Honda Fit K20 Swap

07. Despite the compact shape of the snail intake manifold, Hasport still needed to cut the hood latch support for clearance.

08. The K-series engine is as wide as the Fit engine bay. In order to keep the engine from rubbing, Hasport positioned the engine more towards the driver's side and notched the framerail for the transmission clearance.

09. One thing's for certain, the Fit is anything but roomy in the engine bay. Notice the trans casing is very close to the crossmember and behind it you can also see the EPS (electronic power steering) motor.

If you're thinking this is a simple B16 swap in some Civic scenario-think again. Although most of the parts involved in making the k-series dream come true are straightforward (minus the header, which will be explained as we continue), the piggyback ECU setup, which requires two ECU's (factory ECU and Hondata K-Pro), is unique to the Fit swap and a necessary component for the dash, electronic power steering motor, and throttle body drive-by-wire-system to work. Communication with the car and ECU is CAN Bus and information for the dash and climate control is handled through this system. CAN is known as Controller Area Network and is found on many of the newer vehicles sold on the market today. While the factory ECU plays an integral part in controlling many of the factory features, the Fit harness was also modified by Hondata to fit the K20. Along with making the harness fit, the VTEC solenoid wiring and crank position sensor no. 2 wiring were added. With the unique feature of running two ECU's, the Fit ECU and K-pro unit were reflashed to run in a piggy-back configuration. The ECU was then modified to take the '06 Si input shaft speed sensor as the signal was converted to use the Fit ECU.

We asked Gillespie what he considered was the hardest task in dealing with the swap. With a grin and a look of despair, all paired into one, Gillespie said, "Getting the damn motor in. It is too large front to rear. You have to come in from the bottom and wind up rocking it back and forth to snake past the core support and front suspension crossmember." Not fun if you've dealt with tight engine bays.

10. With a variance in length between the stock Fit axles and the ones needed for the new K-motor transplant, Hasport called upon Driveshaft Shop to build a custom set. These driveshafts (shown with blue CV boots) are currently in the developmental stages and will hold up to some heavy abuse.

11. With minimal space to work with, the radiator and condenser fans were replaced with pusher fans and flipped to the front of the radiator/condenser using a custom aluminum bracket. The stock radiator was tested with the new setup and works just fine with the K-motor. The upper radiator hose was sourced from a GSR but the bottom hose was cut from a section of a 1990 Accord lower radiator hose.

12. Not looking forward to the hot summer heat wave? Hasport seemed to have all the answers as the AC lines were assembled from various parts of Fit and '03 Civic lines. Currently, Hasport isn't sure if the new AC system will work due to the K-series compressor having more electronics than the original Fit compressor but rest assured, if there's a way, Hasport will find it.