Hey everyone, I apologize if I might be posting this in the wrong place as I'm brand new to this website.

I own a 4th gen 1992 Honda Prelude with its stock motor still inside which runs perfectly fine. I was looking to see what kind of motor I would want to buy in order to get some extra horsepower (right now I'm at 135 I believe). I'm not looking to build a dragster by any means, just something to get me up and going a little faster, maybe horsepower in the low 200s. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Nick

 

There are a few options to look at.
The simplest would be an H22 swap, as they are a direct fit for the chassis, minor wiring and ecu changes and such. If you go with jdm swap, they are rated at 200-220 crank. Drop in a set of cams and a decent tune and you could be over 200 wheel.
K swaps are a bit more involved and quite a bit pricier, but you end up with a huge aftermarket for that engine and more modern tech.
J swaps are rare but can be done...
or you could boost the current engine, with a small efficient turbo you can make 250-300 safely.

 

Unfourtanetly this Prelude is my daily driver and I wouldn't want to risk turbo boosting it.. I've never messed with honda motors let alone vtec, is wiring the partial Vtec harness a giant pain? And is the h22a worth the extra money versus the h23a? It seems to be only about 10 or 15 more horsepower.

 

Personally, I like the extra down low torque that the H23 has over the H22, but they were only an auto obdII car, so depending on what engine you have now, can need some extra items to make the swap happen.
Wiring the vtec is super simple, 93+ generally all had the wiring there already, 92 is hit or miss.

 

If I were to buy one of those kits I see online, what would it need to come with? My motor now doesn't have the vtec setup so I would of course need a partial harness, but what else would I need? I'm sort of partial to the h23a because of the price but it if the performance is huge I'm willing to go with the h22a.

 

depends how much youre willing to spend but be aware - prelude is not going to be fast without serious money loss

if you have F22 there - thats more reliable engine than H22s

OBD conversion harness
Chipped ecu or hondata (+tune)
Transmission (if you go with H23A VTEC)
You need to change all the seals, gaskets, timing, clutch, spark things from that swap engine to make sure it will last

so its not going to be cheap - you end up spending way more than just price of swap engine.

can you pass smog with different than original obd setup?

whats your current transmission auto or manual? If you have F serie transmission and youre planning to use it with your swap engine its going to be little slower because of gear rations

 

H22a4's are great, you can find decnt lower mileage motors for like $500 now adays (maybe closer to $700 but well under $1,000). I have one as oem in my '01 Prelude, they have the bigger displacement over the B and D series so they make more torque and they have the true VTEC system too so you get to crack into a high lobe cam profile @ 5,250rpms, thats always fun. For a H22a4 swap, you can use your current transmission. You just need the motor, a matching harness and an ecu. Do the work yourself and you could be 50-60hp in the go for under $2,000. They are reliable motors, don't bother with the H23, its not worth the slight performance or cost difference.

 

Thanks a lot man, I'll definetly look into the h22a4s. That sounds ideal because I'm not looking to do a transmission swap, I'd like to keep my car as stock as possible, and I can't be bothered to install a clutch on an automatic transmission car.

 

I may have mislead you slightly. If your car is a 1992 it is of the OBDI variety, meaning its got a Version 1 of the "on board vehicle diagnostics" system. Research "OBD1 and OBD2" for details. Basically there are some different sensors and wiring. (OBDII has (2) 02 senors in the exhaust, it has a crankshaft position sensor that OBDI doesn't have etc.) Basically all you gotta know is if you have a '95 or earlier car with it's stock engine, then you have an OBDI car and engine and if you are in the market to buy another engine and swap it in, then your going to wan to try and keep it that way. This all depends on if your doing the work yourself or if your having the swap done by someone else. You CAN swap a OBDII engine in there and get it to work but it takes some added wiring. BASICALLY the H22a4 is a motor that came in the '97-'01 Preludes, SO its OBDII...unlike your current car just a fyi.

 

Boost your F22

 

Not a bad idea, you can spend $3k or more on swapping in a H22 (For about 200hp) or you can piece together a turbo kit for the same price and make 300+hp out of your F22, granted your motor would probably need some refreshing and parts thrown at it.