K Swap EF Civic Build: Parts List, Fabrication Progress, and Full Build Plan

Progress Update

Parts have been streaming in lately, and I got the major fab hurdle done. Ive got a week of business travel and a week of vacation for the holidays lined up next, but January is gonna be all reassembly and shiny bits, hopefully.

Seat Setup

An opportunistic scratch and dent halo seat trial. I was going to do another Sparco Circuit II as I am semi long-torso and semi cheeseburger belly, but can sometimes flicker down to a 32" waist. This seat is a little wide for me, but works well for the shoulder belt hole height.

The under side hump is unfortunate. The two side mount pairs i have on hand dont work great. The Recaros are aluminum, while the NRGs are steel. I may modify the NRGs once I have my steering wheel hub and spacers here.

Engine Mounts and Prep Work

Moving forward, the Hasport "EFK2" mounts require removal and replacement of the stock passenger side engine mount.

Chassis Prep

Once that was complete, the next task item in the way preventing paint work and brake line building, was to remove the pedal assembly, brake booster and both the front subframe/suspension crossmembers.

It is tough to tell from cellphone camera, but this pic is after a couple days of degreaser prep and bucket washing. I dont have a hose bib in this rental unit, so I filled buckets in the bathroom sink. There was an 1/8" of axle grease coating the bottom quarter of the firewall.

Clutch Conversion

This is not my photo, but an example of the cable to hydraulic conversion I am doing to drive the hydraulic K series clutch:

Shop Humor

If i drop the lift fast enough, the project will complete itself?

Donor Car Status

The turd parked in the corner with its ECU removed and shipped to Hondata:

Build Plan / Parts List

Donor Car is Providing:

• K20a3 engine and transmission
• engine harness, ECU
• all sensors, alternator, etc.
• both axles and the intermediate shaft

Aftermarket Parts List:

Drivetrain:

• Hondata Kprov4
• Rywire "Race/Universal" K series chassis side fuse box/chassis harness. I will run one wire from this kit to the stock fuel pump and run my own brake light circuit.
• Rywire ignition/switch panel, direct plug and play with the above. These two items replace the need for the shared chassis harness connection to the stock ECU.
• Skunk2 Alpha K swap header
• AIM MXm or MXq dash.
• Insane Shafts 36mm K swap hubs
• 5.417:1 MFactory final drive
• MFactory metal plate LSD
• ebay vendor cable to hydro clutch master conversion.
• EK/DC2 stainless clutch line.
• EK/DC2 clutch master

Suspension / Chassis:

• PCI front upper control arms with stock bushed pivots(no spherical bearings anywhere due to rules penalty)
• SPC rear upper control arms
• Suspension Techniques rear sway bar. This may get replaced/upgraded later.
• Honda CRX HF front swaybar, the smallest/softest OEM option. I considered building it with no front bar, but decided on "a" front bar, and the car came with the largest OEM Sedan variant. I picked up an HF bar from eBay.
• The car came on a set of period correct PIC(progress in control?) coilovers. Like an early 'oughts predecessor to Feal or Fortune Auto style setup, to my knowledge. They will be replaced and upgraded early next season, potentially after the first shakedown event.
• Stock lower control arms at both ends. Stock rear toe arm thingies on the stock trailing arms.
• Honed brake booster delete.
• EF Sedan brake master
• Wilwood adjustable proportioning valve
• All new custom hardlines, rear line probably ran under the car instead of through.
• Stock calipers for now.
• Zero aero. I am taking the BTM credit so it will have the stock Civic front bumper and rear spoiler. The shape of that front bumper makes an undertray very difficult, but that will be investigated after the motor is in and I can see oil pan depth, etc.

Wheels and Tires:

• Most likely 15x8 square, with 205/50/15 Hoosiers or 225/45/15 something elses. I have a set of scrubbed 225/45 Toyo RR to start the season on.
• I have a set of 15x9 Rota Grid, a set of 15x8 RPF1, a pair of 15x9 Jongbloed and a pair of 15x7 Konigs.
• I could do a couple different reverse stagger setups, but the NASA rules do not have an "average tire size" allowance like GLTC does, so the car will be classed solely on its largest tire, the front.
• I may potentially run a square tire but staggered wheel setup, 15x9/225 front and 8/225 rear.

What’s Next

I have alluded to the rules and their incentivization of certain build decisions. My next post will probably be the rulebook theorycrafting post, as the choices have pretty much all been made, save for exact comp weight which will be driven by average power built on the dyno.