DaInFaMMuS1

Well since the day of my car’s return is finally here, i thought i’d finally spill the beans on what my sneaky lil self has been hiding from my fellow a-ziner's lol.

Way back in November i decided i was finally gonna go through with some real performance mods after a losing streak in some races to some mediocre cars, and since I’ve wanted to do a swapped motor into my car or turbo since i owned my 1st CL that got totaled.

Now as you all can tell by the styling pattern of my CL, I’m about originality so i wanted to do something out of the ordinary when it came to the swap. Before i even considered a swap, i looked into turboing the F motor i had but seeing that there were people who went all out on the motor and only gained 360-400 HP, i decided against it. I then researched the fabled G23 swap, and my mechanic friend said he’d help me put it together and to buy a list of parts he wrote up and he’d take care of the rest. So i hastily bought all the parts and waited for him to help me. And waited, and waited. February rolled around and he was still giving me the run around, so i did some research on my own about doing the swap and really found out how intensive it was and decided against it.

So what the hell could i possibly do? I didn’t want an H22 like everyone else, so i did the next logical thing and one upped it and decided to go H23a VTEC from the JDM Type R Accord Wagon. 220hp, 163 lbs of torque, and LSD didn’t sound too bad. Now the hard part was finding the swap for under 3500. I took a risk with a company called Osaka Motor Imports who had gotten bad reviews before, just cuz their price was a lot lower than others. Actually i bought the motor before i actually read the reviews cuz i was so shocked at the price. The reviews were pretty accurate, I got some really shitty customer service from them, supposedly my motor was stuck at customs at the US/canadian border for a week, took over a week for me to get a tracking number, etc etc. But finally the motor arrived at The Lab in Fort Lee, NJ and it was time to get crackin. 2 weeks after it arrived i was able to drop off my car (damn finals kept me from being able to drive back from PA to NJ).

At first glance, the motor seemed pretty good. Then we noticed the TPS sensor was broken, the ECU that came with it probably wouldnt be able to run the car cuz my car is ofcourse USDM and that was a straight JDM ecu for an automatic all wheel drive accord, and the power steering pump was missing, and the wiring harness had been cut. Greeeaaat, another slap in the face from Osaka. Luckily since i had all the parts for the G23 swap, the P13 i bought from Matt and a couple other things, they sufficed for the mishaps.

Since i had my motor out, i decided to get a little extra and bought an extra performance part or 2 (understatement lol). Gave them to my mechanic, and now proceeded to wait. He kept me updated with calls, PM’s on the carclub site we’re both a part of, and posting pics for me to see on a thread we made for my build. Great mechanic, goes the extra mile for everything.

Cliffnotes:
~Disappointed with cars performance, decided to upgrade
~Didnt like turbo option of f23, decided on G23, it fell through becuz of lazy mechanic friend and my lack of knowledge on how to complete it.
~Purchased H23aVTEC from Osaka motors, took forever, shitty service, missing broken pieces, replaced with pieces bought from G23 swap.
~Bought extra stuff, gave all to mechanic along with the car, waited 5 to 6 weeks.

I have to shout out the shop thats doing the work for me, they are doing/did a stellar job. They take their time, meticulously look over every detail, keep me informed and do pristine work. If anyone in the NY/NJ/Conn/Eastern PA area needs work done to your car, honestly i feel like you’ll be wasting your time and money going anywhere else but The Lab with Jae and Aaron working on your car. Best part about it is the price, ridiculously cheaper than any other spot i priced. If you’re thinking about doing any sort of work, seriously do yourself a favor and call them up, ask for Jae or Aaron, and tell them Chris from Acurazine/ with the H23 sent you. 201-944-4445. They do other cars too, Evos, Supras, Civics, S13/14/15’s, Mustangs, VW’s etc. GREAT shop, i have nothing but praise for them.

DaInFaMMuS1

Picture time! My G/F set them up in powerpoint slides.



parting it out


officially out, shes heartless

DaInFaMMuS1

They then split open my new motor and tranny to check for broken parts, leaks, etc etc, just to make sure everything was clean and fresh before install. Surprisingly the 1 thing Osaka didnt suck at, the motor was pristine, walls and pistons seemed to be coated with some sort of teflon which i’m not sure is stock on the motor or not, but its great to have lol (maybe thats why there was also c16 race gas in the motor). They also power washed everything and relubricated them and put in all new gaskets and whatnot.

