My Dream in Blue

Hi everyone,
It's been almost 6 years that i have owned my NSX and i still LOVE it as much as the day it arrived. What a wonderful car honda made.

Over the years, i haven't modded the car very much but now the bug has hit. Doing everything that i want now to make my dream complete. Thought i would start a thread for my friends to keep up with the changes.


Cheers
Mike





2002 Long Beach Blue Pearl/Tan
ロングビーチブルー・パール


Here is a picture of how the car looked when i purchased it at 22k almost 6 years ago. The info in this first post will be of the few changes i made in the past and i will add from there.









Thanks to my buddy Nuno, one of the first mods i did was to color match the headlights. Never would have thought about it if not for him. Thanks Nuno my friend! This is also when i found the fix for the bouncing headlights. I had the headlights painted when i added the Downforce front lip which is also pictured below and shaved the emblem.












I also installed the R chassis bars and the front one is color matched.








I purchased a set of Advan Kreuzer V wheels.

They are
18x8 +45 front
19x10 +45 rear

Big fan of the wheels :biggrin:

sduffass said:

Big fan of the wheels :biggrin:

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They are nice, but if I may be critical - they do make the brakes look very small. Maybe in person it is a different story, but in that photo they seem a bit small to me.

comtec said:

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Love that color match.

A few weeks ago at 29k i had the full maintenance done at Track one. They did the TB, WP and valve adjustment and also the cam plugs of which a couple had just started to leak.










They also installed the NSX-R front sway bar and Tein S-tech springs.



Before




After Tein S-tech











And also the Pride V2 quad but i'm having a slight fitment problem. Mark has been great and awesome to deal with.










I purchased a used Whipple supercharger that was powder coated yellow along with the targa brace. Yellow wouldn't go with my blue so i tried to have the blower sandblasted but that didn't work.




Before





Parts back from the powder coater





I ended up removing the powder and refinishing it myself. With flash and without.

5 steps

1. PPG DX533 aluminum cleaner
2. PPG DX503 aluminum conditioner
3. 2 part epoxy primer
4. Paint
5. 2 part clearcoat






At this time the car is at the shop to paint the new hood. It's a Downforce NSX-R, FRP top and CF bottom that is being color matched on top. I should pick it up next week when i get back home for a few days and the Downforce hood duct should be there also.

Mike

Your NSX looks awesome Mike! I love the wheels as well.

Thanks for sharing your build. Inspiring stuff!

btw.. what kind of fitment problem did you have with the exhaust? Was it because the front bank headers are shorter on the 00+?

Thanks guys,

sduffass said:

Big fan of the wheels :biggrin:

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Yours too :biggrin:

bngl3rt said:

Love that color match.

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Thank you

blue_myriddn said:

They are nice, but if I may be critical - they do make the brakes look very small. Maybe in person it is a different story, but in that photo they seem a bit small to me.

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Yes i think that is mainly because of the 18/19. A couple of people have said that but when i have been to shows all i hear is "look how close the caliper is to the wheel"

PHOEN$X said:

Your NSX looks awesome Mike! I love the wheels as well.

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Thanks buddy, Have to make it look good, i only have one :biggrin:

RYU said:

Thanks for sharing your build. Inspiring stuff!

btw.. what kind of fitment problem did you have with the exhaust? Was it because the front bank headers are shorter on the 00+?

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Hey man, for some reason the passenger tips stick out about 1 1/2"-2" more then the other side (see pic's). I haven't tried to find the problem yet just the shop. I will probably see if there is anything i can do next week when i get home. I still have the test pipes i can try to see if there is a difference.


Mike

Personally I prefer the headlights chrome. Car looks good though. Needs to be lower though.

comtec said:

Hey man, for some reason the passenger tips stick out about 1 1/2"-2" more then the other side (see pic's). I haven't tried to find the problem yet just the shop. I will probably see if there is anything i can do next week when i get home. I still have the test pipes i can try to see if there is a difference.


Mike

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Yes, sounds like a problem I had since i'm running 00+ headers. In Honda's infinite wisdom the 00+ headers are about 10-20mm shorter (or longer? I can't remember) than the more common 97-99 versions. HOWEVER, I believe the OEM cats, which you're using, accounts for this variance. The NSX exhaust systems are a mess between the years. It's something worth looking into.

I had an instance where my exhaust was cockeyed just like yours. At which point I was using 03 stock headers, 97-99 HF Cats, and 91 exhaust with adapters.

SWIFTVISION said:

Personally I prefer the headlights chrome. Car looks good though. Needs to be lower though.

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The chrome wasn't painted. The part inside the headlight that was painted is normally silver.




