i have a line on a 87 prelude 5spd 1.8l in need of a trannsmission. they have it listed at 250, the body looks like its in good condition. i have experience with transmission removal and instalation, so thats not a big deal. worth $150?? any quick and easy swaps?? im not a honda guy so i need input on engine swaps and the like.
any comments greatly appreciated. thx.
Buy it. Fix it. Sale it. And then.............buy some thing you like.
Check out PreludePower.com and visit the 2ndGen forum; you may find some help there.
Also, 3Geez.com (an Accord site) may be of help.
Not knowing for certain, I suspect the 2nd Gen Prelude share much with 3rd Gen Accords on the engine/transaxle side.
Engine swaps in a 2nd Gen Prelude are not common, but there is a "sticky" on the subject at PreludePower.com. The most intriguing subject is one on installing a B16, IIRC.
It's not one for the faint-hearted.
Wow, a mention of 3geez here.
Another engine swap is the JDM b20 from a third gen Accord.
Anyway, the trans swap isn't too bad. I've done it with my Accord once, and it wasn't too painful. The biggest thing is that you put the bolts back in the holes where they came from.
The a series engine is pretty solid. It's a cast iron block with an aluminum head, so it can get a little iffy with headgaskets, especially when overheated.
I believe that car will be EFI. EFI is the way to go with those cars. Stay clear of the dual carb models.
i went to the local pick and pull today and found about a billion transmissions for civic accords and the like, i just need to know which ones will swap right in.
it is a dual carb with 256k kilometers. whats the problem with the dual carbs?
^ They're 21 years old and there's about 56.8 miles of vacuum lines on it, I'm guessing.
Accord trans should work, but check prelude power first to make sure. Might have numerically lower gearing.
ohh god, the vacume lines... I hated those on my carb'ed 88' accord. And when the vacume system needed a tune up, only 1 shope in 50 miles or so could do it and it cost about $200.
It was under powered, but i still miss my old honda
VanillaSky wrote:3geez is a fun, but serious site.Wow, a mention of 3geez here.
Another engine swap is the JDM b20 from a third gen Accord.
Anyway, the trans swap isn't too bad. I've done it with my Accord once, and it wasn't too painful. The biggest thing is that you put the bolts back in the holes where they came from.
The a series engine is pretty solid. It's a cast iron block with an aluminum head, so it can get a little iffy with headgaskets, especially when overheated.
I believe that car will be EFI. EFI is the way to go with those cars. Stay clear of the dual carb models.
I have a 2nd gen prelude (86 si) and 3geez has more informed members who gladly share their knowledge. It's a good resource engine/transaxle-related info, since the 84-87 Preludes share components with the 86-89 Accords.
And yeah, the vacuum lines are a nightmare. The Si version is slightly better than the Dx; it only has 55.8 miles of tubing.
Yeah, I go by the same name on 3geez as well. Not a member of Prelude Power, though.
The Accord has steeper gears. There have been a lot of people that swap form the Accord gears to Prelude gears to get better acceleration. I've also heard of a couple turbo Prelude guys swapping the other way.
The first gen Acura Integra gear housing fits the Prelude/Accord bellhousing. The gears all interchange between the transmissions. The Integra also has better oiling for 5th gear.
If you're buying a junkyard trans, pull the 5th gear cover off and make sure it's in good shape.
The dual carbed Preludes are a nightmare to work on. They run 2 Keihin carbs, not SUs. They're a pain to work on, and are supposed to be replaced in pairs. If you don't mind ripping the carbs off and swapping to fuel injection, then no big deal, otherwise, learn how to deal with the rats nest pretty quickly.
One warning I do have if you're going to post over at 3geez, and that's to at least check the FAQ before asking a question. There are a few "shiny happy people" that always post the search link to newbies. The question usually gets answered by myself or one of the other more level-headed members, but there are a couple guys over there that assume newbie = stupid.
stay as far away from the dual carb prelude rats nest as you can. you think the A20 with the single keihin is bad? you have about twice the mess. also if one carb goes bad you can replace it,if the other carb goes bad, you have to replace both. they also have a nightmare of a control system and computer. they really aren't dual carbs,one acts as the primary and one acts as the secondary. I'm building a dual Hitachi SU setup for the a20 now,it's just on hold because of the state of the economy.I cut an a20 manifold in half then made an adaptor plate and the datsun maifold bolts to it. you have to cut it at the right angle so the carbs don't stick up at an angle. It's not that simple,but you get the idea. the ones i'm using are the jdm only ones from a 510 sss I'll scrounge up a picture in a few.
here you go 
Carb'd hondas give me a chubby. Nice work.
can you just swap an efi manifold from an SI on there and megasquirt it?
