Dragon Getaway

First off, I am so jealous if you live close enough to the dragon where you can up and go for a day or two, no problem. This is a first on this blog that someone sent me some pictures of their car before they posted it anywhere else, so this is cool for sure and Thank You. I'm sure most of you have seen Dressed2Kill's car before and it always has a nice setup. Recently he has changed a few things up and I think it was a change for the better, not that it was bad before. Anyway, he went to the Dragon recently and snapped a few pictures of his car for us and you might notice the front bumper, it's an Amuse bumper with Chargespeed canards, you don't see that often and then of course, the Voltex wing. The front fenders are OEM that have been made wider by 30mm. I really like the OEM fenders so it's cool to see a wider setup done this way. The wheels are Advan RS with NT01 tires and a pair of Project Mu 4 pots lurking behind the spokes. He has some custom spring rates on his Tein Flex coilovers that I had thought about doing to mine while I had them, but never got around to it. One thing I have always noted on his car is his attention to little details, last time I saw it in person I took a close look behind the over fenders and saw the quality of how his fenders had been cut. Then there's other little details like his headlights where the diffusers had been tinted. Enough with the car! enjoy some pictures of it!

Intake Part 1

Changing things up in the wife's S2000, she decided to try to source and use an older Spoon setup. With that being said it was time to ditch the AEM intake and start trying to find a Spoon Snorkel. I have always been more of a fan of box style intakes rather than tube and with the test pipe, the exhaust has a nice tone, but the AEM is still over powering and I always liked how the Mugen intake sounded. I started my research on the snorkel and started to notice some pictures with the resonator removed, and I have 2 extra box intakes laying around.

Still has resonator

Removed and I know this isn't a real Spoon car, but I can't find the pictures I used earlier.

The plan here is to get more of the box intake sound, add a good filter and maximize use of the duct when we receive it. I also planned on gutting the inside of the air box and sealing it as much as possible to make a chamber similar to the J's Racing. I chose the intake that looked worse of the two to experiment with this. It had already been slightly "gutted".

This is the intake to the gigantic resonator chamber, I will later fill this in part 2.

It took longer than I thought to cut the resonator off, I took my time and tried to not fuck it up. Afterwards, I started trying to smooth it out to look "cleaner".

This was before I started to sand the plastic.

This is the underside of the box, I want to take one of the elbows off and try it both ways. What I found was the before it was "gutted" the elbow filled the plastic wall, so really the air box was just the area around the filter.

This was after the elbow was removed, keep in mind a Spoon snorkel will be added in with this ultimately. 

I cut some more of the baffle out of the inside, this is about the best I could do.

I then started step one in cleaning up the cuts.

I'm going to work on part two of this whenever I get some more time to put in it.

Plugged

I decided to do the first oil change on the wife's white S2000 and I have been tinkering here and there trying to get things up to par maintenance wise. In doing so, this weekend I did the first oil change on the car since we have owned it, it has around 122,000 miles on it, I don't know what oil has been in it in the past or whatever the dealer used but I went with old faithful Castrol Syntec 10W-30, a Honda filter the larger one, and a new crush washer. While at the store I ordered some new OEM NGK spark plugs. It seemed like the car could have ran a little better and when I pulled the plugs, I saw the problem. I would speculate that these are the original plugs that came from the factory. I haven't seen anything like this in a while. In the picture with the new plug (same plugs as the old ones) on the left its gapped to spec at .044 and the old plugs had work that much of a difference. The plug from number 1 cylinder didn't have much of an electrode left. Nevertheless, it made a huge difference and the car drives a lot better now!

Doing work.

All the old ones.

Suprise!

So once again I get more surprises, I get home to get more info on this block I had bought. Started under the impression it was all good, but then again this fiasco started under the impression this engine I bought was stock too. I pulled the pan off to inspect the rods.Then I noticed one rod has quite a bit of "thrust" thats when I pulled the cap, lets list out our aluminum block of surprises,
Loose intake cam bolts
Cometic head hasket
ARP head studs
ARP Rod Bolts
Wiseco low compression pistons
ERL sleeved block
*X Beam Rods
*Missing rod bearing on #2 and due to a spun bearing

Now heres the beef, someone went to the trouble to find the "knock" pull the rod cap, clean the pan, and put Honda-Bond back on the pan. So it has come time to just sell it and try again.

