K(hold the A)24 turbo Wonder coupe RIP PURISTS

[tuzzio]

Thats what Jimmy did on his K-swap, and while he hasn't abused the car yet, its far enough away from the header that I wouldn't be very concerned personally

[deolio]

Originally Posted by tuzzio

Thats what Jimmy did on his K-swap, and while he hasn't abused the car yet, its far enough away from the header that I wouldn't be very concerned personally

[img]

Ayee that's perfect! I was trying to find a pic of a rwd setup with the Skunk2 valve cover to see what other people had done for like an hour last night haha

[deolio]

Starting paint prep on the car this coming weekend so I've gotta get the drop vent done asap! Going with the expanding foam technique. Hopefully it works!

Surgery time!


I made a grid to hopefully keep things as square as possible


Looks nice and ignorant just how I like



I wanted to see how this process would work, so I built in a ton of extra space so I can decide if I'd like to make a negative or a positive mold once it's all cured and ready to be shaped. 6 hours of cardboard and tape play later...


And after 20 minutes of frantic foam-mixing and pouring...


I actually missed taping up a spot to the front and the foam started pouring through the engine bay (you can see where the foam is kind low on the near side) lol hopefully it didn't get on anything that'll be too difficult to clean up! I think most of it just ended up on the ground.

[deolio]

I disassembled all my sp1's to do some face swapping and painting. I should end up with a pair of 17x9.5 +0 HP, 17x10 +11 NR, and 17x10 +11 SL if my calculations are correct.





And after 32 hours of curing I got to work shaping the drop vent.




The first stage was done with a hacksaw blade. I had a ton of excess and separating the foam from the tape was nowhere near as easy as the internet made it look (of course).




After a few hours of sanding with 40 grit I got it pretty much where I want it. I'll be covering it in waxed tape or something for molding, so the edges will be dulled a bit.





Andddd started paint prep... Here we go again...

[jr_ss]

Have you test fit on the car?

[deolio]

Originally Posted by jr_ss

Have you test fit on the car?

Not since shaping it. I did have it mounted on the car and closed when I built the containment box for the foam on the bottom side, so it should easily clear all components. The only possible issue is with the air intake tube. I ended up ordering a kpower intake manifold and am still waiting for it to show up and I'm not sure where that'll place the elbow coupler. If needed, I can add in a bulge fairly easily.

[deolio]

Whew! The last month has been a whirlwind. I spent at least 6 hours a day in the shop for the 2 weeks leading up to Final Bout SSNW and I still have a lot left to wrap up.

I finished shaping the hood vent and covered it in a layer of aluminum tape, which was supposed to make it easy to remove the fiberglass once cured.



Removing the vent was a bit of a challenge. I only did one layer, figuring I didn't want to build up thickness on the outside layer, which ended up causing the fiberglass to crack in a couple spots as I was fighting to remove it. Probably would have been a lot easier if it was a less complicated shape.



Here's where I fucked up:

1. For doing the second layer of fiberglass, I just did one layer on the inside and let it cure upside down on a flat surface. I should have just sat it on what was left of the mold once it started to cure so it'd be in the position it's supposed to end up in.

2. I wasn't super sure on how I wanted to bond the vent to the hood, so I left a bit of a fiberglass skirt, sanded off the gel coat of the hood, and applied resin. In retrospect, I should have trimmed to size to sit on top of the hood and then added some sheets of glass to attach it.

But anyway, I went ahead with the original plan and attached it to the hood. The driverside, which is where it had cracked during removal, was somewhat problematic and wouldn't sit flush without some added pressure.



And then after a coat of kitty hair and another of putty and like 8 hours of sanding I had to throw in the towel as I was running out of time.



The diffuser needed some mild repairs. Those were much easier haha



And got everything prepped. I was supposed to have new fenders and overs, but they didn't make it in time




Paint time!



Came out a bit too glossy



Especially compared to how the aero and all the other doodads came out. Ended up having to sand the car down and hitting it with a fresh coat of satin clear. I think my friend doing the paint started regretting taking on this experiment having never worked with satin paint before lol



While painting was being done, I took the opportunity to get my wheels powdercoated and rebuilt them.

Cleaned up hardware after a good 2 week soak in Evapo-Rust.



Did some face swapping and got a new set of lips/barrels and wound up with a pair of 17x9.5 +0's and four 17x10 +11's (pair of SL and pair of NR with different size lips/barrels).



Always loved the gunmetal on gunmetal look



At some point between coats of paint I was able to install the Kpower intake manifold and Chase Bays catch can and coolant reservoir



And then the final thing before first start: custom throttle cable. I ended up removing the oem cable and reusing it's bracket, which the new throttle cable slid into perfectly. I wound up with a ton of extra deadzone adjustability, but if my years playing with BMX and dirtbikes taught me anything, it's never cut the cable until you've got the feel dialed in.




