I clearly remember the moment back in my childhood, when I first saw the EG6 civic. I wasn’t into cars at that time since I was too young to own a car not to mention to drive one, but I clearly remember that it was a love from the first sight. As the years were passing and I was getting older, I eventually got to own several tuned cars but none of them really filled my needs for a fast, well balanced track-day vehicle.
It was then, when my very best friend Kostas Sidiras shared a video with me. It was the Best Motoring “American Touge 1 @ Willow springs” episode.. And it would motivate me instantly! You see I’ve seen various K20 builds/swaps in the forums I used to lurk but I was completely staggered seeing the car in action. The performance of Top Setup’s k20a-swapped civic, a car build in a small garage by an average guy and driven to the event to compete with shop demo cars and trailer queens, was staggering.
The K20A become the…’heart’ of my project since with mild bolt on’s could outperform highly tuned B- series engines. However choosing the perfect chassis was going to be a compromise. The CRX might be the best choice being lighter and also better aerodynamically than all the other available choices but finding a clean example at relatively low price in Greece proved to be a mission impossible. Having a limited budget and trying to save weight from everywhere, I bought a DX civic with no P/S or A/C.
Rallyeman K20 EG @ Serres Circuit (tds trackday Nov08) from nikos tsagarakis on Vimeo.
We passed the next year researching, reading the k20a.org forum, trying to find every little detail that could become an obstacle when the “judgment day” (The Swap day!)Would arrive. We wanted this build to be an all out effort for a full track-oriented FWD and not another k20 swap done in someone’s shop with a big spec list. Value for money was my concern, but only quality parts were selected. It was very important for us to complete the swap on our own, getting as much knowledge as possible out of this experience but the same time we were creating the very first K2OA-swaped time-attack civic in Greece!
You may have noticed that I use “We” instead of “I”. The reason is that there are many friends that helped me as much as they could to complete my swap, and I really think this project wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for them! Special thanks to Nikos Tsag., Xaris, Giorgos, Vasilis, Nikos Gag., Fani, and of course Kostas!
Back to my story..
Having an almost new K20A Integra DC5 engine shipped directly from Japan, and getting most of the swap parts from Hybrid Racing and Karcepts,the swap was just about to take place. In the meantime, various performance parts arrived from Us and Japan, such as the HONDATA K PRO ECU, the QUAIFE steering rack and pinion, and a KAAZ limited slip differential.
The long wait for all the swap parts to arrive gave us time to complete the suspension work and test the car with the new suspension on the track. No compromises were made on the suspension parts as well. The TEIN Super Racing Coilovers featuring 24kg/16kg (f/r) spring rates were chosen as they have been race-tested and is a great quality for the price setup. The function7 rear lower aluminum control arms and the OmniPower front forged control arms also replaced the stock and heavy OEM arms. Many other quality products that are used in the process of removing all suspension links with brand new parts such as the Skunk2 front and rear camber arms, SRR toe arms, J’S Roll Center Adjusters, M&M bump steer adj. tie rods, a Whiteline Caster Kit and a huge ASR Aspec 32mm hollow rear sway.
The chassis rigidity is reinforced by stitch welding key areas of the chassis and some braces. Password:JDM front 3pt strut bar, a Cusco Carbon rear strut bar, a CUSCO front lower control Bar and the rear ASR subframe brace. The last part of the puzzle is adding a quality roll cage but that was delayed in order to find the best solution and have something both lightweight and safe.
Fast forward a few months the old DX engine was out of the engine bay and the new Kseries heart went in. Having already purchased an Rcrew “value for money” header, I had no other option than using the Hasport mounts with 97A bushings. Hybrid Racing Race standalone swap harness was used since my car was a carb’d EuDM civic and didn’t feature a fuel pump relay or a O2 sensor relay. At this point I really want to thanks Will from HR for his help and support. Hybrid Racing isn’t only about making great quality products but they know how to look after their costumers and support them! The biggest problem we faced was the fuel system. My carb’d civic required a new fuel tank and new hard lines, so the decision was made for a fuel cell along with braided hoses and a Bosch 044 racing fuel pump. We also installed a Visteon full size aluminum radiator, Karcepts A/C P/S removal kit, AEM’s hybrid intake and some others goodies.
