twohoos

So I recently posted a summary of all ten OEM standard & optional S2000 wheel designs, and thought I'd do the same for one of the car's signature features: its spark plug cover.

We in the U.S. are familiar with two versions: "the black one" from the AP1's F20C, and "the gold one" from the AP2's F22C. There are actually two more, though one of them never made it to production. Here's a complete rundown.

1. Honda part number 12331-PCX-000 was fitted to all production S2000s worldwide (i.e. all F20Cs) from launch in 1999 until the car's re-fresh in mid/late 2003. It has a black "crinkle" finish with brushed H logo to the left of the "DOHC VTEC" lettering:


2. Honda part number 12331-PZX-A00 was fitted to all F22Cs worldwide from 2003 through the end of production in 2009. This includes North American model years '04-'09 (the U.S. AP2), and Japanese ABA-AP2 models sold starting in November 2005. This version has a smooth, gold finish, and the H logo is replaced with "HONDA" spelled out in the company's trademark font:


3. Honda part number 12331-PCX-010 was fitted to all F20Cs worldwide starting with the car's re-fresh in mid/late 2003 through the end of production in 2009. This includes all non-U.S. and non-JDM cars, plus the Japanese LA-AP1 and ABA-AP1 models sold after the re-fresh. This version retains the black crinkle finish, but incorporates the "HONDA" lettering:


4. The final version is not available in any parts catalog; the photos below are from early/mid-1999 promotional materials and magazine reviews. (If you ever see one of these, buy it!) Presumably just a few of these pre-production versions were made, and they were fitted to the F20C motors in the company's prototype cars. They feature the black crinkle finish, but the H logo is located to the right of the "DOHC VTEC" letters, and it's oriented toward the front of the car:
JDM RHD prototype:


U.S./Euro LHD prototype


Note the high-gloss finish on the valve and coil covers -- I suspect that was done for photo/auto-show purposes (i.e. not part of manuf. process) since I have other prototype photos which don't show that treatment. In fact, here's a pic of what I believe is the same U.S./Euro NFR prototype:


Here's a couple more pics, just for completeness:






P.S. Sharp-eyed folks will note that those last three prototype pics prove that Mugen and Spoon weren't the first ones to try a snorkel-style intake!

00S2K01S4

Neat. Thanks for sharing.

cenix

very nice indeed. thanks for posting.

i wonder what the reasoning was behind taking away the snorkel/airguide. that's exactly the way it should've been from the factory (last pic on left).

whiteflash

Not entirely true, the OEM header was co-designed with Mugen, not impossible that they had first digs into the under the hood mods

twohoos

^Heh, I suppose that's possible. Come to think of it, seems like those snorkels did start appearing almost as soon as the car was launched...

EriS2k

Nice!

zeroptzero

I want that snorkel, why couldn't they give us one. damn.

I still like the black ap1 coil cover best, I like having the Honda logo on it. I dislike the colour they chose for the gold ap2 covers, looks too feminine looking for my tastes.

ahrmike

bad ass info!

I got the rarest bright-lime-green valve cover...

00S2K01S4

Would love to collect all of them, frame them and hang them on the wall. Someone make a prototype replica please.

xoz

great sharing thanks, will have to look out for the rare prototype version....
I got a GOLD AP2 from the US as they are rare over here and everyone wants them.