Average Joe's First Project Car & Childhood Dream Log

Average Joe's First Project Car & Childhood Dream

Hi All,

So I finally decided to start my 'build' log here on the forum after owning my NSX for ~1 year and a month. This journal is to serve as documentation for the duration of my ownership and also to help encourage other potential owners who are lurking the forums to not be (too) afraid of owning an old car with no mechanical experiences / skills (yet).

I hope my thread will provide a good read while you're on the sh!tter in addition to useful information.




I travelled this far to pick up my NSX:




Spent this much on the car so far (September 2017):

My interest in cars started back when my cousin played an arcade game at a movie theatre called, "Initial D Stage 3". I got pretty interested and found out it was derived from an anime called, "Initial D". I watched the anime (up to Third stage at the time) and got hooked into cars.

I couldn't afford car magazines since I was only a kid, but my family had just gotten internet subscription (56k dial-up FTW, although my friends and classmates got cable aleady), so I explored the internet and went on car manufacturers' websites and discovered that I could request for hard-copy brochures of cars delivered to my house free of charge! I went on the Acura website and requested a brochure for the RSX and learned about the existence of the NSX! They mailed me the brochure-poster of the 2002 NSX (it was 2003 at the time, IIRC) along with the RSX brochure. I still have it up on a wall as I am typing this.



In 2009 I discovered, joined and created my first thread here on Prime: http://www.nsxprime.com/forum/showthread.php/127867-Hello-from-Toronto

Over the years I bought some NSX related things to quench my thirst.

In 2014, I went to visit my sister and brother-in-law in Washington state on the west coast. We attended a local meet at Acura of Lynnwood and I picked up a NSX t-shirt from another nearby dealer, which was probably my favourite souvenir from the trip!

On the same trip I also came across a meet at a Nissan dealer on the way home from grocery shopping with my bro-in-law:







Also visited a pretty cool car museum in Tacoma, WA with my sister's family.

Fast forward to 2016:

I came across a NSX that was 4 hours away from me. I created the following two (2) threads on prime to get opinions and insights on the car I was looking at:

http://www.nsxprime.com/forum/showthread.php/197006-Thoughts-on-this-NSX-Lots-of-pics

http://www.nsxprime.com/forum/showt...check-and-questions-on-potential-NSX-purchase

Andr3w said:

So I went to look at a NSX today. After a 4 hours drive one way, I finally arrived at the seller's house. The drive was exhausting (especially through the city with the heavy traffic), but pretty interesting. My family and I went on a road trip to Michigan a few years back taking the same route so it was pretty nostalgic. Anyways, on to the stats...

-1991 Canadian Car with 140,000 km (87,000 miles) and clean title - VIN: JH4NA1157MT800039

-7 Owners including current. 4/7 are dealers/finance or lease subsidiary

-Not sure if in snap ring range. Tried looking for the transmission VIN, but couldn't find it

-Current owner has owned the car 9 years, but has only driven it for 4,000 km (2,500 miles)

-ISSUES:
1. No maintenance records
2. Current owner said he lost the records in a move, and he has only done oil changes. The oil changes are done at his home by his friend. He said he uses Mobil 1 synthetic and changes the oil at the start of every season. The closest Acura dealer to his home is 2 hours away.
3. Air conditioner is not blowing cold air (at any setting)
4. Passenger door lock is not working, and creates a weird sound when it is shut. Sort of like a piece of metal falling off on the inside and creating clings
5. Scheduled maintenances are definitely deferred
6. Tires are at least 9 years old
7. Carproof shows a $1800 CAD repair, also signs of repaint on front bumper (front bumper was way too clean for a 140,000 km car)
8. Driver seat bolsters are torn
9. Driver sun visor has a huge rip (maybe a circle with a diameter of 6-7cm), forgot to take a picture

-Asking price: *REMOVED*

I have no experiences with cars so I tried my best reading up on the wiki last night to familiarize myself. I don't mind so much about the exterior and interior conditions. I am more worried about the mechanics of the vehicle (i.e., engine, transmission, clutch, brakes etc.). Should I even bother with a PPI and compression test? I know PPI results will depend on the experience of the tech, but can a compression test really show the health of the engine?

