ENGINE BUILD

This was a full-on passion project. Me and my brother have always been into cars, especially Hondas. We had this clean 2001 Honda Civic Type R shell just sitting there, so we decided to bring it to life.

We ended up finding a used K20A engine and knew right away it was the one. The swap wasn’t plug and play—we had to weld in new engine mounts, reroute a bunch of wiring, and make sure everything sat perfectly. I still have the photos of us welding the mounts and test fitting everything.

What started as just a fun garage build turned into something way more serious once we dynoed it—240 horsepower at the wheels. For a Civic that weighs almost nothing, this thing absolutely moved.

Highlights

Swapped a K20A DOHC VTEC engine into a 2001 Civic shell.
Fabricated custom engine mounts (welded in-house).
Modified wiring harness, radiator lines, and transmission brackets.
Final tuning done after dyno testing confirmed 240 HP.
Learned a ton about engine geometry, clearances, and how picky Hondas are when it comes to timing and ECU tuning.

What I Learned

This build taught me more than any textbook ever could. From understanding how to mount a powertrain correctly, to figuring out cooling routes, throttle response, and ECU behavior—everything had to be done manually. It made me realize how rewarding hands-on problem solving really is. We made mistakes, sure—but that’s what made it real.