I know this is completely opposite of what most people would do so I'm not expecting a ton of answers, but am hoping maybe someone has done it. Basically the situation is I have a 96 Accord EX with the f22b1 that we have had since it was new in 96. I ended up having motor failure a few years ago and just parked it. I haven't been able to bring myself to get rid of it because I loved that car. The issue is at this point I've let it sit for 5 years and I don't know what's still good or if anything is. We parked it with 290k miles on it on the original automatic. Because of this I'm having trouble bringing myself to buy another motor (I know I should have done it when it first happened), and I'm to the point where I may finally scrap it.

However, I also have a 92 Accord DX that we drove for a while as a beater until the transmission died in it. This car has the F22A in it that ran great with no odd noises. It was about the only thing still good on the car. I'm getting ready to take it to the scrap yard as I have absolutely no use for it and at this point I'm wondering if I should take the time to pull the motor and try to put it in my 96. I feel like I could have a decent beater car for free, but it something else ends up being wrong from it sitting then I can just scrap it too. I know the two issues I'm going to run into is this being OBD I and the 96 being ODB II, and the fact the the 96 is VTEC and this one isn't. Is it a simple swap? Any advice on how to tackle this? Or am I better off just buying another F22B from a junk yard if I do anything?

 

At that mileage, unless it's really clean, just scrap both. If you have some sentimental vale to it, F23A1. It's a VERY simple swap in the 96/97 cars and yields more power per $; I've personally done the swap with my '97 and have had great results(see build thread linked in signature). It's basically swapping some sensors/bolts from the F22B1 to the F23A1, plugging it all in, and go. I even run mine off a '96/'97 EX/F22B1 ECU with no issues. Don't want to mess with the 2 to 3 wire IACV conversion? Just run the F22B1 intake manifold on the F23A1, it bolts right on. If you never plan on head swapping or doing a cam, it's quite worth it. Otherwise, you're either going to have to change a LOT of sensors(as well as many auxillary components such as the power steering, alternator, etc) on the F22A to get it to OBD2/get it to work in the CD chassis, or buy a jumper harness, OBD1 F22A* ECU, and try to figure it out. What exactly failed on the F22B1? You may just be able to scavenge the parts you need off the F22A to use in the F22B1 as they basically have the same bottom end.

 

The kicker is the 96 will need the 96/97 oil pump housing to mound the two crank sensors to. And if the problem with the B1 was oil starvation, then the oil pump may be toast.

IMO, cheapest would be to located a low mileage Japanese import F22B1. No goofing around, just drop it in and go.

 

Sounds like this isn't a swap worth doing at all. The issue with the old motor is what I suspect is a cracked head. It just started loosing antifreeze and wasn't leaking. No signs of the head gasket leaking either. I had a local shop check it out as well and no one could figure out where the anti freeze was going. I just refilled it every 2-3 days and drove it for 10-15k miles like this until it blew a head gasket.

 

Yank the head and inspect it, go to a junkyard if it's toast, grab one for pennies on the dollar and have it gone through. Probably get it back to good and running for under $500.