(this is actually an h22 tranny lol)





Motor reassembled and ready for insertion


(idk why she put water pump in this pic, girls n their non car knowledge lol)


cam gears peekin’ out (golden eagle)


Carefully placing the motor. The Skunk2 Pro Series IM made it harder to get the motor in cuz its massive, way larger than stock.




We’re in business!


I’ve got more pics that me and my mechanic need to upload, down to the final steps. Thanks to Matt, Allan, Chris and everyone else i contacted for putting up with my questions and helping me along. Also i’ll have a full list of all the mods i purchased to go with the build. Stay tuned.

sayfulhaqq

iTrader: (3)

Wow let me the first to say what an extensive list of mods, damn how much did this cost you? Props for your build, your CL will be a total sleeper. Haha, man I'm just starting to mod my car, and will never get to anywhere on your level. Congrats, fellow nittany lion! I use to go to go PSU, dormed in Pinchot Hall, good times! Well good luck with the project, and I def want to see vids, and a nice photoshoot. Here is my pics, not as crazy as yours , but comments welcome, thanks!

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=195877

97BlackAckCL

iTrader: (6)

Can't see the pics, but glad you got her back finally bro, can't wait to see this bitch in person and have you take me for a ride

asianspec

iTrader: (1)

Nice Chris! I really happy for you man. It seem lately that every time that you started a thread something went bad or so. GL with the swap man. if i go visit my bro in NY then you can come pick me up in it. haha!

spencer_homer

fauckin noice bre

DaInFaMMuS1

lol yeah, with a 10 year old car there were old things that needed being replaced and things that had to be modified to fit and whatnot. Its all good, cuz she's back and this is only the beginning lol

asianspec

iTrader: (1)

hey are you near forest hills? i think thats where my bro lives at for his job.

DFoster0

thats sick goodluck with it man

Dicorp

can't see pics at work but sounds good. However, according to wikipedia the h23vtec makes 197 hp/163 ft.lbs so i hope you didnt over pay thinking you'll get 20 more horsies than an h22a.

732xghost

iTrader: (1)

good shit chris.

DaInFaMMuS1

lol i certainly didn't overpay, i wasnt trying to pay more than i would for an H22. Theres different specs on the motor, some places say 197, some say 210, some say 220. Either way, i got enough mods on it to keep it entertaining lol.

Cocoa

iTrader: (2)

There was a Type S H22 engine that made 220hp. As for the H23a, I can't speak for it since I don't know.

Congrats on the swap! I bet you're loving it right now. How's the powerband feel?

f22vtec

damn nice man

ZeroCL

Nice swap man, good luck with the rest of the project. Way to go outside the box. Another engine possiblity for the cl...

DaInFaMMuS1

I know where that is, my ex used to live over on Union and Queens Boulevard. Great movie theatre over there too lol.

I'm actually the 2nd to do this, SilverCL (Allan) was the first to try it out up in Canada, although i don't know if his is up and running. So i guess i'm the 2nd overall, 1st in america?

Thanks man, cars like yours are inspiration to do things like this, although u went beyond where i'd be willing to go with my CL lol. I'll tell u how the powerband feels in about 2 hours when i go pick it up lol

So whens the H crew photoshoot goin down? Last i spoke to Shaun he was supposed to have started his car on Sunday, and Arber will be up and running soon. we should get a mini meet goin and invite Percy so we can rape him on the freeway LOL

ZeroCL

poor percy. oh and when are you comin out with the cause if you read my "dropped" thread recently, I got some hefty payments and I'm not sure how much thats gonna be to install that stuff let alone how much im gonna get it for...

Yurhomieblaze

good job, looks idedntical to my f20b swap.

just curious on how you guys wired up the distributor, what did you do with the 3 extra wires from it, five of them match up to the f22 distributor and left with a extra three.

DaInFaMMuS1

I have no clue, my mechanic did all the work. His number is up there, call him up or i'll ask em for you and get back to you

AznX TL

that is damn nice......how much did it cost including labor if you don't mind me asking?

DaInFaMMuS1

Yeah i saw that. I'll PM you when they're ready, should be next week sometime for that 1.

DaInFaMMuS1

If i had done basically just the motor swap and installation, it would've only cost me about $3200. But i got carried away with buying extra performance parts and replacing old parts and getting stuff painted, so it cost me alot more lol. I dont mind, its what i wanted.

