August 2025 Update — Honda K kits progress, Base mount, PS kit is live, stainless radiator brackets, and a one‑off cradle deal
Hi All,
Some updates for everyone! Been very very busy on Honda K24 stuff, a couple things you’ve been asking for, and a small clearance item to add to the stuff in the garage sale.
Honda K24 conversion — dev status
Customer installs are underway and the test mule work with the factory Honda ECU has been paying off. DBW is working (including remap options). Also continuing to aim at a path that plays nice with CA BAR. Ref inspections are always 1‑by‑1, but we're well on the way! With a little luck the ECU and wiring setup could be ready in October or November. That would be another first: an OEM Honda PLUG-AND-PLAY engine management system for a Vanagon. Just like for the Zetec twenty years ago, Bostig is still the only one delivering this type of solution, because Bostig is still the only engine swap vendor that puts reliability first. I'll be looking for beta testers for it as well. At this pace there's very little chance a complete kit won't be ready mid-late winter.
You asked and here it is! For folks that don't want/need the integrated skidplating of the K24z mounting and exhaust system, the Base has been added! It'll give you the same functionality and the same benefits but with lower weight, and lower cost. Plus if you do end up deciding the skidplating is something you want, you can add it easily as the parts for the engine bay framerail brackets etc are the same! Just swap out the cradle portion, and add the trans skidplate if you want too. There is a limited number of beta kits available to save an additional $400 right now bringing the price down to $1499. There will never be a less expensive option to get a k24z into your Vanagon, so don't snooze on it!
This is the kit that lowers the Honda PS pump on the OE bracket so it fits under the decklid. It runs the Honda pump with the Vanagon rack and stock lines—no cutting of lines—set up for A/C routing. Includes new pump, reservoir, filter, pressure + return hoses, belt tensioner, Gates belt, Bostig brackets/spacers, hardware, and the pressure‑mod shim to keep the pump quiet and happy. $879.95.
Folks have been asking, so there's another batch or billet motor mount adapters up for pre-sale. These are really sporadic in terms of production, so if you needed some to move to Benz mounts and lower noise/vibes from the aftermarket Ford mounts for your Zetec, now's the time. $289.95
"The mounts themselves are beautiful, a work of art. They do exactly as intended, enabling you to mount the Mercedes engine mounts in place of your current Ford mounts. Installation was straight forward. For me, it took about an hour. The only trip-up in the process was that the single lower mounting bolt was too long, so I replaced it with one 5mm shorter that worked better in my van. Otherwise, the supplied hardware was spot on. Result: NHV (noise, harshness, vibration) was reduced about 25% at idle and for normal in-town driving. On the highway, the results were a bit better. My van would typically be the harshest in the 3500-4000 rpm range. NHV reduced by roughly 30% at these higher rpms. Surprisingly and unexpectedly, some annoying, long-standing, shift rod noise that I couldn't adjust away previously was completely eliminated after install of these mounts. Yes, NHV is a very subjective sensation and hard if not impossible to quantify. That said, I am very satisfied. IMHO these mounts are well worth the cost and effort." - Rankin T.
I’ve got one single‑piece current model cradle left on the shelf. Regular price is $795; take $100 off this last unit. First come, first served.
That’s it for now.
Thanks for the support!
Thursday, August 7, 2025
New parts added to the garage sale
If anyone is looking for some new old stock parts to make their zetec look new, I just added some Cam Covers and Front Timing Chain covers to the garage sale page:
Get them quick if you want them, AFAIK these are the last ones available anywhere.
Saturday, March 22, 2025
March 2025 Update
Hi All,
Ok to start off, the latest on the Honda K24 conversion progress (including a new group purchase and technical milestones), then a quick check in on other stuff in development.
Honda K24 Conversion Progress
The first customer installed K24 conversions are officially underway! After several rounds of beta groups, it’s awesome to see actual users getting the Honda powerplant fitted in their vans. These initial installs are providing great real-world feedback, and so far things are looking sweet.
