solidecho

Please state which k swapped car your would be most interested in buying, choosing between car body (95-00 civic (sedan or coup), 01-05 civic (sedan or coup), integra, rsx), car paint (green, blue, red, black, white, ect.) and buying with turbo or no turbo?

Hey guys! I've been getting into weird hobbies lately and one hobby I've been aspiring towards is buying a ******* of a car and putting in a k20a2 and a turbo into it, then making the interior look really good and giving it a nice paint job.
I was planning on getting all new leather seats and using something called water transfer printing to get a really nice wood/ carbon fiber design on some of the parts of the interior and engine bay (such as the valve cover).

The amount I plan to spend on this car are as fallows:
car = 1500 - 3000 (paint job, interior and engine really don't matter)
engine = 2000 - 3000 (I'd hope for less than 60km or 35m)
ecu = 500 - 1000 (I think k-pro is a big buying point)
other k swap parts = 1000 - 1500 (mounts and exhaust and stuff)
turbo kit = 1000 - 2500 (I don't want to splurge on the top of the line turbo)
Seats = 200 - 300 (Cheap leather racing seats and salvaged leather bench)
water transfers and other interior repairs = 100 - 300
paint job = 1000 - 2000
total = 7300 - 13600

With any luck I might even be able to get this done for under 7000 and then the really fun part begins and I can see how much I can sell it for.
So if anyone can let me know your opinion on what kind of car you're interested in and specific buying points that interest you and would possibly make you want to buy the car, I'd appreciate it!
Thank you.

MindBomber

This is one of the worst posts I've ever seen, some how, despite modified cars typically selling for half the value of their after-market parts you intend to k-swap for a profit?

$1500-3000 for a car, well your not going to find a car with a heavily modified suspension, brake and wheel set-up capable of putting the power a turbo k-series engine puts on the ground in that range.

$2000-3000 for an engine, a low mile k20a2 is getting a bit hard to find these days, but that's beside the point. The average price for a k20a2 is $2500-3000, plus another $1000 for a transmission.

$500-1000, K-pro isn't even optional, it's an essential and it costs $1000.

$1000-1500 for other swap parts, does that include the after-market exhaust you'll need? the $600 mounts? the $300 wiring harness? 5 lug conversion? Subframe?

$1000-2500 for a turbo-kit, that's laughable. Unless your going to use old volvo and DSM parts, with tuning you should budget a minimum of $3000.

Good quality seats for $200-300, RSX, GSR and Prelude seats all sell for around $400.

Rice is cheap, I guess this is the one realistic thing in your budget.

Paint job, including the engine bay, door jambs and exterior for $1000-2000? That's going to look like ****, unless you do it yourself. The materials for a good quality paint job come close to $1000 alone.

solidecho

Let's not forget what this thread is really about. There's no reason to have a negative opinion in this thread, all I want to know is what you like!!!

Please tell me what your favorite body, colour, and year would be.
Thank you.

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

All right, since you did not even undestand why the bashing, here goes. Also included how to make multi-quotes.
Are you trying to get a marketing going on? If so, you need to talk to the site owner...

All the better, if exists, are more expenxive. Especially if you planning on turbo...

No, you cannot - turbo means new exhaust...

turbo on cheap kiys kills the engine. any other EMS than hondata in turbo will kill the engine. A exhaust stock will not fit in a turbo. A cheap exhaust will kill the turbo.

solidecho

I didn't say I wasn't getting a new exhaust, how about you just tell me your favorite body to have a k20 in.

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

i would not buy a car that did not have the above mentioned details done right...



If the message did not get through yet, just forget the turbo!!! that will make the bodget more beliavable

MindBomber

No one here is being mean, we're being honest, usually a complete k-swap ends up costing around $6000-10000 without labour and you intend to build an entire car for that. If you want to build a car go for it, I've blown endless dollars on mine and am in the process of a building a turbo k engine, but you won't make a profit.


My favourite body is an Ep3.

Could you tell me what EMS system is better than k-pro by the way?

lazlong

My fave would be the '92-'95 hatches. They look sleek, are super light, handle extremely well with suspension upgrades, and aftermarket parts are super plentiful.

Finding a hatch shell is relatively easy and shouldn't cost more than $2K or so. A quick search of the local CL: http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/cto/2256474711.html

You can buy the whole swap package (which usually includes complete engine, tranny, harness, and stock ECM/PCM) with decent miles (60K-90K) for $4K-6K. Google "JDM engines". You would still have to get the EMS, mounts, sub-frame, exhaust, etc.

DO NOT TURBO. Let the next chump do it if he wants.

All that being said- if you do it, get something that you would be happy driving so as not to be disappointed when you can't sell it for what you want.

solidecho

Lol how are you not being mean when you say that I wrote the worst post you have ever read and you've written 3300 your self.
And, believe it or not (because I'm starting to have a hard time believing it now) the k20a2 swap with 40,000km in my car was 3000 with no tax, including a exhaust and auto to manual conversion. Maybe I just got super lucky because it came from a k swapped em2 that had just crashed.

