want more power out of your 84-85 accord?

[85SE-i]

Hey everybody, after a few months I am back. I finally got my Prelude going and am now starting to turn my attention to the SE-i. I put in a new radiator but now found out that the water pipe on the back of the engine is cracked. So I still haven't been able to drive the thing. I will keep you all updated with the progress. Now for the reason I am really here. I know we all would like to get more power out of our 84-85 Accords or 86-89 Accords. Well there is a company that is making it easier for us to do this very thing. Everybody should check out http://www.webcamshafts.com. They have three stages for their cams, a mild one, one for mid to upper end power, and a racing engines only grind. Their prices aren't too bad either. I think I might order one for my SE-i. Now for you 82-83 drivers, I saw that they offered a grind for the old 8 valve Civics and from what I can remember theese engines are very similar to the Accord only that they were either 1.5 or 1.3 liters vs 1.8 liters. So you could probably get away with them grinding your cam to the Civic specs, this is actually what my cousin was going to do on his 80 Accord and I was going to do on my 79 Prelude. Oh and I almost forgot, also check out http://www.gude.com. They offer cams and their ported head package for 85-89 Accords. I believe the head package is only for fuel injected cars and thats why they list 85-89 but the cams should work in all 84-89 carbureted or fuel injected engines.

[MessyHonda]

i would only get a cam after doing like headers, exhuast, intake....i got a stage 2 in my car....and man...it pulls even in 5th gear...got it up to 125...before i had to back off...really fun seeing the car pull

[2ndGenGuy]

Welcome back!

I don't think that the Gude head package is going to work on the 84-85 Accords. The ES motors will not interchange heads with the A motors, as there is a slight oil passage variation.

Can you tell me one thing about your ES3 motor; Is is CVCC?

[85SE-i]

Welcome back!

I don't think that the Gude head package is going to work on the 84-85 Accords. The ES motors will not interchange heads with the A motors, as there is a slight oil passage variation.

Can you tell me one thing about your ES3 motor; Is is CVCC?

It's good to be back. You know, I didn't even think about the heads being different. They listed 85-89 but this must have been a mistake on their part. It should be 86-89. As far as the ES3, it is not CVCC. It is just a straight 12 valve head similar to the 86-89 LX-i. I believe that the block is the same as the ES2.

[2ndGenGuy]

Interesting! Does the ES3 have equally spaced intake ports, and are they round like the ES2 or oval like the A20? Also, did you post some pics of your car already? If not, you should!! Only 85 SE-i on the forum. Been waiting for someone with one to join.

[85SE-i]

The ES3 does have the equally spaced intake ports but they are not perfectly round.






My exhaust manifold is the one on the right. I will take some pics of the car soon so you can all see it. The SE-i is a cool car. It comes factory with not only just fuel injection but alloy wheels, power moonroof, digital clock, center console, rear sway bar, Bose sound system with equalizer, leather seats, power mirrors, and mine has the original Honda accessory foglights. My emblem is #15

[2ndGenGuy]

Aaah sweet. I don't know why the fuck I didn't think to look online at the parts catalog in the first place. Well fuck, thanks for the info. Looks like that could be the best cylinder head to get for a good power build. Especially after boring the ES2 out to A20 specs. And welding up the notches for the injectors and installing big carbs of course... Looks like it's got progressive throttle bodies too... Interesting for sure.

[85SE-i]

I would think the SE-i head would be better as well seeing as how it is more of a conventional design vs the CVCC heads which promote lean burn and have the tiny aux valves and pre burn chambers. That throttle body is pretty strange, the first engine I saw that kind of design on was a JDM ZC engine my brother and I were swapping into a CRX. 2ndGenGuy, you have sway bars on your car right? If so, what brand are they? I think this car will end up being more of a cruiser since it's an automatic and all. My eventual goal is to redo the interior, lower it a bit, install bigger sway bars, some nice sticky rubber, get a cam, header, a mild exhaust, cross drilled rotors, etc. I want to keep it pretty simple and clean looking. Oh and if the engine blows I will probably drop in an A20, unless I could get the B20 out of a Prelude to work. Hmmm. Or better yet bore out the ES3 and install B20 pistons.

[2ndGenGuy]

The ES3 would be a better head, IMO. Probably better than the A20 heads even. PreludePower-famed A-engine builder rjudgey prefers the ET1 cylinder heads over the A20s and believes that you can get more power out of them. The ET1 head is a non-CVCC carb'd engine from the 2g Accords. Found everywhere but North America. I'm willing to bet it's identical to your cylinder head aside from the little bumps cut out for the fuel injection. Also there's the EZ engine, which is the Canada 2g Accord engine, which is a 1.6 liter version with no CVCC. I wonder how similar the EZ, ES3 and ET1 heads really are. And why can't I get my hands on any of them?!

You can bore out the ES motors to the same bore as the A20, and then you'll have the same piston choices as the rest of the group here. Also you've got the B18 rods that you can use, blah blah. Theres a ton of great info on this site as far as a good power build for that motor.

I imagine that an A20A3 would drop right in if you wanted all the B16 manifold and OBD1 and tuning ability stuffs.

I don't have any aftermarket sways yet. I bought an Addco sway for the front, and it didn't fit. Still sitting out in the shed. Whiteline makes the sways for our cars, but there's a chance that it's for the hatchbacks only... The hatch, though sharing the same floorpan as the sedan, has a different swaybar design from the SEi I'm pretty sure. I've got a hatch rear swaybar also in the shed. Maybe you could post a pic of your swaybar and it's mount locations and I could post the hatch swaybar pics.

