I figure this needs to be called "project soccer mom" since the transaxle is from a Vanagon and now the engine is from a Honda Odyssey. If it had three rows of seats I'd be a bit concerned. For now it'll be two seats only for this mini van since we don't have any kids.

Almost every part for the turbo 2.3 Ford is now sold and I've been gathering all the swap parts for the Honda. I have been very fortunate with all the parts I have bought so far, they have all been well under typical value. Just picked up the engine this afternoon from a great source. If anyone decides to go this route let me know. I couldn't believe how clean the engine is and it's a 2003 with 95k miles. I missed one a couple weeks ago at the same place with 40k miles, same price too.

I will be doing some mockup tomorrow to see how things will fit. I may need to flip the intake and move the radiator to get it in there. The water manifold will take some work but I'm ready to jump in.

Some teaser pics to get it going.

New wiring harness built for this engine:



Kennedy adapter and flywheel, new:



Headers. 6 into 2 into 1. Cheap stainless but I can make them work for the price:



And the engine. Better pics tomorrow. 2003 3.5 95k miles. Spotless:

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"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal." -Henry Ford

Proud of ya for going wc!You will win the competitions but get ready for uncommanded wheelies from just tickling the throttle and over you go backwards on a steep or gouged out hill.Next start stacking up the side shifts because they are going to crack in front of the lower rt bellhousing gasket to the c/v axle bearing hole and or shucked pinion gears about 1 per year.That's why I did the passat set up and the buick buggy has baby chains. Both set ups move the trailing arms back a foot or so and save the trans life.I put a lot of steel on the front bumper back then , but when the bumper lifts, and it will on bumps and quick bites,the acceleration will "get under" all that weight and the "don't want to go" extra weight will help the front end come up instead.Or just build a chain reg.drive.I just don't want no one to make the mistakes that I did.

Always liked the Honda. I have seen a few on the trails. What is the weight of a Honda engine?
Just curious to see how it weighs up to the engine I'm running.

Thanks, Huey

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Dodge 2.2L Turbo Power Running Megasquirt-n-Spark MPI.
http://www.woodsbuggy.com/forum/water-cooled-engines/3584?p=24592#p24592

MOTOR WEIGHT COMPARISONS

Subaru 2.5L N/A 285lbs. The motor mounts are 4 lbs
Subaru 2.5L intercooled turbo 320lbs. The motor mounts are 4lbs.

Northstar V8 n/a 510lbs. The motor mounts = 12 lbs
Northstar V8 twin turbo 565lbs. The motor mounts = 12 lbs

LS1 V8 n/a 480lbs. The motor mounts = 12 lbs
LS1 V8 twin turbo 520lbs. The motor mounts = 12 lbs

Honda 3.5L intercooled turbo 465lbs.
Honda 3.5L n/a 430lbs.

Mazda rotary 2 rotor, 285lbs
Mazda rotary 3 rotor, 480lbs

VW Stroker 2.3L N/A 260lbs. No radiator
VW Turbo 2.2L 285lbs. No radiator, no intercooler

Forty good to see all the parts pilling up. Let me know if you do rotate the intake. I know a couple of tricks for the fuel rail and how to solve the egr issue.

Get a good set of street tires and you can drift it or drag it when it's not in the woods. Not to mention that it will get your attention when the v-tech comes on.

I did a little drifting in the wagon this afternoon

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Water Cooled Consortium, Chairman of the Build (Former AC purist)

The renesis rotary is a little lighter than that bare, I think ours weighed in at 250lb

I will get the actual weights tomorrow. The guy that does the harnesses has done many swaps. He said that the engines with adapter, flywheel and air cleaner weigh under 370#

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"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal." -Henry Ford

The headers are great for the flanges. My buddies have had issues with stress fractures where the tubes were welded to the flange. Look at the stock manifold the ports are massive. I was going to build a custom set but the factory manifolds were designed well. The 3.5 is like 275 horse I belive

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Water Cooled Consortium, Chairman of the Build (Former AC purist)

The headers likely aren't the best header out there but for $100 I can make a pretty decent exhaust out of it. Came with the y pipe and flanges so all I have to do is adapt it to the Camco muffler I already have. Cheap and easy. If it breaks I'll just tig it back and add supports or replace it later with a custom header and reuse the flanges. The stock cast manifolds are really nice and big but they don't have much for looks. I'll save them just in case.



I have never had an engine come apart so easily. I know it's only 10 years old, but the exhaust manifold bolts spun right off with a little pneumatic butterfly. They weren't even rusty.

Pulled the upper intake off and started the flip to see which way it'll fit best. I haven't flipped the lower yet. I plan to get it into the chassis to see how it fits both ways first.



The water manifold in on the backside of the engine. It's right in the way of my upper transaxle mount so I took it off to see how I can work around it. I have a couple ideas that I'm working on now. This is where the water manifold, thermostat and sensors go between the heads.



Starting to look better with the stock harness off, the headers on, the intake temporarily flipped. The adapter is ready to go on but they sent me the wrong bolts so I'm waiting on all the bolts to show up.

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"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal." -Henry Ford

I forgot to weigh it this morning before I took everything off of it. I will get it weighed once it has the alternator, adapter, flywheel, power steering pump and oil in it. It feels pretty light moving it around by hand.

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"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal." -Henry Ford

That engine does look nice.

