Hi Everyone,
I finally pulled the trigger on a black over red AP1 with 57k miles. Only modifications are an Invidia q300 Ti, and AP2 wheels. It's beautiful, and I already love it. I have a few questions I was hoping some of the more experienced forum members/owners could help answer for me.

1. The headlights are horribly foggy/yellowed. Is there a recommended way to handle this that is unique to S2000s? Or will a usual cleanup kit work?

2. The car came with a replica Mugen hardtop. The fitment is a bit off, and after my first wash today, water got in on the top rear corners of the windows, and air blasts my passenger at highway speed through the same gap. In addition, the passenger window makes contact with it while closing the door, the previous owner recommended lowering the window a bit before closing it. And finally, the trunk lid makes contact when fully opened on one side. Does anyone have experience with fitment/alterations on these knockoffs? Is it just what you get with a cheaper setup or can the seal/fitment be improved? Any tips are greatly appreciated!

3. Preventative maintenance/initial to-do. What would you recommend checking/changing/keeping an eye on for a new owner? A quick search tells me to swap the valve retainers for AP2 versions, is this something that's worth doing or is it a bit overblown like the 911 IMS bearing issue?

And finally, any tips at all! Anything you think a new owner should know, I would love to hear it. Thank you!

 

Congrats on a beautiful car!

I doubt headlight clearing is unique to this car. You may want to clean them indoors and not risk the car's paint.

Standard advice here is do a complete fluid change to set a maintenance baseline. Engine oil and coolant, brake and clutch fluid, gearbox and differential oil. There are eleventyseven threads of the "best" fluids to use. The owners manual has the information you need. The unique S2000 oil filter should be used.

I don't have a hard top but did note your roof is not retracting all the way. There are elastic straps between a couple of top bows that wear out and need to be periodically replaced. Someone will post a link.

The AP1 engine doesn't have the tight valve problem as the later AP2 engines but some Saturday morning in your garage check the clearances and adjust as necessary. Engine needs to be cold but that won't be a problem in New York. While verifying valve clearances you can check for cracked valve retainers. Those in the AP1 engine are known to crack and eventually drop a valve when the engine is mechanically over-revved when you downshift at speed from 5th to 4th and (Yikes!) engage 2d. Don't do that.

-- Chuck

 

Thanks Chuck! I appreciate you taking the time to write out a detailed response.

Fluids are the first thing I plan to do, although I was just thinking oil, coolant, and brake fluid. I hadn't considered the others at 57k miles, but I'll definitely do them now! I'll search for those fluid threads. (Coming from a WRX, I think I could wallpaper my house with print outs from the thousands of "which oil is best??" threads)

As for the cracked retainers, I was reading up on those, and a lot of threads seemed to suggest that they can fail without any visible signs of cracking, do you think I should just replace them with the AP2 unit for peace of mind? or is it fairly safe to assume that they're not cracking if there are no visible faults? While I'd hate to waste money, it's a part that can result in disaster upon failure, and there seemed to be mixed opinions on them.

Thank you again for helping an S2000 novice!

-Matt

 

Preventive maintenance is the best maintenance and over-kill always works!

Changing the valve retainers is well documented as is the valve clearance check/adjustment. You can get the adjustment tool and bend feeler gauges from Amazon. Ask Santa to put these in your stocking. A buddy and I did the valve clearance check on my '06 and found it all within spec. When we checked his '02 a couple weekends later there were may way out of tolerances so an adjustment is good maintenance regardless of the engine generation. His valve retainers looked good and we left them alone. We were both very new with the S2000 though. We did both install Billman's GenX timing chain tensioner (TCT) at that time. The Honda TCT is a known wear item and replacement with another is still a wear item. The Billman unit seems to be the only reliable replacement part as other non-OEM replacements have resulted in over-tightened valve chains according to notes here.

Hopefully you have a warm garage and can take your time with this over the winter.

-- Chuck