A
rguably the most popular and sought-after four-cylinder
engine of our era, the Honda K20A2 has become the LS of
the four-cylinder import world; you can find these engines
in almost anything these days, half the time in all their
scrapyard unopened glory.
While the blocks are square in architecture, with an 86x86mm bore/
stroke, and come with tough components such as a one-piece main cap
girdle and forged crank, it’s the performance of the Type R’s head that
is the main reason why these engines are so popular. They flow some
impressive figures in factory form and outperform many modified heads.
This is also why you see so many of these heads ripped from the comfort
of the two-litre and slapped onto the bigger capacity K24 bottom end, as
seen on page 28 of this issue.None of that matters here, though. What we are going to build is a
junkyard dog, but the end result will be anything but. Forget spending
more than $2K for a used K20A2 long block; we’ve raided the wreckers
and will be piecing together our Frankenstein engine using minimal
Type R components.
The reason is that this K20 is to be built to run quarter-miles on dirt
and in an oval, so the requirements for the engine are different from those
for an all-out drag engine or a circuit-based race motor. We are looking
for a big power band here, as fat as we can get. However, the rules for
the motor’s destined class of F2 midgets throw a spanner in the works,
as they require a 32mm restrictor in each intake runner. The rules for the
engine internals are loose as long as no titanium is used, capacity doesn’t
exceed 2050cc, and variable valve control such as VTEC is deleted.th
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FRANKENSTEIN AIN’T GOT NOTHING ON THIS K-SERIES BUILD!