Retro Racing K24 818R build

[RetroRacing]

Started this new thread now that we are installing the Honda K24 engine. I'll try to post the build from the start here as time goes by, but you can check out the Retro Racing build to catch up.

[RetroRacing]

Its ALIVE!!!
Started it up on Saturday, once we traced two small wiring issues down. I'll post some video later this week, need to get the dash programed to read the new oil pressure sender. I'm putting all my notes together of what we did, and what we would do different. One thing that is important to note, is you can fit a K24/K20 in this car with the stock or aftermarket oil pan and with the "stock" fuel tank. Our Kmiata has 265hp at the wheels, stock engine, but with headers, 70mm throttle body, 2006 intake cam and a 50 degree intake cam wheel. that would be a pretty rad and reliable car that you could easily take to 300hp normally asperated! You could also go straight up stock engine and have just over 200hp, using the 2004 K24a2 or Z engine.
Kmiata sells everything you need, less the adapter to the Suby trans and flywheel, those came out of AU.
You must have access to a saws-all and a welder to do this, but it is not rocket science.

[Russellmn]

Anything new???

[Sgt.Gator]

Our first Conference race is May 1. Hopefully by then Biden will open the border and let Retro bring their KMiata and K818R down to Portland International. But I'm not optimistic on that.

[RetroRacing]

Sorry again for the late update, but building comes first, work second, then life.....
Finally got it on the dyno, will try to post the video, but I can at least tell you the results.
Three separate visits. Visit one was just to get an idle tune, test for leaks and such. Everything was going great, until we started hitting boost at 2500rpm, and were picking up a lb of boost every 200rpm! Toggle switch driving is not my idea of a good time, so we decided to stop, remove the VF23-28 we had on it, and go to a much bigger turbo with external waste gate.
Some cutting and welding of pipes later, 1 week to be exact, and we were put back together, fully ceramic coated and ready for power pulls. Visit two, we were just starting to rev over 5000 rpm and i noticed oil pressure was only 45 psi with the drysump regulator maxed. Then it hit me, i forgot to plug an oil gallery at the bottom of the engine, so oil was just dumping into the pan.....
So, off the dyno, back to our shop, 3 hours later, it's ready to go back to the dyno.
Visit three, power pulls to 8000 rpm. Plugs were blowing out at 7500ish, so changed plugs to some shorter, hotter plugs (i went to far with colder plugs) with a result of 340ish hp at the wheels, and 240ish ftlbs. This is the detuned, 93 octane, not knock tune for enduro racing. water temp, oil temp all on the cold side, even after multiple pulls to dial it in. Thanks to Gator, we have the trans at close to the right angle, and with our trans cooler return split between the r&p and the 5th gear dump tube we inserted to direct the oil onto the gear, trans temps never went over 110 with over 10 pulls.

Overall, very happy but still need to get it on track. Mods were pretty straight forward to fit the engine, NA with the stock oiling system would not only fit, but would be a wicked 240+ hp with just cams and a tune.
818R2.jpg818R1.jpg

[Sgt.Gator]

This is great news! I'll miss you at PIR this weekend (I'll have the STI). But hopefully the Covid Border Guards will let you cross for The Ridge. I hope to have my 818R at The Ridge too. The race is on!

[Frank818]

You're BACK!!!!!!!!!! Happy to see it's finally running!
What are your impressions of that engine, although only on the dyno for now?

Happy to see your work VERY fast!

So, off the dyno, back to our shop, 3 hours later, it's ready to go back to the dyno.

Man I wish I could work that fast again.


When should we expect some drive runs?

[J R Jones]

Its ALIVE!!!
Started it up on Saturday, once we traced two small wiring issues down. I'll post some video later this week, need to get the dash programed to read the new oil pressure sender. I'm putting all my notes together of what we did, and what we would do different. One thing that is important to note, is you can fit a K24/K20 in this car with the stock or aftermarket oil pan and with the "stock" fuel tank. Our Kmiata has 265hp at the wheels, stock engine, but with headers, 70mm throttle body, 2006 intake cam and a 50 degree intake cam wheel. that would be a pretty rad and reliable car that you could easily take to 300hp normally asperated! You could also go straight up stock engine and have just over 200hp, using the 2004 K24a2 or Z engine.
Kmiata sells everything you need, less the adapter to the Suby trans and flywheel, those came out of AU.
You must have access to a saws-all and a welder to do this, but it is not rocket science.

