I cross-posted this to H-T as well.
I was asked to do a small write up on my H22 swap into my 90 Integra. I am going to put a cost factor, issues I ran in to, etc.
This write up will assume the reader has a certain slightly beyond basic mechanic understanding of their car.
If you don’t know how to remove an engine or are afraid to cut holes in your car, you should not be doing this swap.
I assume no responsibility for anything you do. I put this together for information. I am no swap expert; I just do this for my hobby. I’m also a crappy speller and English grammar owns me.
My parts list:
H22 swap w/transmission (28k documented miles) from 96 Accord SiR - $2100
95 Prelude shifter w/ cables $100
88-89 Integra axles, passenger custom w/ Prelude inner CV $200
92 Accord midshaft $50
Ebay header $90
OEM replacement clutch $130
Explicit Speed Performance mount/shifter kit $500
R/R pieces for maint / H23 tensioner conversion $200
Misc stuff you don’t think about until you need it $???
Things I had on hand:
90 Accord fuel rail, lots of black electrical tape, Boomslang OBD-1 conversion harness.
How:
I dropped the old B18 out the bottom of the car in one big lump – engine, tranny, shifter linkages, etc. Best thing to do: remove the bumper, attach an engine hoist to the bumper mounts on the car, and lift the front end up. Put a rollable something under the car for the engine to sit on – bottom of a shopping cart, a skateboard, you get the idea.
I replace the clutch, waterpump, and timing stuff outside the car. I also removed the powersteering and A/C pumps and brackets at this time as well.
I did a H23 manual tensioner conversion. Yes, I used the triangle piece and shaved the tensioner bracket bit to clear the offending bolt. I eliminated my balance belt assembly completely but left the balance shafter in for now. I used the McMaster-Carr spacer on the tensioner bolt and part of a Kaizenspeed kit on the crank.
Note on the timing belt: Yes it is tight, VERY tight. I put the belt on and let the engine sit for a week before installing it in the car, and found the belt had stretched a little so I readjusted the tension. Nothing changed, really, but I have the proper deflection at the point between exhaust cam and crank. I also have no supercharger sound when revving the engine, so all is good.
I also had the flywheel resurfaced and the crank pulley shaved of the powersteering pulley portion at a machine shop. Do the pulley NOW because the clearance in the car won’t allow for an easy reinstall. Also, the powersteering pulley won’t clear the frame anyway.
Getting the engine in the car was a bit of a PITA if you don’t know what you are doing. I did it from the top down with the engine and tranny bolted to one another. I removed the distributor and throttle body to protect them and sensors. I put the engine on the engine hoist at a fourty-five degree down angle on the transmission so I could clear the actual car and get it in the engine bay.
Best advice here is: bolt up the passenger side tranny mount on the tranny, put the rear mount on the frame, leave the drivers side completely off. Drop the engine in tranny first, maneuver as needed. Get the drivers side close to the mount, LOOSELY bolt up the drivers side so frame and engine, then bolt up the passenger side. After, crawl under the car and install the rear mount bracket. Tighten it all up, remove hoist, breathe.
Wiring:
This was the easiest part of the whole swap. The Integra engine harness fit on the car except at the distributor plugs, obviously, since it is OBD-0. OBD-1 Integras won’t even have this issue. All other physical plugs are the same except the oil pressure sensor. I put the harness on starting at the water jacket ground, did the plugs on the head, then worked my way around the intake manifold.
The IAT sensor is REAL CLOSE to the the brake booster, so you may have to move it. I did not and the engine doesn’t move enough to squish it, but probably will at a later date. I had to extend the harness about four inches to reach it without stretching the harness.
The IACV plug need to be routed from the back to the front of the intake manifold. Just untape the existing harness to where the harness comes together on the passenger side at the water jacket ground, then re tape. It will reach without issue.
The water temp sensor on the back of the block moves to the water jacket at the thermostat. Follow the same procedure for the IACV – undo tape, hookup, retape. You will have excess wire, so cut of wind up the wire, as you will.
For the alternator – There is a 4th wire in the alternator connector that goes to ELD. I didn’t use this as I have no ELD. The other three on the Integra harness exactly match the position on the green plug of the H22 harness, so match positions, do one wire at a time, and you will be fine. As to length – undo the H22 harness and cut the wires for the alternator as far down as possible in the back of the engine so you have length to reach the existing Integra harness in the back. I spliced my main alternator wire together with the Integra one.
