Honcho's Long Road to Imola Type-S Zero

[Honcho]

Brake Overhaul 09

Brake work continues. I am still waiting on the new 40 mm pistons, shims and other small parts from Japan, but in the meantime, decided to tackle the undercoat-clogged soft lines. These are the original, 26-year old Honda brake lines. They will be replaced with PVC-coated PTFE, stainless-wrapped lines.
What would normally be a 5 minute job took almost an hour of scrubbing. Again, the Turtle Wax bug and tar remover was my friend. The main issue is that the undercoat welded/glued the brake line nut and the brake line clips. Just lots of careful scrubbing and patience to free them. Also, a 10 mm flare nut wrench is strongly recommended to protect the hard line nut. If you strip the nut, you're buying a new hard line from Honda.

Bug and Tar remover soaking



Starting to get clean. Notice that someone already had attempted to work on this line- partially stripped nut.



Old lines are out! Look how much undercoat is caked on the fittings.

 

[Honcho]

Body and Paint Work 15

Today we removed the entire front nose to investigate the level of damage, evaluate temporary repairs, and make a list of needed parts for the Stage 1 color change in 2019. As I suspected and identified upon receiving the car, this NSX's issue is the front nose. Lots of missing/incorrect parts, the lower skirt is damaged beyond repair and will need to be replaced with a new part from Honda. It is evident this NSX was repeatedly and negligently driven over something that was higher than the acceptable ground clearance for the car. Something like a concrete parking space curb, or some kind of dip/divot in the road.

The biggest challenge we knew would be the bondo on the left side front fender. Someone had gooped it on everywhere and essentially glued the lower skirt to the upper bumper and lower fender. The bondo was over 1/4 inch thick in spots, so we could not sand it off. Instead, I decided to score the bondo with a razor knife along the seam line between the bumper and lower skirt. The real danger here was scoring enough to break the bondo, but not getting the steel blade into the soft aluminum of the fender. After scoring, I punched the lower skirt several times with my fist and it broke along the score line almost perfectly:



You can see how much bondo was used at the lower fender.



The great news is that I did not score the fender aluminum at all and the metal is still intact. These fenders can be saved and reconditioned! Saves me about $2,000 in cost. Still, given the amount of bondo, it will take a lot of work.



Front nose removed.

 

[Honcho]

Body and Paint Work 16

As noted in the prior post, inspection of the lower skirt revealed that BOTH sides had completely torn away the mounting flanges that attach to the aluminum braces in the upper bumper. I will repair using metal L-brackets and machine screws as a temporary solution, but this lower skirt is completely trashed. It will go in the bin during the Stage 1 tear down. Does anyone know where I can get R-77 paint pre-mixed in a spray can? I'm going to try to tidy up the lower skirt as much as possible.



The radiator duct also is completely wrecked. I will have to replace it. Same with the air temp sensor.

 

[socalx]

Are the horns and washer bottle missing?

 

[docjohn]

looks like that font end had a run in with an "alien".....

 

[Jinks]

I really appreciate the work you’re putting into this car. I’ll definitely follow this build.

 

[Honcho]

Are the horns and washer bottle missing?

Yes, I removed those separately. I am thinking about replacing the horns with something more American sounding- I've always hated the NSX horn sound lol. Also, I took out the washer bottle, as my nozzles are non-functional until the Imola change (I have new Imola ones ready to go in). I'll probably replace the pump too.

looks like that font end had a run in with an "alien".....

That's so true!

I really appreciate the work you’re putting into this car. I’ll definitely follow this build.

Thanks Jinks- I know you went through a lot with yours too.

 

[Honcho]

Brake Overhaul 10

Some more work over the holiday weekend. With the front brakes finished and ready for rebuilding, it was time to take off the rear brakes. Finally, new rear pistons arrived from japan, meaning I can rebuild the calipers.


Left side removed.


Right side removed.

