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I was able to make it over to the world famous Billman yesterday to get my parts installed. As always, Bill was able to install everything to 110% perfect precision. It's almost sick how he knows the size of every single bolt including torque specs and how to reach it perfectly, all the time. Along with his specially made tools, it's a match made in heaven. A true genius.
Bill started by throwing the car up on the lift and worked from the front to the back. He started by removing a portion of my splitter and under tray plastics to access the steering rack. Bolts were popped off from the top and Spoon Zero Front Bumpsteer Kit (Part#: 53438-AP1-010) was installed. I believe this particular kit is the only one of it's kind that actually has the grooves to fit with the steering rack. This completely removes all lateral movement experienced when hitting uneven sections of the roads or bumps:
Moving along Bill dropped the front subframe and inserted the 4 Spoon Subframe Rigid Collars (Part#: 50261-AP1-000) The collars basically drop into the chassis of the car and allow the subframe bolts to align with the chassis seamlessly. Again avoiding the subframe from rattling side to side. I believe most of the improvement is felt from the collars.
The third order of business was the Spoon Engine / Transmission Mount Set (Part#: 50800-AP1-010). Nice and easy removable of the OEM mounts and seamless replacement with the Spoon Motor Mounts. We did test the flexibility between the OEM and Spoon. The Spoon is significantly stiffer and just a nicer thicker piece of rubber overall. For those that are curious the weight on these is virtually the same as OEM. I did feel that the Spoon mounts may have been a few ounces lighter nothing you can feel.
Moving towards the middle of the car was the installation of the Spoon Transmission Mount. Again, another flawless piece by Spoon. For this part, Spoon has welded a plate to original mount making it much sturdier as a whole. Spoon also includes a set of harder rubber bushings for the Transmission Mount:
The rear subframe was dropped and the Rigid Collars were installed along with the Spoon Differential Mount Set (Part#: 50700-AP1-001). The driver side rear diff mount is what prompted the purchase of all these parts. The mount had developed a nice crack all around the bolt area. I believe this is a common issue on S2000s that are driven considerably hard.
All buttoned up, warmed up and ready to go over to the alignment shop:
Ended the day at my buddy's house and at the bar for a few pints. ,
Driving Impression: I put approximately 100 miles on the car yesterday after the install and about 40 miles after the alignment. The car literally feels completely stock. I did notice a tiny bit more vibration down in the seat but there no rattling of the dash or any other part on the car. The difference is felt immediately from these parts. The car is much more crisp, the power is instant, the shifting is extremely precise. The car also feels amazing going over bumps are undulations on the road. The suspension feels as if it working the way it should. I will be putting some harder miles on the car this weekend on mountain roads and have a track day coming up in mid September. Very excited to get out there with the new mods.
Hey guys, we are back for another season. All praise to God.
This year I kicked the season off with a new exhaust. After 5 seasons I decided it was time to move on from the Challenge 76TA-R. As I mentioned in my previous post, I had welded on a 3" in /3" out Vibrant resonator to the system in hopes of quieting it down a little. The resonator did take away some of "bass-y" like noise in the cabin but the overall exhaust was still loud as heck. In addition, I had lost a bit of ground clearance from the Vibrant resonator as it sat right smack in the middle of the car. Since I have a Hytech Header which is mated to a Hytech 3" TP I immediately phoned John at Hytech and he was kind enough to send me over a 2.75" TP he had used on a couple of dyno sessions. The price was right and he included all brand new hardware in addition to polishing it up and cleaning it out. It basically looks like new.
Evasive Motorsports sent me over a Cleib Japan 70mm SS304 single exhaust. I waited approximately 2 months for it. I first saw the exhaust on Instagram over a year ago and totally fell in love with the way it looked. I never thought I would actually get my hands on it since I never heard of the fabricator or seen any US retailers carrying it. Once I heard the sound clips and tracks clips on YouTube I was completely sold. This exhaust did not disappoint in the least bit. The fitment and craftsmanship is mint. The sound is perfect. It is loud when you get on it and tame at cruise. The "bass-y" like noise inside the cabin totally went away. I have no issues having a conversation or listening to music with the windows closed or open for that matter. The top down sound is amazing. From the butt-dyno the Cleib system seems to be a little peppier in the mids, 3.5k to 7.5k, It does not seem to be quite as powerful as the Challenge from 7.5K to 8.2K. It's not bad or much different but I did notice a little less power all the way up top. As a reminder, my car is un-tuned. With the Challenge the motor felt as if it wanted to rev to 12k. On the photos:
Also, I swapped out to new brakes. I went ahead with the same exact setup:
Slotted Stoptech Rotors - 4x.
Carbotech AX6 Pads - 4x.
Motul 600RBF in the lines.
Not much to report here. It's just a super solid brake setup.
I replaced the OEM compliance bushings with a pair of Spoon Sports bushings. The Spoon units are completely solid rubber where as the OEM have gaps in the rubber. I am not sure about the rating on the Spoons or OEM but they seem much stiffer for sure. So far I have not felt a difference in some light daily driving but I think these will shine on the dragon and the track. The upgraded bushings do not effect the ride quality or do not provide any additional harshness just more stability in steering and steering input is considered to be more sharp.
Last but not least is the lovely Spoon Sports oil pan. I consider this item to be a well priced insurance policy. A buddy of mine and I used a retailer overseas who was able to give us a great deal on a pair of pans. I could not pass it up. As we suspected, the Spoon parts and quality did not disappoint. Also, I contacted my buddy at Honda and picked all brand new oil pan hardware. The Spoon pan is stamped and numbered and comes with brand new OEM guides to ensure the pan lines up perfectly with the transmission.
Here is the difference between the OEM and the Spoon unit:
I took the opportunity to change out all the fluids with the usual stuff. I picked up new OEM spark plugs and a brand new AP1 slave cylinder. My AP2 slave cylinder was causing a crunchy clutch pedal feel even after polishing/greasing the nipple and re-greasing the fork. Billman explained to me that this could be due to the upgraded ACT pressure plate. I figured the new OEM AP1 would give me at least another 30K of nice quality hard driving.
I also topped the weekend off with an alignment which is customary after changing out any suspension component(s). After spending some long hours in the shop I gave her a nice wash.
Looking forward to a great fun filled season. Kick starting it off at dragon. I have been eyeing the CR nose including the OEM CR bumper and a Voltex 1S Wing. After checking out my buddy's 1S the other day and placing it on my car I am pretty much sold. I think this combo will give me some nice aero and still retain an overall clean look.
Last edited by chrisaltima; 04-14-2017 at 09:24 AM.
Lol, working on it. Should have some GoPro footy soon from the dragon. Also, gotta fix these darn pics not sure why Flickr made them small like this. I may need to switch to Photobucket.
Last edited by chrisaltima; 04-14-2017 at 09:28 AM.
Some stuff from the RTD17 event. A great time, with some great people. Met a local running around in a 1900 lb. Miata. Post a wonderful smokehouse BBQ lunch:
This was from our first run on the Skyway (143). Wet on the way up and dry on the way back. Ran it again last Saturday in 75 and sunny degree weather as well. 143 and 28 have to be my favorites:
Every year the event seems to get better and better. Put in about 40 hours seat time, feeling very comfortable and really learning the car. See you in ' 18 !!
Last edited by chrisaltima; 05-05-2017 at 06:44 AM.
08-26-2016, 08:10 AM
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