CCColtsicehockey 2002 Black/Black NSX Build

[cccoltsicehockey]

Another somewhat boring update. Went to a smaller more local cars and coffee on Saturday. First time I let one of the dogs ride shotgun in the NSX. She is the most calm out of my three and will be the only one I think I ever let ride. She is the only one that has ever got a chance to ride in the front seat of any of the cars cause she will just sit in the seat and not move around. After cars and coffee my new air filter showed up and I got it changed out. Who knows the last time the filter had been changed out. The car only recently went over Acura's recommended change interval of 30k miles which seems awful high for an air filter. I thought the norm was more around 10-15k. I found changing the filter a bit difficult to get all back together with the targa brace in. Also my intake filter box is only held in place by one bolt so I need to source the other two bolts and won't metal grommet incert.

Hickory was a little unsure at first.

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Think it was a little dirty and ready for replacement.
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All cleaned up and buttoned back up
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Missing hardware I need to locate and source.
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[myw]

beautiful nsx

 

[cccoltsicehockey]

Been up to a lot of little things lately but nothing major. Did finally just roll over 4k miles in a little less than 6 months two weekends ago. Changed the oil again this weekend as I am thinking of taking the NSX on a road trip to PA for the upcoming holiday since I will be traveling alone. The exhaust drone is a bit unbearable at times though so not 100% sure if I will. Probably the best chance though to do so since I know for sure my girlfriend would not be interested in riding in it for 7hrs. Would be the longest trip ever I have made in it for sure since the previous longest is 4hrs to the dragon but we stop halfway through on that trip for lunch and beer in Asheville so not even really the same.

While changing the oil I tried out two extra oil caps I had laying around on the NSX. I ended up going with the Spoon one for right now. I also need to decide on what color to redo the suspension braces on the car cause the burnt orange color really bothers me. It doesn't flow with anything else on the car. Been thinking either red but that seems too much in the engine back or liquid silver with red STMPO decals to match the Stoptech brake kit.


Stock

Mugen

Spoon

A month ago I took the time to tackle the rubber targa and window seals. They were in need of some TLC and are also causing me some air leak noise issues while driving above 60mph.


A brief look at how bad they were to start with.

First up they needed a nice cleaning. I cleaned them 3 times using this before I stopped getting a super dirty rag.

Then the Honda miracle product

It took about an hour to rub in the Shin Etsu on all the seals. Then let it sit overnight while everything was still apart. This is how they looked the next day. They look much better and the best part is the visible seals no longer look grey and faded they have a nice fresh black color to them. Just doing this fixed the air leak noise I had on the passenger side window. However, it did not fix the drivers side. I have since removed the drivers side seal completely and have cleaned and coated both the exposed side and the mounting side hoping to bring more life back into the rubber so it expands some and hopefully doesn't leak anymore. Trying to salvage these seals so I don't have to spend a fortune on new ones if possible.

I have had this Brockway Engineering R2000 gauge display since my TSX. The connector on it broke years ago and I tried to rig it up but it didn't reliably work anymore. It also no longer worked once I went with the FlashPro on my TSX since it used CanBus. Turns out the owner of the company has a TSX and is on that forum and he sent me a spare accessory harness cable so I could fix mine. Got that fixed an installed on the NSX so now the screen in the JDM Nav Pod has a function.

My rigged attempt to fix the old connector harness since it broke right at the connector.

Splicing new and old harness together

Lastly I ordered a Covercraft Sunshade as I have been driving the NSX to work about once a week and so it sits in the sun all day and figured I needed to do something to project the dash. Unfortunately the cutout around the mirror is so tight I am having issues with it fitting with my radar mount. If I take the radar off the mount each time it kind of fits but I worry about the pressure of it against the rearview mirror.

 

[MexiRicer]

I am a bit bummed I hadn't seen this well put together build thread sooner. Absolutely breathtaking scenery, great taste in cars/ mods and beer breaks. 10/10 for me. That J's racing s2k is beautiful and I love the clever license plate.

The mag blue looked fantastic on the berlina but you're right- need to switch it up and make the car your own.