So last Tuesday was make or break day. I had exhaust and some minor fab things set up for Wednesday, tune Thursday, and final assembly somewhere in between to tackle before departure on Friday. Andddd of course I forgot the computer with the Kpro software. Tried to start up anyway and we got it running on starting fluid, but couldn't get it to stay running. After a couple hours of taking shots in the dark I decided to throw in the towel. It was obvious it wasn't going to be ready for the fabwork in the morning, which set off the series of dominoes. It's likely for the best that I didn't force things as none of my team mates ended up being ready in time either.

Anywho, after a nice relaxing weekend hanging out with friends, watching drifting, and not worrying about car shit for the first time in like 4-5 months I came back and threw some panels on. I probably won't have time to actually mount any of it up for a few weeks, but the mockup was satisfying none the less.



Jury is still out on whether or not satin was a good choice. I'll need to reserve judgement until I've seen it out in the sun. Thankfully, my paint guy said he'd be happy to coat everything in normal gloss clear should I decide otherwise, but not for a few months haha

I also need to put more time into the hood. Little imperfection that I thought the satin would hide actually turned out to be FAR more noticeable than if it had been glossy 🙃 played myself yet again!

[deolio]

Ok, I finally got a chance to actually align/mount everything. Only having the headlights and bumper support as reliable reference points makes things quite a challenge. It took a solid 4 hours to get the front end fitting somewhat decently. I'm pretty sure the whole front end is slanting downward, towards the front because the hood hits on the swirl pot and coolant reservoir, which are mounted in the same spot on my shopmate's car and clears just fine. Some day I'll get it figured out, but for now I'll just relocate some shit lol



And then another 4 hours dialing in the ride height and fitting the rest of the aero, I got to roll it outside, but by then it was dark. I took some pics anyway.




I still need to finish mounting a bunch of shit and finishing the hood, but I needed to see it like this to stir up some motivation to get it finished.

[deolio]

So, I put all the window trim and seals back in place and put b-pillar and center console carbon overlays on for ricer points. I also finally bolted in the seat and new steering wheel. Andddd I also cleaned all of the tape residue off of the driver side carbon door card (someone a few owners ago covered the arm rest with electrical tape because it was too hot) and sat it in place. I can't wait to get the other interior bits and pieces in. It's finally starting to look how I had envisioned it!



Also, a few weeks ago I tinkered with the motor a bit. I put a few gallons of fresh fuel in and checked wiring. I did find that the power jumper from alt to starter was grounding out, but it didn't seem to have caused any issues. I wrapped the cable in plastic wire loom to prevent any future problems. I cranked the car a couple times and it sounded much stronger, but still wouldn't run. I again didn't have a laptop to check the tune with - I was hoping it was a wiring or old gas issue. Hopefully I can get my buddy with the laptop and kpro to give me a hand one of these upcoming weekends (though I should probably just get my own shitty windows laptop anyway). Sure would be nice to take it for a rip in August!

[collegekid]

In for moar pug pics

JK. I feel you on having multiple concurrent projects.
You atleast faced it and made a decision. I mean you also followed it up with getting two more cars but nontheless, congrats.

Car looks sick, even with the mockup. I can't wait to hear it.

[deolio]

Originally Posted by collegekid

In for moar pug pics

JK. I feel you on having multiple concurrent projects.
You atleast faced it and made a decision. I mean you also followed it up with getting two more cars but nontheless, congrats.

Car looks sick, even with the mockup. I can't wait to hear it.

Thanks! There will definitely be more pug pics down the road once I bring the car home!

Yeah, I'm bad at the whole "one project at a time" thing, though I did sell the Miata a couple months ago, so now it's only the coupe and the corolla, but aside from picking up a 4ag, there's been zero progress on that front haha

The stars finally aligned and I was able to get my buddy and his laptop out to the shop with me. After doing a Zoolander "files are inside the computer" reenactment, we made some progress.



My lack of PC-fluency and Hondata's quirks made troubleshooting quite a challenge, but after restarting the computer, cycling the key 9000 times, changing out the car's battery, and a final software update, we finally got it running! For anyone else thinking about running a Hondata ECU, I'd definitely suggest having a PC nerd and WiFi when you go to start it up. I'm 99% sure I just never actually loaded the base tune onto the ECU and that was the source of my issues all along lmao

Quick video of it running

I'm dropping off the car to get the exhaust done and a bracket for the electric ps pump made on Thursday and then taking it straight to my tuner. Really hoping to have it all buttoned up and ready for a shakedown on September 9th! Super happy to finally be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

[kanyedian]

Bloody hell that drop vent is all teh secks! Basically what I've been dreaming about but never wanted to attempt myself haha. I'm leaning towards a cf TA style hood for the kouki S14 front on my vert. Very cool work, brotha! Cheers from Tampa Bay

[tuzzio]

Good car.
Good owner.
Finish it.

