98 Civic EX K20 Swap Thread - Project Track-ho

[kommon_sense]

Well the time has finally come. I've spent the last year collecting parts to do this swap and its finally underway. Its a 98 civic EX with about 156k on the odometer. I've been using the car for track events, but it simply wasn't fast enough, had poor gearing, no lsd, etc., etc. So I decided on a k-swap.

I wanted the k for the following reasons :

- 6 speed tranny
- roller rocker valvetrain
- timing chain
- 86x86mm bore
- iVTEC/VTC
- Good power in stock trim

I sourced the engine in pieces. This was a huge mistake as there are a lot of dishonest sellers out there. I purchased 3 blocks before getting a good one. I had the shortblock rebuilt by Jeff @ www.importbuilders.com . I stuck with the rules for Honda Challenge as I would love to run this car in HC if my budget ever allows.

I rebuilt the tranny myself adding in a quaife, and replacing all of the bearings and a slightly worn shift fork. Unfortunately gearspeed does not offer carbon coated synchros, but the synchros looked great, so hopefully no issues there.

I ended up rebuilding the head as I found out it had 2 damaged valves. I found this lovely gem just as I was about to put the head on the block.

I'm redoing the suspension at the same time. Replacing bushings and control arms.

I used the hasport ekk2 mount kit. This required me to swap to a 92-95 civic or 94-01 integra front subframe/crossmember, steering rack, and front lower control arms. I opted for the integra p/s rack as it has the best steering ratio lock-to-lock available. I've been really disappointed in the quality of the hasport kit. If I had it to do all over again, I would probably go with Hybrid Racing.

Let the pics begin :


Went with the mugen baffled oil pan since this will be a roadcourse setup


ITR Cams with Eibach Valvesprings







Up on the engine lift to install the Comptech 9.5lb flywheel


Exedy Organic Racing clutch disc in place. Pressure plate going on next.


Tranny installed and engine set out of the way for now.


Injectors back cleaned and balanced from RC Engineering. According to the report, some injectors were only spraying 296cc. After cleaning/balancing, they were spraying 310cc, 310cc, 309cc, 311cc. Doesn't get much better than that.


One last shot of the old d16y8.... Its been good to me. I almost felt bad.. But I got over it.


Engine harness is now in place. I figured this would be easier with the engine out of the bay. I decided to just get brand new harnesses instead of sourcing used ones... Too many people were selling harness with missing/damaged connectors...


The engine lift is connected and time to pull the motor.. I had already pulled out the radiator and we wrapped the engine in electrical tape just in case one of the chains broke loose


And its out


Its really empty... They are doing construction in my neighborhood, so my engine bay is ridiculously dirty...


So we pushed it out into the driveway and powerwashed it. The battery and all had been removed, so I just put duct tape over the opening for the wiring harness and any exposed connectors.

[kommon_sense]

Now time to swap the crossmember. The EG/DC2 crossmember has these spacers that go between it and the frame rail. Mine looked a little rusty, so I spray painted with with some krylon rust inhibiting paint.


One more shot of the old ek crossmember and rack setup.


If you are using an integra rack, then be sure to get the universal joint from the integra rack as the univeral joint on the ek rack will not fit on the larger shaft of the integra rack.


I noticed that I have some paint coming off on the passenger side frame rail. Don't know how that happened, but easy enough to fix now with the motor out of the car.


Came out pretty good. I put down a layer of rust inhibiting primer, then rust inhibiting black paint with a flat finish, then a coat of green. and got a very close match to the chassis.


Here is the paint that I used


Getting the subframe out isn't too bad. However you have to seperate the ball joints on the knuckles and lcas. You also have to seperate the ball joints on the tie-rods and knuckles. I couldn't get the tie rod joints seperated, so I had to just screw the tie-rods off of the rack. I will fight with them later. I supported the subframe with a jack and just rolled it on out.


