K swap FRS : Freddy McShreddy part deux

In reply to Slippery :

It's a bit chilly on the few 30 degree mornings I have experienced so far but the heated seats make that all forgettable if I don't have time to warm it up before heading out. There's an aftermarket removable headliner that I've seen somewhere. Some say it can help a bit with that? Honestly I was more worried about wind noise or just road noise in general. So far it's more than tolerable.

The only real negative I've had was the OEM sound system is pretty subpar. Yet after a few weeks, I've already gotten used to it where I stopped googling components or equipment to fix it.

Oh and gas mileage has been remarkably better than I thought it would be at 20-22 average.

That's the issue with swapped cars, it's always something.  Everyone loves to say "just LS swap it!, Or I guess now, K swap it!" but they really have no idea of the amount of work it takes to get and then keep factory integration working.  I ran into that on my LS swapped 944 turbo, the actual engine install and getting it moving was fairly easy, it was everything else that took a ton of time and then kept taking a ton of time and effort to maintain.

My realization of that, after doing it for 6+ years led to the sale of that car and the fervent belief that I'll never, ever do a non native engine swap again

In reply to docwyte :

I think I've been very fortunate to have a kit installed and run 18k miles with very little issues as a daily. K Power did a pretty damn good job on a LOT of the kit and some room for improvement on others. The vibration mitigation was probably where they really dropped the ball but since they seem more focused on a track setup that makes sense. The coolant heater core bypass hose stuff is kinda silly but again the race car focus kinda explains that. The Haltech setup is so awesome. I can't begin to explain how nice it is to just pop open the laptop and mess around with settings to my liking while keeping all of the factory integrated doodads functioning like stock. I haven't had to do it much, but it beats the ECUTEK or OpenFlash tuning options of the stock fa20. The clutch fork pivot could have been just as easily an issue on a stock car, and some of the other issues are fairly minor in the grand scheme of things. The a/c issue was really the most frustrating and that could have been fixed a lot sooner had I just called in help from folks who know what to look for.

I have a few small things to tackle that I think kinda puts the DONE stamp on the car. A good chunk of the tinkering and wrenching on this project has been awesome. Wouldn't trade it for anything. I wouldn't do it over again though either. So in summation I think I agree with you?

Unfortunately if I do sell the FRS, it won't be because of the swap. It would be sold due to lost interest. I've kinda had my fun with track and autocross. Maybe I'll pop in from time to time but it's just not appealing right now. That could change in a few months time when I'm bored with the Bronco so I'm trying to not make a hasty decision I'll regret later down the road.

In reply to captainawesome :

When was the last time you heard of a clutch fork failing on a modern car?  That simply doesn't happen.  Haltech is awesome, does the factory ECU stay in the background?  Otherwise there's not a chance that will pass smog in most of the states here, as they check for OBD2 readiness codes.  

I've found that the kits, no matter how expensive or good they appear to me, always have some sort of major failing.  On the 944 LS kit it was the motor mounts, I went through three different sets/generations of them.  Until the adapter was made to get the factory master cylinder to work on the mustang hydroboost, the brake bias was all kinds of screwed up on track, etc.  Your kit is missing hvac integration, potential clutch fork issues, vibration problems for a street driven car (which is the majority of their customers?), etc, etc. 

You just don't get to do an engine swap and have everything work the way it did from the factory.  Which is fine if the car is just a pure track car, but for people who also want to drive it on the street, that's a huge frustration and a ton of work to try and acheive, with varying levels of success.

In reply to docwyte :

The vibration I knew would be an issue when buying the kit. From the very beginning of this thread I had planned to do the things I did the mitigate that. The only reason I started with Kpower shifter and driveshaft was because the full kit came with it and piecing them together was more costly.

I've found a handful of clutch fork pivot failures on the FRS/BRZ chassis that weren't modified or swapped. There are aftermarket parts manufactured to address this from Verus Engineering. I can't be certain the swap isn't responsible for my failure but it's not been determined to be the reason quite yet either. Also there was a rash of failed clutch forks because of seized throwout bearings that were later recalled from the factory. I haven't seen any other K swappers with this kit run into the clutch fork issue so I am not ready to throw the blame that direction.

