nolasaint

Hello all,

Intro/Background: I am new to the forum. I don't have too much Honda/Acura experience since this is my first car Honda. My previous knowledge revolves around Mustang and 350z as those were my last "projects". I am now a dad with a normal, boring Xterra family SUV instead. I do however have a CL to play with. Not expecting anything crazy out of it though.

Project: I have decided to do an engine swap in my 97 CL 2.2. I am planning on dropping in a F20B DOHC VTECH MOTOR. This motor is from an Accord wagon that was apparently only made in Japan from what I understand. Has anyone had any experience doing this? I have seen a lot of Prelude swaps, but this motor seems like a better option than the H22. It sports 200HP and approximately 150TQ, VTECH and DOHC.

Here is the link to the site which sells the motors:
http://www.hmotorsonline.com/shop/sc...age&item=30013

Any information, insight, or opinions are welcome.

Thanks!

97BlackAckCL

iTrader: (6)

It's been done 2 or 3 times on here, search around you should be able to find some info

DaInFaMMuS1

It depends on what your goal is. The only reason an F20b would be better than an H22 swap is because it has iron cylinder walls as compared to the H22/23a's FRM walls, thus more conducive to boost. Other than that, the H22 is better for a daily driver because it has the same HP and more torque (145 vs 153). God knows this heavy car needs as much torque as it can get lol.

brice.hayden

i doubt any of that info helps him since he thinks its vtech...

732xghost

iTrader: (1)

my thoughts exactly.

good luck, hope ya do it blah blah blah (ive probably said this 15 times)

Eric98Cl2.3

Didn't want to start a new thread, but I had some specific questions on this same subject. If I could get em answered it'd be cool. The only thread I could find was Yurhomie's automatic F20B swap. I have a manual trans. Questions: Mounts - Will the F20B mount up on the stock f23a1 mounts, or will they have to be fabricated. Harness - Same question, will the factory f23 harness work without much modification? If there is modification that has to be done, specifics. ECU - I've read P13 or P28, but specifically P13 in Yurhomie's thread, but he had to chip it and get jumper harnesses, ect. Is that because he used the auto trans? Is it less complicated when you're going with the manual f22 trans? That's pretty much it for now, I just want know what I'm getting into here. I've heard the arguments about torque, and I know our cars are heavy. But I want more power, and the engines I've sourced, it's like 1,900 for an H22, and only 900 for the F20B and money is an issue. That's more than twice as much money for the extra 16ft/lb of torque? Yikes. Any help will be appreciated, as I am a long time reader, but first time poster... so try not to crucify me too much!

v-takyo!!

Dude some of those questions were answer in my thread look me up!

ParaSurfer1979

Ha Ha Ha for the LAST time people VTECH makes cheap cordless phones people. If this kid has done a LOT of reading, he'd know by now Honda Motor Company makes VTEC/i-VTEC engines.

Eric98Cl2.3

Which thread yo, drop me a link. I looked up your stats, found the one about the tranny swap....

Hayduck

Give the guy a break. It's a common mistake for non-Honda guys.

At any rate, the F20B is pretty sick. Nothing wrong with some blue top love. If you get the transmission with it you should get the LSD, so thats a plus.

If you plan on boosting your car the F20B wouldn't be bad but you're going to need to resleeve if you're building the H22.

I'm still new to the whole CL swap, searching info on it brought me here, so I'm not much help in that department. I don't think you'll need mounts to do the swap though.

ParaSurfer1979

hes not new to Hondas remember hes done a lot of reading up in Hondas so he said himself.

DaInFaMMuS1

You won't need mounts, but I highly recommend to get some good mounts like innovative or hasport. they transfer vibration into the chassis, but they keep the engine steady in the bay and help transfer power to where it should be.

97BlackAckCL

iTrader: (6)

Get some hasport mounts

Kiwi///girL

Hellou!

I had a f20b on my CL 1 year ago but i changed it for the H23 Vtec JDM .... for a lot of reason...

First, yeah that's really impressive to see your F20b so up to 8500RPM and want to go higher! and the sound! woop!!! Awesome! But thats about it with this engin....

I really didn't liked it...

Well.. at first was nice but after some time neh... just for the revolution and the sound...

You can have 2 type of F20b. Look carefully. The F20b with the manual T2T4 tranny is the better one. Have a nicer trottle (and a bigger one), pistons, and others things. I can't remember everything but anyway... Look carefully when you buy this engine! Because the ''low'' version is not that good...

If you want a ''rare'' swap.. yup, the F20b is a nice engine to go with.. a lot of people will ask question... but to go with the performance, you should go with the H22... One or the other is really simple to swap on a CL... same driveshaft mount, everything! But if you want to ''upgrade'' a little, swap the drive shaft for the Prelude ones... they are bigger so better! But you need to change the middle drive shaft too...

If you want to go with the ''rare'' AND performance, i would say go with the H23 VTEC JDM with the T2T4 tranny, F20b trottle, and you will have a beast! (that's what i have!) No stock H22 (on a accord, CL, prelude or what ever) go in front of me! The H23 have more torque then the H22... its a bigger engine but who cares! ^_^ And if you want more power from the H23, convert it into OBD1, and after that gosh this engine is a freak beast! So easy to upgrade it!

The only thing i do not like from the H23 is, its horible to find pieces... a lot came from the F20, H22, and the USDM no-Vtec H23...

ANYWAY! i am sure a lot of your question ca be answered on this forum!

have fun!

(sorry for the bad english )

Shadoh

iTrader: (1)

Here ya go, a lot of info on the f20b and a lot of peoples opinions on the swap.

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...ight=f20b+swap