When i first started looking for a NSX, the huge silver lights on a dark color were the only thing i didn't like about the newer cars. Just thought i would have to live with it since i was lucky to find a blue (my favorite), until my friend Nuno came to the rescue.

Mike

awesome and the new hood is gonna look great,:tongue:

socold57 said:

awesome and the new hood is gonna look great,:tongue:

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Can't wait to see it.



I also purchased a custom one-off Downforce NSX-R rear spoiler. What makes it unique is it's carbon fiber but the end pieces are painted berlinetta black. It was freakin beautiful but there was some small flaws so i had to send it back. I know things like that happen but that's when the stand up companies really shine. SOS took care of me without a problem and Downforce sent a paid shipping label for me to ship it back. They are not fixing it, they are making me another one. Props to both companies for being so awesome. Now i just have to wait for the replacement.


Mike

Your car is seriously amazing! In a few years I'll buy a beat up second NSX and it will go through the full rebuild. The body, engine, supercharger, and a few body mods. I have to keep the one I have now pretty much 100% OEM.

WOW awesome build!

now am i reading it wrong but does it say you purchaed the car for 22k?!?!

Beautiful! Looks great! Indeed the wheels are pretty Killer ... Enjoy!

myw said:

now am i reading it wrong but does it say you purchaed the car for 22k?!?!

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I think he meant miles, not dollars ;-)

bngl3rt said:

Love that color match.

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+1 - color-matched bugeyes look WAY better, a fine choice

My man Mike,

comtec said:

Thanks to my buddy Nuno, one of the first mods i did was to color match the headlights. Never would have thought about it if not for him. Thanks Nuno my friend!

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no need to thank me...for real... i just brought it up because i too don't really like the color of 02+ headlights (unless in a silver or white car).

But if you want to thank me good, you can do the same for me, when i pull the trigger on front 02+ conversion :wink: (but in Formula Red)

you already took the risk with success, so you know how to do it... and i'm very affraid to trash a perfect set of headlights (i'll pay for your work)

Keep up the good work and post pics of the updated hood...ASAP !! :tongue:

Thanks,
Nuno

PS - And how is everything with you?? health?

Thanks guys for all the kind words :smile:.

I added a link to the 2002+ headlight fix (bouncing) in the first post since i was asked about it by PM.

UnhuZ said:

My man Mike,


no need to thank me...for real... i just brought it up because i too don't really like the color of 02+ headlights (unless in a silver or white car).

But if you want to thank me good, you can do the same for me, when i pull the trigger on front 02+ conversion :wink: (but in Formula Red)

you already took the risk with success, so you know how to do it... and i'm very affraid to trash a perfect set of headlights (i'll pay for your work)

Keep up the good work and post pics of the updated hood...ASAP !! :tongue:

Thanks,
Nuno

PS - And how is everything with you?? health?

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Hey buddy,
I am doing good, hope you and your family are doing well.

Still working 700 miles from home (2 1/2 years now) which makes it very hard to get everything done. Plus i have had problems with almost everything i'm doing. We will talk but i wouldn't be able to do it here and i don't know when i will get transfered back home.


Mike

Since i don't use my wipers on the car, I had the washers shaved from the R hood.

I have all these R parts now, so i am considering going black top. I may try with vinyl to see if i like it. What do you guys think?

Mike

^ get it done ASAP, while the car is in the shop.... and don't forget to paint/wrap the mirrors black also :wink:

Nuno

UnhuZ said:

^ get it done ASAP, while the car is in the shop.... and don't forget to paint/wrap the mirrors black also :wink:

Nuno

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I have new CF OEM style mirror housings but i was thinking they would look better black. That shop doesn't do vinyl, only paint.
Been looking at the 3M 1080 in gloss black.

Mike

^ then do a dark/smoked clear coat on them so they look almos black, as DF does to their wings per customer request :wink:

i prefer subtle darker CF than "IN YOUR FACE" CF

Nuno

UnhuZ said:

^ then do a dark/smoked clear coat on them so they look almos black, as DF does to their wings per customer request :wink:

i prefer subtle darker CF than "IN YOUR FACE" CF

Nuno

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I agree, that's how the rear wing is. I have a set of the convex mirrors and was trying to figure a way to make a manual mount for them so they will be as light as possible. I don't adjust my mirrors anyway.




BIG SHOUT OUT to ajnsx for being so AWESOME!!!

To go with the R look, i have decided to badge the car with the red honda emblems. I saw a post he made about removing a emblem from a new center he just purchased. I sent a PM asking if he would interested in selling the emblem and guess what? He gave it to me and even shipped it from japan for free. It's very seldom that people surprise me, what a great person he is. Thanks so much man, let me know if i can ever do anything for you :smile:

Mike