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Matte Black NSX - rough shape

Be very careful with the roll cage thoughts .. unless it's built out of aluminum! Mixing metals (steel and aluminum) is not a good idea. Acura even put coatings on bolts to avoid this. Trying to bolt in a cage could seriously weaken the frame. You might want to first talk to the guys at Driving Ambition who did a lot of work on Kips race car .. although that may have been gutted too much to compare to what you're wanting to do. Same with LoveFab who built a Pike Peak race car last year.
It's somewhat ironic that you're thinking of putting a cage in a car that Ayrton Senna basically shamed Honda into significantly stiffening the chassis.
 
Be very careful with the roll cage thoughts .. unless it's built out of aluminum! Mixing metals (steel and aluminum) is not a good idea. Acura even put coatings on bolts to avoid this. Trying to bolt in a cage could seriously weaken the frame. You might want to first talk to the guys at Driving Ambition who did a lot of work on Kips race car .. although that may have been gutted too much to compare to what you're wanting to do. Same with LoveFab who built a Pike Peak race car last year.
It's somewhat ironic that you're thinking of putting a cage in a car that Ayrton Senna basically shamed Honda into significantly stiffening the chassis.

Thanks for the tips, Ian. It's reassuring to know that they made a point to have a stiff chassis; hopefully it served this one well when it got written off. An aluminum roll cage sounds like a good idea; presumably, it would be much lighter than a steel one. As for gutting it, I might be doing that anyways since I'd want to give the entire uni-body a uniform refinishing.
 
It would seem that the most prudent path would be to forget the roll cage and the 02 conversion and concentrate on bringing the car back to a respectable NSX.
Roll cages, O2 conversions are likely a $10 K cost.
Adding that to a salvage title, you would likely get very little for those mods when you sell.
It does sound like you bought it at reasonable cost, so repairing the body damage and doing all the needed maintenance would give you a lovely daily driver at a reasonable price.
 
Rollcage is definitely being put off for the medium-long term. Rob already has the vehicle for all mechanical issues, and I've already put aside the funds for that. He also has a set of rear lights, so that should solve the wet trunk issue. Although the snap ring is spinning, he thought it would okay for now. I don't intend on tracking it more than a handful of times a year, and I don't need it daily as I have a work vehicle, so hopefully it'll hold until I have the money for a 6-speed upgrade or something equally invasive. The main toss-up for me would be either the $5-6K I imagine it would cost for a complete stripping and refinishing, or a similar amount on the '02 conversion. Since I'd need to repaint after the conversion anyways, it seems to be the natural choice to do the conversion first, and then get all the paint done from the same batch of paint. Is the '02 conversion necessary or even an improvement? I know it's a matter of much contention, but given that this car has already been passed around more than the stuffing at Thanksgiving dinner (10 or so owners), I figure if I was ever going to try it on for size, it might as well be on this guy; I never even *considered* doing it to my '96. It's like, haven't you ever thought of trying something new? Like, every once in a while do that CRAAAZY pink tie that you got last year in the secret santa (thanks again, Steve, you asshole). Who knows, that rebel, throw-caution-to-the-wind, attitude might just finally catch the attention of upper-management looking for that fresh edge to head up the AR department. As for me, I find that, yeah, I tend to get bored easily. Like, just other day, I was flipping through my archive of In Touch magazine and I was thinking... what is it with famous people and auto-erotic asphyxiation?? So I was like, hey, I'm clearly a freak for wanting to try the '02 conversion... maybe I'll like this too! How did it go? Well, let's just say, thank goodness I gave a key to the cleaning lady, whew! Ok, maybe that's a bad example. But then maybe not... afterall, I did start dating my cleaning lady; as it turns out, she's awesome at CPR! Uh wait... how did we get here again??
 
If you plan to track it on high speed tracks with long sweepers, you might want to invest in a baffled oil pan to avoid some expensive engine upgrades. I got mine from Science of Speed http://www.scienceofspeed.com/produ...e_products/NSX/ScienceofSpeed/oil_pan_baffle/ relatively cheap insurance.

Holy crap... this is pure genius; thanks Ian. I can't believe someone figured this out... I hate to think how many engines were damaged as a result with owners scratching their heads over the cause. Even moreso considering the NSX was *developed* on track and none of the eggheads at Honda thought of it... Brilliant. Rob was actually mentioning some unexplained piston scoring issues on relatively new Porsches... I wonder...
 
what happened to your 95 red nsx alan?

I'm in the process of selling to a friend of mine who has been interested in it for a while. That'll free up a much needed parking space for me.
 
Hey is your car the one with 20" in the back?