Your front rotors warping doesn't sound normal. Did you take a wire brush drill bit to the wheel hub to remove all rust prior to rotor install? I know on my Tarox set up, this is mandatory as the hat is probably 69mm in diameter and is a very very tight fit. Also, once the hat is on is it very difficult to mount completely flat so I use an old 15mm spacer over the rotor hat and use an impact gun to torque down in star pattern until the hat is completely flat on the wheel hub. Are the wheel bearings going bad? If there is excessive play, the rotor discs may warp again.

The rear e-brake cable does hang rather low after st10 e-brake install but your alignment tech may need to cut those zip-ties to adjust your toe-links. I zip tied mine closer to the ball joint so it doesn't interfere with the toe-link adjustment.

The trunk struts are indeed now made in China which is why Frank at StrutWise is a valuable resource. He can recharge your dated struts and you'll still keep the JDMage and your original painted washer.

Great job fixing the spaghetti wiring, head-unit and sprucing up component placement. It gave me goosebumps from when I had to do that on mine as it is a repressed memory and wish to never re-live.

That STMPO Messiah is bolted straight to the headers yes? I can only imagine how brutally awesome it sounds but for long trips the significant other may have a different opinion. There was a guy on the facebook owners group looking for one. May need to switch it up and add cats or high flow cats on the next exhaust selection.

I love the direction in which this is going, 10/10.

 

[cccoltsicehockey]

I am a bit bummed I hadn't seen this well put together build thread sooner. Absolutely breathtaking scenery, great taste in cars/ mods and beer breaks. 10/10 for me. That J's racing s2k is beautiful and I love the clever license plate.

The mag blue looked fantastic on the berlina but you're right- need to switch it up and make the car your own.

Thank you.

Your front rotors warping doesn't sound normal. Did you take a wire brush drill bit to the wheel hub to remove all rust prior to rotor install? I know on my Tarox set up, this is mandatory as the hat is probably 69mm in diameter and is a very very tight fit. Also, once the hat is on is it very difficult to mount completely flat so I use an old 15mm spacer over the rotor hat and use an impact gun to torque down in star pattern until the hat is completely flat on the wheel hub. Are the wheel bearings going bad? If there is excessive play, the rotor discs may warp again.

The rear e-brake cable does hang rather low after st10 e-brake install but your alignment tech may need to cut those zip-ties to adjust your toe-links. I zip tied mine closer to the ball joint so it doesn't interfere with the toe-link adjustment.

The rotors that warped were installed by the previous owner and warped I believe in the first 1500 miles of use. Definitely agree it doesn't sound normal.

When I installed the new ones I did not use a wire brush at all on the hub but I did a good bed in after install and so far have 5000 problem free miles from them. Hopefully that means everything should be good to go now.

The trunk struts are indeed now made in China which is why Frank at StrutWise is a valuable resource. He can recharge your dated struts and you'll still keep the JDMage and your original painted washer.

Good to know. I will get my old set redone then to have as spare for when these eventually go. Unfortunately the paint chiped on the stud when I was removing them even though I taped them and was very careful trying to remove them.

Great job fixing the spaghetti wiring, head-unit and sprucing up component placement. It gave me goosebumps from when I had to do that on mine as it is a repressed memory and wish to never re-live.

Ugh I know right. I can't stand messy wiring just being shoved in there.

That STMPO Messiah is bolted straight to the headers yes? I can only imagine how brutally awesome it sounds but for long trips the significant other may have a different opinion. There was a guy on the facebook owners group looking for one. May need to switch it up and add cats or high flow cats on the next exhaust selection.

I love the direction in which this is going, 10/10.

That exhaust is one of my favorite parts of the car. It won't be going anywhere even if I would temporarily switch to something else. It is great around town and on short trips and no drone either when the targa is off so really just a pain on highway cruising. Yeah the significant other won't make more than 4hr trips for sure and even on my latest trip I even used ear plugs for a little of it. The NSX would have been left at home had she been going on the most recent trip. :biggrin:

Appreciate it! I hope to keep the good direction going.

