ronny5

Hi All,

This is my little build log for my S project.

This is my 3rd S2000 however, my 2nd one that I am actually going to start playing with.

Playing with corollas for the past 13 years, I have decided that I want an upgrade that can give me the same satisfaction if not more, and the s2000 was the ONLY car that can match and exceed the fun of having an Ae86 corolla.


here is my old CR - I had to sell it because I bought a new home, and I thought the extra money in the bank could help pay for things in the future.. now the future has come, and I realized, that was bullshit... I shoulda just kept it. =( I TOTALLY regret it =(



it was a simple setup to straight go have fun and enjoy - CE28/spoon caliper w/ clubracer pads and nice tires. along with the voltex 1V.

eh, cant dwell in the past anymore...

anyway.. I still have my Corolla, which is absolutely love and will always enjoy this car. A full frame up restoration and modern modifications that took about 3 years or so to complete. this is my 9th ae86 in a span of 13 years.. this one takes the cake of being the best one.


So.. The corolla is finished, and my other favorite car is the S2000. 4 years have passed since I sold the CR, and I just couldnt afford to get another one just like it.

I bought this 2008 BB with red interior with 15k miles in April of 2014. I have had it for 2 years now, and I really didn't do anything to it until recently this year.

Keeping with a more active lifestyle, Traveling for work / skateboarding / snowboarding / cycling / Kart Racing and having a new puppy, I just didnt have time except to enjoy it on the weekends with the top down...

here is the car when I first got it home:

don mind the corolla junkyard in the garage - i ended up selling my blue ae86 to clear up some space for the S2 =D


one of my favorite things on this car is the partial Red interior. It kinda reminded me of the NSX R. To me it just looks so damn classy and Cool..



after a few weeks, I picked up a hardtop from my buddy Alan who deals alot with these cars.. I am glad to know him as he has helped me with parts and suggestions.


The car literally stayed like this for a while.... I wanted to keep this buildup slow and not spend a shit load of money at once... just here n there add something, or do some maintenance. Learning from building old vintage vehicles, having a modern day sports car was definitely a treat because I didn't have to keep working on it or fixing it. I could just drive and enjoy whenever I wanted and not be scared to get stranded in the middle of nowhere.

Early this year I decided to start actually messing with the car..

Of course I started out with the suspension mods: I wanted to mimic how my old CR suspension felt, but the MONOFLEX coilover was discontinued.. I didnt wanna spend over a certain amount but I still wanted a decent setup. I favored towards:

HKS hipermax IV - SP - I thought it had pretty decent characteristics on a single way adjustable damper and it was pretty cheap on RHDjapan. - HKS was having a sale at the time.. i got it for 1100 shipped =D

along with the susp - I wanted the supporting mods:
J's front ball joint / offset camber RCA
J's Rear 12mm extended RCA
Eibach sway bar set


I installed the dampers at home, however i didnt have the proper tools to press out the ball joints, so I went to Ballade sports and Alex and Matt helped finish off the job for me.

after the susp install:


thanks!

Ron

ronny5

Chilled out for a little while and just enjoyed it with the new suspension mods:

here Gf likes to drive it from time to time, top down of course:

she takes it work sometimes since I don drive it that often. which is good as it keeps the motor moving.

ordered the same brake setup I had on my CR.
spoon caliper with PMU clubracer pads. Of course, I didnt have proper wheels yet so, I just kept these in the closet until I can install


S2 has its spot next to the Corolla



fast forward a little maybe February I hit up some friends at Mackin to see what they had in stock for me.

I picked up a set of ADVAN RZ in bronze - 17x8.5+45 and 17x9+45. This setup is probably the perfect street offset for stock rolled fenders. I think any more aggressive I would have to start Pulling just a tad for more clearance. Im happy with this look.

Went to Travis at rim and tire center. Ive known Travis and Wes for a long time during the corolla days, and its great to see his shop successful. Picked up some street tires - Nitto NT05 235/40 and 255/40.

ronny5

eh, took some off from the cars and did some Kart. I join this series called SPrint / Super series at Calspeed. Its once a month and it is seriously fun. It cures my track day fix when ever I want to go without spending alot of money:




also took some time to go camping with some offroad friends. Took our FJ up to Pismo for some camping and some night dune driving I guess: =D


this is Maru.. our little skinny Shiba Inu she doesnt really like the sports cars much.. but likes the FJ =P


Maybe sometime in March, I bought a few more things:

1. OEM from lip
2. Ebay special - OE replica trunk wing
3. Fujitsubo Legalis R - I used to have Fujitsubo super TI - but good like finding that again..
4. Downforce Carbon splitter
5. Oem Sidestrakes






This is where I am at today...



I still have to install my Brake setup.. and I also want to revisit Ballade to do some maintenence mods before I go forward.

some things I want to do next:
1. Ballade timing Gear
2. Ballade Tensioner
3. check the valves and clearances


some routine maintenence.

the car now has 25k on the clock. I have been driving it a lot more lately and its quite a bit of fun.. I guess Im starting to get into the groove of modding the car.

I am actually deciding if I want to stop taking the Corolla to the track and maybe switch it up and start driving the S2000. The corolla is old and as fun as it is.. it just sux when it has issues. Parts are not as abundant.

kmac

beautiful build, the CR with the vortex v1 wing is something I'm leaning towards down the road

av8ter

Car looks great. You found the perfect starting point.

I wouldn't stray from the OEM cam gear or tensioner at your mileage(or ever) but a check of the valve adjustment is never a bad idea if you've got some knowledgable hands that you trust to do the work.

jaor.s2k

So good!

toekneedahtiger

Well done! Seeing this thread makes me miss the Advan RZs I sold a few years back in those exact same specs. The curvature of the spokes makes the fitment seem way more aggressive than it really is.

s2kcr_dhdez

hey good afternoon ronny, i wanted to ask what kind of wing is that? it looks great

ronny5

thanks Guys!.

which wing are you refering to? the one on my old CR. is the Voltex 1V.

as for the tensioner and the gear. do you guys think i should just hold off on it? i was under impression that if i just do it now, i wont have to mess with it later down the road.. the gear and tensioner mainly keep the timing at its proper spot and never changing, correct?

streetx

I want to see more of the hachi lol