Cheapest h22a4 rebuild kit to buy online?

[Zane]

As the title says guys, I am not sure if I should buy a ebay kit. I'm really just looking to change the gasket, belts, any other seals before I drop my new donor engine into my lude - the engine is out so I figured, why not??
I'm currently undergoing a swap after my h22 died on me during a good straight-line thrashing. I would go OEM to my Honda dealership but I'd rather see what other cheaper options are out there first.

Thanks in advance!

[Sean628]

get oem headgasket and valve stem seals, rest can get a cheap kit on ebay, sth like evegreen

[mokhkw]

get oem headgasket and valve stem seals, rest can get a cheap kit on ebay, sth like evegreen

Also replace the water pump & change the auto tensioner to a manual one while you're at it.

The US eBay stores have the cheapest sets available BUT they always try & stiff you on the postage.

I'd suggest you sign-up to Honda Tech and go to the sellers in the Sponsor Marketplace & PM the guy who makes the thread once you have found what you want. They'll generally try & look after you with the postage (even if the rates they show on their website checkouts are 2 stupid for words).

[Zane]

get oem headgasket and valve stem seals, rest can get a cheap kit on ebay, sth like evegreen

I might just do the head gasket and seals, so I'll hit Honda up and see how much they charge for that. My mates were saying to double up on the gasket since I thrash like no tomorrow, but I'm assuming a nice steel headgasket should do the trick?

Also replace the water pump & change the auto tensioner to a manual one while you're at it.

The US eBay stores have the cheapest sets available BUT they always try & stiff you on the postage.

I'd suggest you sign-up to Honda Tech and go to the sellers in the Sponsor Marketplace & PM the guy who makes the thread once you have found what you want. They'll generally try & look after you with the postage (even if the rates they show on their website checkouts are 2 stupid for words).

Water pump on the original h22z1 engine I have is sweet so I'm going to just swap it over to the donor engine, as for the belt (heard it is a pain in the ass doing and the belt I currently have on was changed at 155,000kms (cars currently at 198,000kms) - it looks sweet to me. But is the conversion worth it if I'm having no issues at the moment? I do plan on doing everything else once I forge my current block that has a bent rod in future.

[Zane]

Should I purchase THIS gasket from ebay - it has better specs compared to the OEM ones from Honda apparently?

[tassie_bb1]

How does that gasket have "better specs than OEM"? Don't fall for advertising guff, OEM is best on a stockish motor. The stock head gasket IS multi-layered steel (MLS) too. Doubling up on the gasket will drop your compression too (and thus HP) by a noticeable amount, not worth it.

I get all my gaskets and the like from Honda in Japan via JP-Carparts.com. Huge savings over buying from the local Honda ripoff merchants and you're still buying OEM quality. Anything not critical to the motor not exploding I get through Rockauto.com. I've just put a new valve cover gasket kit, cam plug, dizzy o-ring, sump gasket and oil cooler o-ring in mine to try and stop the rampant leaks that have developed. My valve stem seals aren't that old but they harden over time causing smoking, worth looking at if you don't know their condition. If I had to change my belt I'd be looking at doing the cam seals as well as the other stuff mentioned too. Are you planning on opening the motor (dropping the crank etc)? It's worth deciding where you are going to stop because a full rebuild might be unnecessary and extremely costly, but the bits I mentioned will all start to leak sooner rather than later on a 15+ year old motor.

Don't cheap out on the timing belt, if it goes then the engine is toast. 43,000km is close to half of the life of a belt, sooner if you trash it. Do you want to take the risk over a $100 belt? You can pick up a gates racing one for under $200 and be all racecar and shit. The auto-tensioner on these things is renowned for failure too. For the extra little bit of expense and trouble if changing the belt it's worth looking at a manual one. There is either the Kaizenspeed one which is kind of pricey but is a direct swap over for the auto one, or this kit which is cheaper and replaces the pulley and whatnot too but is a little bit more work.

