All 8 of my intake retainers were cracked - 2 were hairline cracks, several had multiple cracks and two were actually bent slightly. I dodged a bullet - this would be high up on my list of things to check when buying an AP1.

I bought my parts from Majestic Honda - intake side only (retainers and cotters) were less than $50.

Two things that I'd recommend:

1) Buy an extra cotter or two. They are very small and the springs hold a lot of energy. With the tight clearances changing the retainers - it is very easy for the spring compressor to slip off...

2) I'd pull the rockers arms. It doubles the amount of room to work - I changed three with the rocker arms in place, it wasn't very fun. With the rockers removed, it wasn't very much fun either - but it was a *LOT* better! Be careful - the rocker assembly is hundreds of pieces. Four of the end bolts hold it together, but there are still many parts that can slide out. Take your time putting it back in and ensure that all rockers etc... are in the correct orientation.

After you've changed them - take a drive and have a beer (in that order!). I can't believe how close mine were to letting go...

 

Hearing that scares me even more. I guess i gotta do that before i even buy a final drive =(

 

Here is the link to a few of my retainers:

AP1 Retainers

 

did you take it to a shop to have them put the intake side of the retainers on? or is it a kinda DIY job?

 

I did it myself - I'm very much a DIY kind of guy. It wasn't the worst job I've done on a car, but it was towards that end of the scale.

The worst part is that everything is very tight and confined. It was very common for a dropped item to not even make it to the floor! So be as careful as you can NOT to drop anything!

There are quite a few "How To's" on replacing the retainers with the head in-place S2KI.

 

Thank you for good topic.

 

Hey guys,

I ordered the above Ebay link to the retainers. Now I need to order cotters. I am having trouble locating a place where I can order only the cotters.

Can someone please point me in the right direction? Thanks for the good post. I mechanically over-revved at the track last week. Pulled the valve cover and I'm going to replace these as a precautionary measure.

Cheers!

 

Is there some reason you don't just reuse your old cotters?

 

I was under the assumption that the old cotters could not be reused. Regardless, I just order 33 from Majestic.

 

Yes - the cotters are different between the AP1 and AP2 retainers. They have a slightly different profile. If you search - you can find a picture that shows the difference.

If you *do* reuse the old cotters (say if you were installing AP1 retainers instead of changing to AP2 ones), you should keep the cotters in matching pairs.

I ordered my retainers and cotters from Majestic.