[Ovais]

Hello all! I hope everyone is doing well. I have been lurking around on the forum but this is the first time that I'm posting here. I'd like to share my ALTO project with car guys and car gals in India.

I'm in the process of swapping a Honda L13A iDSI (1339cc) with a CVT transmission into a 2002 Suzuki HA12 ALTO. The swap is being done in Islamabad, Pakistan.

The car in question is a 2002 HA12 Alto. It’s a PKDM variant which originally came with an F10A engine. The engine was a little over 300,000km driven but it was still running strong. I was getting around 14km/l within the city with not-so-exhilarating performance.

The idea behind this swap was to improve the fuel average of the vehicle with the insane fuel prices these days and to convert the transmission to auto. If I could get better performance, that would also be a plus. Now I could go the safe route of a K6 auto swap to get a better fuel average but that wouldn’t have cut it because of the lack of power. I could use a K6 turbo instead but that wouldn’t help me achieve the fuel average figure that I was after. K10 or K12 are not easily available engines in Pakistan, so they were not an option as parts for them would be scarce.

Therefore, with limited options to achieve what I wanted, I decided to swap in a Honda L-13A IDSi with a CVT transmission into it. Why an L-13A I hear you ask? a) It is known to have good fuel average, even in heavier cars such as the Honda City, Civic and the Honda Jazz/Fit, b) It would have a CVT Transmission, therefore helping achieve the auto transmission bit and c) with 85hp and about 120nm torque, it would offer good power to weight ratio in a car that weighs a little shy of 700kg.

Here are some specifications of the engine.

Engine Code: L13A
Engine Capacity: 1339cc (Offered in the 1.4 Honda Jazz GG/Fit GE, 1.4 Honda Civic FD)
No. of Cylinders: 4
IDSi – Intelligent Dual Sequential Ignition, which means there are Two Plugs per cylinder, sequentially fired for better efficiency.
Power: 85hp @5700RPM / 120nm Torque @2800RPM
Compression Ratio: 10.8:1
7 Speed CVT-Transmission (SWRA)

Most of the work on it is done in-house, which includes mechanical, fabrication, electrical and aesthetic. So let’s begin the process.

The car, just before going under the knife.





On jack stands and dismantling started.





The engine bay before the swap.

[Ovais]

The old engine, the F10A coming out.






The engine is out and the engine bay thoroughly cleaned before doing anything else. The battery of the car leaked at some point in time which damaged the paint on the left chassis leg. Good thing that it was only surface rust which was cleaned and then painted later. Other than that, there was no damage at all in the entire engine bay, rust or whatever.











I was able to source a dummy Honda L13A engine with a CVT transmission for a mock fit. Getting a dummy engine was important at this stage to check if its actually going to fit the engine bay or not. Had I gotten the actual engine, and it wouldn't have fit, it would've been a waste.

[Ovais]

The engine being hoisted into the engine bay for a test fit. It fits!

Its a very tight fit but it clears all the essential components in the engine bay, so its good news here.

Here, you'll notice that the brake master cylinder is very close to the oil filler cap on the valve cover. There's about half an inch of clearance on both dimensions. However, a different servo + master cylinder will be used to properly clear the engine, while retaining proper functionality.

[Ovais]

Cardboard templates made for the side mount brackets. Cardboard is used here because its easier to work with carboard in the design phase than with metal so that any changes needed can be done easily.

The transmission side mount is going to be a rather complex design. The reason for that is, the mount is offset from the mounting points on the transmission. If I had used a simple plate from the mount to the transmission, it would have served as a lever, which would keep the rubber bush in the mount in a twisted state at all times, because the engine would want to lean down from the back, as that's where the weight of the engine engine/transmission is.

What I've done with this bracket is, first, I've used the timing side mount from a Liana, as it was a lot beefier than the original alto one. Then I've placed a plate on top of it and made arms on it in a way that about half of the weight of the transmission is pulling on one side of the mount, while the other half is pulling on the other side of the mount. This essentially somewhat cancels out the lever effect that a straight plate would have and evenly distributes the weight on this mount.

This also ensures that the weight of the engine is on the side mounts and the bottom mount is not bearing any weight. When designing mounts, it is important to design them in a way that the side mounts are the load bearing ones, and not the bottom mount(s). If the weight of the engine is borne by the bottom mount, it will get damaged prematurely, and would affect the feel of the vehicle as there will be constant engine vibration in the chassis.

The templates are made in 5mm thick cardboard to avoid errors once the pieces are transferred to metal because 5mm thick MS plate shall be used for those.

[Ovais]

Once the cardboard templates for the side mounts were done, they were converted to digital templates and then handed over to the CNC shop to cut the parts in 5mm thick Mild Steel plate. The CNC was a laser type and not the plasma type, hence the clean and accurate cuts.

[Ovais]

So out came the welder and the parts were first tack welded around the engine and then taken off to properly weld them. Once they were welded, the engine was attached to the chassis with the newly made brackets to test if they're taking the load of the engine the way I intended them to. Gladly, the engine sat perfectly straight, without leaning back. I'll let the engine sit for a couple of days so that the side mounts may settle and then the bottom mount can be made accurately.











For the timing side mount, I used the same casing of the mount as the original Alto one, but replaced the rubber insert with a beefier one. Here, I thought ahead and kept the distance between the eyes wider than the current mount incase this mount didnt work, I would have space to insert a wider mount.





The engine, hanging on the side mounts for the first time

[Ovais]

Welding, grinding and then some more welding.








And then there was paint.

[deathwalkr]

WOW! What a suspenseful way to stop your posts!

Reminds of me someone in here who plonked a honda city (?) engine into his tiny brio. (Wonder what happened to that car)

This must go like nuts.

