0R4NGE

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Oh, I forgot to add the vents. You don't need to use the VA vents if you don't like them. There are dozens of aftermarket vent options running the gamut from full billet that look like Jet engines to simple chrome bezels on black plastic.  Here are some of them - https://www.summitracing.com/search/part-type/interior-vents

[shlammed]

18 hours ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said:

Oh, I forgot to add the vents. You don't need to use the VA vents if you don't like them. There are dozens of aftermarket vent options running the gamut from full billet that look like Jet engines to simple chrome bezels on black plastic.  Here are some of them - https://www.summitracing.com/search/part-type/interior-vents

Thanks for your feedback on the restomod/vintage air units. 
 

the vents themselves I’m ok with defrost/foot/face(?) like a normal Datsun. Just don’t want to block two of those face vents to install a small 4” speaker if that’s the line you were referring to. 
 

while on speakers. Has anyone made a nice looking speaker adapter to put a mid in the front doors?

 

im picturing a wrapped piece of mdf or something to space it off the door so the window still works but might be able to maintain oem look. Otherwise it’s just building some kind of box maybe under the dash with a remote tweeter mounted on the door. 
 

rear speakers I’m going to build a panel above the rear seat shelf. Maybe try to include a 3rd brake light in the design. 

[shlammed]

No big updates, doing life stuff mostly.

 

I have pulled apart the rear control arms to refinish them.

The honda engine is finally at my house and not at my cottage.  Now I can get moving on some of the RWD adapter things.   Im going to have to make a trip to the wrecking yard again to get some things i didnt have energy to do after the engine pull  (k20 oil pump, a throttle body and the VTC solinoid the engine was missing when i pulled it)

[shlammed]

Parts hoard is accumulating.

 

Today I should have the Collins Honda K to KA trans adapter with flywheel.  I was passed along a good deal on one through marketplace and its in the mail.

 

I have been relentlessly cleaning the oxidation off the engine to get it cleaned up and ready for test fitting.  wire wheels, light touch with a burr, DA sander where I can.  Valve cover and front cover are in high temp acid etch primer.  Im possibly going to try to get some aluminum brightener to spray the block with before I prime it.  Would anyone else know if thats a good idea or a waste of time if I am painting it?  I have seen engine blocks (especially aluminum) bubble up the paint and I was thinking the brightener might get rid of some of the oxidation right before I paint it.

 

I will swing by Honda to order some of the proper flywheel bolts. (v6 accord manual) and since my trans is apart I will check the bellhousing mounted up for alignment through adapters. 

 

Working towards a good base on the Honda engine and all its EFI sensors/bits Im doing some choice updates to work well with standalone.   Im using some pressure transducers for pressures where honda had a switch (in place of vtec switch). using a bosch wideband knock sensor where Honda had a narrowband sensor so I get full resolution in the standalone.  Knock sensor probably would have been fine but if in the standalone i set the wrong filter parameters to match the honda knock it wouldnt have shown anything.   Will be removing VTEC (budget honda engine doesnt have real vtec) so Im getting a vtec delete plate and I will try to run variable cam timing to the best of my ability; this standalone I bought for L series isnt supposed to control it very well but the software seems like it should work.

 

Not many "big ticket" items left but there are some. (coilovers and wheel/tires)

Edited October 18, 2023 by shlammed

[shlammed]

anyone have a copy of some body dimensions for collision repair?  both of my fenders rub on the hood.  Want to check everything for square before I get into reworking individual pieces.

 

My engine adapter plate never came in.  UPS lost it. still working through that with the seller.  pretty bummed on that.

[Trophy24]

That’s a bummer. I remember how excited we were to get ours 

[shlammed]

On 11/14/2023 at 10:08 PM, Trophy24 said:

That’s a bummer. I remember how excited we were to get ours 

Still dealing with trying to get the $ out of this  😞

 

surprisingly I did order a lightweight stock flywheel to get moving on some custom adapter and its crank bore is undersized by quite a bit and wont even pull onto the crank.  I will have to return it.

 

Thinking I might get rid of the 71C and get a BRZ transmission and adapter kit.  I was hoping to stay 71C because I could keep stock speedo and driveshafts should be easier.  They are getting older and harder to find though where BRZ are easy to find, give me an extra gear (which would probably be nice for a street car) and should hold about the same amount of power.

