I am planning on going to Togue Fest in the fall if it is able to continue. I usually go every year to meet up with friends that have spread across the country. It is usually a good time with the group.

 

@RickyAyo I'm a strong believer in preventive maintenance. The Honda TCA is an infamous "wear item" and it will need replacement. Just as soon as you can PM Billman and order his timing chain tensioner (TCT) -- it's the gold standard. This is a 15 minute job and part of that time is finding the 10mm wrench.

It's always a bit funny that many of the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" crowd changes their fluids much earlier than necessary and dumps "not broke" oil and filters in the trash. Preventive maintenance is the key to stuff not being "broke."

Valve adjustment is dirt simple and you can get the bent feeler gauges and tool on Amazon for maybe $35. Amazingly simple and amazingly tedious! Engine needs to be cold.

-- Chuck

 

I fall in the category of don't wait for it to break if you can. I will definitely be getting ahold of Billman just to be safe. I'm going to have to do more research on the valve adjustment job and see if I'm comfortable with it.

 

"Comfort" is not a word that can be used with the S2000 valve adjustment. Your back will be killing you after an hour under the hood. I found raising the car a foot or so on a lift or jack stands made it much less of a strain as does opening the hood to the secret 90° open position. Good light is mandatory. Find the photo essay in the library (Rob Robinette?) Better illustrations than the Service Manual but the same directions.

-- Chuck

 

Haha I can tell you I won't be comfortable with any aspect. I just got lost on Robs website reading everything. That looks like a job I can handle but I'm going to have my friend babysit me since he builds race motors for a living and can bail me out if needed. I'm really enjoying how user friendly this car is, I was dreading a bunch of this work ( I owned 3 BMWs before this) but Honda seems to have made everything very accessible.

 

Honda motorcycle mechanic would also be a good choice. The 4-cylinder bikes look like small S2000s under the valve cover. The valves tighten in use so you're more likely to find tight valves than loose. Setting the valves to the Max spec is the recommendation.

-- Chuck

 

Wow that's a beautiful car! Those seats look perfect for a car with 33k mi. There are some cars with worn out driver side bolsters and collapsed seat cushions with less mileage than yours. And that OEM front lip is a big big bonus. CONGRATS!!!

 

Oh wow I didn't even think about a bike mechanic for the valves, I used to track a cbr600rr. I'm going to reach out to my old shop and see if this is something they would be interested in.

Thank you, this is a very good example with everything in good shape and all original. It took a long time to find this vehicle with the options I wanted, I'm still in the market for the oem hardtop. I'm actually considering getting some aftermarket seats to preserve these OEM ones while I drive it.

 

I bought my current ap1 (my 2nd) after a long search like you describe. It was/is in very similar condition to yours, (nearly perfect condition with 16K miles), but mostly it was a one owner car and the guy was all grown up and he took very good care of it, and #2, it was exactly the car I wanted to have in every respect. It came with the OEM hardtop. My first S2k came with one as well. What I find is that while it is a nice thing to have, I literally never use it. It just hangs in the rafters in my garage taking up space. I think about selling it, but I resist. Even though I don't use it now, the day may come when I will enjoy it more and I would hate to have to go out and find another one. They are not cheap items and its next to impossible to ship them.

 

I figured I would be traveling for one if I can find it. I would honestly just road trip out to the seller or fly out and do a 1 way suv rental back with it since I wouldn't trust it not to get damaged otherwise. I'm not too pressed on it honestly but if one pops up I will consider it for sure. I love these car, just walking by it in the garage makes me smile.