Performing Honda K24a3/AST5 6spd Conversion

Can you provide a source (apologies if already posted) for the engine compartment firewall insulation with the "waffle iron" square grid embossment? In the pix it's almost a dead ringer for the OEM insulation!
 
I just can't seem to get past taking this big of a bite out of that left side frame rail. But, every K-swap has it.....
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Maybe if I saw it in person, or from the bottom?
 
Problems.

#1
Can't see anything wrong here, but trans/diff is locked :( So, drivetrain will have to come out again so I can dismantle this & figure out WTF I did wrong here.
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I didn't take many pics back when I did the LSD install in May. Don't know what I put togther wrong, but it is definitely not right.

This is one of the only dismantle pics I took, none of the assembly that would show the shift forks, etc :(

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#2

Right axle is too short by 2.5".

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Thankfully I didn't throw out the K24 intermediate axle. I guess the early transaxle has a different casing offset, but I honestly don't see how, as the MWB mount is right there next to it.

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With that in place, the axle fits OK, joint sits about 1/2 way in the cup

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At full drop of my coilovers there is still play in the shaft cup, so the axle is not binding

CV is not touching strut tube, just looks like it.
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Good news on another front, the slave bleeder is readily accessible with my larger opening

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Had to elongate the torque mount plate holes to prevent it pushing back on the motor, which was removing what little clearance the slave had off the firewall. I must have welded the plate too high up I guess.

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I think I'll leave the drivetrain in & finish the rear swaybar, wiring etc., before I drop it again to fix the transaxle issue.

I'm so frustrated with myself for not checking the diff operation BEFORE putting it all back together, and for then installing it all without still checking it. I had to step away from it & so I cleaned up the garage & mowed the yard for the last time this year.

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Hussein, don't feel bad about the locked transmission, it has happened to me too many years ago, but on a John Deere Crawler, I reversed the way 3/4 gear was on the lay shaft. Three days of labor to flip the gear and get it all back together.

TonyK.

Grimsby Ontario Canada.
 
Can you provide a source (apologies if already posted) for the engine compartment firewall insulation with the "waffle iron" square grid embossment? In the pix it's almost a dead ringer for the OEM insulation!
I just can't seem to get past taking this big of a bite out of that left side frame rail. But, every K-swap has it.....
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Maybe if I saw it in person, or from the bottom?

I'll check the box, it's in the basement. Pretty sure it's a Dynaliner Hood insulation, I'll get the product # for you.

I'll take a couple more pics. I did cut out the minimal amount. Don't forget the stock section rail is not solid in that area, it is scalloped for the transmission, just not as far forward.

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Hussein, don't feel bad about the locked transmission, it has happened to me too many years ago, but on a John Deere Crawler, I reversed the way 3/4 gear was on the lay shaft. Three days of labor to flip the gear and get it all back together.

TonyK.

Grimsby Ontario Canada.

Thank you Tony. I just need to step back from the car to gain acceptance :D

Working on the Header, since it's raining this week.

Made the pis cuts as close a fit as possible. #1 is kinda funky, not going to be as pretty as it was.

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Also following your suggestion regarding the AC pipes/fittings - I'm repurposing the low pressure switch & housing - adding a #8 MIOR fitting on the other side, and then that will go beween the compressor & the hard pipe I have made. I did look for an in-line low pressure switch/ housing with #8 fittings that I could just use as is, without having to fabricate, no such luck.

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Welded most of the header. Ran into the same issue as I had with my intake, where I just can't reach into the space available without problems, so I gave it to my machine shop to finish the tricky bits, just a few inches of weld in total.

Welded the #8 fitting for the low pressure switch housing

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back to figuring out the clutch master. Bought a M6x1 heim, and cut & threaded the push rod end. Remaining plastic piece is the rod travel stop

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welded a bolt to the pedal, after I figured out where it needed to be to get full travel and proper release of the rod

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MC clears the factory retaining bolts for the brake master, I will cut them down & rethread as needed.
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Video of travel


Hopefully rain will let up & I can get some work done on the actual car
 
Put in the left control arm & axle. Could not get the strut to attach to the hub, the angle is all wrong. Dismantled the coilover, and just attached the spindle, which made it clear that the left axle is too long, creating an unobtainable angle for the hub/spindle.

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I must have reversed the hybrid shafts - it's the only thing that makes sense, since the right was too short to fit the RSX intermediate.

Looking at my axle assembly pic, it doesn't appear that way though. I'll have to remove the two axles and try swapping them around.

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Besides that, I played around with the rear swaybar setup. Compressed clearance

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Bar clearance off the crossmember

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Putting the link on the inside would move the mount back from the hub area somewhat, but tight fit with the inner fender

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Finally, notched (and welded reinforcement into) the control arm further in the stock location, to give full clearance off the transaxle casing. This is compressed beyond travel range (no strut in place)

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Lots of great progress.

