- Joined
- 27 October 2024
- Messages
- 9
12/20/2024
Background & About Me
Hey! This is my first build thread on this forum - I usually have all my text upfront and pictures at the end. My stumblings into the JDM car scene occurred thanks to a show called Initial D many moons ago - and at the time I wish I would have known what that would have sparked because it would have saved me a lot of money in the long run to not watch it lol. Fast forward, I come from the RX-7 and Rotary world of over 10 years where I had two really nice build threads on their respective forums. I tend to always have one completely off the wall project car and one car I like to refine and restore - in the Mazda cases a 2nd (build) and 3rd (restore) Generation RX-7. I’ll link those build threads below as they are really good reads and a fine example of what you can probably expect here with this one. I was additionally, very big into the community aspect having scanned a plethora of old catalogs, brochures, and magazines for the community and offered them free on my website (basically just a Xenforo community board acting as a front end for Google Drive lol). A while back my wife picked up a 2021 CTR LE (I may have played the devil in her ear on this one), but fell in love with the car and simultaneously began to lose interest in my RX-7s. I couldn’t steal her car, needed one my style. I picked up a 2000 EK Hatch and fully restored and modified it. The original goal was just a CTR clone - interior, B16B, Phoenix Yellow etc. However, it kind of got out of hand somewhere along a couple of track days and trips to the Tail of the Dragon. It went through a couple of different revisions and I’ll show some before and after of specific areas. Near the end of that build I had lost all interest in my RX-7s and decided to sell them both and consolidate into one car. The Civic became my new build and the NSX has ultimately become my new restore and refine.
Here are two links to each of my build threads on the other forum
From Zero to Hero: Heavy JDM Influenced Restoration (2nd Gen)
From Zero to Hero Vol. 2: CYM Edition (3rd Gen)
The Car
I knew immediately what type of car I wanted as I began to exit the Mazda scene. I had to keep the halo car vibe going so there was really only one answer for me - a NSX. As I was growing up my dad always had yellow cars in the way of a Spa Yellow S2000 and a Z06 Corvette. I guess that kind of rubbed off on me as I’ve now become a collector of solely yellow cars, but it made my decision on what I was after rather easy. I was just loosely looking as I was trying to sell my 3rd Gen RX-7. Wasn’t having much luck - until - a NSX popped up only 5~ hours away from me at a dealer. I quickly made the decision to revert my car to stock and trade it in on the NSX. Happy to report after I sold everything and after trade-in value I got basically what I was asking for the car originally.
The car is a 1997 NA2 Targa in Spa Yellow Pearl with Black Interior. The car has roughly 87,000 miles on it and is stock minus a couple of things I’ve discovered (SoS NSX-R Bracing, Bilstein Struts, Comptech Exhaust). The underside is incredibly clean, everything looks well sorted - except the paint in certain areas. Upon arriving to the dealer I immediately noticed the tires on the car RT-660’s (a tire I use on the Civic for the track) was on the car and at the wear bar. However, I know these tires driven at their limits will often start delaminating which had not happened to these. There was also an abundance of rock chips and touch up paint that didn’t match. I knew from the Carfax and a 360 report on the car that it had been in a prior minor accident. That didn’t bother me as a clean title is a clean title. There is some overspray I’ve noticed in places so I know, minimally, the bumpers have been resprayed. The interior also has quite a few knicks or scratches in a couple of different areas. Although I did just go on a spiel about all the defects with my purchase, none of it detracted from my purchase decision as I know everything I just listed is fixable.
The Vision
My goal as mentioned before is really restoration and refinement of what is already there with an emphasis on OEM to OEM+. I plan to enforce a no drilling strategy as it led to near instant regret on one of my previous cars (side skirts aren’t forever). My project plan breaks the car out into two initial phases. The first phase is really just buying and installing all the cool stuff I want and immediate maintenance items. I don’t think I’d find it enjoyable to buy a car and then dump extra funds into restoration of the paint, etc. The second phase is the restoration part - fixing those paint chips (having bumpers, head light toppers, and air ducts resprayed), overspray, replacing bolts and parts (door handles, bumper lights, etc) that look weathered and tired (the real money sink happens here), and restoration of suspension components. In both phases I’ll be pulling parts and brackets for flat black powder coat - it’s my calling card at this point to powder everything that will take it. I’ll also be transferring over my BBS RG-Rs (Diamond Black) from my RX-7 as a homage keeping the rear 17x9 and sourcing two 17x7.5 from Japan.
With that being said I have a ton of stuff on the way for the car detailed below as a list
Fun Stuff
Koyo Radiator
S2Carbon Works Cooling Panel
S2Carbon Works Radiator Brackets
Sakebomb Garage FPSpec Ohlin Coilovers
OEM Type S Steering Wheel (Type S Horn Button)
OEM Type S Column Cover
MITA NSX-R Hub Kit
MITA Countersunk Shift Knob
MITA Rubber Antenna
MITA Legacy Floor Mats
MITA Pedal Covers
MITA Cabin Filter Kit
Alarm & Keyless Entry
BBS RG-R 17x7.5 (RG716) - Diamond Black
JDM NA1 Tail Lights & Center Section
Honda Berlina Black H Front Emblem
Maintenance & Restoration
Timing Belt/WP/Spark Plugs/Fuel Filter
Davis Design Coil Guard Kit
Cedar Ridge Crank Guard
New Center Console/Arm Rest
New Coolant Reservoir and Black Cover
Thermostat
Washer Nozzles
& More!
