A new lease on life. Saving a trashed NSX JH4NA1150MT002868

dont give up man. she is depending on you. but def dont sell it back to this worthless sack. let an NSX get this treatment should be a crime
 
Thanks guys, but yeah it does get pretty stressful. It looks like the owner is now blocking my number so in the meantime I'll work on getting it running and also work on getting him in court. If anybody gives me an entertaining offer I would consider it. We will see, and I will still keep on top of the updates.
 
when your done and you stand back and look at what you made new again you will understand how important it really is.

cars are the only thing us MEN can build with our hands and make them alive and leave the nest without the help of the wife LOL

this car is looking at you will loving eyes hopeing that one day it can see the road again and show you how she can purr for you.

send the damn thing to me I will fix it for you.
 
Thanks, yeah it will get there and i'm sure I will be happy in the end. If I had the money to pay someone to work on it I would have bought one that didn't need any work haha. I'm going to try to take care of some things this weekend, we will see how it goes.
 
Wow I tried to buy this car, glad I didn't now. Good for you fixing it though hang in there buddy. I offered him 15k for it with out knowing all of the surprises you now know... He was holding firm at 20k..what a scumbag.
 
I would not get the auto engine, honda detuned the engine to 220hp yes cams etc. are a factor but I would verify with LarryB if the pistons or manifild are different etc.
 
Best of luck with the restoration! IIRC the auto engine actually produces 252 hp vs the 270 from the manual-equipped cars. Believe the main difference involves the cams. Bottom end should be identical between the two.
 
Best of luck with the restoration! IIRC the auto engine actually produces 252 hp vs the 270 from the manual-equipped cars. Believe the main difference involves the cams. Bottom end should be identical between the two.

OBX, if you see this post please clear your inbox as I am trying to send PM to you.
 
Just checking back in here, all I can say is "yeah, that seems about right", lol :).

I had to replace the head gaskets in my car, but lucked out that there was only a small flaw as opposed to being completely blown..... and, coincidentally enough had a little damage in the same front tow hook area (only on the driver's side). The carpet in the steering bracket is a new one, but you should have seen the rats nest of bare wire and zip ties involved with the "professionally installed" alarm system and radar detector I had to excise o_0.

Anyway, keep it up, I have yet to regret my rescue attempt.
 
So I do have a little bit of updates but no time to get them on here. I found this engine on ebay http://www.ebay.com/itm/NSX-C30A-EN...NSX&hash=item232f95e229&vxp=mtr#ht_102wt_1213 I know it's from an automatic, but it's crazy low miles. Is it just as simple as swapping cams, intake manifold, injectors, and wiring over? Any help would be appreciated.

Essentially, yes it is that simple. That engine is from a 2001 auto, so it is drive-by-wire. However, the bottom end and the head internals (except cams) are identical to your engine. So, you would need to swap the cams out of your original engine(this is what Shawn was referring to- the autos use less aggressive cams to reduce power), and use the complete intake manifold/throttle body assembly and ECU from your original engine. It will bolt right up to the 2001.
 
So I'm trying to reply to everybody, sorry if I missed anyone.

Wow I tried to buy this car, glad I didn't now. Good for you fixing it though hang in there buddy. I offered him 15k for it with out knowing all of the surprises you now know... He was holding firm at 20k..what a scumbag.
Nice, you're the first person I heard of that had actually checked it out. $15k wouldn't have been so bad but I guess I did better than $20k. Scumbag is just about the perfect word for him.

Just checking back in here, all I can say is "yeah, that seems about right", lol :).

I had to replace the head gaskets in my car, but lucked out that there was only a small flaw as opposed to being completely blown..... and, coincidentally enough had a little damage in the same front tow hook area (only on the driver's side). The carpet in the steering bracket is a new one, but you should have seen the rats nest of bare wire and zip ties involved with the "professionally installed" alarm system and radar detector I had to excise o_0.

Anyway, keep it up, I have yet to regret my rescue attempt.

Yeah I'm sure the head gaskets are part of my problem but not all of it because this thing is just straight beat. Wiring is always a fun issue, see my picture below of the fantastic wiring that I found for my cooling fan.

keep it up man you can do it.... need items PM me I will donate to the cause

That is much appreciated, I may PM you on a couple of minor things to see if you have them sitting around

Essentially, yes it is that simple. That engine is from a 2001 auto, so it is drive-by-wire. However, the bottom end and the head internals (except cams) are identical to your engine. So, you would need to swap the cams out of your original engine(this is what Shawn was referring to- the autos use less aggressive cams to reduce power), and use the complete intake manifold/throttle body assembly and ECU from your original engine. It will bolt right up to the 2001.

Thanks for the insight I actually just snagged a 93 jdm 3.0 with only 23k miles on it for a fair amount cheaper so I went with that!

So I was wondering why the fan always came on when the key was on, it turns out he had it wired to the wipers! So i'm sure it overheated at some point and he did this to correct the problem. If anybody has any pictures and insight on the cooling fan wiring I would appreciate it.
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So pretty much every ball joint boot was torn so I tackled the rear upper ones for right now. I got this awesome tool for $50 compared to $250 for the Honda tool and it worked perfectly.
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The brake master cylinder was leaking really badly so I took it off, cleaned the booster, and repainted it. No point in putting the new one on yet until the engine is back in because the rear brake lines will be disconnected again. It didn't come out perfect but it's good enough for right now.
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You are doing nice work. I know you would rather be driving the car than repairing her, but you are doing her a great service and showing us some nice skills. Keep at it. We are all pulling for you. And her.
 
I got you man, what else you need? I have tons of shit I will give you make a wish list and PM me.
 
So the old engine is up for sale for $2500, I had it listed on the for sale forum but they deleted it because I didn't have a picture. I will have the pictures up soon and I have had some interest in it already. Also I will have updates of the new used engine back in already, it's coming together pretty quick!
 
Where did you purchase the ball joint seperator? $50 sounds like a good investment. . My boots need replacing but have been worried about damaging the very exspensive suspension arms. How hard was it to seperate? Thanks for saving another nsx!
 
If you've got a harbor freight near you, they carry those ball joint tools super-cheap. They probably aren't as high-quality as the one the OP has, but mine has survived some pretty hard use.
 
I actually got it from amazon, the brand is otc and they are actually the brand that many auto manufacturers use at their dealerships. They were very easy to separate, you will start to worry as it gets tight but don't it will come apart and it will happen all of the sudden. The next few days I'm going to try to get all my updates on here. The new motor is in along with a fair amount of other items!
 
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