Real price on a beat up NSX?

[Midnight_Raven]

Yeah dump the fog lights. Is the exhaust stock?

Those tires... eh...

Yeah planning on dumping the fog lights very soon when I work on the knee pad panel (Switch wiring runs next to this panel). The exhaust is stock but it's missing the muffler tips because they had changed them out with some dumb looking ones. I got rid of those already.

The tires will change when I change the rims but for now they are ok.

Edit: I screwed up some simple spelling earlier before...

 

[Matt_337]

Congrats on getting your NSX finally.

 

[tbromley]

If you want to borrow my torque wrench let me know. Head gaskets are a very common issue... had to replace those in my '03.

Since when did head gaskets become a common issue - this is the first I've ever heard of that. These engines are going many many miles without any major work and head gaskets I'd say are major work - what happened? This is unreal - how many miles do you have on your 03? There are lots of people that track their cars and and have a lot of miles on them without replacing the head gaskets - did you have a hose blow or something?

I've just read a bunch of threads on this and it may be a common issue if you have an SC or TC - but otherwise I woldn't think it's common! Barney didn't think so and I don't believe Larry B would agree with this either.

 

[Liquid]

Sorry, I'll have to double check and see if I still have the records to make sure. It has been a few years and perhaps it was a valve cover gasket. It was not a major deal so maybe I am mis-remembering which gasket was replaced.

 

[tbromley]

Huge difference between a valve cover gasket and a head gasket in cost and PIA measure. I went thru a big search on this and found several issues and one was bogus. Not sure if the other guys was bogus and he just got burned.

I also wrote Larry B just to check with him - he said - "not a common issue, has fixed a few but due to blown hose and overheating" so I wouldn't worry too much over any idea that head gaskets are a "common issue" - if it were there would be reams of this being talked about here on Prime. Glad to say that this is NOT the case or we'd all be worried! I mean you are talking about an issue that costs a bunch of money!

Anyway - back to normal and that the NSX is an awesome mechanical marvel!

 

[Midnight_Raven]

I've removed the dumb fog lights from the front but now need to figure out how to get rid of the wiring for it. I'll probably work on that tomorrow when I reattach the knee pad panel's leather.

I also had a new windshield put in today due to a crack that developed over the weekend. I must say a new windshield looks so good. Little by little things are coming together. I don't know how you guys do it I think about this car almost all day . Maybe it'll wear off after a while but for now I'm loving it.

Either way that'll probably be my last update for now. Thanks for the warm welcome and your valuable inputs.

 

[V.Lats97nsx]

so this guy wrecked his nsx and now showing it off. thats kind of silly

 

[ENT]

so this guy wrecked his nsx and now showing it off. thats kind of silly

Huh? Are you reading the same thread as the rest of us?

Cheers,
Ian

 

[TURBO2GO]

Huh? Are you reading the same thread as the rest of us?

Cheers,
Ian

Apparently not...

 

[Midnight_Raven]

Well update after almost half a year. My car been in restoration/mod mode this past two months. The underside and suspension components were covered in 21 years of road grime so it took alot of effort and some cut up hands to clean it up that much. I'm going to do a second pass over them to see if I can get even more of the smaller/harder crud off the parts. It was fun working on it so far and I hope to keep doing so for years to come. I do agree though it does turn into a money pit when you do this type of stuff lol. Oh well you live life onces right.

Interior:
-I sanded down and repainted my trim panels flat black. This was to remove the bubbling paint on the panels.
-I repaired a crack on my center console air vent panel.
-I replaced my main relay since the car seemed to take longer than usual to start up.
-I removed my carpets + mats and deep cleaned them. Helped a little but I think next year I'll just order a new set of carpets (I found some burn marks on the carpet so I'm guessing previous owner was a smoker, not all a loss though I found a 14K gold braclet in the car too and a dollar in change).
- I installed SOS door speaker and cross over mounts (Previous audio equipment installation was sub par imo so I improve on it)
- Rewired and replaced amp in sub box. (Now I have bass)
- Installed Dave's short shifter mod
- Installed NSX Type-S shifter rod and cut an inch off the rod
- Installed Civic Type-R aluminum 5 speed shifter ball

Exterior:
- Replaced slightly corroded radiator bracket and hardware
- Replaced corroded hardware for right rear fender
- Cleaned underside of car
- Cleaned suspension components
- Clear signal reflector/light installed.

Waiting to do the following:
- Install NSX Type-R mesh shifter boot. Waiting for parts to arrive.
- Reinstall door panels just waiting for parts to come in. (I had to reorder all 3 door plastic border peices for both sides because whoever did the audio installation destoryed 90% of the plastic tabs )
- Install KW V3. Waiting for parts to come in. Should help replace my 21 year old worn struts.
- New Rim and Tire package. Need to decide in the next two months or so
- Install missing misc hardware for fender liners.
- Remove and clean battery tray plate. Possibly install lighter battery.

Considering:
- Installing NSX Type-R Stabalizer bar to stiffen up the front of the car. Seems it might help negate the soft springs on the KW V3.

Here are some pictures of the trim panel that were installed on my door and interior.
Center console

Cracked and bubbly air vent panel fixed

Passenger door minus plastic mounting pieces

Driver door minus plastic mounting pieces

Pictures of all the damaged plastic pieces I have to replace

Here are some pictures of the cleaned suspension components and underbody.

Picture of front end with clear corner installed. I think it looks good on sebring silver. Doesn't stand out too much.

 

[jcabral]

Enjoy the new ride, glad to hear you finally got your NSX. I live in MA as well perhaps a drive on the east coast this spring/summer.

Can't wait for the nice weather again.. We have been spoiled with a decent winter thus far.

