DaveUK

I've just got back from a nice drive around the countryside. I removed the airbox lid, and the sound from doing that is perfect for me. Turns out the PRM did make a sound difference before VTEC, and with the OEM lid removed it has a nice deep roar. Then in VTEC the roar gets only slightly louder which is what I want. It also seems to improve the sound of the exhaust? maybe that's just in my mind, or maybe the two sounds mixed together is what sounds so good.

All in all I think I've created my perfect sounding S2000. I don't want to drive around with no airbox lid though, so I'll do a little research to find out if the K&N sounds the same.

I created a short video of just the PRM (oem exhaust) hitting VTEC a while ago:
[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuyKs6rAXuA[/media]

There is quite a major sound difference when VTEC kicks in.

Shift before 3K? no way! I rarely shift into 3rd at 30mph. Only if I can see I'll be doing 30 for a while. I like high revs .

Besides, Honda manual says to shift into 2nd at 15mph, 3rd at 25, 4th at 40, 5th 47, 6 at 52. That gives the best fuel economy apparently.

SammyPT

I bought mine without the lid. I think it sucks hot air and it's no good (?) so I shaved the inside, got a lid, a K&N filter and a snorkel.

It felt much much better, plus it was cheap, but someone might be able to tell if there are any differences at all.


Make a vid with the J's exhaust!

DaveUK

Your wish is my command!

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZJDlZKOiyU[/media]

AlexGJ248

Great video!

DaveUK

Thanks

I think the first flyby could have been better but I had to brake for a corner just at the wrong time.

DaveUK

I've done a few things over the past few months.

I had a sticking rear left caliper, so I refurbed all 4. I cleaned up my spare set with a dremel which took ages! Like 4, 5 maybe 6 hours per caliper! The seals were a bit awkward, but once I got the knack it was OK. I sprayed them with black rust proof paint, then shiny metallic silver, then a blue tinted clear coat, then a clear coat. Baked them in my mum's oven haha. It was new so she didn't mind the smell.

Then just this past week I painted my rocker cover and did my valve clearances. They were all too tight. They were done 5000 or so miles ago by a garage for the previous owner, but I didn't trust that they were done properly, and I was right! That's why I do all my servicing myself. I'm not giving money to some idiot for effort. It's not school anymore. Anyway, I went to Goodwood breakfast club today, did ~100 miles of fun driving, not giving two hoots about fuel economy, and I've used quite a bit less than half a tank! before I did the valve clearances, I'd need a refill at 180. 200 miles was really pushing it. I think I just saved myself about £5 a week! Now I understand how people can get 220 miles to a tank. Before, I was convinced that you must have been driving like absolute grannies!

Oh yeah, when bolting down my rocker cover, I stripped the head off a bolt. I was using a torque wrench, but it goes up to 80NM, so down low it clearly isn't at all accurate (as the internet has already told me). I decided to get 5 new bolts from Honda so they look nice. All new seals as well. Second time around I tightened them by feel, and it's pretty obvious when they're tight enough. Lesson learned.

I wanted to do a European tour this year, but I'm going to do a UK road trip instead as a practice. I've planned my route including petrol and food stops. I've also got a lot of stops for caves and waterfalls and stuff. I just need to complete my hostel stops. It's going to be about 2300 miles in total. If all goes well, I might be able to do the Europe road trip late August early September. It will depend on work. If anyone's interested in a decent website for route planning, I found this: https://www.myrouteapp.com. I was using Google My Maps, but then I realised, while you can get it up on your phone, you can't navigate on your pre planned route. So I tried HERE maps. Same problem. Tomtom Maps. SAME! This website has been fantastically useful for me.

You may have seen in the tyre thread that I've been debating which tyres to get for a while now. I ended up going the sensible route and getting AD08Rs. The F rating for wet on the federals was just too poor, so I took dan's advice and went with the B rated Yokos. My fronts have arrived, just waiting for my rears. I'll have a decent couple of front Bridgestone OEM MZ tyres in the for sale section once my new tyres go on. My rears also have good tread, but they're 235 width and they're maxxis MA-Z1 victra. They seem OK in the dry, but wet they're not great. I'm looking forward to the new tyres. I'm hoping it will make the car more planted. It's also nice to know there's a bit more margin for error

I'm not good at taking photos. I'll go outside now and do it.

Almost forgot. I undersealed behind the front bumper recently as well. I undersealed underneath and behind rear bumper last year. Where the underseal had worn away in high impact areas, I sprayed some stonechip so hopefully that's more resilient.

Photo time!
[attachment=94217:IMG_20160501_161144830.jpg]
[attachment=94218:IMG_20160501_161051930.jpg]
[attachment=94219:IMG_20160501_161038974.jpg]

I didn't paint the coil cover, but I did clean it and sand the letters. I'm too cheap to buy a whole can for such a small piece!

I forgot to say. When painting the rocker cover, I used VHT primer engine enamel. Hopefully that adds some longevity to my paint job.

harryhendo

Need to get the coil cover sorted now paint it like the RC and file the letters down to remover the paint, looks perfect! Get that rusty vtec solenoid away too ! Haha! Good to see it getting some love!

