Originally Posted by
snoopyloopy
alright, you seem a bit lost. there's three different engines that people could mean when they say the ambiguous "b20." the most likely would be the b20z from the cr-v. 126 hp, 131 tq i believe were the numbers for that little machine. that engine is part of the "b-series" engine family including b16a, b16b, b18a1, b18b, b18c1, b18c5. it readily accepts a vtec head with little modifications and uses the same engine mounts, parts, transmissions, etc. as the aforementioned b-series family engines. this engine will not bolt straight into a 3rd gen accord, however, you can see if you find any b-series placeracing mounts and axles or can do it yourself.
next possible "b20" and what most people would mean when saying "b20a" would be the b20a5 from the 1988-1991 prelude. i don't know the power numbers on this one, but i do know it will not bolt in either. however, it's not part of the b-series engine family. the transmissions won't swap over, the mounts won't work, the vtec heads won't fit. it's essentially a dead engine. and becareful when ordering from japan for a b20a. because while it was coded b20a5 here in america, it was simply coded b20a in japan. but it will also not bolt into a 3rd gen, and would probably actually be more work than a normal b-series engine due to it's angle in the bay. there's also a sohc b20a for the prelude, i believe it was coded b20a3. same mounting situation as b20a5, and you can make more power with your a20a1 with the money it'd take to swap that over.
this then brings us to the b20a we all talk about around here. this b20a was available from 1984-1989 in the 2g preludes then the 3g accords. it made 160 hp in jdm form, 144(?) in edm form. this engine will not really swap parts with the 3g prelude b20a5 motor family. it will swap parts with the b18a (130 hp carbed motor for non-us 3g accords), but not with the b20a5 engines from the 3g preludes. parts like pistons, valve cover, and lsd from regular b-series engines will work on b20a bolt-in, but you can't do vtec headswap, the whole tranny won't bolt up, etc. other parts work with a little bit of modding. do your research. both of the b18a from 3g accord and b20a from 3g accord/2g prelude will bolt right into a 3g accord (just uses different rear/tranny mount from a20a1/3), you just have to do a few wiring tricks. it's been discovered that you can even use an a20a transmission on either engine as long as you use the b18a bellhousing. also, a20a1/3 use same intake manifold as b20a. so in theory, if you don't want to convert your car to run efi, you could even use your a20a1 carbs, although they will probably starve your engine.
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