K20 & K24
User avatar
By Wicked
#304358 So I want to do a K series swap, Lately I have been having little problems with my d15b8 and I think its starting to go, both the motor and the trans. Its my daily so technically if it goes then I'm in a tight spot of spending an unknown amount money to fix it (depending on what goes), as well as an unknown amount of time, to get my DD back up and running, which I don't want to go through...Besides I feel in danger having that little motor in the car it gives me no power to get out of situations. That motor burns more gas trying to just get up to speed then it saves cruising in 5th gear when finally there...

So as a replacement, I had in mind Mainly a k24a2/k20R frank (I'm not sure if I wanna boost or go NA but I'm leaning toward boost/Supercharge), which will be my final build. Of course such a setup will take time to build and source parts and money for, and I don't know how much life this B8 has left in it, to be waiting for this build to be complete. I've been seeing a lot of cheap k24 accord motors popping up on CL and I'm wondering if I should swap one of these in for temporary that way all the hard work will be done in terms of prepping the hatch for a K series (fab work and part sourcing). It will get this D out of there, provide more power then a B, and then when I can finally get to doing my current dream motor (the final build), it will simply be a drop in. Then I can just sell off the accord motor.

I currently own 2 b18a1s (both need rebuilding) and 1 rebuild kit,
The main dilemma is I only have the motors right now no tranny's mounts, axels, ecu, dizzy ect. Basically just a head/block/and internals with a rebuild kit, and still some misc essentials are missing from that setup like Fuel Rail/TB/Pumps/Cam caps/Oil pan/ect . There's still lots of parts and money that need to be sourced to do a B swap. I have been looking for a OBD1 B1 block but they are rare and snatched up quickly out here, or just way overly priced, which is what I wanted to swap in for my DD temp motor. Considering some of these K series are going for as much or cheaper then a rebuilt/replacement full D swap why buy a D series to replace a D series when I can buy bigger motor for the same price. Obviously it will cost more to drop in but will be totally worth it from a power perspective. Basically if I'm gonna lose this B8 I'm not going back to another D series...

So the way I'm seeing it is if I'm going to be getting a k24 eventually either way. I don't want to put any money in a b series I'm just gonna chuck (same as this D series if I have to fix it if it goes on me), So I may as well just put it into getting everything prepped for a K series from the get go since in terms of sourcing parts I essentially need all the same parts I would for a K series swap, and I could get a complete long block for less then it would cost to complete (or start from scratch with a B1) either of the B's I have now, and the end result would be a more powerful motor.

I have all the tools and the space I would need to do a K swap, The only problem is amount of down time the car would see during the prepping and fab work. The way I see it is, If I'm gonna have the motor out I may as well do everything to the engine bay (shave/tuck/paint) I have in mind. The idea is the same for any swap whether it be D,B, or K, except when the K would come around I would end up doing extra work on top of the work already done for D, B series swap, to set up the for the K series...At least the way I see it.

TL;DR So I guess I'm just asking, should I buy a cheap accord motor to run as my replacement DD until I can get my K24/k20 frank done? It shouldn't take me to long to source parts, I just don't want to do it twice if I don't have to. (source for B then for K) I'm super tired of this D15 and I want it out. Also what would be any issues I may run into in terms of smog with this idea since I'm in CA? I heard K pro isn't smoggable, but is required to run a K series in a NON K series vehicle because of ECU stuff with K series ECU's (key fob, and other misc sensors). I just got smog done so I'm clear for 2 years but I'm worried about getting reff'd.
User avatar
By kylenjdm93
#324671 You seem set on the 2.4 liter, great torque engines however the accord motors are garabge as far as building, same with the crv in my opinion.

I have 2 spares other than my type r I have in my eg, I rarely drive it but when I do I go to California and back to washington. They are reliable as long as you don't open pandoras box with turbo nonsense

A k20a3 will sell faster than a k24a4 anyway as the limited vtec valvetrain is great for boost in the theory of less moving parts is reliable.....

I would collect parts, and install the bare minimum to get it daily drive status.

Then source out cool parts you need to make it perfect.

Install new parts and you will have little maintenance to come up during the stress of a daily.

Make sure you ask me questions with pics ill get on them fast to answer any question you have during the proccess ill also go as far as re doing my little k swap article in the k section if our civic eg forum with extreem detail for any body wanting to do one.

Don't let the engine being on the opposite side of your d, b
User avatar
By kylenjdm93
#324672 Damn phones lol

Not at home...

Anyway I was saying don't let the k scare you its easy to do if you go slow my record time for pulling d and installing a k is 6 hours. Of course the k donor had little miles on it and pulled from his wrecked rsx type s.