project: 04 sir ep3 - NA setup

[revned3182]

greetings my fellow ep3 enthusiast!

i finally have the chance to upgrade my vroom-vroom silver 04 sir . yey!
even though the car only have 160hp (or probably less) i wanted to prep the car's handling performance first.
i am working towards the k24a2 engine - mainly for the torque.
and i would prefer to stay naturally aspirated.
btw, this is going to be driven daily, but im going to let her hibernate during winter times.

i humbly seek guidance, corrections, & opinions from the people who would call me a noob.
i am here to learn, so any suggestions from you guys would be great?

so this is my list and i am hoping to get these in this order.

phase one:
front breaks : wilwood or stoptech (brembo would be nice, but very costly)
rear breaks: stock calipers on d.b.a slotted rotors and hawk pads

suspension : tein SS-P - DSA22-2USS1

clutch: exedy - stage 2

lower arm bar: skunk2 - clear anodized - 518-05-1900
lower control arm: skunk2 - clear anodized - 542-05-0225

wheels : spyn - already came installed 17" rims
golden spokes with chrome finishing circumference.
they say it is heavy, so i might switch to a similar colour looking design,
im kinda diggin enkei 16" rims, which should be lighter,
but i dont know if they have it in the same colour.
it just goes so well with the silver body and the 04 rear lights.
this idea is still on hold though.
i guess i'll just wait until my tires are worn out.

ECU : hondata - k-pro

head gasket: greedy - 87mm metal head gasket (2.5mm thick / 87mm bore)
camshaft : skunk2 - stage 2
Throttle Body: skunk2 - 74mm - 309-05-0095
cai : aem - 2.5" already installed with new k&n filter
this idea definitely needs some revisiting.
exhaust : already have one installed but this is still a mystery to me,
i never bothered to ask what it was when i got the car :( but it sure is loud.

battery: Odyssey - pc 680 - ODYPC680

anything above this list is going in my ep3 for sure. yey!
anything below needs more research.

phase two:
engine : k24a2
engine mount : CRV passenger side motor bracket (11910-PPA-000)
intake adapter : karcept adapter on rbb manifold
manifold : rbb ??? (any other suggestion would be great)
transmission : stock
induction : cai ??? (people say that will not fit)
engine stuts : ??? (clearance issues)
*please advise me of any other small parts that i need to make this happen, just so i am ready.
*since i am getting a used engine, do you guys know what kind of work that must be done to make it run like it is a brand new engine?

L.S.D. : quaife differential (do you guys think this is necessary?)

phase 3
as for the exterior... hmm... aside from the rims, i think i wanna stay stock looking.
although the seibon type-r style wing would be a nice touch. hmm... but i'd like to paint over it the same satin silver. why?? just because i can.
but i've also seen a picture of a silver carbon fiber hood. do you guys know about this?

i am around toronto so hopefully, by next summer i'll be ripping it with my phase one setup.
i know there's not a lot of kicking horses in it, but i am more in-tuned with the handling performances until i am ready for my phase two : k24.

thank you for wasting your time with me, and i hope you guys leave me your input. from time to time i will take pictures and lay out how the story went in here.


ps. life is only as good as you make it to be.

[AUTiger]

don't bother with the headgasket on your current motor. Besides, the k20 is 86mm bore, not 87. You will need at the very least, a2 valvesprings and retainers to run those cams stage 2 cams. Also dont bother with the skunk2 throttle body, that is way too big for your setup and just got stock throttle body with either a PRC or RBC intake manifold(rbc requires adapter). You also left out a good performing raceheader. That's from a quick glance, I may come up with more along the way, like switching that aem intake for an injen 3in cold air intake.

[dkid15]

Dont spend 1200 on cams and tuning when you can put that towards a k24a2. Dont waste money on a clutch either until you swap. Trust me youll love the k24!! 3 lobes ftw

[AUTiger]

true on the clutch^^^^ I told my mechanic today to swap in a CC stage 4 this next week even though I will only be i/rh/e/k-pro on a k24a1, but I plan on supercharging later on and I am saving big time on labor or my own blood sweat and tears. My motor bent all my intake valves last week and it's better to swap in a clutch when they would have to swap my stock one over as it is, as opposed to doing the motor swap now and when the clutch isn't enough for a jrsc+nitrous pay him to put a clutch in or do it myself.

