What swap/mods for a daily driver? H23a VTEC Bluetop?

Hello everyone,
I will be getting a 1999 Coupe 4cyl EX within the month, and although the vehicle will be my daily driver, I would like it to be more fun. At this point, I want to do a H23a DOHC VTEC Bluetop swap from a SiR Wagon, but I am not sure what is needed for the swap. Can I use my transmission I already have? What parts can I use from the original vehicle? Is it worth it? I will be doing the work myself, so it is all parts cost for me. Thank you!

Silver99 said:

Hello everyone,
I will be getting a 1999 Coupe 4cyl EX within the month, and although the vehicle will be my daily driver, I would like it to be more fun. At this point, I want to do a H23a DOHC VTEC Bluetop swap from a SiR Wagon, but I am not sure what is needed for the swap. Can I use my transmission I already have? What parts can I use from the original vehicle? Is it worth it? I will be doing the work myself, so it is all parts cost for me. Thank you!

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All F series and H series trannies wi all bolt up to one another without failure. The gear ratios are still different so be sure you have the right setup for what you are looking for. I believe a lot of the harness is the same but you will have to check with other threads here to verify that is indeed the case. Is your transmission auto of manual? If it is auto, just keep it the way it is unless you plan on swapping that over.

H23a has electric power steering so you'll need to figure that out if you want power steering. Probably isn't that hard of a problem to fix. I'm pretty sure your stock harness is fine but you'll need a new ecu. Just figure out if you want to be obd2 or make it obd1.

Thank you all for the replies! If possible, could I keep my stock transmission? Would it be more beneficial/cost effective to do a K20a3? And how is the aftermarket support for these engines? Thanks!

james'99 said:

Is your transmission auto of manual? If it is auto, just keep it the way it is unless you plan on swapping that over.

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It is an auto, why does that make it not worth swapping?

Silver99 said:

It is an auto, why does that make it not worth swapping?

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Overall, I don't think the swap would give you any beneficial gains worth speaking of on an automatic transmission.

james'99 said:

Overall, I don't think the swap would give you any beneficial gains worth speaking of on an automatic transmission.

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I see. I just wanted a bit more power, but it still be daily driven, plus have aftermarket support. I would still like to go through with it, but what would I need?

The H23A only came in automatic cars so you would be able to keep your auto transmission. However, I feel like it is going to be more work than it's worth making it function properly in your car with the JDM H23A ecu. Plus you have the stock slushbox trans in your Accord with the gearing set up only for fuel economy and no performance.

What about a k20 instead?

That's going to be an unbelievable amount of extra work. Only one k swapped (k24) 6th gen accord build was ever done, and even that was parted out before being finished. Plus the k20 has less torque than any h series, something that is really needed for these big heavy cars.

If you really want to swap it and keep it auto, maybe try finding an automatic prelude you can use as a parts car and swap everything over. Or with the h23a, try getting the right transmission and ecu with it. I'm still not sure how messy the wiring will be though, never had to deal with modifying an automatic honda.

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