Zellers' 03KSE
 

Now that I'm approaching the end of this swap I figured I might as well start a build thread. Bought the car a little over a year ago, 2003 SE with 74k miles on it. Bought a hardtop, put in a Blackbird Fabworx NA GT3 rollbar and did some track days. Decided to do a K24 swap back in early December so I emailed David and got it ordered. My build has followed very closely with Savington's K-swap how to.

First step was tearing out all of the old stuff, Not the most fun job working alone but it went relatively smoothly.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...87bc997ad0.jpg


Interior stripped and ready for rewiring. I basically used the same exact wiring path as the old engine harness. Actually took the two mounts off of the OEM ECU and used them to mount the new Honda ECU for a clean install.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...b6857efdee.jpg




Got a motor out of an 08 TSX with <50k miles on it for $1300 shipped. Had to tear into the new motor to change the oil pump and pan. Dat VTEC goodness.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...5a79d38197.jpg


New motor installed. It was a tight squeeze but it surprisingly went smoother than I expected. A load leveler is a MUST for this.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...36a6bb313a.jpg


New Tillet B5 seats that I installed after buttoning up the interior. Thanks to Brexit these were a pretty good deal. Weigh next to nothing and so far very comfortable for me (6'0" 190lbs).

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...00a16fefb0.jpg


And here's where it's at now. First startup was about a month ago but I've been waiting on the exhaust. Found a great deal on a used Artech from Zoot. Bolted up an the test pipe was about 25" too short. Found a fabricator to extend it as well as add a flex and cat.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...9da796c8f7.jpg




Initial test runs have been promising. Didn't get into it too hard because I want to break in the clutch a bit.
Things that still need to be done:
Exhaust is up against the subframe in the rear even with hose clamped hangers.
Need to add heatshields for the oil filter and a big one on the header. I might have some tabs welded on the header and make an aluminum heat shield to bolt to it.
Intake needs some adjustment as well as a hole made for the IAT sensor.
Noticed a hesitations when rolling into the throttle as well as popping on decel. Potentially a TPS calibration issue.

Loving all these k swap miatas showing up. In for videos!

Nice build!

Your seat headrest being right next to the roll bar makes me nervous.

i don't disagree. I don't particularly like how they're mounted right now. The driver's seat needs to shift inward a bit. I also need to get padding on the upper cross brace.

Fastest build thread ever! Looks good man. I thought that last shot was my car for a second.

Those Tillet seats are great, a friend of mine has them in his Elise.

Did you calibrate the TPS to factory specs?

Thanks David. Your kit has made this a very straight-forward and simple swap. From car running with the stock 1.8 to fired up with the K24 was exactly one month. As far as the TPS, I did a rough calibration but while driving around with the Torque app open I was seeing about 8% throttle position at fully closed so I need to tweak it a bit more. Also love the contrasting red valve cover. I had attempted a paint job on my original one and failed so I found a nice powdercoated one on ebay and pulled the trigger on it.

Glad to hear it. We've tried to remove 99% of the guesswork.

Yup, once you get that TPS calibrated correctly, things should smooth out for you. Shoot me an email if you're having any further issues.

Got the exhaust off of the subframe last night, just needed to loosen up all of the vbands and shove it up into position then retighten. I looked into the TPS calibration and it was already reading about .45v at closed throttle when .48 is the minimum. Adjusted it up to .48, started it up, and Torque was reading 10% throttle fully closed. Readjusted the TPS all the way down and could get it down to 7%. I don't really think that fixed it but once it's not snowing out I'll take it for a test drive to verify. I also haven't ruled out fuel injectors since they were sitting for so long. I might pull them out and send them to be cleaned soon. Fuel Injector Clinic the best place for that?

TPS is fully calibrated and driving much better but the issues aren't completely gone. Trying to do any troubleshooting with Torque datalogs is near impossible though with 1 second time intervals so I went ahead and ordered the KTuner board to go in the ECU which will give me access to everything. Driving it has been a blast so far. Pulls like a freight train. I'll try to take some video in the next week or so.

KTuner board is a very simple installation, especially when the headers are already on the board.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...58b0875ee8.jpg


The newest Revision 1 board has a flex fuel input, 2 VR/Hall effect inputs, 4 analog inputs, and a spot for a bluetooth module or a screen. I have the bluetooth module on order, but for now I just have to connect using the mini USB port to my laptop. You can also see I reused the stock ECU mounts on the Honda ECU. Fits very nicely in the stock location.


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...87731fd258.jpg


I haven't had a chance to use KTuner much yet. From what I can tell so far, the interface is not nearly as polished as Tuner Studio but there aren't a whole lot of lacking features. The board has a nice onboard logging feature that will hold about 10 minutes of data at 100Hz and longer at lower frequencies. I'll have to play around with a little more to figure everything out.

So instead of getting my old injectors cleaned, which would be $25 each plus shipping each way, I found that RDX injectors are only a bit more (under $50 shipped each), are 410cc instead of 310cc, and are a newer design with better spray pattern so I pulled the trigger on those. The harness plugs of course aren't the same so the recommended Toyota plugs were bought as well and a quick depinning job later and everything was in.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...7e9c5aeee2.jpg


Started working on heatshielding as well. Bought one of these along with some 5" hose clamps. Straightening it out kinked it some which helped to keep an air gap along the shield.


