first how hard is it to remove the head off a 98 lx 2.3L. i have never worked with OHC cars before. also will having it ported, cleaned, new valves and springs, and a new timing belt give me any hp increase?

 

The porting might get you something, but by itself it wont do much.

 

well, i'm not looking for magic hp and torque, but i want better response. do yo know about how much this would cost?

 

you dont need to have it ported unless you have intentions of building a na monster or boost it. a good valve job can go a long way.

 

so, just clean the head and have new valves and springs put on and that would be enough? I don't plan on making this car a beast, later on i want to rebuild my 02 V6 and turbo it

 

send it to a reputable head porter for a cleaning, new valve guides if needed, 3 angle vavle job, and new seals if needed. you dont need new valves or springs unless you want a bigger cam.

 

upgrade the whole valvetrain.... pnp, slight mill to up CR, 3 angle job, new valves and springs, etc... get camshafts while u're at it too... those really make a difference

 

how much would a cam run me?

 

Porting out the head will give you some hp. Im not sure about the valve/spring/retainer combo will give you hp without a built bottom. A head job like that is for raising up your rpms, but you have to have all the supporting mods to do it safely, or you risk catistrophic failer if you over rev your engine without the mods. If i wanted more hp from an na car, i would get it machined and get pistons. You can safely bore out an na f23 to 89 and have a lot more displacement (which will give you more hp/tq). If you have a stock crank/89 bored cyclinder, you would displace 2.4l plus the head job would let you rev to probably 7k rpms safely. Oh, and not to mention a high compression ratio. You would be faster then an h22 from the start all the way to the finish.

And dont get new cams, your car will run like shit. Their are certain parts of an engine that you just cant engineer better then a manufactor that spent 1000's of hours tuning, and a cam is one of them. If there was a sohc type-r accord, i would consider getting a cam from one, but would never drive a aftermarket cam on the streets.

 

the cams tht make ur car sounds like $hit are the stage 2 and beyond ones.... get a stage 1 crower cams... it's only $400, and it'll help with a longer duration and higher lift, which is good for NA power...

pistons r good to bump up CR a lot, but too much money to put them in at a shop... but if u know how to do it, go for it