I've been looking into salvaged cars and it looks like I can pick up a 2005 civic coupe that would need some replacement exterior stuff for dirt then maybe do the replacements with carbon fiber.

And an ecu that I'm told can best the k-pro by as much as 10 hp is the new AEM, 200 - 300 more but for an NA car, that might be money well spent.

MindBomber

If someone offered you a complete k20a2 swap with all the parts necessary for an EM2 it's because they're desperate to sell, a person who invested into there car, but didn't bother to save any money just in case of an emergency. I love it when people do that, that's how I got my rims, someone who totalled their car with no collision, savings and desperately need a daily driver.

The AEM is good, but I wouldn't consider it better than Hondata k-pro and the vast majority of tuners would agree.

I'm not being mean, I'm being honest.
If I were being mean then I would have insulted you personally, called you an idiot for thinking this is possible and putting together the budget you did. I'm telling you it's not possible to do properly for the sum your proposing and the car won't sell for much when it's completed, import tuning doesn't have the backing of people with big check books like muscle cars do.

thefatalepic

Some lessons are only learned the hard way.

While it would be nice to do, I don't see how you'd turn a profit either. If you don't mind dropping all that money and selling the car for a little less than what you spent - that's perfectly fine, too.

Don't think of it as being mean. Think of it as - they care enough to try and stop you before you do what they think is a big mistake. Y'know like when parents beat the crap out of their kids for running out into the street. It's because they love them.

lazlong

LOL. An imprint of my grandfather's masonic ring in my forehead taught me not to backtalk him.

solidecho

I've attempted to find out what was better and my research showed that the vast majority of people have k-pro but the majority of those people don't even know about the AEM ecu and people with the AEM ecu all think it's a little better. I can't tell which one is better myself but I think you're the first person I've seen who said the K-pro was better than the AEM.

And I really don't care, but for the record, saying that you think that building a car for profit is a bad idea wouldn't be a mean thing to say. But posting 3,300 times and then telling me that I wrote the worst post that you have ever seen is sort of mean. Again it's not personal it's just about ethics...

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

In my years of researching turbo builds to gain the confidence (and perhaps the financial backing) to re-turbo my car, I found the general consensus was the k-pro was better than the AEM EMS

MindBomber

I've explained to you that building a car for profit really isn't a feasible idea, and done my best to give you helpful advice, like the type of costs you should expect. I don't appreciate you calling me mean or having my ethics questioned, those were not the intentions and I've explained that, in pointing out that this is the worst post I've seen I'm trying to explain how unrealistic your goals are, I apologize for not phrasing that more delicately. If you can't accept that, then we can discuss it through private message.


Even if you chose to ignore any of the actual functions of K-pro of AEM EMS, I would consider K-pro better. Tuning an engine is less like putting together a puzzle than it is playing an instrument, you need to carefully adjust each variable one at a time so that it compliments every other variable better. With the difficulty of that process having a familiarity with the system is a huge advantage, k-pro being very common every good Honda tuner should not it flawlessly, AEM most tuners will not be familiar with.

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

we just trying to give you the light... you got lucky on the first one in the price, that's all... if you taking it personally, well...
Andmost all of the 3300 posts of MB are useful and well written, which is not your case, given the replies you got...

as long as it's not a 8th or above gen, all the vics look good to me.

solidecho

The real crime is what my thread turned into lol.

So I think I'm going to get a 2005 civic 2dr salvaged for super cheap with hopefully just some light rear bumper and trunk damage, interior and everything in the engine bay doesn't really matter so that makes it a bit simpler. I picked the '05 because I figured the expensive part when salvaging is often the repairs, not the actual purchase of the car, plus those cars go for a lot of money with their d17s.

Now I want to know what colour of car you guys would be most interested in buying if you could choose from any colour (not too wacky)?
Thanks!

MindBomber

Most people won't buy salvage/rebuilt title cars and they're worth a lot less, keep that in mind.

I'm painting my car purple, but if your going to try and resell just go with black or white since that appeals to the widest market.

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

MB, just leave as is... He does not want real help... just block it if he tries to sell crap turbo setup in the marketplace...

solidecho

That's uncalled for Quebec guy, I'd be ashamed if I were you.

If I could get my paint job to look like this then that'd be instant money.


But a more unique and maybe even cheaper look (I'm not sure) would be--

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

The shame is in not looking me in the eyes to say: "OK, i will drop the turbo".

And still think in selling it later on to someone here after getting several advice not to do it. That would shame me.

solidecho

Looking you in the eyes is easier said than done but maybe you're right about the turbo, I don't know but I'm trying to figure that out, it's not like I never read your opinion on the matter.

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

OK!
Silver is easy to maintain. Black/White a pain when dirty. Red fades

solidecho

Do you guys have any tips for the paint job? Like how to get it really sparkly or shiny, or even how to do that dull grey paint job.

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

The non-shiny black? Look for matte or satin finish.

MindBomber

If your going to attempt to paint the car yourself don't go for anything that's to difficult to spray, like a candy or metal flake paint, those are the shiniest sparkliest paint jobs. Matte or Satin paint jobs can be achieve to ways, either with shitty paint and that's the most common method or with a clear coat designed to give that look.