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Kelse92's K24 Nasa Time Trial Build
Well, I've built a bunch of cars... and never done one of these build thread things before :scared0016:, but I'm excited to share the process so here goes nothing!!
To go to the very beginning, I sold my now long previous e92 M3 track car in early 2021 and the plan was to buy an 86. I looked at this particular car at that time, but it was just too big of a project and I wanted to just learn to drive a car with low hp and low commitment first, so a streetable autocross-focused 86 that happened to dabble in track stuff was the move. I ended up with with this :) https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds This little blue car has served me well as a TT5/STX autocross car for the last year and a half, including setting a regional track record at our home track Eagles Canyon Raceway & helping me win an autocross national championship, but I've been contemplating taking the next step on building something faster... As much as I wanted to do a Kswap on that car, it was just too nice of a street car to cut up, so this car came back into the picture: https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds This is a former TT4 record-holding build in our region has been sitting for a few years as the previous owner kept blowing up FA20's on track (surprise!) and he was over it 5 motors and life getting in the way later. (I don't blame him one bit) But he hadn't let it go just yet as he didn't want it parted out and wanted to see it get driven again. I feel very lucky I was able to pick it up this past weekend and we struck a deal that works out for both of us. This chassis has had an amazing amount of work and engineering put into it already and just needs a reliable power plant to go after some records again. So a K24 seems like a no-brainer to keep the weight low, a Japanese 4-cyl in the car (sorry LS fans), and make future blown up motor replacements inexpensive cause the chances are with how hard we plan to drive this thing we'll blow up one or two again in the future. Lots of work to go here and I'm looking forward in sharing the process. :D |
This week with the car we are going to take a few things apart and dig into how the car is built and fabricated so that we can update some items and also get to know better what we have got.
A little list on the basic setup currently: - JRZ Rs Pro suspension - Full SPL catalog of suspension arms - CSG setup OS Giken diff - Half-cage that is SCCA compliant to be able to add onto for a full road-racing cage in the future - Carbon dash - Voltex Type 7 wing, chassis mounted - Formerly supercharged with a Harrop kit, so lots of supporting mods for that as well to go through https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds Today we started with a quick pulling of the bumper and seeing how the splitter was mounted and the ducting has been done on all of the coolers. Plan is as we install the K24 to try and reuse as much as we can here in regards to coolers, shrouds, and mounting locations for everything. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds |
Looks like a great start and looking forward to the build!
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Thanks! Should be a fun project!
I would LOVE to be driving it before the end of the year, but I think I'll still be over the moon if it isn't ready until after March/April. I have very low expectations on getting things done super quickly, but never know how things will go along! I've located a few potential donor motors this week and hope to go pick one up maybe Saturday to start refreshing if the scheduling all lines up. |
Good to see Jason's car being put to good use.
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Not to detour, who makes that dash? Only carbon dash I have found is HGK racing. It looks great!
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Also, thanks for turning me on to their parts! I was not familiar, and they have some cool stuff! (albeit pricey, might be some items from there I could use in the future.... hmmm) |
Another Harrop supercharger destroying rods again. I can relate.
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Awesome, Amy mentioned you picked up a TT4 car and I figured it was already K swapped... Glad to see it's getting a proper engine! Should be a fun build, hope it goes well :)
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And yup, not yet swapped, but getting the powerplant it deserves. :D Trying to figure out where I could possibly Autox this thing, but I think its wayyyy to far gone unless I want to run in maybe XP or Mod Classes :bonk: So it looks like I'm gonna be bumming co-drives for awhile hah, but I think this one will be a fun toy regardless! |
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Minimal update, been busy with other things so haven't really touched the car at all, but I have been acquiring a few used swap parts from people doing trans changes and adding turbos to their cars...so I've gotten ahold of a KPower flywheel/adapter, trans mounts, throttle body, and a header.
