Hello S2K friends, I'm Tom

Purchased an S2000 coming up on 3 weeks ago now and as I was a forum goer in the past on Bikechatforums/ITR-DC2, I wanted to 'go old school' and make a thread to track progress on my car as I intend to have it forever!

Spec:
2004
UK AP1 facelift
F20C
98k miles
FSH
Berlina Black
Full red interior
AP2V1 wheels
K&N FIPK
Berk HFC
Braided brake lines
RBF600 fluid
Tegiwa brake stopper
AD08RS


All of the mods the previous owner has done and are things I would have done myself, so is a great start for me. It's had some paint correction carried out, servicing carried out by TGM and underside inspected etc, so it's really been cared for from the look of things. The car also came with some PBS Prorace front pads as spares, so i've already bought some rears to match, in prep for a couple of track days this year to get a real feel for the car.

I'm unsure if the previous owner is on here (Nick from London), but if you are, thanks for passing on such a sweet ride

Having owned a DC2, EP3, EJ9 & CN1 in the past, I'm so happy to be back in a Honda. Have had an EV as a daily driver for the past 3 years and although it's been a great car, this is like going home. I've done just shy of 500 miles so far and i'm blown away by it. Reminds me way more of the Teg than the Civic which is interesting.

Initial to do list:
- The drivers door speaker is not working, so will look to sort that in the coming weeks
- The A/C works but does not get properly cold, so i'm hoping this is just in need of a re-gas and not due to a leak

I am a technician by trade, so will be looking to carry out as much as I can on the car and update the thread with progress as time goes on. Hoping it'll be a great journey with one of my favourite cars!

Thanks for reading.

 

Update:

I managed to find the cause of the drivers lower door speaker not working, the power wire to the speaker was no longer connected due to poor soldering, so I've now repaired this and it's back working. The previous owner installed a Focal system and it does sound great!

Also had the car in at Honda this week for an AC regas, the system passed the leak test and it's now ice cold. They have popped UV dye in the system too so if it does have a slow leak, I'll be able to use a UV torch and glasses from work to spot the leak.

For now anyway, that's both initial issues sorted.

Honda carried out a vehicle health check whilst it was in and confirmed all suspension/brakes/body are in good working condition, which is a great result. They have however noted a corroded fuel & brake pipe, so I'm going to look to sort these asap. Had planned to jump on a track day next month to get to grips with the car as it is, however this is way more important so will have to get out on track later this year/next year.

TFR.

 

Welcome and congrats on the purchase.

Love the full red interiors

 

thanks dude!

I didn’t realise I’d love the interior so much, it sounds a lot but it suits the black exterior perfectly

 

Update:

I've now had the car for a few months and have done about 2,000 miles, I love it. After looking into so many different cars before purchasing one, I'm so happy I ended up with an S2000!

I've been busy with bits in this time:

The calipers had been painted red and were fading, so I gave them a lick of silver high temp paint to return the OEM look. At the same time i've replaced the standard pads for some PBS ProRace pads and cleaned/greased the carriers while I was there to keep them free moving until the next strip & clean in spring time. The pads looked pretty glazed over so I'll keep these as a back up but won't be refitting for long term use, they were also definitely the cause of the brake squeal I had at low speeds.

I replaced the standard gear knob for an FN2 Type-R one. It's lighter, but I think it suits the interior and it feels great in the hand.

The corroded rear RH brake pipe and fuel pipe have now been replaced, expensive to resolve but worth it in the long run.

As i'll be driving the car all year round, I picked up a set of 16" 'AP1' wheels for a good price, no cracks or buckles in them. After lots of research into what tyres to go for, I've gone for some Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance 2 tyres, with OEM sizes. Review of the swap to 16's so far:

+ Quieter ride
+ Softer ride
+ More confidence in the wet
- Steering feels less direct/responsive
- More roll as the weight transfers across the axle

I haven't tested them properly in the dry, but I'm going to go out on a whim and say they also won't have as much grip as the AD08RS's in the dry

It hit 100k miles last week so I'll be ticking off some maintenance in coming months. I replaced the spark plugs with standard NGK Laser Platinum plugs, the old ones didn't look bad which was good to see.

Past this, it's now in full winter mode with the hardtop & 16's on, so I'll be spending the coming months getting to know it more and more. Looking forward to warmer days next year where I can get the top down and head out on track!