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...18a55d90bb.jpg


Also bought some DEI shroud and baked potato'd my harness that's close to the header.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...c1c603eef3.jpg


I still need to make a bigger shield than the OEM one for the oil filter, a header heatshield to keep heat away from everything else on that side of the bay, and try to shield the exhaust going under the block.

You've done nice job keeping this build simple, and yet nice and tidy. Well done.

In for some track footage as soon as the weather gets nice.

Looks nice, i want to go for a ride in it!

Couple more updates. Ended up replacing the Skunk2 throttle body with a cheap ebay one that's also 70mm. The Skunk2 one had consistent closing issues. It would stay about 2-3% open until you blipped the throttle to get it to shut. Sounds like it's a common problem with those. The new throttle body has water ports built into it that interfere with the alternator position so those had to go. Also had to trim the piece that hits the throttle stop because it was binding on the kmiata TB adapter.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...db368add61.jpg


Drivability is much improved with the new throttle body. Shifting feels a ton better since it's not rev hanging all the time.

Made up a new oil filter heat shield since the old one was too small to protect from the header. Still working on a main header heat shield.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...6c397a049b.jpg

Yeah, too many issues with that throttle body, they are being replaced with another throttle body in the kit as soon as inventory arrives. The throttle body adapter has been modified to provide more clearance for the throttle wheel, and the new throttle bodies will have the extra ports milled off already, and pins pressed in any holes that aren't needed.

I am always looking for ways to improve the product line. Even though this throttle body isn't made by us, there were too many reported issues to keep using it.

Glad to hear the car is driving better now.

Just finished up replacing diff bushings with ES poly ones since trying to shift now felt like grabbing at a moving target. Install went pretty smoothly. Using a little punch and a hammer to get the old bushings out was a pretty simple job. Added Supermiata rear swaybar too while I was back there. Suspension setup is now: 550/350 w/Two-Six revalved Bilsteins, 1 1/8 RB front and 14mm rear both on full soft.

Got rid of the crappy Summit air filter I had started out using and bought a Hybrid Racing velocity stack filter to replace it. Only way I could fit it was to take out the fog light :laugh:

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...259c254a39.jpg

TSE Dynapro BBK and Wilwood prop valve installed. Going to be running G-Loc R12s front and R10s rear at Savington's recommendation. First track day of the season is next Saturday so I'm trying to get everything buttoned up before then.


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...a3e34dc890.jpg

Rapid progress!!! Nice!

I guess I was granny shifting and not double clutching like I should...

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...3acde9b0c5.jpg



That happened on the first session of the track day today about 10 laps in going down the front straight. Miataroadster shifter with an extension. Luckily there were enough threads to to take off the knob and use it on the rest. Motor performed awesome today. Tons more power now and shaved almost 7 seconds off my time from last year. On the fourth session I felt a really strange knocking in the suspension. Pulled off the track and found out the nut on rear lower control arm outer bushing had worked its way off and was MIA. Big thanks to slammed200 for coming through with a spare to keep me going for the last session. The sleeve in my sadfab bushing disappeared along with the nut so I'll need to do something about that. Overall pretty successful track day with a couple of minor hiccups.

Damm, i forgot that you were runing today, wanted to go and see your car... i waited to sign up and the event was full on Sunday 🙁
What lap time did you get to?
btw, i have some spare new exentric washers if you need one

That's a shame, the new track surface is really nice. There were about a dozen Miatae out there today.
I'm down to 1:26 now. Still got a ways to catch up to you but I think my driving skill is improving greatly.
Nah it's actually the outer bushing by the hub. I need to find one of the Energy Suspension washers for that spot though.

Still, 7 sec is a bumch of time, did you ride along with Justin? That would be helpful to get all the little thinggs that add up to a lot of time.

No I didn't get a chance to ride with him, I didn't find him until late in the day. I definitely need to ride with someone faster than me though to see the ways I can improve.

Uploaded a video from the 4th session.



Also found out last week that 4 Piston Racing is only 20 minutes away. That may be a bad thing for my wallet :rofl:

What run group were you in? 10/10ths is my favorite organization to run with, just need to get an engine back in my car...

That was in novice group but I'll likely jump to intermediate next time I run Putnam again. We're you there last year with 10/10ths? I was at their very last event in October.

I only ran at NCM with 10/10ths last year. I made it up to Putnam for the KY PCA event there, but that was all for there last year. Due to a crazy year, likely my first event will be the July event at NCM. If you have not been to NCM, I highly encourage it, it's a fantastic track.

I think you're the first I've heard to have such good reviews of NCM. Both my instructors I talked to at Putnam had been there and basically said its not a great track to learn at. Very big/complicated and very little runoff areas.

Car sounds awesome :)

You'll be happy to hear I had a Viper guy come up to me towards the end of the day and ask "What in the hell do you have in that thing?!".

Oh yes, you'll get very used to that.

