dwb993

Hello all! I am Dave. I've been an active member over on Acurazine for quite some type with my 2006 TL. I never made a proper build thread over there and just posted pics kind of "as they came". I figured I would do things a bit different for the S2K.

First, a couple pics of the Acura:





My mother had a trailer in Ocean City for over 30 years until she had to sell last year. I hated selling the place as I enjoyed going down very much. However, she threw a few bucks my way saying, "Go get something you will enjoy just as much." Thanks, Mom!

So, the hunt was on. I had always loved the S2000, even when it first came out. I recall reading articles in Autoweek, C&D, etc on just how good the car is. I saw my first one in person on the parking lot of a Chuck E Cheese during my daughter's birthday party and could not get over just how beautiful the car was. Now that I was in the market for one I knew my best bet was to find a good forum to begin researching. Obviously, I ended up here and found several good threads on what to look for when buying and the first things to do once you bring your car home.

I did searches on the internet and found several examples. One car was about an hour away---a BB example owned by an older "Bohemian Artist" type guy, but the car looked like it had been ridden hard and put away wet---in addition to the "normal" seat wear, the rear bumper was aftermarket and beat to shit. I just was not impressed with the car and the guy was asking way too much money for it. Rather than make an insultingly low offer on it, I chose to walk away.

A couple weeks later I found another car on AutoTrader that was fairly local to me. I made a couple inquiries and found that it was at a dealership in MD on consignment by the owner. I was told that they had a "kid" in the showroom that day looking to buy, but that they could take my number and call me back if the deal fell through. I left my info and thanked them thinking I'd never hear from them again. Shortly after, I got a call from the owner of the car (he had posted on several websites and I just happened to have called 2 different numbers for the same car!). He explained that his father had traveled from Texas to LA to purchase one of the first cars in the US "right off the boat" and drove it back to Texas, where it lived most of its life babied. The gentleman injured his knee at some point and was no longer able to drive and enjoy the car, so he gave it to his son. The son had been the Service Manager at a local Acura dealer, so we were able to shoot the breeze about my TL for a bit. He was currently the SM at the dealership which was selling the car. I explained that I had left my info with them, but that the car was pending sale. He said he was under the impression that the "kid" was unable to get financing and that he would check with the sales team to confirm. I got their call the next day saying "the stars are aligning for you--come down and take a look at it."

My girlfriend and I drove down to Gaithersburg MD the following day. The car was indeed an early version of MY00---VIN:00246---and was in much better shape than I expected for a 15 year old car. SSM, black/red interior. I spent the better part of 2 hours looking it over, checking VIN tags, fluid condition, test driving, etc. Everything checked out and I wound up taking her home that day.

Pic at dealership



Fresh at home







The car was stock and appeared to be very fresh with 101K on the clock. My purchase price was $10.5K. The owner was able to provide the original tonneau cover (still in plastic) with the sale. He seemed pleased I was getting the car, knowing I would take very good care of it. There were some minor mods that had been made: A leather console cover had been fitted, OEM sidestrakes, black leather shifter boot w red stitching, AP2 radio door, Rick's extended wind deflector and an aftermarket head unit/speakers. The drivers seat bolster had the usual wear spots, although they were particularly bad on this car.



They have gotten worse in the year I've owned it, but I'm thinking some Clazzio covers will do the trick.

Other mods I applied just after purchase:

Modifry phone mount
Modifry cup holder
Modifry top straps
Modifry glovebox organizer
Modifry sidemarker blinkers (I never understood why sidemarkers don't blink from the factory)
Ebay OEM type spoiler
Black chrome emblems
Soft top repair patches
Lizard Skin bicycle chain guards
LED strip under the wind deflector

Replace all fluids

Shortly after purchasing, I setup a meeting with Billman250 for the "Onceover" service. I drove up to Allentown area to meet Bill at Joe's house (freq) for the work. I also wanted Bill to evaluate my clutch as I was bothered by the clutch buzz and the engagement was a bit sloppy. Bill performed a valve job (keepers are good), replaced the clutch with an AP1v2 clutch, torqued the rear nuts and gave it a good look over. At first glance, Bill and Joe commented on the good condition of the car, being it is 15 years old. Bill said it was certainly in the top 20% of cars he has seen. This put my mind at ease. We had a full day of work and at the end, Bill modified what he had said earlier to the top 2% of cars he has worked on. I drove home on Cloud 9, secure in the knowledge that my homework, research and checkout of the car were in fact, correct.