TFR.

 

Post 2024-winter update:

The S2000 stood up to winter very well, I haven't used it every day but it's been on the commute at least a couple of times each week. My commute has also recently changed from 36 miles a day to about 14, which is great.

I used a couple of Carbon Collective products to 'de-salt' the underbody and add a layer of protection on top of the underseal. Made me feel better about the winter driving and also nice to know it's not caked in salt.

The hardtop was rattling/creaking around so much it was driving me crazy, so I spent a good amount of time adjusting the hardtop fitment, greasing up the seals and applying some felt tape on the contact points for the front latches. Once this was done, I haven't heard anything for months! If anyone struggles with this and wants some tips, let me know and i'll post some pics.

The Goodyears and 16's were a great setup, never stepping out in poor weather unless I wanted it to, haven't worn through much tread so I think they'll last a good few years at this rate. Though to be honest I'm planning on SORNing the car off for coming winters so they may not be around for long. Maybe a back up set in case I get a puncture.

A creak developed from the offside front when steering at low speeds, narrowed this down to the lower ball joint. I replaced this with an OEM Honda part. Love that it's a bolt on part and not pressed in place or anything. Creak fixed after that was replaced.

I was noticing idle vibrations were increasing so decided to replace both engine mounts with OEM. The offside was split badly and leaking, since the replacement, the idle vibrations are no longer present, gear changes seem smoother and the slight judder I was experiencing when pulling away (which I thought was signs of the clutch being on the way out), has also gone. What a result! They were also not a bad job to do so would definitely recommend to anyone with similar symptoms/age/mileage.

I've given the headlamps a going over with various grades of wet and dry, the yellowing is no longer present and i'm going to get the detailer at work to give them a final polishing and i'll seal them up with some Soft99 Fusso Wax.

And finally, the weather has been decent the past week and is set to be high teens next week, so the hardtop is off and the 17's are back on. What a difference these make to the driving experience!

Plans for 2025:
- Oil & Filter soon and another after 5k miles
- shifter rebuild
- couple of track days
- many drives with the top down

Thanks for reading.

 

Great looking car! Keep it up.

"applying some felt tape on the contact points for the front latches" - omgosh can't believe I've been a hardtop owner for 10 years doing worse fixes to finally hear on this. Duh felt would be great. Thank you for this share!

 

thanks dude!

yes the felt tape, in particular in the little groove the hard top rests in at the top of the windscreen, worked a treat!

glad I could help

 

10 Months later...

A few things to update the thread with, in order of when I did them:
- Oil & Filter
- Cleaned the IACV
- Noticed the clutch master cylinder leak at the push-rod behind the pedal, so replaced that with OEM and bled with fresh fluid
- Cleaned and lubricated the slave cylinder pivot ball to get rid of the notorious creaking when applying the clutch, not heard it since! Most expensive pot of grease I've bought, that HT Urea from Honda.
- Replaced the rear diff mounts with Spoon mounts due to one of them leaking
- Replaced rear ARB bushes with Hardrace bushes
- Cleaned the rear subframe and chassis up whilst the exhaust was off for the diff mounts, using the Carbon Collective products from before

I then did a track evening at Bedford which was amazing, this was before the diff mounts and RARB bushes. Considering the car is near stock, it was fantastic to see what it was like on track and to start to push myself with the car. The front end grip was just endless, I know I wasn't going anywhere near as quick as others do, but I was so impressed with this part of it's character. It did however show the flex in the suspension, whether that be the tired shocks or bushes, it's definitely what I would look to improve on for future days.

I've bought a gen 2 Jazz as a daily so the S2000 can be put away for winters going forward. Bought a purpose made car cover for it which is better than I expected, so it's been sat in the garage since September all covered up. The battery is on a maintainer and i'll get it out soon to keep everything ticking over. Probably back on the road in April, if I can wait that long.

I'm now a dad, so budget for track days/modifications will slow, however I'm in it for the long haul with this car so am building a pot for coilovers/bushes, so when things do need replacing I can commit to some quality products and do the job properly. Thinking along the lines of MeisterR or Bilstein B14. I don't think i'll be able to stretch to the Ohlins DFV that I understand are the best option.

Plans for this year:
- Hardrace front ARB bushes
- Coolant flush
- Potentially diff & gearbox fluid if the intervals are looking right for this year
- Track evening somewhere


Thanks for reading!