Thebob

While im at it i will put up what i did when i was home last.
I have been good friends with Robert Novak for a fair few years now and he has always been my first choice with who i want to work on my car when i can't do it or im tired of failing. Recently'ish he has finally opened up his own shop called Definition Motorsport. I managed to book the hoist in and get him to help me do a change over of parts. Im only home for 5 days every 35 so i dont want to waste all my time struggling to do things so having this relationship with him is the best. I still get to work on my car, but he stops me from doing stupid crap. Anyway, Swapped out the old rubber clutch line for this.

The old fluid was exactly that, OLD. It was very very very dirty so im glad i did this. The line was really un warranted at this point but its done now. Next up was the TCT. The OEM one i put on not 5000km ago had died so i bought the TODA option. Great unit. Visually the only difference is the recessed oil bolt but im sure there is more to it then that. Would recommend this to people who like to do similar sort of driving to myself.

Changed the fan switch, thermostat and radiator hoses also. What i learnt was there is this little hole on the thermostat, Its important to get that at the top. This helps with bleeding the car.

Check the length of the top rad hose!

The next day i got my Zeals back. Turns out they had been bottomed out and the seals in the bottom were dead. I got Murray Cote from MCA to dyno the coilovers and replace the seals. Expensive but worth it in the end. Next up Ken from Accurate Suspension installed the new zeals and corner balanced the car also. Left the alignment the same. The key here was adjusting the height of the car with my 80kg driving weight in the drivers seat. So in theory when im out of the car on the drivers side there will be less camber and it will be higher, but when im in it, it should be true. The car hit the scales are 1212kg with a full tank and without me. Im happy with the weight as its still full of crap i can take out at a later date. Also the balance was 50.3 front to 49.7 rear. Perfect! I also finally got my other car back home, this will be my car that i can do my running around in. Its a work in progress.

Honda civic shuttle wagon. AWD. Its the imported model with electric sunroof and brown interior. Got it for $900 and its heaps of fun to drive.

Last day of my break was the track day. Bit of a let down as it rained, rained and rained. At one point when the storm come over you couldnt see the exit of turn 2 as the rain was that heavy. I still managed a time of 1.09 which isnt great but i didnt die which is the best result. I was booked in for a full day but i weighed up how much it would cost if i hit a wall v losing the cash i out laid and so the choice was made to go home. What i noticed from the zeals was my nose diving under braking has been reduced, its still there so maybe i need to play with the adjustment or put in the 16kg springs. But the biggest gain was the feel you get from the rear of the car. It use to be quiet a thin line between straight and sideways, now however that line is more manageable. The car absorbs bumps a hell of a lot better now as well. Next track day is in november when i will be home next so fingers crossed its dry. My 2 next purchases should be in by then as well which should change the exterior of the car to something more respectable.

jooboo

good read man!

like they say, cash money hoes!!! lol

AusS2000

You're right girls don't love cars and do love money. Maybe try women for a change.

Thebob

Thanks for all the positive comments. Got another track day booked when i get home so hopefully it doesn't rain again. Also my Js type S kit has turned up so i will be able to put the front and rear bars on. The side skirts will have to wait until my hardtop arrives, i need to get the side strake holes welded up so i figure i might as well just get all that painted at once. Also waiting on the snorkel for the type s kit, it should arrive roughly the same time as i get back.

Thebob

Well my week off has been and gone so its time for the update.

Arrived home friday morning to this ( thanks Leo@jdmconcepts) Type S bumper snorkel.


Comparing the two together
And the new Issue 7 hyper rev. If you havent got it already i would encourage you to get it, its by far the best one they have put out yet. Although i do wish they made a english version! Went and picked up my front and rear bars from my painters shop. Having yet to lay eyes on these items i was pretty excited. Took them home and got straight into it. I remember reading some where that Js racing bumpers have a terrible fitment issue. I can safetly say this for me was not the case. The rear bar fits as good as my oem one and on the front the drivers side is perfect and the passengers side is out by about 1 mm. So IMO its a pretty good fit as far as aftermarket bars go. I was always wondering how the type s bar and snorkel setup worked as i knew it would be tight. But i never imagined it would be this tight. I would hate to have been the guy that made the first mould for this. To get the intake to fit you need to remove the bumper support, install the intake and then fit the bumper.Im running a Js front tow hook which i have mounted in the ' mouth ' of the bar. The main reason for mounting it there is because i dont need to remove it as it doesnt stick out past the front bar. The down side, had to cut a decent sized piece out of the bar for it to fit. On with some photos.
Rear

The rear only uses one of the two number plate lights as well.

