Hey guys! This will be sort of a long post but I'd like to be as thorough as I can so nothing is misconstrued. I will also preface this by saying I am by no means a Honda expert. I have done a decent amount of research but am nowhere remotely close to being an expert, so forgive me if I sound stupid with certain things.

So, I have two Preludes which I race circle track with on dirt. They are purpose built race cars and are absolutely never going to be on the street. They are fully stripped with a roll cage and race seat/5 point harness. That being said, I have been racing one/both of them for a few years and have had pretty decent success.
For sake of ease, I'll just refer to the main car since it's what I'm focused on at the moment.
The car is a 1993 Prelude 5 speed with the following:
-H22A with Skunk2 IM and TB, both 70mm, Fujitsobo Header, stock internals
-Chipped p13 ECU with all nonessential sensors deleted, raised rev limiter
-power steering and ABS deleted
-KYB AGX struts, racing springs (not prelude specific), Megan adjustable rear toe arms, a few other suspension mods to get it around the track
-M2B4 LSD transmission, stock clutch and flywheel

On to my question! After a couple years of tinkering and adjusting the car goes through the corner really well, and is pretty fast. Problem is, I'm still getting beat by a lot of Cavaliers and Neons with built engines. I realize a built motor vs stock is a fairly big difference, but I just got a fresher H22A swap and thought that might be enough. I was wrong. The only rules for tech inspection are that all 4 tires must be the same size, and there is no forced induction of any kind allowed. N/A only, but sky is the limit if you've got the money.
So, what would you guys recommend as far as upgrades that can get me some more speed to beat these other guys? Can be simple upgrades or engine building advice, as I've been thinking hard on putting a lot more money into the motor, but I don't exactly know what I'm doing.

My goals are to make the car as fast as possible, any way that I can. When I am racing, I run the car strictly in 2nd gear, and at most tracks I'm racing at my RPMs hit somewhere between 7800-8500 at the end of the straights. It makes good power all the way through, and is very drivable, but it hasn't been quite enough to win.

Any questions, comments, constructive criticism, suggestions, etc would be greatly appreciated! Just don't tell me I'm a dumbass (I already know) unless there's a tip to go along with it, please!

 

For some reason I can't get my edit to go through, so here's some pics of the car.

 

want more power - K swap

otherwise youre looking valvetrain upgrade + cams + type S pistons + retune which could be like ~3k

 

What's the appeal of the K swap? I hear people talk about it a lot but I'm not familiar other than the stock numbers which look similar to the H22

I'm willing to put some money into the motor if that's what it takes. I just know it's always a slippery slope of where to start and where to stop. I'm also admittedly kind of a dummy when it comes to the specifics of which engine parts to get, although if I get work done to it I'll most likely have someone build it for me (I have a shop near me that builds almost exclusively Honda/Acura). I'd be looking for whatever gives the absolute most power mid-high end since the car is running 5500-8000 RPM the majority of the time.

 

with simple bolt ons K engines produce 250hp easily when you have to do full build for H22 to get that. So Ks have WAY much more potential and theyre kinda cheaper to mess with since you dont have to do full build with them to get good power out

Just pick a brand - crower, brian crower or skunk2 and get cam/valve stuff from them + change pistons to higher compression ones, then retune.

 

How much does the car weigh? How's the handling- as you know the faster off the corner you can be the more speed you'll carry on the straights. Also, you need a proper tune and not just a chipped ECU, you could be leaving a lot of power on the table right there.

 

The car weighs just over 2300. I think we have just about everything stripped we can while keeping structural integrity. The car is actually going through the corner very well now after tons of adjustments. Very drivable and pulls great out of the corners.
As far as getting it dyno tuned you would have to get a Hondata setup for that correct?

 

Hondata or similar, but Hondata is probably the easiest and most widely supported.

Are you running a front sway bar?

 

OP, where are you located ?

 

No sway bars. I race on rough dirt tracks and removing them helped the handling a decent amount.

 

About 50 miles south of Chicago

 

K swap is pretty involved.

If your block is 55mm mains, there are a couple of stroker options. You must match your connecting rods with whatever crank you use. JDM H23A crank is 95mm stroke but relatively rare/expensive. F23A crank is 97mm stroke and much cheaper but I would definitely recommend using some upgraded rods with at least ARP2000s for high rpm use. You may want to cut your max RPM down a little so keep that in mind with however your gearing is setup but you will gain power/torque everywhere. It's not uncommon for a 87x95 H series(JDM H23A) to make in the 215-220whp range. 87x97 will improve on that ever so slightly.

If you have a 50mm main block you can use a crank out of a 50mm H23A1 which is 95mm. Forged H23/F22 rods work here.

There is a calculator here. It will let you figure out what kind of compression ratio, final displacement, piston speeds, etc when changing parts around.

Edit: You should also delete the balance shafts if you haven't already. This will dramatically reduce oil temps, make the engine more responsive, free up a few HP, and get rid of 18lbs of dead weight.