[revned3182]

thank you for your thoughts. i really really appreciate it.
wow. goes to show how much i know.
ok.. now that you guys have pretty much dismantled my list.

what do you guys suggest i should do with the car?
i mean after the handling performance have been taken care of,
what else can i add to the engine while i prep it for the k24?
the sure thing for me to do are the...

front breaks : wilwood or stoptech (brembo would be nice, but very costly)
rear breaks : stock calipers on d.b.a slotted rotors and hawk pads
suspension : tein SS-P - DSA22-2USS1
lower arm bar : skunk2 - clear anodized - 518-05-1900
lower control arm : skunk2 - clear anodized - 542-05-0225

clutch : exedy - stage 2
cold air intake : injen 3" (is this going to still fit after the k24???)

ECU : hondata - k-pro

...

so what from this point, should i just go straight to swap?

[AUTiger]

no, dont do the clutch. Coming from someone who went with stage II cams on the a3, I should have saved my money for a swap in the first place. Granted I got an amazing deal on a k24a1 head with upgraded valvesprings and the stage II cams. Performance wise, just get intake, raceheader, exhaust and k-pro. All the stuff that will transfer over to the k24a2. Don't spend the money now or take the time for the upgraded clutch, wait til you get the k24a2 and put it on before you swap it in.

[Andrew]

no, dont do the clutch. Coming from someone who went with stage II cams on the a3, I should have saved my money for a swap in the first place. Granted I got an amazing deal on a k24a1 head with upgraded valvesprings and the stage II cams. Performance wise, just get intake, raceheader, exhaust and k-pro. All the stuff that will transfer over to the k24a2. Don't spend the money now or take the time for the upgraded clutch, wait til you get the k24a2 and put it on before you swap it in.

i've always thought this exact routine, but i neverhad clarifcation from anyone really because everyone locally i know have gone through many phases. and im glad you've stated this giving me great guidance. thank you

[revned3182]

ok i just found out that i already have an hp header and hp exhaust pipes & mufflers installed. is this any good for the k24?
beginner's question... so the headers and mufflers have been installed... does that mean it gained horsepower ? or do you still need to do something with the computer to actually exploit its purposes?

i dont know what it is, but i felt like my car is torque-less recently... from 1st gear to 2nd gear.
so i went to a mechanic hoping to get a tune up. few minutes later they told me that the spark-plugs have bits of dried coolant on it...
they are saying i might have to spend a grand or so to replace the head cylinder eventually.
but they said that it is not that bad yet, and it is still drivable for a few more miles.
ssooo... if i am to spend a grand to replace this bitch... then i might as well replace it with a k24 ready parts.

any input from you guys would be great.

anyways, im gonna get my tein suspension soon. yey!

[AUTiger]

hp sounds like ebay crap and you likely didn't gain much if anything. Screw that mechanic, take it to another shop and have them do a leak down test and you will know if there is a faulty head gasket. If not, that other shop is full of shit and looking to take you to the cleaners.

[dkid15]

Honestly my car might make 225whp and 190wtq. For someone who is looking for a well rounded car this thing is perfect for me. If you want a good all around car do a 2.4l motor, vtec head, boltons, coilovers, caster plates, good brakes and wider tires. (245's are really a must with that kind of torque, my fuzion zri 205's dont stand a fighting chance anymore.) Maybe ill post up a members ride thread this weekend finally lol.

[revned3182]

Honestly my car might make 225whp and 190wtq. For someone who is looking for a well rounded car this thing is perfect for me. If you want a good all around car do a 2.4l motor, vtec head, boltons, coilovers, caster plates, good brakes and wider tires. (245's are really a must with that kind of torque, my fuzion zri 205's dont stand a fighting chance anymore.) Maybe ill post up a members ride thread this weekend finally lol.

wow 225whp and 190wtq. is that na?
what is your vtec head? better yet, what's your setup? if u dont mind me asking.