Yeah, the same cheap chinese firm do them for the 3.5L Nissan we use a lot, a customer bought a set and slapped them on and it made 30bhp less than the previous car, only difference was those

When I threw my metalic 4 puc clutch disc across the yard and replaced it with a stock woven Vanagon disc with springs in the middle , it extended the trans life very noticably.And just cuz you have the pulling power of 10 govm't mules, don't be pulling nobody out of a mud hole.Just tell your friends up front "you can't do it". Plus if you break while doing it, ALL you are going to get is a couple of "Man I hate tats". Always call for the right vehicle and equiptment to do the job right. 1st of all HAVE the right equiptment on hand or accessible b4 diving off in a hole and saying "watchis" just b4 dark.Sorry to steal yer thread , but I just don't want you to have busted side shifts stacked up like cord wood like I do.I made my, w/c baby chain buggy, so that the motor can stay in while I swap the trans. That way I can tell the crowd to go on. With baby chains ,you'd have the room to place the c/v's back a little to let your bell housing slide away from the flywheel.The extra travel is very NICE, big balloon tires,chains to catch the snatch of a load,a desired ratio.I went up an old washed out dirt road last week and it floated up it with hardly no gas like as if I were going up my own driveway.

Philip. I agree. The crowd convinced me to get rid if my homemade headers about 8 years ago, so I bought some headers from Sanderson's I think it was.They sounded weak and had a little less power. I think they are over up against the fence next to the 4 puc clutch disc.lol. and I went back to my favorite ho'mades.But I really really really love that motor!

the 3.2 Honda with adapter, clutch, flywheel and oil in it weighed 325lb

Forty, I know the stock headers are ugly that's why I had the heat shields ceramic coated by jet coat to make them look nice. I just know from experience that you lose power running those inexpensive ss headers.

To each his own I say. If you do reverse the intake make sure to use a tapered ream on the EGR port on the bottom of the intake then insert a small freeze plug and then back fill the hole with rtv silicone.

You can eliminate the extra vacuum ports on the side manifolds by drilling and plugging them with threaded aircraft pipe plugs.

Be especially careful with the knock sensor lead in the valley of the block they are fragile and it is a bitch to get to. Not an expensive part.

I don't know if your engine source told you that all the gaskets are reusable multi layer metal. The throttle body gaskets are not. Lastly while you are at this point it wold be prudent to adjust the valves and inspect the timing belt. The timing belt is 65.00 at Honda. The 3.5 is an interference engine so don't chance it.

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Water Cooled Consortium, Chairman of the Build (Former AC purist)

My engine source is just a dismantler. I bought the engine with core charge, tax and out the door for $338. On the 3.5 you flip the upper and lower intakes end for end. All that's needed is drilling a new hole in the fuel rail bracket and bolting them back on. All gaskets are multi-layer metal and come apart very easily. I won't be using any EGR on this engine, it will be blocked off. Not worried about losing a little power with the headers, all for looks. If it has 270hp and I lose 30hp I'm still higher than I need. I'll experiment further down the road once I get it up and running. I hate to say it but by the time I buy a new timing belt, plugs, water pump and whatever I'd almost rather risk and if all goes boom just buy another engine. I'd almost have the same money in parts as I would another engine. At 95k miles I think I have a few years left in it. My parents accord has 170k on the original belt and my wife's accord has 104k. We are destined for trouble eventually.

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"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal." -Henry Ford

The egr hole I am talking about is on the bottom of the intake. It will cause a massive vacuume leak and cause the engine idle speed to vary wildly. Trust me this is the thing that almost caused me to buy a new idle control sensor on the bottom of the throttle body- which if it gets dirty from coolant residue then it will hunt.

Flip your intake over and look just behind the throttle body. The hole you see will need to be plugged if and only if you reverse the intake.

I would set the valve cleanse it is so easy on these engines. The valve cover gaskets are rubber and are reusable. I will tell you that making the adjustment to the valves will make a difference in performance.

I didn't want to change my timing belt either but I was glad I did, I hade a water pump leaking inside the cover. It evaporates so you will never see a drip.

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Water Cooled Consortium, Chairman of the Build (Former AC purist)

I'm glad you got rid of that boat anchore and got a real engine !
Your buggy deserves it !!!

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Theirs no replacement for displacement !

I'm still a big fan of Ford and I do think the 2.3 is a good engine. The problem is it's becoming old technology, similar to the aircooled VW. They both are cool, make good power but are just not as modern. New engines, with stock ECU's are making some very good power, reliably and on pump gas. I think I'm going to like this engine a lot. Very easy to work on so far and for the cost of replacement it's an easy decision.

Red Barron, I see what you are saying now about the EGR plug. I'll be checking fitment today to see if I will flip the intake or not.

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"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal." -Henry Ford

Would that ford have anything on the Honda though ?

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Theirs no replacement for displacement !

The Ford was built to handle over 30# of boost. If it had a transaxle to handle the power it could have easily made 500 or more horsepower. I think the Honda's torque and stock power will be much more useable and reliable. We don't need 300hp at 6000rpm, we need torque and power down low in the rpm's and the v-6 does that really well. My dad has an Odyssey van, what this engine came from, and it's surprising how peppy it is.

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"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal." -Henry Ford

It's torque that kills transaxles, not power!

That is the reason that I have a 10" stage 1 Kennedy with Cush- lock clutch disk. It is rated up 230 lbft of torque about 10 ftlb less than the engine output. If the clutch slips then the trans lives. The 300M torsional axles don't hurt either. Any thing that reduces shock load will save the diff.

Third and forth gears have the most problems as they are fine tooth to reduce noise. I my self am planning on upgrading my 091 to all Weddle internals.

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Water Cooled Consortium, Chairman of the Build (Former AC purist)

Welcome to the to the world of trouble free fuel injection in a buggy!

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Mike
Got Honda?