Final Cost of 02+ Conversion
- Thread starter naaman
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very well spoken.
imho the key is to do it with the care, attention and paint job that is deserving of an exotic + rare nsx.
imho the key is to do it with the care, attention and paint job that is deserving of an exotic + rare nsx.
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Interesting. So there is a blue one with the early bumper, too. Thanks for the reference. For what it's worth, the car I'm remembering was red and it actually kept the front blinkers in the bumper (redundant with the blinkers in the new headlights). The thread is from a few years ago.
Still, looking at the two cars (the blue with the old bumper, and the red with the new bumper/old headlamps) kinda tears me...
The last couple of days I've been even leaning toward something like a (custom) 02+ bumper, and Type-R hood, with the pop up headlights. Looking at some of the old cars with the Type-R hood makes me think twice about wanting the new headlamps....
Oh, the wonderful agony of customizing a car... decisions, decisions.... :biggrin:
Your car...
Plus Ponyboy's car....
Might be the magic formula for me... all done up in Grand Prix White (or one of those JDM metallic white colors, like Platinum or Neutron).
.
Unless you're meticulous about doing a proper conversion yourself I can't imagine a shop will charge a reasonable amount to get it done right. Graphing a 02 front end on a <01' car is not a 100% bolt on process. For example.. even the tow hook is different between the years. I can easily see a shop "work around" this. How about the placement hole that needs to be drilled out off the inner fender so the headlight can mount properly.. I don't see a shop doing this either. I simply see a shop cutting the plastic nipple because it's a 5 min job vs. a 1hr one. Even the tie-in to the factory headlight wiring harness. There's a proper way to do this and there's the fast/good_enough_to_ship_out_the_door way to do it with quick splice connectors for example.
Basically, what i'm trying to say is.. no one loves your car as much as you do. Go into this budgeting exercise with eyes wide open.
Tow hook: Notice the difference
Headlight alignment tab: It takes forever to line this up, drill the hole, and paint the exposed area
Relief cut for the headlight adjustment assembly: Takes longer to do this cut properly and remove as little of the material as possible. Note: I love the Route KS option where you don't have to do this cut!
EDIT: Sorry, I didn't mean to make it sound like all shops can't do a conversion properly. You just have to be willing to pay for good, time consuming work. So factor in at least ~25hrs+ on just fitting and installation time. Not including paint and body work. Though I think one could do a "good enough for government work" type of job in 8hrs. Hello gov't workers
Basically, what i'm trying to say is.. no one loves your car as much as you do. Go into this budgeting exercise with eyes wide open.
Tow hook: Notice the difference
Headlight alignment tab: It takes forever to line this up, drill the hole, and paint the exposed area
Relief cut for the headlight adjustment assembly: Takes longer to do this cut properly and remove as little of the material as possible. Note: I love the Route KS option where you don't have to do this cut!
EDIT: Sorry, I didn't mean to make it sound like all shops can't do a conversion properly. You just have to be willing to pay for good, time consuming work. So factor in at least ~25hrs+ on just fitting and installation time. Not including paint and body work. Though I think one could do a "good enough for government work" type of job in 8hrs. Hello gov't workers
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That is a great post Ryu. Personally I'd never convert to an 02+. I had an 03 and never got used to it really. But for people who do love the 02+ look, and really need to have a coupe+02 look, it really is important to understand the little things like the above.
IMO it would take a *ton* of time and money to really do it right. If you dont do it right, you end up possibly with a frankenstein project rather than a nice clean original coupe. Bad move I think.
As for value, I think it would absolutely hurt resale value. It's just too extensive of a "mod". Its a complete front end replacement. Even "returning to stock", a body inspector with a good eye is going to detect the extent of the work that had been done so it is going to require a long explanation similar to a major front end collision OR hoping to slip it past. If you leave the fixed lights on, then its "wait, is this an 02?" followed again by a long explanation of the conversion.
I think the car would of course still sell, but the likely buyer would be someone who wants to *appear* to have the newer more expensive car, but on a budget. Thats generally a pain in the ass kind of buyer to deal with :biggrin:
IMO it would take a *ton* of time and money to really do it right. If you dont do it right, you end up possibly with a frankenstein project rather than a nice clean original coupe. Bad move I think.
As for value, I think it would absolutely hurt resale value. It's just too extensive of a "mod". Its a complete front end replacement. Even "returning to stock", a body inspector with a good eye is going to detect the extent of the work that had been done so it is going to require a long explanation similar to a major front end collision OR hoping to slip it past. If you leave the fixed lights on, then its "wait, is this an 02?" followed again by a long explanation of the conversion.
I think the car would of course still sell, but the likely buyer would be someone who wants to *appear* to have the newer more expensive car, but on a budget. Thats generally a pain in the ass kind of buyer to deal with :biggrin:
Great post. That is exactly the kind of info I'm looking for. And ideally, I would perform the entire build myself, but all that is later down the road, and pending the opportunity to take some classes and get some certifications.
