My rebuild

So my NSX has been away for several months, went to see the wizard, Ben (Redbird92) at Daisy Import. I had it there back in November so he could check out an issue with the throttle position sensor. We were also talking about some of the items left on Honcho's restoration list that I inherited and am actively working on. While it was there he put it up on a lift and gave it a good stem to stern inspection and what he found was upsetting to say the least.

Oil leaks, missing parts, abundant evidence of very sloppy prior work, in this case, the head work done by Mile High Acura to fix the damage caused by an overheat that Honcho experienced, which itself was caused by an earlier mistake by them. The details of that will be/are in a thread in the Buyer/Seller Experiences forum.

But in summary, the entire engine except for the crank, rods, and pistons was disassembled and reassembled with new parts for almost everything that could be replaced - those dreaded 4 words, "while we're in there". There were also some age-related issues with the steering rack (knocking) and other suspension components which we decided to go after since it was going to be there a while anyway. And then throw in a few items from Honcho's punch list and there y' go, one whopper of a job.

A shout out to ENT for his mesh side grilles. Ben installed them and they look awesome. So much better than the stock louvered thingy. I'll update this with pix as soon as I get a chance.

Lastly, and most importantly, a *huge* THANK YOU to Ben who
1) found two grenades (leaking head gaskets and stripped rear upper control arm) by trusting his gut and checking something out that didn't smell right, even though it meant a lot of extra work, and
2) bent over backwards to help me any way he could, and took more care to see that this car was 100% right when it was done than anyone I've ever seen work on my cars. Stories about Ben's love for these cars and how that translates into the care he puts into his work abound so no need to repeat them. I'll say simply that it was a genuine pleasure working with him to get this done, and you can't put a price on the peace of mind I now have regarding the condition of the car and its future maintenance needs.

I may follow @2NDWIFE's lead and put this in a build thread to document my work with the car, but after all this work, most of it unexpected, more building is the last thing on my mind. So here's the list, compiled from the various work orders and emails. All of the engine work except for the oil pan gasket and the oil pressure unit (which initially looked like a gauge issue) is directly or indirectly related to having to redo all of MHA's work. Their issues went all the way down to the head gaskets they replaced so almost everything we touched was replaced with new on reassembly.

Engine:
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Fix oil leak at oil filter stand

Fix oil pan gasket leak (replace gasket)

New ND O2 sensors

New OEM fuel filter

Send fuel injectors to RC to be checked, only one was a little off

Replace thermostat, coolant tank, and TW coolant sensor, coolant

Fix oil leak from front bank timing cover (cam caps were improperly installed)

Replace *missing* middle timing cover gaskets

Replace cam angle sensor, do all cam seals, front crank seal

Replace T-belt and tensioner - oil covered due to leak from cams

6 new OEM coil packs

Replace throttle position sensor

Replace EGR gasket (leaking from Prior job, never tightened)

New OEM Intake gaskets

Replace all the Coolant crossover o-rings, Oil Pressure to block o-rings, Vtec gaskets, all new OEM Oil Control o-rings for block & head, Oil jets and Orifices, Oil cooler Hose and O-ring for block Junction

New Beck Arnley motor mounts (thanks Honcho!)

ARP studs for heads and new OEM head gaskets (gaskets installed by MHA leaking due to heads being improperly torqued)

Ben's valve adjustment

Machine shop work
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Clean and check deck surfaces (unsuitable for MLS head gaskets due to the abrasive cleaning by MHA)

Install timeserts for head studs

Cut/grind exhaust seats

Surface cylinder heads

Clean heads, face valves, lap, reassemble 24 valve V6 heads with new valve seals

Transmission:
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Pull transmission, disassemble, replace all seals, reseal case leak, inspect clutch, new rear main oil seal, new trans fluid

Replace clutch master cylinder (starting to leak), slave cylinder, bleed system with Super DOT 4 fluid

Replace clutch slave boot

Reattach shifter mount

Chassis/suspension:
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Rethread and install timeserts in left rear upper control arm to repair threads stripped by MHA

Replace torn lower control arm bushings with Ti Dave's spherical bearing, rebuildable kit

Install steering rack knock bushing

Replace steering rack to frame bushing

Replace right inner tie rod end

Ben's 4-wheel alignment

Electrical/interior:
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Remove blower box, check evaporator for leaks with UV dye, check front compressor seal, all OK, clean evaporator

Pull glove box, replace vent control motor

Replace electrical part of ignition switch

Fix/replace erratic oil pressure gauge (replaced oil pressure bell and kinked line)

Miscellaneous:
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Replace brake master cylinder (leaking)

Optima battery red top

Ben's custom negative battery cable

Replace all missing/incorrect hardware (clips, brackets, etc.) - many clips and brackets left off by MHA and wires left hanging close to exhaust parts

New door speaker grilles

Replace right front fender liner and clips

Install new OEM front lip

Install ENT's mesh side grilles

Update 04/27/2016: pix of ENT's side grilles

Glad to hear you got so many things taken care of. It stinks to have unexpected issues come up. But Ben is certainly good at making sure things are right.

it must have come as a bit of a shock to have to do this much to the car after so much care was taken of it by honcho. you're in great hands with ben as jwmelvin said,i had my car up there in the fall of 2014 for a major mechanical refresh,and it runs very well and strongly since then. it does give me a lot of peace of mind knowing the car had been worked on so carefully and thoroughly by ben.

robbiedawg said:

it must have come as a bit of a shock to have to do this much to the car after so much care was taken of it by honcho.