 

[Midnight_Raven]

Update: My Type-R shift boot is suppose to come in this friday. I can't wait to finish up the center console . The KW should be coming in on Monday of next week and I'm suspecting my new wheels will arrive the week after. According to delray acura my door stuff should be shipping this Friday so I'm assuming I'll have it sometime next week. The wait for all this stuff is killing me.

I painted my calipers this during this week. I think they look great and will look good with the new black rims I'm in the middle of buying.


Up Close:

From a distance:

Hey Lud could you move this thread over to the build section? I don't want to create another seperate thread where it's almost a direct copy of this one in the build sub section. It's probably now more applicable to that subsection either way.

 

[TURBO2GO]

Starting to look good bro! decide on wheels yet?

 

[shawn110975]

nice job, doesnt it feel great to know you put this car back together and not some bodyshop.

great job. what front lower lip is that (shine)?

 

[snipesusaf]

Since when did head gaskets become a common issue - this is the first I've ever heard of that. These engines are going many many miles without any major work and head gaskets I'd say are major work - what happened? This is unreal - how many miles do you have on your 03? There are lots of people that track their cars and and have a lot of miles on them without replacing the head gaskets - did you have a hose blow or something?

I've just read a bunch of threads on this and it may be a common issue if you have an SC or TC - but otherwise I woldn't think it's common! Barney didn't think so and I don't believe Larry B would agree with this either.

Mines NA and I blew two gaskets.. bad luck IDK.

 

[shawn110975]

did you have a SC or turbo, those things KILL engines or atleast Cut the life of the engine in half. Im all about more HP but I like to know I can get in my NSX and drive cross country in the middle of the night and not have to call me Tuner at 3AM to make sure it will make it. LOL

I want a SC so bad though so i am not hating on your SC guys at all :biggrin:

 

[Midnight_Raven]

Starting to look good bro! decide on wheels yet?

I'm in the process of buying the Black Volk RE30 in this for sale thread. http://www.nsxprime.com/forum/showthread.php?t=152829

I was going to purchase the Advan RG-II last week but apparently the price shot up $600 this month. That's $2.7K for cast wheels, almost reaching the price of forged wheels a couple months ago! I decided not to buy such an expensive cast wheel and go with forged wheels instead. Luckily I found one I liked and it's going to cost me less than buying new cast wheels and a new set of tires, center caps, etc. I'll post pictures as I keep going.

nice job, doesnt it feel great to know you put this car back together and not some bodyshop.

great job. what front lower lip is that (shine)?

I agree with you it's more fun and you learn much more about your car, doing it this way, than buying a perfect garage queen that you won't need to mess with. Yes it's a Shine GT lip.

 

[GoldnKnight22]

Bumping this thread.... just had to say "hello."

I saw your car in the parking lot last summer/fall at work (2nd shift!) and my mind was blown that a fellow young engineer was lucky enough to have an NSX. Congrats! Maybe you saw my modded silver TL at some point.
Wish I got a chance to say hi and talk about the car with you, but I've since left for a different company, so unfortunately I don't get to see your car, but I'm glad you're bringing it back to form! Any new progress?

Best of luck. Who knows maybe I'll see you around some time.

-Kevin

 

[Midnight_Raven]

Hello Kevin,

Yeah that me still on the 2nd shift. Yeah I believe I remember seeing your TL it looked good. One of my favorite looking Acura from the past decade I have to say so good choice on your car of choice . From where I left off in my last post I've finished with most of the replacing of components, installation of the KW V3, and installation of the volks RE30. Now all that is left is to work on the transmission grinding issue for 3rd gear. I think I'm going to do that at the end of the summer. Reason being is I think I want to do a 6 speed transmission conversion instead of rebuilding the trans. It's like have the best of the early and late model NSX (Coupe + 6 speed transmission). If I'm going to have to take the trans out why not upgrade it to something great is my thought.

I'm pretty sure we'll see each other in some of the future meets in this region. Sounds like you are going to the next cars and coffee event I'll probably be there if nothing comes up.

Here are some pictures from my other thread.

I took some new pictures today with a much better camera after final height adjustment and alignment. I'm very happy with the end result.

 

[kenjrbanga]

Your NSX looks great! Change your headers I have a 95 and got headers installed from a 2002 NSX. What a difference You can really feel the difference.

 

[Nefarious]

Looks like you found a nice fixer upper and have done a magnificent job of bringing new life back into it. Love the silver/black look and the clear corners look great too.

 

[PHOEN$X]

Raven, your car looks awesome! Great job with what you've done so far! Hope to see her in person sometime. :smile:

 

[Midnight_Raven]

Thanks for the compliments guys. Hm... now thinking about it a 6 speed seems very expensive maybe I should just do the JDM short gears for my 5 speed and be happy with it.

 

[Sportsmind4me]

+1 on the short gears and call it a day.

 

[Midnight_Raven]

New Update:

With a tip off from Turbo2Go I found a good local deal I couldn't pass up on. It was a combo Comptech header and exhaust sale for 750 dollars. Meaning I got them both for $375 each . As you can see below headers were rusted up. I took them to a local shop who does ceramic coating (New England Industrial Coating Inc.) and they sandblasted + ceramic coated my headers for $195. Not bad in my opinion still cheaper than buying new Comptech SS headers or buying the knock offs that go for $600 .

Here is how they were Before:

Here's a pic of them ready to be installed. Actually I still have to finish polishing up the last pipe on the exhaust...darn I forgot I wasn't done with it.

I'll try to post some before and after video of how the exhaust sounds when I'm done with the work. Hopefully I'll be done this upcoming Wednesday.

I'm so excited I can't wait to feel the power difference!