I bought my first S2000 in late February of this year (2014), following months and months of research. I had many plans for an NFR, but when this GPW came along, I fell in love with the white + tan interior. I'm going to use this thread as a way to document the changes, and keep track of the plans I have for this car. Plans change though (and not always for the better), as I have already found out.


The day I bought the car - leaving the previous owners house:


The 200 mile drive back home - dad trying to snap a moving picture:


I bought the car knowing that there were some cosmetic issues that would need to be addressed, but that did not worry me, considering my dad runs a body shop.

Known issues at time of purchase:

• Front bumper repainted (owner tried to say they only painted the faux brake vents. I do know it was likely before he owned it)
• Poorly PDR'd hail repair
• 2 inch rip in top and overall faded top
• Poor hood/trunk fitment - likely because he tried to fit a carbon hood and trunk himself but changed his mind
• Damage to rockers and underside of fenders - appears to have bottomed out on a speed bump?
• Small scratches/Door dings - its an 11 year old car
• Bolster wear and cracking leather on seats - again its 11 years old
• Curb rashed wheels

At the time of purchase, everything was mechanically sound. No abnormal noises. Clutch felt good. It rode rough, but that seems to be the nature of these cars, especially when lowered. I drove the car approximately another 200 miles after getting it home. First things I began starting to do was the usual oil change and further inspections.

Gave it a good wash, and took a few "before" pictures:




My favorite angle of the car - below
Attachment 188988





Aside from noticing every single scratch, and finding so many more that I didn't notice originally, everything with the chassis seemed spot on. The next thing I did was plasti-dip the faux brake vents as a temporary cover up, as the white really ruined the entire look of the car in my opinion. Also adjusted hood and trunk fitment.



Around late March I took it to Import Face Off here in Wichita, just to spectate. Around this time I started noticing a slightly rough idle and had the CEL flash a couple times. Ran the codes and was getting random misfire codes. Parked the car until I found out more. Did a compression and leak down, which appeared to indicate a burnt or bent valve in cylinder #1. Stopped driving it, and began the search for a trustworthy mechanic.

This completely discouraged me, as I have no idea how this happened. I had only went to VTEC less than a handful of times in the 200 miles since getting it home. Over a month later I finally decided to call Fusionworks here in Wichita to have them look at it. They confirmed that it was a burnt/bent valve. I have it scheduled to go into their shop on 5/16/2014 to pull the head and send it to the machine shop.

Plans for fall/winter (whenever the sand/salt starts going on the roads):

• Replace front bumper (OEM - likely going to stay AP1 - fill tag holes)
• Replace front fenders (OEM - bottom/rocker side is likely too damaged for repair)
• Replace hood (OEM - hood is mostly fine, the last body shop kind of jacked around the inside when doing PDR)
• Replace soft top (likely going with a Robbins)
• Replace most/all moldings (hail damaged)
• Repair all dents/poorly repaired hail damage
• Roll fenders (as much as I don't want to, I want some wide wheels/tires)
• Front lip (OEM preferred)
• Respray door jams and entire exterior (GPW, unsure if I want to add a little pearl)
• New wheels and tires (I have plenty of thoughts - SBC RPF1s? CCWs? Some many options..)
  

That is probably all that I will tackle this Winter. After getting all the motor work handled, I will begin purchasing all the parts in preparation for winter. I'm probably missing some things from my list, but I'll add them as I think of them.

 

Good luck Drake, I can see why you are itching to get it back on the road trouble free, I would too!

 

That's the goal for now. After that, it will be kind of a "restoration". They car isn't in terrible condition, but it's not in the condition I want it to be in.

Biggest part of the plan is likely going to be a complete repaint of all the jams and exterior.

 

Good luck with the project....

 

Thanks Jonner.

This weekend's project was just a small one. Pulled the front bumper and headlights to do a headlight restoration. They weren't in terrible shape, but they could use it. Other than getting the car back on the road, the highlights were the only other thing I really wanted to do for summer.




Found more evidence that it had some work done to it. Didn't find any damage, but found that one of the headlight brackets was black instead of white, as well as a few missing bolts/incorrect bolts.




Also found overspray on the bottom sides of the lights. Cleaned that off, and then got ready to do the lights.





The products I'm using. It's a pretty simple kit. (sanding solution = window cleaner).




I have sanded the lights with 600-800-1500-2000 and they are ready to have the renewal coating sprayed on. I should have pictures later. Not getting exactly the result I was hoping for, as it seems that some of the oxidation may be on the inside of the lights, but they still should look a lot better.

 

Congrats on the new car but I'm sorry to hear about the shady body work and mechanical problems so far. Once you get it running again at least you have the help of a paint and body shop you trust to fix the rest, good luck with everything and keep is updated.

 

Thanks. I knew what I was getting into with most of the body work.

Finished this weekends project.

Sanded ready for UV/clear coat:


Applied:



I didn't get pictures of the headlights and bumper reinstalled because it was too dark. Looks much better than before.

 

Updated first post with my initial plans for the next cold season.

 

Should be getting the car back from the shop this week.

It did end up being a burnt exhaust valve. Parts were being ordered last Wednesday. Not sure how long the machine shop was going to take. I would hope they were able to get it done Friday/Today. Having the 3 day weekend sucked as far as that goes. Hoping I get a call tomorrow saying that it's close to being ready.

 

nice headlight restoration they look great!