'91 Berlina - revive, turbo build

[Levworks]

I Guess i'll start by introducing myself. I just graduated as a mechanical engineer in the spring. Now I work in racing on the SRT ALMS viper team. I am the one doing the driver change in the picture.

I purchased this car (JH4NA1154MT000427) a few weeks ago and it's the first NSX I've owned. I've always been an avid Honda lover, and my passion to build Hondas has yet to die. I was looking for an NA1 with a front end conversion and other mods to save on the cost of building it up myself and came across this car which is just what i was looking for. The car has plenty of mods already, but needs some TLC. It seems like two of the previous owners have been on prime from what i've found:

http://www.nsxprime.com/forum/showt...000427-Black-1991-NSX-2002-upgrade-conversion

http://www.nsxprime.com/forum/showt...NSX-02-Conv-BLK-BLK-RED-78k-JH4NA1154MT000427

The florida owner sold the car to the guy i purchased the car from in VA. The previous owner had the car repainted, oem bumper put on, different wheels, tein suspension, built the engine for boost with forged internals at 85,xxx miles, and painted the engine bay and some engine bay trim pieces.

My goal is to undo some things the previous owner did, replace some interior pieces with broken clips etc, and freshen up this car a little bit towards its original form. So...
freshen interior/wrap some parts with cf
remove overspray from the few areas it occured
switch aem ems series 1 to a series 2
remove flashy paint from engine bay/parts
piece together a turbo kit
change wheels
make 500-600hp

Here is the last honda i owned/build:

Now onto pictures of how the NSX Currently sits:

I'll be turning to the prime community to source parts, and help with technical info when needed. I guess the first thing I would like to purchase is a tech service manual. Anyone know a good place to find one? Or even a pdf version somewhere.

 

[myclue]

can't wait to see how this build turns out! Great looking teg, and good luck with the new NSX!

 

[dablackgoku1234]

Good call on removing the flashy stuff in the engine bay. Just wondering, are there neon lights in the right now?

 

[K1ng124]

Awesome looking car man. How well does your hood fit? What brand is it?

 

[Levworks]

No, there arn't any neon lights on the car that i've found so far. Hood fits alright. It isn't amazing, but not horrible. Its a backyard special hood. If your in charlotte, you can check it out sometime.

 

[06_typeS]

Congrats on the purchase. Your dodge coworkers must bust your balls quite a bit ehh?

 

[Vi3tBoy]

car looks great minus the engine bay. Can't wait to see what you do to it.

 

[chudson1549]

service manuals for your car. That was Andersons car

 

[nsxot1c]

Car looks great!!! Nice start... can't wait to see what you do with it. It appears it was originally a brooklands green?

 

[Levworks]

Congrats on the purchase. Your dodge coworkers must bust your balls quite a bit ehh?

Ha, yeah. Some hadn't even heard of/seen an nsx before haha

Car looks great!!! Nice start... can't wait to see what you do with it. It appears it was originally a brooklands green?

Nah, it was originally berlina black but the previous owner painted the engine bay chameleon when the engine was out being built. It will be painted back to black before the engine gets boosted.

 

[Redgts]

Our cars look a lot alike my friend !
I have a factory service manual for 1st gen, its not for sale but you can borrow it if you like.

 

[Levworks]

Big update:

Removed all of the interior pieces that need to be replaced, fixed, or wrapped in cf.

Wiring under the center console was a bit of a mess. Removed some + cleaned it up
(before picture)

Removed the exhaust that came on the car. Both header flex pipes were broken so I replaced the flex pipes with turbo flex vibrant flex's with v-bands welded on the ends. Unsure of brand but having a custom one made that can be utilized with a turbo setup later down the road.

Purchased some Carbon bucket seats from username collegeboy. Seats are discontinued and were made by SPL Parts

Finished wrapping a bunch of parts in a 270gsm 3x3 twill carbon fiber and coated with west systems high end epoxy and finished with automotive clear

One of the handle levers was broken so i purchased the replacement billet arms from SOS

Ordered a shorty antenna as well

This picture came out blurry but added a front lip and some new wheels

 

[Ko-nsx]

Good start!

 

[NSX1145]

Looks great

 

[myw]

I love these threads when an owner does tasteful justice to an nsx.

I remembering considering buying this car from the Florida owner but a few things simply weren't my taste (that you have totally rectified)

Can't wait to see your vision completed!

 

[Levworks]

The flex pipes on the headers that came on the car were both broken so I upgraded to Vibrant turbo flex pipes with v-band clamps on the end. I had Tex at BRE Motorsports in Concord, NC order and weld the vibrant parts on. They turned out exactly how I wanted.

The oil pan also had stripped threads from the previous owner(s) in the drain hole So i removed the pan, had a new thin nut welded on the inside of the pan after removing the oem nutplate, then also added a F-106N fumoto valve. I also welded in an SOS baffle, and welded a -10 AN fitting for a turbo return when the time comes. For now I'll just leave it capped so I dont need to remove the pan again. I welded the -AN fitting on from the inside for a cleaner look. Then finally, I repainted the oil pan.

A fabricator from my work used to work for Kooks headers and has a garage at a friends house with a lift he does side work out of. I had my car towed to this garage where he is making a custom exhaust for me to tide me over until I go turbo. The mufflers are 3" burns stainless race mufflers and the idea behind this is that I can use the 3" muffler section when I put the turbo on and just route the dump tube to it, then the 2.25" Y-section will be removed so really the Y-section is just temporary.

Cell phone pictures he's been sending me:

I really need to un-paint all the suspension stuff under the engine bay it is pretty obnoxious.

 

[RYU]

Congrats on your progress! I can tell it will be one of my favorite build threads on here.

please post a vid of that exhaust sound!

 

[Timeless1]

Killer looking car! Diggin' how the Exhaust is turning out, it will sound like a beast!
^+2 on exhaust vids.

 

[myw]

update on this beast?

 

[Dynamic-uzed-auto]

Love the exhaust

 

[NSX-Files]

I was the Florida owner and want to clear my good name. I did NOT do all the cheesy mods that you are now rectifying (well not most of them). FYI, the front bumper is not OEM. Notice it doesn't have the two holes with caps for the bumper mounting bolts? It's the GT-ONE fiberglass OEM replica I put on the car. Anyway, glad you are fixing it up. It was always a good car to me. I missed it so much I had to buy another.

 

[Levworks]

Yeah, the previous owner in Virginia was the one who did most of the tacky mods. Thanks for the heads up on the bumper, I noticed is wasnt oem when I installed the lip but it fits great!

No picture updates since ive been slammed at work because we are prepping the race cars for the 24 hours of Daytona race. I did however receive in the mail some recently purchased items such as taitec seat rails... and a special shifter :smile:. Oh, and I also got the car back from my buddies and the exhaust is done and the welds on it are very nice.

I also need to purchase a hugo window kit if anyone has one laying around. I know he can be hard to get a hold of and I was going to trade him some parts for one but he has become un-responsive.

Currently trying to find a time to schedule a flight to LA to take the AEM Infinity seminar but its tough to do with my busy work schedule :frown:

 

[Levworks]

Not the best quality video in terms of accurate sound of the exhaust but its a start...

 

[Stephen@NCAutoUSA]

I wonder how many PM's you get now from this clip saying "can you make me an exhaust that sounds like that".

 

[JoseJA1979]

Sounds good....would love to get highway clips. Is it too hear someone talking next to you at highway speeds?