Here are the videos:

https://youtu.be/Ur8bVA0qOaI - Local, with both windows up and down (got quite toasty inside cabin with the beautiful weather!)

https://youtu.be/YPgxzC2_D1s - Highway merge, VTEC just kicked in yo!

https://youtu.be/W6NMCWeVW1c

https://youtu.be/ibQdIfsS6PM


Here are the images:

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The seller was one of ten owners who messaged me on kijiji. After a few email exchanges, I drove 4 hours to see the car in person. After the initial review, I arranged a PPI at the nearest Acura dealer from the seller - it was located in the middle of the seller and myself (2 hour drive one-way for him and me).

Here's a screenshot image captured from my dashcam video of the NSX at Acura West in London, Ontario:

Finally after a few days of thinking, I emailed the seller back and offered him a price. We negotiated a bit and reached a deal.

On August 20, 2016, my buddy picked me up at my place and we left Toronto at 7:30am and arrived at the seller's home in Windsor at 11:20am. Weather forecast wasn't perfect since thunderstorm was expected in the evening in Toronto.










Did a quick look around and under again to see if everything was alright. We then went to the bank and did the transfer, and also signed the paperwork there. It was 11:45am by the time we transferred and completed the paperwork . Then my buddy and I went to the Service Ontario (MTO) to complete the paperwork, time was 12pm. What I didn't know was that the MTO appraisal to pay the tax had to be done BEFORE I could receive the temporary plates. I thought I could get the temp plates first before paying the taxes. Therefore, we asked the associate behind the counter for a suggestion and she suggested a place down the street. So we left the licensing office at 12:10pm and arrived at the appraisal place at 12:20pm. Paid the shop owner the fee for the appraisal and left the place at 12:30pm. We returned to the licensing office at 12:45pm and just barely made it before they closed at 1pm. Talk about a tight schedule!



My buddy and I went for lunch at a schwarma place in Windsor near the seller's home in the NSX. Funny thing happened at the schwarma place, a teenager walked into the store and asked, "who's NSX is that?" (we parked at the front of the store). My friend responded, "that's my buddy's". So the guy then asks me if it was okay for him to take some pictures. I said it was fine, and offered to go out and take a picture for him. I regret not offering to let him sit in it. But I didn't want to make it such a big deal. So yeah, that was the first interesting thing that happened to me with the NSX. Note, this was just an hour after we had completed registration and etc. The teenager also told me his uncle owns (or use to?) a 1992 black NSX.

After lunch we returned to the seller's home and my buddy picked up his car and we headed back to Toronto, we got back to my place around 7pm or so.

We made multiple stops on the way, since I wanted to make sure the car was working properly. I checked oil levels and leaks under the car when we stopped, and also paid close attention to the temperature gauge and oil pressure. Needless to say, the car made the 4 hour drive home without a hiccup! The AC was out and it was hot out, so I was sweating buckets inside the car. Wearing a black t-shirt didn't help either. I received numerous thumbs up on the highway (aka freeway), a couple of comments and questions as well when we stopped for breaks and fuel. Oh and perhaps a few SnapChat / Instagram moments on the drive home!

Awesome! I've seen only 1 NSX in Windsor, it was red but completely stock.

Oh @Hass....you would be the first one to comment at 1 in the morning

@Andr3w, congratulations on finally starting your build thread! It's always awesome to see automotive childhood dreams realized, especially when you have memorabilia from back in the days to show it. Interesting that you mentioned the encounter with the teenager right after you bought the car, I actually felt a noticeable increase in attention after I got mine too, it's quite a pleasantly unexpected novelty that makes NSX ownership special.

