Best way to buy an A20 Engine?

[2ndGenGuy]

So, I've been reading these forums for a long time. Been trying to take everything in that PhydeauX and phrenology have written about doing an engine swap into the 2nd gen.

I know that the first thing I need to do is get an A20 engine. I assume that as far as the block goes, they are the same, just the A1 is carb'd and the A3 is FI. I'm planning on buying this engine and having work done to it while I continute to put the final miles on the ES2.

My main question is, what is the best way to go as far as obtaining the engine? If I'm planning on having it bored out, new pistons, head rebuilt, etc, does it really matter where I get it from?

Can I just go buy some crappy engine from a junkyard and have that work done to it? Or would it be better to buy a low mileage engine for a little bit more and have the work done to it that way? Maybe even a donor car to swap the engine and transmission out of? Do I only need to make sure that the cylinder walls are okay and that the head isn't warped, etc? Or does that really even matter, since its going to get bored out and shaved anyways?

Would it even be best to buy one online? I've recieved price quotes for around $650 for an A20A1 with the transmission. Not really clear if that came with the manifolds or not. Not even sure if those parts are expensive or not.

Is it even worth spending that much on an engine, when it's going to get rebuilt anyways? Sorry for the long post, just want to get this project started off the right way. I've been waiting a couple years to do this, and I'm really excited to get going.

[AccordRacing21]

I have an extra A20A1 down in Oregon if you are looking for one. I'm assuming you are looking for a 5 speed?

[2ndGenGuy]

I have an extra A20A1 down in Oregon if you are looking for one. I'm assuming you are looking for a 5 speed?

How much would you want for it? How many miles are on the transmission? I'd be totally willing to come pick it up.

I guess I'm not concerned about how many miles are on the engine, I just don't know how to rebuild transmissions. :)

[ghettogeddy]

did u think about doing a b20 seing as the mounts are the same

[2ndGenGuy]

did u think about doing a b20 seing as the mounts are the same

I thought about it, but I decided not to go with it, as it would be harder to find parts if something were to go wrong. I want to start with something simple, since this will be my first real work on an engine. I figure A20's are everywhere, and would be cheaper. I think eventually I might go up to a B20, as I get more confident about how all this stuff works.

The thing is, from what I've read, I can just use 85 SEi Axles and steering knuckles on the A20 trannys to complete everything. Not so sure about the B20 transmissions. I don't want to get too far in over my head having to fabricate axles, as I'm sure that can get expensive, and I've seen the damage that using the wrong axles can do.

[PhydeauX]

If you're going to rebuild it then just get a cheap old junkyard one. The a20 is rather durrable, there shouldn't be anything wrong with it that a rebuild can't fix. Espically if you plan to bore it anyway. Buy the engine locally, I can get them for $150ish from the local u-pull-it but would cost 2x as much to ship it some where.
The SE-i axles are easy enough to get, but the steering knuckles are not. Look around for the thread about it. It's been determined that you can use 2g prelude Si bearings and hubs in your accord knuckels to make the SE-i axles work. I beleve someone also posted that the SE-i axles will work on a b20 swap as well. Theres a post about that somewhere too. The a20 is definitely cheaper. Problaby cheap enough that you can get 2, a running one to swap in now, and a second one to build up and swap in later. That'd save you the trouble of having to deal with building the engine and performing the swap at the same time. Believe me the more stages you can break your project into and have the car driveable in between to check for problems the better.


andy

[2ndGenGuy]

Andy,

I think thats a fantastic idea. One that I may just go with. Maybe just to start, I'll go get 2 A20's and put one in stock configuration, and just run it with the Weber carb tuning it and whatnot. Meanwhile, I'll have the other block in the engine shop getting the rebuild, so that way when it's ready to be dropped in, I'll have a better understanding of how the carb setup will work. Then when I put the built engine in the car, the carb will be setup and ready to go for the mostpart, and the axles and bearings will work great.

I remember now reading the post on the using the Prelude Si bearings. I think it was in the same post as that axle swap chart, so I got kinda overwhelmed by the chart. Thanks for making that part a bit more clear. Sounds like it will be even easier now to deal with. If I remove my steering knuckles, can I replace the bearings myself, or should I take it to a professional and have them do it?

[Ichiban]

Alls you need to do is pull your strut, cv, and balljoint at the bottom. I believe there's a circlip in there somewhere, too. The easiest way to get the outer bearing shell out of the knuckle is to take it to a shop and have them press it out, and the new shell in. The bearings you want are in the post on axle swaps, they are identical to the stock bearings except with a larger bore to accept the bigger flanges, and thus axles.

[snoopyloopy]

the a20 blocks are the same, but the heads have slight differences between the different years and between carb or efi. i forget which cam is optimal for what, but it's on the board around here somewhere. but yeah, if you plan to do work to the head and block, just go grab one from the jy. and of course, if you plan to use a performance cam, the head also doesn't make as much difference. but the 88/89 efi exhaust manifolds flow the best of all the stock ones for those engines.