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KRZY's Build Thread

17K views 55 replies 10 participants last post by  KRZY 
#1 · (Edited)
I purchased this PWP 2011 CR-Z EX 6 speed as my next project car. I have been in the Honda game for awhile with a few builds throughout the years but it has been a little bit now since I began a new one. So here is the beginning of a probably long road ahead.

Drivetrain:
JDM K20A Engine/Tranmission
Exedy Stage 2 clutch
Exedy lightweight flywheel
Hybrid Racing fuel rail
Hybrid Racing Fuel gauge
Hybrid Racing RSX shifter
Hybrid Racing RSX shifter cables
Hybrid Racing tucked fuel line
Hybrid Racing grounding kit
Ktuned clutch slave
Ktuned upper -16AN coolant housing
Ktuned thermostat housing
Hasport engine mounts
Hasport swap axles
Acura ZDX throttle body
Ktuned ZDX throttle body adapter
RBC intake manifold
Vibrant Catch Can
Chase Bays Coolant Overflow
Moroso Street/Strip Baffled Oil Pan
King Motorsports custom 4-2-1 header
King Motorsports custom 3" exhaust with turndown
King Motorsports tune

Suspension/Brakes:
HKS Hipermax IV GT Coilovers
Spoon front sway bar and endlinks
Progress Technology rear sway bar
SPC EZ front camber bolts
Chase Bays BBE Kit
Earls Speed Flex -3AN brake lines to eliminate ABS

Interior:
JDM hazard button
Mugen sport mats
Weathertech all-season mats
Flocked Dash
Black Headliner
Black door panel inserts
Carbon Fiber Vinyl Wrapped Trim
Mugen Racing III steering wheel
Works Bell steering hub (crush type)
Defi DSDF digital display

Exterior:
HPD rear diffuser
JDP Rear Spoiler
Verus Engineering Hood Vents
Lamin-x fog light vinyl in yellow

Wheels/Tires:
Mugen M12 (17x7 +52)
Bridgestone Potenza RE-71R (215/45/17)
Muteki Super Tuner open-ended lug nuts

When I first brought it home a few months ago
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Honda cr-z Honda


First low price mod was a JDM hazard button from Kamispeed
Vehicle audio Speedometer Light Electronics Auto part


The next addition to the garage to help in the process, which is something I've always wanted at home
Property Room Floor Interior design Ceiling


I will follow up in the near future with some progress on this build as a few more things have happened but I haven't taken the time to document.
 
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#2 ·
Nice lift! Do you have another entrance or will you have to do a 90° turn to access it? Good luck on the build, and of course, if you have a list of engine mods--or others, some of us might have some spare parts collecting dust that you might want to put to use. :wink2:
 
#14 ·
Well, I have been busy with things other than working on my car. I got a little work done last night on the engine/trans. The longblock is here and needs some TLC. I also ended up making this swap a bit harder on myself with the engine choice.


This is the engine in its current state after I separated it from the transmission. I swapped valve covers for a junk one for now.
Engine Auto part Automotive engine part Vehicle




This is a JDM 2005 Integra Type R engine and transmission. I like this motor and transmission a lot and could not choose anything else for the project. This will cause some headaches when it comes to wiring and such but hopefully nothing I can't work out.
Auto part Tire Engine Automotive engine part Wheel




Looks like the housing could use a cleaning and a new throw out bearing.
Auto part Engine Automotive engine part Transmission part




This is the stock clutch and appears to have seen overheating and is slightly glazed on both contact surfaces. The flywheel has also seen heat and shows signs of chattering. I will be ordering a new clutch and flywheel now. I had always planned on a clutch but these flywheels are rather good so I would have liked to have kept it.
Auto part Clutch part Clutch Rotor Transmission part
 
#15 ·
I ordered a decent amount of parts on cyber monday and saved quite a bit of money so parts will be trickling in to get the swap portion of the project done.

