I've been searching for a good daily driver for a while now and settled on a Honda/Acura brand product for their reliability and relatively inexpensive parts/maintenance. I wanted something fun so I narrowed my search down to stock '99-'00 civic si's and pre-2000 civic hatchback w/ B16 swaps. However, lately I've been focusing on used K swapped civics’ as they tend to go for relatively little more money than a clean '99-'00 si and, the K swap looks to be considerably more fun.


I know that K swaps will naturally be more expensive to maintain in terms of the price of parts and probably labor costs as well. I've also heard that the K swapped civics have a TON of vibration esp. when @ idle, and foremostly this car is supposed to function as my DD.

I am not certain just how much more expensive will a K swap be to maintain, with exception of major issues I think the costs will be in the same $ range. I def. can stand some of vibration but only to a point... if I was buying it for strictly personal enjoyment such issues would'nt matter nearly as much to me.


I understand that there will obviously be trade offs in terms of effectiveness of fulfilling the role of DD by choosing a K swap car over a more "standard" civic, but just how bad will those trade-off's be? I keep having to remind myself that I am buying a DD not just something to have fun in. I am not a Honda expert, I am emberassed to say I have never even driven a civic nor owned a Japanese make car (I have always owned Euro cars, but obviously the maintenance costs are retarded & not worth the benefits)... am I getting in over my head by expecting a K swapped civic to function as a good DD? I appreciate any input. Thanks for your time,




P.S
I found a super clean Civic EK K24 swap and felt it was too good to pass up, so I jumped on it & paid for a compression/leak down test (will get the results tomorrow). I am planning on closing the deal, placing a non-refundable deposit if the motor performs well in the compression test. However I have'nt driven the car yet, which obviously is'nt the best way of going about purchasing a car

So this is my last chance to change my mind. Let me know if you think I am jumping into something without properly thinking things through. The gentleman that I am buying the car from is a member of this website, hope you don't mind my post Mike!

 

i dunno about the vibration, but the k24 has some good low end torque, if u dont know honda's are weak on torque

 

well you better do your research on k swaps. they aren't simple. one of the hardest to do. for a noob as yourself with hondas i wouldnt want to jump to the big boy first. that honda isnt going to handle like your euro car could. drive the car first before you buy it. get a good feel for how it's going to handle. the K24 has lots of tq for a honda and i dont know if your used to fwd but your gonna have lots of torque steer under med and high loads. but if the car feels good to ya then get it.

 

Thanks for the replies.

I hadn't thought about the torque steer issues, thanks for bringing that up. The car has a RSX type S tranny w/ LSD, I wonder how much the LSD will help alleviate the torque steer? The car does have a lot of torque for a honda motor- 191 tq, 251 whp



Here's the specs on the EK k series swap I am in the process of purchasing:

Engine-
2005 k24a4 from Dr Charles/ Skunk2 ef wagon
Stock k24a4 bottom end with k20a2 oil pump
Skunk2 Ported head
Head milled 25 thou
Skunk2 Pro Series Valves
Skunk2 Pro Series Valve Springs
Skunk2 Ti retaniers
Skunk2 Stage 3 cams (smaller than an a2 stage 1 cam)
Skunk2 68 mm throttle body
RC 440cc injectors
RBC Intake manifold ported and modded
Hondata Intake manifold gasket
Golden eagle pro series fuel rail / steel braided fuel lines
HKS Fuel pressure regulator
R-Crew Header
Rsr ex-mag exhaust
Visteon full size racing radiator with slim fan
Hassport motor mount kit
Karcept shift adapter box

Tranny-
RSX Type-s 4.7 final drive LSD 6 speed

Computer-
AEM EMS church dyno 251 whp@191 tq

Suspension/Braking/Wheels
ITR 5 lug conversion
JDM CTR Springs and Shocks
ITR Rear Sway Bar
ST Front Sway Bar
ITR Front/ Rear disc brakes
Steel Braided lines
08 civic 16" wheels 5 lug

-It also has hybrid-racing aftermarket axles. 40K on the motor/tranny, 70K on the chassis.

 

Reliability is going to be dependent on how well the swap was put together. From the list you posted, it seems that the current owner didn't have any expenses spared. The biggest issue as a daily driver is whether or not the lack of power steering or air conditioning is going to be a factor for you. It seems that many choose to omit them when performing a swap.

