SHAKYBRAKE

Hi and thanks for stopping by!

I've been on S2KI for about 13 years now and I have loved interacting with this community over the years. My old username is OVER9000! if anyone remembers me.

I wanted to document my journey with my S because it has been a car that has been very impactful in my life. I'm not going to lie, this is rather daunting to me. There's a lot that I can share, but I'll try to just stick to the basics and come back to this post to add some more backstory and color.

I'll start off with a build sheet for my S as it sits today and then have its history below that.

Engine - F25C Stroker (Bored & Stroked F20C)

• Inline Pro Stroker Kit
  • 89mm Bore
    
  • 89mm Forged CP Pistons
    
  • Inline Pro Stroker Rods
    
  • K24 Crankshaft (99mm Stroke)
    
  • Closed Deck Ductile Iron Sleeves
    
• Cometic 89mm MLS Head Gasket (0.030")
  
• Inline Pro Dual Valve Springs & Titanium Seats
  
• OE AP1 Camshafts
  
• Billman TCT
  
• Vibra-tecnic Street Motor Mounts
  
• New OE Oil Pump
  
• Moroso Weld-in Oil Pan Baffle w/ Trap Doors
  
• Fumoto Oil Drain Valve
  
• Saiko Michi Oil Catch Can
  

Transmission & Driveline

• ACT Prolite 9lb Flywheel
  
• Hasport Differential Mounts
  
• New OE Second Gear Set
  
• Half Shaft Spacers
  

Intake, Fuel, & Exhaust

• Ballade Sport 69mm Intake Manifold
  
• Hondata Intake Manifold Gasket
  
• Ballade Sport 70mm Throttle Body
  
• PRM Intake
  
• Haltech Intake Air Temperature Sensor
  
• OE Exhaust Manifold
  
• 2.5" Header-Back Exhaust (Single Exit)
  • Custom Fabricated
    
  • 304 Stainless Steel
    
  • 9.5" Vibrant Resonator
    
  • 12" Blox Racing Turndown Muffler w/ V-Band Connection
    
  • 3 Piece w/ V-Band Clamps
    
• Science of Speed e85 Flex Fuel Sensor Kit
  
• Science of Speed Upgraded Fuel Pump Wiring Kit
  
• AEM e85 340lph Fuel Pump
  
• AEM Fuel Rail
  
• AEM Fuel Pressure Regulator
  
• RC Engineering 750cc Injectors
  • High Impedance
    
  • Saturated
    

Electronics

• Haltech Elite 1500 ECU
  • w/ Plug & Play Adapter Harness
    
• Haltech CAN Hub
  
• Haltech Platinum Series Single Channel O2 Wideband Controller
  
• GaugeArt CAN Digital Gauge
  
• Pioneer 500W 6.5" Mid-Bass Drivers
  
• Pioneer Head Unit
  
• Pioneer 1500W Amp
  

Chassis, Suspension, & Brakes

• Science of Speed Braided Stainless Steel Brake Lines
  
• Project Mu Brake Pads
  
• Buddy Club P1 Lower Ball Joints
  • w/ Roll Center Adjuster Plates
    
• Megan Racing Rear Toe Arms
  
• Koni Yellow Sport Shocks w/ Adjustable Perches
  
• Hypercoil Springs (600lb/in Front 7.5", 400lb/in Rear 7.5")
  
• Energy Suspension Polyurethane Bushings Upper/Lower/Front/Rear
  
• Gendron Solid Front Sway Bar & Ball Bearing Mounts
  
• NC Miata Front Sway Bar (for rear)
  
• AP2 Rear Subframe
  

Wheels/Tires

• 949 Racing 6ULR Wheels (17x10, +53 Offset, x4, Bronze)
  
• 255/40/17 Hankook RS-3 Summer Street Tires (x4)
  
• Enkei TM-7 Wheels (17x9, +45 Offset, x4, Silver)
  

Interior

• Nardi Gara Steering Wheel
  
• NRG Quick Tilt Steering Wheel Adapter
  
• NRG Short Hub
  
• Science of Speed Single Gauge Pod
  
• Moddiction 3" SS Shift Lever Extension
  
• Moddiction Anvil Weighted Shift Knob
  
• Red Leather AP1 Seats
  
• Red/Black AP2 Door Cards
  
• Black Carpet & Trim
  
• New Red OE Floor Mats (+15hp tuned on e85)
  

The Journey

I bought my 2002 Berlina Black S2000 with 66k miles in 2010. I believe I am the 6th (and hopefully final) owner. I daily drove my S for about 10 years until 2020. I have had so many journies and learned so many lessons from this car. It has taught me about patience, self-control, responsibility, dedication, persistence, and more. I got my S when I was 18, so it has been with me through some transformative years and has undergone some transformations itself.

My goal with my S has been to maximize enjoyment with an intent to prioritize function over form. I really wanted to get to know the car in its stock form, so I attended many many autocross events while I was in college. Sometimes twice a month. That was so much fun and a time in my life that I look back on fondly. I have also made it out to a few HPDE track days and plan to attend more once I have this 2.5L stroker build broken in and sorted out.