 

[cccoltsicehockey]

So had still been battling the issue of the airleak on my drivers side a pillar seal. The Shin Etsu didn't fix that. It appears the drivers side a pillar seal was no longer able to fully hold its shape and push against the window. I also had a few tearse in the seals that I glued up. For the final fix of the A pillar seal I used a thin slice of dence packing foam placed behind the seal. With the seal in place you never know it is there and it was free compared to the cost of a new seal. I will eventually do a new seal but this will allow me for the time being to that money on other areas that need attention.

These two spots appeared to have been glue once before as they had something dry and flaky coming off.

So I got them all sealed back up with some super glue for rubber.

This one I have had for a while and only got around to repairing.

Free A pillar fix

 

[cccoltsicehockey]

So this past week I traveled home to visit family for the Easter holiday weekend. My significant other wasn't able to go so it gave me a chance to take the NSX. I loaded it up to the brink basically and headed out. Had hoped for good weather but it rained most of the the drive so so much for a clean road trip car. Got to play some golf with my pops and visit my grandfather. Completed the longest road trip to date in the NSX with a total of 1056 miles by the time I returned home yesterday evening.

While she was still clean

Some beautiful weather for a round of golf

After a long wet day on Friday parked next my dads RS7.

All packed up for the drive back home

Even had to use the passenger seat for the trip home

Traffic wasn't bad to start and the weather could not have been better.

The weather stayed good but the traffic not so much

Last picture before almost home. Black and white hides a bit of the dirt but she is in desperate need of a bath.

All in all it was a great trip with almost no issues with the car while making its longest trip in my ownership.


Speaking of that one issue. I unlocked the drivers door with the key for possible the first time while owning the car. I have no idea what made me decide to do that. It did alert me to an issue with the car though. This shouldn't happen. Now I need to figure out what is wrong and how to resolve this.

 

[truckslammer]

Wow! A beautiful car and a nice build. You are correct that the Shin Etsu grease is a miracle worker on seals. I learned about it when I bought my Del Sol an it kept those seals nice and supple.

 

[Hass]

Did you address the crack on the undercarriage?

 

[cccoltsicehockey]

Did you address the crack on the undercarriage?

I sent pbassjo a PM regarding it with pictures and a link to the thread with the rest of the pictures. Was asked if the car was in an accident which it was and after that I got the impression he wanted know part of even offering me any information after that.

I have not done anything with the crack after that besides monitor and continue to document it with pictures to makes sure it does not get worse. At this time it does not appear it has. I am still not 100% sure it is even a crack and not a bad repair job where it was not made sure the metal was all flush together before welding it. The rear of the car appears to have been coated in a bedliner like material after the repairs were made. I have debated scraping the the material off to better access the area but at this time I haven't gone ahead with doing it at all.

If I don't do anything with it I might start to document it monthly in more detail with a ruler and photos so I can track the mark down to the mm to see if it is worsening or not. Another idea is to spray the area with a colored plastic dip or maybe even sadly spray paint. I have done this with pressure fit suspension components on other cars in the past that were thought to be slipping but not enough to easily monitor. If the paint brakes or is scraped you have movement. It is a crude way to test but in the cases I have used it has provided good results and a peace of mind.

 

[cccoltsicehockey]

Wow! A beautiful car and a nice build. You are correct that the Shin Etsu grease is a miracle worker on seals. I learned about it when I bought my Del Sol an it kept those seals nice and supple.

Thank you.

It is for sure. I was doing a full detail this weekend on my 15.5 year old Acura TSX and can see its seals could stand an application of it as well to help preserve them so they will be getting the same treatment soon.

 

[Hass]

I think it’s a good idea to measure it every couple of weeks. If you see changes I would recommend taking it to a professional

 

[B2FiNiTY]

nice updates! hope you keep them coming.

 

[cccoltsicehockey]

So I finally received all my parts from Tim @ oemacuraparts. So last night I started to tear the car apart to try and get this all installed before the East Coast meet this weekend. Unfortunately, once I got it all apart I am already not sure there is any hope of getting it put together in time for that so maybe have to button her back up without this stuff installed unless maybe some of you on here can help me figure this out from the pictures. It is also possible the repair job from the accident on the side of the engine bay was done so bad it physically won't fit unless I enlarge the area by massaging it a bit with a hammer. I would really love to be able to normally pump gas one of these days though.