These are the Hasport swap axles.
Ranged weapon Tool Games


These are MTEC's race springs for the gear selector. These reduce the sloppy neutral position feel and high spring rate back to center.
Red Material property Technology Auto part


Just a couple items I may end up using on the valve cover.
Logo Magenta Graphics


This is the first part of the fuel system, which technically you do not need but I like to know I have good fuel pressure.
Measuring instrument Gauge Font Speedometer Brand


And last but not least an OEM Honda part to help me go to center exit exhaust.
Automotive design Architecture Vehicle door Automotive exterior Auto part
 
#18 ·
Started spending some time cleaning up the motor and transmission. I am waiting on some parts but a few came in recently, which will keep the progress going.

Exedy Stage 2 clutch and lightweight flywheel. Ktuned dipstick as well since mine was pretty trashed and I like the flush mount look of this dipstick. The rest are goodies included from JHPUSA.

Auto part Crankset Watch Font Fashion accessory
 
#20 ·
I have not gotten a real good answer on the ecu side of things. A few have said the normal Si ecu will work and others have not been too sure. Likely this will take some work on my end to figure out or at least get the right people involved. This was one of my larger concerns going into this project but we will get there one way or another.
 
#21 ·
So, a few parts have been trickling in to keep the project moving. I actually got the Spoon sway bar installed already and it crazy how large it is in comparison to stock. I will post picks of it installed soon. I also had time to work on some of the cosmetic issues on the motor and transmission. There appeared to be a small leak around the perimeter of the transmission case. In order to fix this I needed to separate the case and use Honda Bond to seal the case again. This turned out to be a huge pain. While this was being taken apart, I took the time to change out the shifter mechanism return spring to the MTEC race springs. This was pretty simple compared to separating the case. I finally got everything sealed back up after a few late nights.

Meanwhile, I received parts from Acura, which is mostly small hardware or hoses because the old ones were pretty grubby. I will follow up with photos of these once installed. I also received the throttle body I will be using, which is the 2011 ZDX TB. My engine did not come with a drive by wire throttle body so it gave me the opportunity to upgrade to the largest OEM option.

I should get some more work done in the next few days so I should have more progress. A lot of parts are still on backorder but I still have plenty of work with minor change to the chassis and always more cleanup n the engine and trans.

Spoon Front Sway Bar courtesy of Kamispeed


Bunch of Parts from Acura


MTEC shifter mechanism race springs versus stock


JDM K20a Transmission Gearset
 
#22 ·
Backordered parts from Hybrid Racing came in, which includes the RSX shifter, RSX shifter cables and fuel rail.


I also received a Ktuned ZDX to RBC throttle body adapter, clutch slave cylinder without the clutch delay port, and Vibrant HD clamp.



A closer look at the throttle body adapter. It is pretty nice in that it gives you two potential vacuum ports, a tucked MAP sensor location, and a sleeve that matches the stock RBC intake manifold to make a smooth transition without port matching.


Trimming the RBC for a cleaner look, which is pretty satufying when you are all done but not exactly a good time with the grinder.



Of course, I could not wait on assembly of the parts. I decided to do a wrinkle black finish on the RBC and upper coolant passage. I went back and forth a lot on if I wanted raw finish or painted but finally settled on the wrinkle and I do not think that it turned out too bad. I also went back and forth on whether or not to paint the motor and trans but I am the type of person that would spend way too much time and money on hardware due to corroded or slightly discolored parts to head down that path right now. The motor will likely be pulled later in the year so maybe I will change my mind at that time.






The hybrid racing fuel rail allows for center feed tucked fuel line connection, which is what I will be using for feed. Upon first inspection the shifter will need custom mounting due to the holes being nowhere near close to working, which is not a huge surprise but had my hopes. I am trying to get a lot done in the next couple weeks in order to take the car to a shop for a header and exhaust system to be fabricated. I am eager for this season and want a running car when it comes.
 
#23 ·
So it has been a while since I have had time to post any updates on here but I have been working to keep things moving. The item that took me a while to get close to finished is getting rid of the grey in the interior as much as possible without spending tons of money as I will be changing this in the fall anyway.

