FULLTHROTTLE

Well after a year of speculation and decision making, we finally decided to go forth with the turbo project for the shop truck, Honda Element. We initially decided that we would supercharge the already stout K24. But at Sema this year it was brought to our attention at the Hondata seminar that the K-Pro could be modified to use in the Element. After bugging them for a year and a half our dreams finally came true. So this is the first installment of our project. We plan to have the turbo kit finished and installed and ready to race by March 17th. The NOPI season opener at Phoenix raceway. (That's only 6 weeks folks!)

So here it goes. The parts required to install a K-Pro on an 03-06 MT Element:
1. RSX-S ECU 02-04
2. Hondata Adapter harness
3. Hondata K-Pro
4. RSX-S wideband oxygen sensor

At first I thought the K-Pro install would be as easy as an RSX or EP3. I was not so lucky. The ECU sizes are slightly different, as well as the bracketry that mounts them in the dash. Here is a quick pic of the RSX-S ECU required to run the E with a K-pro next to the stock Element ECU.
As you can see the rsx ecu is slightly shorter in size and has different mounting points. These mounting tabs are the reason for me modifying the stock Element case to accept the rsx ecu board and K-Pro. The RSX ECU wont fit into the slot where the stock ecu came out of on the Element.


Now, more issues. The stock Element case is longer and has different mounting spots to mount to the case itself. The RSX holes DO NOT line up.



The screw that mounts the K-Pro to the board is the only hole that is correct. So some things are going ok at this point. I elongated two of the holes to make it so that I could screw the board to the case securely.


But do NOT elongate and screw down the hole in this pic. The screw will make contact with a power tab section of the board and short it to the case. This can cause serious board damage and possibly engine/K-Pro damage!! As you can see in the pic, the metal power tab part of the board is sitting right where a screw would go to the left of the heat sink.



Now that I have that all taken care of, I move on to the USB port notch. Easy enough right? Wrong. There is a steel bracket in the dash that holds the ECU. It will need to be removed and notched as well as the case. The USB port faces forward directly into the firewall so it will need to be installed as the ECU is installed and left in there. Your tuner will love you for this step, trust me. Here are a few pics of the ECU case, with and without notch. And the bracket installed and notched.




Now the ECU part is done, install it into the dash as you removed it, with out course making sure that the USB cable is attached, and routed so that it wont be pinched or kinked. Install the adapter harness carefully and make sure that it is secured. It takes some work to make it clear the glove box but it can be done.

Install the RSX-S wideband oxygen sensor (primary) and you are ready to tune. I installed the TSX basemap into mine and the car fired right up. Next stop on this little journey is the manifold construction and installation. We have decided on a tubular manifold, T3-T04E .57 trim turbo with a .63 exhaust housing. Air to water inter-cooler (for lack of room for a decent front mount) and 850CC injectors. We plan on revisiting the tune this season with some E-85 supplements as the project progresses. If you have any questions I can be reached here: tobi@tcperf.com

Thanks and stay tuned!

ssmdc2

Good work there. Can't wait to see the rest of it. The only other element that I've seen turboed is the RevHard one.

FULLTHROTTLE

Yeah I have seen pics of it but never any tech data, track time or dyno sheets. The "kit" has been "Coming soon" for two years now. Im wondering if it just never happened or what. Anyone else have any confirmation on this?

STREETWERKZ

this is gonna be nice.


almost as nice as an alligator wearing a honda hat. p

cstyleaccord

i have an 03 accord with the k24a4 which is exactly the same as the honda element..i don't know if you notice anything about kpro in the element or accord..anyway the hondata harness will allow the motor to fire up and what not..but you lose functionality of the gauge cluster as well as the ac control..because of this particular reason i built my own harness that allows everything to work properly..coolant gauge working, rpm and speedo are working..and ac is defintely working...

FULLTHROTTLE

Nice, Info on that would probaby be pretty good for guys like us trying new things. I have a few Accord and TSX customers that would be very interested in how you built it.

FULLTHROTTLE

The turbo project is well under way. Here are a few snaps of what we have done in the last week and a half to get you up to speed. Progress should be fast from here on out so be patient with updates.

For the intercooler to fit I had to relocate the battery and fuse box. This is also for a cleaner look under the hood. Here is the mock up of the battery tray.

finished and ready for paint


Me welding up the last runner on the manifold...


Here is the manifold after coating. We went with a higher temp coating this time that is a little more expensive but the finish is incredible...



Here is the aftercooler chilling (haha) in its final resting place. Just need to weld up some brackets....



Tomorrow I will have the battery tray painted and finished, aftercooler brackets done. I will start on the front mount and lines for the aftercooler and ice tank. Stay tuned!!!


Modified by FULLTHROTTLE at 7:40 AM 2/15/2007

Jose.

very nice tobi.

FULLTHROTTLE

New update for this morning. Yesterday I was sick so I didnt get a whole lot done. I finalized the brackets for the aftercooler, and finished the front mount water cooler and hoses. Today the tranny is coming out for the 6 speed conversion, clutch and final drive upgrade. Also I should have the turbo and manifold assembly installed so I can start clocking it and installing the oil lines.

FULLTHROTTLE

Updates for Feb. 15, 2007.

Today went well, I am feeling much better and got a lot more done today than yesterday.
I got the transmission out, the 6speed conversion done, The Phantom grip installed in the diff, the turbo assembly done and installed with most of the oil lines done.

Here is a pic of the trans before teardown, Looks a bit strange compared to the RSX/EP3 trannies. LOL.