Will be ordering the motor mounts, intake manifold, etc. next since finding those used is a lot less likely. My Big struggle in purchase decisions right now is how to wire/control the swap. I have very minimal accessories left in the car outside of controlling the engine. The car has no headlights (might add these back), heater core, ac, windows, radio, door locks, etc. All I really need is ABS (most-important, I'll leave the non-ABS driving to my Miata), brake lights, a reverse light, maybe headlights again, windshield wipers, and a few switches for racecar accessories (coolshirt, transponder, etc.) I would love to do something like a MircoPDM for these. I Love the idea of an AIM PDM/Dash combo, but it's pretty spendy. I'm also planning on ditching the stock cluster as well and going with an AIM Dash (have an MXL2 to use) so I'm left wondering if something like the Haltech and Kpower wiring harness is really the best option, or if its overkill considering this car is pretty stripped down. I definitely want to go with a motorsport grade engine wiring harness, and it looks like there's several options available so my head's spinning a bit on everything. If anyone has any suggestions on wiring harness builders and engine management, I'm all ears on being pointed in a few directions beyond just the swap kit to look into. If I had unlimited funds for this project, of-course Motec would be the way to go, but I'm trying to be a bit budget-conscious here haha :D |
More details on that header there? :)
Is your car key or push to start? |
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Car is 2013 with a Key start |
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Finally made a little more progress on the car this past week. :D
Big progress is that the Engine is out! Also have done Lots of Cleaning, de-stickered so the car can be wrapped at some point, and starting to inventory and sell some parts. At this point I still need to pickup and start freshening up a K24, and otherwise just waiting on some more parts to arrive so we can get to the real fun part haha |
If you are looking for a recommendation on an ECU, Haltech is the best bang for the buck. Phenomenal support. Haltech Nexus R5 has a PDM built into it, let me know if you have any questions.
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Thanks, I ended up hitting the easy-button on Black Friday and purchasing the wiring kit and ecu from KPower. :)
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Are you planning on shortening the stock driveshaft? If not, I have my KPower one taking up space...
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It's a new layer of something to think about... |
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More progress slowly being made.
Picked up a motor this weekend, nice when there's a few importers in the area! Just had to drive over and pickup and not worry about shipping. Easy peasy! Went with a JDM K24 just because of availability and mileage, paying a little less for a USDM one with double/triple the miles just didn't seem that worth it. Also making progress on legalizing the hood vents for Nasa TT. The car was setup with some other ones that were over 1" before the rules were changed to 3/8" protrusion maximum so the old setup had to go. Thankfully all setup now thanks to RaceLouvers and should be able to reuse the holes that are already in the hood with just a little extra cutting. Worst case, I'll spring for a new hood, but would rather cut costs here since the car's getting wrapped anyway and spend replacement hood money elsewhere :) |
I've made a real lot of nothing progress in the last two weeks as the Nasa TX season just kicked off and racing my blue Spec Miata took priority, buttttt I finally had some Kpower boxes arrive on Saturday while I was gone so we can get cranking on the project more soon! (pic of the Miata's since boxes are boring lol)
https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...s/IMG_3414.JPG I'm still waiting on a delivery of some OEM parts to be able to make progress on the motor and waiting on my ECU/wiring harness to ship (ordered in November with the BF sale); but the rest of the builder kit is here :D (ordered Dec 29th so pretty good timing) Was planning on taking my driveshaft in to get shortened this week (ended up deciding the experiment with a shortened OEM one was worth it for a low mileage one being only $100 on eBay) but Texas decided it was time for our one week per year ice storm so I've been cooped up at the house all week and not really wanted to risk getting to the shop or spending time in it since its not heated and usually gets down to around 40deg in there on cold days. So hopefully more exciting progress coming next week :) Right now, my timeline goals are to have it running and maybe start shaking down in May, but we'll see... Other things around here are taking priority and I'm not in a super-rush since I have something else to drive for fun, but I am still itching to get more time freed up to get going on this project. |
Pulled the trigger on going a bit more down the rabbit hole while still waiting on parts to show up...
