Just Started MY K20 Project

jlmurphy21

jlmurphy21

Daily Driver
I have just started my K20 Swap project. I thought it would be good to document it.

Back Ground:
Bought My X in '92 when I was 15 years old, it was my first car. When I got it we stripped it down and changed the paint from dark brown to Red. A few years back I resprayed the Car and completely redid the interior, but always wanted to do the K20 swap.

Planned Changes:
K20 Swap(Thanks Matt)
New Koni coil overs(Thanks Matt)
New Whoa Brakes(Thanks Matt)
Brown wire Mod
Head light Mod(Thanks Bob)
Change to series 1 bumpers(Thanks Matt)
New Leather Dashboard(Thanks Henk)

We have started the K20 first:

I went with the K20 Kit from Matt and I have to say, I am very impressed with how well thought out it is. The fit is really close with very little modification.

For the engine I decided to go with JDM K20a type R engine because it only had 20K miles on it and The limited slip dif. We will have to make some changes to the final drive for better highway RPMs.

We have spent two days in the shop and here is where we are at.

Cuts to fit the the engine in have been made to the passenger side and the front side(still a few more to Make) of the engine bay. More cuts will need to be made on the driver side and the rear part of the engine bay but we are getting close.

I will keep this updated with pictures and comments.

James








 
Very Nice :)

It is always enjoying to read modification threads. Shame you can't embed the pics in the thread instead of thumbnail links, though.
 
Good Luck!

Have fun with the project James, you'll really enjoy the car when it's done, it's a game changer.

It also looks like you have a really nice base car to do the swap in, should be a fine modern car when done! Keep us posted on your progress.
 
Update

Got the Engine in and now we are trying to mock everything up before we take it out again and start cleaning everything up.

It is starting to fell like 10lbs of Stuff in a 5lb bag and we still need to fit the Intake, Exhaust, Cooling lines, throttle, wires, and on and on.

Here is what we finished.
All cuts in the engine bay are complete, engine is in place. New shifter was welded into place.


So many thing left to do to list.









 
You are at the point where you don't turn back that is for sure!

Good luck with your build. I am full of advise on this conversion if you need any...
 
Looking fantastic! Thanks for all the pictures! I have been looking to do a vw 1.8t swap. Are you using the honda axles and hubs?
 
redrocco said:
Looking fantastic! Thanks for all the pictures! I have been looking to do a vw 1.8t swap. Are you using the honda axles and hubs?
Click to expand...

This swap almost always requires a custom axle spline with Honda inner and Fiat outer so as to use the stock hubs. This is what I did and what Midwest-Bayless offers in their K20 swap kit.
 
Tim is right on with what I am doing. I got my kit from MWB. I will post pictures once I get to them.

Thanks

James
 
Update:

So no new pictures, but we have dropped the Engine back out and now we are in full blown metal work.

Fished items are:
-Shifter cables routed and new brackets made
-Throttle cable routed and figured out
-Cooling line roughed in, we used a few parts from K-tuned. Now that the engine is out I will take some close up pictures of what we are doing on the engine.
-Custom S intake/Throttle body mount made and ready for powder coat. Pictures will follow this weekend.

Items left:
-Metal work
-Electrical
-Paint
- and On and On

Exciting parts that showed up, the leather dash showed up from Henk and looks pretty good. New Old style bumpers showed up from Matt and Look Great!!!


All in all, working on the Car one day a week we are making good progress. New pictures this weekend

James
 
If one of those parts is...

jlmurphy21 said:
-Cooling line roughed in, we used a few parts from K-tuned.
Click to expand...

the swivel neck thermostat housing that accepts a single-action thermostat, get rid of it. The car will overheat at any RPM under 3200 or so. I lived with this on my car for a year before I switched to a true dual-action thermostatic system, problem solved.

Pete
 
Can you provide more details?

The cooling system install is still a ways off for mine, but I would love details of what system you finally settled on for yours to solve the overheating problem. Thanks!
 
not to start anything here but I used the K-Tuned swivel neck thermostat housing and the upper coolant housing with my K20 swap once all the air is bleed out I had no overheating problems

Rick
 
I didn't record a great deal of that modification

Rodger said:
The cooling system install is still a ways off for mine, but I would love details of what system you finally settled on for yours to solve the overheating problem. Thanks!
Click to expand...

But here's what I have. First, this crude drawing describes the 4 circuits:

1. From/to radiator
2. From/to heater core
3. From/to coolant tank
4. Bypass circuit (bypassing the radiator so the engine will get warm)



I modified the stock Acura water outlet that sits on the front of the engine. The modifications were to drill/tap a couple smaller passages and plug them with an NPT plug, and to weld on a boss for the coolant temp sensor (the one for the gauge, not the one for the computer). That part is visible in this shot. Also visible are the 2 90 degree silicone hoses that form a 180 degree curve to route the water under the intake manifold, towards the area accessible in the spare tire well.



Then I fabricated a replacement piece for the K-tuned t-stat housing out of half inch aluminum plate and some aluminum tubing.



The thermostat I used was a Beta dual action rated for 195. Here is a shot of everything stuffed into place.



Pete
 
I wonder how much this has to do...

Tas said:
not to start anything here but I used the K-Tuned swivel neck thermostat housing and the upper coolant housing with my K20 swap once all the air is bleed out I had no overheating problems

Rick
Click to expand...

with our different climates. The problem really became bad during brutal TX summers, although the car would overheat any time of year just running down the freeway at 70. Too much water was going through the bypass with the single action thermostat, and it would slowly baste in its own juices.

To be clear, I did not change anything else besides the thermostat when I fixed this problem. No radiator upgrades or anything like that. And the original thermostat was not bad either, I changed it for a lower temp unit (165 as I recall). No change.

Pete
 
Pete Whitstone said:
with our different climates. The problem really became bad during brutal TX summers, although the car would overheat any time of year just running down the freeway at 70. Too much water was going through the bypass with the single action thermostat, and it would slowly baste in its own juices.

To be clear, I did not change anything else besides the thermostat when I fixed this problem. No radiator upgrades or anything like that. And the original thermostat was not bad either, I changed it for a lower temp unit (165 as I recall). No change.

Pete
Click to expand...

Hi Pete

could be climates? I was a little concerned with overheating issues with that I even used there housings with the AN 16 fittings and braided hoses which are smaller in diameter then the OE hoses and had no issues so far

Rick
 
Tas said:
Hi Pete

could be climates? I was a little concerned with overheating issues with that I even used there housings with the AN 16 fittings and braided hoses which are smaller in diameter then the OE hoses and had no issues so far

Rick
Click to expand...

Guys,

I have had good luck with this setup:

IMG_00141.jpg


The upper hose replacing the thermal vacuum switch (for cold warm ups) and it runs to the top of the overflow. The flow from this line is pretty high and I think it helps reduce some engine heat. I also added water wetter. I tried some other configurations and I noticed the ECT would get over 200 long before the fiat temp sender would and often long before the rad fan would come on.
 
Hi Tim
I am not having any problems with the cooling system setup I have,I will try to upload a pic if it works

Rick
 
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