Well, I know the money in classic cars is orignality and when I bought this car I couldn't believe that it was fairly unmolested. Outside of the wheels and an S2000 antenna, this car was bone stock. I told myself, do not modify this car in any way that will detract from it's originality and I plan on keeping to that mantra. However, bolt ons are fair game in my book as the original parts will stay in my storage shed and travel with me while I move around the US in the Army. I posted some pictures of the car in the general discussion Gen 1 forum, but it was technically under another member's post as he was debating about buying the car while I was looking at it. Below is what the car looked like the day I bought it. The white light accentuates some of the swirling in the paint which was the first thing I addressed.
After about three hours worth of work with the clay bar and dual action, I was able to restore some of the luster of the 23 year old paint.
Now the fun begins. Having the stock exhaust on this car is cool in a sense (resale value), but I definately wanted the car to sound as good as she looks. Since Hawaii is small, I am willing to go as loud as I can handle that wouldn't sound horrible. I looked around, sent some messages to companies, individuals who build this stuff in the spare time, etc, until I was pointed in the direction of Pride's new V2 RFL exhaust. There has been only a couple sound clips on YouTube, but I seem to like what I hear so I am going to give it a shot. They are on order and I am waiting for them to come in, once they do I will break out the camera and external mics for some sound bites.
Next, since those wheels aren't stock for this model year, I plan on looking for a set of 15/16's once I get back to the 48 states. In the meantime, I want something different than these and I found an EBay dealer with some bronze Motegi's that I think will work on this car. They are some flow formed aluminum wheels that appear to be decent looking and fairly lightweight. 17x8 in the front and 18x9 in the rear with NSX offsets. Paired with some Amazon Prime shipped 215/40/17's and 265/35/18's from Nexus, I will be in this set of wheels for about $1250 once they are mounted. The end price will of course be offset by the sell price of my stock wheels, which some local Honda/Acura guys want for some reason.
Once I get this stuff bolted on, I will be looking at re-upholstering the interior as the leather has definately seen it's fair share of 162K miles worth of rear ends. I would like to replace the suspension with some Bilsteins on the lower perch/stock springs, but I may hold on that due to Hawaiian roads. A lip spoiler and maybe Prides NSX-R rear spoiler in the future too, but I don't know quite yet. Given I am only a week into the car, I should probably hold off any more mods. Frankly, the money that I am using now was because I thought I was going to have to pay in the $21K-$22K range to get the car. At $18.5K, I had some meat on the bone to play with.
More to come once I get the parts in!
After about three hours worth of work with the clay bar and dual action, I was able to restore some of the luster of the 23 year old paint.
Now the fun begins. Having the stock exhaust on this car is cool in a sense (resale value), but I definately wanted the car to sound as good as she looks. Since Hawaii is small, I am willing to go as loud as I can handle that wouldn't sound horrible. I looked around, sent some messages to companies, individuals who build this stuff in the spare time, etc, until I was pointed in the direction of Pride's new V2 RFL exhaust. There has been only a couple sound clips on YouTube, but I seem to like what I hear so I am going to give it a shot. They are on order and I am waiting for them to come in, once they do I will break out the camera and external mics for some sound bites.
Next, since those wheels aren't stock for this model year, I plan on looking for a set of 15/16's once I get back to the 48 states. In the meantime, I want something different than these and I found an EBay dealer with some bronze Motegi's that I think will work on this car. They are some flow formed aluminum wheels that appear to be decent looking and fairly lightweight. 17x8 in the front and 18x9 in the rear with NSX offsets. Paired with some Amazon Prime shipped 215/40/17's and 265/35/18's from Nexus, I will be in this set of wheels for about $1250 once they are mounted. The end price will of course be offset by the sell price of my stock wheels, which some local Honda/Acura guys want for some reason.
Once I get this stuff bolted on, I will be looking at re-upholstering the interior as the leather has definately seen it's fair share of 162K miles worth of rear ends. I would like to replace the suspension with some Bilsteins on the lower perch/stock springs, but I may hold on that due to Hawaiian roads. A lip spoiler and maybe Prides NSX-R rear spoiler in the future too, but I don't know quite yet. Given I am only a week into the car, I should probably hold off any more mods. Frankly, the money that I am using now was because I thought I was going to have to pay in the $21K-$22K range to get the car. At $18.5K, I had some meat on the bone to play with.
More to come once I get the parts in!
I only recommend that you purchase the OEM front chin spoiler, or an aftermarket (Shine Spec-GT) lip kit.