So I started pulling out basically the whole interior to begin work. Sorry for the cruddy cell phone picture.


I also wanted to cover as much up the fake chrome and as much grey/silver as possible cause it drives me nuts to have a two tone interior. I began with the steering wheel.






Door panels before the work started.


Getting prepped for vinyl paint.


Rear sway bar


HKS Coilovers


Suspension is installed


Hybrid Racing Shifter Cables


Hybrid Racing Shifter and part of the interior back in the car


And let the wiring begin....Rustbucket is helping me out on this for the swap wiring. I will also be figuring out the interaction of my transmission sensors with the harness along the way.


I should have my Rywire/CSF tucked radiator today and will begin planning out my plumbing. I also have to plumb my Vibrant catch can and Chase Bays coolant overflow. I will get some pictures of the interior posted once it is all back together.
 
#28 ·
Thanks for the positive feedback! I started to mock up the mounting brackets for my tucked radiator and honestly the most logical mounting is where Rustbucket places his so I will roughly be following suit except for the nice dimple die work. I will post pictures soon on this mounting.
 
#29 ·
Sorry for not posting much more frequently to keep you guys updated but I put in a bout 60-70 hours of work into the car last week to get it down to an appointment to get the header and exhaust work done. It was a very tiring week due to lack of sleep and running into issues throughout the process, which is to be expected.

First off, I received some wheels for the car, which will be more of a driving around town wheel that I do not have to worry about too much. I will likely color change these and match to my valve cover when the time comes to wrap things up. Let's see if anyone knows what wheels these are from the teaser (Hint: they are Mugen wheels :wink2:)



I went back and forth on getting the Defi ZD like Rustbucket had, an AIM Strada, or the Defi DSDF. I decided on the Defi DSDF and ordered from Japan through Nengun Performance. It took roughly 1.5 months to get the dash but I am pretty stoked on this dash.

So, I finished wiring and mounting the digital dash setup. I really wanted to mount this where the stock cluster is but I do not want to remove/block the stock cluster until it is running and driving for a bit. The bracket that comes with the Defi DSDF can only be used as a sort of flush mount into a metal or poly panel, which was not useful for my mounting needs at the moment. I originally was going to use an L bracket to mount it on top of the upper pocket on the dash but that would look weird and also put holes into the pocket lid. Instead I removed the lid and made brackets to hold it in the pocket and painted the brackets wrinkle black. I used the two existing holes for the pocket lid swivel arms to route the wiring through. It does not look too bad for now.







I began mocking up for AN lines for the catch can (-10AN), tucked radiator (-16AN), and brake booster (-8AN). The fuel line was already complete (-6AN). I also needed to mount my coolant overflow and run hose. This engine bay get very small quickly when you begin adding ancillary cans and lines, which makes for tough layout in order to make things look tidy.



Upper K-Tuned Coolant Passage



Vibrant Catch Can



Chase Bays Coolant Overflow in first location prior to moving to under wiper cowl.



AN Lines (my catch can placement will likely move later as I am not happy with the way the lines sit in the bay)



Out in sunlight and dirty



And off to the shop for header exhaust and possibly first start. I ran into an issue when taking it to Honda to program keys, which was that they could not communicate at all with the car through the OBD2 port :crying:. This can be for many reason that I did not have time to check prior to carting it to the other shop. I will have to look into reasons for this when I get the car back. I know the ECU is getting power because the check engine light was on. It could be a bad sensor or a short. Also, the immobilizer light was not blinking as if the keys were recognized, which was odd but we will see.



I may get more pictures up in the near future but I spent a lot of time working and not much on documentation.
 
#30 ·
That display is gonna be so good once you've got it mounted how you want - glad you went through with that!

As for the communication issues - did you jump a yellow wire (either number 9 or 12 from memory on Plug A) to the solid orange wire on your OBD2 port? It's the low speed CAN WEN, write enable. It'll be labeled as such on the PDF you've got. I had upload errors from my FlashPro until I ran a new wire between those two pins. Apparently a similar issue exists when people swap Fit's.
 
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