But, considering the cost for what is mostly just a cosmetic mod, it may be that I wind up just going with the Type-R hood for NA1.
Seems to me that SOS or Downforce could easily come up with a front bumper solution that is plug and play for the early model cars but looks exactly like the 02... not sure why this hasn't been done yet...
oh well.
it has been done look at moses car the red one above he has the bumper that looks like a o2 front
creative and really clean looking. looks awesome imo.
I've been needing to put the type r hood on and have it painted, just haven't got around to it.
Unless you're meticulous about doing a proper conversion yourself I can't imagine a shop will charge an reasonable amount to get it done right. Graphing a 02 front end on a <01' car is not a 100% bolt on process. For example.. even the tow hook is different between the years. I can easily see a shop "work around" this. How about the placement hole that needs to be drilled out off the inner fender so the headlight can mount properly.. I don't see a shop doing this either. I simply see a shop cutting the plastic nipple because it's a 5 min job vs. a 1hr one. Even the tie-in to the factory headlight wiring harness. There's a proper way to do this and there's the fast/good_enough_to_ship_out_the_door way to do it with quick splice connectors for example.
Basically, what i'm trying to say is.. no one loves your car as much as you do. Go into this budgeting exercise with eyes wide open.
Tow hook: Notice the difference
For the tow hook I had one of the mechanics at my old job cut the welds, flip it, and reweld it, worked out perfectly fine. If you don't trust that, then I think the new tow hook is only a couple of dollars.
creative and really clean looking. looks awesome imo.
Thanks
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Great post. That is exactly the kind of info I'm looking for. And ideally, I would perform the entire build myself, but all that is later down the road, and pending the opportunity to take some classes and get some certifications.
But, considering the cost for what is mostly just a cosmetic mod, it may be that I wind up just going with the Type-R hood for NA1.
Seems to me that SOS or Downforce could easily come up with a front bumper solution that is plug and play for the early model cars but looks exactly like the 02... not sure why this hasn't been done yet...
Are you talking about this one:
Yet another creative solution. Is that Downforce? I haven't seen that one before, but it looks great.
The one I was talking about in my earlier post had the new headlights only. The bumper and front lip and everything else was the old style. Essentially, just the flip ups were removed and replaced with OEM 02 headlights. Obviously, some custom work was done to make it all fit, but it looked "factory."
you talking about this, yeah looks great haha
pm him how he did it jin1976
you talking about this, yeah looks great haha
pm him how he did it jin1976
wow, I love that! Any more links or pics? Looks like he just put the 02 upper bumper cover w the pre-02 lower cover. Didn't know they line up so well but makes sense since the mechanicals behind are the same.
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Mode4
Having done a 2002 conversion on my first NSX you should simply sell and upgrade to a +2002 NSX. Easily looking at +5k including parts and paint.
By going with a +2002 NSX you'll get the upgraded ABS, slightly nicer interior, 6-speed, 3.2 L engine and its a genuine NSX. Then you'd have no worries about re-sale value etc. etc.
By going with a +2002 NSX you'll get the upgraded ABS, slightly nicer interior, 6-speed, 3.2 L engine and its a genuine NSX. Then you'd have no worries about re-sale value etc. etc.
Yeah, I know there are a lot of great reasons not to do it. On the other hand, I want a coupe first and foremost, so unless I can get a Type S in RHD, it's almost certainly going to be a pre-95. Second, my primary goal is to put a stroker motor in it, so the original displacement is not much concern to me. The 6-speed would be ideal, and maybe one day I'll put one in, but the priority is to have a coupe with a stroker.
^^ A lot of the same reasons for me. OBD1 is also a plus for some people.
I wouldn't mind picking up a 02+ one day and just keeping it bone stock. I can't imagine doing all ^^^ that to a pristine newer NSX.
Wow, yet another bumper solution! So many options that I did not know were out there (based on some research, should probably stay away from this one, though).
Incidentally... this still isn't the one I was talking about (now I'm just curious if I was dreaming or hallucinating or something
)What I remember is this: imagine an early model NSX. Now change nothing about it except for the headlights. The car that had it done was red.
5000 points to whomever finds the thread before I do! :biggrin:
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This is the best looking NSX front end I have seen. To bad it’s not available for purchase. It would be the top half of a 91 to 2001 with lights from a 2002 or newer made of fiberglass.
I have a 2002 plus headlight kit that I purchased at home but the kit is made from fiberglass and our bumpers from plastic so they just don’t work together. Now if a fiberglass top half of the stock bumper was available it would be easy to modify the light area.
Any body want to make one?
shawn110975
Suspended
now that looks bad ass changes the whole look of the car
bad ass.
bad ass.
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