[Zane]

How does that gasket have "better specs than OEM"? Don't fall for advertising guff, OEM is best on a stockish motor. The stock head gasket IS multi-layered steel (MLS) too. Doubling up on the gasket will drop your compression too (and thus HP) by a noticeable amount, not worth it.

I get all my gaskets and the like from Honda in Japan via JP-Carparts.com. Huge savings over buying from the local Honda ripoff merchants and you're still buying OEM quality. Anything not critical to the motor not exploding I get through Rockauto.com. I've just put a new valve cover gasket kit, cam plug, dizzy o-ring, sump gasket and oil cooler o-ring in mine to try and stop the rampant leaks that have developed. My valve stem seals aren't that old but they harden over time causing smoking, worth looking at if you don't know their condition. If I had to change my belt I'd be looking at doing the cam seals as well as the other stuff mentioned too. Are you planning on opening the motor (dropping the crank etc)? It's worth deciding where you are going to stop because a full rebuild might be unnecessary and extremely costly, but the bits I mentioned will all start to leak sooner rather than later on a 15+ year old motor.

Don't cheap out on the timing belt, if it goes then the engine is toast. 43,000km is close to half of the life of a belt, sooner if you trash it. Do you want to take the risk over a $100 belt? You can pick up a gates racing one for under $200 and be all racecar and shit. The auto-tensioner on these things is renowned for failure too. For the extra little bit of expense and trouble if changing the belt it's worth looking at a manual one. There is either the Kaizenspeed one which is kind of pricey but is a direct swap over for the auto one, or this kit which is cheaper and replaces the pulley and whatnot too but is a little bit more work.

Thanks for the advice! I don't know any good sites nor do I know anyone in the Honda scene for tips since I'm learning everything myself. I'm always changing my mind, trying to work around a budget as well, after I pick the engine up this week, I will have $450 to spare. My current motor that has a bent rod has a leak coming from the sump I believe. I haven't teared the current "fubar" motor apart "yet" since I've been considering my options first - I know if I rip it apart (the new engine I am picking up) completely I will want to do everything to it, leaving the motor out of the car even longer and I need a reliable daily I can hit the throttle with instead of driving my current car (Nissan S13) which is a drift hack, so it isn't "comfortable".

I will request a refund then since i only bought that gasket today, and instead i will invest in a Kaizenspeed tensioner, a belt and any main seals after I inspect the new motor if I decide to open it.

The gasket should be mint but I really only wanted to change it for "peace of mind". If my H series block can't handle the way I drive it after I replace everything I will go with plan B of stripping the car and selling it completely or invest in a K swap if it's legal for p-platers. (I lived overseas in N.Z during my teenage years, so moving here from a country where restricted drivers and even learners can drive turbos and anything qualified by an engineer is a huge shock coming back here).

Basically with my budget, if i just do the belts and drop it back in I will have my engine running. If I decide to do everything else It'll be out longer since I've never done this before - I'm about to rip the engine apart and I didn't bother watching videos or reading tutorials on how to do so and so far everything's working with photos i've taken as well to help e re-wire and plug everything back in haha. I'm on a budget and I need it on the road asap, just don't know what I should invest in. Taking the motor out in future though isn't an issue! I've bought a crane and stand, as well as the fact that I have the garage space to keep it sitting inside dry. It's just an issue at the moment since I am not working atm, I'm in full time study and my drifthack is horrible to drive as a daily (water pump is also gone on that so theoretically this H22 is a more reliable solution to get up asap atm).

[mokhkw]

While this doesn't cover everything about modding a H22 its a good place to start learning.

http://www.attackforums.com/forum/at...listing?t=1197

The "fubar" motor you currently have will likely last you until you do rebuild the new engine IF you treat it like a a broken motor & don't rev the shit out of it. If its for a daily driver then just cruise in it, if you want to thrash then use your Nissan.

H, B or K Honda engines can take some high revs with no issues but like with any motor the more RPMs you use the more maintenance is needed. Ask any Mazda rotary owner if you get a chance, they operate at high RPMs a lot of the time.