DaInFaMMuS1

Heres an overview of aftermarket parts off the top of my head

H23 vtec swap w/LSD
Intake w/AEM filter
Headers
Cat Delete
P13 ECU
2.75 in Exhaust w/resonator into an s2000 Muffler (still gotta complete this, on stock exhaust till i do)
Skunk2 70mm Pro Series Throttle Body
Skunk2 70mm Pro Series Intake manifold (port-matched by a company called DSG)
Hondata IM gasket
Golden Eagle Cam Gears
AEM Fuel Rail
AEM Fuel Pressure Regulator
AEM Liquid filled gauge
AEM Wideband/o2 monitor
NGK Iridium Sparkplugs
Stage 2 Competition Clutches clutch
Fidanza 8lb flywheel
Forbidden Motorsports short shifter
Apex-i VAFC 2
Steel Braided Brake lines and clutch line
EBC brake pads
Resurface my slotted rotors
Repaint brake calipers and Valve Cover.
Install Ground Control coilovers w/tokico blues with all new suspension bolts (still have to do this too)
New OEM Radiator
New OEM motor mounts
New subframe brace

I also have 1K worth of parts that i'll install later sitting in my living room (Now i know how you feel Chris with all the stuff in your basement hahaha)

Its gonna stay N/A till i can get a nice daily driver, and can afford to do otherwise. And yea, this shit was expensive but not as bad as it coulda been, got alot of bargains here and there, and my mechanic is a distributor for alot of good companies so i got a hookup there too. Needless to say i'll have alot of stuff for sale too that i need to get rid of so keep ur eyes peeled on the black market lol.

97BlackAckCL

iTrader: (6)

Then you must also know the frustration of not having all that crap installed But yeah that looks like about the list u sent me

SupraManAG

nice Chris. Very nice list you got going there.
more pics n vids mang. glad you did this cause Kumar will always remain but no show. No offense Kumar ur still the man. Percy and his TypeS have something coming his way.

AcAttAcK98

iTrader: (1)

Congrads Man!!!.. You def. pulled it off.. I knew you would.. Can't wait to see what that BEAST can do.. Damn, this is some serious motivation.. Good Luck with everything man.

Osiris94EJ

Updates...Im new to the Forum just picked up a 98 2.3CL lookin towards a H22 and leaving it Auto using a Prelude Trans and JRSC @ 9Psi.

suremang

wow very nice build. i really want an h23a vtec... lol cant wait for the final product.

732xghost

iTrader: (1)

i see too much clutter in that engine bay already. i better see AT LEAST the EVAP and the EGR gone by the time i see your car. lol but none the less awesome swap.

care to reveal to me what clutch/flywheel combo you went with. my clutch is almost fried. im probaly gonna go either Exedy or Competition.

732xghost

iTrader: (1)

shit owned by the 5min edit.

you have competition and fidanza. i might do the same as i said b4.

saiko_cl_duck

Very nice man. Engine looks gooooood.

732xghost

iTrader: (1)

dude did you forget to list your engine mounts in the mod list?

im hoping you went with the Hasport driver side mount or all 3 Innovative mounts.

DaInFaMMuS1

lol I knew you were gonna get at me for the whole wiring in the engine bay thing. I actually left my car there for an extra couple of days for them to clean up some of the wiring lol. As for the engine mounts, I believe they used OEM front and rear ones, and the hasport drivers side mount. I'll ask em when i go back to get her. I haven't even driven it yet lol.

DaInFaMMuS1

couple of pointers...cant use the tiptronic prelude tranny, get the regular auto. 2nd, if ur trying to put on a supercharger, you're most likely gonna have to modify your firewall which will be a pain in the ass. I have an aftermarket IM and it was a bitch to fit in there cuz of its size, supercharger would be even worse.

SupraManAG

chris. you should swing by and check out how i managed to hide a lot of stuff.
my shock towers are clean of wires

DaInFaMMuS1

yeah i'll have to do that definitely. Did you put the motor back in the car yet? I wanna get a Cl cruise going!

732xghost

iTrader: (1)

yea but he would have to relocate his fuse box for that. which would be harder now cuz the engine and everything is in the car.

Germ

awwww dude im so jealous that....i wish 3.0s could do swaps like that...

looks sweet bro

SupraManAG

yeah but i have absolutey no abs wires showing. headlight tuck. he could do somethings.
im waiting for the call from the machine shop to get the head back again. i had a little problem. hope he calls back soon. i cant wait to get the biatch running