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That's a bit of an understatement. Took a couple of days for my head to stop spinning after coming home with the initial estimate from Ben. It grew by more than 50% as the job progressed and we found more engine issues. I started wondering if there was an end in sight. Honcho was blown away too, he had no idea. Some of the items on the list were already known and planned for (oil pan gasket, pressure gauge, steering knock, et. al.) and I fully expected to find other long-term wear issues such as the suspension bushings as time went on, but no way in hell was I prepared, mentally or financially, for damn near a full car restoration this soon and all at once. But it's all good now, the car runs and handles great, and is that much closer to the Condition 1 holy grail that Honcho and I want to get it to. There are still some things to be done, but no pressing issues that we know of because Ben found and fixed everything he could see.

jazzmann said:

That's a bit of an understatement. Took a couple of days for my head to stop spinning after coming home with the initial estimate from Ben. It grew by more than 50% as the job progressed and we found more engine issues. I started wondering if there was an end in sight. Honcho was blown away too, he had no idea. Some of the items on the list were already known and planned for (oil pan gasket, pressure gauge, steering knock, et. al.) and I fully expected to find other long-term wear issues such as the suspension bushings as time went on, but no way in hell was I prepared, mentally or financially, for damn near a full car restoration this soon and all at once. But it's all good now, the car runs and handles great, and is that much closer to the Condition 1 holy grail that Honcho and I want to get it to. There are still some things to be done, but no pressing issues that we know of because Ben found and fixed everything he could see.

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before you bought that car,i had read some of Honcho's threads because he was quite knowledgeable about the NSX and he was kind enough to give me some detailed and helpful information about S.Drives previously in a PM when I was looking for tires. i was impressed by all the work he had put into the car,and when you bought it, i remember thinking "that guy got a hell of a good car." and you still did, neither one of you could have anticipated that the dealer who worked on it before had screwed so many things up. so now,you've got an even better car.

in the end,it's just money, right? i'm kidding somewhat, because no one wants to spend lots of money that they hadn't expected to,but you should have one of the better NSX's around now,so that's some consolation.

robbiedawg said:

before you bought that car,i had read some of Honcho's threads because he was quite knowledgeable about the NSX and he was kind enough to give me some detailed and helpful information about S.Drives previously in a PM when I was looking for tires. i was impressed by all the work he had put into the car,and when you bought it, i remember thinking "that guy got a hell of a good car." and you still did, neither one of you could have anticipated that the dealer who worked on it before had screwed so many things up. so now,you've got an even better car.

in the end,it's just money, right? i'm kidding somewhat, because no one wants to spend lots of money that they hadn't expected to,but you should have one of the better NSX's around now,so that's some consolation.

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yeah, you pretty well nailed it here. Honcho's car caught my eye b/c his mods and his idea for the car - stock, but better than stock - aligned exactly with my thinking and what I want. So much the better when I dug deeper into the history and saw how knowledgeable and passionate he was about the NSX, and the obvious effect it had on the care taken with the car. And he had every reason to believe, as did I, that the work done at MHA was good, b/c after all, it was done by a "certified NSX technician".

It just comes down to bad luck - that saying "sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug". I got my turn being the bug. My g/f is going through the exact same situation with her house - bad flashing behind the brick front on her house causing leaks into her living room ceiling, requiring a good portion of the brick to be removed to repair the flashing. She didn't buy a cheap house or fail to do her due diligence, she just got bit by someone else's bad work that was hidden 'til it became an issue.

And yeah, the car is better now, the engine is better than it would have been even if MHA had put it back together properly, because... Ben. And then all the other stuff, which I would have rather spread out over time, but, whatever, just brings it that much closer to the Condition 1 goal.

"It's just money" is something I've told myself more times than I can count. Instead of "aaaaahhmm" or whatever ppl say when they meditate, I meditated on "it's just money" :smile:. That's what real estate credit cards (heloc) are for, right? I figured this job added a year to time it will take to pay off the car, not too bad a price for the benefit of having it in this condition now. Ben said flat out that as it sits now, it's one of the best in the country, period. There isn't much on it that isn't new or refreshed. So yeah, that does count for something.

I know your pain. My case was a little different because it wasn't the condition when I bought the car but when it decided to release coolant from the cylinder head only a few months after I bought it, that hurt.

jazzmann said:

Optima battery red top

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It's always nice to see an NSX being taken good care of. Job well done!
Did the Optima fit in the OEM battery tray? If so, what exact model nr did you use?

Burny-B said:

It's always nice to see an NSX being taken good care of. Job well done!
Did the Optima fit in the OEM battery tray? If so, what exact model nr did you use?

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Sorry for the delay on this, I don't get on much and post even less. I emailed Ben for the M/N, will update this when I get it.

jazzmann said:

Sorry for the delay on this, I don't get on much and post even less. I emailed Ben for the M/N, will update this when I get it.

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Thank you, that would be great, as I'm looking to replace my battery after this season.

Awesome to have the car back on the road! Ben does great stuff up there. It's ashamed now I'm so far away.

Burny-B said:

Thank you, that would be great, as I'm looking to replace my battery after this season.

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From Ben:

Napa # 9935 RED for optima



- - - Updated - - -

Sduff@Composites said:

Awesome to have the car back on the road! Ben does great stuff up there. It's ashamed now I'm so far away.

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There's always shipping... . When I went there the first time in November, he had 3 of 'em up on lifts in his upper bays and 2 or 3 more downstairs. Of the 3 upstairs, one was shipped from AZ, another was shipped from a different state, I don't remember, and the third, the guy drove it up from FL and flew home. neither option is cheap, but I can't put a price on the peace of mind that comes with someone as experienced and trusted as Ben working on my car.

jazzmann said:

From Ben:

Napa # 9935 RED for optima

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Thank you for the info, I made a note.
Do you have pictures of it installed?