If you do like to use high RPMs then it makes fitting a new water pump even more essential imo.

I'd also suggest that you check out some Dyno charts for any engine you use or modify, in 95% of cases max power and torque are reached before redline so thrashing it is actually making less power, not more.

[Zane]

While this doesn't cover everything about modding a H22 its a good place to start learning.

http://www.attackforums.com/forum/at...listing?t=1197

The "fubar" motor you currently have will likely last you until you do rebuild the new engine IF you treat it like a a broken motor & don't rev the shit out of it. If its for a daily driver then just cruise in it, if you want to thrash then use your Nissan.

H, B or K Honda engines can take some high revs with no issues but like with any motor the more RPMs you use the more maintenance is needed. Ask any Mazda rotary owner if you get a chance, they operate at high RPMs a lot of the time.

If you do like to use high RPMs then it makes fitting a new water pump even more essential imo.

I'd also suggest that you check out some Dyno charts for any engine you use or modify, in 95% of cases max power and torque are reached before redline so thrashing it is actually making less power, not more.

Thanks for the links bud, will keep this bookmarked! The "fubar" engine I have has an issue, the car continuously stalls every few seconds as well as having the engine oil light flashing randomly so I don't think I'd be able to drive it - none the less I pulled the engine out last night since I'm picking the replacement one tomorrow! I might keep the new one out of my car till next payday so I can afford to buy the seals I require, and buy this manual tensioner since after some research it is a good investment to have

Video of the current engine when it was running with my issue(s) here:

[mokhkw]

Start with a Valve Adjustment. Do a search for h22 Valve adjustment, there are a few videos online. If you like to operate at high RPMs then it will be a good thing for you to learn anyway.

http://honda-tech.com/honda-prelude-...stment-618786/ <<<just remember its from a US site so when they say Drivers side its passenger here in Oz

I have heard of h22s with valves so out of adjustment that they stall.

While you have access, check the camshaft bolts which hold down the covers for the cams. You will need a torque wrench, its very important that you don't overtighten as you will strip the threads & then you will be in for some fun. Check the cam lobes for wear it may clue you in to which pot will have the bent rod as well

A bent rod could make some of the valve adjustments difficult to get correct. Even with a bent rod, if you can get the valve adjustment close to specs and the camshaft bolts tightened correctly then you will likely have a motor that will run ok (except for the ticking) if you keep it below 3000rpm & that will give you more time to do what you want with the new motor.

Valves not adjusted and/or camshaft cover bolts not tightened to specs generally equal bent push rods in a H22.

[Zane]

Start with a Valve Adjustment. Do a search for h22 Valve adjustment, there are a few videos online. If you like to operate at high RPMs then it will be a good thing for you to learn anyway.

http://honda-tech.com/honda-prelude-...stment-618786/ <<<just remember its from a US site so when they say Drivers side its passenger here in Oz

I have heard of h22s with valves so out of adjustment that they stall.

While you have access, check the camshaft bolts which hold down the covers for the cams. You will need a torque wrench, its very important that you don't overtighten as you will strip the threads & then you will be in for some fun. Check the cam lobes for wear it may clue you in to which pot will have the bent rod as well

A bent rod could make some of the valve adjustments difficult to get correct. Even with a bent rod, if you can get the valve adjustment close to specs and the camshaft bolts tightened correctly then you will likely have a motor that will run ok (except for the ticking) if you keep it below 3000rpm & that will give you more time to do what you want with the new motor.

Valves not adjusted and/or camshaft cover bolts not tightened to specs generally equal bent push rods in a H22.

Thanks for the info! Engine is just about out now so I'll be adjusting the valves when it's all back in the motor. Also found a cheaper manual tensioner than the Kaizenspeed ones (150AUD inc express shipping) which is on the way too - might be good for other members who would rather have the one piece set that's plug n play I may be able to help fund for my rebuild by selling my old block and other various things attached such as the spare vtec solenoid since I've replaced the seals on my current one.