The above setup was tuned at the dyno and produced 229 whp in a prepared chassis weighting 1885lbs(with fluids but without the driver). The car was featured in the biggest tuning magazine in Greece and won its class with ease at its first outing. The hard work we put on the build was rewarded the first time we saw the car on the track…Now the fun part begins! Driving the car and fine tuning the suspension setup..
ENGINE
HASPORT swap mounts with extreme race inserts 97A
HASPORT stage 1 swap axles
HYBRID RACING race harness
ΑΕΜ Hybrid Intake
HONDATA K pro ECU dyno tuned
ΗONDATA IM gasket
BOSCH Iridium-platinum plugs
R-CREW swap header 4-2-1 with 2.5″ collector followed by 3” cat back with one silencer
DEI header wrap
APEXi EVC
PASSWORD:JDM magnetic oil/tranny drain plugs
KARCEPTS A/C P/S delete kit
K&N Performance Gold Oil Filter
NRG Ground Wire System
GOLDEN EAGLE fuel rail
AEROMOTIVE A1000-6 fuel regulator along with a Marshall fuel pressure gauge
SUMMITRACING 8Gal fuel cell custom mounted in trunk
RJS fuel cell VENT kit with tip-over valve
BOSCH #044 external race fuel pump
NEW braided fuel hoses with DEI heat protection sleeves, SummitR fuel filters and EARLS fittings all the way
VISTEON alum. RSX radiator (full size) with SPAL fun
MISHIMOTO low temp fan switch
ELFATHERs custom braided clutch line
BRAILLE B106 3kg race battery into a SummitRacing battery box placed behind passenger’s seat
TRANNY & SHIFT.ASSEMB.
KAAZ Limited Slip Differential
BUDDY CLUB short shifter box with SKUNK2 shift knob
RCREW shifter and speed-source solid shifter mounts
RSX shifting cables with speed-source solid bushings
QUAIFFE quick steering rack 3.2
SUSPENSION
TEIN Circuit Master SUPER RACING coilovers
w/ pillow top mounts featuring 24/16kg F/R spring rates
ASR Aspec 32mm rear adjustable sway bar with asr alum.subframe brace
J’S RACING Roll Center Adjusters
FUNCTION7 billet alum. rear LCA
SKUNK2 Pro-series camber adj. rear upper control arms
SRR rear toe adj. arms
MUGEN rear trailing arm bushings
SKUNK2 Pro series plus+ camber adj. front upper control arms
OMNIPOWER forged aluminum front LCA
MUGEN front compensator arm bushings
WHITELINE caster kit
PASSWORD JDM 3pt strut bar
CUSCO carbon rear strut bar
MEGANC pillar bar
SPOT WELDED door sillings
M&M bump steer adjustable spherical outer tie rods
CORNER weight balanced
BRAKES
WILWOOD 4pot Dynalite Alum.Calipers
WILWOOD alum. Caliper adapter
2 PIECE ROTORS 280mm with alum. WILWOOD Bell
BRAIDED brake lines all around
4040 Integra Type R proportional valve
HAWK BLUE front pads and HAWK HPS rear
Motul RBF600 brake fluid
CUSCO Brake Master Cylinder stopper
INTERIOR
SPARCO Rev Fiberglass seat 5.5kg
BRIDE low max seat rails
OMP 6pt FIA harness
ΟΜP alum. Exting. mounts
SABELT black suede 350mm steering wheel
ΝRG 2.5 quick release hub
LONGACRE carbon panel (ignition + start button)
PIVOT RACING FO tachometer with Shift Light
DIY custom carbon door panels
AUTOMETER Ultra Lite II elec. oil pressure
AUTOMETER Utra Lite II elec.water temp.
FIA Approved master switch
EXTERIOR
Special Projects Motorsports P1 adj. attack angle front splitter
Custom under-paneling and rear diffuser
SPOON STYLE CARBON MIRRORS
BENEN rear tow hook
Αntenna delete plug
Crystal Clear front Headlights
WHEELS and TYRES
949Racing 15×8” wheels
KUMHO V70 225/45/25 semi slicks
SPARCO Extended studs and aluminum nuts
SOON TO COME:
Alum. Wing with btcc-type mounts
SPARCO roll cage