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Gangnamstyle's FA5 build.. The mods i never wanted

10K views 14 replies 7 participants last post by  Pipedc4 
#1 · (Edited)
Hello K20a.org fam. My name is psy and this page is dedicated to my fa5 build and the many changes the car has gone through...

i'm no stranger to the car scene. prior to my FA5, i had a fully built 02 wrx. fully built ej257 motor (sti motor), sti transmission, gt30 turbo set up, alcohol injection, upgraded fuel system.. basically the works.


probably wondering why sell a pretty decent car for a civic. well i was putting so much time and money into the car and i was building a family so i decided what was best for my family and let the car go... CHEAP haha

I knew I wanted a sedan and something that would save money on gas. i had no intentions to modify the car in any performance way. i had a few choices in mind but my final two were the new model civic si or the Lexus is350. i even considered getting a base model civic or a hybrid because i really have given up the car hobby but i caved in and got a civic si.. it was a used 2008 model that already came pre-modified. car came equipped with a AEM CAI, shifter bushings, APEXI NOIR exhaust and some wheels.

It's kind of funny because right when i got the car the first thing i did was paint the valve cover wrinkle red.


now don't get too excited.. i really meant it when i said i didn't want to upgrade my car with any performance mods.

4-5 months down the road, i got into a accident by trying to avoid a car who cut me off. the damage..


oh no my fog lights :frage:
oh well insurance paid for my 09 front end


THEN.... 1 week after i got my car back i get rear ended :frage:



oh well insurance paid for my fd2 rear end, air bag emblem, front emblem and 2 boxes of dos equis!









The conversion consist of a VIS CF trunk (fitment was "ok") 09+ FD2 tail lights, homemade harness soldered and shrink wrapped. The rear jdm conversion also requires you to cut a piece off the rear mounting point of your car and also needs a bracket but i didnt have any plans of going back to stock so i just welded a bracket there. (see pictures above for reference)

so basically i have a fa5 with a brand new 09 front end and a fd2 jdm rear end that i had no real intentions of upgrading to that just sorta happened... but it doesnt stop here..

in feb of 2012, there was a really bad storm here in texas and the city is doing a lot of construction to remodel the highways here. well i live next to that highway and ended up driving into a flood and that AEM CAI that came with my car sucked lots of water and hydrolocked my motor.. the Rod ended up snapping and blew a hole in the block. (picture was taken recently)


I didn't know what to do at the time.. i didn't have much money saved. my insurance wouldn't cover the damages. so i asked myself should i just replace the k20z3 shortblock? should i buy a k24a2 longblock or maybe even a k20z3 longblock? the cheapest route would've been probably buying a used/new k20z3 short block and reusing my head if it wasn't damaged but i knew if i was going to go in there, i wanted to get the most out of it while i was there. reading the thread on 8thcivic.com http://www.8thcivic.com/forums/diy-...24-k20-frankenstien-swap-what-needs-done.html also helped me decide on going k24/k20 frank.

now there are a lot of ways you can build a k24/k20 frank or even go with a k24a2 longblock. i checked pricing on k24a2 long blocks around my area and they went for like 2000-2200? in my opinion i was like man that is a lot of money to spend when i just need the shortblock and maybe just a few other small parts.

so i ended up buying a POS k24a4 longblock for 200.00 bucks


Disassembled the motor and got everything back from the machine shop and balanced. Parts check - stock crank, eagle rods, ACL RACE bearings, wiseco pistons 10:5 CR, ultra light cc flywheel, stg 4 cc clutch, 06 TSX cams, RDX injectors, Stock urethane injected motor mounts, Buddyclub race header, Supertech Valve seals, Injen SRI, and bought a extra k20z3 head too.












This is how i ended up with a modified car that i didn't intentionally wanted to build.

Shout out to k20a.org vendors
HPT for the timing chain bracket
AutoFair honda for the RDX injectors and TC injector clips.
 
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#7 ·
If insurance covered my motor then i would be a happy camper but it was hell being without a car for a whole year. at times i questioned my choice to build a motor and not just buy a used longblock.

surprisingly i dont have any piston slap. I've heard wiseco pistons before in another motor another motor and it sounded like a train lol it's all about the piston to wall clearances. these pistons are made out of 2618 alloy and they expand when they are warmed up. so typically what engine builders do is machine the clearances a little loose to give the piston room to expand into the right specs. hence, that would cause the piston slap at cold start.

but like i stated before, i dont have any piston slap or maybe my exhaust is so loud that i can't hear it at cold start hahaha
 
#9 ·
i can say the car definitely wants to move but i haven't gone WOT yet. im scheduled to get tuned next week. gonna be fun stuff... hoping to make at least 240whp.. my intake might be a little restrictive. i was thinking about throwing in a bigger throttle body and a 3.5 intake prior to the tune but thats like a couple more hundred dollars when i just want a running car lol
 
#10 ·
i ran into a small problem when i did my swap. when my motor blew the internals shot threw my oil pan and basically split the oil pan in half. so i ended up using a A2 pan i had laying around but i totally forgot the Z3 pan has a rear mount bracket on it and a A2 mount doesn't... i guess i'll be pulling the subframe off again.
 
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