I remember when you made the thread about your new purchase and noted all these crazy details that most people would've overlooked, so I can already tell this will a very meticulous build So what are your plans for it coming up? Any significant mods planned? I know you talked about doing some engine maintenance, so if you need any help putting together a parts list for maintenance, feel free to shoot me a message. Although it's about to get cold soon, so may be better to save the big jobs for next spring!

Looking forward to updates!

@Hass, that's actually pretty good. I have only seen 3 other red NSX with the black canopy, 1 black, 1 completely red, 1 02+ orange and 1 02+ silver NSX here in Toronto my entire life.

@tbox Thanks, Tianbo. I plan to replace the old parts and get the maintenance up to date. No significant mods planned yet. Thanks, I'll definitely take that offer up lol.

The day after I bought the car, I decided to wash the car and clean the engine bay since it was so filthy.

To clean the engine bay I used the following:
-1 old tooth brush
-1 wheel cleaning noodle to reach down to the hard-to-reach areas
-2 microfiber towels
-Spray Nine degreaser
-an empty water bottle
-3 grocery bags

I used the plastic bags to cover the fuse box, alternator and both the front and rear coil pack covers.







It says on the back of Spray Nine container that it oxidizes aluminum, so I filled the empty water bottle halfway with Spray Nine and filled the rest of the bottle with water (1:1 diluted solution). I attached the spray from the orig. container to the water bottle.

Here are some before and after pictures from when I first saw the car at the previous owner's house and after I cleaned it.











I missed some areas but it looked pretty decent overall. I let it sit for a bit with the hatch open to let the water evaporate. I didn't disconnect the battery but I might next time just in case. Then after I went for a drive!


After washing the engine bay, I finally found where the transmission number is located. Thank goodness it's not in the snap ring range either. Here's a picture of my engine bay with transmission number indicating where to look (red circled area):

The next step was to get the car safetied, so I can complete the registration process as I was on temporary plates and permit.

The following items were noted and quoted on the PPI and needed replacing to pass safety:

-passenger front marker bulb $37.50 - I removed the lens cover as per service manual and replaced the bulb with one I found in the house.

-rear brake rotors - $925.00 - I did a couple of hard brakings and it seemed to have done the trick

-passenger wiper blade $102.00 - I bought the replacement rubber insert from Honda and it worked

-aim washer nozzles - $57.50 - I did some reading on prime and apparently the nozzle holes get clogged pretty easily, so I took an old tooth brush (probably the same one from the engine cleaning) and scrubbed the crud out of it. The nozzle sprays hard and far now but the OEM nozzles still suck since they spray a jet stream of fluid out.

I found the broken clutch pedal cover in the arm rest storage. The previous owner had probably tossed it in there after it had fallen off and never bothered to replace it. So I went to the Honda dealership and bought a replacement.

So while I was waiting at the dealer for the partsperson behind the counter to find my clutch pedal cover, the previous owner texted me with this picture. He had sold his house when I first went to see the car and was in the process of moving out of there. He was also selling another one of his cars on his driveway. He told me he was moving to a house with a smaller driveway so he had to reduce the number of cars he had. Anyways, while he was moving he found the leather bra for the NSX so he asked if I wanted it. I replied, "yes" so he shipped it out to me. I offered to pay for shipping but he told me not to worry about it. The shipment took some time and the shipping company contacted me since the previous owner entered the incorrect address. At last, it arrived so it's all good.

These hobbies are expensive so I wanted to budget accordingly and keep track of the expenses. Therefore, I created an Excel spreadsheet to track the expenses and maintenances.

I have collected all receipts including fuel-ups and I'm thinking about creating electronic copies to save on the computer. Maybe something I'll do during the winter months.

I used the next couple of days to organize everything so I don't lose it. There was a combination lock locked onto the handle of the car cover bag, and the previous owner didn't know the combo to unlock it (maybe it was left by the owner before him?). So I sawed it off but thinking about it now, maybe I should've kept it and continued the tradition by passing it onto the next owner if I decide to sell the car in the future.




