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Con't from here

http://7thgencivic.com/forum/message...threadid=41636

 
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hehe.. first.. err.. kinda the first. that's not a mod at least..

Hope those guys at IB learned some shieat that will make this easier for the rest of us.. hehe [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG]

 
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congrats Htown...your definately a pioneer in the way of engine swaping....

cant wait for pics

oh btw..now that it is done and ready to go.....were you planning on contacting some magazines and letting em in on your little swap?? maybe if you can get into a couple and give some free advertising to IB they can knock a bit off of your final price!!!

 
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Dude, if you get into a mag, you should SO shout out 7thgencivic.com . . . but for real, man, you need to contact HondaTuning Magazine. They'd do the best article, with the most information. Import Tuner or Super Street wouldn't be informative enough about the technical information.

 
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so am i correct in assuming that htown is the only person on this forum successfully doing a k20 swap?

 
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Sh%t, to our knowledge, Htown is the only one who's even ATTEMPTED this swap. As an individual, anyway. Briang has, but he's from HAsport, so I don't know if I'd consider that a private owner.

 
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bluenv01 (and any other Cali guys)

If anybody wants to set up a mini-meet, let me know. I can meet in LA in the late evening on Friday, and on Saturday I'll be in SF and can meet in the afternoon. Looking forward to meeting you guys/gals.

 
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.........
Wish you would've been done last week when I was there[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-frown.gif[/IMG].......
I met all the frisco people.......very cool indeed.......
Good luck htown.....
[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/IMG]

 
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htown...go to BA7Genz.com and see if u can go set up a meet on sat...cuz damn...i for one and i know a hellova lot of peeps wanna see your car!!! congrats on tha swap! heh..hopefully pretty soon, all of us can have a k20a2 under our hoods!!

 
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I don't mind at all if 7thgencivic guys take a look at the car, but I haven't gone out of my way to contact any mags or anything. Jeff at IB knows the editors of a few of the magazines, and he may contact them about doing an article. I'll talk to him about it on Friday. But it won't disappoint me at all if my car doesn't make it into a magazine. I'm not the type of guy that goes out seeking unnecessary attention for myself or my car. You guys know my style - simple, plain, not flashy, no fancy sigs or avatars. Clean car - no bodykits, stickers, or anything. If some stranger on the street asks what I've got under the hood , I'll just tell them that the motor is still stock (which technically is true [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/IMG]).

This isn't false modesty or anything like that - being genuinely concerned about dudes jacking your car is a fact of life living in Houston. Among my group of friends, we have had the following cars stolen/stripped - 2000 Civic Si, turbocharged Del Sol, and a Chevy S10 truck. The Si was towed from my friend's apartment complex, and the Del Sol was towed while my friend was parked at the movie theatre!

So I usually try to follow the cardinal rule of theft protection - no unnecessary advertising. But I do realize that this swap would never have happened w/o all you guys on 7thgencivic.com. So that's why I'm happy to attend any meets set up by the guys/gals on this board, to answer any questions or concerns, and to let you guys see the car. And you can bet that if there is a magazine article on the car, full props will be given to 7thgencivic.com!

I do realize that my philosophy toward all of this may rub some people the wrong way and may seem a bit contradictory. But hey - that's just the way I feel.


I'm going to call Jeff again tonight to make sure that everything went ok with the immobilizer installation / key cutting. IB has looked over the motor and said it's in tip-top shape, so we don't anticipate any problems. The only thing that could possibly hold us back is if something catastrophic happens when we crank the car or if terrorists decide to hijack LAX on the day I arrive. Nowadays, there is probably a greater chance of the latter happening than the former.

Anyways, both IB and I feel nearly 100% confident that everything will be ready by this Friday. I've got the tickets booked and everything, and am setting up final plans with all my friends. Just let me know when the SoCal / NoCal meets are so I can complete my weekend schedule.

Thanks!
Aaron

 
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and to think, after doing some number crunching, your car should be as just as fast as a Type-S. Isn't it funny that the Si and the Type-S weigh almost the same? Just know you are going to be faster than a SI.

 
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You gotta love those cool, humble types . . . htown is the Mizzan, fo shizzle . . .

 
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Hey Htown, hope you enjoy your new ride.. let me know if ya need some bolt ons! haha.. anyway, I was wondering, did you ever consult Hocus Pocus here in Houston on the swap? I know you're glad you went with Import Builders (i would be too) just wondering in case i do that swap in the future... that way i don't have to go all the way to cali. I know hocus does a lot of custom work, they just did some shady things in the past. Let me know man, and uh.. i'll have to meet ya soon so i know not to race you if we pull up to the light one day.

 
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Htown: You MUST go to NOPI If I don't see this in person, I'm gonna go nuts. btw, after this swap, you might as well be elected God around here.......

 
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oh goodness...I can't wait...

 
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htown: don't forget to dyno that *****!!!!!

 
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weeeeeeeeeee. cool.

again. props for your money time and all those other stuff.. heh.

a meet would be cool

 
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dang, i wish i had the money to afford that kind of swap. i so want to see this engine, has anybody gotten any more info about the meet?

 
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Must be nice.

 
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I'm definitely going to remember to get a few good dyno runs in. I am extremely curious how much power it is able to put out with a K20A2 motor, stock EM Civic catalytic converter, stock EM Civic fuel pump / regulator, and a GReddy EVO exhaust. A cold-air intake would add about 10-12 hp, but that will have to wait for later. The EM Civic fuel pump has a smaller capacity than the Type S fuel pump, but I think for NA purposes we should be just fine. If it does prove to be a problem, a Type S fuel pump should bolt right in.

