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The K Series swap is the successor to the ever popular B series swap. With the K series of motors comes a bump up to 2 and 2.4 liter engines. There are numerous other enhancements as well, but we won’t get into that here. With power levels ranging from 160hp to 220hp, they are an excellent swap coming from a D series or B series. At this time it is still cheaper and easier to do a B series swap, but if you need the best of the best, don’t look any further than the K20/K24 swap.

Motor Choices

• K20A Japanese Spec – this is the most powerful at 220hp and hitting redline at 8600rpm. Consequently, it’s also the most expensive option.
• K20A European Spec – second in line comes the European version of the K20A. Clocking in at 200hp it’s still plenty fast, just not quite as fast. You’ll hit redline just a bit sooner at 8100rpms.
• K20A2 – a K series from the US RSX Type-S. Very similar in power levels to the Euro Spec Type-R motor. 200hp and a 8100rpm redline. These are getting cheaper now since you can get them inside the US.
• K20A3 – The A3 series comes from the non Type-S RSX and EP3 Civic. Coming in at 160hp around 6500rpm, it’s definitely less exciting, but far cheaper, only you’ll be able to decide if the trade off is right for your project.
• K24A2 – Finally we come to the K24 options. This coming from a USDM TSX. It’s a wonderfully fun motor, featuring 166tq at 4600rpm. In other words, it doesn’t need to be strung out to have some fun.
• K24A – Last but not least, we have the USDM CRV. While lacking with a scant 160hp, it makes up for that with 162tq; for that extra bit of “torquey” fun.

Use the table below to sort by different options such as motor code, horsepower, torque, redline and compression ratio.

K20/K24 Parts List

Mounts
First you’re going to need a good set of mounts.  There’s a lot of quality mounts on the market.  Hybrid Racing makes a great set of K20 mounts.  Currently they’re only available in billet, but they may be offered in steel soon.  They have a lot of bushing options as well, from street to solid.

Axles
Stock axles have to go too, so we’re going to need a replacement, unfortunately no stock axles will swap over.  Hybrid Racing offers five different levels of axles.  The first K20 axles are suited for a stock K20 motor.  The options above the stock replacement are supplied by Drive Shaft Shop, with axles rated for 1000hp, they have something for every setup.

Clutch Line
The stock clutch line from your EK master cylinder, unfortunately, won’t match up to your new K20/K24 transmission. You can make your own, or pick up one from Hybrid Racing, their clutch line kit has pre bent ends and will bolt right up to any 1992-2000 Civic.

Throttle Cable
Up next is the throttle cable. On EK cars it should be long enough. I emphasize should because the word is out on whether or not the EK cable will work all the time. K-Tuned manufacturers a K Swap throttle cable which is supplied with its own throttle bracket.

Cooling System
There are some stock options available here. If you don’t care about keeping AC in the car simply switch the EK radiator over to the drivers side and plug the condenser hole. If you do want to keep AC, check out Modified Magazines’s K swap article, they have all the information you’ll need. If you like the aftermarket route, Hybrid Racing offers both full-size and half-size radiators. These units include ports for a coolant temperature sensor as well as a fan switch.

Shifter and Cables
Once again, there are some stock options here. A shifter arm and base from a 90-97 Accord will work fine when paired with the K series cables. This sounds too good to be true and it is. The transmission hump in the EK is too tall, your console cover won’t fit back on. You’ll have to mount it below the floor. You’ll need to make sure to encase it as well, so it doesn’t get beat up by the elements. For the ones with deep pockets there are a couple of options. For a true bolt in solution look no further than the Hybrid Racing short shifter. So much thought and design has gone into this shifter it’s amazing. It’s extremely well thought out and has options I’ve never seen before. You can use the stock RSX shifter cables (or possibly EP3 cables) for ease of use, but Hybrid Racing also has aftermarket k swap shifter cable options.

Fuel System
There’s two issues we need to correct here. First, the EK chassis uses a return fuel system, the K series does not. Secondly, the EK’s fuel system fluctuated with changes in vacuum. Any K series motor will run off a static fuel pressure, set by a regulator. The changes are really quite simple. First you’ll need an adjustable regulator, like an Aeromotive. Mount that somewhere in your engine bay. Set your fuel pressure to the manual’s specs. Next, hook up the return line on the EK to the return port on the regulator. Make sure to leave the vacuum line disconnected on the regulator, you’ll have serious issues if you hook it up. There are k swap fuel line kits available if you want to make this go smooth as possible.

Intake / Exhaust
No stock intake or exhaust header will work on this swap. The intake shouldn’t be too hard to fabricate. You’ll just need a straight coupler, a few inches of correctly sized aluminum pipe and a filter. This however will place the intake directly in the engine bay. Your best bet is to get it over into the drivers side wheel well for some cold air. Karcepts makes a nice k swap cold air intake that sits in the fender well. AEM also supplies a cold air intake for k20 swaps.

Since the exhaust has now swapped from the radiator side to the firewall side, we need a new header as well. None of the stock headers from a K equipped car will fit, so your options are limited to an aftermarket option. There are a lot out there, i’ll cover a few quickly. If you’re looking for a cheap, budget header, the DC Sports K Swap header is a great choice. If you’re looking to make a little more NA power, Hybrid Racing makes a race K swap header. And if you’re looking to extract every last ounce of naturally aspirated power, check out the K-Tuned K20 Ram Header, it adds 7hp and 5tq over their own race header!

K20/K24 Swap Wiring

Now comes the really fun stuff. If you’re crazy enough to do this by hand you’re going to need both engine harnesses, the charging harness from the K series and wiring diagrams for both cars. There are lots of little things to look out for and if you’re seriously interested in doing the wiring by hand, check out Hondata’s K20 wiring page. For those of us with more money than time, look no further than these K20 and K24 wiring harnesses.

• HASport K20 Wiring Harness – there’s not much information or any photos at all, but I would bet it’s comparable to the other two available.
• K Tuned Wiring Harness – A beautiful harness using mil-spec OEM colored wiring. It’s 99% plug and play and comes with a unique wire cutter / stripper and instructions.
• Hybrid Racing K20 Swap Harness – very similar to the K tuned harness above, this uses OEM connectors for a quality fit. It’s $20 more expensive than the K Tuned harness and I can’t find any serious advantages.

ECU options
Because of Honda’s use of immobilizers in cars with K motors there are some issues with simply swapping over the ECU from your K car. The easiest method is to get a Type-R ECU, which doesn’t have an immobilizer. This is usually the most expensive option since they are quite rare. There are K series immobilizer bypasses called “Mobilizer-K“. Your last two options are to go standalone. The first is Hondata K-Pro. Hondata will flash your K series ECU and send it back to you. You will have full control of your ECU and the ability to disable the immobilizer.

If you’re using the HASport Mount kit, you need these two PDF files. Even if you’re not using the HASport Mount kit, you can still use these PDF’s to guide you through the swap.

• EKK1.pdf
• EKK2.pdf