Best Engine Talk

[HondaBoy]

ok, nearly every performance shop i talk to says not to fix up my A20A1 because you cant just "buy stuff off the shelf" for it. thats true. they always tell me, save your money and buy a motor to fix up slowly. yeah, sounds good. there are enough places here in town to do complete motor swaps with custom tranny installs. anyway. my thing is that i want it done right away, and thats not usually possible. but besides that, it sounds like a good thing. finding an engine won't be too much of a problem. the 1.8 integra engine is sort of an easy find. not knowing if it runs is another. i have asked around for prices on engine with a tranny. ive gotten $300-$500 prices. not bad. i would probley go to houston to look for one with my uncle cuz he knows honda's pretty well. anyway, just thoughts, probley not going to happen for a while. other engines are the ones from the civic, the D series. i would want 1.6 as the smallest to go. and then there are the accord and prelude engines from various years, 2.0, 2.2, 2.3 and so on. the engine that sounds good is the 2.0 from the CR-V which in fact they make some good stuff for. finding one as of now isnt too easy. not around here anyway. i dont realy want one of the backward looking K series, although they are nice. that might be some trouble with the tranny, but not if you do a complete swap. so, anyone with some ideas? like seriously, these are just things to think about, and hopefully can get going on something. my easiest find here lately is a few good looking, fully intact integra motors. there are a few 1st gen 1.6's. just the standard engine with about 118hp. and the 2nd gen integra's with the 1.8 130-140hp. probley 140hp. there is a guy here in town that showed me his totaled 2nd gen integra with a built motor that still runs perfect! he said $1200 for engine and tranny together. this thing supposedly ran about a hight 13 at best and a mid 14 in the QM. well, theres what ive had to think about. although i do like the fact that i dont have to pay for much more than the performance stuff i want to do to the A20. so, anyone got some engine thinking of your own?

[BMS]

First off, that's a damn long post.

Second, you want to put something in the 3g? If you're not gonna get a whole new car to go with the new engine I'd say get another A20 for real cheap and put that in. It's not worth the trouble, in my oppinion, to try a while engine swap.

[HondaBoy]

why would i get another car if the 3gee is still good? its not like fucked or nothing. just needs something with some more power. havent you see the few guys around here with the motor swaps that turned out great?

[Gregg86DX]

B20A swap = simple, cheap($1000), decent power, minor miracle to find a 5 speed these days.

B16A swap = simple, not cheap(~$2500), decent power, plenty of them around.

B18 LS/Vtec = more complicated, more expensive(~$3500), more power, pretty easy to find the parts.

There you have it, your 3 best swap options, IMHO.

Gregg

[NXRacer]

forget a motor swap man. for about the price of a bone stock b16 swapped into your car, you can be pushing over 200 whp with a turbo a20. why look at any other option??? And thanks to sean, all the necessary parts are now available for the a20.

[RED LXI]

ENGINE SWAP


TURBOED A20 BY SEAN :smokin:

[Justin86]

Well with a B series or a A20 you can't go wrong with either. Yea the VTEC is pretty good but so is a bullet proof cast iron block. Money wise stick with the A20 but if you have money to burn swap in a B16a or a B18C1 in.

[A20A1]

Any motor is good.

Of course Performance shops don't want you working on a motor they don't sell parts for... they wont get money if you do that.

Personally the A20 is cheap and reliable... I intend to work on it for a long time, making or buying the parts I need as I go.

[ChaseR]

how about a head swap on an A20, whats out there for that?

[Versanick]

Hey, I blew a 3" hole in cylinder #3 in a car I just bought over the summer.... the pepole who owned it before didn't change the oil in over 30,000 miles. It's possible to blow up.

trust me.