Here is a quick pic of both of my previous RX-7s
Here are some pictures of before and after the my Civic build
Here are some photos of the NSX
Background & About Me
Hey! This is my first build thread on this forum - I usually have all my text upfront and pictures at the end. My stumblings into the JDM car scene occurred thanks to a show called Initial D many moons ago - and at the time I wish I would have known what that would have sparked because it would have saved me a lot of money in the long run to not watch it lol. Fast forward, I come from the RX-7 and Rotary world of over 10 years where I had two really nice build threads on their respective forums. I tend to always have one completely off the wall project car and one car I like to refine and restore - in the Mazda cases a 2nd (build) and 3rd (restore) Generation RX-7. I’ll link those build threads below as they are really good reads and a fine example of what you can probably expect here with this one. I was additionally, very big into the community aspect having scanned a plethora of old catalogs, brochures, and magazines for the community and offered them free on my website (basically just a Xenforo community board acting as a front end for Google Drive lol). A while back my wife picked up a 2021 CTR LE (I may have played the devil in her ear on this one), but fell in love with the car and simultaneously began to lose interest in my RX-7s. I couldn’t steal her car, needed one my style. I picked up a 2000 EK Hatch and fully restored and modified it. The original goal was just a CTR clone - interior, B16B, Phoenix Yellow etc. However, it kind of got out of hand somewhere along a couple of track days and trips to the Tail of the Dragon. It went through a couple of different revisions and I’ll show some before and after of specific areas. Near the end of that build I had lost all interest in my RX-7s and decided to sell them both and consolidate into one car. The Civic became my new build and the NSX has ultimately become my new restore and refine.
Here are two links to each of my build threads on the other forum
From Zero to Hero: Heavy JDM Influenced Restoration (2nd Gen)
From Zero to Hero Vol. 2: CYM Edition (3rd Gen)
The Car
I knew immediately what type of car I wanted as I began to exit the Mazda scene. I had to keep the halo car vibe going so there was really only one answer for me - a NSX. As I was growing up my dad always had yellow cars in the way of a Spa Yellow S2000 and a Z06 Corvette. I guess that kind of rubbed off on me as I’ve now become a collector of solely yellow cars, but it made my decision on what I was after rather easy. I was just loosely looking as I was trying to sell my 3rd Gen RX-7. Wasn’t having much luck - until - a NSX popped up only 5~ hours away from me at a dealer. I quickly made the decision to revert my car to stock and trade it in on the NSX. Happy to report after I sold everything and after trade-in value I got basically what I was asking for the car originally.
The car is a 1997 NA2 Targa in Spa Yellow Pearl with Black Interior. The car has roughly 87,000 miles on it and is stock minus a couple of things I’ve discovered (SoS NSX-R Bracing, Bilstein Struts, Comptech Exhaust). The underside is incredibly clean, everything looks well sorted - except the paint in certain areas. Upon arriving to the dealer I immediately noticed the tires on the car RT-660’s (a tire I use on the Civic for the track) was on the car and at the wear bar. However, I know these tires driven at their limits will often start delaminating which had not happened to these. There was also an abundance of rock chips and touch up paint that didn’t match. I knew from the Carfax and a 360 report on the car that it had been in a prior minor accident. That didn’t bother me as a clean title is a clean title. There is some overspray I’ve noticed in places so I know, minimally, the bumpers have been resprayed. The interior also has quite a few knicks or scratches in a couple of different areas. Although I did just go on a spiel about all the defects with my purchase, none of it detracted from my purchase decision as I know everything I just listed is fixable.
The Vision
My goal as mentioned before is really restoration and refinement of what is already there with an emphasis on OEM to OEM+. I plan to enforce a no drilling strategy as it led to near instant regret on one of my previous cars (side skirts aren’t forever). My project plan breaks the car out into two initial phases. The first phase is really just buying and installing all the cool stuff I want and immediate maintenance items. I don’t think I’d find it enjoyable to buy a car and then dump extra funds into restoration of the paint, etc. The second phase is the restoration part - fixing those paint chips (having bumpers, head light toppers, and air ducts resprayed), overspray, replacing bolts and parts (door handles, bumper lights, etc) that look weathered and tired (the real money sink happens here), and restoration of suspension components. In both phases I’ll be pulling parts and brackets for flat black powder coat - it’s my calling card at this point to powder everything that will take it. I’ll also be transferring over my BBS RG-Rs (Diamond Black) from my RX-7 as a homage keeping the rear 17x9 and sourcing two 17x7.5 from Japan.
With that being said I have a ton of stuff on the way for the car detailed below as a list
Fun Stuff
Koyo Radiator
S2Carbon Works Cooling Panel
S2Carbon Works Radiator Brackets
Sakebomb Garage FPSpec Ohlin Coilovers
OEM Type S Steering Wheel (Type S Horn Button)
OEM Type S Column Cover
MITA NSX-R Hub Kit
MITA Countersunk Shift Knob
MITA Rubber Antenna
MITA Legacy Floor Mats
MITA Pedal Covers
MITA Cabin Filter Kit
Alarm & Keyless Entry
BBS RG-R 17x7.5 (RG716) - Diamond Black
JDM NA1 Tail Lights & Center Section
Honda Berlina Black H Front Emblem
Maintenance & Restoration
Timing Belt/WP/Spark Plugs/Fuel Filter
Davis Design Coil Guard Kit
Cedar Ridge Crank Guard
New Center Console/Arm Rest
New Coolant Reservoir and Black Cover
Thermostat
Washer Nozzles
& More!
Here is a quick pic of both of my previous RX-7s
Here are some pictures of before and after the my Civic build
Here are some photos of the NSX
