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IntroductionsMake your introductions to the S2000 owner community. Discussions and comments from new and future S2000 owners. You will get a warm welcome, friendly and helpful advice. The 'Start Button' of the forums.
That is such a satisfying project for the day. It is definitely one that allows you to step back and enjoy the fruits of your labor. Not quite the same as changing differential or transmission oil.
Looks great. All I did today was try out some Surf City Garage products. I am loving their barrier reef spray wax. I will be putting a new top on when I decide to get it. My original is so yellow and milky I can barely see out the back. I only have it up if it is unbearably hot since the car sees no bad weather. Definitely getting a glass one.
Thanks for the tip on the headlight restorer for the back window. It cleaned up pretty well. I used the foam applicator and paste on the drill and followed it up with some Meguiars PlastiX cream. Most of the discoloration was on the inside and I could only get in there with a microfiber towel. I still have a faint fold line but it is tons better now.
After. I still need to work on that horizontal line. It seems "etched" so I may not be able to get it any better. Some of that is reflection.
The top is in really good condition with no tears and likely could benefit from a real cleaning and protectant. I just ordered a kit since no auto parts stores around here carry good stuff. Honestly, the top is almost never up so it hasn't bothered me but then I realized it still needs to be treated to prevent drying out. I believe it is the original top but thankfully the previous owner never let it sit in the sun. She had a garage at work if she ever drove it there.
Last week I changed every drop of fluid in the car. The only plans for this week are cleaning the top and installing the Clazzio seat covers. I am not crazy about losing my flow-through headrest but we'll see how this goes. I'm going to take the seats out and do it right. My seats are actually in good shape save for the driver's side bolster wear. A casual person would wonder why I am putting covers on but I am very picky about appearance. I didn't want to go all out and re-skin them. It's tough being picky AND frugal.
OP - you mentioned early on that the soft top on your car was replaced with new oem a couple of years ago, which is really good. But, I must say its hard to understand why they replaced with the the plastic window version. The glass windows are a little smaller, its true, but the maintenance is zero and they hold up very well. This was a big factor in my decision to buy 02 and 03 MY cars. Still that polishing really worked well for IA-SteveB, I am impressed.
The inside of the top on my 02 is faded a little bit. The outside is excellent. I keep it clean and I treat it occasionally. It looks almost brand new.
Do you guys do anything to clean/treat the inside fabric of the top?
Man, you got yourself a real sweetheart....Wish I could've gotten an S2k at that price, I would've been able to do everything I wanted to do with the car with my remaining budget. I was set on white/red but for what you paid and the condition it was in I wouldn't have thought twice of scooping it myself. Admittedly I think your car is in better shape than mine, and mine only has 53k on it, just goes to show what the right owner can do for the car. Awesome work, love the attention to detail, the car clearly passed into the right set of hands for its next owner. Good job man, enjoy it.
When I got mine, I used steam extractor to clean any dust out, and then sealed the inside with the same hydrophobic coating I used on the outside.
Can you rent a steam extractor?
What hydrophobic coating do you use on the top? I've used Raggtopp on the outside. Not cheap. But it seems to work well. Would it be suitable for the inside of top?
That's cool that you have been able to acquire all of the parts you need to get the car where you want to be. That is such satisfying work to do. When I was looking I also knew it would have to be a higher mileage car. I ended up with a REALLY nice and complete car with 81k on it. After selling the OEM hard top, replacing all fluids, brakes and bringing a few things back up to scratch, I am in it for less than 10k. I could have taken longer to look but the ownership history and condition sold me on it right away.
My only remaining plans include a new soft top with glass and a new set of tires late next summer. Neither of these things are immediate needs at all. It just really depends on when I get a wild hair to tackle something new.
I had no need for it at all. I have a sport coupe I can drive if I want to and the point of the S2k was top down all the time. I can turn that cash into a lot of things I do need and I got almost 1/3 the price I paid for the car out of it. It was a no brainer for me.
I sold the hardtop from my 02 for the same reason. But, I did have mixed feelings about it. My 03 has a hardtop too and right now I'm planning to keep it.
07-19-2018, 07:43 AM
