1994 NSX #41
09-19-2018, 03:46 PM
#127
Honda-Tech Member
Re: 1994 NSX #41
MotorMouth93 - any cure for static volume **** on oem radio ?.. i been living with it for years, even with the slightest touch, omg, the static noise bout crack my speakers.. but after may 20 mins, static noise lessen.. i spray with those electro spray and did help for a bit, but didn't fix it tho.
10-17-2018, 12:04 PM
#128
Re: 1994 NSX #41
@droopy128 Mine has lots of static in the volume **** too, I've heard that taking it apart and spraying contact cleaner directly into the potentiometer can fix it but I haven't tried it yet. I'll report back once I do.
I started on the LMA job over the weekend, and when it came time to pull the rocker shafts out, disaster struck. One of the 10mm allen key rocker shaft bolts was pretty stuck from not being touched in 25 years and rounded out, space is tight and I didn't want to risk damage to the cylinder head so the engine is going to have to come out. I'm probably going to break from tradition and pay someone else to do it since I don't have the equipment needed to lift the car off of the motor and pulling it out the top isn't an option, and since the clutch is original and has over 100k miles on it and is starting to chatter a bit. I'll just have that replaced along with a few other things that are much easier with the engine out and knock out a bunch of stuff at once like all the water hoses, various gaskets, etc. It will be pricey but I'd have to do it sooner or later, so might as well now.
I started on the LMA job over the weekend, and when it came time to pull the rocker shafts out, disaster struck. One of the 10mm allen key rocker shaft bolts was pretty stuck from not being touched in 25 years and rounded out, space is tight and I didn't want to risk damage to the cylinder head so the engine is going to have to come out. I'm probably going to break from tradition and pay someone else to do it since I don't have the equipment needed to lift the car off of the motor and pulling it out the top isn't an option, and since the clutch is original and has over 100k miles on it and is starting to chatter a bit. I'll just have that replaced along with a few other things that are much easier with the engine out and knock out a bunch of stuff at once like all the water hoses, various gaskets, etc. It will be pricey but I'd have to do it sooner or later, so might as well now.
10-18-2018, 05:27 AM
#129
Re: 1994 NSX #41
@droopy128 Mine has lots of static in the volume **** too, I've heard that taking it apart and spraying contact cleaner directly into the potentiometer can fix it but I haven't tried it yet. I'll report back once I do.
I started on the LMA job over the weekend, and when it came time to pull the rocker shafts out, disaster struck. One of the 10mm allen key rocker shaft bolts was pretty stuck from not being touched in 25 years and rounded out, space is tight and I didn't want to risk damage to the cylinder head so the engine is going to have to come out. I'm probably going to break from tradition and pay someone else to do it since I don't have the equipment needed to lift the car off of the motor and pulling it out the top isn't an option, and since the clutch is original and has over 100k miles on it and is starting to chatter a bit. I'll just have that replaced along with a few other things that are much easier with the engine out and knock out a bunch of stuff at once like all the water hoses, various gaskets, etc. It will be pricey but I'd have to do it sooner or later, so might as well now.
I started on the LMA job over the weekend, and when it came time to pull the rocker shafts out, disaster struck. One of the 10mm allen key rocker shaft bolts was pretty stuck from not being touched in 25 years and rounded out, space is tight and I didn't want to risk damage to the cylinder head so the engine is going to have to come out. I'm probably going to break from tradition and pay someone else to do it since I don't have the equipment needed to lift the car off of the motor and pulling it out the top isn't an option, and since the clutch is original and has over 100k miles on it and is starting to chatter a bit. I'll just have that replaced along with a few other things that are much easier with the engine out and knock out a bunch of stuff at once like all the water hoses, various gaskets, etc. It will be pricey but I'd have to do it sooner or later, so might as well now.
10-20-2018, 08:43 PM
#130
Re: 1994 NSX #41
A) Great thread, I've just skimmed most of it. I was actually living in Northern CO when you bought your car and made it to a couple of C&C events at the Vault and places.
B) Bummer on the rocker shaft bolt. I've heard at least one quasi-legend of an NSX tech talk about deliberately working on certain parts of the car with the engine "hot" (basically they're quick enough they can drive the car up to operating temp and then get things torn down far enough before it cools much) explicitly to avoid this type of thing. I am not that quick either, lol.
C) Regarding your clutch. If you don't have any power adder (SC/TT), then it's pretty broadly agreed that the OEM twin plate is best. There are some comparably priced alternatives, but one of them chatters, one of them makes the pedal heavy, and one of them requires some weird helper system to work without making the pedal heavy. I put ~10 years, ~60k miles, ~60 track days, and a very big number of autocross launches on an OE clutch and it still had ~30% life left when I replaced it during another engine-out job.
