quick question about v-tec

I have a 96' accord lx , 2.2 non v-tec 5 spd , what would i have to do to have a v-tec 2.2 , would i have to get a whole new engine and ecu, or is there just some parts i could change out to make my current 2.2 a  v-tec , thanks

Why don't you just do an engine swap for the 2.2 vtec version of your engine..i think that'll save you some headache

yea, i am kinda new to the honda thing, and was not sure what the difference between 2.2 v-tec and non v-tec was, if it was easy to make mine a v-tec or if it would be easier to just swap them out, so would i need a new computer for the vtec engine, or do i just need the vtec engine?

Swap the head, new ecu (96-97 accord EX or 97-98 Acura CL 5psd), new headstuds, new timing gear, new headgasket. Done.
 
You're looking for a head off the F22B1 or F23a1/a4

thanks blk , i was thinking i could just change out some parts, so i could go to my local junkyard , buy a 96 vtec head , grab the bolts for it , take off the timing gear from the same car , grab the ecu out of it and buy a new head gasket, and thats it, how mechanically inclined do you think one would need to be to do this swap, i have changed oil, flushed trans fluids, changed cv axles, changed fuel pumps that were in gas tank , etc. could i do this without too much trouble???

In my opinion it would hardly be worth the measly 15 extra horsepower you would get if you actually succeeded at doing the work BCK advised.  You would be better off peicing together a turbo over time (best way to do it to save a ton of $) to gain some real power.

well i priced the head and computer at a local salvage yard,  roughly 225 for the both of them, add another say 30 for the head gasket kit, so i'd be looking at around 255 if i could do it myself.  i think 255 is reasonable for a 15 hp gain, as far as a turbo goes, that would definatly take alot of time on my budget, but that is a good idea as well, i'm not sure what i'll do, but thanks for everyones opinions.
jon

youll need to be Very mechanically inclined to take on and successfully complete this project. also your going to need a comprehensive set of quality tools, starting with the wrench for the crank pulley/ harmonic balancer, and a good torque wrench. good luck

what do you think a good mechanic would charge to do this job, roughly ball park figure

quote:

ORIGINAL: kahnvict850

what do you think a good mechanic would charge to do this job, roughly ball park figure

 
Probably around $500 or more.  If you can find a mechanic that would do it.  You would probably need to look for a specialty shop.  A dealership or Honda shop wouldn't do it.

sorry it was a picture that said VTEC just kicked in

ok, so my budget has changed a little bit, thanks uncle sam for the tax return, so to overview, i have a 96 lx with a 2.2 non vtec and a 5 speed tranny, with 194,xxx miles, only had it for about 5,000 of those miles, so how it was taken care of before me is unknown,  here are my options
 
1. swap heads and ecu with 96 vtec.
2. go turbo, but with 194,xxx miles, could it hold the boost??? maybe, maybe not
3. of course the h22 swap
 
i believe i could along with my father in law perform any of the three options above with just parts costing $$$ no labor costs , keep in mind this is a dd, so anything done must be able for 2-3 people to complete in a weekend, so what do you guys think will be the best effective way to get some horsepower , i appreaciate any and all comments and opinions.

Also keep in mind that the junk dealer will probably not guarantee the head, so you might want to add about $400 to your budget to have a machine shop go over it. 

If your current motor is running good you probably won't notice a big difference with the vtec head. 

thats a good point white, i think i am leaning towards the turbo or the h22 swap, the thing about the swap is it is very involved and exspensive, i think i could piece together a turbo for less, but i am not sure what kind of shape my internals are in, so thats my problem with that, i feel my car is running fairly strong, i have a aem cai , catback exhaust, which made a good difference, but i am a speed junkie I need more!!!

Before turbo, I would either rebuild the current engine, or buy a fairly low mileage engine from a salvage yard (you should be able to find one dirt cheap) and then piece together a turbo system.  Then on a weekend when you have enough time, slap it all together and swap the replacement engine in there.  You may even be able to sell your current engine to a salvage yard once you're done.
H22 swap will get expensive and is pretty complicated.  Just ask live2rice.

I agree with Jon, you're only going to be able to pull of a head swap in a weekend. And why blow money on a turbo if the accelerated wear is just going to kill your already old engine faster. Rebuild outside of the car and swap in when you can. F22s are fairly cheap motors.

so you think i should buy an f22 from a salvage yard and rebuild it to handle the turbo boost, on one hand that would be a good idea, because i would be able to build it to handle a good amount of boost, with stronger pistons, rods and rings etc. , but on the other hand if i am going to end up doing a swap anyways, why not just do the h22 swap?  hmmmm decisions decisions...  but it is clear you think my 194,xxx engine is to worn out for the turbo, basically just asking for trouble putting a turbo on it?  thanks everyone for your opinions, i value everyones thoughts on this board, alot of knowledgable people on here and i appreaciate that.

It would be much easier to swap in another f22 (just built and turboed) than it would be to do an H22 swap.n  Just make sure you get one from a 96 or 97 Accord so you can use your same ECU.  Plus if you build it for boost, you could easily add enough boost to stomp an Accord with a stock H22.  h22's are also not the best motors to turbo.

i don't know how or what you said that did it, but you just made my mind up, i'm gonna build a f22 to boost with turbo, what kind of budget do you think i need to do all the building except for buying the engine, i already checked my junk yard has one for $250 with what they SAY is only 85,xxx , but i don't care b/c i'm going all new from the bottom up, thanks for the input guys

oh one more thing then i promise to leave ya'll alone,  since i'm building from the ground up, think i should go ahead and get a motor from a 96 or 97 vtec, ?? or just stick with my non vtec setup??

Non-VTEC FTW. Its not going to be pretty when you're nicely tuned turbo set-up decided to slide over a lobe on the cam and turn your tuning to sh!t.

I've never done a turbo before (I'm just telling you everything I can remember I have read about them), but I've heard it can be done for around $1,500.  kevinaccord did his himself.  I would say to ask him, but he has been MIA for a while now.
I think buying a duplicate motor and turbo is the smartest and most practical thing for you to do.  Plus hearing it spool and scream, and hearing that blowoff valve go psshhhht every time you shift would be fricken sweet.  Every time I see a car with turbo I always roll down my windows and turn my radio all the way down cause I want to hear it.
 
If I were you I would do a ton of research on it before buying parts.  I would probably start by buying one of those books or something that explains how to set up a turbo.  Check out the turbo section here.  Also there is a 5th gen specific website - I think it is called gen5alive.com maybe?  I bet they have members with turbos and maybe some good info.
I would love to eventually do a turbo, but it would be so far in the future I'm not even thinking about it now - I mean probably like 20 years down the road.

gen5alive is an okay site, but it's not too active. Also, if you do go turbo your going to have to get some sort of engine management to tune the system, I don't know if that's included in Jon's $1500 figure, but it's not cheap, nor is dyno time and tuning.

PS - KevinAccord's mother died recently so he hasn't been on in a long while, but he does have a wealth of knowledge for DIY turboing. Try viewing his profile and looking at his recent posts.