Now the new rack and subframe is in place. This was a pain in the butt. You really need an extra set of hands to do this. You have to lift this heavy thing into place (it doesn't balance well on a jack), and get the bolts into position, then align the steering rack with the steering column/wheel. Joy...

[kommon_sense]

Now the fun begins... The Hasport EKK2 mounts do not clear the integra/dc2 power steering rack... Joy...

Full details : http://www.k20a.org/forum/showthread.php?t=28816

Problem :


Solution :


Reflare line:


Now I have clearance :

[kommon_sense]

Time to relocate the radiator and a/c condensor. I used a spotweld cutter... its the *ONLY* way to do the job. It is basically a mini hole-saw that cuts *around* the weld, So you don't have to waste time drilling *through* the weld and putting a hole in the chassis... The spotweld cutter leaves behind little nubs that have to be cleaned up later.


My removed tabs/brackets do not get destroyed/mangled in the process. Take measurements of all of the tab locations and write them down. This will make life easier when you reposition them. I just flipped the measurements and everything lined up perfect when we test-fitted things.


Here is a macro shot of my spotweld cutter. This is a 5/16" cutter. Perfect since the spot welds are 1/4". I got it as part of a set at Northern Tool for $13.99 . Once I got the hang of it, I cut through the welds and had the brackets removed in no time.


I cleaned up the welds with an air grinder... I love air tools... Afterwards I hit them with a little paint so that I wouldn't have bare metal.


Another reason why I was a little disappointed with the hasport kit. The hardware was all mild steel. It is a little hard to see from this pic, but *ALL* of my bolts were rusted right out of the package. I spent about $40 replacing all of them with plated grade 8.8 or better bolts.


I went to dinner and hit sears to pick up a larger tap handle. I then relocated the radiator and a/c brackets. I just drilled some holes with a 13/64" bit and tapped them with a 6mm X 1.00mm tap. Some 6mm bolts will hold the brackets in place until I can get them welded. Sorry, forgot to take a pic. Everyone was tired and cranky by this point It had been a long day.

Its about 1am and we are trying to get this motor into place.


By around 2am we finally had it in place and everything snugged down... It would have gone quicker if we were using the proper hooks on the motor for the lift. However our leveler had short chains. This is why the motor is crooked in the previous shot.


A slightly better shot taken the next morning.


A nice big opening over here to figure out my air intake setup. Some of this space will be eaten up when the radiator and fal fan are installed.


Still have decent space behind the valve cover. Looks like I can still get my strut tower brace back on. Looks like about 9.5" of clearance to the firewall.

[Matador]

Very nice. Yea that was my only problem with HAsport mounts, you could see the way they were made werent so much quality, my rusts are mounting too on some spots where the paint is coming off of them. My screws are rusing too. Also one thing that really bothers me on K series swaps of others, how come you didnt remove that long honda passenger side screw? It looks so funny to move that i had to remove mine!

[dang]

looking good. didn't want to hear about the hasport part though lol.

[buis02]

very nice write-up... subscribed

[workinprogress]

the green paint that you used for the crossmember is that ok to use it on the engine bay...would that paint stay with all the heat from the engine headers etc? just curious cause i am doing something similar......your motor looking clean man, good work..

[kommon_sense]

The paint is fairly isolated from the header, but I suspect that it will be ok. I will be using the aem/dc swap header for now, but I plan to get a custom header from SMSP before the end of the year. That header will be coated by swaintech, so I really shouldn't have much heating coming off of the exhaust with the future setup.

[o2flow]

jw...how much was the mugen pan?

[kommon_sense]

Mugen pan is $400 from www.kingmotorsports.com . Sounds like a lot, but its really the same price as all of the other baffled pans. Hytech is $280 and you have to supply the pan... J's Racing, Toda, etc. are all more expensive.

http://www.k20a.org/forum/showthread.php?t=22676

[blue92da]

Very nice thread, and good buildup. Looks like your running ps w/ your swap?

