I've lurked Honda Tech for awhile now and finally decided to start posting. I've been around hondas for awhile since I have a few friends with them, but now I have my own. I recently acquired a 92 SI and a 94 SI Prelude. The 94 was slid sideways into a tree, and the dash, floor pan, fender, door, etc was crushed. It MIGHT be possible for it to be fixed in the right hands but definitely not in mine.

The 92 is in pretty good condition body wise aside from a couple dents and dings, and it needs to be repainted. It is missing the engine, and still has the auto trans but it is getting the H23 and 5 speed from the 94. Right now my plan is to get the 92 back to pretty much stock and then see where it goes from there.

I'll post some pictures as soon as I can get them off of my camera. Like I said, I'm a new Prelude owner so I'm sure there is alot I don't know about the cars. Builds, swaps, quirks, etc. so If you have any suggestions as to which direction I should go with the car, I would be glad to hear it.

 

Welcome

I would say get the non-wrecked car running and go from there. You will get a feel for it and see what you do/don't like about it.

Preludes handle really well, but you won't get a lot of power from it very easily. Quality suspension upgrades are probably the best bang for your buck.

 

Thanks.

Yeah that's the plan. Once I drive it for a bit I'll see what I want to do to it from there.

 

Here's a few pictures of the cars. The silver one is the wrecked (obviously) 94 and the red one is the 92. I've done a few things to the cars but this is just and overview. Try to ignore the giant wheels and ridiculous tint on the red car. That's not my doing.

 

I would say first sit down and figure out goals for it; if you don't there's a good likelihood you'll end up randomly throwing money at it and not know where it's going and never have a solid vehicle you're completely proud of.

 

Once you swap in that H23A1, it'll be a beast! I'd do I/H/E if you're looking at some slight power gains. If you want more, you can look into cams for the motor. Also, I say get a set of coilovers(F&F Type 1, Tein Basic, ETC) for your lude.

 

I agree. Right now the goal is swap, and paint. Once that is done I'll make some more plans.

Coilovers are a must too. It won't be slammed but it will be lowered at least a little. MS roads aren't very forgiving. I/H/E is under consideration as well. Any suggestions on brands for all that? Pros and cons?

Thanks for the input.

 

Quick question. I tried searching but I couldn't find what I was looking for.

Do you have to sleeve the H series blocks in order to change pistons/turbo them? I know they have the frm liners and I'm not certain how that affects seating rings and whatknot. I may have missed it in the search so if there is a thread about it, a link would be greatly appreciated.

Edit: duh. Might have been a good idea to check the block section the FAQ. Disregard that.

 

dunno what your plans are with the h23a1 [160 hp stock], but you might want to consider an H22 vtec [197 hp stock] instead, or if budget is a prob maybe just the h23 block you have, a h22 head, and some nice high compression pistons, unless you have to have boost. there are many threads about frankenstein G23s, which are actually pretty reliable if you do them right

 

I was considering getting a H22 vtec head and putting it on the H23 block. Not really sure if I'm going to do that or not. Are there any benefits to having a H22 vtec over the 23 block with a H22 vtec head? I'm sure I can find alot about it through the search but any opinions?

 

The H23 crank and rods in the H22 block make lots of compression for an NA motor.

If you want to boost and you want more than what an out of the box kit will provide you will need forged pistons, which will mean sleeving the block. I think any turbo kit you can find will give you 7-10psi which is usually good for 275-300whp depending on the motor.

I would say you want the H22 block because there is "more" after market support for it, headers and things off an H22 won't fit an H23, the ports are spaced wider, same with an F block. Not to mention the H22 head gives you DOHC VTEC, which neither the USDM H23 or USDM F blocks have. You can usually find someone parting out a block for around $300-400 here on H-T and a stock head for about the same.

Now is the time to decide what you are going to do, before you have gone through all the work to put the H23 in and find out its really not enough for you in its stock form.

The OBD1 USDM H22 puts out about 190bhp which works out to be around 170-175whp, there seems to be about a 15-20% loss in the drivetrain.

Do you want turbo, or NA? Do you the money to do either of these builds with brand new parts? Or is this a low buck build? Are you looking to go straight race or street/strip? Are you just into stop light racing? Illegal as **** and dangerous as hell to everyone around you, but be honest, what are you really after, beating a Mustang at a stop light, or challenging yourself to driving better, faster times on the track?

These are very important questions to answer. Once you decide what you are doing, then we can provide you with meaningful input.

Say you want to build a low buck turbo, I would look at the G22/23 hybrid build up or just a turbo kit for your H23. Low buck NA, I would say look at picking up a H22 long block and load it with your H23 crank and rods for a stock Honda parts stroker setup. If you want to be all baller and ****, and you got the money, for NA, get a billet stroker crank and rods, and high compression pistons, ITBs, good clutch and flywheel setup, balance shaft eliminator kit and all the goodies.

I gots ideas for you, just like everyone else. We just need to know what you are looking for.

Also, if you're gonna drive this to work everyday, you might want to speak up. Some mods are harder to drive in stop and go traffic in the cities. Take ITBs for example, I've seen some baller set ups, but they seem to have idling issues, and could make daily driving more interesting than absolutely necessary.

 

Good luck with the swap and eveyrthing, while youre doing that, swap the center console, the gauge cluster. but how are the back seats in the silver car? I'm really interested!!

 

For the time being this is going to be a daily-ish car. It's not my only car but it will be driven often. So for the time being the plan is to swap in the H23 as is. If I decide different later, it's not a big deal. I already have everything to do this swap so I'm not wasting time or money really. So for now, it's staying as is engine wise.

The back seats are alright. I'll get a pick of them soon and post it. They are kinda a blueish leather? idk. They may have been recovered.

I'm definitely swapping the gauge cluster. I have a question about that since it was mentioned. I noticed the newer cluster has another plug that the old cluster didn't have. Can I just swap over the entire dash harness from the 94 and it work properly in the 92? The 94 ecm will be in the car, I just didn't know if all the pins are the same in the harnesses.