[Ovais]

This is an ongoing project but I do have more updates on it to share, its just that I had to go out for some work so I couldn't share more I'll be sharing more later today or tomorrow. With the power to weight ratio, it should go really well! And hopefully help achieve the fuel economy figures that I'm after.

[Ovais]

Mod note: Please avoid creating BACK TO BACK posts.


Next up was the right side stabilizer bar plate. Since the ac compressor is now sitting lower than the plate, this plate cannot be installed and in turn, the stabilizer bar cannot be installed either. The purpose of this plate is to provide a base to mount the brackets holding the stabilizer bar in place, to serve as a jacking point for the vehicle and to serve as a gusset between the chassis leg and the front crash bar to reduce flex in the chassis. So it's an integral part of the vehicle.



So, the challenge was to clear the compressor itself, the pulley on the compressor and to be able to mount the stabilizer bar onto it, while maintaining the structural integrity of the part. The original plate could no longer be used, hence the template for a replacement part was made out of cardboard.








Next up is the bottom/rear mount. The smaller mount on the right is the original mount of the F10a and the bigger one is the transmission side mount for a Suzuki Swift for the M13 engine. This mount is a lot beefier than the original mount, so it would be able to handle the increased torque better than the original mount.

A side by side comparison of both the mounts will show the difference between the two.










This is how the mount sits and is bolted onto the chassis.




The mount is attached on the floor/chassis of the car and a bracket connects this mount to the transmission in the original layout of the F10a. For the L13A, a similar approach shall be followed. A template for this bracket was needed, so out came the cardboard and the hot glue gun.

This is what the bracket is going to look like.




The bracket taken off of the transmission.





Now that the templates for the rear mount and the stabilizer plate were made, it was time to convert them into digital templates and have them cut in metal.




More of CNC cut goodness is here! CNC Laser cut in 5mm MS steel. Here, a little miscommunication with the CNC shop happened. While the numbers for the parts were meant only to be etched onto the metal pieces, they were cut into the metal. Good thing the metal is really thick, hence it wont compromise the strength of the pieces. These parts will help build the stabilizer bar plate, the bottom mount and the top strut bar.








It was time to get the welder going!

Starting with the stabilizer bar plate. Welded and finalized.






A side by side comparison of the old plate and the new one shows how much of a space it now allows for the compressor and its pulley to sit in.





Moving on to the stabilizer bar itself now.

These are the brackets that hold the stabilizer bar in place and are mounted onto the stabilizer bar plate. While the same bracket, with a custom backing plate and spacers will be used on the left side of the stabilizer bar, the brackets for the right side were custom made.






The bottom two pieces are the brackets for the right side of the stabilizer bar. The bush on the stabilizer bar is sandwiched between these two brackets.






The brackets sit on the plate like so.

[Ovais]

The stabilizer bar plate installed on the car.






This is how the stabilizer bar will sit now.




Here is the whole setup test-fitted onto the car. You'll notice that the stabilizer bar now sits lower than it originally does, 30mm lower to be exact. This was needed in order to make space for the AC compressor. As the plate is now lower than it used to be, it would in turn move the stabilizer bar lower too. The individual pieces used as spacers were then welded together to form one part, once the positioning was finalized. I'm overall pretty satisfied with how this turned out.

[Ovais]

Now, the bottom/rear mount.

The mount that will now be used has a different bolt offset than the original mount and already has bolts incorporated into it, so it could not be directly fitted onto the chassis. Therefore, an adapter was needed to adapt it to the original mounting points on the chassis.

6 of these plates were combined to make this adapter. They were then welded together to make one piece. You'll notice slots instead of holes on the sides, this helps in providing adjustability. The two bottom plates hold the mount in place, while the 4 top plates serve as spacers, with bigger holes cut into them so that the mount can be tightened through them. This whole thing is then bolted on the chassis.









The bracket that connects the transmission to this mount is also fabricated. The engine is now finally sitting on all three mounts for the first time.






This is what the bracket looks like fitted onto the car. Here, you can also see how the mount itself sits with the adapter attached.

[Ovais]

Finally, the axles. The inner cut axles/CV Joints for the Honda transmission were bought separately and were connected to the original Suzuki shafts. The outer CV joints will be Alto's original ones, while the inners ones are the Honda ones. There was no welding involved in making these drive shafts. They were properly made, with splines cut into the shafts, matching the tripods of the inner cv joints, locked into place with a lock ring.

The inner cv joints were fitted into the transmission and then measurements were taken to the rear face of the hub. The axles were then made based on this measurement, with room left in the measurement for the inner tripod to move freely.






The axles are back from the machine shop, properly splined and fitted. The boot on the outer CV joint of the smaller shaft was of the incorrect size, it was then changed.








The CV joints were filled with CV joint grease. The grease on the inner CV joints was mixed with Liqui Moly's MOS2 Anti Friction, while the outer ones were not. 90grams of grease was measured and filled into each CV joint.








The axles are test-fitted in the car, the length appears to be perfect. This is not the actual angle that the axles operate on, since the car was on jack stands, they were almost fully extended when these photos were taken.






This is it for now. I'll be posting more updates later.

[dpuneet]

What a craftsmanship one is getting to see here. Everything is just precise and perfect to fit, specially the mount's design and final product as a whole.
If I were you, I would have been doing it for that amazing power to weight ratio and not fuel efficiency. One question here, How much is the weight difference between these two engines and are you planning to upgrade suspension as well?
Glued to this thread as I was also thinking of swapping my Brio's engine with City one. Good job mate...waiting for the final outcome and the fun you will enjoy with this power in Alto

[tchsvy]

This is some DIY! I absolutely love the wordplay 'funcari', you really are a funkar and I hope your drive turns out to be a fun-car. <Sorry, I will see myself out!>