Sorry about the setbacks of the various transmission parts. Hopefully just assembly activity and no new parts. Still, no fun. It is good to step away when things don’t go well.

Wiring is hard and does take looking at it in a systemic fashion. The approach of getting one set right actually isn’t a bad approach, it can allow you to then model that as the basis for what comes next with a little overage to allow for different bend radii as you build up the mass of wires.

We often ask our interns to go grab the wood, steel or aluminum stretcher from the shop guys when things are too short, it is always fun and a good laugh as well as a good lesson for the intern.

Great work as always. Thank you for taking the time to bring us along.
 
Worked on the (Volvo C30/Mazda3) sway bar endlink mountings, and checked travel & clearances. Doug sent me some nice plate stock & hardware to use for the mount & endlink-to-swaybar connection.

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set like this, the end link drops in to the plate nicely, at full suspension drop

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Going to recut this bracket to match the one I made for the left, so it has a little more material up to the marker line. Don't want to go deeper than that, as it will interfere with balljoint replacement down the road.
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Room off the trailing arm for any toe adjustment

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Took out the spring & checked clearance at full travel . This is compressed to full stop

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Endlink offset/angle looks good to me

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clearance off tie rod, full compression, just had to rotate the clamp to the underside of the toe rod

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Left side bracket

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Left Welded in, leaving clearance off the rivets for later replacement with bolt-in balljoint.

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After that, I removed the axles & checked lengths. I had indeed reversed the shafts so the longe rone was on the left. So, now I can swap back the RSX intermediate axle & use the longer axle on the right. I could also use two short axles & keep the TSX intermediate axle...

The niggling thing with installing the axles is that they cannot be installed or removed complete - the spline nub will not clear the backside of the hub no matter what. In this case, I just pulled them out of the inner cups, but in normal servicing the outer cv has to be unbolted from the spline shaft, which for me means disconnecting from the strut tube first, since the clearance off the CV is really tight wiht my coilovers.

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Before I dropped the drivetrain again, I played a little with the AC hose layout around the compressor & up from the rail pass through

Low pressure switch housing will go under here. Fairly tight fit relative the AC pulley. May need a guard of some kind, to protect in the event of a belt failure

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Drivetrain then removed, so I can fix the transaxle lockup issue

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Going to also try to fabricate & intall all those AC lines that fit in the right well area. Just easier to wrench with motor out

Lastly, switching to Volvo control arm bolts (right example, with standard 18mm hex head (M14x90, 1.5 pitch), they have a guide nub that makes it easier to install through the MWB subframe, and are coarser thread, less susceptible to thread damage when tapped in place through the subframe/mount/control arm. The flangenuts that go with also have a floating washer built in, which is nice.

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I guess it depends on how the total chassis is set up but on my car, I put a 7/8" Addco bar on the front to control roll and tame the oversteer and figured a rear bar would bring back oversteer that I did not need.
 
I guess it depends on how the total chassis is set up but on my car, I put a 7/8" Addco bar on the front to control roll and tame the oversteer and figured a rear bar would bring back oversteer that I did not need.

I wasn't going to bother, however it was suggested that it is a good idea with the additional weight & torque of the new drivetrain.
 
Yes, I could see where the dynamics of your car would be quite a bit different than a stock X. Also, 15mm is not exactly huge as you pointed out. I don't remember the thickness of my T5R front bar (thickest one for an 850) but with the stock ride height it was too stiff and caused inner wheel lift. After dropping the ride height about 1.5", it was just about right. The later 850Rs went to a smaller front bar to mitigate the problem since they could not mess with the ride height without moving the bumpers up.
 
Yes, I could see where the dynamics of your car would be quite a bit different than a stock X. Also, 15mm is not exactly huge as you pointed out. I don't remember the thickness of my T5R front bar (thickest one for an 850) but with the stock ride height it was too stiff and caused inner wheel lift. After dropping the ride height about 1.5", it was just about right. The later 850Rs went to a smaller front bar to mitigate the problem since they could not mess with the ride height without moving the bumpers up.

I have the Volvo 960 front bar on my X1/9, 22mm. Hopefully the two will play nicely, it certainly handled really well with the Volvo bar in front.

Worked on my Volvo today, trying to resolve the inspection-related issues. After that, I just futzed with the AC pipes in the time I had left. Did resolve the layout for the #8 hoses.

Decided to rotate the low pressure switch housing, to set the #8 hose further back & upward from the compressor pulley. Right about here will work.

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still using the stock Fiat mount bracket

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Looks good all around. SO happy I cut out the right pocket!
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Drilled for 2 M6 rivnuts and added 1/2" spacers to get the offset I wanted
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#8 hose will sit just below the #10, going to the compressor & further away from the pulley than my previously planned layout

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Lastly I cut a new right bracket for the rear sway bar

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