Given the high interest from vanagonland, we’re opening up this year’s group purchase for the K24 mounting and exhaust kit! This will limited size group (small batches help ensure quality and support), so if you’ve been waiting to jump in, now's the time! The updated mounting/exhaust package has gone through a number of revisions from the beta groups, shaving weight and adding convenience features. Parts should begin shipping out in May. (As always, you can reach out via email for details or snag a spot here.)
We are also offering K24z installs this spring and summer, so if you're sick of boxer engine problems but want the power of a Subie 2.5 in a simpler setup and with much better aftermarket support, now's the time! email k24z@bostig.com
On the engine management front, we’ve made major progress with the Honda factory ECU in our conversion. The K-Pro and Haltech standalones are still great options, but for many reasons getting the factory ECUs working standalone is still the goal (like with the Zetec). It’s now nearly fully functional in standalone mode – meaning we can run the stock Honda engine computer without needing any of the original car’s dashboard or multiplex modules. The drive-by-wire throttle *and* remapping (to control how it ramps vs sensor positions, add valet modes etc) is working flawlessly under the Honda ECU’s control in the Vanagon. Theses were all big hurdles to clear; many worried we might need to incorporate the donor’s instrument cluster or other modules to keep the ECU happy, but that’s not the case.
We’re also making good headway toward a California BAR setup for the K24z conversion. Many of you in California have (understandably) been anxious about whether this swap could get a coveted BAR engine swap sticker. While we can’t promise anything (nature of the BAR ref 1 by 1 inspection process), all signs so far are positive. We’re able to keep the factory emissions equipment and vitally the factory ECU. There’s more work ahead on the documentation and testing side, but at this point it’s no longer just a pipe dream – we’re actively aiming for a BAR-compliant K24z conversion that can pass the referee inspection and get stickered, which is immensely cool.
If enough folks in CA end up going the K24z route, then the next steps could even be re-visiting the CARB EO process, which we are unfortunately very well acquainted with. We failed hard with the Zetec over a decade ago. The catalytic converter manufacturer we needed to use had their CARB EOs rescinded during our application process. The only lucky part was that we got the news before the lab and shed testing, which would have added $5-10k on top of everything we had already lost. That would have been enough additional loss at the time to kill the business completely, which nearly happened.
Zetec Conversion
Even as we focus on the Honda platform, the trusty Zetec program isn’t dead yet. In fact, we have one Zetec turnkey in the pipeline right now: a fresh conversion built around a great 68k-mile engine we sourced recently. That turnkey system should be ready in about 3–4 weeks. If you’ve been wanting a turn-key Zetec, this is a rare opportunity – after this one, there may not be another for a while. (As we mentioned before, we’re winding down batch Zetec kit production, but we’ll continue to support the over a thousand Zetec vans out there and make kits and parts on-demand) Anyone interested in this upcoming turnkey should get in touch soon to discuss details, or place the deposit before someone else does here.
Supercharger for Zetec
Our Zetec supercharger development is ongoing, with steady progress and, importantly, no showstoppers so far. The prototype Supercharged Zetec setups have been running and undergoing testing, and we haven’t hit any major hiccups. It’s still a slow, methodical slog – which is exactly how we prefer to do it, to ensure the end result is rock-solid. No news has been good news here: all the data and feedback coming in from the SC beta units look positive. We’re continuing to refine the setup, and nothing has caught fire or broken apart – always a plus! As long as development stays this uneventful, we’ll be looking at a truly viable bolt-on boost option for Zetec owners.
Project Z
Project Z's development is parallel to the K24z right now since it depends on it. Things like the working DBW and standalone capability with factory ECU are really important! We want any parallel hybrid setup we produce to work in CA, in fact it would *need* to work in CA to be viable at all to produce. Which means it needs to work with the K24z, which was always the goal anyhow (most viable path to an AWD vanagon with 400hp that's MORE reliable than anything with less power).
That’s all for now. As always, thanks for the support and for following along with our whacky van adventures. We’ll keep plugging away and share more updates as we hit the next milestones.
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