Innovative Mounts EK K Swap Steel Mounts EG Subframe

Innovative Mounts EK K Swap Steel Mounts EG Subframe

If you are shopping EK K swap mounts and your 96-00 Civic is already sitting on a 92-95 EG front subframe, this is the steel kit that finishes the job. It carries a K20A2, K20Z1 or K20Z3 with a K-Series manual transmission in an EK, EJ or EM1 chassis, and it is the same kit as the billet B90051 version with steel housings instead of machined 6061 aluminum.

What It Is and Why It Works

It is the version most K swapped EK builds run, it is the version most shops have installed dozens of, and at the same bushing durometer it holds the engine in the same place the billet kit does. What you give up is the machined look and the polished or anodized finish options. What you get back is a lower entry price on a build that already ate your budget three parts ago.

The whole kit is cut around the EG subframe geometry, and that is not a detail you can work around. Running the 92-95 EG or 94-01 DC2 front subframe under an EK sets the engine slightly further back, which improves axle alignment, buys hood clearance (the thing you notice most on a tall K24), and opens up the front of the bay for a real radiator and fan. These mounts and sub brackets are dimensioned to that layout. On a stock EK subframe they do not line up, and there is no adapter that fixes it.

Mechanically these work by deleting the fluid chamber that lives inside the OEM rubber mount. That fluid damps idle shake in a stock car. In a K swapped EK it lets the engine rock under load, which you feel as wheel hop off the line and a soft, laggy connection between throttle and forward motion. Take the fluid out, run a polyurethane bushing in a steel housing, and the engine stops moving around.

That firmness comes with a bill. These transmit more engine noise and vibration into the chassis than the OEM rubber mounts did, and more of it every step up the durometer ladder. Innovative Mounts states this plainly in its own product notes. The kit starts at 75A black, which covers roughly 250 to 400 horsepower and is already stiffer than most people expect on a car they drive daily. The 85A grey is a 400 to 500 horsepower race bushing. The 95A red is essentially solid. There is no 60A street option on this part number, so if a quiet cabin outranks throttle response for you, this whole category is the wrong turn.

Specs

Available Options

Fitment

The car has to be a 96-00 EK, EJ or EM1 Civic that has already been converted to the 92-95 EG (or 94-01 DC2) front subframe including the rear crossmember, with the matching steering rack and lower control arms, and the engine has to be running a K-Series manual transmission. Innovative Mounts lists engine coverage as K20A2, K20A3, K20Z1 and K20Z3. A K24 will work but needs the separate K24 timing belt post mount bracket, Innovative part 103750, which replaces the Honda 11910-PPA-000 CR-V post mount.

What to Know Before You Buy

Go look under your car before you order. This is the number one mistake in the EK K swap mount category and it is entirely preventable. If your Civic still has its factory EK subframe, you need the EK subframe version of this kit, not this one. These mounts cannot be returned once they have been bolted down and taken bolt impressions, so a wrong guess here is not a restocking fee, it is a total loss on the kit.

Also understand that moving to the EG subframe is a project, not a part. You need the EG or DC2 steering rack and the lower control arms that go with it. If you are keeping power steering, add rack and pump plumbing to the list. A lot of EK builds go manual rack at this stage specifically because the plumbing gets simpler. Get all of that decided before the engine is hanging.

On bushing choice, buy the softest one that covers your power. A 75A on a naturally aspirated K20A2 street car is already firm enough that you will hear the engine through the shifter at idle. Putting 85A or 95A in a car you commute in is the kind of decision people quietly undo six months later. Innovative Mounts will change bushing hardness one level at no charge through its warranty process, which softens the blow, but it is easier to get right on the first order. If you are boosted or past roughly 400 horsepower, take the 85A.

Steel or billet is mostly a looks and budget call, not a performance one. Both versions of this kit carry the same 25 lb listed weight and both run the identical polyurethane bushings, so the durometer you pick affects how the car drives far more than the housing material does. Go billet if you want the machined finish showing under the hood. Go steel if you would rather spend that money on K swap axles, a shift linkage that clears the new engine position, or the correct post mount bracket for your block, all of which are parts people order about a week too late.