[deolio]

Originally Posted by kanyedian

Bloody hell that drop vent is all teh secks! Basically what I've been dreaming about but never wanted to attempt myself haha. I'm leaning towards a cf TA style hood for the kouki S14 front on my vert. Very cool work, brotha! Cheers from Tampa Bay

Thanks! I really wish someone made a real "universal" drop vent that actually went deep instead of just like 1" lower than the stock hood, granted I still would have had to modify it, but it probably would have come out far better.

Originally Posted by tuzzio

Good car.
Good owner.
Finish it.

Ty boss, I'm on it boss!


Exhaust done! All v-bands, which seems very fancy to me. 3" all the way back with a flex section at the header, Vibrant Ultra Quiet resonator, and a fart canon with a Kakimoto tip. Sounds like a Subaru currently. Curious to see if adjusting the tune changes it at all.






I got some new wheels for the tow pig. You might say I have a thing for off-white on gunmetal...




Finally got it home and gave it it's first bath since paint. There was a ton of dust covering the entire car. I had no idea at all, so that's a bonus of satin paint I guess! It's growing on me.

[deolio]

Wiring is definitely my least favorite car-related activity.




Yet somehow, I managed to get my electric ps pump, gauges, and e-fans wired up correctly.




I had to adjust my throttle cable after a little drive around the neighborhood. The sleeve slipped further into the factory throttle cable stopper casing thing so now it's in there way more securely than it was before. Always fun wrenching under the dash... Sike!




The car had a bit of a misfire that I thought was just from fouled plugs from trying to get the car running and tune figured out, but after some diagnosing, I found cyl 4 was barely getting any fuel. I should have sent out a set of injectors to be cleaned and refurbished long ago, but it totally slipped my mind. After playing a bit of musical injectors, I found a spare that worked.




These dummy headlights seem to fit wonky on the right side on every car I've seen with them (including mine) so I fiberglassed some bolts to them so I could dial in the fitment a bit. They still fit funky in the corner, but at least they're flush with the fender now.






While doing a final test drive around my neighborhood before taking the car to be tuned, I noticed the voltage reading doing funny stuff. I thought nothing of it and figured I just did a shitty job wiring the gauge and went off to the dyno.

After warming the car up and backing it onto the dyno, the battery was fully drained and the alternator decided to stop charging at all.




Thankfully the part shop down the street was open late and had an alt in stock, so 20 minutes later we were back in business with much better voltage readings.




Final numbers came out to 199hp 152 ft/lbs (228hp 174 ft/lbs when adjusted for the dyno). Could have shot for more, but I wanted a broader powerband instead of maximum power.




The following day I took the car for a shakedown (literally).




The car ran flawlessly. I only had a handful of small issues, mostly caused by the car rattling shit loose (throttle body pulley, fuel rail bolt, starter signal wire). Aside from desperately needing an alignment, it was a blast to drive. The k24 is such a ROWDY motor I can't even explain. It's exactly what I wanted and needed.






Hopefully my registration will come soon so I can finally set the ride height where I want it instead of it being dictated by a damn u-haul trailer.

[kanyedian]

So sick, bro! Awesome recent update. Working under the dash omg I lost it when I saw that pic xD

I supercharged my 2008 Civic Si with a factory K20 and I loved it to deaaathhh. Revving to 8600 was so fun and there's something crispy and awesome about an NA engine.

Nice skids! I wanna hear that thang! ♪♫

[tom cruise]

man this is so good. where dat waaaaaaang at tho

[Thursday7]

Fucking awesome

[deolio]

Originally Posted by kanyedian

Nice skids! I wanna hear that thang! ♪♫

Thanks! It's funny, people have told me it sounds like everything from a "typical honda" to a sr to a s52. Sounds most like a ka to me haha

Originally Posted by tom cruise

man this is so good. where dat waaaaaaang at tho

Shoulda ran the one I sold you for that event 😅

Originally Posted by Thursday7

Fucking awesome

Thank you!


After the event, I decided it was time to tackle the grimy carpet issue. I regretted the decision as soon as I started. Working inside an s13 in a garage when it's 100? out was a terrible idea.



