H22a rebuild

[aussie_cb7]

hi guys,
i was just looking for a bit of advice i will be doing a h22a swap in the next few months and was wondering how hard do you think it would be to work on the internals of the motor myself? i have what i think are basic mechanical skills and will have purchased all manuals for the car of what year the motor is, i will be looking at doing things such as forged pistons/rods, cams, intake, throttle body, injectors, valvetrain etc. what do you think?

[customchord]

I would try on a little D series or something first. Not to say you can't but if something wasn't done right at least it isn't as much money.

[deevergote]

The actual teardown and assembly is simple... just follow the directions in a manual. You'll need a machine shop to hone your cylinders, and if you rebuild the head, you'll need some work done to that as well. Everything else, you can do yourself. Just get the proper tools, measure everything that needs to be measured, torque everything to spec in the right order, and don't use cheap, crappy parts... you'll be fine.

[foamypirate]

You can't run forged pistons in an H22 without sleeving it, unless you get the Mahle Gold Series pistons.

[_-91accord-_]

You can't run forged pistons in an H22 without sleeving it, unless you get the Mahle Gold Series pistons.

Which way do you think is the best way to go, sleeving or going with the Mahle Gold Series pistons?

[nusdogg]

x2

The actual teardown and assembly is simple... just follow the directions in a manual. You'll need a machine shop to hone your cylinders, and if you rebuild the head, you'll need some work done to that as well. Everything else, you can do yourself. Just get the proper tools, measure everything that needs to be measured, torque everything to spec in the right order, and don't use cheap, crappy parts... you'll be fine.

[wed3k]

Which way do you think is the best way to go, sleeving or going with the Mahle Gold Series pistons?

cast type-s pistons.

check your clearances and do lots of reading on basic engine building. ive worked in a machine shop for almost a year and ive never built a honda yet. only shortblocked small block chevy's.

take your time and again, measure, clean and measure again.

[blacktrax]

^^

I agree. If you plan to go NA the best bang for buck piston is the JDM Type S Piston.

[10thcb7]

the tools should be listed in the manuals if you have time take the learning curve

[nusdogg]

yeah, I heard that you must know alot of measuring on building motors and stuff. So every Pros must've get their knowledge str8 before they build.

cast type-s pistons.

check your clearances and do lots of reading on basic engine building. ive worked in a machine shop for almost a year and ive never built a honda yet. only shortblocked small block chevy's.

take your time and again, measure, clean and measure again.

[aussie_cb7]

thanks for the help guys

[JDMxDB8]

Skunk2 is your friend.

[deevergote]

^^

I agree. If you plan to go NA the best bang for buck piston is the JDM Type S Piston.

You have to make sure to get the proper size, though. You may need an oversized piston after honing the cylinders.

As wed3k said... measure, measure, measure. When you're assembling an engine, things need to have the right clearances and torque specs, or you're looking at a very short engine life!



Step #1... www.helminc.com
Buy yourself a manual. Those aren't cheap, but they're the very best you can get. You'll never need another reference as far as stock stuff goes. Read through the process of building the engine, and see if it's something you feel you can handle.

As said above, I would practice on a cheaper engine first. You CAN build the H22A for your first engine, but if you do something wrong and totally destroy it, that's a lot of money to waste! Maybe swap in a tired H22A, and practice on your F22A (or whatever you have in there). Once the stock engine has been successfully rebuilt, drop it back in, and get to work on the H22A. When you're done, you can sell the stock engine for a good amount, since it'll be freshly built.




I'm doing it backwards... I bought a built A20A for my 3rd gen, and I'm going to mess with the worn out stock one after the swap I'm boosting the new one, so I won't be surprised if I blow it up!

I, too, have an H22A in the works at the moment. I'm still gathering parts, though... and trying to figure out what direction I want to go in!