HIDDEN CAPACITY

For yonks, Honda owners have been swapping larger capacity motors into their nimble chassis in pursuit of faster times. And, while a long-time favourite for Civic chassis has been B18 and H22 swaps, it’s not quite as common to find someone replacing the B18CR in a DC2 Type R with a humble H-series.

But that’s exactly what Brynn Durham has done over the past few years. Purchasing the Type R as a bare shell — no suspension, wheels, wiring, or interior — he now knows practically every bolt in the car through piecing it back together. While a B18CR re-power was on the cards, it was a built H22A — stroked out to 2.3 litres, with iron sleeves; Crower forged rods; lower compression JE Pistons; and a ported, polished, and machined head that, when combined, drop compression to 8:1 — that caught his eye. Why? Well, it made for the perfect base to strap a snail onto.

Now packing a Garrett GT3582 that chuffs 22psi into the intake, a Turbonetics 38mm gate, and Bosch 1000cc injectors, the package puts out 267kW and 411Nm of torque after the Type R running gear has robbed its share — as tuned by Chris Wall at Prestige Tuning and Motorsport.

The business end has been converted to a bug-eye front, as Brynn prefers the look over the standard Type R example, while it has also been lowered over a set of Koni adjustable struts that run Prelude Jamex springs to compensate for the slightly heavier front end.

Now that things are up and running, he tells us that the exterior still has a while to go before he’s happy, and a few minor mechanical changes will be made to get the most out of the powertrain.