D) When you do the coolant hoses, check out A.S. motorsports. They now make the 8 or so main hoses in silicone (available in black if you want to keep oe look) so less worries about them exploding (which they are prone to....ask me how I know). No affiliation, just learned about the offering at NSXPO.
Good luck!
-fellow owner of a black NSX...and yeah, so many swirl marks
B) Bummer on the rocker shaft bolt. I've heard at least one quasi-legend of an NSX tech talk about deliberately working on certain parts of the car with the engine "hot" (basically they're quick enough they can drive the car up to operating temp and then get things torn down far enough before it cools much) explicitly to avoid this type of thing. I am not that quick either, lol.
C) Regarding your clutch. If you don't have any power adder (SC/TT), then it's pretty broadly agreed that the OEM twin plate is best. There are some comparably priced alternatives, but one of them chatters, one of them makes the pedal heavy, and one of them requires some weird helper system to work without making the pedal heavy. I put ~10 years, ~60k miles, ~60 track days, and a very big number of autocross launches on an OE clutch and it still had ~30% life left when I replaced it during another engine-out job.
D) When you do the coolant hoses, check out A.S. motorsports. They now make the 8 or so main hoses in silicone (available in black if you want to keep oe look) so less worries about them exploding (which they are prone to....ask me how I know). No affiliation, just learned about the offering at NSXPO.
Good luck!
-fellow owner of a black NSX...and yeah, so many swirl marks
10-22-2018, 12:20 AM
#131
Re: 1994 NSX #41
A) Great thread, I've just skimmed most of it. I was actually living in Northern CO when you bought your car and made it to a couple of C&C events at the Vault and places.
B) Bummer on the rocker shaft bolt. I've heard at least one quasi-legend of an NSX tech talk about deliberately working on certain parts of the car with the engine "hot" (basically they're quick enough they can drive the car up to operating temp and then get things torn down far enough before it cools much) explicitly to avoid this type of thing. I am not that quick either, lol.
C) Regarding your clutch. If you don't have any power adder (SC/TT), then it's pretty broadly agreed that the OEM twin plate is best. There are some comparably priced alternatives, but one of them chatters, one of them makes the pedal heavy, and one of them requires some weird helper system to work without making the pedal heavy. I put ~10 years, ~60k miles, ~60 track days, and a very big number of autocross launches on an OE clutch and it still had ~30% life left when I replaced it during another engine-out job.
D) When you do the coolant hoses, check out A.S. motorsports. They now make the 8 or so main hoses in silicone (available in black if you want to keep oe look) so less worries about them exploding (which they are prone to....ask me how I know). No affiliation, just learned about the offering at NSXPO.
Good luck!
-fellow owner of a black NSX...and yeah, so many swirl marks
B) Bummer on the rocker shaft bolt. I've heard at least one quasi-legend of an NSX tech talk about deliberately working on certain parts of the car with the engine "hot" (basically they're quick enough they can drive the car up to operating temp and then get things torn down far enough before it cools much) explicitly to avoid this type of thing. I am not that quick either, lol.
C) Regarding your clutch. If you don't have any power adder (SC/TT), then it's pretty broadly agreed that the OEM twin plate is best. There are some comparably priced alternatives, but one of them chatters, one of them makes the pedal heavy, and one of them requires some weird helper system to work without making the pedal heavy. I put ~10 years, ~60k miles, ~60 track days, and a very big number of autocross launches on an OE clutch and it still had ~30% life left when I replaced it during another engine-out job.
D) When you do the coolant hoses, check out A.S. motorsports. They now make the 8 or so main hoses in silicone (available in black if you want to keep oe look) so less worries about them exploding (which they are prone to....ask me how I know). No affiliation, just learned about the offering at NSXPO.
Good luck!
-fellow owner of a black NSX...and yeah, so many swirl marks
I actually already ordered a factory clutch kit so I’m glad to hear positive things about it. I also ordered factory coolant hoses so it’s a bit late for silicone unfortunately. The factory hoses have lasted 25 years/100k miles so far though so I’m not super worried.
11-27-2018, 02:07 PM
#132
Re: 1994 NSX #41
Got the car back from the shop, it did not go well. When I got it back the (brand new) valve cover gaskets leaked oil due to poor installation, radiator leaked coolant, and way too much Hondabond was used. This was at an Acura dealership with a good reputation for NSX service. Oh well, a few hours of my time later and everything seems to be as it should be again.
Anyways.
After taking my headlights apart in July expecting a quick week or two project, I finally finished my HID retrofit 4 months later.
