My old Honda - NA1 NSX

[hkz286]

I absolutely love the attention to detail you're putting in this, and refurbishing everything! more more more!

A Build worth reading instead of studying! Cheers!

thanks chaps, means a lot

yeah I try and include a least a few mental processes as sometimes it isn't obvious why/how I've done the things I've done.

[244Brick]

A Build worth reading instead of studying! Cheers!

[becausephilchow]

I absolutely love the attention to detail you're putting in this, and refurbishing everything! more more more!

[hkz286]

at little project that made a world of difference was sorting out the key that came with the car




now people refer to this as the "titanium" key, when it just isn't. I have more titanium in the dirt under my fingernails than this key has. It is in fact made out of an alloy called "monel" which is a Nickel-Copper alloy. Its a cool material none the less (I know I'm playing a little fast and loose with the word "cool" but bear with me). In the 60's it was used in the skins of experimental rockets due to the stability at high temperatures and is hugely corrosion resistant.

So anyways, after 25 years it was a bit manky. Considering its about $150 to replace, I decided to refresh this one.

Some polishing, paint and cleaning later and we have this:





Problem was now I'm too scared to scratch it :S so I bought a few crappy plastics ones to use on a day to day basis.



I needed to anyways as the car originally came with 3 keys, the monel one (pretty) a replica of the metal one in black plastic, and the one pictured above (the valet key). I have a propensity to lose things, so I use the plastics ones as they are cheaper to replace :P


a couple of other issues was some of the plastic clips around the engine bay were broken and the props weren't secure. So a few quid later and we have some new ones:







Also the engine hatch release would often not work on really hot days (the plastic would warp and not turn the square shaft to release the hatch) so an extortionate amount of money later and we have a new one from Honda.






its the little things that I find make such a difference with the ownership. Not having to mess around trying to get your hatch open or not having the bonnet props flailing about is such a small thing that makes such a big difference in general feelings towards using the car.

[hkz286]

carrying on with the gauges theme I thought I would share the restoration of my defi gauges.

Now for those that don't know, defi are a subsidiary company for Nippon Seiki, a Japanese company that makes gauges and clusters for lots of large OEM cars and motorbikes, they even made the gauge cluster in the NSX (as in the standard dash clocks). The sensors and gauges are the best quality that I have found in any aftermarket gauge. I've gone through lots and always come back to Defi. Plus its like an OEM+ addition as they are the same brand as stock :P

Anyways, I've had these gauges for about 10 years now through various cars (I bet those who bought autogauge or stri gauges wont be saying similar :P) and anyone who knows these gauges understands that the only failure mode (that is common across the board) is the electrical plug/sockets. The thing is, the plug is fairly difficult to "unplug" from the gauge or link meter. This means they end up getting yanked on with force and then the wires separate from the plug terminals. Boo.

the terminals and plug:



Now there are a few options with this. You can buy new wires from Defi, however outside of japan they are quite expensive (due to shipping, tax, import fees etc.)

If your semi electrically savvy, you can buy new plugs and terminals and repair them. Problem is that you cannot buy the electrical plugs from the standard retailers (rsonline, mouser, digikey etc). I literally spent a year on and off trying to find who makes them and where I can buy them (in all honesty it got the stage where I just enjoyed the treasure hunt and was well beyond practical reasons). Well eventually I found them, found a supplier, and then found the minimum order quantity (10,000). So....balls to that then.

So the next option, which is what I did, is to make entirely new looms out of overspec'd components, costing many times what the replacement parts cost and completely defeating the object of the exercise in the first place.

so first up, box full of bits:



this included,

Teflon coated, mil spec cable
all new water proof connectors for the sensors (retainers, terminals, seals, housings)
all new pugs and sockets for gauges (terminals, seals etc)
techflex expanding cable cover
Raychem glue lined heat shrink

first up was the sensors, new plugs:






seals for terminals:




mate one with t'other:




new retaining plate (yellow bit):



rinse, repeat and boom, good as new:

:

Next is the gauges themselves,


This is the awkward plug on the gauges, they are a real pain:




Whip that out:




New ones in:




Before and After:




New link cables and power cables:








Laying out the new loom with the Teflon coated, silver plated cable:



Plugs etc on:




Running the newly constructed loom in the factory cable clips:




and all in and working (click the below picture):




now, like I said. This whole process was an exercise in pointlessness. It cost a huge amount and functions no better than OEM. I just like to build things, and having never built a wiring loom from these sorts of materials before, I thought the gauges would be a cool project. I've ended up with the most over spec'd wiring loom ever but who can put a price on fun :P

[hkz286]

this thing is a masterpiece! I love all the fine details that are being paid attention to!
Keep up the phenomenal work! And include some more full body shots of that beautiful black NSX

Thanks but I think "masterpiece" is maybe a bit over doing it but thanks for the kind works though much appreciated

A bit out of the order in which I did things, but I thought I would post the next big instalment.

