This is the beginning of my K-swap project that I recently inherited from my dad @ljairtool that passed away January 8th 2021. A little history of him and the car. He was from the Denver area, and was an jet aircraft mechanic. He had few hobbies, but the ones he had he was very obsessed over. One of those being his X1/9. He owned one when he was younger. His best friend told me stories about them fitting 4 people in that car, and getting into all kinds of shenanigans. This car is a 1987, and I have found all of his order receipts, and things he done to the car to keep it running over the years (he never threw away anything). He had some health issues in the past which is why I surmise that he didn't complete this project. This will be a restomod project, and I expect it will take some time to complete. I am located in South Carolina, and will be working on this mostly out of my home. Here is the beginning state of the car.
K20A Euro R Swap - Project Inheritance
- Thread starter asudiswa
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- engine swap k20 restoration
Here are photos of the first cleaning of the engine bay, and photos of the rust. She's still greasy underneath, but I'm going to increase the concentration of the degreaser, and hopefully cut through the majority of the crud. I'm hoping that the rust is not too bad, but the car was in Washington, and in Denver so 
. The car only has approx. 93k miles on it though. I'm picking up a shell car this weekend, and will hopefully get some usable panels to repair these bad spots. I will also repair the heater pipes, and coolant lines. Thanks to Hussein for posting his repair as I'll use that as a way to repair the tunnel and have it serviceable in the future.
. The car only has approx. 93k miles on it though. I'm picking up a shell car this weekend, and will hopefully get some usable panels to repair these bad spots. I will also repair the heater pipes, and coolant lines. Thanks to Hussein for posting his repair as I'll use that as a way to repair the tunnel and have it serviceable in the future.Attachments
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I may try to save the seats, but I have also seen some nice leather done on here as well. I also think that I will delete the bumpers as I think that looks really good. All in all I think the car may be in decent shape compared to what I have seen out there. The white car is what I have seen on the bumper delete that I like, but I may change the tail lights, and paint it a little different.
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Looks like he was hooking up an amp, and doing some electrical work. I don't like the setup here with the cloth over the speakers so that will probably change. I definitely will need help on electrical as it is a weaker point of mine (mild color blindness), and tying into the Honda wiring. Was debating doing a PDM setup, but that may be overkill. Just starting to look into this though.
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Pete Whitstone
True Classic
Looks like a great project, welcome!
Haha that was my dad's garage. It has been cleared my man was a pack rat lol. Unfortunately my house doesn't have a garage, and they get upset about buildings so all I have to work with is my two sheds. I may get a spot later on that will give me more room, and coverage.
Bjorn Nilson
True Classic
So you found a photo of my white 1984 Exxie. -I am flattered. No K20, it is a modified Uno Turbo swap, but maybe some pics from the build process may inspire you.
Good luck with the project.
Good luck with the project.
Sweet!!! I’ll check it out bc I thought that was awesome! I forget where I saw it at but yes sir that thing is sweet as heck. Thanks I wouldn’t have picked the K20 to start offSo you found a photo of my white 1984 Exxie. -I am flattered. No K20, it is a modified Uno Turbo swap, but maybe some pics from the build process may inspire you.
Good luck with the project.
, but my dad put that in motion prior to his passing.Started work on the car today. First thing was removal of the wing. Had a stubborn bolt that had to be ground off. Had some pitting on here, but not as bad as I thought it was going to be.
Next moved on to flap discing the rust to see how bad it is. All things considered it wasn't as bad as I anticipated. Two really bad spots on rear driver valance area, and the second on the rocker panel adjacent to the passenger door.
The rest of the rust areas will be below but these were the two bad spots. Then I found bondo think my neighbor jinxed me on that one bc he literally said I can't believe there's no bond on the car then boom on the driver's side rocker panel it showed up. I suspected something when I knocked on them when I checked out the car. So hopefully the donor car has good driver's side panel as well. All in all considering where the car came from I am surprised it isn't worse on the rust so far (famous last words haha).
I then proceeded to remove the front and back bumpers. @Bjorn Nilson I couldn't help myself, but to see that backside!!! I must be a butt man!
Also if anyone knows how to remove this plastic on the bumper without the brute force method I did that may be helpful for someone in the future that wants to keep the bumpers. I could have probably drilled them out, but I didn't have the patience for that. My bolts ended up breaking off, and I couldn't hold the square bolt heads with the plastic piece still attached.
Glad to start progress on the build. I've ordered the transaxle rsx casing, and I have ordered the intermediate shaft as well. Progress may be slow after I finish the body work/tunnel repair as the car currently runs, and I want to drive it some in it's current state.
Next moved on to flap discing the rust to see how bad it is. All things considered it wasn't as bad as I anticipated. Two really bad spots on rear driver valance area, and the second on the rocker panel adjacent to the passenger door.
The rest of the rust areas will be below but these were the two bad spots. Then I found bondo think my neighbor jinxed me on that one bc he literally said I can't believe there's no bond on the car then boom on the driver's side rocker panel it showed up. I suspected something when I knocked on them when I checked out the car. So hopefully the donor car has good driver's side panel as well. All in all considering where the car came from I am surprised it isn't worse on the rust so far (famous last words haha).
I then proceeded to remove the front and back bumpers. @Bjorn Nilson I couldn't help myself, but to see that backside!!! I must be a butt man!
Also if anyone knows how to remove this plastic on the bumper without the brute force method I did that may be helpful for someone in the future that wants to keep the bumpers. I could have probably drilled them out, but I didn't have the patience for that. My bolts ended up breaking off, and I couldn't hold the square bolt heads with the plastic piece still attached.
Glad to start progress on the build. I've ordered the transaxle rsx casing, and I have ordered the intermediate shaft as well. Progress may be slow after I finish the body work/tunnel repair as the car currently runs, and I want to drive it some in it's current state.
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jimmyx
True Classic
Since I'm slowly conquering some rust issues on my '75, I think you might find the rusted areas you've shown might be a little more extensive than apparent at first glance. If you can't source what you need from a parts car, take a look here. Their panels are spot on and delivery to the US is quick.
Yeah I’m anticipating a little more on the backside. I’ll definitely check them out thanks man!!
Yeah I know they were factory. Since I’m bastardizing it with a Honda motor I figured all bets were off on keeping it looking stock. I’m debating on keeping the wing at the moment. I have a replacement already, but I need to clean up the rust underneath.
bjwhite
True Classic
Thanks bud. I’m leaning that way too but also like different variations that I’ve seen. I’m doing some other mods back there, and once I see how that looks then that may help me decide. I got a while before that though.And I meant to say condolences as well.
And yes, I'm all for losing the wing!
Picked up a donor car that was chopped up for another guy’s project (he’s doing an electric conversion). This one is pretty rusty but has some good areas that I can cut out. I’ll also salvage the tunnel here. I was also thinking about using this one as an initial run for the cuts on the kswap as well.
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Nice! Thank you I’ll definitely let you know. I think I’m going to blast the car or strip it to get the full extent of what I need.