Just saw this, though I've been on here many times. My wife and I are in Wilmington. We have an '06, totally stock (well, the stereo's not...) that we've had for 16 months. We've had a blast, though right now we seem to have valve damage on #2 and are looking for the right shop to pull the head, do a detailed look-see, and get 'er fixed. We have taken our Hondas to Stevenson for 15 years and will continue to for regular service, as they have been good to us, but all they will do with this is replace the whole head. I get that; they're a dealer and that's not what they do. But words from the wise say that that's not the way to go here. Anyway, hope to get her back in tip-top shape soon and see some of you around town. Meanwhile, if you wanna throw a shop rec my way, please do!

Phillip

 

I have no personal experience, but Carolina Dyno has a good rep on this forum. If you're willing to travel Jason at Central NC Speedshop in Zebulon is a S2K guru. He built my stroker motor, and has taken care of me on other issues that have come up with my car.

 

Thank you. Those are good leads indeed. Phillip

 

Might not be a popular suggestion but I go to Midas on Oleander. I know the manager personally and he's always personally done my car and is very familiar with whats needed to perform right. I track my car and I maintain it over-zealously so my car has been there A LOT. Ask for Cameron and when he sees you have an 06 S2000, he'll know I recommended you see him. Ive only ever let 2 people touch my car besides myself. Cameron at Midas and Shawn at Stevenson.

 

Thanks. That sounds like a solid possibility. Phillip

 

http://www.coastalautoworks.com/

 

That looks like a good shop. Certified Honda Master Tech. Good reviews. Will keep in mind. Jason Wadsworth at CNC Speedshop did the engine work and got everything back together yesterday. He wants to drive it some to make sure everything checks out the way he wants, but we expect it to be ready later today or tomorrow.

 

Good to here. Maybe we'll get to meet at a C&C sometime.

 

I posted this in Under The Hood/Warning for 2006-2009 DBW cars, but I also thought I should follow up here.

Took a month to get it all sorted, but I now have the car back and she seems to be running great. Here's the run-down. Jason Wadsworth at CNC Speedshop near Raleigh did the work. Turns out the valves were not damaged; they cleaned up well. The exhaust valve guides, though, were quite worn and none of the cylinders were holding full vacuum on the exhaust ports. This problem, too, he attributed to exhaust valve lash being too tight, something he said he has seen on several DBW cars. He replaced the valve guides with Supertech manganese bronze guides, upgraded the valve springs but not excessively; he believes in increasing tension only about 20% to avoid other issues, but he said it will provide some add'l insurance against "The Money Shift." He did the TCT upgrade while he was at it. Put 40-50 miles on the car and said everything seemed good.

Certainly seems worthwhile to me at this point for anyone with a lower-mileage DBW car to get the valves checked right away; might stave off a pretty expensive repair when the car gets to 67K like mine.

On another note, is there a C&C in ILM this Saturday AM?

 

Yes, first Saturday of the month.