Snorkel fitment

Tow hook cut

Headlight fitment


Install the front and rear bar pretty much filled up my friday. That night i went go karting with 14 mates at kingston park for their end of year friday night challenge. Was a lot of fun battling with mates as 12/14 circuit race it was a very even playing field. I ended up making into the super finals in the number 4 position of 6. First lap i got up to second then i go taken out and put back into 6th. Luck was on my side and i ended up fighting my way back to 2nd and setting the fastest lap of the month by almost a second. I was pretty pumped as that was my first run of the track backwards and i was against there regulars. Saturday it rained so i couldnt take the car out to make sure the bumpers werent going to fall off. Sunday was forecast to storm but i had already paid for the sprint day at QR so i made my way out there. Driving out there i was getting a scrubbing noise in the back when i went over bumps. Once i got out to the track i figured out what it was. In my haste on friday i didnt check if the bumper tabs had been moved. Lucky for me i didnt have any form neat of cutting tools. So also without a jack i had to attack the tab with a set of side cutters and a stanley knife. Not really what i had planned for the bar but it was better then risking tearing the corner of the bar off had i just left it. My day wasnt off to the best of starts. Got to meet up with Jason again out there which was good. I was then lucky enough to be placed into the same group as him. I think its safe to say Jason has done a few laps of QR so i was pretty excited to be able to possibly follow him for a lap or two before he would pull away. Turns out it didnt take a lap or two, it took half. The man is quick. First session down i beat my old PB of 63.3 with a 62.2. A sold second off and the only change from last time was different coilovers and a bit more seat time. 2nd session saw another improvement to 61.9. 3rd session i dropped again down to 61.15. The car felt great, each clear lap i would drop more and more. Hats off to Ken from accurate suspension services who has done a awesome job setting up the car for me. The difference between the buddy clubs and the zeals is night and day. Corner speeds where up 10kph on all corners and the car balances better under breaking. It doesnt whip out or feel un balanced when it slides anymore. I also think the time on the skid pan has helped me feel more at ease with the car side ways. The front splitter effects where very noticeable as well. The only issue i had from the day was i ran out of camber on turn two. That aside, amazing day. Im now only .3 of a second off my civic's old time. Considering the levels the two cars were at Im extremely pleased. Photos.



Probably my favourite photo, about to get smashed by the TT NSX, holy crap that car is nice.

I went back to Ken's later in the week and showed him the ware on the front left tyre. We moved the camber up from 2.9 to 4.0 on the front. In doing this we lost caster so to try and offset that he has added more toe on the front. This will help with the turn in. So now I'm needing some new tyres, Im heading towards the RS-3 hankooks as i really want to run sub 60 on a " street" tyre. After talking to ken im also going to start looking around for a LSD. Current train of thought is the J's 1.5 which is essentially a Kaaz. Reason for this is everything js i have bought has worked so im guessing this will be no different. option number 2 is a OS giken 1.5. So if you have any feed back on LSD's im all ears.

Once again, the day i leave for work, i get this.

The big box on the left is my new hard top. Now i have another months wait until i see that.

aozora

Looking good!

RE: LSD from my research... I got the Carbonbonetics/ATS Metal 1.5 at a good price from the US and so far has really helped me nail down consistent laptimes (within a second of each other!) but at the same time increased oversteer (could be my happy right foot too ). But now that the LSD has "loosened up" a bit, it should be less aggressive on the track which should help with that oversteer. So eager to get back out with a fresh set of tyres.
From my research, make sure you add a J's racing crush collar with shims and not the Honda one. And if you've got enough to spend, go for an AP2 diff housing for increased strength if you're worried about how strong your old housing is (bearing end caps on the AP1 housings aren't that great).
ANYWAY, from what I've heard and read - KAAZ is also quite good value for money (If you order from Japan, they have a SuperQ version which is supposed to be quieter and generates less internal heat? But more $$$). OS Giken seems to be at the top of everyone's list but the most expensive of the lot. Do not buy a Carbon LSD... I've been advised and read they're not all that predictable and can wear out easier despite their advertising...

As for tyres, RS3s are awesome on earlier heat cycles then begin to drop off rapidly in grip (only dry grip, even new/worn in they absolutely suck in the wet ).
Dunlop Z1s are great all round and seem to do slightly better with heat cycles, but probably not as much grip in the dry as the RS3s (not by much though) and awesome grip in the wet.
Going for Advan AD08s next... heard good things and hopefully I can cut off .9 of a second to reach my street tyre goal....

Will2k

What do you do for work if you don't mind my asking? You seem to go away for weeks or months at a time.

The last pic, is it only the hardtop you're getting or all the boxes in that pic?