DaveUK

So...I had my car on the road for about a week. Busted my back in the gym so left early and had some time to kill so I went for a drive through the countryside to cheer myself up.

My clutch broke . It wouldn't disengage. At least I could get home though.

My back was worse the next day so I couldn't get under my car to have a look. A week later I was mobile enough to go under, so I had a look through the fork hole and my throwout bearing had sheared. I was tempted to just buy a throwout bearing and not a whole new clutch, but I didn't want to take off the gearbox more than absolutely necessary, so I bought a new clutch kit, and then to make it seem a bit worthwhile I got a lightweight flywheel. I ordered everything, went away on holiday, and came back to everything I needed.

When I took off the gearbox, I wondered what these strands of threads were. Then I realised the pressure plate prongs were at an angle. Odd. Took off the pressure plate, and my friction disc had a chunk of friction material missing, and quite a few fractures in the frame. That explains the very occasional extreme juddering when setting off (not heatsoak, bogging, nothing like that. I mean EXTREME). Thank god I got the whole kit and not just the throwout bearing. I knew the previous owner got a new clutch installed that he bought second hand off ebay. Good condition in terms of material left, but maybe has been dropped or bashed at some point.

I managed to damage my new pilot bearing with a soft piece of wood when installing in the flywheel, so I bought another off Tegiwa. Next day arrived a pilot bearing for a civic type R. They said they'd send the correct part out that same day (a Thursday). The following Tuesday I email asking where it is (huge amount of patience I know!), no reply. Wednesday I email telling them to cancel my order. They email back saying they sent it out the day before. WTF? It was sent out Thursday wans't it? Apparently it wasn't in stock on Thursday. How? I bought it when it was in stock, so the item they should have sent to me was effectively reserved for me. On top of that failure, they didn't think of telling me I'll have to wait until Tuesday before they send it to me? I'm pissed off at this point. Thursday still no pilot bearing. I email them telling them, and asking what postage method they used because RM24 is next working day. They tell me they only have an RM24 acount with Royal Mail, so they sent it out using RM24. It arrives on Saturday (yes, 10 days after I ordered an in stock item with 1-2 days delivery). guess what postage method they used? 1st class signed for. Tegiwa are good when they don't make mistakes, but twice now, for me, their aftersales has been awful. They also seem to expect me to send them back the civic type R bearing at my cost? wtf? I've even asked them for a postage label, but nothing.

Anyway. Small rant over. Sorry.

Then I got the noro virus so didn't feel like finishing off the job, so I left it for a bit, and now today I finished it. Except, yesterday evening, I noticed my rear right shock is leaking . It's funny because when my clutch broke I said to myself what next is going to break. Turns out the car was one step ahead. I gave ohlins a serious think, but the cost of them, plus the cost of properly setting them up is just too high for me at the moment. I've decided to be mature. For now. Plus I'm happy with the OEM ride and height etc. A bit lower would look better, but it's too bumpy and hilly where I live. Plus, I'm inside the car, so what the outside looks like is less important to me. If anyone has any 2005 rear shocks, let me know please. I have a thread in the wanted section too.

Oh yeah, while my car was up on jack stands I got my new tyres fitted. It turns out there are no 245/40R17 AD08Rs in the country (apparently anyway). The people I got them from (4x4tyres) had to get them from a foreign partner, and they increased the price, so I got lucky there. I can't comment on the handling yet, but they look nice .

My road trip was supposed to start on Monday (2 days ago), so my clutch has messed that up. Better than it breaking half way round though. I just need to bed everything in now which is going to be boring. I like the new flywheel though. Makes the car sound sportier. I won't be able to fully test it until I've bedded in the clutch, but so far so good. It's not easier to stall imo. Maybe it's because I have a new non--up clutch, but it seems much harder to stall.

Define198

Did you do the clutch on Axel stands? and if so just how hard was it? did you use 4 stands or just two?

DaveUK

Yeah I did it on axle stands. I used four and got them as high as I could, which is 40 cm I think for mine. I wouldn't say it was hard, but it took me a while. The hardest part was finding the top starter bolt. I just could not see it or feel it. Then my strip lamp arrived, I stuffed it up into the engine, and there it was! Once I could see it it was easy.

Actually, the hardest part was undoing the flywheel bolts. Luckily there was a builder nearby who reached in and pulled on the bar while I pushed and they all came undone. In my squashed position, I don't think I could have done that part on my own.

Also, you need to be quite flexible to get eye level to check that the clutch is correctly aligned for the shaft. I used an alignment tool and it still wasn't aligned properly first time. Perhaps if greatave your legs under the engine and sit up it would be easier, but I didn't think of doing that at the time.

I came across zero stuck bolts which made it a lot easier. Last time (gearbox change, not clutch change) my friend had to sort a few bolts out for me. He helped me through the whole thing last time which was great, but this time I was on my own. If I had to deal with majorly rusted and stuck bolts, then I probably wouldn't have been able to do it tbh.