The most time consuming part of this was the wiring. At first I was just going to tweak the factory headlight harnesses a bit and install the ballasts behind the light assemblies. That didn't end up working out though because the factory wiring is old and fairly high resistance, and the ballasts wouldn't reliably ignite the bulbs using that setup. I bought the OrganizedGarageStatus kit that included the Morimoto projectors, projector brackets, and clear lenses.
The ballasts I'm using are the tried and true Hella gen 3 found in many many cars over the past 20ish years. They're easy to find, relatively cheap, 100% weatherproof, and very reliable. They typically come with D2S connectors but I cut them off and soldered on AMP connectors to run them with the Morimoto H1 bulbs, then sealed the connection using adhesive-lined heat shrink tubing. This is the first iteration with very short wires, along the way I redid the solders with longer wires when I changed the ballast mounting position.
This was my first ballast mounting solution: zip ties. I wasn't happy with this either, which was another factor in my scrapping of this method.
First headlight wire harness, it was a modified factory harness.
I didn't like it so I made my own from scratch after sourcing the factory plug components, but the 9005 plugs I bought didn't fit in the NSX housing so these were scrapped too, and I ended up reusing the original NSX plugs.
Unfortunately I don't have pictures of the final headlight harness, but rather than a 9006 plug coming out the back for the ballast, it had a smaller waterproof connector that goes to a relay that controls the ballast. I made these (not particularly pretty) ballast and relay brackets from aluminum.
Passenger side mounted.
Driver side mounted.
Everything wired up. I didn't want to drill anything or poke holes in grommets so I ran the ballast turn-on signal and the HID bulb wires in front of the headlight weather seal, then zip-tied it to the factory harness that allows the lights to go up and down, then finally into the connectors at the back of the lights.
(I forgot to upload the picture here I'll do it in a little while)
To align the lights, I built this rudimentary jig to hold the lights perfectly horizontal while I set the alignment of the HID projects and high beam projectors.
Test wiring setup: the car battery with a 9006 and 9005 plug.
Headlights installed.
The output is absolutely amazing, it blows away any of the drop in HID solutions, like absolutely no comparison whatsoever. The OrganizedGarageStatus clear lenses, while pricey, make a huge difference as well, the factory glass lenses distort the output too much and lose clarity as they chip over time.
Anyways.
After taking my headlights apart in July expecting a quick week or two project, I finally finished my HID retrofit 4 months later.
The most time consuming part of this was the wiring. At first I was just going to tweak the factory headlight harnesses a bit and install the ballasts behind the light assemblies. That didn't end up working out though because the factory wiring is old and fairly high resistance, and the ballasts wouldn't reliably ignite the bulbs using that setup. I bought the OrganizedGarageStatus kit that included the Morimoto projectors, projector brackets, and clear lenses.
The ballasts I'm using are the tried and true Hella gen 3 found in many many cars over the past 20ish years. They're easy to find, relatively cheap, 100% weatherproof, and very reliable. They typically come with D2S connectors but I cut them off and soldered on AMP connectors to run them with the Morimoto H1 bulbs, then sealed the connection using adhesive-lined heat shrink tubing. This is the first iteration with very short wires, along the way I redid the solders with longer wires when I changed the ballast mounting position.
This was my first ballast mounting solution: zip ties. I wasn't happy with this either, which was another factor in my scrapping of this method.
First headlight wire harness, it was a modified factory harness.
I didn't like it so I made my own from scratch after sourcing the factory plug components, but the 9005 plugs I bought didn't fit in the NSX housing so these were scrapped too, and I ended up reusing the original NSX plugs.
Unfortunately I don't have pictures of the final headlight harness, but rather than a 9006 plug coming out the back for the ballast, it had a smaller waterproof connector that goes to a relay that controls the ballast. I made these (not particularly pretty) ballast and relay brackets from aluminum.
Passenger side mounted.
Driver side mounted.
Everything wired up. I didn't want to drill anything or poke holes in grommets so I ran the ballast turn-on signal and the HID bulb wires in front of the headlight weather seal, then zip-tied it to the factory harness that allows the lights to go up and down, then finally into the connectors at the back of the lights.
(I forgot to upload the picture here I'll do it in a little while)
To align the lights, I built this rudimentary jig to hold the lights perfectly horizontal while I set the alignment of the HID projects and high beam projectors.
Test wiring setup: the car battery with a 9006 and 9005 plug.
Headlights installed.
The output is absolutely amazing, it blows away any of the drop in HID solutions, like absolutely no comparison whatsoever. The OrganizedGarageStatus clear lenses, while pricey, make a huge difference as well, the factory glass lenses distort the output too much and lose clarity as they chip over time.