I am not sure if this is a coupe, sedan, or hatchback but if it is a hatch and it is in an area where road salt is used, take a moment to pull the taillights off and check for any corrosion in the interior seams. This thread has some good pictures. The 99 DX hatch I have had the beginnings of rust in that same spot.

 

First question you should ask yourself is how the theft rate is in your area? If your building a weekend warrior no prob, but as for this setup being in anything other than a RSX/EP3/06+Civic thieves will seriously be drawn to you.

 

i didn't know that it was a built motor. i know lots of guys on here have built b-series motors and daily drive those cars, but from personal experience, i would strongly consider buying a stock motor. there are just too many possibilities of something going wrong, in my opinion.

as for the k-series civic, as long as the person you have bought the car from seems to know what hes doing and didnt cut any corners, a k-swap civic would be a GREAT idea for a daily driver. even a stock k20 in a civic would give you more than enough fun. i am just a bit skeptical about the "built" aspect of the motor.

 

uniseriate-
Thanks for the tip on the rust. The car has lived its life in So Cal & Las Vegas so I am not too worried about rust but its better to be safe than sorry.

bmoua-
I am def. worried about thieves. the car has a kill switch, and I can always take out the ECU with me whenever I park in an area that I would be worried about.

Anothersickhatch-
I too wish it had a K20A2 or a '06-'08 si motor. I think the motor is a little overkill for a D.D. Hopefully the compression test will pass with flying colors and that will ease my mind.



Have any of you guys ridden in a K swap or seen one idling?
I would like to know just how bad the vibration issue really is. I've heard that EK chassis' display the worst symptoms of vibration from a k swap.

 

as long as ur not in CA

 

wow you're barely getting into a honda scene and you are looking at the big K! That motor looks liek a beast too. You're gonna have alot of torque. From the specs of the motor, the car was done right. Drive it, you're gonna like it and end up purchasing it.

 

ive ridden in a 93 eh (or eg in foreign markets) with a k20 swap and the vibration/ idle wasnt any worse than my b18 with race mounts. it drove like a normal swapped civic, but faster. much faster. its just something that you get used to. that motor would have a rougher idle though because of the cams. it will obviously be a little bit "lumpier".

personally, the only things that strike me to be most important in a daily driver is good reliability (i.e. not EVER having to worry about the car having problems because its a stock motor) and things like clutch engagement and driveability. everything else should be expected in a modified civic.

 

So the car passed the compression test with 150 straight across all cyl.


Any last thoughts from you guys?

 

is it a k24 head or a k20 head?

 

I dailyed a K20a for a year with no problems. was the most fun if had. for a stock reliable all motor car its great. sometime in 09 i will have my K back in

 

that set up seems legit that would be a FUN and amazing daily driver

 

Thanks for the replies guys, to answer your question "anothersickhatch" it has a k24 head

 

post pics of the car man you cant kill us wth specs ... K swaps arent BAD DD's .. pm NHswaps13203. He has a K series EF that he dailys.. .. EFs have the worst vibration issues ive ever seen with swaps and his isnt that bad at all AND the EK body style has some of the least vibration because of the way the mounts are set up ...

 

dude. you ever had your car TOWED by thieves? taking your ecu wont do much to stop that. invest in a good alarm system and some form of gps locator. be it a cell phone added to your family plan with gps locator, put on silent and hidden in the car, or lojack or zoombak. if they steal your car you can find them. now getting it back is the hard part.

 

Mattyrocks785-
No, I have never even heard of such a thing. Why would a thief would go through so much effort for a 9 grand civic? I'll take your word for it. Maybe I'll look into lojack.

Here's some pics:

 

talk about a sleeper, that thing is bone stock. with the exception of the k

 

I would start out with an obd1 swap to get you more familiar, such as a b16. The k swap is not a beginner swap

 

hella sleeper exept for the k swap and the 5 lug conversion

 

k sleeper...blur ur plate dude

 

yo ur just asking for that **** to get stolen, blur your plates, and dont say where you live
invest in some more security also, get a 2 way alarm pager
nice car though will deff crack 11's if you can drive

 

Sadly, a lot of us here have lost cars worth significantly less than $9K.

I'd be worried about the kind of attention those wheels are going to draw. Throw some Rotas or something cheap on there to draw away from the "obviousness" of the 5 lug swap if this thing is going to be parked out of your line of sight for extended periods of time. Or even better, 5 lug steel with some Autozone wheel covers.