In terms of wheels, a lot of people go with an 18" rear and 17" front combination because the car comes with staggered diameter wheels as standard. As I want to fit bigger brakes up front I need an 18" wheel, and as I would never run a 19" wheel in the rear, I had to go with 18" all round.

As for the wheel, I have always wanted a particular set. Mostly due to the rarity and quality of construction.



they didn't start of this way however, when i got them, they were this colour:




all assembled:




and finally on the car




The wheels of course are Desmond Marquis Promada. A lot like the Regamaster they are famous for but ever so slightly different in how the centre cap is seated (regamasters are flush with no centre cap).

These wheels are sort of special. In the 90's they were produced by a company called Desmond using a particular piece of press tooling in Russia. They had to use the Russian equipment, as at the time, It was the only Forging Press capable of the pressure that was required. From what i can gather, It was used to create railway parts in a former life (details are sketchy so maybe wrong).

They really are a special wheel and as I've wanted a set for a long time, so I sold the Work CR Kai's and purchased these. Problem is that most sets were used for racing cars smaller japanese cars in the 90's (civics etc). This means that most sets are either 15" or 16".

18's are super rare, and if they do come up for sale, they are usually gtr fitment (i.e. non staggered and low offset). I managed to find a set of four in the correct rear fitment I needed (18x9.5 et45R), and managed to find a pair in Seattle that I needed for the front (18x8.5 et30). Now as you can guess, you cant really go super low offset on the NSX. In fact, most people said that my front fitment was far to aggressive and that It would never fit. However if I wanted an 18" in the front, this was the thinnest, weakest offset that was available, so i kind of had no choice :P

The keen eye'd amongst you will notice that the rear offset is designated et45R, the "R" specially means that you get extra space for large brakes (stands for Racing apparently :s).

A few more shots with my brothers Supra (single turbo, 570bhp)

[Loaf31]

this thing is a masterpiece! I love all the fine details that are being paid attention to!
Keep up the phenomenal work! And include some more full body shots of that beautiful black NSX

[hkz286]

as some of you may have noticed i am rocking a silver looking gearknob type thing. Well I've had the gearknob for a few years and it started to look a bit worse for wear.

its a Spoon titanium gearknob (can you tell i have a penchant for titanium), weighs basically nothing and used to look quite pretty.

heres what i started with:




and after some polishing and some heat anodising:






nearly as good as new


and more titanium news.

I was looking around for titanium wheels nuts and was stumbling across a problem. I could buy Porsche, ferrari etc wheels nuts which i would trust, but come with a price tag to match ($1000 plus)

or i could buy aftermarket wheel nuts ($400 ish), but that poses its own set of problems. When you buy material, whether its steel, aluminium, etc you need to know that the specific alloy that your buying (6061, 6082, s275 etc) is what it should be. So when you buy raw material, your issued with whats called a material certificate. This basically is like a receipt, stating the content of the alloy that you are buying. Problem is that in some countries, you can buy the material, have the certificate, and its still not what its supposed to be.

So bearing in mind that wheel nuts are sort of important, and that I would be getting some for my brother as well, I took it upon myself to make some. That way I could pick a material, pick a supplier I trust and then get a machinist I trust to carry out the work.

Now you would think that its fairly simple. Buy some hex bar, chop it up, tap it, bobs your mothers brother :P

Nope. As labour/machines have become cheaper, hex bar has some what fell out of favour (at least in the more exotic materials). So that means i have to start with some bar and then get it machined completely.

test piece:



steel one for comparison:




Well, a butt load of cash later, some really knackered machine tool, and few test pieces, we have these:






the shiny ones are mine, the matt ones are my brothers (different thread pitch)

add some anodising:



now as you can see, the weight savings in isolation are minimal. However, what you have to understand is that most of what i do is an exercise in "why not". Mostly just to see if i can or if its possible.

I ended up with the quality and grade of titanium that is used for the OEM market at a fraction of the price.

