the same tranny from the old motor. All you need is the motor, ecu, and wire up vtech. and if you want peace of mind have a mechanic that deals with hondas to inspect the work.

so what gen of camaro do you have?

 

never mind man dont answer my question. i read your signature and it says that you have a 1st gen. i am currently looking for one for my younger bro to have and work on. i am thinking of dropping in an 01 or 02 ls1.

 

+1! Get it.

 

^ Was that really worth bumping a 5 day old thread?

Just to add... if you want reliability, do a swap. You don't want to open up the block.

 

Swapping will be cheaper as rebuilding involves harder and longer labour.

 

x2. Labour is the killer. To swap a new motor in + purchase would be more cost effective than pulling the motor, sending it to a machine shop to be rebuilt (or where ever), than having it reinstalled.

Some will also agree about the reliability fairies too...