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Two years ago at the annual Eibach meet, there was a really clean '92 VX with a surprise in the engine bay-the seemingly massive J-series V6-a full-blown J35 from the Odyssey minivan in fact. Tim Beadle of Arizona Performance Imports was one of the first to get it in and fully sorted out into a truly drivable car. Today, the masters at Hasport have taken that prototype, evolved it into its second generation, and have now created kits for the CRX, DC and EK chassis as well.
When you think about it, the J is nearly as common as the K is. It's in the Acura CL and TL, MDX, Honda Accord, Pilot, Ridgeline, and Odyssey. That's a lot of Honda V6s to be had. The downside is the manual transmission for the swap is a tough one to source. It's estimated that only five percent of all Accord and TL/CL production cars were equipped with a six-speed manual transmission. Expect engines to be around $600, but nearly double that for the transmission. And at this point, no one is working on how to use the automatic because it's not so good; to the point where Honda recalled thousands of them.
 Nicole and Josh Wojtyna of...  Nicole and Josh Wojtyna of Tri-Tech Motorsports own this pink '89 CRX. Originally campaigned with a big turbo feeding an old school twin cam ZC engine, it now has the J32A2 or Type S engine rated at 260 hp. All stock internally, it's currently being spun by an AEM EMS originally intended for a Civic Si. |  Since the plugs are the same,...  Since the plugs are the same, there was a bit of complicated re-wiring to run the J, but it works perfect. Built for drag racing, there is a dedicated fuel cell, Aeromotive lines, and AN fittings. The chassis includes full K-Sport coilovers, Function 7 lower control arms, and 'skinny' rear tires. | |
It's completely caged but...
It's completely caged but keeps the front half of the original interior with the rear shelled in. Obviously the driver is Nicole, but there are no track times as of yet since the swap is fresh and was the prototype for the Hasport kit.
So if you want to try the 'no replacement for displacement' swap, what do you need? First, of course, is the engine. In my opinion, the best is the J35A4 from the '02-'04 Odyssey. This is because there are more of these engines than any other and it's the biggest. Others argue the J32A2 from the '01-'03 Acura CL/TL Type S is the way to go. However, these are much harder to find, so you'll pay a premium for them. On the bright side, this engine likes to rev and has great top end with 20 more hp than the J35A4.
One thing to stay away from are the really old engines, like the '98-'99 that have distributors. Nothing wrong with them, but when Honda took them to coil over plug, power went up nicely. Another thing you don't want is a Drive-by-wire (DBW) engine. To get this to run, you'll need an ECU, wire harness, and throttle from the original car. Finally, the Acura CL Type S had its own unique setup that doesn't appear anywhere else. The engine works, but the transmission has a unique case and isn't compatible with the Hasport kits-the same goes for its wire harness and ECU.
Hasport's red EK hatch is...
Hasport's red EK hatch is one old horse. If you're really sharp, you might recognize it as the car on the cover of Sport Compact Car many years ago when they ran a hybrid how-to for the K-swap into an EK. Today, here we are again, same car, a different swap. Their car has the J32A2 Type S engine with all stock stuff on it, even the exhaust manifolds.
The rest of the swap is no more complicated than a standard K swap. Everything is turned around just like a K, and you'll need a new shifter box and cables. Ironically, these come super cheap from a 2003-up Accord V6. The mount kit from Hasport is under $600. The'02-'04 Odyssey ECUs work, and so do '99-'00 Acura TL units. The immobilizer needs to be dealt with, but most companies know what to do here. Also make sure to get the engine harness with your J swap. Companies like Arizona Performance Imports specialize in removing the stuff no longer needed like the auto trans, and then easily mate it to your existing car's cabin harness. API will ring you up for $450 to mate the two harnesses, remove the immobilizer, and include an OBD 2 port. This basically makes it a complete plug-in deal.
All of the current chassis install the same with the exception of the CRX. This is because it's so small in there and because it has a cable operated clutch. The six-speed tranny used is hydraulic. Again, Hasport has the solution and the TriTech CRX sports it right there for all to see. Also, the axles required are different than the ones sold by Hasport, but are a combination of six Honda axles, if you feel like hunting them all down.
The CRX kit comes in just one flavor, unlike the other chassis. A notch on the rear subframe, the passenger headlight housing, and some trimming around the front suspension cross-link (just below the radiator) are required to wedge all that V6 in there. No Honda radiator will work either, but Full Race makes one for K swaps that happens to work on this as well.
 It features their newest swap...  It features their newest swap mount kit, the J2, which has dual height positions for the engine. You see it here in the lower position with near-zero ground clearance but the hood needs no modification to close. In the upper position, it's lower than their original kit (still offered and called J1) but the hood will require some trimming to clear the large V6 intake manifold. |  The car is going to be a rolling...  The car is going to be a rolling test bed for the Hasport team. Its first stop is AEM headquarters for a new Series 2 EMS that AEM plans to launch late this year. Then it's back to Hasport for a try at road racing. With all that weight up front, they're interested to see how it will go. | |