I have a 5 speed 94 accord LX and I am building it into a new car basically. I am doing engine swap, new wheels/rims, new paint job, new suspension, custom interior, and possibly a body kit (if I can find one that isn't super flashy that I like). But I am starting with the engine swap. I will go ahead and say that I am new to the this. It's my first Honda and my first swap. So any information will be helpful. I already bought the F20b, T2T4 LSD transmission, down pipe, and required mounting brackets. I have a PCB ECU that they threw in for no extra charge. Right now my goal is just to get the Honda drivable.

So lets start with the ECU. I have the PCB ECU but from what I have read/been told that will not work. So I have been looking to get a chipped ECU. I have someone to chip and tune it. I am looking at the P28 and the P72. I have read that I need the P72 for IAB. Does anyone have any suggestions?

What about headers? I have seen that I can get some made that will fit it but it would cost $1499. That is more than I paid for the engine. So does anyone know of some good headers for a more reasonable price?

Does anyone know of anything else (that isn't obvious) that I may need for this swap? I am trying to make a complete parts list and the prioritize it.

We are going to start pulling the old motor tomorrow.

Thanks for any information/help with this!

 

You are right you will need a chipped ECU

H22 headers fit the F20b. For $1,500 they better be real hytech header or Bisimoto.

The wiring for the distributor is always the hardest.

 

It is looking like I will be getting a P28 ECU and getting my friend to tune it and all that good stuff.

The headers that I looked at that cost $1500 were Bisimoto. Right now I just want headers that will give me good air flow and bolt on without a lot of modifications. I will be upgrading later on if I don't get the performance now.

Luckily, I have a guy that is going to help me with that stuff. He has done a few swaps before so hopefully it will go smoothly.

 

If you're going to get a chipped ecu it would be best to get the p72 ecu because it still has iab which your engine has which you will be better off using and not deleting.

You can use an p13 ecu. For the first few days it will not run completely perfectly but it will alter the short and long term fuel curves and will basically figure out how to run properly after a few days. Just don't run it hard.

I'm not sure what kind of injectors the f20b uses but if you measure the ohms across the pins and they are 10-13 then you will need to either do a "resistor box" delete or get p13 obd1 injectors that have 5 ohms or so. These are called peak and hold injectors.

Also, keep in mind for some reason the 4th gen accords from 94-95 have pins A6 and A11 swapped. You will need to swap them when you swap ecus.

 

I think it is weird that we take an engine made from 98-01 and drive it with a controller from 92-95. i went with a wideband driven aem ems-4 with optical cam&crank sensor(epm) and 4 k20/k24 ignition coils. this setup even let me keep my variable length intake runners. there is something to be said for real time tuning and o2 feedback at wide open throttle. i also installed a carputer so access to real time tuning can be a constant whenever the car is running. then i got a remote desktop app so i can wirelessly tune my car from an android tablet.

 

Well I am putting a Skunk2 intake manifold on it which will delete the secondary IAB. I have talked to a lot of people and read a lot about it. And from what I have gathered the IAB is more of an economy thing and they can actually hurt more than help a performance engine.

Thanks for all the information. I am going to be working on putting the intake manifold on today and then dropping the engine in.

 

Nimrod91, sir, you have been lied to in a big way. variable length intake runners are about low end and midrange torque. realizing that Honda motors are known the world over as the "torqueless wounder" I think deleting this feature is a big mistake. allow me to explain:

the air rushing past the throttle body is a constant, or steady volume of air that is being drawn into the plenum. but the air traveling down each intake runner pulses to the beat of the intake valve. when the intake valve closes, the air traveling down that intake runner backs up and creates a high pressure zone starting at the head of the valve and working its way back up to the plenum. this whole purpose of a tuned intake is to take advantage of this by making the intake runner long nough and wde enough so that the runner holds enough high pressure air to fill the cylinder when the valve opens again, effectively giving the motor a small amount of boost without the benefit of any boosting device. unfortunately, as the rpm increases and the motor wants more air, the runners need to grow to maintain this boost effect. so a variable length intake runner will take advantage of this at 2 points instead of 1, effectively growing your powerband. one last time, variable length intake runners build power down low and in the midrange. any levels of efficiency are a byproduct of this effect. for the sweet love of jesus, man, the f20b was made for a road course. Honda designed this engine to race. think about your claim for a second there, man. a 2.0L with 310cc fuel injectors has nothing to do with economy and you don't get over 100hp/L by being concerned with economy, bud. seriously.

another common mistake is deletion of the egr valve. egr does not affect engine performance at all. egr is used at steady engine speed, or on deceleration. or only under conditions where it is helpful to rob oxygen out of the cylinder. testament to this is vacuum operated egr valves. it is common sense that a vacuum operated egr valve needs engine vacuum to operate, right? and at wide open throttle there is no vacuum present in the intake manifold. egr deletion is an idea of people who are ill experienced or ill trained at engine performance. egr is made to reduce nox emissions by bringing DOWN cylinder head temps at low load conditions. to delete the egr valve is to shorten the lifespan of an engine for the sake of absolutely nothing.

and the same holds true for disconnecting t.b. and/or iacv coolant hoses. these heaters are to keep idle components from freezing open at colder temps and making the engine and possibly car scream out of control. these small heating elements have no noticeable impact on intake air temps, especially not when the throttle blade is open. these are all unjustified thoughts that make sense in the uninformed mind. I think before we are so quick to listen to other peoples ideas about how to screw up our builds, perhaps we should research what the device or system we wish to disable is and really does. from an auto manufacturer, not somebody who lost their job at mcdonald's last week.

so you know I am speaking truth, here are my crediantials...