ok so im swapping the h23a1 from my 95 si, new motor is the same h23a1 pulled from a 95 si which was totaled @ 102k cost me $600 out the door and just happened to see an AEM intake hanging on the wall in the yard's office and noticed it had the same stock # written on my warranty card so i scored it for another $20

motor came with a 5spd harness, act clutch kit, and some HUGE 10.2mm red high energy plug wires. ill be saving for the 5spd swap later in the year.
so im totally left wondering if this motor has had any head/block work, guess ill find out soon.


well on to my question i guess.
From experience, which way is it easier to pull? above or drop it below?
kind of doing this all by hand no hoist available atm my buddy's got his 351c on it.

basically so far ive got the axle nuts off, all the accessories, starter, wire harness, exhaust, radiator.

basically all thats left is intake if i have to , ball joints then out come the axles.

 

Unless you have a legit shop with lift, i dont know how you can take out the bottom...?

Id have you're buddy set it on a pallet, and use the hoist. Other wise you will need to take out in sections, trans, head, block. With a hoist you can just take out as a whole, lot less work.

 

i can get the motor/trans from the bottom with 2 jacks then me and a buddy pick the car up over and roll back. i've got it sitting 24" off the ground which leaves about 6" to get over, though the last time i did this it was a measly civic im sure theres some more weight to it.. and im not 18 anymore..
i guess ill just figure it out once im at that point tomorrow.
can't take the motor apart as a friend wants to buy it as it sits since all it needs is a crank kit.

anyone know about how heavy the motor is by itself?

 

well got it out, unbolted the trans swapped over the flexplate and bolted trans to new motor, got the new motor sitting in, now just gotta run the wiring harness and hook everything else up, i'll post pics tomorrow been at it all day since 8am and just finishing up for the day.

came out the top as a whole. all i had to do was remove the drivers cv axle and pop loose the passenger side from the trans.

much rather the civic's shift linkage over the prelude's although easy as it was, had i not come look to the vast info here on HT removing it woulda been hell on earth.

 

Yeah I honestly just jack my car up pretty high and pull the engine and tranny out through the bottom with a floor jack, but only since I don't have a hoist and leveller.

With how often I seem to do it, maybe I should just build a mini crane in my garage haha.