11-27-2018, 02:34 PM
#133
Honda-Tech Member
Re: 1994 NSX #41
Got the car back from the shop, it did not go well. When I got it back the (brand new) valve cover gaskets leaked oil due to poor installation, radiator leaked coolant, and way too much Hondabond was used. This was at an Acura dealership with a good reputation for NSX service. Oh well, a few hours of my time later and everything seems to be as it should be again.
And yet again MM your attention to detail and passing on of knowledge is a welcome pleasure to read.
And one reason why I like old style forums for this kinda thing. Arsebook is OK, but in car pages, it usually boils down to "check out pictures of my **** hot car", or "check out pictures of my **** hot car/parts I'm trying to sell"
12-04-2018, 06:37 PM
#136
Re: 1994 NSX #41
Yeah the Morimoto projectors are really nice for the price, the Mini H1s are absolutely tiny too, you could almost fit them into fog lights.
Anyways, here's the forgotten picture of the HID wiring. Strangely enough this is the part I'm most proud of and probably the most time consuming part. I wasn't happy with any of the existing HID wiring diagrams or methods I found for this car so I started from scratch, but maybe this can save someone else some time in the future.
From the battery terminals both 12 gauge wires run up to the fuse block (bolted where the spare tire holder used to attach) which houses a 40A fuse, I might be able to lower it to a 30 or 25 but I haven't gotten around to trying it yet.
From there they split off into 16 gauge segments running around each side to the relays mounted next to the ballasts.
From each relay there is a short bit of wire connecting to the ballasts.
The ballasts have ignitors built in so the wires run around the front of the head light weather stripping and back into the bucket and up into the folding portion alongside the factory wiring.
The custom headlight harnesses split the high beam signal into two, one going to the bi-xenon projector high beam solenoid and the other going to the factory halogen high beam projectors. The low beam signal doesn't go into the light housing at all, and instead plugs into the relay coil wires which go back around the weather stripping and back to the relay.
The Morimoto H1 bulbs have AMP connectors and a built in rubber grommet on the wires, so I just drilled the appropriate sized hole in the headlight housing cap, ran the wires through, and put the grommet in place.
The wires going from the battery to the ballasts are sheathed in regular wire loom, while the wires from the ballasts into the buckets use braided nylon sheathing for better flexibility and because it just look good.
Also the car is filthy, I can't wait to get the 540 out of the garage (motor swap in progress :/ ...) so I can give the NSX a full detailing again. I also have a new radiator and mounting grommets on the way since the top seal on mine is seeping a bit.
Anyways, here's the forgotten picture of the HID wiring. Strangely enough this is the part I'm most proud of and probably the most time consuming part. I wasn't happy with any of the existing HID wiring diagrams or methods I found for this car so I started from scratch, but maybe this can save someone else some time in the future.
From the battery terminals both 12 gauge wires run up to the fuse block (bolted where the spare tire holder used to attach) which houses a 40A fuse, I might be able to lower it to a 30 or 25 but I haven't gotten around to trying it yet.
From there they split off into 16 gauge segments running around each side to the relays mounted next to the ballasts.
From each relay there is a short bit of wire connecting to the ballasts.
The ballasts have ignitors built in so the wires run around the front of the head light weather stripping and back into the bucket and up into the folding portion alongside the factory wiring.
The custom headlight harnesses split the high beam signal into two, one going to the bi-xenon projector high beam solenoid and the other going to the factory halogen high beam projectors. The low beam signal doesn't go into the light housing at all, and instead plugs into the relay coil wires which go back around the weather stripping and back to the relay.
The Morimoto H1 bulbs have AMP connectors and a built in rubber grommet on the wires, so I just drilled the appropriate sized hole in the headlight housing cap, ran the wires through, and put the grommet in place.
The wires going from the battery to the ballasts are sheathed in regular wire loom, while the wires from the ballasts into the buckets use braided nylon sheathing for better flexibility and because it just look good.
Also the car is filthy, I can't wait to get the 540 out of the garage (motor swap in progress :/ ...) so I can give the NSX a full detailing again. I also have a new radiator and mounting grommets on the way since the top seal on mine is seeping a bit.
12-04-2018, 08:54 PM
#137
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Re: 1994 NSX #41
Sounds like you built the exact same harness I did for my Integra retrofit almost 15 years ago. I'm also using Philips LVQ-212 ballasts which I believe are identical to the Hella Gen 3, and my ballasts are 16 years old and still working perfectly!
12-05-2018, 08:27 AM
#138
Re: 1994 NSX #41
Yeah I love these old ballasts, I have a friend who used Morimoto ballasts for a retrofit and has had 1 or 2 failures in less than 2 years, whereas I've been using junkyard ballasts for the past couple years with no problems at all. When the Integra was wrecked I took the ballasts and used them in the NSX, and those ballasts were from a 2001ish Audi of some sort that cost me like $5 each at the local pick-your-part lot.
