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*starting a thread title in the 3rd person was admitted pretty fun.
hello from hot ass south florida!
backstory: i've always liked cars and wanted an s2k for over a decade but never enough to really be an enthusiast, that is until i got my S. never pulled the trigger on one because they were out of my price range or it was always jacked up in one way or another. then i found this bone stock in the color i wanted that had only a single old lady owner (further confirmed this when i found a ladybug hair clip wedged underneath the seat belt clicker), walked down to the dealer with a check in hand, traded in my beater civic and left with the car i've always had my heart set on (all this before i went into work, so needless to say i was very anxious to finish work that day). i chose ap1 over the more modern ap2 because the 'rawness' is what drew me into this in the first place. took the scenic route home, missed my exit off the highway, changed direction, missed exit again (both times on purpose) and been driving with the top down ever since except when it rains.
condition it was in: it had a slight dent on the drivers side and the front bumper is all scratched up i imagine from lousy parking. a handful of spots where the paint is feeling from sun damage, also the leather is peeling on the top of the steering wheel. headlights very hazy and some stress cracks. oem wheels has a ton of curb rash. this is all cosmetic, nothing to worry about. no floor mats, the keyless entry doesn't work, temperature control knobs were cracked, oem shift knob scratched to hell somehow. mechanically was in great shape and brand new brake pads, motor felt slightly loose, leaky clutch master cylinder and vtec solenoid. had on wrong ratio tires, R50 in the front and R55 in the rear, they were junk tires anyway.
so now i've fully gotten the bug, it consumes all my time/energy/money and loving every second of it. actually enjoy driving now. all the meanwhile i've discovered another hobby (shooting) that i can't dive into because the S takes full priority.
what did i do to it:
first thing new tires! slapped on some firestone indy 500, instantly drove better, grips hella good. it lacks road feedback however.
restored the headlights (3m) and did a full interior/exterior detail (picked up like $200 worth of products from a pepboys because i didnt have anything since i never cared about my previous car and only did the auto wash and occasional vaccuum) that took up an entire day and a full case of beer.
took all the badges off
new floor mats (made to order ones from amazon)
changed spark plugs
found a moddiction weighted anvil 2 titanium engraved shift knob from here. i have to say this has been my favorite mod so far. it just feels so perfect which adds to the favorite thing about this car (the way that it shifts, sooooo mechanically pleasing), plus it looks freaking sweet too.
replaced the oem speakers with polk db651s
spoon blue rear view mirror
oil changed to castrol edge 10w30
got the vtec gasket and clutch master cylinder replaced
temp control knobs replaced
valve adjustment done - second favorite "mod", runs super smooth now
installed evs tuning high flow cat 63.5mm - whoop! more power definitely felt, and improved sound.
put on whale penis intake (password:jdm carbon kevlar ram air)
put black steering wheel H emblem on, i couldn't stand the flat gray look of oem
what i would like to get done next: hood dampers
brake flush, put in ate type200
transmission & differential flush spoon blue side view mirrors new non obnoxious exhaust
aem v2 + tune
alpine head unit & amp w/ modifry dci yellow headlight bulbs (morimoto xb35)
in a few years when the tires run out, get spoon cr93 wheels in silver with yokohama s.drive tires (ap2 sizes)
install fog lights
wire mesh grille insert
ebay rear spoiler
c-west front lip
fix the keyless entry + extra fob
get a spare key cut and programmed
then finally start on more performance stuff like bored throttle body and intake manifold+hondata gasket, polished cam shafts, ballade sports timing chain gear & headers touch up the paint spots (i attempted a sloppy job of this, but used the wrong honda paint and now it has what looks like glitter marks, what a fail)
slight drop via spoon progressive springs
installed the hoodie shocks; was much easier than i expected, hardest part was just putting in the tiny locking pins. comes with extenders also if i want the hood lifted higher i can always add those later. pressure was weak at first so i cycled it about 50 times, now it goes up smoooooooth and makes this cool noise. been closing and opening just watching it lift on repeat haha.
*i did end up putting in the extenders, it was annoying to check the oil level because the dipstick would bump into the bottom of the hood while lifting it out, now there is plenty clearance.
thought i would throw in a pic of the whale penis intake (i mean, who doesnt want to see this monstrocity right?). when i had it installed, some of the screws were missing so i put on cheapies from ebay. they are rusting, will have to find better corrosion resistant screws. hood doesnt fully close flush, there are two contact points on the clear coat from underside of hood; doesnt matter, this thing is definitely worth the imperfections. it boosted the midrange power enough that when vtec kicks in that 'yo this just happened!' feeling is really subdued. sure vtec-yo! drama is fun, but so is not having gutlessness at lower RPMs. can't wait to get more power boosting mods, next on priority list is exhaust.
momo competition 350mm wheel
nrg nub and quick release 2.0
carbon fiber honda logo horn button (i literally had to stomp on it on the floor to get it to pop in)
install did not go so smooth, i apparently had the quick release installed upside down so had to redo that. also the SRS light is on even though i used to the included resistors for airbag wires. they must have not made good contact. horn works fine though.
swapped old completely rusted wiper blade arms with good condition used ones i got for $25, also applied 2x coats of sealant.
installed spoon blue convex side view mirror inserts. i also have the rearview mirror and those were slapped on via 3m tape so i opted to do the same with the side views. i hope they don't fall off
also got in morimoto xb35 3000k (yellow) headlight bulbs, will get those installed same time i put on new exhaust.
and going even further ricer, i should be getting in pre-cut 50% blue window tint kit soon (i believe it is suntek HP blue material). i wanted the 80% ultra nano stuff to get heat resistance but the blue version was out of stock so i said the hell with it go with regular blue. never DIYed this before but it looks pretty easy.
apparently there is rain-x spray for vinyl windows. giving that a try, but first prepping the rear window with meguiars plastic detailer.
was detail day: full wash and clay(chemical guys clay coated sponge thingy with its own lubricant was much easier than using actual piece of meguiar's clay), then applied car pro products. ceramic coating for paint(cquartz) and windshield(flyby30) plus fabric waterproofing for soft top (also called cquartz? previously was using raggtopp but i used it all up, florida sun destroys these short life coatings so wanted something more durable). all the products were easy to apply and remove, hardest part was the claying like always, my back is killing me!
next week going to apply coat of chemical guys jetseal as an added layer of protection that i can reapply as needed. hopefully this will lead to the ceramic coating lasting the full 2 years. i have a good 3/4 bottle left of it.
also will be putting on 50% blue window tint, i am having buyers remorse however because what i really wanted was heat rejection which this one doesnt offer, but at least it should look badass! hopefully this
tried installing the tint myself, and it was botched job, total disaster. bunch of error spots, on passenger side a frigginig bug even got stuck inside!! probably didnt help that i did this after sun went down either. lesson learned, leave tinting to the professionals.
oh well, it's not the right tint that i wanted anyway, so ill live with it for a year then remove and get the right one done properly.
05-06-2017, 04:32 AM
panda25's modest berlina black ap1
