rpg51

Sorry. I couldn't resist.

windhund116

Man! That cam surface looks bad. How's the floor pan? Suspension parts?

zeroptzero

my initial thought was that it was a combination of varnish, sludge and perhaps some rust. Low quality oil not changed for long periods of time, some build-up of condensation etc. Make sure the pcv system is working properly, inspect/change the pcv valve if necessary. The build up of whatever it is won't affect performance or longevity of the parts so I wouldn't change the cams or other parts initially. I would try a clean up process first such as a BG treatment, auto-rx is also a great product that you can use yourself with a treatment regimen, you can see it at their website auto-rx.com , lots of guys at bobistheoilguy.com swear by it. Follow up by running a high quality synthetic and things will clean up over time, you can also try some short runs of high-mileage oils. My engine had some varnish on it when I got my car, I ran some Riselone concentrate in it for a bit, followed up by some short runs of high mileage oils, then constant diet of high quality synthetic and the engine came out spotless. I would try to clean it up if it was mine.

LeoA86

Honestly everything in the car looks great. No body damage, the interior is clean except for the d/s seat material from the cushion releasing debris. The top is in great shape, I don't see rust anywhere on the body of the car except for a few bolts but nothing major. the under carriage is in excellent shape, all the suspension and bushings are intact and in good condition. The exhaust system doesn't have rust considering the age and how Honda's age with rust on the exhaust is quite surprising. The car is in good shape, but still, there is the chance this is a flood car.

LeoA86

Thanks for the input. With that being said, are you saying to manually clean up the build up on the valve train by hand? And then perform a oil additive from bg or auto-rx? A mechanic at the shop who I'm good friends with (20+yrs exp.) said that I should not worry about the build up, just to do frequent oil changes and keep an eye out for odd noises if it ever does occur. He says that this is not a catastrophic failure type of build up. But I'm obviously still concerned because i want to keep the car for a long time. I've been dying to drive and own a s2000 since they came out. And i finally got one, that drives just superb and looks fantastic. But at the same time I want to be cautious be cause i have been and do take it to 9k rpms from time to time while driving.

windhund116

Not sure that cam surface can be cleaned or fixed to a point, where it won't wear quickly, in use. Pretty deep rust. Hardened surface maybe shot.

Billman250

Slowcrash_101

Surface rust, cams are iron, happens when you let the car sit. As said above easily removed, I would go as far as to say leave it be. The roller rockers seem to be intact, and I'm guessing the engine spins freely by hand. When you drained the old oil did you see anything in the oil other just dark dank oil?

zeroptzero

it depends on how much work you want to put into it. You could pull the parts and clean them and reinstall if your up to it, or just chemically clean them and run some short oil change intervals. I think they will eventually clean up over time while using a good high quality synthetic oil, I don't think reliability will suffer either. If it was my car I'd try to clean it up chemically with the parts in place.

rrounds

If you still have the old oil filter cut it open and see whats in it.

ROD