[kommon_sense]

I just got off the phone with hasport tech support. I have to say that was not exactly as useful as I had hoped... I asked about the following things :

1. My engine does not sit level with the chassis. Its a little off. Were the kits designed to keep the engine level with the chassis. Also informed support that I purchased my car brand new, so I was sure that it had never been wrecked.

Response: I don't know if they checked for that. It should be fine unless its off by a whole lot...

2. I'm using an integra rack and the rear bracket does not clear the p/s hardlines on the rack. You have to modify the lines in order to be able to bolt the bracket down.

Response: Thats not good. You can send that info to brian.

3. I had a gripe about the kit in that all of the mild steel hardware was rusted. I would gladly pay a few bucks more for the kit in order to have plated hardware.

Response : We go through those bolts so fast that it wouldn't be feasible for them to be plated.

I was hoping for some ideas on things to check to ensure that the motor was level, but I got nothin...

All I can do is shake my head... One positive thing that I can say is that my kit was missing the spacer that goes on the rear mount. I contacted the vendor that I bought the kit from and they immediately contacted hasport. Roughly a week later a package shows up on my door with the missing spacer. That was pretty impressive considering hasport is on the west coast and I'm on the east coast.

[kommon_sense]

I was out of town for a week so progress has been a bit slow. Still playing biological clock catchup on the time difference between east/west coast.

Suja1 clutchline. Unfortunately the fittings are not clocked quite right, so I had to get creative with positiong it so that it wouldnt bind.



My old end-links were kind of beatup. THe one on the left is the old ES bushing endlink from my stock bar. I chose the 24mm ITR bar because I liked its endlinks. Less room for slop since you only have 2 bushings.



New sway bar end link, new bushings, and Energy Suspensions sway bar bushings.



You can see that my sway bar in place has some clearance issues with one of the heatshields.



I fixed that with a pair of tin snips. Be sure to fold the edge so you don't slice your hand open. I cut out the curved section on the top right.



New radiator and fan combo. I already had the FAL so trying to make it work. Clearances by the throttle body are tight.



New OEM fuel filter with an Earls adapter in it. Converts from 12x1.25 to -6an for the fuel system.

[kommon_sense]

I ended up with a set of '05-06 shifter cables so I have to cut the counterweights off. Say hello to Mr. Dremel.



I tapped the holes on the radiator support to attach the radiator brakets. They seem to hold well, but I would really like to weld them up.I might just grind down a spot and jb weld.



Fluidyne on the left. Old stocker radiator on the right. Looks kinda sickly from that angle, but it got the job done



Radiator and fan mounted. Notice things start getting a little cramped on that corner. I still have to route the air intake and coolant hose to the fitting up near the top middle of the picture.



My first -6an black fuel line. Made it myself. Kinda pleased with how it turned out.

[kommon_sense]

Picture of my stock power steering pump... That sure is a big pulley.



So I use the Jackson Racing Pulley from their Supercharger kit. It is 1" smaller in diameter than the oem pulley.



Voila



I found all of this under my front 2 seats when I took them out... Finding my red swiss army knife makes it all worth it



Getting ready for the karcepts kit.

[blue92da]

since you used the JR pulley, did you have to change the stock belt?

[kommon_sense]

Yup. I also don't have a/c setup yet. So I'm just running the same 52.2" belt that karcepts discussed in his p/s in an eg setup.

[DamonRSX]

Great info and some very nice work!

I am sure you will love it long time! It will be totally different than what it was.

I wish I had the know-how to do all that work myself. It is killing me that mine is still at Hybrid for the header, p/s, and a/c installs, but at least I know they are getting it done right. I went with an SSR, but mine is swaintech coated too, and it looks awesome. Besides the engine itself, that header is too nice for the rest of the car, so that means I need some upgrades! After I do the GSR brakes and suspension, sitting in my garage ready to install, I am thinking of getting those full-race traction bars.

[kommon_sense]

My thinking has always been that as long as I have a torque wrench and a service manual, I can do anything... And if not, then at least I can put it back like I found it.