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 : Hasport EKK2 mount clearance problems with Intregra/DC2 PS Rack

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.

[Punx122]

Nice dude, nice. I know a dude who would love your old y8

Edit: Repped

[02EXSILVER]

Looking good man, keep up the good work.

[IISaiNtII]

nice work, would expect nothing less from you though

it's amazing how quick you'll get over missing the old y8, as you pointed out.

one thing i would like to add here though, when i did my swap (not a k20, but had p/s line problems as well) i couldn't find a line flare kit to flare the line myself as i had to hack one line up, and put the fittings on the other. i took it to a tractor-trailer brake/tire shop and had them cut/flare the line for me. cost $1.50

Very disappointing to here about the HASport mount kit too. sounds line the quality isn't there as it once was. wonder why that is? rusty bolts out of the box is ridiculous. also makes me wonder if the other kit is worth it's weight either

[projecthatch92]

nice work kommon, i was always wondering why you weren't posting as much as you used to, seems like you had your hands full with the swap. rep for you my friend.

[kommon_sense]

Yeah, I was MIA for a while. Spent a lot of time over on k20a.org researching the swap. It isn't a difficult swap, but there are definately a lot of little pieces to figure out.

[IISaiNtII]

what axles are you using?

[jon]

badass