[Mortis]

Originally Posted by Ovais

Thank you so much for the appreciation. That is very interesting, I'm pretty sure they've done it for some valid reasons. I'm glad that we don't have that regulation, any engine can be swapped into any car as long as you can fit it 😄 and there's a legal way of having the new engine updated in the documents. K10 in the nano would still offer pretty good power to weight ratio. How much does the nano weigh? I'm guessing around the 500kg mark? Yes, brakes would definitely be an upgrade needed for it. Does the nano come with a servo or does it just have a master cylinder?

The weight is in the 5-600 kg region. Brakes have a master cylinder although the booster runs out of vacuum very quickly. Some post suggest that disc brakes up front wouldnt be as effective or would lock up because the car is rear engine RWD so the front end doesn't have enough weight pressing down on it.
I'm assuming the modification from drum to disc would be a pain to execute as well but i have no clue

[ph03n!x]

Originally Posted by Ovais

...
K10 in the nano would still offer pretty good power to weight ratio. How much does the nano weigh? I'm guessing around the 500kg mark? ..

Originally Posted by Mortis

The weight is in the 5-600 kg region.
...

My wife's 2015 Nano XTA is 765 KG Unladen

While I am toying with making it into a project car in the future, @Ovais - this is mother of all mods in recent times. Please keep us updated!!

[Ovais]

Originally Posted by Mortis

The weight is in the 5-600 kg region. Brakes have a master cylinder although the booster runs out of vacuum very quickly. Some post suggest that disc brakes up front wouldnt be as effective or would lock up because the car is rear engine RWD so the front end doesn't have enough weight pressing down on it.
I'm assuming the modification from drum to disc would be a pain to execute as well but i have no clue

With that weight, even with a K10, it would have pretty good power to weight ratio. I would say, go for it if you believe that it would fit in the engine bay. Regarding the brakes, yes, with little weight on the front, it makes sense that putting disc brakes on the front only may actually make the car unstable under heavy braking. You would need disc brakes in the rear, with the brake bias more towards the rear. Overall, if you could get someone to design adapters and then have them milled in steel, that would use your current hubs and would help install disc brakes on them it should make the upgrade a little less difficult. However, you would need the brakes from some independent suspension, RWD car so that you can have a functional handbrake. I'm assuming that the nano has independent rear suspension. You would have limited options when selecting the brakes though, I can think of the jzx chassis toyota soarer that has a similar setup but the brakes would be too big for the nano. You'll just need to look around for options in the RWD IRS configuration.

[Ovais]

Originally Posted by ph03n!x

My wife's 2015 Nano XTA is 765 KG Unladen

Attachment 2442730

While I am toying with making it into a project car in the future, @Ovais - this is mother of all mods in recent times. Please keep us updated!!

Oh that is actually quite close to what an Alto weighs! Is this a weight figure that is provided by the manufacturer and then updated on the car registration or does the registration authority weigh the car?

Thank you so much for the kind words of appreciation I will definitely keep the thread updated. I'll probably be uploading more on the swap tomorrow or the day after. Would love to hear what you have planned for the nano.

[ph03n!x]

Originally Posted by Ovais

Oh that is actually quite close to what an Alto weighs! Is this a weight figure that is provided by the manufacturer and then updated on the car registration or does the registration authority weigh the car?

Thank you so much for the kind words of appreciation I will definitely keep the thread updated. I'll probably be uploading more on the swap tomorrow or the day after. Would love to hear what you have planned for the nano.

Indeed.. and only about 90 KG lighter than the first gen Baleno hatch! This is what the manufacture declares during homologation of the vehicle - not sure if the certifying body also weighs/ confirms this independently.

Right now, it's the wife's primary car - so I'll let it be. And take inspiration from this thread when she's done with it

[Ovais]

Originally Posted by ph03n!x

Indeed.. and only about 90 KG lighter than the first gen Baleno hatch! This is what the manufacture declares during homologation of the vehicle - not sure if the certifying body also weighs/ confirms this independently.

Right now, it's the wife's primary car - so I'll let it be. And take inspiration from this thread when she's done with it

Best not to mess with it till she's not done with it then I would be very glad if my thread serves as any inspiration

[Ovais]

Time for more updates on the swap.

The first thing on the list was to tackle the fueling. The F10A Alto comes with an electric in-tank fuel pump instead of a mechanical one on the engine. The fuel pump housing on the left is the one that came with the F10A. The one on the right is also from an HA12 Alto but it’s from a 660cc EFi variant which has a bigger fuel pump than the carburetor one, which is the standard size for bigger engines and this one uses a return-less system compared to the return line present in the carburetor one. This one has an in-tank fuel pressure regulator that removes the excess fuel from the fuel line within the fuel tank instead of sending the fuel to the engine and excess fuel returning to the tank.








The left Fuel Pressure Regulator is the one that came with the 660cc Fuel Pump Housing. It provides enough fuel for a 660cc engine but it won’t be sufficient for an L13. The one on the right is from a Corolla’s housing, it is used with 1.3, 1.5 and 1.6 engines in the Corolla. It has a lower tension spring than the one on the left so it allows more fuel into the line, making it enough for the L13.