On a side note, was I got the ASM lip out of the body shop, and installed it in the car, drove the car down the street (Yes it still runs somehow) and took a few shots Ill share later more on the lip etc, until then....

Like A Boss

My friend Art has done it again kicking ass with his insane S2000 at Button Willow. Heres a video from the track if you have not had a chance to see it yet.

The Shopping List

Current state of Mayham

I am not generally fond of large wheels or super low cars, however Jackie's car has always had my attention. He is always had an interesting set of wheels from size, color or both on his car at the same time. I have been fond of his aero setup with the ASM front to the Spoon Diffuser and J's Racing Wing. One thing not to be overlooked is the Mugen license plate bolts located on top of the Craft Square side mirrors which is a very nice touch, I may have to steel that idea from you. I thought it was pretty cool that the Cusco cage happened to match the wheels quite well when he had the TE-37's that looked pretty cool, and while Im on the interior let me fill you in on the coveted Spoon kevlar bucket seats and Personnel suede red stitched steering wheel, someday I can only dream of such. I have always been very fond of the Spoon seats but, have never been able to source a set of these comfy and rare seats (Maybe my wife will get these for her car. I hope you are reading this!) Under the hood lies a J's Racing intake, that happens to be my favorite intake with the chamber and the large scoop in the front bumper. I also found that he has the T1R 4 piston brake calipers on the front of his car, I happen to be running the T1R 6 pots (I believe the only set made?) they are identical to the Endless and shortly afterwords the 4 pots were released, I would like to get some info on this setup being Im sure its similar to the AP 4 pot kit that happens to be superb brakes. (I like T1R products.) One thing about this car is that it wasn't built over night and it constantly has evolved, to a better setup it seems more love is put into a car built over time that changes. Also keep in mind the car is not shy from the track either I have seen him post about damage caused from this as well. The latest change would be the Advan RG's this is cool that this wheel, that has kind of slipped from popularity has found its way back on to this S2000. I like when the "old" cool stuff finds its way back to current setups. It goes without saying I think a Mugen hardtop needs to find its way there too, Ive seen pictures of this car with an OEM top but I think the Mugen would do it more Justice. This is just another car I have followed for a long time and has been one of my favorites.

Here is a Video to enjoy as well very cool!

A Different Twist

I have always like Danny's car because its always been different. Theres not to many people running the Sorcery front bumper or the Ings+1 wing, and First Molding side mirrors, but it still flows together so well. I think the Mugen hard top and Voltex risers for the wing are the most recent mods and have really brought everything together. The suspension is not lacking either with Bilstein PSS9 coil overs, and the wheels are pretty cool being Advan RGD's. He has really taken alot of time to source super rare parts, and his car is all about the attention to detail. Everything on the car is authentic too, and I think thats why it looks so good in pictures, most cars look like shit in person and in pictures it looks better, but when I can spot flaw after flaw in good quality pictures its easy to draw conclusions about the quality, and with Dannys car its hard to find any flaws.  

Auto X June 11th

If you read the previous post then you will know that I lost my engine during all this, but the good news was that I managed to pull off my first win! I had the fastest time of the day and the car handled very well! My wife improved a great deal in her S2000 as well, and is really starting to enjoy the sport I think. I believe my weakest point of the event was that I need to work on my concentration level and focus. The day of the event was very hot over 100 degrees, and we all got sun burnt but, it all was worth it! Heres a few photos from this past weekend 

126000 Miles :( RIP 2.0

This past weekend at the Auto X I participated in my engine went. I managed to finish and drive an hour home with a terrible noise like an exhaust leak. During the event I spun the car and tried to start it then heard a loud thunk. As the day went on I noticed the oil pressure progressively dropping. Once home I drained the oil only to find a bronze metallic color in the oil and the viscosity of water. I realized this year I was racing the clock on this but, now was the worst time for it to happen. But all things happen for a reason, and hopefully very soon I will replace it with a 2.2. But I believe really this story shows just how well Honda manufactures engines. I bought the car is 2002, and have really driven the car the whole life as it was meant to be driven, I ran ITB's with no filter for 60000 miles, ran the car super rich on bad tunes, also had numerous terrible tunes on the car and so on so forth, but I always changed the oil and never had any other problem with the engine until now. I must say that I am upset, however it is what it is and I guess 2011 has just been a year of rebuilding, and hopefully the end of year or next year the car will be better and stronger! Ill keep everyone up to date.