The Whitelines aren't cheap to get a hold of. That's mainly what's been putting me off. Going to cost around $700 to get them shipped here. I imagine if you were going for a set, we could cut the $300-400 shipping cost in half. Knock a couple hundred bucks off the price.

[85SE-i]

So I'm guessing that the CVCC engines were mostly just a US/Japan thing? It seems like most other countries did not use that design. I'll bet it was probably because of our tougher emission standards that we got stuck with it. It wasn't until Honda started going to fuel injection that we started moving away from CVCC. What always got me is the fact that the 86-89 carbureted Accords had no CVCC.

As for the swaybar, I don't know if the hatch vs sedan is different but I have an easy way to find out since I work at the local Honda dealer. I will look it up in the parts catalog and post what I find out. I do know that the SE-i rear sway will bolt up to both the STD and LX 4 door cars. I had one on my 85 LX. I had to swap out my rear lower control arms for the SE-i units and everything else bolted on like it was meant to be there. I didn't think that I would notice much of a difference with the bar being so small and all but it cornered much flatter and when I hit a corner too fast it was more sure footed and did not want to kick the ass end out like it would before.

2ndGenGuy, do you have an aftermarket cam in your engine? I was watching some of your videos on youtube and your car sounds pretty nice. I like the sound of the weber carb. I had one on my 79 Prelude and it sounded pretty good. It makes it sound much meaner.

[2ndGenGuy]

Yeah as far as I can tell the CVCC stuff was US and Japan mostly. Some of it got spread around the world and imported into other countries by dealers and individual importers I assume. It actually is pretty interesting that the A20A1 (carb'd model) doesn't have CVCC. Makes me wonder if the A20 design just burns cleaner or what is really different. Or did the A20A1 burn clean enough to slip past emissions with a good cat and was cheaper? Maybe the CVCC motors were actually considerably cleaner burning than was necessary, and they wanted to cut cost with the 3g Accord, so they got rid of it.

My impression with the swaybars is that the Hatch swaybar is mounted forward of the control arms and the SE-i has it mounted to the rear of the swaybars. I never could find an SE-i at the junkyard or one that was being parted out so that I could snag the swaybar off of it for my car. And with the tiny diameter, it's interesting to know that it works well. I was under the impression that it didn't do much.

My car still has the stock cam. I've been so busy with my '81 lately that the '84 has been neglected. I'd like to cam it soon and see what it can do. I just picked up a Weber 38 DGES for it, I'm picking it up tomorrow and I'm interested to see what that will do. Gotta love the induction noise!

[85SE-i]

Ok, I was in the parts catalog today and I found out that the rear sway for the SE-i vs hatchback is different, or at least different enough for Honda to list a different part number. As far as the brackets, links and control arms, the SE-i and hatchback are exactly the same. So what you could do is, you could use the hatchback control arms and links and then order the SE-i sway bar from Honda for about $55.
I am sold on cams now. Ever since I put the cams in my Prelude it is like a totally different car. I hope the Accord reacts the same way.

[maximus1736]

What part magazines do you use to find the stock parts or even after market?

[85SE-i]

What part magazines do you use to find the stock parts or even after market?

I get most of my stuff either from auto dismantlers or from the dealer. I only go aftermarket when I have to or for performance parts. Try to stick with factory parts for regular maintenance, you and your car will be much happier.

[Ichiban]

The ES3 would be a better head, IMO. Probably better than the A20 heads even. PreludePower-famed A-engine builder rjudgey prefers the ET1 cylinder heads over the A20s and believes that you can get more power out of them. The ET1 head is a non-CVCC carb'd engine from the 2g Accords. Found everywhere but North America. I'm willing to bet it's identical to your cylinder head aside from the little bumps cut out for the fuel injection. Also there's the EZ engine, which is the Canada 2g Accord engine, which is a 1.6 liter version with no CVCC. I wonder how similar the EZ, ES3 and ET1 heads really are. And why can't I get my hands on any of them?!

You can bore out the ES motors to the same bore as the A20, and then you'll have the same piston choices as the rest of the group here. Also you've got the B18 rods that you can use, blah blah. Theres a ton of great info on this site as far as a good power build for that motor.

I imagine that an A20A3 would drop right in if you wanted all the B16 manifold and OBD1 and tuning ability stuffs.

I don't have any aftermarket sways yet. I bought an Addco sway for the front, and it didn't fit. Still sitting out in the shed. Whiteline makes the sways for our cars, but there's a chance that it's for the hatchbacks only... The hatch, though sharing the same floorpan as the sedan, has a different swaybar design from the SEi I'm pretty sure. I've got a hatch rear swaybar also in the shed. Maybe you could post a pic of your swaybar and it's mount locations and I could post the hatch swaybar pics.

The Whitelines aren't cheap to get a hold of. That's mainly what's been putting me off. Going to cost around $700 to get them shipped here. I imagine if you were going for a set, we could cut the $300-400 shipping cost in half. Knock a couple hundred bucks off the price.

Lets work out a deal here. I'll send you 10 EZ cylinder heads for the rear swaybar and brackets.

[2ndGenGuy]

Done. What's your address? I gotta wait until i get paid on Thursday though.