Parts from the motherland. A couple of these were not in stock so I had to wait for them to come from Japan.

Brackets along with the EVAP canisters I already had.

On to the tear down

Carbon rear vent out

Targa brace out

Airbox out

Question #1 - Anyone know if there is supposed to be a cover panel here that I am missing. It kind of looks like it but I couldn't be sure.

Question #2 - I found another hose plugged by a bolt. I believe this small hose might connect to the small port on the secondary EVAP Filter Canister but not sure. If it does it helps explain a little where that canister might mount unless they cut the hose before plugging it. Included a close up picture and a wider view.

By carefully squeezing the EVAP canister in I can get it in this far. It doesn't seem like it is far enough nor do I have any room to connect the hoses are the outer wall side of the engine bay.

Here is what the area for the EVAP system looks like. I think I am going to have to enlarge this area a little bit as it was not repaired well at all. Other options would be to install the EVAP canister without the brackets and just wedge it in there.

I believe the two hardlines in this picture that come from the gas tank should be behind this large wire harness. I believe that might give me some more room to fit the canister.

So this is where I have a big favor to ask. I am wondering if anyone with a 2002-2005 would be willing to remove the Airbox on their car and take a bunch of pictures of the surround area for me? There just really is no good documentation on this system in the car. I have no idea how they would service this system. I am beginning to wonder if the installation instructions for this are in the body repair manual instead of the regular service manual cause I can't imagine Honda not leaving any documentation on how to remove/install it.

 

[cccoltsicehockey]

So the rear piece of the trunk carpet in my car has been abused by the time I got the car. It needed some TLC bad. On the way back from the East Coast NSX meet I went through some heavy rainstorms and learned my trunk leaks really bad. Going to need to figure that one out pretty quickly. So I pulled all the carpet out so that it could dry out and I could wipe everything down. While it was out I decided to fix the issue with the back carpet as it did not get wet. When I pulled it out the only thing that was still attached was the right corner plastic mount. The center and left were not longer even attached to the carpet.

So using some vice grips to hold things in place and then a staple gun plus screwdriver I was able to put the piece back together. Had to unfortunately bend each staple prong in place since there was no backing plate. Need to get a staple pliers if it ever comes apart again.

Before. This isn't the most recent picture. I had forgot to take a picture of it before I started but even the middle had come apart as well.

Staples bent in place

Completed. When I put the rubber seal back in place I noticed I probably should have put the carpet up higher than I did on the plastic mounting. I thought it was supposed to be flush but the carpet should have probably been about 1/8in above the clip strip. Still looks 100x better though.

 

[Professor X]

Amazing scenic pics. Love all the nature.

Are you on tein coilovers? If so, how to they ride with tge 10.5 rear?

Also, did you roll the rear fender to accommodate the 10.5 ?

Keep up the good work :thumbsup:

 

[cccoltsicehockey]

Thank you.

I am on Tein Winding Master coilovers. Personally I like them but then again I have always preferred stiff suspension on my car for the least body roll and better handling over a comfortable ride. That said you feel pretty much every imperfection in the road. This is the stiffest suspension I have had on any car and also the lightest car I have ever owned. Couple those things together and the first two weeks I had the car and I was on a really bad road I actually had to pull over and check my tires because I thought I had a flat.

I have not had to roll the fenders at all thankfully with the 10.5 They are a very conservative offset at +45 though.

 

[Mac Attack]

...It is also possible the repair job from the accident on the side of the engine bay was done so bad it physically won't fit unless I enlarge the area by massaging it a bit with a hammer....

Airbox out

I hate to say it but... it's not possible that the repair job was done so bad - That's 100% the case. There has been major frame damage that wasn't straightened at all. That combined with previous mention of an existing crack somewhere would tend to make me a bit nervous.

