My 260k mile F22A6 just ate an exhaust valve and destroyed the piston and chamber. I have another car so I can wait a while but I do want to get the car back on the road soon. What I don't know is whether to rebuild the engine or swap it for another economy engine like a F22B1. Could I get away with just replacing the head, piston, and rod, or would I need to do a complete tear down and rebuild with all new bearings and such? I have most of the tools needed already but it would take quite a few days to rebuild the engine, and with a weekend's worth of overtime money I can buy a low-mileage JDM engine and drop it in. CB7Tuner.com has a bunch of great info for swapping engines and an F22B1 looks pretty straightforward. What do you think would be the better way to go forward on this? This is my commuter car so a high-compression H22 that needs premium gas is out of the question.

 

A rebuild will ensure everything is in good working order.

But a jdm engine will get you on the road more quickly.

and then you can rebuild your original engine while you have time.

 

I know this thread is old, but if you have the time I could use some sound advice. I have a '96 accord with the f22b1 vtec. I've owned the car for ten years. I took off the timing belt cover to replace the crankshaft position sensor and discovered a broken timing belt. I replaced the timing belt 56k miles ago. Not sure why it broke. A retired mechanic friend of mine gave me a head that he rebuilt and had resurfaced. He said it was from an '03 2.3L vtec. The head looks identical to what I have. So I'm curious if the head will work on my motor. Also, the car has 256K on it. Should I just rebuild the motor? Or just slap the new head on it and call it good? I'm new to Hondas but not new to engine work. I would like to reuse the pistons and rods if I can and replace the rings and bearings. I can still see crosshatching in the cylinder walls and there's about a 1/4" fine lip at the top of each cylinder. Will a hone take care of that? Another question I have is about the FRM sleaves. I don't know much about it. I saw a thread that said to use an 800 grit stone and a 60* crosshatch. Is that true or can I use a ball hone? I plan on using OEM rings if I can find them. But if I can't, what's a good alternative that is FRM compatible? And what should my gap be? I wouldn't mind doing some performance modifications. As much as I would like to slap a turbo on it, I just can't afford it. I'm a high school teacher and don't have the money. But, is there a cam out there that is compatible with stock internals that will get me a little extra ponies without hurting anything? I'm ok with getting new rods and pistons, but again, money is definitely an issue for me. I don't need the car for transportation, so I can take my time with the build. Any advise that you can give is appreciated.