I figure if we're already taking things apart to do this swap, might as well see if a few extra ponies can be had out of a K20 head swap, so a K20z3 head is en-route! At the car's previous minimum weight of 2650 lbs with driver without taking points, the power I need classing-wise is around 230whp average. The car will end up lighter with the K-swap, but I'd like to still hedge my bets on power and try to make more than I need if-possible and fine tune with either ballast or a de-tune from there. I also intend on finishing the front-half of the cage in the future so that's a bit more added weight that will eventually go in. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...s/IMG_3519.JPG This head is a pretty mild build, and it was too good of a deal to pass up: Multi-angle valve job with Supertech valves and 90lb springs and retainers, and Skunk2 Tuner 1 Cams. I'm not wild about the cams chosen, but at the price I got on the setup beggars can't be choosers. With the rest of the valvetrain done I'll at least have some options to swap out down the line. More than likely, some DragCratel 2.2 endurance cams will be the way forward but I'll start with these for now. I've still been limited on time for building much else still, but did find a powder-coat color that pretty closely matches the half-cage that's already green. Ironically, the color name is "Inline-4" so I think that's going to work perfectly as the color for the valve cover color! haha https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag.../IMG_3500.HEIC |
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Me, Jason and a group of others went through moneyshift racing and ordered 10 custom cf dashes through a company in ireland. I still have mines new fresh in the box. |
Yup! That's the one!
I think it is an HGK one that Moneyshift sourced, I have one of their TOB new in a box I need to install too. Wish they still were doing more! Outside of all that, More parts are starting to stack up around here including a Green Valve cover :D, injectors, new clutch, and a bunch of ancillary parts. Pretty much everything I need is ready to go now, except for parts from Kpower. I'm told my remaining orders will ship this week, but I'll admit it's a bit frustrating to see some other people who ordered some of the same stuff I ordered nearly 100 days ago get their orders in less than two weeks while I'm still waiting... https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...s/IMG_3801.JPG |
A month later andddd.....
My remaining parts Finally shipped! Should be able to start cranking on putting together some things on the car some this weekend :D |
Things have been starting to come together the last handful of days.
Got the motor torn down fully, head swapped, timed, and assembled. :D I am probably going to take it back apart and swap the cams to a different set, but getting closer! Chassis prep will be up next on the list and then hopefully a motor in the car not long after that! Big thing holding me up now on getting the car done now is really my time, and while I've been waiting I had sent my shocks out to be rebuilt but one of the shafts was bent and is getting replaced and we're waiting on parts for that. If it's not one thing, its another! haha Nice big photo dump of where we're at today :) The parts I've been hoarding while waiting for the last few things from KPower https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...b6A6i6Zg6Q.jpg Beginning the tear down https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...jt5QsQkwE8.jpg Sticking with the unmodified K24 bottom end https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...dDSmrC6HEG.jpg Adding a shiny K20Z3 head, ported with valvetrain upgrades https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...SW71oT2JFh.jpg Assembled engine(probably going with an alternate cam) https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag.../IMG_4470.HEIC And next to the car it now sits and waits for the next time I get a chance to work on it. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...)_IMG_4471.png |
Aspirational stuff! I'd love to be this far into the deep end of mechanical modding. Cool to see other women working on their cars.
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We had another chance to work on the car this weekend and didn't make a lot of progress on the K-Swap, but have made progress on several other items so this is a bigger update. :)
The perks of buying a used track-car is partly the savings on modifications parts/install but with that also comes the challenge servicing, updating, fixing, and at some points undoing prior mods and/or issues. So I started on some of those projects this weekend while I wait on a few additional motor items to arrive. One big project has been the hood vents. The ones that originally came on the car were once legal for Nasa TT, but the rules have moved on over time and they were no longer legal. Thankfully, there's great companies out there like Race Louvers and they make a set of legal vents that maximize class rules and thankfully were just the right size to fit where my previous vents did with minimal additional cutting. I was really trying to avoid buying a new hood so this keeps us going down the path. I have them all mocked up to fit now, but will not be fully-completing installing them as I plan on getting the car wrapped and it will be easier on the wrap installer to not have to cut around them. