Thanks Poorman, I am replacing the timing belt this weekend.
I did have a question for someone with alittle more knowledge on these cars. I am planning an Engine swap on the car soon and I was really thinking about changing the tranny from an auto to a manual but based on what i have saw and read it seems just like an expensive headache. As far as the engine, will a F23A SOHC Vtec 2.3L Engine from a 98-02 fit in the 97 without alot of hassle ?

 

That's a question for the Engine/Internal area, so I'll move the post over there.

 

anyone???

 

Yes, the F23 will go into the 97. There are at least two active members on here running that set up now _ Roader and RobinsonRicer ? There are some changes that are needed, I'm old and the only one I remember off the top of my head is the throttle cable bracket.....there are more but that is all I remember.

I think Roader has a high level writeup on the swap around here somewhere. You can send a PM if a search doesn't come up with anything.

 

any f/h moor will go in pretty easy. you should consider h22/h23, or f20b dohc if you're gonna go through the trouble and at least get into the 200hp range. the auto to manual conversion really in't that bad. just a couple trips to a u-pull-it junkyard and a few holes drilled in firewall that are already marked. for me, instead of running the correct steel line and hose for the clutch, I just got a custom 1 piece Teflon coated, steel braid clutch hose. and only the drivers side axle needs to be changed beause of support on engine block for manual shift. why don't you look at my build thread, there are pictures of what is involved, and may give you some ideas. my 1997 accord lx a.k.a. AEM Accord - My Accord build carputer communicating with ecu REAL TIME TUNING

 

Thanks so much for the info and feed back. Right now I'm looking at a few JDM sites to find the engine and matching tranny. www[DOT]jdmenginedepot[DOT]com/index.html is one I'm looking at right now. Are there alot of sites out there to find a F20B ? Again thanks for the info and yeah i would really prefer to break 200 hp with the switch