K-swapped E30

I really want an E30 now.

K24 SWAP ALL THE THINGS!!!

I wonder how the stock gearing works with the K24. I suspect a bit long.

clutchsmoke said:

K24 SWAP ALL THE THINGS!!!

I wonder how the stock gearing works with the K24. I suspect a bit long.

I wondered that too. The kit can be used with a ZF 5-speed, 6 sp or G260 transmission.

An E30 Touring plus K24 would be dreamy though.

I'm fairly Honda-dumb.  I wouldn't have ever even looked at these if it weren't for the plethora of YouTubers doing stuff with them.  The idea of stuffing one with ITBs in a Little British Car, is appealing.  Not intentionally trying to ruffle feathers here, but can you hot rod one of these K engines, and it not sound like, ya know, a Honda? 

Honda fart can is a pejorative I know, but can you still have performance exhaust, and not sound like a fart can?  Stick a resonator and maybe a turbo style muffler one?

In reply to clutchsmoke :

I think it would be OK with a 4.10.  My wife's 318is has the G240 with a 4.10 rear.  It's *short*.  G260 has the same 5th rear ratio (0.81:1) according to the Google-nets.

I want somebody to work out the E36 oil pan situation for this and I'll be waiting with cash in hand.

With a ZF5-320 the gearing would be pretty good. First gear is 4.20 which is plenty deep with K24.

Here's how the spread looks with the tallest 325 gears and with the overdrive trans:

That doesn't look too tall to me.

bigdaddylee82 said:

I'm fairly Honda-dumb.  I wouldn't have ever even looked at these if it weren't for the plethora of YouTubers doing stuff with them.  The idea of stuffing one with ITBs in a Little British Car, is appealing.  Not intentionally trying to ruffle feathers here, but can you hot rod one of these K engines, and it not sound like, ya know, a Honda? 

Honda fart can is a pejorative I know, but can you still have performance exhaust, and not sound like a fart can?  Stick a resonator and maybe a turbo style muffler one?

I don't think the one in the video as the typical Honda sound so I'd say yes.

I wouldn't worry about gearing. There are multiple transmissions and then multiple rear end rations from 2.73 up to I think 4.30 that will bolt right in place at the back. Already in their own "pumpkin."

 

93EXCivic said:

 

An E30 Touring plus K24 would be dreamy though.

Yes. Because wagons are the best!

Without watching the video, how does the horsepower and torque of the Honda engine compare to the stockeM20 BMW engine?  For that matter, e30 3 series engine swaps to newer BMW engines are pretty much figured out, so I'm not sure what the advantage of using a Honda engine would be.

I will not watch any car video with 23 minutes of somebody talking about a car and not driving it. 

stuart in mn said:

Without watching the video, how does the horsepower and torque of the Honda engine compare to the stockeM20 BMW engine?  For that matter, e30 3 series engine swaps to newer BMW engines are pretty much figured out, so I'm not sure what the advantage of using a Honda engine would be.

S14 type engine without S14 type prices? Less weight and makes the weight more central since you're lopping two cylinders off the front. 

And internet cred for "doing something different."

stuart in mn said:

Without watching the video, how does the horsepower and torque of the Honda engine compare to the stockeM20 BMW engine?  For that matter, e30 3 series engine swaps to newer BMW engines are pretty much figured out, so I'm not sure what the advantage of using a Honda engine would be.

In my limited experience, it can't be much worse.  Slow, fragile, and complicated is my take away from the few my friends have owned.

You ever try to find a M20 crank with a thrust surface left on it?

The K24 with transmission attached(for some reason everybody weighs them together) weighs about the same as an M20. So you're saving roughly the weight of a honda trans from the nose of your BMW.

K24A2 from a TSX makes 205hp 164ft*lbs

M20B25 from an E30 makes 168hp 167ft*lbs

stuart in mn said:

Without watching the video, how does the horsepower and torque of the Honda engine compare to the stockeM20 BMW engine?  For that matter, e30 3 series engine swaps to newer BMW engines are pretty much figured out, so I'm not sure what the advantage of using a Honda engine would be.

Better power then the stock motor. Cheaper (at least I think not completely up om BMW swaps), lighter, newer engines that a lot more common then the motors I see in a lot of the BMW motor swaps. Also K-series have a bigger aftermarket and love boost. It will certainly be cheaper to make more power then the BMW motors. That company makes the swap kit to fit it so it seems the main pain would the wiring. 

It'd probably be a tough packaging job, but what would really get my juices flowing would be a J35 in there.

