Just Bought My First S2000...Necessary mods?
 

Hi all, I recently bought a 2000 Red S2000 from an old lady down the street from me. She had no idea what she had, she referred to it as her “red convertible” which led me to getting a killer deal on this 38k mike car. The car is meticulous, bone stock and only driven 300 miles the last 5 years. Because of its mint condition, I don’t want to do any performance mods or body mods, in favor of not molesting a mint stock AP1. That said, I’ve read that I should make some minor “necessary” upgrades/mods to the car. My friend told me I should swap out the oil banjos in favor of the AP2 banjos, apparently the AP1 ones are riskier? Any validity to this? I was also told to get the valve retainers adjusted and to ensure they’re not cracked. I’m assuming they are fine, a 70 year old women owned it for the last 14 years and I doubt she was really putting it into VTEC often, but it seems cheap so I’ll likely do it. Other than that, can you guys think of any important upgrades or mods I can do this winter? I plan on buying new tires in the spring. Any input is appreciated. Thanks.

New tires would be great. If you want to do preventative maintenance i'd recommend a Billman's Gen-X TCT. While not everyone get the TCT causing issues, it happens enough that its worth keeping an eye on. Personally i never had issues with mine, however i did the replacement on mine for peace of mind.

Also a lot of people recommend switching out the plastic rear "window" for a glass replacement as it looks better and doesnt get wrinkled or yellow over time.

The retainers only crack if you mechanically overev. That is misshift, like you are near redline and try to upshift, but accidentally downshift, causing the cars momentum and wheel speed to force engine to rev past redline. Obviously rev limiter won't help here, as cutting fuel or ignition wouod not limit engine being forced to rev in this manner.

Its doubtful the little old lady from Pasadena was banging lots of redline shifts. An ap1 at that low miles will not need valave adjustment yet. So really no need to crack it open.

Unless you are going to track the car, the oil banjo bolts should be left alone. They didn't recall in US for a reason. There is simply no way you can drive the car in such a way as to cause issues on US roads (on German autobahn, where yoy can drive at redline in higher gearsfor many miles on end, yeah, they need the banjo bolts. Here, not so much).

I urge you to resist the urge to fix what ain't broke.

I always caution to be careful that your efforts to prevent a problem don't inadvertently cause it. Please reread that that and think about it.

In this case, banjo oil bolts, people have stripped threads trying to do this upgrade, and destroyed their motors. Causing the very outcome they were in all likelihood needlessly trying to prevent.

A surgeon will tell you any surgery involves risk. Its only worth doing if the benefits outweigh the risk. The oio banjo bolts are engine surgery. Minor surgery, but surgery nevertheless.

The risk? You could destroy your motor. Its happened. You could fail to torque things down properly. Its happened. Contamination could occur, its happened.

The benefits? Virtually none if car is street driven in USA.

There are indeed maintenance tasks very much worth doing. There is a very comprehensive thread for new owners that covers everything. Things that come to mind are retorqueing the rear axle nuts and changing all fluids (brake, clutch, trans, diff, oil, filter).

On the subject of filters, onky use the Honda oem filter, abd torque it per day instructions on filter (it looks like a nromal filter, but its not. Resist urge to treat it like every other filter you've ever used. Torque it 7/8 of a turn after gasket contact like it says. You'll need a filter wrench to do this. Hand tight is not enough).

There's nothing that "needs" modding.

And I agree with @Car Analogy , if you ask a good mechanic with the customer in mind about the AP2 banjo bolts, s/he will likely ask you:
- Are you turboing or supercharging the car?
- Are you tracking the car every other weekend?

If you answer "No" to those questions, the good mechanic with the customer in mind will tell you s/he won't be installing AP2 banjo bolts on your car.

You wanted an unmolested car and have one. Don't molest it. Change the fluids, maybe the tires and brakes and call it a day Checking the rear axle nut torque and a valve adjustment would be ideal. If you can get it to Billman for his "Once over service" you'll be satisfied you did the best for your car.
Let me add there are no Necessary mods. Perhaps you have confused these with the most common mods which are in no particular order: intake, lower car on springs or coilovers, wheels and exhaust, Hope this helps.

Happy motoring!
P.S. lol As long as I've been around here I've never heard of anyone having issues with the banjo bolts in their car.

As noted by others the car needs nothing but tires and catching up on the maintenance and preventive maintenance.

Fluids like the hydraulics and coolant should be changed based on time, not mileage, and are probably due now. The information is in your Owners Manual. Engine, gearbox, and differential oils are no doubt due as well.

A valve adjustment won't hurt. You'll need a complete valve cover gasket set including the spark plug holes as these will be fossilized by now. You can inspect the retainers at the same time.

Not sure how far you are from Billman's compound in the Hamptons (Long Island) ;) but this would be ideal and money well spent.

-- Chuck

Congratulations!

If it was me, I would do exactly what Mr. Analogy said, If it is not broke do not fix it. Here is a good link for reading, will answer a bunch of questions and provide a free copy of the service manual. This is also how I found the forum.

S2000.club [Your Honda S2000 Resource]

The forum members for the most part are very helpful and greatly appreciated! I am happy to be associated.

Michael

Modifry
 

Check out some of the Modifry products. The glove box organizer and phone holder are must haves that don't require any modification to the vehicle.

https://modifry.com/index.php?route=...tegory&path=57

Diff fluid, Trans fluid, Oil, OEM filter, tires. Tighten rear axle nuts (Search Axle nut TSB). Battery if it is not good. TCT if it makes noise. I wouldn't worry about the valves on that car too much, especially the retainers. Banjo bolts, I don't have an informed opinion but there are tons of threads on it. I do believe that those 2 things are valid concerns but have been blown out of proportion a bit.

Drive it.