[dkid15]

Yeah im still NA. My setup is
Rebuilt k24a4 with all oem parts
Tsx pistons
K20a2 head
Arp headstuds
Hondata IMG
3" injen intake
BPI flowstack with filter
OBX v3 RH
2.25" type-s midpipe to a stock axle back
Street tuned on kpro.

I have much more invested into suspension, mounts ...etc

[H0ndas g0 Vr00m]

don't bother with the headgasket on your current motor. Besides, the k20 is 86mm bore, not 87.

If you are not putting this into the K24 then do not bother but you will be fine to run a 87mm gasket on an 86mm bore car. We do it all day long in our race car and never have problems with our head gasket and we are making over 1000HP on a 6 bolt swapped into an FD RX-7.

[revned3182]

please dont bother asking me about the budget. lets just say i am not dropping a penny on this.
ok so, ive done a lot more of reading and research and i've revamped my list of what to do with my car... i am determined to get this done. please review and tell me your opinion. if you have better parts suggestion please let me know.
it would be amazing if you can provide me with part numbers too.
i still do not know how much hp, whp, or torque i'll end up with so let me know what you think.


2004 civic sir (ep3)
licence plate : IN3RT1A
motor: naturally aspirated
use : daily driving

suspension - tein full coilover ss-p - dsa22-2uss1
front breaks - stop tech front breaks
rear breaks - dba rotors with hawks pads

wheels : (still looking) i want 17" gold spokes with this design - work - vs-xx vs sports high
tyres : bfgoodrich - g-force™ super sport

lower arm bar - skunk2 - clear anodized - #518-05-1860 $131.24
lower control arm - skunk2 - clear anodized - 542-05-0220 $226.79
sway bar : '01 - '02 em2 coupe 15.9mm 51300-S5D-A01

spark plugs : denso
air intake - injen 3" sri with k&n filter
engine : tsx k24a2
ecu : hondata k-pro (pnd - do you have a part# for this or is there any other k-pro kind?)
basemap : tsx k24 kmanager > parameters-misc > multiplexer - normal operation & under VTP - deselect AC switch input to solve compressor issues (this is based on a written thread here by vbracer)
engine mount : '04 crv passenger side motor bracket (11910-ppa-000)
fuel rail : stock
water pump : tsx k24 or type s ??? (does it make a difference?)
oil pump : tsx k24 or (type s w oil squirters)
oil pan : tsx k24 or type s (does it make a difference?)
thermostat : tsx k24 with the k24 metal piece just to avoid modifying the ep's piece (again based on vbracer's thread)
belt : stock - ep serpentine belt
throttle body gasket : karcept adapter KIM01
intake manifold : skunk2 307-05-0310 $524.99 or hasport A3 rbb (but tb will be on an angle??)
throttle body : skunk2 74 mm billet black anodized 309-05-0080 $400.90
headers : skunk2 mega power 412-05-0905 $836.84 or jackson racing race header (i have HP headers installed)
pistons : tsx piston
valves : skunk2 : forged valves 310-05-2540 $306.59
valve springs : skunk2 - k2oa - k24a pro-series valve spring set 311-05-53-5380 $332.84 or eibach evs pro springs part# 20411.216 (Set of 16) (i think im gearing towards the eibach)
retainers : skunk2 dohc i-vtec titanium retainers 308-05-0410 $207.89
tensioner : skunk2 340-05-0002 $157.49 (do i need this?)
head gasket : greedy - 87mm metal head gasket (2.5mm thick / 87mm bore) 13551300 $285.00
camshaft : skunk2 stage2 305-05-0225 $723.44 or a ips-k2 ??? (where can i find/buy this?)
clutch : exedy - stage 2
transmission : stock 5 speed or 6 speed rsx type s ? (this is the last thing on my mind and if i am going for 6 speed then i will get lsd)
limited slip-disc differential : quaife differential
battery - odyssey pc 680 - odypc680 PC925MJT

i will take a lot of pictures of these and keep you posted

[AUTiger]

that's a lot of skunk2 stuff, you break into the warehouse?

you did say that you aren't dropping a penny on any of this!