Hind Sight

Most people will agree that no matter how you build your car there is always other cars that you covet, and you might say "If I did it all over again it would look like that". And then there is other instances where you did this and that and may get forced into a situation where you just cant go back and are forced to go forward. Chris Lum's build has always been one of those cars to me. I think his car is one of the best street built cars I have seen. First off his Ti Silver Volks have always been my absolute favorite colored wheel on the market bottom line. Then there is the front of his car with the ASM I.S. bumper and lip to round it all off. I talked to him and his original intentions was to build a track car out of it so where do you start then, suspension. His first mod happened to be some amazing TEIN SRC coilovers, but then opportunities arose for him to turbo his car, then that was out of his system and wanted to go for some aesthetics while his car devalued before he could make his next debut at the track.  So the SRC's were sold for a more friendly Mono Flex and some more parts. Chris had told me that at on point he had a bunch of "style" parts on his car and then realized the importance of the innovators and the research and development that goes into the parts we buy. I always tell people that if you take your time and buy the real parts you will receive so much more satisfaction in the end product. The import world is has been hit buy all the copies from abroad and when you buy the fakes you help take money away from the next new product. Another great point on this car is the Tamon spoiler. This is just a super nice piece, I just absolutely love how well it flows on a car like this and that is still has the third brake light. Chris drives this car every day to work and wherever, and feels that there is no rush in trying to finish the car overnight, I really love hearing that. He recently picked up a Bride Stradia Seat Japan Edition. Once again the patience on the details pay off in the end. His exhaust is a GReddy SE Single, next to HKS I personally believe that this is a great looking and sounding exhaust. Just to round things off more it seems that he has picked up an ASM rear bumper, another addition in the works that I cant wait to see the final product! Keep up the good work and I cant wait to see the rear bumper done!

Mountain Folk

For the past several years I have been going to the famous Deals Gap to enjoy all the roads and beautiful scenery in the Smokey Mountains. Over the years I have become familiar with the name Killboy. Killboy was always a person on the side of the road every day with an amazing job that allows him to drive these roads every day and chill out in the mountains and be a photographer (I have used a few photos on here that he took of my car as well). He manages to stay busy taking photos and selling them on his website www.killboy.com. But who was he? It wasn't until this year that I was able to put a face with name, and if you had followed the blog, you can recall the first post I made about 'Wake The Dragon' and the video that went with my post. The car that was tearing it up happens to belong to Killboy. It may be hard to tell in the photos, but the car is actually a flat silver color, being repainted from a misfortune that damaged his fender and brought about the Replica Amuse GT1 setup, that turns out to be Killboy's Autobot for tearing up the Dragon everyday. Suspension is simply modded with Buddy Club Race Spec coilovers, AEM intake, and a full exhaust set up. And of coarse all the small mods everyone else finds. The main thing here is how little is really done to the car and how fast he drives it, it's always amazing to see him flying around the corners, but most of the time you will see it parked on the side of the road. Another cool thing is his wife has recently picked up an S2000 as well. It would be easy to go on and on about how he has an awesome job and gets to hang out with his flat silver Autobot all day, but his mountain toys don't stop there. He also has Evo, Mini, sport bikes, god knows what else, pocket bikes, and big wheels (Not Rims). If you check out the link you will see videos. Check them out! It's pretty wild to see these custom big wheel/kids with adult riders big wheel videos. Make sure if you go to Deals Gap that you go to his website and buy a couple of pictures, his awesome photos that most likely he took of you, because he keeps up with all things going on in the mountains and helps clear debris off the road and also if your an IPhone addict, make sure to download his app Killboy from the App Store! The App is pretty cool because he always posts some of  the photos he takes each day that he likes with a short caption, and theres no telling what you will see. Another great feature on the App is all the maps of the best roads to drive in the area.