The only issue I'm seeing is that the voltage drop from the headlight motors activating at the same time as the headlights can sometimes cause enough voltage drop so that only one of the HID bulbs ignites.
Also, now the front valve cover gasket is leaking too. How do you botch BOTH valve covers with the engine out of the car? That's just straight up careless and lazy, so looks like I get to redo this one too...
The only issue I'm seeing is that the voltage drop from the headlight motors activating at the same time as the headlights can sometimes cause enough voltage drop so that only one of the HID bulbs ignites.
Also, now the front valve cover gasket is leaking too. How do you botch BOTH valve covers with the engine out of the car? That's just straight up careless and lazy, so looks like I get to redo this one too...
01-24-2019, 08:43 AM
#139
Re: 1994 NSX #41
It's been a while, I've mainly been busy dealing with the motor swap on the 540i and the associated woes, which still aren't all resolved. I found that there's some pretty bad scoring in one of the VANOS oil distribution housings so I get to pull all the timing stuff off again. It runs fine but it makes the typical VANOS clunking sound and I'm seeing some oscillation in the timing advance on the bank with the scoring.
Anyways...
Started off by fixing the coolant leaks that appeared after the dealership worked on the car. They tried to blame the brand new OEM coolant hose (which wasn't leaking) which I had bought myself so conveniently wasn't a warranty issue by claiming it didn't fit properly (it fit just fine). Turned out they had tried to reuse the drain plug and bleeder plug O-rings which had been completely flattened by old age and were leaking, but it was close to the hose so I guess they didn't look closely. Then after swapping out those O-rings I found that they top seal of the radiator was seeping a bit too, I can't really blame the dealership for this though as it's 25 years old and it was bound to give up eventually, and I think being jostled around while the hoses were being swapped out was enough to push it over the edge. If you look at the previous photo of the front bay you can see coolant residue all around the top of the radiator where the plastic top is crimped to the core.
I wanted to buy an OEM radiator but those are out of stock in the entire US with no estimated date of arrival so I went with an aftermarket all aluminum Koyo radiator. Whether it lasts as long as OEM remains to be seen but it appears to be good quality. With the radiator removed I also cleaned out the front bay, radiator shroud, and pretty much everything else I could get to up there, then replaced the rubber radiator mounting grommets as the old ones were getting hard.
Everything cleaned and reassembled. I found the washer fluid tank completely full of regular water...I have literally never used the washer fluid but when I had the bumper off a year or so ago I made sure it was at the correct level with actual wiper fluid, so I guess this is another nice easter egg from the dealer. After sucking it all out with a big syringe I filled it back up for wiper fluid where it will continue to go unused.
The AC idler pulley had some play in it so I swapped that out too, and at the same time learned an important lesson about buying bearings on Amazon. The first Amazon bearing had the center hole too small despite having the same part number. The second Amazon bearing seemed to be the right size but was stamped "JAPAN" while being shipped from China....I don't know about you, but to me that screams counterfeit, so no go there too. Finally I wised up and stopped buying cheap crap on Amazon and bought one through a legit bearing supplier and it worked great, all in all I think I spent like $40 on all the bearings which is still half the price of a new idler pulley from Honda so I still came out ahead. Swapping them out was fairly simple, beat the old one out, tap the new one in with a big socket.
There's a fellow NSX owner who sells weather stripping kits to keep water from dumping on the rear bank coils so I installed that.
When the dealer pulled the cams apparently they didn't even bother to check the valve clearance, or they just did a terrible job of it, you decide. There was a ton of valvetrain noise so I did the front bank first since it seemed the noisiest but I still need to do the rears. I'm getting reallll tired of redoing valve cover gaskets.
I also finally pulled the trigger on wheel spacers, 15mm front and 25mm rear. For the past month or so I've been dealing with a weird vibration at high speeds, I narrowed it down to the cheapo 5mm spacers I had on the rear wheels to keep the tires from rubbing on the Bilstein spring perches. With the spacers gone the tires could touch the perches under some circumstances, so I found a good deal from a fellow owner on some proper H&R spacers.
The rears were simple, they had built in studs so swapping them out took a few minutes, the fronts need extended studs though which were much more time consuming. The front studs won't come out without separating the hub and bearing and the generally accepted solution is to grind a millimeter or so off the carrier. With the old ones out it was a simple job of getting the new studs in using an impact gun and an open ended lug/washer to seat it.
The NSX front hubs are super easy to work with, just 4 easily accessible nuts hold the hubs to the knuckle.