Here is a pile of the parts needed to do the 6 speed conversion. I planned on doing this a while ago and doing a write up on this alone but, there is a keen fellow over at http://www.elementownersclub.com that beat me to it. Cheers buddy, thanks for the write up.
If you are interested in doing this to your element please feel free to PM me or call us at the shop. This is not a job for the do it yourself'r by the way.


Here is what the internals look like before and after....



Here is what the shift fork assemblies should look like after the job is done.


And for future reference, the RSX-S diff is the same as the element with one slight difference. There is no boss for the 02-04 speed sensor ring. The E uses a mainshaft driven speed sensor similar to the 05+ RSX. So the quaife will drop right in for those of you wanting to get rid of that pesky one tire fire business on the 2wd E.


Here is a pic of the turbo assembly all ready to go to into the car...


Here is a pic of the unit all bolted into its permanent home. I measured the oil feed hose incorrectly and made a hose about 3/4 of an inch too short so I have to make another one tomorrow. That and I broke the mainshaft bearing on the tranny taking it off (oops) so when that shows up tomorrow on the overnight truck I will put the tranny back in and start on fabbing the drain tube, turbo feed pipe and intercooler pipe. All thats left is fuel pump, injectors, a litte wiring, the rest of the intercooler seetup and tuning! HooRay!



Stay tuned!!!1

ssmdc2

Owning an Element myself, I have to say this is great. Something I've always wanted to do, but I don't want to lose the practicality. Everything looks good but why did "skimp" and get the phantom grip? I know they are way cheap in comparison, but I have no faith in them. BTW Honda performance is my daily grind.

cstyleaccord

yeah or might as well put a k20 lsd in there..i just put an obx lsd for a k20 into my accord 5 speed. fit perfectly....so there go a test a trial for you..

edit:
nvm, just saw what you mentioned about quaife...lol..


Modified by cstyleaccord at 5:24 PM 2/19/2007

FULLTHROTTLE

OK, Update for February 17, 2007. I didnt get a whole lot more done on it in the last couple of days. Stupid work is getting in the way . I did however finish the tranny build and installed it with a ACT Clutch and flyeheel. I finalized the turbo assembly and installation with new oil feed and return lines, Seen here:


Here is a good shot of how much room there is left on the right hand side, There is plenty of room between the axle and turbo and still a lot of room between the VTEC solonoid and wastegate. From the looks of it you can almost change the wastegate spring through the wheel well without taking it off, we will see though. Hopefully I wont have to try it.


Monday if I have time I will install the subframe and begin fabrication of the charge pipes, BOV installation and plumbing, Injector install and whatever else I can get to. After that there will not be any updates until the following Monday. I need to do some training classes and wont be able to finish this up. It should only take me a couple of more days to get this thing done and on the dyno. Is there a pool going yet to see how much power this is going to make?

hionvtecxda6

iTrader: (1)

NICE! can't wait till she's finished. I'm curious how your MPG will be. thats the only thing that is making me not want to turbo my element. I wouldn't mind that the element is slow, but what gets me is that its slow and the mpg isn't that great. If it pulled a little more and averaged around the same mpg, that would be perfect.

i love my element, its my daily. i just get frustrated sometimes. its slow, mpg is whatever, the brakes suck, only a 4 seater, and it can't tow much. sorry i'm just venting lol.

FULLTHROTTLE

Yeah the MPG is crap on mine as well. Onaverage I was getting 20-23 city and 26-30 hwy which seems to be about average. Hopefully with the extra power I wont have to step on it very hard any more. But seems highly unlikely.

hionvtecxda6

iTrader: (1)

i'd be happy w/ what you're averaging! damn 4wd, i wish i could take it off during the summer. it only gets used in the snowy mountains. but i'm averaging 20-22 mostly highway. the last 3 tanks have been crap lately. in Jan i averaged 22-25mpg

swifty4u

stick

looks great.

does that 6 sp bolt right on to the E's 2.4 motor?
im assuming so if u have all those parts that u listed.

ever thought of putting the RDX SH-AWD tranny in the E? and motor?

FULLTHROTTLE

Alright ladies and gents. Got the install finished today, tomorrow I begin the tune process.
Here is a pic of the underhood that is now finished. Just have to send the pipes off to the polisher someday.


Here is the cooling lines for the aftercooler entering the trunk. I used some B series cam plugs for
the grommets LOL.


here are the coolant lines in the trunk passing through the floor. Notice the quick disconnects? Now I can pull the
cooler out and use the car for whatever menial job I have and then resume BOOOOOST!


Here is the cooler installed minus the hold-down strap. Still room for Beer in there!


Inside the cooler for those wondering, I used 25 feet of 1/2 inch aluminim tubing. I bent it to follow the contours of the
cooler. This system is a closed system so it wont spill or contaminate anything I put in the cooler (i.e. Beer, er sodas, candy bars etc.)


Tomorrow I will put her up on the dyno and finish the job. I still have not finalized the exhaust yet but that will be in the next few days as well. Stay tuned!


Modified by FULLTHROTTLE at 7:17 AM 3/1/2007

BERT-O

I must say, you are doing a excellent clean job on your element!!!

hionvtecxda6

iTrader: (1)

FULLTHROTTLE

Finished the project yesterday afternoon. Got the thing dyno tuned and driven for a bit before the snow came today. BOOO! I found out that the BFG all terrain TAs do not have very good traction under boost. Go figure. Here are the final numbers at 9 psi. 347 whp and 337 tq. Not bad for such little boost and stock internals. Today I am ordering slicks and getting prepared for the NOPI drags in Phoenix AZ. on St.Patricks day weekend.

Video: http://video.google.com/videop...81321

Jose.

:0 WOW ......

swifty4u

sick!

hionvtecxda6

iTrader: (1)

damn that much power w/ only 9lbs of boost! NICE!