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It would seem that the most prudent path would be to forget the roll cage and the 02 conversion and concentrate on bringing the car back to a respectable NSX.
Roll cages, O2 conversions are likely a $10 K cost.
Adding that to a salvage title, you would likely get very little for those mods when you sell.
It does sound like you bought it at reasonable cost, so repairing the body damage and doing all the needed maintenance would give you a lovely daily driver at a reasonable price.

So I lost my post, so if this shows up twice my apologies.

For roll cage This place is at 150 and #10 if you live in van area. He can* do it cheap but you will likely have to haggle because if he hears NSX the price may go up. I think he does em for like 1000$ but I could be wrong. I took welding lessons from him and I have seen what he can do, he is very experienced. He will give you a quote.

http://www.progasengineering.com/?page_id=1354

He can set you up. As for welding aluminum, I would imagine he would simply use bolts. You can weld steel to aluminum, easiest way it so send away for a piece that is friction welded or lazer welded that has both materials on each side. I would think that would be a waste. Throw a thick steel plate on both sides and put some big ass bolts in and call it a day but I know nothing on this area personally.

For paint, call Alex in port moody, did all panel off paint color change from yello w to red ( huge huge job) for 4k. Amazing job, you can come by and see my car if your in the van area. He did all plastic trim, calipers, engine bay, and accessories all without asking. I was very pleased with the result! If you do some stripping on your own of that plasti dip or whatever is on your car I am sure that will help on the price as that is a lot of labor. Furthermore disassembling all your panels would be a huge savings. I warn that when you think you sanded enough, you didn't.

Tell em rj45 sent you!

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Oops forgot to post alex's shop info.!! There are some of my car on there too.
https://www.facebook.com/2198847180...0.1406568491./219900228040657/?type=1&theater
 
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Update:
so after pretty much the entire summer spent at Rob's place (mostly waiting for parts; some of waiting for Rob =) ), finally got it back on the road. The straightening did wonders for the drive, although the hood and lights are a little off still. May be that the hood is not perfectly sized/shaped, or that it needs another visit to a bodyshop for another nip/tuck. Mechanically had some issues with coil packs immediately getting it back, but changed one and it seems better (although still seems a little rougher than normal; sitting too long?). Otherwise happy with the progress so far, although it'll be a 'work in progress' for some time to come. Next order of business is a proper paintjob.

Here it is pictured at the fall cruise beside Chris' immaculate '02+.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST.
CIMG0128.jpg
 
Nice, from reading you're posts on this thread, I perceive you're take on this project is full of positive awesomeness and providing you with much personal satisfaction and that's priceless:smile:, it is looking great by the way, keep up the good work.
 
Nice, from reading you're posts on this thread, I perceive you're take on this project is full of positive awesomeness and providing you with much personal satisfaction and that's priceless:smile:, it is looking great by the way, keep up the good work.

The beast looks good too....your rescue effort is paying off

Thanks guys. Yes, a lot of work needed yet, but I look forward to the challenges.
 
20141013_140741.jpg
+1 looking awesome!

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Thanks again to Rob @ Octane for his hard work, Eric @ Teknotik for sourcing most of the parts, and of course Angela at TD Canada Trust for making all this possible. Lol.

The history of this car wasn't well documented when I bought it, so at the expense of any future resale value, I'll do my best to be forthcoming with regards to what I know about the car so far. My hope is that whoever this car is sold to in the future will not get any surprises, and can take it home with eyes wide open.

Sooo, just to keep a record for when I'm in my golden years, here's a log of the repairs/upgrades so far (although at that point I'll probably be too concerned with making the 3:00pm dinner buffet before the scalloped potatoes get cleared out). In no particular order:

-front upper right control arm
-right compliance pivot
-O2 sensors
-SOS LMA kit
-Pride headers
-tail lights (leaking)
-battery
-numerous gaskets
-silicone coolant hoses
-front engine bushing
-spark plugs
-coil packs (3 and counting)*
-frame straightening (may need some refinement)
-'02 front end conversion
-alternator

Still needed:
-washer fluid pump
-Window regulator kit
-creak in the door
-door gaskets
-passenger side view mirror crazy glued??? Will not fold
-trunk is misaligned and won't lock without brute force
-ALL lid struts
-complete audio system (ok, the right door works but is in its death throes)
-proper paint job or re-vinyl
-proper exhaust (Remus it came with was apparently rotten)
-proper rims
-proper interior
-CTSC? (I hear it's the bee's knees)

I'm POSITIVE I've forgotten some big stuff but I've been in a corner for the last 1/2 hr ducking my boss, so I have to run. More to follow.
 

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