I'm really happy with how my DIY powder coated brake calipers are holding up, they still look perfect ~18 months later.
Fronts done, MUCH better fitment. I'll try to post some better pictures when I get the chance.
Edit: Here's some not-great pictures of the wheel fitment.
Anyways...
Started off by fixing the coolant leaks that appeared after the dealership worked on the car. They tried to blame the brand new OEM coolant hose (which wasn't leaking) which I had bought myself so conveniently wasn't a warranty issue by claiming it didn't fit properly (it fit just fine). Turned out they had tried to reuse the drain plug and bleeder plug O-rings which had been completely flattened by old age and were leaking, but it was close to the hose so I guess they didn't look closely. Then after swapping out those O-rings I found that they top seal of the radiator was seeping a bit too, I can't really blame the dealership for this though as it's 25 years old and it was bound to give up eventually, and I think being jostled around while the hoses were being swapped out was enough to push it over the edge. If you look at the previous photo of the front bay you can see coolant residue all around the top of the radiator where the plastic top is crimped to the core.
I wanted to buy an OEM radiator but those are out of stock in the entire US with no estimated date of arrival so I went with an aftermarket all aluminum Koyo radiator. Whether it lasts as long as OEM remains to be seen but it appears to be good quality. With the radiator removed I also cleaned out the front bay, radiator shroud, and pretty much everything else I could get to up there, then replaced the rubber radiator mounting grommets as the old ones were getting hard.
Everything cleaned and reassembled. I found the washer fluid tank completely full of regular water...I have literally never used the washer fluid but when I had the bumper off a year or so ago I made sure it was at the correct level with actual wiper fluid, so I guess this is another nice easter egg from the dealer. After sucking it all out with a big syringe I filled it back up for wiper fluid where it will continue to go unused.
The AC idler pulley had some play in it so I swapped that out too, and at the same time learned an important lesson about buying bearings on Amazon. The first Amazon bearing had the center hole too small despite having the same part number. The second Amazon bearing seemed to be the right size but was stamped "JAPAN" while being shipped from China....I don't know about you, but to me that screams counterfeit, so no go there too. Finally I wised up and stopped buying cheap crap on Amazon and bought one through a legit bearing supplier and it worked great, all in all I think I spent like $40 on all the bearings which is still half the price of a new idler pulley from Honda so I still came out ahead. Swapping them out was fairly simple, beat the old one out, tap the new one in with a big socket.
There's a fellow NSX owner who sells weather stripping kits to keep water from dumping on the rear bank coils so I installed that.
When the dealer pulled the cams apparently they didn't even bother to check the valve clearance, or they just did a terrible job of it, you decide. There was a ton of valvetrain noise so I did the front bank first since it seemed the noisiest but I still need to do the rears. I'm getting reallll tired of redoing valve cover gaskets.
I also finally pulled the trigger on wheel spacers, 15mm front and 25mm rear. For the past month or so I've been dealing with a weird vibration at high speeds, I narrowed it down to the cheapo 5mm spacers I had on the rear wheels to keep the tires from rubbing on the Bilstein spring perches. With the spacers gone the tires could touch the perches under some circumstances, so I found a good deal from a fellow owner on some proper H&R spacers.
The rears were simple, they had built in studs so swapping them out took a few minutes, the fronts need extended studs though which were much more time consuming. The front studs won't come out without separating the hub and bearing and the generally accepted solution is to grind a millimeter or so off the carrier. With the old ones out it was a simple job of getting the new studs in using an impact gun and an open ended lug/washer to seat it.
The NSX front hubs are super easy to work with, just 4 easily accessible nuts hold the hubs to the knuckle.
I'm really happy with how my DIY powder coated brake calipers are holding up, they still look perfect ~18 months later.
Fronts done, MUCH better fitment. I'll try to post some better pictures when I get the chance.
Edit: Here's some not-great pictures of the wheel fitment.
Last edited by MotorMouth93; 01-24-2019 at 01:46 PM.
02-15-2019, 11:38 AM
#140
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Re: 1994 NSX #41
Holy *****, I just went through this whole thread at work. Didn't do ****, was so into this build lulz! I has questions! @MotorMouth93
Are you close to getting that house?
Are you still with the same gf? Have to ask because I laughed pretty good when you said you couldn't devote as much time as when you were single to the car.
Is the NSX as good as people say? You still have it so I imagine you still really enjoy it but in the beginning you say it was your best worse financial decision. Any regrets?
The dealership pisses me off (Comment more so than question.....)
Maybe I missed it but what happened with the 540, engine out? Still have it?
Do you think you'll keep this car forever?
******* awesome stuff you've done to this car. One of the few threads that makes me want to get my dream car now and bring it back to pristine like this.