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag.../IMG_4635.HEIC Up next, I have started removing some things from the car that need serviced/replaced. The Coolshirt box (very much needed for a non-interior, non-heat/ac car on track in TX summers) has been located in the trunk; but is too large to easily remove/refill without partially removing the (Heavy) chassis-mount wing and was also positioned in a way that made it difficult to fill with ice/water. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag.../IMG_4671.HEIC I'm not 100% sure what my next move entirely is on it, but the box needed to come out to start. Plan A is to try and find a smaller cooler box for it that will fit under the chassis-mount. Plan B is to relocate it to the Passenger compartment. (I plan on no longer running a passenger seat in the car). And Plan C is to maybe go with an alternative system that is more compact. There's a couple of options out there I am looking into that accomplish the same goal and at less size/weight, so it really is going to just boil down to what's left in the budget for this later on. I ultimately do want this car to be as light as possible as ballast can always be added back later on where I want it, so this is one of those items where I would like to try and take advantage if possible and not too cost-prohibitive. Another big item on the agenda is safety. This car hasn't run on track in several years, so many items are out of date. Take my fire bottle for example: https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag.../IMG_4673.HEIC With a Mfg Date of 2016, it's no longer really able to be recertified. I also would prefer a Novec over AFFF system like this for a few reasons; so this bottle is going to get scrapped in favor of a smaller/lighter Lifeline novec system. The fire bottle was also located in the trunk with the coolbox, and I am planning on relocating it to the passenger footwell for a cleaner installation with shorter lines. I mentioned above the passenger seat is coming out; and the driver seat, while it is a nice composite halo seat is old and expired with quite a bit of wear on it. I do plan to eventually finish the cage and race this car, so up-to-date safety is a must. Decision on the seat has been a tough one though. I have sat in and like the OMP HTE-R but also recently found the Sabelt X-Pad seat and it is very tempting. But the Sabelt seat is designed to fit really in much smaller cars than this FRS, but at a little more cost so I'm debating on the value add. I fit in and find both very comfortable so it's really just an undecided preference at this point. Car will also be getting a new set of belts as the current set is expired and showing its age. I found these GForce belts in a competitor's car recently and they have a lot of really nice features that are found on higher-end belts for a great value, so I am likely going that route or to a set of Safecraft's like in my Miata. Additional cleanup includes ordering a new windshield wiper cowl as the car previously got it bet melty with a small engine bay fire. This is mostly cosmetic, but it's a fairly inexpensive and easy fix, so I'm going to make sure it's done right and make it a bit nicer. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag.../IMG_4669.HEIC And lastly, the shocks are off getting rebuilt as I'm not sure when they were last serviced and since the car has just been sitting around on jack stands anyway now was the perfect opportunity to get them refreshed. I spotted them in the rebuilders social-media over the weekend and they are all ready to go except for one of my fronts. You can just barelyy see in this photo that the shaft is bent. The car has had a prior minor contact with a tire wall and I imagine that may have been the cause of this damage or just normal hard hitting of curbs on track. So at this point, we are waiting on JRZ to send a new shaft so they can get reassembled and back to me. While we are at it with things disassembled, the front lower control arms are also getting an updated set of rod ends as one of them was bent. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...UFUxSDBDJc.jpg Future projects to tackle on a different day will be interior cleanup and wiring, and of course completing the engine assembly and swap. But we're slowly picking away at it! :D My initial June running goals I think are a bit out the window at this point as it took a long time to get all of the swap-kit items in. But as anxious as I am to get this car running and to get out and drive it, I do want to take time and do things right and build it nicer than I found it initially, so it takes time. I think my realistic event-goal now that I would like to make it to is to TT the car at the Nasa Eagles Canyon event in December. Ideally by then, with that long of a runway, I can get this thing going and well-shaken down at some member days late this summer before it makes it to a full competition event. |
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Did Sparco's in my last FRS and I liked them too, but their fabric covering on them seemed a bit flimsy. |
Wow, been awhile sine I've had time to work on this thing so no updates until now. Life and work always getting in the way lol