I also removed all the tools in the trunk and wrapped them up in newspaper. I stored the car cover bag and tools together in a cardboard box afterwards.

Next up was the obligatory new owner oil change. I purchased the short oil filter from Honda and went with Mobil-1 10W-30 synthetic oil.

I also purchased a spare key and had it cut in case I ever lose the one and only original monel key that came with the car.






I believe in the "Plan the Work & Work the Plan" motto, so I prepared myself for the oil change by referring to the owner's manual that was in Francais (because Canadian) to verify the oil type and volume required, but mostly did it based off of the guide on Danoland (http://www.danoland.com/nsxgarage/oil_change/oil_change.htm). A problem I had was that the floor jack I had didn't fit underneath the NSX because it is so low. Therefore, I had to either elevate the car first by either driving it up on something or by using a combination of the OEM spare tire jack and the floor jack.

tbox said:

Oh @Hass....you would be the first one to comment at 1 in the morning
!

Click to expand...

A lot of down time with wife and kid out of town lol.

Andrew, $37.50 for a bulb! That's ridiculous, what size is that?

This is some excellent detail work Andrew! Looking at the newspaper you seem to be Chinese?

I really enjoy project builds like this! Keep em coming! = )

Cool story. Enjoy!

Looks good so far, keep it up!

Also don't use that leather bra, those just trap dirt and rub it into the paint over time, eventually ruining it. If you must use it, have a clear bra installed first then put the leather one over that.

Where you located? I'm in Markham

[MENTION=30626]Hass[/MENTION] Yup, maybe he quoted me for the entire housing lol. It's the 194 bulb.

[MENTION=29720]jizheng[/MENTION] Yup, I am.

[MENTION=22510]PhAnToM[/MENTION] Thanks! I'll keep em coming as long as people keep on reading!

[MENTION=12356]Mac Attack[/MENTION] Thanks!

[MENTION=33247]MotorMouth93[/MENTION] Thanks for the heads-up. I'll probably keep the leather bra as a novelty item haha.

[MENTION=19011]7_rocket[/MENTION] I'm in Scarborough. Nice, we should hangout with our NSXs some time! I'm not part of the NSXCC yet but I'm going to join once my car is more presentable and can endure the long cruises that the club hosts.

The next thing was changing the transmission and clutch fluid.

Another catchy motto is "Fail to Plan is a Plan to Fail". Therefore, I referred to the guide on Danoland (http://www.danoland.com/nsxgarage/transoil/index.htm) again!

I picked up some manual transmission fluid (MTF) and dot 3 brake fluid for the clutch from a Honda dealership. The part # for the MTF fluid is 8798-9031C, so called "white cap" that some people in the US might be more accustomed with. I am guessing the extra letter "C" at the end is for Canadian?




I did some searching and it seems like some people either remove the air filter (aka air cleaner element) housing or stack funnels on top of each other to reach the transmission filler hole. I found two funnels at home, one was a short one and the second one was long but still wasn't long enough and it was too rigid to bend around. So I went to the local general hardware store to find a funnel with a long hose. No luck, so I walked across the parking lot to Home Depot and found some hoses at half the price of the funnel previously found.




Got all my stuff lined up and ready.




Got my PPE ready, because safety first!




The transmission fluid had to be filled until it started dripping out at the filler hole on level ground. I only have two jack stands and my uneven driveway is interlock. Therefore, I used the concrete blocks in my backyard to raise the car and used the two jack stands as insurance.



Here's the drained transmission fluid. It was really dark, almost black as it poured out of the car.



Here's the funnel with hose attached. The hose is long enough so that I don't need to remove the air filter housing and I can easily bend the hose into the filler hole to avoid any messy accidents in the engine bay.



The new fluid almost looks transparent!