Here's the best picture I have during my engine reinstallation for reference.
View attachment 159876

Looking down from the top of the rear drivers wheel, it appears that your frame section is twisted clockwise a decent amount. So much so that the vertically-angled support bar (for the airbox mount, fuse box, etc) is pushed over to the right a good 1/2". That's not allowing anything in that area to mount correctly, like the airbox that should line up straight with the rubber bellows into the throttle body.

Also, you can see that the transmission mount is off over a good 5 degrees relative to the transmission meaning the frame rail is still bent pretty bad. The rubber in that mount will probably fail a lot earlier.

I hope you can get everything straightened out and keep enjoying it.

 

[cccoltsicehockey]

I hate to say it but... it's not possible that the repair job was done so bad - That's 100% the case. There has been major frame damage that wasn't straightened at all. That combined with previous mention of an existing crack somewhere would tend to make me a bit nervous.

Here's the best picture I have during my engine reinstallation for reference.
View attachment 159876

Looking down from the top of the rear drivers wheel, it appears that your frame section is twisted clockwise a decent amount. So much so that the vertically-angled support bar (for the airbox mount, fuse box, etc) is pushed over to the right a good 1/2". That's not allowing anything in that area to mount correctly, like the airbox that should line up straight with the rubber bellows into the throttle body.

Also, you can see that the transmission mount is off over a good 5 degrees relative to the transmission meaning the frame rail is still bent pretty bad. The rubber in that mount will probably fail a lot earlier.

I hope you can get everything straightened out and keep enjoying it.

Yeah I have unfortunately come to this conclusion as well. I should have noticed this more prior to purchase but it is what it is now. The car drives get and engine runs great and it is a blast to drive still. I guess I will just need to save up and eventually send the car off to be properly repaired someday.

I guess it is safe to say I should have probably walked away from this car but at this point it is what it is as there is no going back now and probably wouldn't be able to sell it for close to what I paid for it.

Do appreciate the picture.


EDIT: I have seen people have new front clip and rear clip pieces welded in but has anyone had a side section of the engine bay/passenger compartment welded in to fix damage?

 

[Mac Attack]

I understand and would continue to enjoy it if it were mine too. I just wouldn't want to attempt any top speed runs or subject it to abuse on a track. Also, I would try to strip off the undercoating as much as possible to assess any other cracks or buckling. I was never an expert at structural mechanics but I would certainly want to know where this mentioned crack is and assure myself it wouldn't grow more (or regularly keep an eye on it as [MENTION=30626]Hass[/MENTION] suggested). It also matters if it's supporting some critical component (suspension mounting point for example).

Good luck!

 

[Honcho]

I'm so sorry to see this happen. Did the previous owner disclose this accident? That's pretty significant frame damage on a key structural area of the car- no wonder the evap won't fit. This should be repairable, but [MENTION=4046]pbassjo[/MENTION] is probably the only one in the US who could do it correctly. You'd either have to weld on an entire rear clip, or at least cut out the damaged section and replace with a straight piece from a donor. Either way- big job, but doable.

 

[cccoltsicehockey]

I understand and would continue to enjoy it if it were mine too. I just wouldn't want to attempt any top speed runs or subject it to abuse on a track. Also, I would try to strip off the undercoating as much as possible to assess any other cracks or buckling. I was never an expert at structural mechanics but I would certainly want to know where this mentioned crack is and assure myself it wouldn't grow more (or regularly keep an eye on it as @Hass suggested). It also matters if it's supporting some critical component (suspension mounting point for example).

Good luck!

I'm so sorry to see this happen. Did the previous owner disclose this accident? That's pretty significant frame damage on a key structural area of the car- no wonder the evap won't fit. This should be repairable, but @pbassjo is probably the only one in the US who could do it correctly. You'd either have to weld on an entire rear clip, or at least cut out the damaged section and replace with a straight piece from a donor. Either way- big job, but doable.