That pretty much sums up the first season with the car. Took it down to see Mom & Dad:



Plans for this season include seat covers, lowering springs, stereo upgrade (amp and sub), Odyssey fogs, carpet replacement and front lip. To date, I have installed Espilir springs on AP2 shocks, purchased from another member:

Before:



After:



However, I now have the dreaded "CV Bucket pitting" (https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/241...#entry23507572) issue that is next on the list to address--hopefully, this weekend. A swap from one side to the other should fix things up. Next up after that will be the amp and footwell sub install, along with replacing the carpets with some AP2 carpet I picked up. I hope to keep this thread updated as I do the work and look forward to all input.

Thanks for looking!

PenguinS2000

Fantastic progress Dave! Glad to see you're enjoying the S2k

I'm currently on the search for one to replace the TL and look forward to joining you here! You should know who I am from the username

dwb993

Thanks, Penguin! I saw you are on the hunt. Good luck, my friend.

There were 2 especially useful threads I found before I actually went and looked for a car:

https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/775...#entry18385384

https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/102...replace-first/

They should have most of the info and additional links you will ever need.

rockstar143

Hi Dave. Glad to have found you...she's gorgeous!

dwb993

https://www.s2ki.com/forums/s2000-un...y-pics-241367/

So I did the CV Bucket swap yesterday. After lowering the car, I had a pronounced vibration under acceleration, 3rd or 4th gear between 3000-5000 RPM. Pulled the buckets and had the same pitting shown in the thread. Here is mine for comparison:



Excuse the greasy lens. Its amazing how much vibration that little scoring can cause. I made the mistake of dropping one of the CV bearings into the passenger side cup. No damage done, but you will know it if you do! Pulled that cup back off and set it properly and its good to go.

Let me tell you, the car is incredibly smooth now! No more vibrations at all. Cost me ~$15 for the Redline grease and a few hours of time. I did not remove the entire axle, as I did not have a ball joint popper nor a 24mm socket to re-torque the axle nuts. Was a bit more time consuming, but not too bad. I can say the the rear upper A arm bolt on the passenger side is a bitch to get to--you need to compress the spring a little and you can get it with a ratchet extension.

I think I have finally tamed most of the harshness out of this car now---between the AP1v2 clutch and this, the car feels as smooth as I think it ever will.

Thanks again to S2KI and Billman!!!

baZurk

One of the best things about this site is all the knowledge and info shared via the DIY's. Congrats on the purchase!

2poor2mod

Dave, you need to show off that engine bay!

I swear Dave has one of the cleanest engine bays i have ever seen. You'd swaer the car just rolled off the showroom floor, and for a 15 year old car with +100k on the ODO, the valve cover is immaculate. Typically they are flaking and falling apart. Nice work sir!

dwb993

Thanks, J! Yours is a beauty, too! We need to get them together for your special photo skillz. Maybe I can have you between my legs again!!

Thank you and I heartily agree. S2K guys in general have been very helpful. A guy at work sold his and forgot to include his Service Manual and tonneau cover---now I have 2! Great community. As you may be able to see, the guys on AZ are a great bunch, too!

LOL! Thanks, Jeremy. You are my man when Im ready to replace my (15 year old!!) top! Ask and ye shall receive:

baZurk

dwb993

Picked up a used K&N FIPK intake from a local member and installed it last night. Install was straightforward (just pay attention to your connections). Laurie came over to help me (no pics of the install process---you can find them elsewhere).

Initial impressions: Not really much more than I expected---I noticed a lighter throttle response and it makes a lot of noise. So much noise that VTEC scared Laurie! I have to admit, its a nice, throaty roar up through 5K or so. Once VTEC kicks in (yo!), it turns into a trumpeting blare! Didn't have too much time to beat on it last night, so I will give more info as I notice it.

I do need to cut the tube a bit to get the rubber piece to seal the box. A short dremel session should handle that. Need to figure out something for that ugly cross brace, too.