Its been while. I have to say it i for good reasons. Last spring when I went o start driving for the season, The car started up and ran great! I am running hondata that went in without a hitch. The miss at vtec actually still there but the Datalogging pointed out where the issue was. Kinda.. First I disabled vtec in order to get the tuning started. the miss was still there. So it isnt a vtec issue but an RPM issue. I started looking at injector dead times. I altered them a little and the miss went away.

I dont remember wher eI left this blog as far as the overheating issue, but that has been soled as well be re-routing how the cooling system works. I have to manually trigger the cooling fan if I sit in traffic because I havent rewired that circuit from hondata yet. But it sits about 178-184 99.9999% of the time. I manually hit the fan in the upper 180’s.

The car isnt stupid fast, but it is pretty quick. I am running the LS transmission so the gearing isnt really for crazy fast anyway. but getting over 37 MPG average driving to work. 75% freeway. Here is a soft 1-3rd pull

I had another issue with the Fuel pump stopping. Looks like I didnt do research right and a 5 amp fuse was WAY too small.

I reconfigured the cable shift as well. it works awesome. Smooth and precise.

Thats all for now, just wanted to update. Still contemplating the B20 vtec vs Turbo b16. but that is a different story.

Mistakes and what I would do differently.

This is going to be somewhat an ad-hoc list. I am creating this for those of you who wish to do the swap and I want to let you know of the pitfalls I ran in to. First, There is more than one way to do this, my swap is by no means a “bible” to do yours, but guidlines.

The number 1 thing I screwed up on as well as would change if I did it again, Spend more time making sure the engine/trans is in the right spot. I am fine left to right. I probably could go an inch or two lower to see if I can make the shift rod that comes out of the trans more accessable. right now when all the way out, it is about 1/2 inch from the suspension. A bit tight IMO. Because I didnt, I cant say if moving it lower to clear would be too low for the oilpan, trans, or exhaust, but if I did it again, i would check that. The workst part. the shaft angles. I messed that one up a bit. it looked right with my mock up, but my mock up wasnt right or things moved when I put it all together. when sitting, my shafts do not run stright into the transmisison. the angle, according to the driveshaft shop that made the shafts, will be fine although not ideal.

The transmisison mount from most of my build up pics are not what I ended up with. It looks more like a straight piece going out. it now it held also by a tube going up and braces to front and rear. (will show pics when I get to it) This fixed an issue with the mount not holding to the frame of the fiat. it actually started tearing the metal. I totally forgot about the torque twist that is applied and only took the downward weight of the drive train into account.

Cooling system was a bitch. too many trials and too many errors. I will get around to redoing most of it in stainless rather than the stainless/rubber hose mess it is now. but generically here is what worked for me.
Additional Pieces.
Upper Coolant neck from Ktuned.
This allows for an easy fill spot. Maybe not needed, but helped.
inline coolant temperature sensor adapter. with Bleed valve (purchased seperate)
This will go in the hose going to radiator. you will put a Bleed valve in rather than a sensor. This will be used because the hose going to the radiator start lower comes up to clear the transmision then goes back down to head up to the radiator. this high spot WILL need to be bled.
Coolant purge tank with 1 barb in the bottom.
The routing.
For the main circuit
runs out from the head, to the inline bleed, back down to run to the radiator.
Radiator out goes back to engine. before it goes to the return near the thermostat, you need a tee with a small outlet to go to the bottom of the purge tank.
For the heater Circuit
Mine is just looped right now, no heater.
there is a debate online on if it can be blocked off. My reseach shows most of the blocked off ones are full race with no thermostat.
Possible issue when merging into fiat heater. Fiat runs an on/off type valve. Honda runs a bypass style valve. Will just shutting off the flow be an issue? see above reason about blocking it off. same applies. I am going to put in a remote heater baypassvalve (sold for semi trucks) so I can put the valve back in the engine bay yes electronically control the flow from the dashboard.
When running this, I stay at 178-182 degrees.

I also have been debating on if I should have put the ECU in the spare tire well. it is there now, and it nice and handy, but seeing where some K swap people have put theirs in the trunk so the harness is closer to what it would be in the stock honda (going towards the rear) it might have been cleaner.

With most B series transmissions being shifted by rod vs cable, I originally opted to extend the rod back. This works, but is VERY loose. I ended up making a bracket for the transmission input rod that allowed me to use a cable shifter. I used a porsche spyder shifter. it was the cheapest route. actually cheaper than a used honda cable shifter. If I did it again, I would go with midwestbayless K series cable shifter. it was made to drop into the X. I have to tear up the tunnel quite a bit to get the porsche shifter to fit. it is about 150 buck more than the used porsche, but it would have been better and easier. The adapter I made allowed one cable to push-pull, which the other controlled the rotation. Works Great as well as very tight.