Decided to add bridge bolts to the Dynapros thanks to Aidan's part number find. The kit is for two calipers and comes with 2 short bolts and 2 long bolts, spacers, and unnecessary since the calipers are already threaded. You could do it yourself for way cheaper. Don't know if I'll feel a difference or not, just decided to throw these on a Jeg's order I was already making.


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...bdc1189c06.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...8c1687a3e3.jpg

Lets us know if that makes a difference.

Guessing this means I should be shopping for a new driveshaft? I don't remember seeing that grease on the ppf before.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...86e614afd3.jpg

I think it's just trying to tell you that it does, in fact, have grease in there. Perhaps it thought you were wondering?

:rofl:

Glad you caught it before anything happened!

You are just going that much faster at the end if the straight now with the k swap.
how do the u joints feel are they notchy or squeaking?
i would keep an eye on them, clean out the grease and see what happens after next track event.

Had grease. Not so sure about that now.

I'll have to put the car back up into the air and check, I wanted to drive it because I haven't gotten to since parking it after the track day a couple weeks ago. I could see the increased speed/power mix shortening its life. It probably didn't help that the trans was adjusted pretty low for a while after the swap either.

Thank you for confirming they fit. I'll be adding a set eventually.

got a part number for that willwood bridge bolt upgrade kit?

If you can make a spacer I think you're better off just buying bolts and washers and going diy. Spacer measured 1.904" with a caliper, I did have to shave it a bit to get it to fit though. Bolts were right around 3 1/4" I used the longer ones to keep the clip held down like I think the original bolt was doing.

dude

this thing is nuts. I love it

Finally pulled the driveshaft off and had a look at it. Confirmed there is some resistance in the front joint so I went ahead and ordered a rebuildable driveshaft. Was hoping this one would make it until a certain transmission option becomes available *cough cough David* but I didn't want to risk tearing up the tailhousing.

what driveshaft did you get?

https://www.flyinmiata.com/18-rebuil...riveshaft.html

The FM one doesn't mention having to adjust the PPF to the lowest point like the 949 one does and space is pretty tight at the top rear of the engine as is.

Thanks, yea the back of the head is pretty bussy on the K
BTW, thanks for the ride on Sunday, You have built a great car!

Yeah yeah...

We're making great progress getting things ready for production, but we won't be jumping the gun either. It will hit the market when it's good and ready, and it will be awesome.

I have no doubt :bigtu:

Subscribed! I need to hurry up and move to Brownsburg/Indy so we can all Miata together. HHammerly, you and I will be a force to be reckoned with up there

Happy I came across this thread. Thanks for the flywheel and for showing me around your car.

New driveshaft is in. Much smoother than the old one and the ends are quite a bit beefier. Only needed to bend a heatshield a bit to clearance it. If anyone local wants the old driveshaft to try to replace the u joints its yours.

Also received a replacement short shifter from Bill for the one that I broke. Went with the tall angled one this time and love it so far. My one complaint about it is hopefully going to be resolved soon as well. I think it looks unfinished where it comes out of the boot so I drew up a finish piece in Autocad and Sean is 3D printing it for me.

i will take the old driveshaft from you

Sounds good. I'll keep it stored until we can find a time to meet up.

Highly considering signing up for the MRLS event. It's looking like I'm going to have to go to a conference the following week in San Diego so my travel would be mostly covered by work. The issue is driving the 30+ hours by myself since the fiancee wouldn't be going.

You should definitely sign up. We're going to have a fleet of K-swapped Miatas there this year, you aren't going to want to miss out!

All signed up for MRLS! David I'll let you demonstrate a BMW trans install on my car there :rofl:

Has anybody rented a truck/trailer to haul a car before? I could use mine and my dad's trailer but if work is paying for it I'd rather keep the miles off of them.

Very nice, plan on parking at our booth with a bunch of other K swap cars.

Renting a truck is nuts for this type of trip, I looked into it a couple years ago. If it's unlimited mileage, they specifically won't allow you to tow. If it's a vehicle for towing, they want to charge you $0.39-$0.49 a mile, which gets crazy expensive.

This is why I just picked up a 7.3L F-350 dually. The goal is the haul three cars out this year. I'd they don't all come together before then, we'll throw yours on the trailer instead :)

Awesome, VIP parking!

That's kind of what I had been seeing about rentals from first glance as well. Keep me in the loop if they do fall through, I'd be glad to pay you for hauling it out there.

Decided to do a catch can PCV setup. Bought a Mishimoto billet catch can. Pretty nice piece and very stout. My only complaint is the mounting for it is pretty dumb. Ended up just making a small L bracket but I may change it later.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...c31d5bf011.jpg


Also received the shift boot piece from Sean. Makes it look a lot more finished. I wish I would've made the top just a little wider though.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...5b0ce663ef.jpg

Looks good! The pcv will keep Water of your oil and the catch can will keep oil from going into the im on hard RH corners, i was behind an S2000 at the track today that was smoking on all the high G left handers

Thanks! Wish I could've made it out there but I got a pretty late start to the day unsurprisingly. I'll put some miles on the car this week and see how much the can fills up. It has a spot on the bottom to put a drain valve but it's current location wouldn't work for that.