Hi guys,
I'll be honest, I was a skeptic. I used to be anti-Honda, anti-Japan as a teenager and young man when the S2000 was initially released and it was out of my price range. I thought they looked cool but never considered them serious cars. As I grew older I began to appreciate the cars more and more. I owned a 1G DSM for many years (~350 HP) and was mostly a domestic guy until I settled into a new career (upgrading Porsches), and purchased a Honda Insight (2001) as my daily driver. I loved it.

I put S2000 seats in the car, S2000 steering wheel, and heard the S2000 had a similar electric steering rack, and was made in the same factory. I heard the engine was one of the best ever created, so I watched some Best Motoring and instantly became a fan. I always loved convertibles.

I began researching more and saw recently they dropped under $10,000. So I started looking to buy one. Then I got lucky: I found one with engine problems. It was priced at $5000 (in white, with red interior!) so I immediately emailed them saying I'd give them $5500. They had 150 emails in two hours, and guess who picked up the car?




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Here it was, and no matter what I did nothing got rid of a persistent check engine light. It drove fine, but idled poorly. A leakdown indicated #2 had major loss of pressure. Guessed it was the valves, so I bought a 2nd motor as a core, replaced the head (after checking the other head and replacing the retainers/keepers with AP2), all new Honda OEM hardware and gaskets.










After 100 miles, the valves needed re-adjustment.

before:[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9i2ULQ5d_A [/media]

after:[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qr7kzx_bs8 [/media]

I also put in the Rick's S2K red leather center console and the aluminum shift knob. Next up is a big detailing project. It's got a way to go to be perfect, but I really dig this car. 114k miles and it drives perfect now. 9000 RPMs sure is sweet.

I drive a lot of cool cars for my job (Porsche tuning, 997 GT3, GT3RS, 700+ HP Turbos etc.), but I have more fun every time I drive the S2000. The top always goes down, even if it's 40 degrees outside. I feel privileged to drive such a special car. The motor is fantastic. The transmission / shifter is arguably the best I've felt. The handling is great, the brakes are good, the steering is perfect. What a superb vehicle.

 

Nice job restoring it! Nice color combo by the way, I would have loved to have found a GPW with red interior. Welcome

 

good job. how long did it take to pull the head?

 

clean

 

Thanks guys.

I needed a bunch of tools, and was working in a tightly cramped garage so I had a bit of a job on the head. The hardest parts for me were removing the intake and dealing with the huge front fenders. I think it took me about 8 hours to remove it, considering all the head scratching and shopping trips. It took another 3-4 hours to put it back together. I could probably do the whole job in 5-6 hours now. It wasn't so bad once I learned a few tricks like removing the water neck at the intake, unbolting all the exhaust stuff and removing the intake/heatshields.

 

Seems like a great deal. How many miles are on her?

 

I'm glad that S went to the right owner. Good job restoring the engine! I'm sure with good scrubbing you'll have that thing looking new.

 

Great job with the work to put it back together! I wish I had that talent! Welcome!

 

A lot, 116k. She drives like new though.


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Love the GPW - enjoy!!!