well im either gonna go with the original motor or the f22b1. The h22 swap is too much money for me. i dont wanna poor that much money into an older car. So please dont try to talk me into doing the h22 swap anymore. Ive read alot about doing this particular swap but im just not sure if i can use my stock ecu or not. one guy said he had to wire his ecu for vtech. (not sure what that means.) did he use his stock ecu and have to wire it for vtech?? And if all i have to do is wire it for vtech, will it run if its not wired for vtech??? im buying one of the two engines tomorrow and will be doing the swap myself. any suggestions for doing the swap would help too. thanks

 

if your planning on selling it, then dont put a new motor in it cause its going to be expensive. if you have the knowhow to put a new engine in your car, then you can easily put any motor in there that you want. if you put a vtech f22 in your car its gonna run like crap if you dont wire your stock ecu for vtech or change out the computer and wiring harness (which is exactly what would need to be done on the h22). so if you going to keep the car put the same engine that you have in it right now.

 

ok. i just bought the original motor for the car. although i will be having someone experienced doing this, i wanna go ahead and get starting on pulling this motor. i do have a little experience doing this. first of all, the engine come off of an automatic. what do i have to do about that?? what should i start doing first?? could someone give me a list of everything that im gonna have to unbolt??? i just wanna get a good idea before i start doing anything. thanks

 

As far as unbolting things goes:

You're going to have to remove your transmission first before you can pull the motor out. You'll need to take off the intake piping and battery, undo the shift cables and reverse light switch (you have stick, right?), and the clutch piping and master cylinder (don't remove from car, use string to keep it out of the way). Also remove the starter assembly.

Now you have to get the car up on jacks if it already wasn't. Next, unbolt the front wheels, and roll them someplace safe. Undo the sway bar and remember how all those busings, spacers, and washers go together (important). Remember to support the lower conrol arm with a jack while you unbolt the sway bar, since it's under tension. You'll need to remove the shock from the rest of the suspension assembly, so take off the one bolt that holds it on. Take off that bar that holds the shock to the rest of the suspension, it looks like an upside down wishbone. You'll also need to take the front hubs off (easiest way to do it is with a pnumatic impact wrench), so you'll need to takes off the tie rods and the control arm that attaches to the upper "A" arm. Get the hubs out of the way (I kept them bolted on, just removed the tie rod and upper control arm bolts so I could take it off the drive axle) and you'll want to take the drive axles out next. <-- Remember to do all these things to both the left and right sides! You'll need to take off the radius rod on the driver's side to take out the tranny. It just bolts to the front, and unbolting it there is fine.

For the driver's side axel, there will be some more bolts holding it to the engine. Take those off. You'll also need to remove the exhaust components and the front support bar from under there. It's also a good idea to take off that bar that supports the intake manifold. After all that is done, you'll want to get a decent size flat head screw driver and pry the driveshafts out. Be careful not to damage the seals on the tranny. And remember to drain the fluid before removing the axles. You'll want an engine jack from here. If you're going to use a floor jack to drop the tranny, just be very careful. You're going to want to put a jack under the engine oil pan and support it with a piece of wood. Careful though, since there isn't much clearence between the pan and the oil pickup. Remember, use a block of wood to distribute the weight. Start unbolting the engine to tranny bolts (I think there are between 5 and 8). A breaker bar will help out a lot. Before undoing the bolts, make sure the transmission is supported by your engine jack. You'll also need to take off the motor mount on the transmission side. After the transmission is free, slide it off (you may need to tap it off since it's probably frozen on). Just be patient and it will come free. If it still doesn't want to move, I know I've taken the front motor mount off and lowered the engine a bit to get it off. If you think it's stuck, make sure you got all of the bolts. Drop out the tranny and move it aside. Make it nice and shiny and you're done with that!

You'll need to remove the intake and exhaust manifolds for the engine. You'll also have to remove every single wire connection going from harness to engine and all kinds of vacuum lines. There are lots of things to take off, so take your time. Rember to drain the cooling system and undo the lins to the radiator and the heater core. You'll need to take off the fuel lines, so relieve the system of pressure. It's also a good idea to take off a/c compressor, alternator, and powersteering. Support the compressor by some string so you don't have to remove it and lose all your pressure. After everything is off, you can get the engine hoist secured on the motor and unbolt the motor mounts. Slowly lift it out and make sure nothing is catching on it.

This is all off the top of my head, so I hope I didn't leave anything out. Get a manual for your car (haynes or something...) and it will give you a step by step list of what to do. It may sound like a lot, but once you get going it's kinda fun... Oh, and now is a GREAT time to the main seal, clutch and CV joints!!

 

thanks alot man!!! that was really helpfull. about how long do you think this would take with 2 people?

 

hmm with 2 people. That will make things easier as long as you don't get in eachother's way... lol. Each of you get on your own little "project" and it will be fine. When it comes time to take out the motor and tranny, 2 people will be AWESOME. Also, when putting the motor back in and trying to line the tranny back up, 2 people will freakin' rock. I would set aside at least 2 days to do this (if you have more, then awesome). Don't be afraid to take your time and make sure everything is done safe. You'll probably be able to take the motor + trans out in one day and then put it back together the next. Don't overwork yourself or rush though, and if you get hung up, just find some help here, and we'll all be happy to help out.

Once you do this, doing anything to your car or taking anything out will be a breeze. Get ready to learn a lot and get lots of dirt under your nails. Are you keeping your old motor, because I'm looking to buy an old f22 to fix up...
Glad I could help!

 

yea i have my old motor but it needs to be rebuilt. its has a rod knocking in it and it has 200,000 miles on it. ill get rid of it for $100 bucks. any specific tools that i should use on this. i have spring break next week and im on vacation from work so i have all week to do this. i will be starting monday. i appreciate all the help.

 

You'll need like a 25mm (i think) impact socket for the hub nuts and a nice breaker bar for the trans. I really recommend an engine jack too! Other than that, lots of metric sockets. That's about it.

 

well, i got the motor taken out today!!!! we left the transmission bolted up to the engine when we took it out. it makes putting the new clutch in alot easier. we also were able to leave the alternator attached to the engine and leave the power steering in the engine bay. the intake manifold also stayed in there. we just had to maneuver the engine around the get it out. and the best thing is that we didnt destroy anthing in the process. now my car is a manual and the engine come off of an auto. do we just have to take the flywheel off of my old motor and put on my new one. nothing else??? are there any suggestions for hooking up certain things to the motor before we mount it??

 

when you have the flywheel off, make sure that you have it resurfaced, or the new clutch will chatter ie. feel warped when you drive. you need to take the "flexplate" off your new motor and put the flywheel on. you may need the special honda tool to take the bolts off the flywheel because they are held on with loctite. when you install the flywheel you need to put a dab of loctite on the bolts again