We are moving shop locations soon which means this thing needs to be a roller again! We have the shocks back from getting rebuilt and they are going on the car. :D There was a bent rod end on one of the SPL Lower control arms as well so that has gotten replaced as well as we put the car back together. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...QnSAqaE2Zu.jpg https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag.../IMG_5178.HEIC The lack of finished hood vents was bothering me and the wrap guy said it is easier for him to do the wrap around them installed, so they are officially bolted on. Really very happy with the customer service and quality of the parts from Racelouvers. Highly recommend. I was able to send Al the measurements of my old vents and he was able to get me a template to test fit his parts to make sure they fit within that spacing with minimal extra cutting and I get to reuse my same hood which is a nice cost savings. My OCD on looks also loves that he sends black rivets with the kit. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...tRoT2gLdkM.jpg The car also had a bit of damage on the Left fender that while I'm at it before the car gets wrapped later this year I wanted fixed, so that fender also got replaced. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag.../IMG_5180.HEIC And the newest project is now cleaning up the rest of the trunk. Removed the coolshirt and old fire bottle, and decided while we're at it to do a little more. The fire wall annoyingly blocks access to the rear strut chassis-mounting location. So, we have removed those corners of the firewall that were riveted in place and going to nut-sert them for easier future removal. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag.../IMG_5175.HEIC It's a bit messy back here right now as the fuel system likely also needs a refresh, so the plan is to get a fresh fuel pump and then reinstall everything. The coolshirt bracket and fire bottle brackets are out and will plan on painting everything back here in the trunk as well to clean it up. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag.../IMG_5176.HEIC Motor install probably on hold for a while longer, but glad to get some of this ancillary stuff going and I'll pick away at more cleanup in June. |
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WHEW, It's been a long summer!
We have moved shop locations and had a Ton of other things going on so the FRS has been sitting a lot without much progress. Just haven't had much time to touch it with everything going on...But I'm finally finding some time and making some things happen so figured I'd share where we're at now! https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds With all the down time and knowing we weren't going to touch the car much, I turned the car over to our neighbor who wraps cars and in keeping with the Porsche color theme of my prior car, I had the car wrapped in Inozetek Ultraviolet. It's a little too much 'drift car' looking right now without the bumper and the hot pink roller wheels but we'll change that at some point. ;) This is pretty much where the car is going to sit as we begin to install the K Swap, but before that gets really going there's been a few other ancillary projects that needed done. For starters, the wiring under the dash and around the interior was a MESS. The car had Lots of track accessories that I plan on changing up to more updated parts, and I also like a clean OEM+ like install when it comes to interior wiring. So Lots of stuff had come out: - A Coolshirt box previously mounted in the rear with a switch - An old fire system that needed all of the tubing and pulls removed - Old video camera cables and charging cables for them - Old AIM Solo wiring - Beastronix box that will get swapped for a TracBox https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds This was a refreshing pile to remove from the car, and as part of that I finished pulling out the passenger seat and degreasing/cleaning the entire interior. It was pretty dusty/dirty in there. Looks a whole lot better now and ready to start installing things back in. :D https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds Up next those additions will be: - AIM Dash - Smartycam with microphone - Coolshirt box in the former passenger seat location - Setup for Ballast in the former passenger seat location - Fire bottle in the passenger footwell - Transponder with switch - Power distribution for all accessories - New drivers seat with slider vs the former fixed mount The other Big change is the car no longer has the Voltex Type 7 wing chassis-mounted. I waffled back and forth on this, because it's a beautiful looking aggressive setup. But in the world of Aero technology, it's a bit outdated. The airfoil is Huge and not very efficient. Weight is also a factor; even with the setup having been built as light as possible, the Voltex wing and chassis mount with all the mounts/hardware and the fiberglass trunk cover weighed in over 35lbs. I had saved the spare stock trunk with TT5 Zebulon wing from my previous car, and the total weight of that setup is only 30lbs, so it's now on the car. I have a few changes in mind to optimize it down the road with a different airfoil, mounting style, and potentially modified endplates but for now this is going to be the base wing setup. Before: https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds After: https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds |
Wrap looks great. Was he able to do the trunk in 1 piece?
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I love that color combo.
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Small-ish update, I finally made a decision and picked up an OMP HTE-R Seat.
Summit Racing has a warehouse 30mins from the house that had the seat in stock, and I went back and sat in it yesterday while I was in the area and it's a really good fit for me so I picked it up. Plan is to install on a stock base/rail with the Brey Krause sliders. https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds |
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If you don't like to sit low then no worries. |
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