Hardcore Hardtop

Its been a bit since I posted on here but I went to Wake the Dragon S2000 meet and tore up the mountain roads while having a blast! I have yet to buy my pictures from www.killboy.com, however I will be doing that in the next day or so. Anyway while you patiently wait, enjoy this video from a good friend of mine, and his XXXXXX rated S2000. If you were wondering its on a custom Moton Setup amongst other things! PS just picked up another S2000 2003 GPW! 

Partner in Crime

Just wanting to introduce one of my good friends S2000. Its a Berlina Black 2004 car, this thing has seen a drastic turn around in the past few months, its been exciting with big plans still to come!

You can check out his mod list in the project cars----->

Well it comes that time again where the job has called for me to go do some work. When I get back It will be about time for Wake The Dragon, So Im trying to get the car finished as much as I can. So I just have a few things left to do I hope. I have a few more entries to make on this trip, since usually my trips entails long boring periods of time spent in a hotel room. I plan on working on the layout of the blog and coming up with a name as well. But the other day I went and had an alignment done. I was quite pleased with the out come so far, based only on the specs I gave the guy and watching him align it to the decimal point of what I gave him. Being the area I live in I was not use to the pride in the job.

Compliance

Cruising around the board tonight I came across Josh's aka(josh7ownes on s2ki) 2000 Berlina Black S2000. I didn't really think much about from the first photos he posted however, as I scrolled down I became more intrigued. The first picture that happened to make me look closer was the side shot of his car with his SCCA setup, I spied a Recaro SPG. This caught my eye because not only is this my favorite seat but I had been searching all over the internet for one. So I looked at the car again still not seeing much. Fortunately for me he posted a mod list. This is where I got really excited, because this S2000 is sitting on  JRZ coil-overs. Ill run down some of the mods that I think anyone should know to sum up the business that Josh's car brings to the party. First lets go over the wheels, 17x9 + 63 with a 255/40 Hankook RS-3. I know first hand that this combo very fitting for the car and it "fits". I am so sick of seeing cars with stupid offsets that it is always refreshing to see a car with correct wheels, that forces me to point that out "Holy shit the wheels fit!  Next I see where he has gone with Innovative 75a mounts another very practical mod for is Auto X pleasure.  The rest of the car happens to be very well put together with a full exhaust and a piggyback tune. Aside from miscellaneous small mods I feel this sums the car up. Its not alot but then again when you are trying to compete in a class there happens to be rules to follow. Its always refreshing to see cars still built like this, and Good Luck this season!

viNz86 Death By Black

Over the years I have come to the conclusion that in Canada they build cars, even though we all thought all the cars had square wheels. It just seems if your an S2000 owner affiliated with Canada you almost automatically have an amazing build, period dot done. I don't know if its the maple syrup or  french fries and gravy. Nevertheless it seem as if I like just about every S2000 that comes out of Canada. Vince is no different and started with a great canvas a Berlina Black S2, I mean nothing goes better than it does with black and his is murdered out. I have been a follower of his build thread for sometime now and not just because he tracks the car and has a nice list of parts but also for quotes like this "The best way for me to save money is to repair damage parts and prep all body work. All I did was pay for paint (since I don't know how to paint!)" What true enthusiasts has not said something along these lines? The best part of it all is that once your done not only did you save money for other avenues of the build but now you have a new skill so props to you sir. Another thing I like is details, this is kinda hard being that the car is all black you really cant see all the small details in the car. In particular I am talking about the Spoon Fenders and J's Racing side skirts Now take note in the photo how the Spoon fender kinda of flares out towards the bottom, Vince modified the side skirt to follow that contour. Normally the side skirt is flat and follows a straight line down the fender and kind of caps into the wheels well. I like this and the finished product is fantastic. Also The fender is completely cut out in a correct fashion for the over fenders, another nice note. But among these details (including now a Carbon Mugen Hardtop) I like how they are subtly hidden by a set of modest Enkei RPF's. In his newer projects Vince has undergone installing a Kraft Works Supercharger with FMIC, on his own, its pretty cool to see how he continued to save money by doing work himself. I am sure this will continue to be a weekend killer at the track! Keep up the good work and Ill try my best to slide in updated photos of his build! 


Vince also wanted me to give shout out to his local shop Speed Syndicate. Ill be sure to check them out sometime.