Thebob

Aozora, Thanks for the input. A lot of guys seem to be doing the R200 swap, but Im not sure why. Im guessing it has something to do with the housing issue you mentioned. Personally i want to keep it all honda so i might have to get my hands on a AP2 one. I have seen spoon do a NTC ap2 diff housing, Any idea's what that is? I already have the j's collar and strengthen ring gear bolts at home. Also have a 4.7 final gear there as well to go in at the same time. Not 100% sure yet if i will run the 4.7 as Im sort of swaying towards the 4.44. I read a review on s2k lsd's some time ago and the final result was the os giken on top. I do wonder however if the $500 difference will be noticeable to a person of my level. I believe i could better spend that $500 else where and probably gain more if you get my drift. Did you do your diff mounts at the same time? If i remember correctly you chose the spoon? I have been reading a bit on the rs-3's and ALOT of the guys in the US are preferring them to the ad08. I originally wanted to run the ad08 but at a cost of $1400 for a set compared to the rs3 at around $900 I'm leaning to words the hankooks. The dunlop's however are something i might look into as i hadn't given them much thought. Out of the states i can get them for a decent price but in Brisbane they are almost as expensive as the AD08.

Will2k, I work near Karratha in WA in the mining industry. We do a 28-7 roster but of late i have been doing 35-7 or 42-7. This swing will be my 2nd shortest for the year coming in at 27-7. . Just the hardtop man, that was more then enough considering i didn't want to buy anything else for the year. Then that happened.

imgook

Cars looking great man

aozora

When I picked up some diff bits from another S2k owner here Robert he swore by the R200 swap. For an S2000 they are pretty much indestructible... that's probably why. But the thing is, everybody is blowing AP1 diffs with the old cast iron design. But even some built diffs too... I don't do any heavy launches etc and so far it's been fine?
Comparing my old AP1 housing to the AP2, there definitely is a casting difference. And if Honda made the old AP1 housing unavailable and superceded by the AP2 design... that surely has to say something about it. NTC might have something to do with cryo treatment but imo and from all my research (including discussions with metallurgists), it does close to nothing for cast iron (including AP2 housings). For me, and probably for you from the sounds of it... spending $4k on a R200 built diff solution was more money than I was willing to spend and if my current AP2 setup blows... it blows I guess.

As for the LSD... same thing again, $500 could go towards an ECU or a pair of tyres etc or even towards another LSD down the track? I couldn't justify the extra money, especially on my first mechanical LSD so... just went for a slightly cheaper solution (most of them are priced pretty similarly in the end).

I had the Spoon diff mounts installed before hand only because my stock ones were cracked and leaking. It improved throttle response ever so slightly but other than that... not much. But other people say it's much better... I don't think so />

For final drive... I chose the 4.44 simply because if I get fast enough, the 4.77 will hit the speed limiter going down the Phillip Island main straight which won't be pretty. Depends on the tracks you're going to really. But somebody pointed out to me when I was thinking about it that none of the Jap tuners go for anything higher than a 4.44 either. And the Racing sub forum here somewhat concur - reason being that you'll probably end up changing gears mid corner with the 4.77s which will slow you down... but again, it depends on the track really (assuming long sweeping corners would do this). After installing my 4.44s and LSD, my times weren't better... in fact I was .5 seconds off my pace but the lap times were definitely more consistent AND I was pulling away from a 200rwkw+ S15 coming out of some corners... so has to be saying something right? Haha, but potentially the 4.77s could give even better acceleration given that you're in the right gear, power band, speed etc etc etc... Vyets has 4.77s and is one of the quickest S2000s I know at the track I regular so that surely has to say something? But the track is quite technical and not Victoria's highest speed track by any means.

As for tyres... since I daily drive mine, the Hankook's life span wasn't that great and grip dropped off pretty quickly with every day use. The Dunlop Z1s I have now are much more consistent but grip is also slowly dropping off. I heard the AD08s aren't as bad which is why I want to give them a try? Also just to see if tyres are holding me back and if a fresh pair will give me those extra .9 seconds I want />
I think for the US guys, because they get them cheaper and they go through heaps of track days - it's more economical to go for a tyre that's cheaper and has relatively similar levels of grip. Where here, the pricing is a joke.
Here's my rant... I got all 4 Dunlop Z1s for just over a grand including shipping from the US. When they arrived, they were recent batches and durometer readings were good. Unfortunately I hit 2 nails in one of them... and had a track day fast coming up so I needed a replacement... locally it was about $360 for one. I was almost tempted to import 2 to make it worth while but I didn't have time and bought it locally. But even though it was more expensive, you'd think it was good stock right? Nope, the durometer readings on the local stock one I got was WORSE than my worn US stock ones. Thought I was seeing things and even after the track day, tested again and still the same... the market demand here is probably so low that the stock just sits there and retailers jack up the price to justify the low demand and wonder why people are shipping from the States.
If I had to choose a tyre for multiple track days ONLY (not daily driving), it'd be the Hankooks for sure. But if I had to daily drive on them as well, either the Z1 or AD08 for better heat cycle life and wet weather grip.

Hope this helps />

Edit: Lol just realised I wrote an essay