Was it worth it financially for weight savings? probably not but its kinda badass none the less :P

[hkz286]

I have mad love for the NSX...looks so awesome !

cheers bud

Awesome build!

thanks, means a lot

Man, the PO did all of the mods I've ever dreamed about if I got my hands on an NSX, minus the blue wheel and cut console. Glad to see what you've done! Love the gauge pods as well.

Here on Stance|Works it's imperative that even though you may disagree with the modifications or the kind of vehicle in question, that you respect the work that has gone into it and try to avoid personal attacks. I myself am guilty of this, but live and learn. It's not in the official rules, but it's something that has been ingrained into the site after some time.

yeah certainly seems that way


The next on the list occurred mostly through happenstance. I was looking after an industrial carpet cleaner (as you do) and decided to give the shag a quick clean.....

for some reason all the 90's Japanese cars I've imported have come with shag pile floor mats :P

weapon of choice:







and this is what came off the floor mats....GAAARosss!



so having been suitably disgusted with the floor mats, i figured whilst i have it, i may as well do the rest of the carpets, so out came the seats:









and the results :S:



whilst the carpets were drying, I thought i would do some re-greasing of the seat mechanism's to make them all smooth and quiet:





when that was done, thought i would take the carpets up and give the floors a good clean and see what i could find:
ewwwwww









and all clean :








All the buried TREASHAA!



This included 13 yen, so in the spirit of the former tv series House, I named the car "13".


and found mismatching seat bolts, so ordered some new from honda and in they went:

[rice4life]

Man, the PO did all of the mods I've ever dreamed about if I got my hands on an NSX, minus the blue wheel and cut console. Glad to see what you've done! Love the gauge pods as well.

Here on Stance|Works it's imperative that even though you may disagree with the modifications or the kind of vehicle in question, that you respect the work that has gone into it and try to avoid personal attacks. I myself am guilty of this, but live and learn. It's not in the official rules, but it's something that has been ingrained into the site after some time.

[white out]

Awesome build!

[MadMax]

I have mad love for the NSX...looks so awesome !

[hkz286]

When I read the title I was expecting an EG with the bumper hanging off but this is quite the surprise. Nice job on the center console. It really looks like it blends nicely with the rest of the interior.

cheers bud

yeah lol thought it would attract less attention with the title. Most non Honda people wouldn't bother to look

anyways, a few details i sort of glossed over on the steering wheel.

like i said i replaced the Nardi with my new Personal Grinta steering wheel

I also had to replace the works bell boss with the shorter version (still works bell) because i also wanted to fit my NRG snap off boss.




I wanted to do something different with the fasteners, so i used some special aircraft fasteners (not strictly in the right application) that are made from titanium and have a flush front:





looks different, especially now they have been heat anodised

[DeltaAlpha9]

When I read the title I was expecting an EG with the bumper hanging off but this is quite the surprise. Nice job on the center console. It really looks like it blends nicely with the rest of the interior.

[hkz286]

By the way! Bitch! I seriously was over that phase longing over an NSX because they already gotten pretty expensive in Germany.

And now what now? I got the hots for it again...

lol well to help ease the pain, here was a shot taken shortly after the above work was done at a cars and coffee meet :P



Moving on I wanted to fit a few more gauges and without the real estate available i had to come up with something.

Most people tend the fit the optional sat nav pod, however its a bit big and cumbersome and doesnt really flow well with the dash:




There are a few japanese companies that produce gauge pods but it replaces your centre vents and are expensive when you factor in shipping, import duty, tax etc however if i lived in japan i would just buy one as they are relative cheap for what you get.

so i decided to make one.

This is what i started with, because the nsx dash is so flat, this lines up quite well.




However there are a few features that need changing. Mostly the duck bill type cover on the top.

bleugh.




That's better, all smooth and radiused.




Also, as with the centre console, i wanted to flush mount the gauges as i think it looks a bit nicer.

In order to do this i needed to thicknen up the front face of the gauge mount.

made up a few of these:




you see what im getting at:




and fitted:




details are somewhat sketch after this for some reason, maybe i forgot to bring my camera? anyways it ended up like this:



Right before you say it, i know the wire coming out the side is not ideal. But ill be damned if I'm going to drill a hole in my dash just for some aftermarket gauges. Its run out of site after the dash so there is only an inch or so showing, plus its installed with a grommet and techflex so it looks neat. Everything's a compromise right?

and here they are starting up

http://vidmg.photobucket.com/albums/v311/6453/NSX/Gauges/20160506_200505_zpsyem1jzps.mp4

and some interior shots with the new wheel etc