How to make 30+hp for $500 or less... (DX/LX F22A1 only)

[deevergote]

If you want to make power for little money... hit up a junkyard, or www.car-part.com

Look for:

F22A4 header - $15 (90-91 Accord EX)
F22A6 camshaft - $25 (92-93 Accord EX)
F22A6 ECU - $25
H23A1 intake manifold and throttle body (from a Prelude SI, 92-96 I believe) - $45
F22A6 IAB "black box" (to be able to activate the secondary runners, the intake air bypass, in the H23 manifold) - no price listed... probably $10 or so.

The prices are from my local junkyard, which is average for most things.


Your stock F22A1 engine's horsepower rating is at 125. The F22A6 parts alone will bring you to 140. The A4 header should get you to 145 (the ONLY difference between the A1 and A4 is the tubular header on the A4... which is superior to both the A1 and A6, which both have cast manifolds) The H23 intake manifold and plenum should add another 5hp or more... no exact figures are set for that.

If you do the camshaft, which isn't a HUGE part, but it helps, you're going to want to replace all the gaskets and seals you come across... good preventative maintenance anyway! That'll be another few bucks... but not a whole lot.

Get a cheap short ram intake. Have a muffler shop slap a 2.25" system for you.

The stock Honda parts would run about $120. A cheap short ram can be had for $50 or less. Exhaust... depends where you go. I paid $450 for new piping, cat, and muffler. You can probably get away with keeping your stock cat. Find a cheapie muffler on ebay, maybe a used one. Pay for piping and labor only. $200 at most for everything, I'd say.

So... that's under $400, and you can gain a minimum of 30hp... that doesn't include the intake and exhaust gains.





These things have been said over and over again... but I figured I'd make a post stressing just how simple things were!

[Shadow1]

thanx for that Deev. ive always wondered about how much of a gain i would get just for swaping those on. so with a aftermarket headers, cat, exhaust, intake, and the h23 intake manifold you should be pushing about 150-155hp. and about 130-140whp right?

[thecrow7841]

HEY DEEVE

thanks for the help.
i always wonder about those things,
and not having to swap for an h.
thanks.

[MadSpleen85]

Sticky material...

[accordaffair]

Good idea for a thread, though to say it will definitely net you 30+ might be a little exaggerated, it is the best basic upgrades you can make be visiting a junkyard. Try to stick with OEM Honda whenever possible, and replace your gaskets.

[owequitit]

thanx for that Deev. ive always wondered about how much of a gain i would get just for swaping those on. so with a aftermarket headers, cat, exhaust, intake, and the h23 intake manifold you should be pushing about 150-155hp. and about 130-140whp right?

Your wheel HP numbers are hopefully optimistic IMO.

I would expect more like 120-130 WHP, IF those were ALL installed, and you had a healthy engine, and it is was in proper running order, i.e. all maintenance done, properly adjusted valves etc.

But considering a bone stock F22A1 would probably make somewhere around 95-100WHP, it is a VERY decent gain for the money. Even if it was only a 10WHP gain, it would STILL be a decent gain for the money.

Also, there have been some dynos floating around with numbers similar to what I mentioned above, and the list overall was similar. Some parts were more aggressive, some were less. I don't think 120-130WHP is unrealistic on a good healthy properly running motor.

[dark_stalker]

If you want to make power for little money... hit up a junkyard, or www.car-part.com

Look for:

F22A4 header - $15 (90-91 Accord EX)
F22A6 camshaft - $25 (92-93 Accord EX)
F22A6 ECU - $25
H23A1 intake manifold and throttle body (from a Prelude SI, 92-96 I believe) - $45
F22A6 IAB "black box" (to be able to activate the secondary runners, the intake air bypass, in the H23 manifold) - no price listed... probably $10 or so.

The prices are from my local junkyard, which is average for most things.


Your stock F22A1 engine's horsepower rating is at 125. The F22A6 parts alone will bring you to 140. The A4 header should get you to 145 (the ONLY difference between the A1 and A4 is the tubular header on the A4... which is superior to both the A1 and A6, which both have cast manifolds) The H23 intake manifold and plenum should add another 5hp or more... no exact figures are set for that.