For distributor – OBD-1 does nothing, lucky you. OBD-0 needs to convert the plugs to the OBD-1 plugs from the H22 harness. There are plenty of instructions around on the web to do this. Most of the wires match up except the two white wires; even their position is very similar if looking at the back of both plugs from the harness side.
For the rest – I sliced up the H22 harness to get the VTEC solenoid / VTEC pressure switch wiring out and ran to my ECU through the old A/C connector hole. I also ran my knock sensor, left out the EGR and IAB, and ran the 4 wires for the o2 sensor through the A/C hole as well. I used the H22 harness and some leftover connectors from it to join everything together at the firewall for a cleaner look.
That is that. Looks complicated, but it isn’t.
Shifter:
This is the toughest part, and there is no second guess here. You do the shifter last after the engine install to get an idea where the cables from the transmission need to go and where to cut for the shifter install.
There is two philosophies as to where to mount the shifter – in the car or under the car. I chose in the car because I don’t like my shifter low.
I cut out the ring piece for the shifter boot and put the Prelude shifter on. I figurd out where I needed to cut my using a Sharpie and tracing down on the body of the car where things came out. I cut VERY SMALL pieces as I went to get the fit tight but with enough room for the shifter guts to fit and move in the hole. Once this was done, I used a 5/16” drill bit and drilled holes for the four bolts. I had someone hold a wrench on the bolt heads so I could tighten nuts w/ lockwashers on the bottom. I used grade-8 bolts and nuts from a local hardware store.
For the cables, I went under the center of the dash to right where the “tunnel” starts going up for the firewall and cut where it was still flat. I did it this far out, unlike right in front of the shifter like many do, so the cable would have a shallow angle path to reduce binding. I cut out a piece of the lower center console structure behind where the cig lighter would sit that I didn’t need to; just bend it up out of the way.
I routed the cable over the rear crossmember and to the left of the mount.
I will be making a sheetmetal box like shield to put under the shifter to cover the hole it sits in. Some think cardboard makes a good template to try on. Use body caulk to but the sheetmetal in place. You could also use the two 10mm bolts at the rear whre the shift linkage attached to hold it there.
Also, you will trim the center console plastic a little bit to clear the shifter movement properly in the shifter boot hole; where depends on how far left to right you mounted the shifter. For the boot, I just split the frame for it and expanded it to fit. I’m told you can also try to use a 96-00 EK Civic shift boot, but didn’t do this.
Interior looks stock now.
Radiator:
Use your stock upper hose – eye and cut to fit. Lower hose fitted fine, w/ no cutting – slip it to the passenger side of the starter. Stock fan will not reall fit back on due to shifter piece; get an electric replacement.
Stock front crossmember:
Cut the stock front engine mount off or smash it flat. It will clear the header fine w/o cutting, unless you got an SMSP or some crazy header.
Clearance:
I don’t know my drop, but my oil pan sits 6” from the ground; my header is about 4.5”. I plan to make a small skid plate for this area to protect them. I drive in the country and in the city. Dead things and speed bumps suck for oil pans.
Axle alignment is good and straight. My CV joints aren’t squished together. Long term I don’t know how they will wear. Consider having a spare set available.
Shifting:
The piece the mounts on the front of the engine from ESP is a counter-lever type. The stock Integra clutch cable will reach it, but it feels like it has to stretch some. My adjuster is at the max about. I’m considering getting a clutch cable from an 86-89 Accord or 84-87 Prelude Si (the ones with the A20 in it) to have the extra reach and position of the cable.
Body mods:
Except for the hole you have to drill for the passenger side bolt and the frame rail piece you need to smash in – it is just a lip piece, nothing structural – there were no mods beyond the shifter holes.
Hood clears without issue. I think I could put a Skunk2 intake manifold on, but don’t know yet, as I don’t see the need to buy one yet. Skunk2 says the Pro2 is really for a built H22.
Exhaust:
With the tilt put in the engine for axle alignment it is enough to raise the back of the header to where it touches the power steering rack. My header has a long flex pipe in it, and I don’t worry about the rubbing, but time will tell if this will be an issue. I do see a possible heat transfer issue from exhaust to steering rack, but I don’t know how bad it would be.
Use a Prelude/Accord cat converter, have a 2.5” mandrel or 3” crush bent put on.
I don’t have pictures as I don’t take any for security reasons. Find Mike Garvey’s thread for good ones.
I’m not an expert at this, I just do it for my hobby. If you have questions about H22 swaps and things, try Honda-tech, hondaswap.com, FF Squads tech archive, Temple of VTEC for older stuff, etc. The H22 swap thread stickered at the top of the Hybrid section on H-T is worth reading through.
That’s it.
