04 May K24 Swapping the 7th Gen Civic

Project Bruised Civic: K24 Swapping the 7th Gen Civic

By Aaron Gaghagen

Let’s keep it 100, the 7th generation Civic was a letdown. Coming off of the 6th gen with the future classic EM1, Honda’s Civic was doing big numbers. And they were looking to go even bigger, so they evolved the 7th gen Civic for the masses with a flat rear floor and bumping the base model power by a whopping 9 horsepower. The general public ate it up. But, you know we aren’t the general public so when enthusiasts saw power not increase for the EX and Si trim levels and the loss of the super capable and familiar double wishbone suspension, how could we not feel forsaken?

Luckily for 7th generation owners, people like Brian exist. He dove right in back in the early 2000s to take his ES1 far beyond what people thought was possible. A turbo K20 swap along thoughtful suspension mods turned the sleepy sedan into a track ripper and a magazine cover car. This is the car that Brian used to develop Hasport’s K swap kit. By the time I got ride in and drive it, the Civic had received a facelift, a K24 from an Accord mated to a 5 speed manual and the black and blue paint job which it still sports today. It was completely different from my personal 2003 Civic sedan that I hated to drive. It was raw and fun to take around corners, but that was a loooong time ago.

The poor 7th gen fell to the back burner as Brian moved on to develop other vehicles and changed from raw to just rough, from bruiser to straight up bruised. But, it’s 2021 and it’s time to get the Bruised Civic back into daily driver shape and show the process of doing an automatic to manual conversion and K24 swap.

Hit the links below for the unique tools we found most helpful.

Flywheel ring gear holder Honda part number 07LAB-PV00100
Stud remover

Knipex parallel pliers
belt length number

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DISCLAIMER:

VTEC Academy videos are for educational and entertainment purposes. We can not guarantee the modifications performed in the video are legal in your locality. Do not do any modifications to your vehicle that will void your warranty or in any way violate your local laws. We assume no liability for property damage or injury as a result of any of the information contained in this video. Use the information provided at your own risk.