If you do the camshaft, which isn't a HUGE part, but it helps, you're going to want to replace all the gaskets and seals you come across... good preventative maintenance anyway! That'll be another few bucks... but not a whole lot.

Get a cheap short ram intake. Have a muffler shop slap a 2.25" system for you.

The stock Honda parts would run about $120. A cheap short ram can be had for $50 or less. Exhaust... depends where you go. I paid $450 for new piping, cat, and muffler. You can probably get away with keeping your stock cat. Find a cheapie muffler on ebay, maybe a used one. Pay for piping and labor only. $200 at most for everything, I'd say.

So... that's under $400, and you can gain a minimum of 30hp... that doesn't include the intake and exhaust gains.





These things have been said over and over again... but I figured I'd make a post stressing just how simple things were!

for the h23 intake manny? would you have to do some modification??

[Shadow1]

for the h23 intake manny? would you have to do some modification??

i dont think that you have to modify anything on the h23 intake manifold. you might have to switch a couple of sensors. but other than that its a direct bolt on.

[quickangel93]

ebay header, ebay exhaust, rebuilt head, and an intake. and you'll be around 130-140 hp.

[TypeG]

if i could add to your list, one thing that is sometimes over looked on an f22 build is the transmission. in my opinion the car is more fun with the h23/h22 trans. it's somewhat of a night and day difference.

i have the h23 trans with the f22. i picked it up for $500 (i'm sure if you looked around, you could find it cheaper).

i'm pretty sure i could pull away from any regular accord with bolt-ons. the shorter gearing multiplies the engines torque. for the added acceleration, you loose top end.

the only thing i don't like about it is driving on the highway. 4000rpm's @ 80mph in 5th. later.

[NAiL05]

the only thing i don't like about it is driving on the highway. 4000rpm's @ 80mph in 5th. later.

I hated that at first but I got used to it and still get close to 400 miles to a tank. But you would benefit more with those mods using a chipped p06 IMO and tuning it but thats if you have the extra cash instead of spending it on a pt6.

[deevergote]

Very true, the transmission helps a good deal. That would kill my $500 claim though!


And yes, I'm talking crank horsepower only. Drop about 15%-20% (shouldn't be as high as 20%) for drivetrain losses off the total horsepower amount.

The Accord bits I KNOW will give those gains... because the motors are rated at 125-130-140 each. The A4 header might not add a full 5hp to the A6, but it'll be damn close. The A6 has a cast manifold similar to the A1. The A4 and the A1 are IDENTICAL, other than the exhaust manifold... and 5hp. So, with the A4/A6 bits, a 125hp A1 should then make roughly 145hp (120-125 to the wheels if the engine was healthy, roughly). An intake and exhaust will move the powerband up in the RPM range a bit, but could potentially add another 10-15hp. There's no way to say exactly what gains those mods will bring, as there are endless brands out there. Still, 10hp from an intake and exhaust combo isn't unreasonable.

[Shadow1]

^
^
very true about the intake and exhaust not giving a 10-15hp gain. is there any way that you can achieve about 150hp(crank) without going aftermarket tho? would a chipped ECU be concidered aftermaket? would that net any gains or would that just give my ECU the ability to be tuned?

[deevergote]

You MIGHT be able to pull some power from a chipped ECU, as the stock programs are usually safely on the rich side. Tune with 93 octane and lean it out a bit...

However, the gains would be minimal, and the only way to get anything that could be considered significant would have to be on a dyno. Unless you have free access to a dyno, the few horsepower you'll get from tuning a stock-ish engine would probably be a waste of money.

MRX refuses to make an I/H/E basemap for the F22, as it's not really worth his time for the potential gains. I may give it a shot one day just for the sake of fuel economy.

If you were going to tune all OEM, I'd say a chipped ECU and perhaps a freer-flowing muffler (like an RSX-S muffler) would be useful. Still OEM, just not OEM CB7!


It would be pretty cool to see a car pushed to the absolute limit of OEM offerings using all Honda parts (of course, the H22 is a Honda part as well...)

[d112crzy]

I don't think the power difference would be that noticeable.

The most noticeable part would be the IM/TB. After that, it would probably be as noticeable as adding a short ram.

More gains could probably be had if you tuned it, rather than using the pt6.

Of course, the cost will go up.