 

[Honcho]

Body and Paint Work 17

The big job for the day was mating the new manual steering rack to the restored subframe. Matt and Charles at NSX Rack Repair were awesome to deal with and my NSX can now transform into a manual steering car with a fully rebuilt rack. The process was fairly simple and MUCH easier now that the subframe is out of the car. I ordered new bushings from Japan and, as you can see, they were dearly needed.

Installed into the subframe.



I put ziplock bags around the rack ends and steering spindle to protect them until it's time to install the tie rods.



The bushings were shot and it was good that I got the new ones. It was not in the manual, but I chose to put a very thin coat of silicone grease on the bushings. My thought is to avoid noise and perhaps prolong the life of the rubber. Anywhere metal touched rubber got some grease.



The main rack bushing was not that bad, but I still replaced it.

 

[Honcho]

Body and Paint Work 18

Also on the menu was to install the NSX-R (NA2) front sway bar. Since the subframe was out, it made sense to do this now.

NSX-R on top, original 91 on bottom.



You can see the difference in thickness here.



New bushings- mandatory for the thicker sway.



Removing the bolts was tricky, as you need an allen head wrench to hold the bolt while turning the nut. I have no idea how I'm going to torque these down.



Installed. I recall Kaz mentioning somewhere that you should not torque the sway bar bolts until the car is under 1G weight. So, I snugged them up, but left the torque setting for later.



I used liberal amounts of silicone grease on the bushings.





The front subframe is now nearly ready for reassembly. I just need to clean up the hubs, mount the front calipers, and mount the NSX-R dampers. We're getting close to the big finish for the front end.

 

[Mac Attack]

I will repair using metal L-brackets and machine screws as a temporary solution, but this lower skirt is completely trashed. It will go in the bin during the Stage 1 tear down. Does anyone know where I can get R-77 paint pre-mixed in a spray can? I'm going to try to tidy up the lower skirt as much as possible.

It depends on your R-77 fade over the years, but I have a '92 R-77 that spent a lot of its life outside while it was my daily driver and I've had good luck with Duplicolor BGM0388 (GM Bright Red color). It's surprisingly close to my paint, available on the shelf at every Autozone I've been into, and it's cheap. I spray the Duplicolor clear over it and then wetsand/polish.

It's not a PERFECT match, but it looks a lot better than some of the professional jobs I've seen in person trying to match R-77 NSX's. It should be good enough if this is just a temporary fix until your next repaint stage.

In the pic below, the WW rear spats, OEM front lip, and the A-pillar trim were painted with the GM bright red and clearcoat Duplicolor rattle can paint. They've seen a lot of abuse due to their location (have become pitted from road debris and lost some of the shine), but they've held up well in my opinion. I've also used the generic black Duplicolor spray for the side vents and B-pillars and have been pleased with the color. Something to consider if you don't have any other alternatives!

Your build is coming along nicely!

View attachment 157847

 

[Honcho]

Thanks Dave, that is really helpful information! As shown earlier in this blog, the nose isn't even close to the body. It's several shades darker. Worse, the entire car has been repainted (poorly) and I'm not sure how close to factory R-77 any of it is. My plan after repairing the lower skirt is to sand down the bondo areas and shoot the entire front bumper in hopes that it will match the rest of the car better. Your paint tip greatly solves my dilemma. After all, it only needs to look passable and be driveable for about a year. Yours looks really good- hard to believe that's rattle can paint!

 

[Honcho]

Body and Paint Work 19

In preparation for reassembling the front section, it was time to clean up the front radiator area. My father always says "working on a clean car is much more enjoyable than working on a dirty one." Thus, most of this cleaning is prep work for when the car has to come back apart in Stage 1. Again, the shop vac, detail brushes, soapy water and microfiber cloth was very effective.

Lots of red overspray in the A/C ducts. Ultimately, sandpaper was needed to remove. I'll re-finish the affectted areas in Krylon black plastic paint during the repaint. But, for now it was good to get rid of that red.




The A/C lines were not cleaning up. I'll have to repaint them black during the rebuild.



The tow hook was just horrible. It got a full blast, including clear coat. Even professional graffiti remover and a red scotchbrite barely made a dent. Had to break out the 200 grit.