If you don't care if it's an auto, definitely find a b20a. The parts arent as bad as you think, once you learn the engine. The top end is as the 86-89 b16 non-VTEC integra in the ignition and cam fittings and valvetrain, the b20a obviously being a larger-ported head, racier cams, and bigger valves (thats the only difference)

The Pistons are the same as any other b-series motor for the most part, 81mm bore (CTR and ITR pistons will work with the right fittings), rods from a b20a5, aftermarket

Intake can be taken from any b18 or b16 if you're willing to fit the pipe, the intake manifold can be taken from any b16 or b18 if you drill 4 extra holes in them (to remove all the vacuum line garbage from the b20a)

Gude offers a great headpackage that puts the b20a into the 200hp+ range at once (around 170 ft/lb of torque after a few additional mods, which is absolutely OBSCENE in a honda without a turbo... trust me I have friends with turbo hondas whom I smoke)

The tranny is the hardest part. The clutch and flywheel are the same as the 89 DOHC prelude Si's, any alternator fits, I can find you the belt numbers, and all of the part #'s can be OEM bought from any dealership, imported from Japan. I can get you part #'s for cam gears also... NGK plugs and wires, MSD ignition... DC sports header from an 89 lude si DOHC (same b20a5 like I'm saying)...


theres a lot more you can do with it than you think. What on EARTH kinds of parts cant you find? Cams? Bullfrog makes them. Any b16 or b18 non-VTEC cam set is the same fitting, you just want to make sure you time them right w/adjustable cam gears and have enough lift/duration.

There's nothing that's more expensive than on a b16 or b18.... I really don't know what on earth they could be talking about. you can get a Wallbro fuel pump 255lph, same as the a20a's, look for them online they're $95 new... stillen fuel risers are generic... same w/regulators...

Most of those things can be accomplished w/an a20 too. Machine shops can bore and get bigger pistons, you can even send the a20 top end to Gude if you want, for HUGE increases in power and performance. Hell, if I was modding my a20 I'd go carb and get dual weber DCOE 45mms.... carb = way less expensive to expand than fuel injection.

And then even w/fuel injection, all honda injectors are the same, as long as they're peak and hold. The fuel rails are the same as a b16 or b18.

Dude, you're okay. just b/c the car starts with real mild cams and a real lean fuel map and delivery system doesn't mean you can't expand.

You can even use a computer for a natural b18 (for the b20) and upgrade it otherwise anyway.

Or most any computer, come to think of it.

There's very few limits on the motor.

You just have to know the motor.

[NXRacer]

Originally posted by f22a89accordLxi
how about a head swap on an A20, whats out there for that?

check out my sig for a lot of performance parts available for the a20. Including a head package.

[Gregg86DX]

Versanick,

You're getting me all hot and bothered! That tirade about building up a B20A makes me even more desperate to get mine installed! I'd like to get a full rundown on your mods and the results of any horsepower or performance tests you've done. You're preachin' the gospel of B20A, and I am a disciple!

Gregg

[A20A1]

Originally posted by f22a89accordLxi
how about a head swap on an A20, whats out there for that?

There is the A18 head on the A20.
Then you can get a dual carb manifold for the A18 and run dual webers.
Otherwise stick with the A20 and do head work like a Valve job, port & polish, and a cam regrind.

[AznImports602]

Hey can you guys tell me more on the dual carb thing and run dual webers?

[HondaBoy]

although that engine swap would be bad ass, i realy dont think i wanna do that. seriously, i seems like there would be too many things to go wrong. although, if anyone else wants to do it, thats cool. im just not too crazy on that. as for my A20, i may be having it rebuilt in the next few months. maybe not, but if i get the money to do that im going to. it needs new motor mounts and a new head gasket. i have been thinking about doing the mounts and head my self. i know its not increadibly hard to do, but it will take time to get it done. i wanted to get the head shaved because i think it is probley warped a bit. the shop i want to take it to said they do it all. working the cylinder head anyway. they wont install it, so thats up to me. they will port the valves and clean it up. they also do cam regrinds and crank lightening and balanceing. i personally dont want to do anything on my own with the bottom end. top is easier because i wont have to take the engine out. i may not want to get into doing this myself because i havent done major engine work before. so i may leave that up to this mechanic i know. so all in all, money talks, and i need a lot to get started on this thing. sorry if you dont like the length, but deal with it! lol.