Sean Yearwood was new to the Honda scene when he bought his 1997 Civic hatchback in 2001. That same day, he put on a set of cheap coil-overs and '99 Civic Si alloy wheels and went to the local street races to show off the new ride. When he awoke the next morning, it was sitting on blocks in front of his house with no wheels. Insurance money paid for a set of blingin' Niche Shocks 17-inch wheels. Along with the chrome came a big muffler and a generic cold-air intake.After awhile, Yearwood came to his senses. The mods weren't cutting it. The first things to go were the sleeve-over coil-overs. Sean replaced the no-name setup with a set of H&R stage 3 springs and KYB GR2 shocks. Next was the tired old D16Y7. A B16A2 swap was sourced out of a wrecked '00 Si. Coupled with a '98 Integra Type R ECU, Sean had all he needed for the first of his DOHC VTEC swaps.
Year wood got the street racing bug. His pursuit of a quicker, more competitive street machine led him to get rid of his big, heavy 17-inch Niches to make room for a set of 15-inch Nippon Racing wheels weighing a mere 11 pounds. The next step was a power adder, this time a 50-shot from a NOS wet nitrous kit.But when he found himself refilling the bottle so often that his wallet took an unavoidable dent, Yearwood dropped the juice and got some boost, in the form of a Drag Generation 3 turbo kit. The B16 made 215-wheel hp at 8 psi with the Drag kit, which proved sufficient-for a while.
Yearwood sold the B16 and replaced it with a B18 longblock. The turbo B18 made 256-wheel hp and 172 lb-ft on the same 8 psi.
For most enthusiasts, a daily-driven 256-wheel-hp turbo car would be enough to keep them satisfied, but Yearwood got boost happy a few weeks later, and ran 11 psi on the same tune for a couple of weeks. He took the car to the track to see what it could do. On its first run down the 1320, the bottom end gave out on the way into fourth gear. The hatchback still rolled through the trap in 13.1 seconds at 107 mph.Yearwood's love for racing outgrew the streets, eventually. He bought an EG hatchback and an EF hatchback, both of which are now track-only racecars. The EG is an all-motor drag car with a stroked 1.9-liter B16. The EF is a road racecar with a SOHC VTEC motor. With two racecars in his stable, Yearwood decided to turn his EK hatchback into a dedicated daily driver.
For his purposes, a daily driver needed to have an internally stock motor and a B-series with bolt-on mods wouldn't cut it. Yearwood opted for Honda's big block to satiate his need for a daily driver that is still fun to drive.
A 1994 JDM Prelude front clip was sourced from All Japanese in Miami, Fla., to act as a donor for the H22-flavored heart transplant. After swapping in the motor Yearwood added a slew of bolt-on parts, including a J's Racing intake, an Accord Euro R intake manifold, a custom header and a Buddy Club bolt-on cat-back exhaust system.He also added an AEM fuel filter, AEM Fuel Rail, a Walbro 255-lph in tank pump and a set of RC 310cc injectors to help the now freely breathing H22 quench its thirst.
On the dyno, the H22 spun the rollers to the tune of 190-wheel hp and 154 lb-ft. Yearwood expects that once he further tunes the H22 using Überdata and an A'PEXi V-AFC II, he can pull out more than 200-wheel hp.
Year wood is about go rather than show, but no car is complete without some finishing exterior touches. The EK's most obvious upgrade is the '99-'00 Si front-end conversion. Yearwood's friend was selling his red '99 Si, and though it took a bit of convincing, he eventually convinced his buddy to swap the front ends before he got rid of the car. The front-end swap is no minor modification. Besides the bumper, he also had to swap out the hood, fenders, headlights and grille.