Next up is the exhaust. I have built the exhaust out of 2-inch Stainless Steel pipe. The collar on the front is the one that came with the engine. I started building the exhaust from there. In the middle, there is a resonator and the rear box/muffler is from a 1.6 ES Civic. I wanted to keep the exhaust noise down while not restricting the flow a lot, hence the muffler from a 1.6 Civic. I later added a flex pipe near the collar to isolate vibrations.

















In addition to the front part of the exhaust, I added another portion in the rear. I added a 2.5 inch pipe towards the end which was packed with glass wool with about 1.75” allowance for flow, just to decrease the exhaust noise a little further.









This is what the exhaust looks like with the bumper installed.

[Ovais]

More work on the electrical front. There wasn’t enough space to put a battery in the front so I had to relocate it to the rear. As there isn’t a battery for the +12v cables coming from the starter and the generator to terminate at, I needed a place for all the +12v cables to combine. I took a copper block and had it cut to size and then had holes drilled in it to turn it into a bus bar for all the wires to bolt to. I then crimped tin-coated thimbles onto the cables coming from the Generator, the Starter, Power Source for +12v of the body wiring, +12v for the audio amplifier and the main 12v cable coming in from the battery in the rear. They were then bolted on to the block.















The terminating point then needed to be insulated in order for it not to short circuit to the body. I made a box out of 6mm thick plexiglass and then fitted it on the strut tower. I also painted the box in matte black so that it doesn’t look out of place in the engine bay and painted a + sign on it.











This is the battery that I’m using. While the model says 60, its actually a 50AMP one. I went with a sealed battery because its going in the trunk. In a hatchback, the trunk is not completely isolated from the passenger cabin, so it’s a good idea to have a sealed battery to avoid any fumes in the cabin.





Most of the wiring in the engine bay is taken care of. Routed and wrapped.

[Ovais]

Next up was the transmission dip stick collar. The Collar’s direction was towards the engine mount and the dip stick fouled with the engine mount and with the radiator installed, it wouldn’t be accessible. So, I had to cut a spare collar and weld it back on, turning it about 90 degrees. It turned the direction of the dipstick in the opposite direction. Now the dipstick is accessible even after the radiator is installed.












The inlet/outlet on the heater core were smaller than the ones on the engine, so I had reducers made using two different pipe sizes so that the pipes can snuggly fit on both sides.





The steering rack that I already had, rattled a little and having tried two different used racks, I went for a brand new unit. It’s a Chinese one, not sure how long it will last but I guess I’ll find out. Here’s how it came out of the box.






Assembled and filled with grease.

[Ovais]

Next up were the brakes. While a brake upgrade is on the cards, it would take some time as it would require quite some homework to get it right. Till then, I’ll be using good quality brake pads. I’m using Advics brake pads. This combined with the new servo/master cylinder has helped a lot with the braking.





I serviced all the components in the brakes and used silicone grease in the caliper guide pins and copper grease behind the brake pads to prevent them from squeaking. I also had all 4 wheel bearings changed.




I searched a lot for an air cleaner that would fit in the little space that I have but I couldn’t find one that would allow enough air to flow through it. Till I could find the correct air cleaner, I used a cone air filter and made a 3” stainless steel pipe for it.







So, its time to start the engine for the first time. All the plumbing and most of the wiring has been done. All that remains is to put the fluids in the engine to start it for the first time. I’ll be using Castrol 5W-30 in the engine and Kixx CVTF in the transmission for now. I’ll drive the car a little and then change the oils at around 1000km so that the system can flushed. I’ll continue using Castrol for the engine, but the CVTF will be changed with Honda’s CVTF.





I’d like to show the accessibility of the oil filter as well. It is very easily accessible, even from the bottom when the bumper is on.







And the moment of truth! It’s Alive! I’ve test started the engine. Runs very smooth. The engine sounds very healthy and it moves under its own power. Its throwing a couple of error codes but nothing serious.




The car is ready for its maiden voyage!









This is it for now. The car will be taken out for a test drive and more things buttoned up. I'll share more updates on it later.

[BeemerBug_06]

Brilliant stuff Ovais
This surely one of the most interesting builds I have seen in a while. Glad to know that you've succeeded with it and all the hard work has paid off. Great going !

Do post a video or two of the car in action. BTW, that's a neat looking Baleno beside the Alto !

[speedmunster]

Great work Ovais. A 1.3 Honda engine in a feather-weight Alto
Wishing you many trouble-free miles on the "Holto"

Cheers

[myavu]

OMG! This Honzuki Alto is made to perfection with each bits added. Your knowledge about the bits and pieces of the car is commendable. Kudos!

Eagerly waiting for the Dyno and Road results. Keep going

[apocalypse]

Brilliant work, Ovais!! Happy and proud to see this on Team BHP.

I have a question - what changes did you need to make to the interior? Did you need to change the transmission lever and connect that to the new transmission? Did you get rid of the clutch pedal?

It would be great if you could detail out what you've done in the interior as well please.

[Phantom 510]

Superb stuff man! I really like the way you've mentioned everything in details. I must admit the fact that it is one of the most interesting articles I've come across in TBhp so far. Keep up the great work.