In 2019, with the help of Inline Pro, I set out on my journey to build my first 2.4L stroker F20C. It was such a whirlwind of new experiences that required me to learn many new skills and do more than I ever thought I was capable of doing. It was my first time wiring and setting up a standalone ecu, so that was a challenging feat in itself. I made it through it and learned some valuable lessons along the way.

Unfortunately, in early 2020 I had to retire the 2.4L stroker motor after only about 1,000 miles due to cylinder scoring and loss of compression on cylinder 2. This was rough and weighed on me heavily. It was all my fault too. I tried my hardest to be kind to myself and take it as a learning experience. I'll come back and add more info on what caused the damage.
F24 Stroker Engine Removal & Disassembly - Album

Earlier in 2023 I decided to pursue building another bored and stroked F20 engine with any parts that I could salvage from my last stroker. The crankshaft and rods were able to be reused, but it needed new pistons. I had used a spare F20C block for my first stroker build, so I used my original F20C block that came with my S from the factory. I sent that block to Inline Pro and see what they could do. The scoring in the cylinders was pretty deep, so they had to install sleeves. I went with their closed deck iron sleeves and discussed options for bore size. I weighed my options and decided to go big with an 89mm bore and 89mm pistons. This required me to send in my cylinder head to have the combustion chamber bowl machined to accept the taller and bigger pistons. John at IP is awesome and offered to do this machine work for free, which I am so grateful for. I returned the favor by going ahead and buying a set of IP dual valve springs with titanium seats to have installed on the head while it was there.

I took delivery of the short block and cylinder head in late July and started assembling the engine in August. I have had a few setbacks and lessons learned, but it is all coming together. While I was waiting for the block and cylinder head to be worked on I started a side project to tear down my original transmission as well as a spare rebuilt transmission to combine whatever parts were in the best condition. I managed to find a BNIB OEM second gear set, so I decided to pull the trigger on that and installed that in the refreshed transmission as well.

I have spent a lot of time cleaning and restoring old parts as well as making sure any repairs are done right. As of November 2023, the engine and refreshed transmission are in the S and ready to be started up for the first time. I will post more updates as I work through inevitable first startup issues and get the engine running smoothly with the Elite 1500 ecu.

Feel free to ask any questions below and remember to enjoy your S and have fun with it!

***Pics Start Here***


Finally on the ground after being on jack stands for over a year!







One of my HS senior pics when I was 18 shortly after getting the S in 2010



Back when it was clean and stock with 66K miles on it. Pic taken shortly after I got it.



I wish it still looked this fresh.

SHAKYBRAKE

11/10/23 F25 Stroker Build Update: It's so close to running! I'm in the troubleshooting process of finishing up this build and I'm so ready to be over this hump. I've made a lot of progress in the last few weeks though.

Over the last month I've cleaned the engine bay a bit, installed the new engine in the S, got all of the electrical connectors and hoses connected, installed the refreshed transmission, and replaced hardware where necessary. This week I got it off jack stands for the first time in a year and it's 99% ready to be fired up.
I have been diagnosing electrical issues and updating the Haltech software and settings for the last few days.

• The first issue I had was no power to the Elite 1500 ecu.
  • I had lights on the dash, but nothing from the ecu or my CAN gauge. I chased that around for a couple of hours and found out it was the fuel pump fuse.
  • I knew that I had the fuel pump fuse taken out because I didn't want it to prime (the last setting on the ecu was to prime it for 30 seconds on startup since I was emptying the fuel tank the last time it was on).
  • I did not know that the ecu relied on that fuse to complete its power circuit though.
• Second issue came up while trying to deal with the first issue. No power at all.
  • I found that one pretty quickly and it ended up being a popped 100A battery fuse in the engine bay.
• Third issue has had me stopped in my tracks for the last day or so. I'm getting multiple Home and Trigger count errors when trying to start the engine.
  • I got it to run, albeit very shittily, for 5s or so after disconnecting and reconnecting the cam and crank sensors then starting it. Since that all I've gotten are trigger and home tooth count errors and no running. Most likely due to a no-spark situation because the ecu isn't able to tell where the crankshaft and cams are timing-wise.
  • I checked and double-checked the cam and crank tdc marks and confirmed that they were correct a few weeks ago while reassembling the motor.
  • I know that I installed the crank pulse plate as well (it's an ap1 CKP, so it's not directional either). I checked the crank sensor for resistance and continuity and it does not need to be replaced.
  • The only wiring that I have worked on recently has been for the injectors due to having to switch to Bosch connectors. I don't believe that could have an effect on anything with the trigger or home signals though.
  • I am reusing the same tdc offset angle value that I used for my last F24 stroker, but I suspect that the cause is an incorrect tdc offset angle or incorrect signal setting in the ecu.
  • A friend is coming over this weekend to help me out with cranking the S while I try and get the offset angle dialed in or confirmed with a timing light.
• The fourth issue that I found is a coolant leak coming from underneath the intake manifold.
  • it's actively dripping coolant down the side of the engine block.
  • There are a number of hoses transporting coolant under there, so I have a lot of hoses to check
  • Upon initial inspection there were no hoses leaking
  • I suspect that it might be the intake manifold mounting bolts that might not be tightened enough to seal the OEM/Hondata/OEM gasket sandwich.

xBoostx

Hope you make good power! Whats your estimated compression? Also you need to run a 3 inch exhaust.