 

The BRZ uses wheel speed sensors though for speedometer so there isnt anything that I can make work.  I also like the idea of a stock speedometer, if it works...

I can get an aftermarket speedometer but it will also have to have an odometer for registration requirements here. 

 

Been doing lots of family and friend stuff so I havent done a whole lot other than slowly hoarding things.  I have a wideband kit and the seller was a honda guy so he gave me a set of his stock VTEC cams from a k20 that I can run in this and maybe make 200ish hp with locked vtec pins.  Going to lock the pins now but only going to swap those cams in after I have the engine running on the small stock cams to keep it simple and then i wont struggle trying to get a tune in it to make sure it all works.  I do want to put them in though even if that means normally cruising around at 3000+rpm lol.

[Z23T]

This adapter from Speedhut looks like it would allow you to keep the stock speedo with the BRZ trans. 

 

https://speedhut.com/categories/speedbox.html

 

Edited December 5, 2023 by Z23T

[shlammed]

Next question would be if the stock speedos have issues or not.  Gears getting brittle or something?

 

at $500 for the adapter I can easily get a high end replacement or go with a digital dash. I’m not sold on that yet but it may go better with my exterior restomod style build than I think. 

Edited December 5, 2023 by shlammed

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Original gauges are always better than medern aftermarket electronic gauges, but as you say, there may be wear in a 50 year old gauge.

 

Take it apart and have a look. Most times an old gauge just needs lube.

[shlammed]

 

This is the game that never ends....

 

Still trying to get either my kswap adapter that ups may have or a refund.  Since its in UPS limbo paypal wont refund me.

 

super frustrating.  I dont want to re-order and have it found and be out another $1800cad +ship+border fees. but i want to get moving on the project.

 

Will be ordering kpower intake manifold shortly.  I grabbed some slightly larger RDX injectors at my last visit to the scrap yard along with some little bits.  I have to go back with my sawzall to cut the subframe out of an RSX to get my k20 oil pump out of it.  I expected (wrongly) that i should be able to drop the pan on the engine without pulling the subframe.  then i will jam something in the crank to get that silly crank pully off that wouldnt budge with my m18 1600ftlb impact.  

 

 

When I go back I will look for some bmw E90's if i can and grab an ABS system out of it.  Will be trying to retrofit an  MK60e5 4 channel abs system into the car as part of my brake upgrades

Edited January 8 by shlammed

[shlammed]

Paypal came through.  Send your $ as goods and services!  It took forever but it came back.

 

Since I dont have a KA trans adapter I decided to reconsider it all.   Going to get a BRZ trans out of a local wrecking yard later this week.

 

Once I have a trans Im going to make a Kpower order to get the adapter and flywheel plus their nice intake manifold.

[shlammed]

Going to re-read my own thread to get grounded again.

 

BUT...

I have FRS transmission now for the kswap and will be getting Kpower adapters and intake shortly.

[shlammed]

 

BRZ trans should fit well.

 

This is compared to S13 KA 71C.

[iceman510]

Except the shifter is going to have to be shifted by a rear seat passenger.  Unless you remove and modify that rear extension.  71C already moves the shifter back substantially from stock and requires raising the tunnel.

Edited February 13 by iceman510

[shlammed]

30 minutes ago, iceman510 said:

Except the shifter is going to have to be shifted by a rear seat passenger.  Unless you remove and modify that rear extension.  71C already moves the shifter back substantially from stock and requires raising the tunnel.

Yes. The shifter is getting floor mounted in place and the shift arm gets shortened to fit. 

[Rustbin]

It looks like a lot of tunnel massaging will be needed. How does this affect the center cowl drain?

[shlammed]

10 hours ago, Rustbin said:

It looks like a lot of tunnel massaging will be needed. How does this affect the center cowl drain?

I will let you know. 
 

but side by side the brz isn’t all that different. It’s an aisin trans, same as the s15 trans. Clearly a different bellhousing. 

 

it should fit not problem. Clearance might be tight on the clutch arm slave cyl. If needed I will go internal hydraulic slave as a last resort. 

[shlammed]

Some other photos i dont think i ever shared.  And I like build threads with photos.

 

k engine cleaned up a bit.

 

LOL paint booth.

