#EngineSwap : K20a2 swap With step by step site

I love it, great write-up buddy!

I'm really intrigued by the k20 conversion as someday I will pull the trigger and go that route myself. I love my stroker motor as the power increase is night and day over stock but I will yearn for that extra power eventually. Continue with the write-up.:grin:
 
I added a page that will come in handy right away for others trying to dissect the externals of their K20a2
I can barely take credit for this as I found it posted a number of times on various forums. I will update it when I find the time. It helped GREATLY during my engine setup to make sure I had everything I needed for the swap.
 
Nice write-up and photos

Always interesting to read and see engine swap write-ups. Reminds me of the challenges I faced a few years back. I've since gone back and re-did a lot of the things I rushed the first time I did my swap. Playing part-time automotive engineer is a good second occupation for me. It's very satisfying to work out those last few kinks and have a reliable, well thought out swap and to show off my handiwork at car meets. Look forward to the rest of the story.
 
k 20

looks like a sound job from the pics.
redwood city??
tom mulhill????
he used to show up at the dealership I was working at and drop off FAST fliers for my customers.
I guess he is off the grid now, the little squirt.
any time you are up here (rodeo...Pinole) do stop by!
mikemo
5102452344:D
 
X1/9Cruiser said:
Always interesting to read and see engine swap write-ups. Reminds me of the challenges I faced a few years back. I've since gone back and re-did a lot of the things I rushed the first time I did my swap. Playing part-time automotive engineer is a good second occupation for me. It's very satisfying to work out those last few kinks and have a reliable, well thought out swap and to show off my handiwork at car meets. Look forward to the rest of the story.
Click to expand...

I have re-done a few things not done right the first time. Some threads out there on those right now actually. It is just part of the fun I guess ;)

I have been impressed so far with all the variations of how other X'ers have done their swaps as well.
 
Great info!

I really liked the dissection page that shows where everything is. That will come in handy as I start to learn my way around a K20. Thanks for taking the time to put it together and share it.
 
mikemo90 said:
looks like a sound job from the pics.
redwood city??
tom mulhill????
he used to show up at the dealership I was working at and drop off FAST fliers for my customers.
I guess he is off the grid now, the little squirt.
any time you are up here (rodeo...Pinole) do stop by!
mikemo
5102452344:D
Click to expand...

Tom is a cool dude. He has been done with Fiat's for a while now. His resume of restorations was mainly Abarth's. He did a nice 131 Abarth volumex. That was the last one I recall. Beautiful car. His latest restore was an Aston Martin 007 tribute car. http://www.ohmssdbs.com/restoration/

I promise next time I get up 80 I will stop by! I will make a few trips to Vacaville soon while my daughter is on spring break to hang with family so why not drop by right?
 
K20 Swap Blog

Tim,

Thanks for the time and effort you've devoted to writing all this up. Its a great compendium on a K20 engine swap that will be very useful to others.

While I have no plans to do one myself, I've had the pleasure/pain of helping Dennis here in Austin with his K20 installation and I was able to quickly relate to all of your challenges and solutions.

Great work - its this kind of commitment that makes this Forum so valuable!

Well done.

Ed
 
Great write up. Thanks for doing it. I have always wanted an X with some grunt in it.

So I have a stupid question. I have a dislike for the loss of the spare tire and the related modifications in that area. I know they are well engineered and when done properly the car will be just fine.

My stupid question is this: In your opinion, if one were to do a custom intake (and live with the reduced power or other issues) could the modifications be minimized to the body of the car itself? For example run the intake over the top of the engine akin to the way Fiat does it on their twin cam version of the 138AS series engines from the Brava.

Or are the mods just as needed for the ancillaries further down on the block?
 
kmead said:
Great write up. Thanks for doing it. I have always wanted an X with some grunt in it.

So I have a stupid question. I have a dislike for the loss of the spare tire and the related modifications in that area. I know they are well engineered and when done properly the car will be just fine.

My stupid question is this: In your opinion, if one were to do a custom intake (and live with the reduced power or other issues) could the modifications be minimized to the body of the car itself? For example run the intake over the top of the engine akin to the way Fiat does it on their twin cam version of the 138AS series engines from the Brava.

Or are the mods just as needed for the ancillaries further down on the block?
Click to expand...

That is a great question. By intake I assume you are referring to the "tube" that connects the intake manifold to the throttle body?

The tube actually is NOT ideal and is likely reducing power already. It was designed to help get around further customization to the fuel tank area. Shortening it would be good or eliminating it altogether and running the throttle body directly on the intake manifold (as it was designed to be) would be best.

But your question was around the customization to the engine bay and access panel in wheel well. There is no way around this to be able to service the engine properly. Too many bits on that side of the engine IMO to not have direct access too. IF someone came up with a different routing of coolant lines that can be serviced another way then possibly. But still, you would need to remove the engine to do most services. I had to do a waterpump R/R AFTER the engine was in. Not fun, but if I didn't have the custom access panel, it would have been impossible without removing the engine.
 
By intake I meant the mass that Honda rightfully engineered and attached to the head, not the projecting tube to clear the last of the bulkhead. I was wondering if a tube type intake header could be created to take its place to run up over the top of the engine.

It appears that the majority of the change is for the intake manifold original to the engine with other areas access being the other significant benefit. Your points about serviceability make it clear that there is more to this than just the intake, access to various elements on the bulkhead side of the engine.

Still one wonders...
 
Just keeps getting better

Your timing on this is perfect for me. Thanks for taking the time to create it. You answered questions that I hadn't even known I would ask in the coming months. PM sent regarding the intake tube.
 
I figured that was what you meant (as I hit submit reply)...:)

There are a few different manifolds out there, but none I have see that would have such a configuration. I agree it isn't ideal to chop up our cars to make this work, but other than displacing the spare wheel, there is no major drawback I can see (if done right). I keep the spare stock rim in the front boot and it fits fine BTW.

kmead said:
By intake I meant the mass that Honda rightfully engineered and attached to the head, not the projecting tube to clear the last of the bulkhead. I was wondering if a tube type intake header could be created to take its place to run up over the top of the engine.

It appears that the majority of the change is for the intake manifold original to the engine with other areas access being the other significant benefit. Your points about serviceability make it clear that there is more to this than just the intake, access to various elements on the bulkhead side of the engine.

Still one wonders...
Click to expand...
 
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