It took the paint right off in about 20 seconds. After a few passes with the scotchbrite, I might just have the cleanest NSX tow hook in the USA lol.

 

[Honcho]

Weight Reduction - S Zero Conversion 11

Since the bumper is off, I figured why not just install the NSX-R chassis bars too? While not technically an S.Zero part, these bars are designed to work with the NSX-R suspension, so I thought it made sense to include them on the car.




Using two washers to space the bracket on each side, but after reading MJK's excellent DIY post, this may not fit correctly. I understand it will all work if I delete the tie-down hooks entirely, delete one hook, or cut 20 mm off of one hook. Does anyone know if the hooks do anything other than create a secure point to tie the car down on a car carrier? I recall reading somewhere on Prime that they also act to protect the undercarriage if the front end bottoms out. I'd rather just get rid of them (weight savings), but don't want to compromise the safety of the car. @pbassjo?

 

[The Kid]

Wonderful build. Totally subscribed and can't wait to see the end result. An imola Type S is my favorite iteration of all the NSXs. Although I love that lime green. You putting the badge on the rear?

 

[Honcho]

Wonderful build. Totally subscribed and can't wait to see the end result. An imola Type S is my favorite iteration of all the NSXs. Although I love that lime green. You putting the badge on the rear?

Thanks! The plan is to make people do a double-take when they see the car, i.e., make the car so close to a real one that folks will think it was maybe a US special order from Honda. Only someone who really knows NSXs would realize it's a clone. Thus, I'm totally doing the badge.



Also, on the lime green, Yokoo Alpha (I use this site for reference pictures for the build...I think it is the old MACS) had a beautiful Type-S in that color. It is a custom order plan car and they chose the orange seats, which is interesting.

http://www.yokooauto.com/vcsMember/stockdetail/747-2_117.html

 

[Honcho]

Slow times at Honcho's place. Up skiing every weekend and basement reno continues, thus not much time for NSX work. Still, parts are trickling in. February should see more NSX action, as 317 gets ready to get back on the road!

 

[xrc]

Nice bracket! Sorry for the delay.

 

[Honcho]

Nice bracket! Sorry for the delay.

No worries- it's gonna be put to good use.

 

[Honcho]

NSX work has ground to a halt with the basement, skiing on the weekends and a cold snap that results in a near-freezing garage. Still, another part showed up today. During my initial health check, I noticed the oil cooler was severely rusted (likely a symptom of living near the ocean for 20 years). I found it on Amazon for $105. From following Kaz's blog, I know this part can be expensive and is sometimes on back order, so I grabbed it.

 

[MexiRicer]

Also, on the lime green, Yokoo Alpha (I use this site for reference pictures for the build...I think it is the old MACS) had a beautiful Type-S in that color. It is a custom order plan car and they chose the orange seats, which is interesting.

http://www.yokooauto.com/vcsMember/stockdetail/747-2_117.html

:love-struck::emmersed:

 

[Honcho]

:love-struck::emmersed:

I know, right?

 

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

......... During my initial health check, I noticed the oil cooler was severely rusted (likely a symptom of living near the ocean for 20 years). I found it on Amazon for $105. From following Kaz's blog, I know this part can be expensive and is sometimes on back order, so I grabbed it.

That's a bargain. Lucky you!

Kaz

 

[Honcho]

That's a bargain. Lucky you!

Yes, quite lucky! It could have been even better. When I first found it, it was $85. However, I had to run it by my wife (we have an arrangement where any purchase more than $50 must be discussed with the other). Her initial reaction was why did I want to buy a part I was not even going to put in the car for another year. I showed her your blog where you faced difficulty in sourcing one for a customer's engine refresh and also the price in the Honda catalog. She said ok.

But, when I went back to Amazon, it was $105! Only one day later. Still, a good deal though.

 

[Mac Attack]

It appears that now is a good time to renegotiate your arrangement and get the threshold bumped up a bit. Strike while you can and use the excuse that it just cost you money!