imported_Cobra

So what is the h22/h23?

The h22 is found on preludes and on accords in other countries like Japan and through out Europe. The h23 was found on USDM 92-96 prelude Si's.

So why is a good swap?

It is a direct bolt in replacement for our f22/f23 engines. Even the transmission can be used independent of the motor type. H22 motor can bolt to a f22 tranny and vice versa.

What about the engines that you see swaped into civics and stuff?

Since civics are so common, it's common to hear of b16a's and b18c's and the like. While high in horse power, these engine lack torque. Even the almighty b18c5 (ITR) wouldn't be of much use for our heavier accords. Weight demands torque, plain and simple.

How expensive are the swaps?

Well, it depends on the year of your car and your tastes. To be legal you must use the same year engine or newer than your car. The newer the car, the more likely you'll spend a pretty penny to enjoy a legal swap.
Complete swaps are commonly seen for $2300 -- 1996 or older, manual transmission. With an auto transmission it'll be about $200 less. With no tranny, about $600 less. With LSD, add $300.

1997 or newer run about $3000 with the same price changes for your options.
This is not to say that you can't trust a cheaper engine. Often you can find an engine for sale, when the owner doesn't have an idea of the true value. Or if you plan to do internal engine work, then a higher milage engine will be cheaper and just as good for your application.

Labor will vary greatly depending on your area of the country. Out in cali, you can find shops that will schedule you in for a Thursday for $600. Outside of cali, the prices you'll see will typically run $1000 - $1500. The inexperienced shops will be on the low end, the shops that know how much of a pain it can be will run higher. If you're near the Canadian border, it might be worth checking prices out there. It's still $1200, but thats CDN, so we're talking about $800. And none of that Canadian tax on labor either.

What's with the JDM and USDM?
JDM = Japanese domestic market. USDM, of course is the US domestic market.
JDM engines are much more common to find. This has to deal with the extremely stringent emmisions and fines that are put on older vehicles. And besides, it's usually the rich that drive in Japan, and they'll get a new car fairly often. So cars and their engines tend to have a big turn over. On the average, less than 60k will be put on an engine. Usually it will be much less. Now that the origional owners are done with the engine, they'll ship it to us and make some extra money from it. Personally, I don't mind one bit.

USDM is a bit different. Most USDM engines are driven well into the 100k mileage range. Kinda high for my tastes. And a lot of times, that 100k is pretty well driven too. The most common source of low milage h22 engines is from wrecked preludes. This doesn't happen nearly enough to be a good source of engines. Often the wreck will damage the engine as well, making it even less common. If you do happen on an engine at a wrecking yard, it won't be very cheap either. A lot of wrecking yards are catching on and will charge prime money on the parts you need.

now then, what about transmissions?

As I stated earlier, f22 and f23 transmissions will bolt up to an h22 and vice versa. So what's the advantages of each? Well, the h22/h23 are high revving engines. As such, the gearing can be closer than on an f-series. So that translates into more acceleration and quicker torque bands. An f22 or f23 transmission would take longer to accelerate the car into the peak torque band. It's estimated that the gearing makes up to .5 seconds in the 1320.

Couldn't you just swap the transmissions and get that kind of gain? sure, but there are drawbacks. While your acceleration will imporove substantially, your top end will suffer greatly. The f22 and f23 don't have the same kind of headroom as the h22. You'll run about 1.5k from redline at highway speeds. So if you travel long distances, a tranny swap alone isn't such a good idea.

And of course a few obvious notes. Since the h22 tranny comes on a car with more horses, it's built to be stronger than an f22 transmissions. When you start pulling serious power, this will become an big issue. An h22 w/ a large nitrous shot will wear down an f22 in no time. Estimated strengths is that the auto can take 250 hp and the manual 300 hp. It seems like a big number, but you can get up there pretty quickly after an engine swap.

What year motor should I get?
It doesn't really matter. The most common are the 93-95 years. California law (something you should keep in mind just in case your state desides to adopt California's stringent smog rules) says it doesn't matter what year motor you put in, as long as you keep all the emissions equipment from the same OBD system, or better, your car is on. For example, a 96+ Accord can have any year H22 in it from anywhere in the world. However, the car must retain it's OBD2 system, along with all the related sensors, vacuum lines, ECU, etc etc. -UltraMagneticAL