 
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htown congrats man!! glad to hear everthing turned out ok finally. no all ya need to do is go to the track and start whooping some 6thgen SI's.

Finally a fast 7thgen is here!!!

 
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I had suspension work (coilovers, shocks, camber kit) done at Hocus Pocus a while back. The work was ok, but their customer service sucks. The guy working the counter (Cotorres Gee, the driver of their 11-sec. all-motor Civic) was kind of a *****, and they wouldn't let me in the garage to see the work being done. Like you, I've heard a few mixed reviews about them so I don't think I would trust them to do something like the K20A2 swap. The owner of Hocus Pocus (Alex) is a pretty cool guy, and one of my friends has known Alex since he started Hocus Pocus out of his own garage. I just think the guys that used to work for Alex are sort of clowns and I'm not too confident in them. I say 'used to' because right now I don't know if Hocus Pocus does any service work anymore (?) They moved out of their Bellaire location to some other place (haven't found out where). If you could shed some light on this, I'd appreciate it.

One Houston shop that I used to be pretty high on was Endless Performance. I'm really good friends with the sister and cousins of Paul Cheung (the guy who used to run the Endless garage). Then after Paul left to work at a Honda dealership, Endless started sucking bigtime. They seemed more interested in selling cell phone accessories than doing serious automotive work I remember calling them up about the K20A2 swap late last year, and the conversation went something like this:

Me: "How much do you guys charge for motor swaps?"
Endless guy: "$500" (now at this point I'm wondering how he can quote me a price on a swap w/o know what engine I want swapped in)
Me: "How long does it take?"
Endless guy: "About a week"
Me: "Do you guys have anyone there that knows anything about the RSX Type S motor?"
Endless guy: "No"
Me: "Uh ok bye"

Needless to say, I crossed Endless off the list. Basically the only Houston shop that seems to have a good rep from everyone I talk to is Carboy. They're really honest guys who do great work. As a showcase of their skills, they have built one of the fastest Civics in the nation (red turbocharged Civic hatch with USDM integra front-end conversion, 9.4-something in the 1/4 mile). Unfortunately, they didn't feel like they could handle the K20A2 swap. Maybe now that IB has paved the way, Carboy can pick up enough info to finally do it.

There are tons of other shops in Houston, like PYR, ASAA Racing, Pursuit Motorsports, Hyper Racing. I have heard many shady stories about Peter Yen and PYR, and the other shops haven't done much to distinguish themselves in my mind. Other than Carboy, the only other shop in Texas I would consider for serious tuning and engine work is Jotech up in Garland, TX. Kenny Tran has some great guys working for him (like Tony), and they are up there with Carboy as two most reputable shops in the state. There is also another shop in Dallas named Intercrew that's supposedly pretty good (someone even told me that they used to have a partnership with IB), but I haven't really heard much about them.

Hope this info helps.

 
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wait. did the swap was completed done and everyting works??? sorrie i miss out a few days so fill me in i dotn want to go back and read the treads. take too long@

 
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htown... i just came back to this thread from like awhile back and just found out that the swap is done... determination and persistency and a passion for the hobby do pay off

the idea of a so cali "mini meet" to see your swap is a really good idea... we just had a meet on the 27th and that went really really well (like 30 7th gens) and i'm sure that people will be willing to meet back up to see the k20 for themselves... i really want to see it too.. i wanna try and set this one up but before i start posing about a meet... i need to ask you some questions... i'm not about to search through 3 threads of 100+ posts...

1. you said you were going to fly to L.A. on friday... do you mean Aug 2?
2. how long you going to be in So. Cali?
3. IB = ? (i'm guessing its the shop where you got the motor dropped, if so, what does it stand for and where exactly is it located? (address))
4. Does the car run yet?

ok, please get back to me as soon as you can so i can try and set this one up, either post back here, PM me, or e-mail me at atx1784@hotmail.com
thanks a lot, i look forward to meeting you and seeing your car[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG]

 
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have you tried jisatsu racing? most of their guys are pretty helpful and knowledgeble, and i've seen them do plenty of h22 swaps into various cars. carboy is definitely at the top of my list, though. (plus i'm chinese so they're generally nicer towards me) hocus pocus moved somewhere up north to the 1960 area because a significant amount of their clientele is from up there. i can imagine the financial and time cost of what you did - thanks for making it easier for the rest of us, lol.

 
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Hey Htown, Hocus Pocus is located where the beltway and 290 split in a brown set of buildings. I don't think they would do a swap since most of the guys from there have left.

 
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Hey Htown, let me know if you will be able to go out the track sometime so I can meet up with you.

 
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I wonder how long will it take, this thread has been around for months. I think this is bull.

 
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hahahhaha... its already done[IMG]i/expressions/laugh2.gif[/IMG]

 
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Patience is a virtue.

Remember - this is the first K20A2 swap that we know of. Noone has done this yet so there's a lot of prep and planning and stuff that has to go on when doing this. Do you think they did a B16 or a B18 swap in a weekend? Lots of fabricating of motor mounts and wiring harnesses and stuff all has to go into this project. I'm sure there has been quite a few unforseen problems crop up too. The pioneers in this stuff always take the longest. From here on out, we're all just copycats. I, for one, applaud htown for taking the gusto to buy the motor and slam it in there. This is *very* real. You shall soon see how real it is.