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Lots of excitement this morning when the kit arrived from SunSpeed in the States. As you can imagine I was eager to unpack and inspect my purchase.

The first thing I set my eyes when opening the box was the manifold. It really is a beautifully made item as are all the parts included.

So here it is, take a look for yourself.

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So I’ve started. The engine has been in my garage for over two months collecting dust. My DIY kit is on its way from the States so its time to start the ‘PREP’. There is quite a lot to do before the engine goes in, but its pretty straight forward stuff and is well worth doing ahead of time.

First off I thought I’d put some pictures up of the engine as it is before I’ve done any work on it. The engine in question is a 2004 Civic Type-R K20A2 (not K20A3) UK spec model. When I bought the engine I had a good look over it to make sure all the sensors etc were connected and nothing was broken. In the pictures below I’ve circled the sensor positions to provide a point of reference for the prospective purchaser.

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OK I think I’ve come to a decision on which route to take.

Which engine, which kit?

Upgrade the K - I’m not convinced this is the best solution. Rover is no more, its pretty old technology and I just don’t feel comfortable about squeezing 190+ BHP out of it.

The new car route? Common sense tells me that I’m mad not to sell my S2, put £8K to it and buy a 111R. There are a number of these for sale around the £18K mark.

The engine conversion route is where I want to be. I’d dearly love to see that high revving iVTEC number in the back of my car.

During the course of my investigations into this subject I’ve spoken to all the major shops who fit these kits and I think £10K plus is a huge commitment to make. After all my car is only worth 11 thousand pounds to start with. But on the other hand a turn-key is a very stress free and easy solution.

I’m not that interested in the Audi conversion or the Duratec, no specific reason really. I just like that Honda engine.

So, what should I do…?

A decision had to be made and I’ve put my money where my mouth is and bought a 2004 Civic K20A iVTEC engine. The engine came complete with all the sensors attached and a 6 speed box, UK spec ECU, drive shafts (all 3), cat, wiring looms (engine and starter), air box and just about every other bit I got away with stripping off the car. The engine has covered less than 30k miles and looks complete apart from the intermediate shaft heat cover. I also had to buy a new thermostat housing which was broken during its removal.

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…I had an idea that I’d like up the power of my 120BHP Elise.

How do I go about this? Fire up google and start to surf…..

There are basically 5 options available today for the Elise speed freek.

Option 1 - Upgrading the ‘K’

The Rover ‘K’ series is a lightweight ‘4-pot’ generally regarded as a ‘good’, ‘tunable’ engine. However many people feel disappointed with its performance, reliability or have experienced one or more head gasket failures (HGF). Let’s face 120 BHP isn’t enough to propel you past that Impreza on the straight at most circuits around the UK.

With the demise of Rover a hole has been left in the market for other manufacturers and specialist to fill. Some contraints such as emissions forced importers to ditch the ‘K’ straight out of the box, so they turned to alternatives such as the Honda and Audi engines. More recently Toyota have been the choice for Lotus in their production cars and there are even Ford Duratec powered Elises kicking around.

Still want to upgrade the aging K? For under £3k you can have your ‘K’ tuned to 185 BHP plus by the likes of http://www.dvapower.com/. Dave@DVApower.com or phone on 01908 322652.

Turbo technics provide a variety of Super Charger upgrades, see http://www.turbotechnics.com/docs/cars/elise%20index.htm

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