engine swaps for my 88 honda accord dx

[RayRin]

hello im pretty new here so i don't know anything yet. i was curious what kind of engine can i put into my 88 honda accord dx?

[gfrg88]

Welcome to the forum! You can find all your answers in the FAQ section. Also there is a great search engine on top


For a quick answer, you can put any motor into your car

[HLW]

While you can put any engine in the car with enough time, money and work, California will not let you. You can check with a smog ref station to see what the state overlords will let you put in the car. If I remember correctly it must be from a newer Honda car. You will need to have the swap certified by the smog ref station.

[lostforawhile]

what is wrong with what you have? these are great engines, and you can make power with them, they also have torque which most Honda engines dont have

[gfrg88]

While you can put any engine in the car with enough time, money and work, California will not let you. You can check with a smog ref station to see what the state overlords will let you put in the car. If I remember correctly it must be from a newer Honda car. You will need to have the swap certified by the smog ref station.

Yes, and no. You CAN do it, and have it be BAR'ed, pass emissions, etc. Look it up, been done plenty of times. There's plenty of peeps in CA with swaps on here...

[gfrg88]

what is wrong with what you have? these are great engines, and you can make power with them, they also have torque which most Honda engines dont have

Although I love the A20s, that's a hard to agree. All the newer honda engines probably make almost twice what these make, both tq and hp.

[2oodoor]

Although I love the A20s, that's a hard to agree. All the newer honda engines probably make almost twice what these make, both tq and hp.

Clearly you've come prepared to offer fair comparative data to support that perspective. Let's have it, we're only a young 7 post thread yet.
First i would question the definition of "newer" as it pertains to the topic of 88 model reasonable swap suggestions. Those would be including 15- 20 year old b and h series engines which is what struck me as humorous so I couldnt resist

[vteckiller]

A16a1 88/91
a18a 110/112
a20a1-a20a2 98/109
a20a3-a20a4 year 84-87 98/102
a20a3-a20a4 year 88-89 120/122
b16sir1 168/116
b16sir2 158/112
b16a1 150/111
b16a2 160/111
b16a3 160/111
b16a5 174/111
b16a6 158/111
b17a1 160/117
b18a 100/128
b18a1 130/121
b18b1 142/127
b18c 197/133
b18c1 180/128
b18c2 170/128
b18c3 177/112
b18c4 169/128
b18c5 197/130
b18c6 192/131
b18c7 187/127
b20b-b204 126/133
b20b-b20z2 147/133

just a little list to compare to b series. All are hp first tq second.

[HLW]

Yes, and no. You CAN do it, and have it be BAR'ed, pass emissions, etc. Look it up, been done plenty of times. There's plenty of peeps in CA with swaps on here...

I wasn't saying it can not be done, just that CA puts more limits on what you can swap in. I was thinking of doing a B20B.B20Z swap until I found out that CA does not allow a swapped engine to come form a different type of vehicle ( no engine from a truck or SUV can be legally swapped into a car in CA if the car is smog controlled) since the B20B/B20Z was only sold on the CRV and the CRV is not considered a car by CA, it will fail a BAR referee station inspection. That is why you need to check what engines CA will let you swap in before you start the swap.

CA used to just require that the engine be from the same manufacturer I.E. a Honda could take an engine form a different Honda or an Acura. Now it has to be from a newer or same year vehicle of the same class.

[gfrg88]

I wasn't saying it can not be done, just that CA puts more limits on what you can swap in. I was thinking of doing a B20B.B20Z swap until I found out that CA does not allow a swapped engine to come form a different type of vehicle ( no engine from a truck or SUV can be legally swapped into a car in CA if the car is smog controlled) since the B20B/B20Z was only sold on the CRV and the CRV is not considered a car by CA, it will fail a BAR referee station inspection. That is why you need to check what engines CA will let you swap in before you start the swap.

CA used to just require that the engine be from the same manufacturer I.E. a Honda could take an engine form a different Honda or an Acura. Now it has to be from a newer or same year vehicle of the same class.

That's an easy one, just get a b18 block, and stroke it! They don't check internals

[lostforawhile]

That's an easy one, just get a b18 block, and stroke it! They don't check internals

I know the law is designed to make you get rid of your car, it has nothing to do with air quality. what difference does it make if it's a truck engine if all the emissions for that engine are in place? the engine doesnt know if it's in a truck or car.

[HLW]

That's an easy one, just get a b18 block, and stroke it! They don't check internals

Stroking a b18 to 2L is why the B20B/B20Z block is taller than the B18. When I found the B20B/B20Z isn't allowed I decided to go with a B18 when I am ready to do the swap.

I know the law is designed to make you get rid of your car, it has nothing to do with air quality. what difference does it make if it's a truck engine if all the emissions for that engine are in place? the engine doesnt know if it's in a truck or car.

I agree with you Lost, but someone up in Sacramento thought it was a good idea to keep people from putting car engines in trucks and truck engines in cars.

It wouldn't even be an issue if the governator hadn't signed a law that removed the 25 year smog requirement and replaced it with all cars '75 and newer need to be smogged. Cause the 89 is 25 this year.

[Dr_Snooz]

Don't get me started on CARB. Somehow this state thinks the earth will die if my truck's catalytic converter doesn't have the correct sticker on it, but fracking goes completely unregulated. Heck, my state rep even sends me mail telling me about how wonderful it is and how he's doing everything he can to promote it. The radioactive debris pile from Fukushima hitting the California coast this month bears no mention and no action, but some poor sap's old beater that he uses to commute to his crappy, low-paying job is the single greatest threat to the ecosystem and must by all means be taken off the road. The farmers are free to plant all the deadly GMO crops they want, and spray them liberally with chemical poisons, just as long as the truck taking the produce to market has passed a smog test and paid its registration blood money to the state.

Lost is right. If they gave a crap about air quality, they'd be setting up more radiation detectors along the coast and publicizing the numbers, not squeezing poor people who have to drive old cars. It's time for a serious house-cleaning in the state capitol.

[gfrg88]

Stroking a b18 to 2L is why the B20B/B20Z block is taller than the B18. When I found the B20B/B20Z isn't allowed I decided to go with a B18 when I am ready to do the swap.

Brian Crower 2.16L Stroker Kit LS B18A1 B18B1 95mm Stroke [BC0029 BC0029LW] - $1,910.40 : Real Street Performance Engine Parts, Pistons Rods Cams Valvetrain and More

Keep the b18 stamp on the block...