Are you close to getting that house?
Are you still with the same gf? Have to ask because I laughed pretty good when you said you couldn't devote as much time as when you were single to the car.
Is the NSX as good as people say? You still have it so I imagine you still really enjoy it but in the beginning you say it was your best worse financial decision. Any regrets?
The dealership pisses me off (Comment more so than question.....)
Maybe I missed it but what happened with the 540, engine out? Still have it?
Do you think you'll keep this car forever?
******* awesome stuff you've done to this car. One of the few threads that makes me want to get my dream car now and bring it back to pristine like this.
02-15-2019, 07:16 PM
#141
Re: 1994 NSX #41
Holy *****, I just went through this whole thread at work. Didn't do ****, was so into this build lulz! I has questions! @MotorMouth93
Are you close to getting that house?
Are you still with the same gf? Have to ask because I laughed pretty good when you said you couldn't devote as much time as when you were single to the car.
Is the NSX as good as people say? You still have it so I imagine you still really enjoy it but in the beginning you say it was your best worse financial decision. Any regrets?
The dealership pisses me off (Comment more so than question.....)
Maybe I missed it but what happened with the 540, engine out? Still have it?
Do you think you'll keep this car forever?
******* awesome stuff you've done to this car. One of the few threads that makes me want to get my dream car now and bring it back to pristine like this.
Are you close to getting that house?
Are you still with the same gf? Have to ask because I laughed pretty good when you said you couldn't devote as much time as when you were single to the car.
Is the NSX as good as people say? You still have it so I imagine you still really enjoy it but in the beginning you say it was your best worse financial decision. Any regrets?
The dealership pisses me off (Comment more so than question.....)
Maybe I missed it but what happened with the 540, engine out? Still have it?
Do you think you'll keep this car forever?
******* awesome stuff you've done to this car. One of the few threads that makes me want to get my dream car now and bring it back to pristine like this.
Well, I mean I'm biased but I like it, it's a very unique and raw driving experience in a world filled with electric power steering and automatic transmissions, but on the other hand a V6 Camry can take me lol.
I have a thread for the 540 on BimmerForums here if you're interested...but I got the motor swapped out and its running well aside from a few hiccups. I need to redo the cam phaser sprockets, one of the parts I used ended up having some bad scoring on a seal surface that I didn't catch at the time so the cam advance on bank 2 isn't very precise and it makes a (harmless but annoying) clunking noise and might be a bit down on low end torque.
I don't see myself getting rid of it, I'd like to keep it forever.
02-16-2019, 03:42 AM
#142
Re: 1994 NSX #41
but on the other hand a V6 Camry can take me lol.
03-02-2019, 11:11 AM
#144
Re: 1994 NSX #41
I haven't been able to get the VVIS screws out of my mind so I pulled the intake manifold to clean and check everything. Of course, the screws hadn't moved at all, so I just applied some penetrating thread locker as a precaution. From here on out I'll just be checking the screws with a borescope during oil changes.
I hadn't really messed with this part of the engine before, so the sheer number of vacuum and coolant lines running to things was very surprising. I had forgotten just how many vacuum lines cars from the early 90s had, and this throttle body is just ridiculous.
Also pretty dirty, but should clean up just fine.
Intake manifold removed and intake ports taped up. There was a film of oil in the bottom of the V from a past VCG leak.
Kinda neat how the bottom part of the intake manifold is magnesium.
Intake manifold cleaned, all gaskets/O-rings replaced, and being reassembled.
Right before the manifold went back on. Tape removed, gasket surfaces cleaned, new gaskets in place.
Also, while my Ridies seat covers were being installed by a local upholsterer, I decided to pull all of the panels covering the rear bulkhead and clean them up. Some of them had been removed and reinstalled before I got the car so they were a bit loose and squeaked a bit. I added some felt around the edges to help prevent squeaks and replaced all of the plastic clips. Also, one side of the elastic supporting the pocket on the passenger side had come undone as it's just stapled to the particle board backing of the panel.
I repaired the broken elastic by stitching a loop on each end and using wire to hold the ends together. This should hold much better than the staples.
Everything cleaned and ready for reinstallation.
And back in the car.
I also resoldered the main relay and applied a conformal coating since I had easy access to it with the rear panels off.
I did a leakdown test out of curiosity/precaution and I'm super happy with the results. Very consistent ~1psi drop across all cylinders with a 50psi input pressure.
Order is
3 6
2 5
1 4
My upholsterer had some things come up so I don't have my seats back, but they should be done within a week or so.
I hadn't really messed with this part of the engine before, so the sheer number of vacuum and coolant lines running to things was very surprising. I had forgotten just how many vacuum lines cars from the early 90s had, and this throttle body is just ridiculous.