Retro, you mentioned the adapter and flywheel came out of AU, I assume that is Australia? What is the supplier name, how thick is the adapter and what is the cost?
Kennedy makes a kit, it is 1.0 in thick and not inexpensive.
jim

[RetroRacing]

We run these engines in our Miata and RX7 (soon) and they are amazing. Just opening one up, you see roller rockers, piston squirters, etc. Tuning is very straight forward via the Hondata ECU, and it very much is plug and play with the right stock harness. If you want to stay 2L, then just use the K20, it's identical except for bore and stroke, and revs to 9000 over and over again. We use the K24a2 engine from the 2004-2008 TSX, best ones being the 2006-2008 as they have bigger intake valves and intake cam, but either one can get to 300 hp with a little work, 250 with just an intake and some cams. (that's at the wheels btw....) K20's a little less, but the sound! You can use the newer Z series engine, but the exhaust manifold is very different, along with the mounts.

Subaru Gears in Australia, AUD $1250 + 10% GST $125 = AUD $1375. You want zero tilt, pick the right trans, and you will have to send it out to get the bolt head clearance opened up just a hair to fit a socket on the flywheel bolts, although he may have fixed this problem by now. It's only half an inch thick, you need to thread and mount a stiffener at the bottom of the engine to trans for extra support, but its super easy.

Fitting it into the car takes the following:
- cutting out and installing 3 bars from the center section
- adding two bars for the engine mounts
- dropping the trans mount to level off the engine818frame.jpg818frame2.jpg818frame3.jpg

[J R Jones]

Retro, Everyone has their preferences. Having grown up with V8s, I lean that direction, if they are small and light.
In this case I have fallen back on my Acura experience with their J series 3.7 V6. I am planning a Marked Motorsports 300hp "J" in my 818. Dimensions are favorable, I predict less forward structure involvement than you had.
https://markedmotorsports.com/honda-...1b98c39ce10585
I may raise the engine to level the transaxle.

The Kennedy kit ia $1K, maybe I can cut the thickness down.

BTW in fitment of my body I had the rear tower to tower crossmember off for modification. Jacking the chassis to pull a rear wheel, the spring towers displaced outward ~0.3 in. I surmise the crossmember is significant.
jim

[RetroRacing]

we modified and re-installed it just for that reason, it's not in the pictures.

We already measured for the J series as a possible next build and agree, it's very possible! Length is better than the K, so you can get away without modification to the center tubes, but the height is an issue. Raising it to even out the transmission and you will be doing body work, you only need to drop the trans by 2" which is way easier and faster to do. check out 4p racing k series engines, they will blow your mind!

[J R Jones]

Retro, Nothing like hardware to decimate a vision.
My Dino body has 6 in more clearance for the engine, and not enough for the roll bar. I'll drive carefully.
I will not have to deal with an intercooler and airflow to it.
jim

[RetroRacing]

Way to coooool! keep us posted

[RetroRacing]

sorry for the delay, been crazy busy....

Installed the new turbo and external waste gate. We stopped at 345hp at the wheels because it doesn't need anymore. That's running boost at 10psi, spring pressure only, stock engine with valve spring upgrade only. We want reliability, not a horsepower queen that can't get the power to the ground. It will rev to 8500 all day long, but we are going to keep it around 8000rpm, which still gets us to over 160 mph, more than we need at this point.

Car is ready to go as soon as they open the boarder, will post how it goes when we know.

[Sgt.Gator]

Thanks for the update. I've come to the same conclusion, we are swapping in a new engine/turbo but keeping the power level at a reliable level. We won't be going past 7,000 RPM.
May have to tune to 350HP though.
I texted with Dragonfly about the Thill 25. I'll update the thread in the General Section about what happened. I'm really looking forward to having all 3 Pac NW 818Rs racing together next summer!

[Frank818]

345 at only 10psi... wow, that's not a V8 and still you manage to get that many horses out? Awesome. Maybe the high revving helps too.

[RetroRacing]

We just completed an install in one of our RX7's that we installed a set of DC 2.2 Enduro cams in, same turbo set up as our 818R, and we got over 390 at the wheels, with over 325lbft or torque!. These engines are incredible, we are now building a full internal build with pistons, rods, 4P head, valves and springs, shooting for 300plus at the wheels NA. That's for one of our Kmiata's, but imagine that on the street! If we wanted to, we could put in a built turbo K24 that would run 1000hp, but that would break everything behind it, and at 2000lbs, be unmanagable.

[Sgt.Gator]

What tranny are ya'll using with the K24 in the RX-7?
I can't wait to see your 3 K24 powered cars this spring at the races.

I stopped by the 4P booth at PRI: