My 2002 Goes All the Way to 9k...

[brandn3w]

So I was blessed enough to be able to get a weekend driver to tinker with and well ok, time for pictures...

Drove ~4h away to bring back this CL find (Post clean/maintanence)


Once home headlight wetsanded clear again, most fluids flushed, valve adjustment, new TCT, remove window tint, etc, etc...it was a lot of fun for me to work on the car and after getting the car into good running condition (easy for a Honda) it was time to enjoy it some...


Weekend trip Dover, Ohio for some wine...


Long weekend trip to Buffalo/Niagra (wish this had a trollface lol)


In between I realized the OEM wheels were pretty sad and bringing down the car...

Example 1)


Example 2)


So I got the great idea to get some aircraft stripper, sand paper, and some polish and turned terrible into...

Still not that great lol


I started losing interest when I realized the faces weren't perfect and the inlays truly needed more aircraft stripping and then I sent this picture to my buddy...


It was at this moment I realized:
1) I may own a hovercar
2) No matter how polished (or even with a cinder block spacer) they'd still be meh 16s
3) ET in ET +67 means your wheels are sunk so hard it's in an ExtraTerresterial black hole...+67 mm more
4) The Titantic and I have one thing in common...we're hellasunk
5) I'll miss the cheap, tire ripping fun and comfort of 16s
6) Form>Function...until your wheels functionally make you sick

So that's where I began my search for some wheels and went through so many pages of set-ups and deciding on CCW classics, then LM5 wait not LM5Ts, RS's are cool..etc, etc you all know the drill. And then I accidentally bought wheels on eBay and the decision was made for me (Make Offer button is a great low-balling tool...except when you wake up to "Congrats! Your offer was accepted!" and then realize, yup...guess I'm running these now. They're (supposedly) shipped and as of now I'm only going to say they're OEM wheels, but I'm pretty excited about them.

I then realized I needed suspension and so far I'm pretty much settled on Fortune Auto 500 series 10k/10k and if anyone has any info PLEASE chime in! I've read tons of threads, and they seem to be decent, but I'm still open to options.

Oh and lastly, I was a little on hold with going through with this build (until the unexpected wheel purchase) since I thought I'd have to drown some money into this...


Ya, =[ it's sucky, but car is practically rolling its fenders for me so I think that's a bonus? I did; however, grab a POR-15 super starter kit and just finished up both sides. I'm hoping it holds it off for a good while and if you've never used it I'd say it's well worth the ~$25 for the kit. Only time will tell, but here is a quick pic of that...


Enjoy the site, builds, and such support to everyone's creativity so thank you all for making a nice gathering place for people to hang out and check out some really cool cars... =]

Oh! And one last picture from my backyard...




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[Dremetos]

came here expecting BMW engine swap.

was very pleased with the alternative.

make it broken.

[DeltaAlpha9]

Damn Honda herpes... My car also suffers from this unwelcome condition.

[Greg|H]

I was also expecting a mad bmw, but I just so happen to love s2000's though so I'm not at all disappointed. Shame about the rust, although its very repairable and the rest of the car looks immaculate. Look forward to seeing it on the new wheels!

[brandn3w]

Ha, ya sorry to disappoint any 2002 fans but my S2000 is an '02 MY so it was an intentional play, ha.

In any event, should be ordering coilovers tomorrow and Fortune Auto takes couple weeks to build I guess...so until then I'll hopefully:

1) Get a new windshield (so pitted wow...)
2) Get fenders rolled (can't rent one anywhere???)
3) See if anyone can guess my wheels until they come in and toss out hints...

They're OEM, not Honda, still 5x114.3, and staggered...begin.

[milano_red]

In for progress!

[brandn3w]

Ordered Fortune Auto 500 coilovers and it'll take a little time to get I guess since they custom build/valve and shock dyno each set before shipping them out, but that's done.

I chipped in up front for a local Euro shop to get a fender roller and just have them roll my fenders so hopefully next week fenders will be rolled.

No guesses towards wheels so next hint:

Made by BBS Italy (+OEM + 5x114.3 +staggered)

[brandn3w]

Next hint:





Then just for all to see:





All together now:




Now, there you have it. I can already tell I have a few stumbling blocks ahead (possibly) first one being my wheel studs are too short. :'( Not sure how difficult they are to press in/out especially now I've moved and have no bearing press, not even a vise. Soooo..tips on pressing new wheel studs?

Oh and for those that can't tell they're Maserati Quattroporte Wheels. Specs are F - 18x8.5 et52 (should fit fine) and R - 18x10.5 et50.5 (slightly worried with camber they'll hit the inner body =X)

Thanks for looking!!!! =D


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[Oh, Word?]

I attempted this with my ap2. If you want to run them contact adaptech and have them make you spacers with extended studs. It's about a $1200 job to have extended studs put in the stock hubs, because you have to completely splits the hubs and once your there you've got to replace the wheel bearings. It's a real pain in the ass. Run a 20-25mm spacer for the front to be flush or slightly poked and a 15mm in the rear. Don't worry about the camber it won't be an issue. If you just through those wheels on they'd sink in a lot so you'll absolutely need a front spacer anyway. With natural camber and a 15mm spacer on the rear you'll poke but not terrible at all a basic roll and you'll be in business.

[brandn3w]

My 2002 Goes All the Way to 9k...

Jeez, ya no ha thanks for the heads up on that...these aren't worth all that.

Well, just realized too now (having owned all Euros last 4 years) that Honda is 12mm and these are 14mm bolt holes and idk how I feel about running 14mm wheels on 12mm studs... Wow I jumped in with both feet so as I saw 114.3 PCD lol...

30 Day return from sender so I may end up just shipping them back at this rate. I knew I'd have some stumbling blocks, but I my original plan were Mercedes alphards and they are 12mm and if you bore center hub on fronts and get wobble nuts they bolt right and they look great, done.

But 5x112 for MB wheels wouldn't I need to bore out the bolt holes anyway to get them to fit 5x114.3 studs and wobble nuts? I've seen a couple S2000s on Alphards so I'm assuming that's what they had to do...Shoulda stuck with CE28s =P

[Oh, Word?]

I bought my maseratis for 600, sold for 850. Bought 17x9 mustang cobra five spokes for 250, spent 280 on tires and was done. Fitment was mint and they bolt right on and the center bore is nearly the same so I got no wobble or anything. I believe they were +25. They fit poked just the lip of the wheel front and were a little more than flush rear all on natural camber but I was brutally slammed, like a little more than a quarter inch pinch weld to ground. If I still owned the car I would have swapped to 18s they fit the wheel wells better and you can actually drive the car everywhere.

[brandn3w]

Thanks, man... Ya these wheels are going to take a lot more work than anticipated (14mm bolt holes, extended lugs, different hub bores, etc) and more work than what they're worth to me aesthetically so I'm just going to close my eyes and take the loss =X

Also, instead of trying to 'find' wheels I like, I'm just going back to my original intentions and looking for a set of CCW Classics. Love the full polished look and after this disheartening screw up I'm not going to 'settle' again for something else...appreciate all the info/interest.

No word on coils being shipped yet...just going to be waiting until then,

[Chasen88]

Coming along nicely.

[brandn3w]

My 2002 Goes All the Way to 9k...

So things have come up and the car has been a non-priority, but figured I'd update with what is going on in the meantime preparing for spring.

I switched directions from large wheels and lowly lows to an OEM+ theme as the car is too well balanced to completely throw off the driving dynamics, plus I enjoy the OEM look and that for an AP1 is getting less common thru the years.

That being said, I've got a new(ER) set of AP1 shocks on the way that will get Ground Control coilover sleeves whenever I order them lol. Stock struts are really awesome and the GCs have same spring rate as OEM AP1 struts, so handling/ride is the same yet stance can be lowered aesthetically at the same time.

OEM Replica rear spoiler/deck lid is on the way and paint matched already

And yesterday we took a trip to VA for some new wheels that I'm really excited about!

OEM AP2V2 Wheels




One wheel was stripped already and my plan was to just scuff the paint and spray them silver...here is one sanded down


Here is one stripped, untouched, sanded...


Then I wanted to see what it'd look like with the faces polished...






And this is why I'm I'm trouble lol because my OEM 16s I polished and never finished painting the windows/inlays because I didn't care much for them I just wanted something less terrible for the time being...

So my question is do I A) strip, Polish, paint windows on the other 3 B) continue as planned and paint the silver C) strip, Polish, clear?

Here are pictures of the windows...




They're raw yet kinda splotchy and idk why...tried polishing them too, but still look uneven...




So need suggestions on how to proceed. I'd rather just paint, but polished look really good, but does anyone have any advice on painting the windows or masking off the polished faces to paint??? Thanks for checking out the progress!


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[brandn3w]

So I don't very much care for aircraft remover, but I must admit it's much easier than sanding it down to bare metal so with that being said...



I stripped them all, ha. I'm a big fan of the polished faces and since the original 1 stripped wheel was in such good condition I went after the other 3.

However, the other rear face was a little scuffed on some of the spokes and so instead of wetsanding them down completely (and having them to do them all since the others are still machine-finish polished) I just wetsanded them with the machine grain. It came out better, but not perfect; however, I couldn't justify completely wetsanding the machine-finish down to smooth...Here is the result:





I'm fairly pleased with the outcome so I spot wetsanded the other couple "problem" areas on the other 2 wheels and I'm just keeping the machine-finish polished look since the others are in great shape.

I bought better/thinner painter's tape which was SO much better for masking the faces off and I highly recommend spending the extra $1 for it, lol.

Next step is to polish the other 2 faces, wash them, then start masking them off for paint =]

Oh! And my awesome wife ordered (with my help of course and hence why I know lol) my Ground Control coilover sleeves tonight! I'm pretty excited and my low(er) mileage AP1 shocks should be on there way too...

Thanks for looking! =]


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