Also pretty dirty, but should clean up just fine.
Intake manifold removed and intake ports taped up. There was a film of oil in the bottom of the V from a past VCG leak.
Kinda neat how the bottom part of the intake manifold is magnesium.
Intake manifold cleaned, all gaskets/O-rings replaced, and being reassembled.
Right before the manifold went back on. Tape removed, gasket surfaces cleaned, new gaskets in place.
Also, while my Ridies seat covers were being installed by a local upholsterer, I decided to pull all of the panels covering the rear bulkhead and clean them up. Some of them had been removed and reinstalled before I got the car so they were a bit loose and squeaked a bit. I added some felt around the edges to help prevent squeaks and replaced all of the plastic clips. Also, one side of the elastic supporting the pocket on the passenger side had come undone as it's just stapled to the particle board backing of the panel.
I repaired the broken elastic by stitching a loop on each end and using wire to hold the ends together. This should hold much better than the staples.
Everything cleaned and ready for reinstallation.
And back in the car.
I also resoldered the main relay and applied a conformal coating since I had easy access to it with the rear panels off.
I did a leakdown test out of curiosity/precaution and I'm super happy with the results. Very consistent ~1psi drop across all cylinders with a 50psi input pressure.
Order is
3 6
2 5
1 4
My upholsterer had some things come up so I don't have my seats back, but they should be done within a week or so.
04-30-2019, 10:18 AM
#148
Re: 1994 NSX #41
Been a while since I posted but I have gotten a bit done.
With my seats gone I decided to tackle the driver side door. Since getting it back from the body shop about a year ago the door has been covered in swirl marks from a bad polishing job, the handle has been making creaking sounds, and the window regulator has been making popping sounds at the bottom of the window travel.
Disassembling the door was a huge pain in the butt, but with the help of the service manual I was able to do it without breaking anything.
Close up of the "polished" finish from the shop.
With the door polished and still somewhat disassembled, I applied PPF like I've done on the rest of the car.
Reassembling the door panel. I use 3M window-weld ribbon sealer to attach the moisture barrier.
I also removed the barbed metal clips on these triangle pieces because it's almost impossible to get them off without breaking them and just used blobs of ribbon sealer here too. Easy off, easy on, stays put well.
Door fully reassembled for the first time in over a year. I had left off a few difficult to install pieces since I knew I'd be going back in.
I also got my seats back finally, they came out great, well worth the wait.
Driving the car on a nice Saturday morning, I couldn't figure out why there was so much wind noise and why everyone else was driving so slow. Turns out my speedometer was reading 15-20mph too low, and instead of going 65mph I was actually going 85. I'd heard a few stories about weird stuff happening when the cluster capacitors started to fail, so I disassembled it and replaced all of them with new capacitors from Digikey. $15 in parts and a few hours later and my speedometer works again.
As far as the wind noise goes, I think I'll do a full replacement of the weatherstripping and adjustment of the frameless window tracks this winter, the parts are fairly affordable if ordered from Japan and I need to do it before they are discontinued for good.
With my seats gone I decided to tackle the driver side door. Since getting it back from the body shop about a year ago the door has been covered in swirl marks from a bad polishing job, the handle has been making creaking sounds, and the window regulator has been making popping sounds at the bottom of the window travel.
Disassembling the door was a huge pain in the butt, but with the help of the service manual I was able to do it without breaking anything.
Close up of the "polished" finish from the shop.
With the door polished and still somewhat disassembled, I applied PPF like I've done on the rest of the car.
Reassembling the door panel. I use 3M window-weld ribbon sealer to attach the moisture barrier.
I also removed the barbed metal clips on these triangle pieces because it's almost impossible to get them off without breaking them and just used blobs of ribbon sealer here too. Easy off, easy on, stays put well.
Door fully reassembled for the first time in over a year. I had left off a few difficult to install pieces since I knew I'd be going back in.
I also got my seats back finally, they came out great, well worth the wait.
Driving the car on a nice Saturday morning, I couldn't figure out why there was so much wind noise and why everyone else was driving so slow. Turns out my speedometer was reading 15-20mph too low, and instead of going 65mph I was actually going 85. I'd heard a few stories about weird stuff happening when the cluster capacitors started to fail, so I disassembled it and replaced all of them with new capacitors from Digikey. $15 in parts and a few hours later and my speedometer works again.
As far as the wind noise goes, I think I'll do a full replacement of the weatherstripping and adjustment of the frameless window tracks this winter, the parts are fairly affordable if ordered from Japan and I need to do it before they are discontinued for good.
Last edited by MotorMouth93; 04-30-2019 at 02:32 PM.