ShinnyGroove (Forum Supporter) said:

I will not watch any car video with 23 minutes of somebody talking about a car and not driving it. 

I like Hoonigan, and I like Larry Chen's photography, but I will not watch Hoonigan Auto Focus, because, yeah, 15-25 minutes of talking and then never hearing the car even run sometimes is disappointing.

I'm not sure that I would be better than Larry at being the "reporter" on these videos but I doubt I would be worse.  He doesn't seem at all informed about what he's looking at so his banter about the car seems pretty superficial.  He seems like a good photog and I wish he just did that on these and someone else went with him to talk to the owners & builders.  I can't finish these videos either.

Kreb (Forum Supporter) said:

It'd probably be a tough packaging job, but what would really get my juices flowing would be a J35 in there.

Doesn't look like it?

https://kpower.industries/blogs/news/the-k24-bmw-e30-swap-package-is-here

Streetwiseguy said:

In my limited experience, it can't be much worse.  Slow, fragile, and complicated is my take away from the few my friends have owned.

You ever try to find a M20 crank with a thrust surface left on it?

I've had a lot of M20s pass through my garage and the shop I used to work at, and I can't say I ever remember having an issue with crank thrust surface/axial runout, or complexity. Single overhead cam with a timing belt, and aside from space in the engine bay at the front and occasional valve adjustments, pretty easy to deal with. Etas are pretty darn slow, but I always thought the i cars felt quick for what they were. 7.5ish to 60 according to the internet and quarter in about 16 seconds from what I remember being able to do on drag nights years ago, stock except for cheap wheels and springs because high school budget. I seem to remember trap speed around 90. Maybe I'm just used to their quirks because I've spent so much time around them (currently own 3 + a lemons car) and I've never owned a honda....

The K swap is interesting to me, especially since it leaves so much weight under the hood and is so light, but about $5000 for the swap kit, plus the header, plus an engine, seems to be rather expensive compared to the BMW-based swaps out there, or even a good turbo build on an M20 or M42.

pres589 (djronnebaum) said:

I'm not sure that I would be better than Larry at being the "reporter" on these videos but I doubt I would be worse.  He doesn't seem at all informed about what he's looking at so his banter about the car seems pretty superficial.  He seems like a good photog and I wish he just did that on these and someone else went with him to talk to the owners & builders.  I can't finish these videos either.

Agreed, I like Larry but his personality isn't enough to carry the video on his own. And then lack of action means it's all just filler. Normal Hoonigan videos with Hert and Vin and the gang, they know about cars, so they know the questions to ask and the things to look for and. And those are usually 5-10 minutes of chatting and then 5-10 minutes of the owner drifting, doing burnouts, whipping donuts, launching it. Its a much better mix.

There are also now kits to K-swap a Nissan 240SX, and I hear rumblings of a Frisbee Twins K-Swap kit in the works

gearheadE30 said:

Streetwiseguy said:

In my limited experience, it can't be much worse.  Slow, fragile, and complicated is my take away from the few my friends have owned.

You ever try to find a M20 crank with a thrust surface left on it?

I've had a lot of M20s pass through my garage and the shop I used to work at, and I can't say I ever remember having an issue with crank thrust surface/axial runout, or complexity. Single overhead cam with a timing belt, and aside from space in the engine bay at the front and occasional valve adjustments, pretty easy to deal with. Etas are pretty darn slow, but I always thought the i cars felt quick for what they were. 7.5ish to 60 according to the internet and quarter in about 16 seconds from what I remember being able to do on drag nights years ago, stock except for cheap wheels and springs because high school budget. I seem to remember trap speed around 90. Maybe I'm just used to their quirks because I've spent so much time around them (currently own 3 + a lemons car) and I've never owned a honda....

 

The K swap is interesting to me, especially since it leaves so much weight under the hood and is so light, but about $5000 for the swap kit, plus the header, plus an engine, seems to be rather expensive compared to the BMW-based swaps out there, or even a good turbo build on an M20 or M42.

The Touge Factory kit is quite a bit cheaper although less complete. https://www.tf-works.com/tf-works-bmw-e30-k-swap-kit-phase-2/ (doesn't have an intake manifold, throttle body or wiring harness).

posting for reference later. I seriously considered a K series for my rallyx e30, but the multiple easily available rwd transmissions and cheapness of the motor swayed me to mzr/duratec. I thought the packaging with a duratec would be a little easier, but I don't think so now.

Berkley this forum, like I didn't have enough crazy projects in my head, now I've got a g0t damn e30 touring turbo k series swirling around my head. Didn't need that at all!