 

 

Dont worry about my messy desk.  Its clean now I promise  😛

 

And yesterday a buddy pressed my ARP studs into the rear hubs since the stock studs are hella short.  Went miata studs in the rear.  Will change the front too since they are different pitch but for now I will do the rear since its apart. The front will go quick since I have the S13 spindle adapters from JBC.

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

I keep trying to come back to this thread, but you lost me at Honda swap.

 

Nice work though.

[shlammed]

On 12/16/2022 at 4:00 PM, shlammed said:

k24a1 ~$300 at u-pull yard

3/8 or 1/2" steel plate laser cut for adapter ~$50 if I can come up with a design.  or maybe closer to $100 in aluminum

stock flywheel and pressure plate (might get with engine?  ~$100 otherwise)

s13 clutch disc (likely have from an S13 project)

custom input bushing $DIY

maybe mill the face of the bellhousing to depth $DIY

engine mounts $DIY

oil pan work $DIY

k20 oil pump ~$50 (scrap yard)

flipped/tube subframe $DIY

JBC subframe ~$150

Driveshaft shortening $DIY

Kpower adapter plate, flywheel and a Bully clutch $1000  - need to figure out how to get this one from a guy on the internet.

 

Stock honda wiring reworked to simplify (likely from an auto car) and to connect to power $DIY

Some kind of programmable ECU - lots of options for the hondas. ~$600

Aem infinity $350

AEM wiring harness $40.

 

Header ~$150 (I can DIY and materials arent too bad)

RWD Intake manifold ~$500 (I still dont like intake manifold work)

Rad hoses ~$20

Intake tube/filter ~$20

fuel pump/lines (FPR a part of the honda rail or is it constant pressure?.. to research) ~$150

 

 

Lots of custom work and lots of nickles and dimes.

Updating this with current "how its panning out"

 

relatively inexpensive because Im cheap lol.

[shlammed]

2 hours ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said:

I keep trying to come back to this thread, but you lost me at Honda swap.

 

Nice work though.

I tried L series twice. Both needed to be rebuilt and prices for that didnt make sense.

 

Im taking my square shaped uninteresting engine back in time.  No vtec, minimal controls and big cams.

 

I have VTEC cams in the engine now but the rockers are locked in place so it will just be the large lobe running it all the time.

I expect to make 200hp or so with the engine as is and that would have taken so much work to make with the datsun engine.

 

At this point just driving the car is more interesting to me than trying to rebuild an engine or something.

 

 

 

Today my action plan is to get the engine and trans adapter, get them mated up and fit the JBC subframe/engine to see how the drivetrain will fit. Get some mounts made and then drop it out to finish the underside.  That will give me a bit more to do at home too with finishing up nice engine mounts and oil pan before I drag the whole thing back to my garage maybe this spring to work through the final details.

 

[shlammed]

Hopefully this all comes this time lol.

 

Ordered: 

Second hand kpower adapter plate, aluminum 8lb flywheel and kpower brz shifter plate/linkage.

(new) kpower intake manifold

Skunk2 66mm throttle body

 

 

Excited to have found the adapter bits and the shifter plate at a decent price.  The shifter plate Im hoping will be more or less the size I need it to be on the 510 tunnel, Im just hoping its not too wide or I will have to modify it.

 

The intake manifold is sized for a 74mm throttle body but for a street car that would be far too big I think.  My self justification in size came from looking at stock throttle body sizes.  The 06+ tsx k24 has a larger size than most k24; its 64mm plus you can tune the pedal relationship with dbw.  Its also a more powerful engine than I expect I can make without turbo while being all motor.  I think the 66mm should be able to flow a bit more than a 64 but also maintain way more drivability than a 74mm.   I will have to spend a bit of time with a sanding roll to taper the body of the throttle to the intake manifold but that should be good.

 

66/64 in area is ~6% more surface

74/64 is ~33% more surface!

 

With VTEC deleted I will need a little more ability to modulate the pedal too lol.

[shlammed]

Kpower adapter, flywheel and shifter are in.

Intake should be here later today or maybe next week.

 

 

[shlammed]

A few bits and bobs came in. 
Kpower Trans adapter and adapter flywheel for Honda k engine to BRZ trans mounted and test fit.

 

Kpower intake manifold.  Skunk2 throttle body (66mm) coming in the next week or so.

 

Heading up to see the cottage this weekend.  Not intending to do much but I do want to get the tip-over jig bolted on and maybe test flip the car on its side.