Project D: goodbye B-series, hello K-swap

28 September 2016

If you remember Project D, you’ll know that with an internally stock B18CR engine, it ran a 12.9-second quarter-mile. Adam Plews of Speed Science had a goal set for a 12-second pass with an internally stock engine; so now that he’s done that, it’s time to get a whole lot more serious. 

With K-series swaps becoming commonplace in the Honda community nowadays for solid, reliable power, Adam decided that that should be his next move — he already has a DC2 with an NSX engine in the works to take care of his curious side. The B18CR and gearbox were sold, so in went a K20 setup from a DC5 Integra.

Unfortunately, as fate would have it, after making 158kW at the wheels on CDM’s dyno, the K20A spat the dummy, rendering the bottom end useless. Convenient though, as when your K20 bites the dust, it’s the perfect time to source the larger and much torquier K24 engine. Alongside getting a K24 bottom end, Adam, utilizing his wide array of parts suppliers, bought most K-series owners’ wishlist of performance parts. 

Featured in the build will be Hasport K-swap mounts, PLM headers, K-Tuned wiring conversion harness, Insane Shafts driveshafts, Skunk2 Ultra Street intake manifold with plenum spacer and S90 billet throttle body, K-Tuned electric water-pump kit, and Davies Craig water-pump controller. 

David Miller of Miller Motorsport Services is doing the build of the K24, which is expected to output around 165–170kW at the wheels, but with oodles more torque than the K20 bottom end. Adam is hopeful that with the newfound power, the EG Civic will run in the 11-second range on a prepped track. 

If you want to check out the EG Civic in action, Adam told us he’ll be racing it at the Speed Science Honda Drag Battle, November 26 at Meremere Dragway — we’ll see ya there!