The kit absolutely has HVAC integration. I'm not sure where you got confused on that. I had a line rupture initially and then with the replacement I was over nighted by Kpower I thought I had a leak that apparently didn't exist.

The Haltech not being able to pass smog is the biggest issue I often forget about. I don't have any testing in the state of Arkansas so it never crosses my mind.

I'm not sure what we are arguing about though. I agree a swap isn't the answer for most people. I also am not willing to damn it all because there were a couple hiccups. I never expected to have a car that was exactly as an OEM purchase would have provided, however this car is pretty damn impressive in that category. If anyone rode in the car they wouldn't have a clue it was swapped. I can promise you that. It's that well done. I've shocked a lot of folks when they find out what's under the hood and not because it's some crazy loud race car. They are shocked that the fit/finish are so good. That the car feels and drives like factory car would with extra power and RPM. I agree that when someone says just go swap that car it's not that simple but I also don't think running around telling everyone why it won't work is all that helpful. Let people find that out on their own I say. It's the fun of learning. Some people absolutely love to tinker. I'm one of them. Sometimes I get burned out. I often come right back rejuvenated a week or two later when I've calmed down and stopped being so dramatic. It's just a car.

In reply to captainawesome :

I would love to drive a k swapped frs. I've driven a regular one and was very underwhelmed by it. 

In reply to yupididit :

It's a much better lively example than factory for sure. It takes an already great chassis and pairs it with an engine that wants you to beat the snot out of it.

docwyte said:

In reply to captainawesome :

When was the last time you heard of a clutch fork failing on a modern car?  That simply doesn't happen.

Yes it does, on Subarus. 

In reply to obsolete :

Geez, why do people buy those piles of junk then?  Ring land issues, head gasket issues, bad tunes from the factory, oil pick up tubes that crack, crappy paint/interior quality and now clutch forks failing?  For all the faults of the German cars I've owned (which to be fair, are plenty), a clutch fork failure just isn't one of them.

It's official, I'm selling the FRS. $25k located in NW Arkansas.

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I'll miss reading about it. Hopefully the new owner will join GRM and continue posting about the car.

Best of luck with the sale

Last follow up on this one. I took a small deposit about 6-7 weeks ago and the buyer came through Sunday to retrieve with the balance. He flew in and drove off into the sunset but I don't think he will be updating this thread at all unfortunately.

My last miles behind the wheel was the drive to pick him up at the airport. It was enough to remind me why I loved the car but also that it was time to move on. No regerts.

Maybe a cheap project will pop up that I just can't say no to? I've been considering installing a Gen 2 short block in a Gen 1 chassis as that seems to be a more affordable option. I think I should take a long break from automotive stuff though.

Got an update from the new owner a couple weeks ago and forgot to update this thread. It has been tracked at Laguna Seca now, and all future track development I think is going through Detmers Design. I think the owner has hired them as coach and hired help? Either way, he's super happy with the car and from reading the post in the blog below so is Detmers.

Anyway here is a link to the first blog post:

https://www.detmersdesign.com/blog/testing-the-new-k-swapped-fr-s

Some youtubes of laps within the link:

Sounds like selling was the right thing to do.  Be sure to post here when you do pull the trigger on another project.  The guy who bought my E30 sold it to someone pretty close in a local E30 group.  Happy to have owned the car, but happy to NOT be the one making it prefect.  

In reply to Hoondavan :

Actually just picked this up last week CLICK ME

Also sold the Bronco and picked up a 2001 XJ to tinker on. Probably should start a thread on that one as well.

Almost forgot I've got a kz400 thread on here that should see some action in the next few weeks. Busy busy.

Wow, quite busy.

In reply to Hoondavan :

Yes sir. I took a LONG break from tinkering. A much needed break, and now I feel like having fun again. No rush on any of these projects. I half way thought about getting another e30 for nostalgia sake but something new to me sounds like more fun.