Once I got the carpet out, I realized why I couldn't get the left side of the driver seat rail to thread anymore. I think I already knew about this, but in the 5 years since I had driven it I totally forgot. Going to have to be a last minute fix before the next event on 10/29 so the interior shall stay scattered about my garage for a few more weeks I guess 🙃



At the end of the shakedown day, my drivetrain started making some weird noise. After spinning the wheels at home and not being able to pin point the source of the sound, I decided to go ahead and pull the diff to regear. If my math is correct, this 3.5 should be similar to a 4.3 with sr/ka box.



Upon reassembly, I found the source of the noise - just like everything else on the car, the engine had shaken the bolts at the front of the driveshaft loose, which was fortunately an easy fix. In the process I loctited the shit out of everything and also found that my subframe was on the verge of emancipating itself.



Now that I'm confident I've got 90% of the quirks worked out I decided to lower it to a more reasonable ride height. Crazy how much better a few mm make it look 😍

[vdubkidd]

This is so cool!

[S14Gio]

This thing is so awesome man. That drop vent is so rad. Stoked to see this unit back driving! How you liking that 100 series?

[deolio]

Originally Posted by disrespect

This is so cool!

Thanks!

Originally Posted by S14Gio

This thing is so awesome man. That drop vent is so rad. Stoked to see this unit back driving! How you liking that 100 series?

Thank you! Love the 100. Been in the family since it was new. 265k and still on the original motor and drivetrain ��


After a long, arduous journey through the DMV system I finally got the car off PNO and some fresh tags.




And took the car for its first legal street drive since doing the k swap. I can't imagine how brutal it would have been driving on the freeway with the 4.08. Even with the 3.5 I was nearly at 4k doing 60mph.




I entered a comp last Sunday. I wasn't able to get an alignment in time so I kinda eyeballed it at home, then tweaked it accordingly at the track. I kept having weird balance issues where the car wouldn't break loose or would nearly spin. After playing with tire pressure, I ended up switching to a different set of wheels that had new ss595's instead of rsr's and it made a world of difference. (American flags were part of my costume GO USA GO!)




After going in and out of the pits making adjustments I finally got the car dialed in and put down some solid runs, but it was too little too late and I wasn't able to make it into the big show ��

After the comp it was time for fun runs and I started to get really comfortable with the car. Putting the 3.5 in was the best decision. It feels comparable to running the sr with a 4.6, but now I have the rpm range to really make the short gearing work.

[deolio]

After the last event, I finally got around to fixing the seat mounting point. After drilling out the spot welds, removing it from the car, and inspecting it for cancerous rust, I decided the best course of action was to cut out the smashed section and replace it with some new metal, rather than trying to rebuild the entire mount point.




After a few trips to the welding supply shop I finally got my mig welder set up after sitting in the corner of the garage for over a year. I tried my best to harness everything I learned in metal shop in high school 15+ years ago, but I was far too rusty and had to phone a friend to finish up the job. Not the prettiest welds, but they got good penetration and the seat lined up perfectly, so I can't complain!




With the seat mounting point repaired, I finally installed the new carpet. Boy, I tell you what, I'm never doing that bullshit again! I tried to use the old carpet as a template, but everything ended up being way far off once I began installation. I got the driverside situated pretty nicely, but the passenger side was a headache. I still need to go back and tidy up a few sections, but an untrained eye would never notice the imperfections that were driving me crazy, especially with the Dmax floor mats in. So close to being done with the interior tune!




I can't currently run an actual headlight on the driver side, but I want to be able to drive at night. After a few beers and messing around with some brixxx, I got the dumb idea to steal the projector and put it in my position light.




A few beers, some precise dremeling, and 30 minutes later, I had a driverside headlight with the worst cutoff ever seen! I have yet to try actually driving at night with this setup, but I'm sure oncoming traffic will love it.




I had some issue with the ebrake last event and after a few days of the car sitting in the garage, I noticed a puddle, which turned out to be brake fluid, behind the passenger rear wheel.




This poor caliper has definitely seen better days. I didn't have time to give it a nice clean so I just slapped some new o-rings and boot on and it seemed to have fixed the problem.




I took the car for a quick little pre-event test drive and everything felt perfect. I had take the opportunity to stop and take a couple dreary fall day pics just in case I fucked it up at the event haha






And then I went to the event and promptly fucked it up.




Just kidding, I only dragged my skirt and my front bumper around. No one cares about the cosmetic appearance of the underside of your aero, right????

I ended up running out of time to get an alignment before the event, so again I spent the morning adjusting the toe. Eventually I got it feeling pretty good, despite it pulling a bit, and got comfortable enough to throw some backies, which is all I've wanted to do for the last 6 years. I love this car so fucking much. It was well worth the wait.

[zwzweston]

Awesome update, can't believe I missed it. Car looks sick, I'm sure it sounds gnarly, and it's getting tracked -- doesn't get much better than that.