I knew about the accident it had somewhat based on research from on here. It was from long before the owner I bought the car from. This is the car http://www.nsxprime.com/forum/showt...ck-NSX-T-6spd-19k-miles-VIN-JH4NA21682T000037 The owner I bought it from is a friend and I thought he knew all the ins and outs of the car when I bought it from him but starting to realize he might not know as much about cars in general as I thought he did. For having so much wrong in the engine bay area the car drives straight. It doesn't pull when accelerating, it doesn't pull when braking. It has a slight drift on the highway but it has been 4 years+ since the car last had an alignment. I had driven the car before when it didn't have the highway drift closer to when he got it. He put 13k miles on the car in 7 years and never had any issues with it. The car drives strong.

Those are some of the reason I chose to get this car. I wasn't looking for a collectors piece I wanted a car I would drive hard and often and not worry about a scratch here of there if it happened. Although I still try to prevent any. I also bought the car with the intention of doing some track days and frequent mountain runs in it. So I will definitely keep and I on the separation point I am aware of by marking it with a paint pen and seeing if it grows at all but if I have to start taking things easy on the car it would take out the enjoyment of it really.

It is definitely shitty to keep learning that the condition is worse than expected on the car for sure. I guess I am terrible at buying cars and walking away from something I like when signs show up that maybe I should. This car was 10s of thousands less than 2002+ models with similar mileage and has about 15k in modifications that I would have done to my car regardless so seemed like worth the risk at the time. Maybe not so much now after the fact but it is what it is at this point since there is no changing things.

I find it crazy the car can drive so well and not pull under acceleration or braking and have so much damage in that area. I guess I gave to much credit to how well it drove.

At some point I do want to take the car up to @pbassjo to have it examined but no point in doing it for a while till I have some funds set aside to be able to do any work on the car.

 

[I_M_Legend]

You still got one of the best looking cars on here! Also, it's not like you got ripped off or anything. Sounds like you paid a fair price if not still a good price considering everything. It runs great, feels great, and looks great...

 

[natcc99]

Those are some of the reason I chose to get this car. I wasn't looking for a collectors piece I wanted a car I would drive hard and often and not worry about a scratch here of there if it happened. Although I still try to prevent any. I also bought the car with the intention of doing some track days and frequent mountain runs in it. So I will definitely keep and I on the separation point I am aware of by marking it with a paint pen and seeing if it grows at all but if I have to start taking things easy on the car it would take out the enjoyment of it really.

As [MENTION=34822]I_M_Legend[/MENTION] mentioned, you got a good looking car and based on your test drive, sounds like it is in decent shape.
You got the right mind set. Now you can enjoy the car without worrying too much about it, unlike the 1K mile $100++ museum pieces that may depreciate if you take it outside.

Years ago I bought a frame damaged sports car. There were a few little problems, but overall a good car and kept it for 9 years as my daily. I did take it auto crossing a few times and it was a champ dodging the cones.
Perhaps give that a shot before taking it to a track since autocross is at a lower speed and generally has wider run offs if the worst should happen. Plus, there are more twist and turns which will be a good test on your frame before you take it to a track.

I do not know if the following is common practice or if will even work. I'm thinking out-side the box here. One idea is to get a paint pen and make some reference lines on key points of the frame (similar to torque stripes on bolts and nuts) With witness marks, you might see if anything has moved. Sometimes things move under stress and return to their resting/home position when you park for an inspection. The paint marks may show cracks and this could direct your attention for deeper investigation.

The more scientific method is to put a bunch of strain gauges to quantify any stresses. However, you will need another car with a similar setup so you have something to reference to. Now, I think I'm really outside the box. Where is my coffee mug?

 

[Professor X]

Thank you.

I am on Tein Winding Master coilovers. Personally I like them but then again I have always preferred stiff suspension on my car for the least body roll and better handling over a comfortable ride. That said you feel pretty much every imperfection in the road. This is the stiffest suspension I have had on any car and also the lightest car I have ever owned. Couple those things together and the first two weeks I had the car and I was on a really bad road I actually had to pull over and check my tires because I thought I had a flat.

I have not had to roll the fenders at all thankfully with the 10.5 They are a very conservative offset at +45 though.

Man, that is lethal. I thought about teins but living in NYC, that is just going to be stress for me as the infrastructure is horrible. Thanks on the feedback though