Somebody is wanting to trade my d16y8 fully forged low mileage turbo e85 96 ek for a k swapped em2 with no ecu, his car has an 04-06 tsx k24 and everything else used for the swap came off an ep3(the car runs but basically redlines at vtec). I like the car he has made and all Ill need is a chipped kseries ecu because i plan on staying na. my turbo ek has hondata s300 v3. i was wondering if the trade would even be worth the hassle i will have to haul the car about 300 miles using a uhaul so it would be very expensive, i also already have even a shell car for the ek.

Thank you for any feedback, just wanting more information from people that know more than me.

 

There is no such thing as a "Chipped K-series ECU"... you will need a KPro which won't be cheap. WHY would you trade a running, driving car for an "all you need is an ECU - but you have to tow it home" car ? Is that REALLY all that you need ?

 

sorry haven't had a lot of time, but he has essentially rigged the d17 ecu to make the k24a2 run so it does run but it redlines at vtec.

 

Sounds like you are buying someone's busted *** unfinished project.

 

i was basically asking if the 350hp d series is worth more than the stock k seems like to me the d series has no where to go but the k has a lot more potential

 

Better ask for a pile of cash to cover getting the correct wire harness and ECU and any other hacks you uncover.

 

It's really up to you. The K-series can handle about 3X as much power in stock format (~600hp vs ~200hp), but the D-series, when built, can go a lot further than the 350 whp you're currently at. The K-series has more aftermarket support than the D-series. You'll be trading a known vehicle for an unknown, and taking the word of a stranger that the condition of the car/engine is indeed what he/she says it is. Unless it's a smoking deal, I would never personally buy someone else's project - there are too many unknowns, and usually lots of gotcha's. But honestly, it sounds like you've already made your mind up to trade. Good luck.

 

i am for sure in the middle on the choice, i didnt build the d series or even do any of the work on it, but i have taken it all apart and put it back together so i understand what all has been done to the car it has a block guard and everything it seems like it was built to be a drag car. i have bought a shell car for the turbo civic i own and my goal was to swap the engine and trans into a non cut shell and have a street car 350hp seemed like it would be a decent number for a daily

 

to add a little more information i only paid $3500 for the turbo car itself, it overheated on my way home and i trailed it the rest of the way back i work 7 days a week so the car has been sitting but i did a head gasket and all other seals that were easy to get to, i am relatively new into modified cars so my main issue is figuring out the hondata and everything into getting the car to a stable point once again just seems like it would be much easier to get a fully stock engine to run good and then modify myself

 

I initially missed where you said you'd be keeping the K-series NA. That typically does translate to more reliability due to less complexity. As a daily driver, you probably won't make as much power with an NA K-series as you would with your turbo D-series, so be prepared for that. I agree - 350 hp is about the limit for a fun street car. Beyond that you're probably either spinning or turning it down. If you aren't familiar with tuning, I recommend taking it to a competent tuner, or finding someone locally who knows what they're doing and have them teach you.

 

@DaX you do think that I would be able to get the car tuned to be safe even though it was built for running a drag strip

 

Absolutely. Find a tuner familiar with Hondas and tell them it's a street car. Ask them to be conservative with timing. Mine is a street car first and foremost, but I go to the track a few times a year, usually. Other than upgrading the setup and breaking things racing or pushing the setup, it's been pretty reliable. With the original setup (320 whp), I felt like it could have gone forever. All that said...I wouldn't want it as my only car.

 

i have a shitty manual civic i drive got 288k and counting so far so it wont need to be a daily i just like to have my cars to that point of being finished, i never like to have a project unfinished while needing to drive it, my main concern was the fact the car has the block guard and that i have no proof of the rebuild info just the cluster being at 2500 miles, but it shouldn't take much to get my car started probably drain the fuel tank and go from there either way thanks for helping me as much as you could