Longevity of K Series Engine

The Oily Bits S1 Specific Topics
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Pistonheads.com carries an interesting story today concerning a Honda VTEC engine shoehorned into a standard Elise. The story concludes: "The standard Honda unit should be good for many tens of thousands of miles even on track, whilst very highly tuned K series engines won’t boast such longevity."Do those of you with high mileage experience of Lotus tuned K Series engines agree with that statement?

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Yup

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quote:Originally posted by RussT:YupCare to elaborate?

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Had a rebuild after 22k miles. Depending on who you believe, either the crank oil seal popped out and caused oil starvation which buggered up the pistons. Or wear and tear to the pistons/liners caused pressurisation of the crankcase, which pushed the oil seal out. Then it happened again, fortunately it was caught & this time the seal is sealed in properly. I have heard of several high powered K’s with this problem, but considering it should be only 120 bhp, is this surprising? The Honda is 197bhp standard - 'nuff said?

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Does anyone know of people whose VTEC has gone bang ?A mildly tuned 220bhp VTEC sounds perfect in an Exige if the longevity is as good as people say, if only that price would come down to a more sensible level.[This message has been edited by Admin5 (edited 28 March 2003).]

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Mine was rebuilt a number of times.Mileages below when engine went.9672 - December10056 - February10104 - MarchForecast for April could be fairly sh*tty looking at current trends. Still, keeping the mielage nice and low!

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Once boy racers start bining their Civic Type-Rs the supply will go up and the price down.Ian [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif[/image]

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Don’t count on it, Ian.So. California is the VTEC and i-VTEC Capital of the world, and because of their popularity they still command a high price. I’m working on sources in Japan to get the lumps shipped directly to the UK so you’ll get the best price available. This will reduce the overall cost of the conversion considerably.Cheers,Joe

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Joe have you ever given a “ball-park” cost on the conversation?Cheers, Ian [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif[/image]

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Ian,As it stands now, the turn-key conversion is 10k quid including VAT from Brooke Kensington or BaT/Blink Motorsports, my first two dealers in the UK. For those wishing to do it themselves, the conversion kit can be had direcly from me for $7,600 + shipping. At that price I have to sell about 80 kits to get to the break even point, so you can see it’s passion that’s driving me, there are a lot easier ways to make money.Cheers,Joe

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That’s �4780 (or thereabouts) plus shipping + fitting.(but then you need to add an engine, gearbox and loom, am I right ?)[This message has been edited by Admin5 (edited 28 March 2003).]

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quote:Originally posted by RussT:Had a rebuild after 22k miles. Depending on who you believe, either the crank oil seal popped out and caused oil starvation which buggered up the pistons. Or wear and tear to the pistons/liners caused pressurisation of the crankcase, which pushed the oil seal out. Then it happened again, fortunately it was caught & this time the seal is sealed in properly. I have heard of several high powered K’s with this problem, but considering it should be only 120 bhp, is this surprising? The Honda is 197bhp standard - 'nuff said?Sounds pretty frightening to me So the $64,000 question is, if you don’t mind me asking, how much would a rebuild like that have cost?

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quote:Originally posted by Tubbs:Mine was rebuilt a number of times.Mileages below when engine went.9672 - December10056 - February10104 - MarchThree rebuilds in around 500 miles is scary stuff - were the failures for different reasons or was it a recurring nightmare?

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quote:Originally posted by IDG:Once boy racers start binning their Civic Type-Rs the supply will go up and the price down.Ian [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif[/image]What about engines on things like old Accord Type R’s?

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Admin5,You’ll need the engine, gearbox, ECU, engine wiring loom, and the inboard CV’s. I build a loom to connect the engine to the car’s system, along with all the parts required for fitting, including new drive shafts and a tuned S/S exhaust that bolts right up to your CAT or replacement pipe. All the engine mounts are made of SAE 4130 Chrome-Moly, so much stronger than the original Lotus parts, and lighter as well. It’s a true bolt-in, so you needn’t cut anything on the car. Cheers,Joe

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Merman,The Accord engine won’t fit into the chassis, it’s far too wide, and substantially heavier than the new K20A my latest kit is designed for. The B-series Honda kit is available as well, but the K20A is a far superior engine to anything Honda has built to date. Even the S-2000!Joe

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How does the weight of the K20A compare with the K series?

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quote:Originally posted by Joe McCarthy:The B-series Honda kit is available as well, but the K20A is a far superior engine to anything Honda has built to date. Even the S-2000!JoeIf the K20A is superior to the S2000 engine, does this mean you are not going to make a conversion for the S2000 engine?

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quote:Originally posted by Hethel Merman: Three rebuilds in around 500 miles is scary stuff - were the failures for different reasons or was it a recurring nightmare?Fortunately recurring nightmare with the cost footed by the garage (except the first rebuild hwich was my fault!)

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quote:Originally posted by Hethel Merman: Sounds pretty frightening to me So the $64,000 question is, if you don’t mind me asking, how much would a rebuild like that have cost?It was around �5k, but the warranty company picked �2k of that up.