trevor27613

Hey guys, I was wondering which bolt-on turbo kits you would recommend. Currently I have a H23 with about 148k on it but I am going to order a JDM H22a (closed deck) with about 30k miles from hmotorsonline.com and I was wondering which turbo kit you would recommend. I would like to keep stock internals and head. I would like to run 6-8 psi. The engine is going to be put into a 4th gen prelude, used as a daily driven with occasional trips to the track. My budget for engine and turbo is about $5500-$6000. Thanks.

HondaPreludeVT

i would choose f-max again if i was doing it. i think they have the best manifold as far as bolt on kits for 4th gens go. they are easy enough to install too, i did mine on a weekend.
you have 2 options with the f-max kit, the ideal thicker head gasket for lower compression and the msd timing retard. i would choose the msd this time becuase of 2 main reasons. first the simplicity of it, you dont have to remove your head to install the new gasket, the second is that when you have the thicker head gasket, the pipe between the waterpump and thermostat housing is only sealed by 2 o rings. and since the head is about 3/16 higher off the block than before, the pipe fits into both places a little crooked and is hard to stop from leaking.
thats what i did the first time and had a very hard time dealing with this. i eventually blew the ringland out on all my pistons and had to rebuild with forged internals, so i guess you have 3 options not 2

trevor27613

thanks for the reply man, sounds like you have done this before too. I found this kit:

http://www.turbo-kits.com/prelude_turbo_kits.html


is this the turbo with the thicker manifold you were speaking of? Is this a reasonable price or do you think i can get it for less somewhere else? Thanks.

ludeboom

if you are ordering a jdm h22, do yourself a favor and build it before you swap it in. trust me, upgrading engine internals is about 100% easier when the engine is on a stand, or even a pallet. if you have that much to spend on the turbo, etc. why dont you just drop the 1000-2000 on the engine internals and make the motor bulletproof.

even if you dont blow anything up on the stock h22a, the rings and FRM cylinder walls will be toast (literally) in about 10k-15k miles.

lowering compression by a thicker head gasket is the wrong way to do it.
lowering compression at all is foolhardy.

why dont you set compression at 10-1 and just use forged internals along with good fuel management (like 550cc injectors)

~boom

HondaPreludeVT

yeah that is the same turbo kit i started with. that is an ok price for a brand new kit, ive seen cheaper i think, closer to just 3, 000. but hey i payed 3700 for mine 2 years ago.
ludeboom is right though, building before you swap is totally the right way to do. it would have saved me lots if i had just done it in the first place, but you live and learn i guess. do what you can afford but by any means, dont go cheap. as the saying goes; "speed costs, how fast you wanna go?"