-
Protip: Profile posts are public! Use Conversations to message other members privately. Everyone can see the content of a profile post.
6 years of fun - from stock gpw NA2 with pop ups to CTSC NA2 NSX R
- Thread starter socalx
- Start date
Thanks for sharing your detailed documented transformation of your NSX. Very enjoyable.
Although Im not a fan of the post 02 front, yours is slowly but surely growing on me, do we see an 02 upgrade in my future hmmmmmmmmm, looks great and thanks for sharing.
Imma have to agree with Manh 100 percent on this one!!! So many mods on ur car that are on my to do list!
Tom the job you've done is fantastic. I watched your build and used your car as one of the motivators on my ex-91 conversion. You were one who used other wheels instead of the normal Type R ones. Although I strayed during my build your car still motivated me.
Good work!
Cam
Good work!
Cam
WOW! It gets better every time i scroll down.
Beautiful!
Beautiful!
incredible ... just perfect, even @ the small steps all the mods were clean ,,,, whoa .... what a nice example of CLEAN build .... PERFECT!
Oscar
Oscar
The car looks perfect! Good job!
Nice cover shot on front page of the magazine. Great detail job on the car. Now, if you had to do it all over again, would you recommend getting a GPW 02+ and add the R-type mods? Or convert to an 02+ as you did.
- Joined
- 24 January 2004
- Messages
- 1,472
Erick, Cam, dynamic, dragon, AZN, collegeboy, eddynsx, oscar,slamstrom, dr honda.. YOU GUYS are all way to nice. thanks for the positive feedback!!! We really appreciate it. Just like you, i really love these cars and this project was just a labor of love and i cannot tell you how nice it is to get done and hear people you respect alot tell you that they understand and appreciate the work! thanks again.
nsx- gt
great question
-when i purchased the car i prefered the pop up headlights and i wanted as low miles as possible, no paintwork, na2 (6 speed, 3.2l) white nsx with black interior. as i modified it i realized first that i prefered the 02+ rear valence, then i realized i liked the newer side skirts and door extensions, and finally i realized that i liked the front end. Most non nsx owners i believe like the pop ups, but i think as you own the car and then the longer you look at it, the more you can fall for the 02+ look. that is what happend to me.
keep in mind i also own a stock 05 nsx that i'm leaving alone. here are my observations
Advantages to starting with a 97-01 na2 and converting the front
-i don't like how the factory attached the door extensions on the 02-05 cars. they used ds tape at the top, with 6 or so clips to firmly hold the extensions to the car. the problem is that when you look down the side of the door you can see the dimples in the extensions where they clips hold them to the car. when you put the factory extensions on a pre-02 nsx you use ds tape only to hold them on, so they are perfectly smooth and the fit and finish is much better.
-I don't like how the factory rear under spoiler (the small spoiler underneath the rear wing) is attached on the 02+ cars. in the center their is a 4.5 inch round hole where the center attaches to the trunk lid. this is way over kill and the nsxr doesnt have this piece. (so you cant get rid of it easly on an 02-05 nsx) the nsx gt did have it.
-my o5 nsx and any 01 + nsx is ulev and they (like the s2000s of the same vintage) used and auxillary air pump and air injection to reduce emissions. you hear this air pump from time to time when you drive the car (especially at idle at a light) i prefer how my car does not have this air injection. My 08 s2000 does not have it (it was done away with in 06 and if they would have had an 06 nsx would not have had it either. I prefer not having it on my white nsx and wish my 05 didn't have this system, but in reality it is not that big of a deal
-the 97-99 nsx uses the same part number 6 speed as the 04-05 nsx.. which seems to have reduced incidends of rough shifting.
-the fit and finish of my 0em honda dry carbon nsx-r hood is half the hood to fender gap as a 02-05 stock nsx aluminum hood.
advantages of starting with an 02+ na2 nsx
-i prefer the silver stiching on the dash and door panels of my 05 and any 02-05 nsx
-i prefer the lighter silver dash and door panel trim compared to the darker trim on the pre o2 cars.
-i prefer the smaller, simpler and improved abs of the 01 and newer nsx.. i will add this to my nsx-r project (this is still on my must do list)
-i would have preferred to not have to modify my headlight buckets to fit the 02+ headlights. (the 02+ nsx has a slightly reshapped headlight bucket for the height adjuster on the headlight) you can avoid modifing your pre 02 nsx bucket by not having headlight height adjustment, but to me that is sillly so i modified mine.. wish i wouldn't have had to do this, but my change looks oem.
-from a purely econonic standpoint it is cheaper to sell the early car and just buy an 02+ car if using all honda oem parts is important to you (i have 20K in the front end bumper, beam, dry cf duct, headlights, honda hids etc nsx-r hood- most of the money was the hood, and then an extra 2k on the sides and 1k on the rear).. it is way more cost effective to just start with an 02+ nsx versus converting.
but in the end i'm happy with how it came together and the fit and finish on my nsx-r clone is better then my unmolested 05.
thanks and please keep the comments coming
nsx- gt
great question
-when i purchased the car i prefered the pop up headlights and i wanted as low miles as possible, no paintwork, na2 (6 speed, 3.2l) white nsx with black interior. as i modified it i realized first that i prefered the 02+ rear valence, then i realized i liked the newer side skirts and door extensions, and finally i realized that i liked the front end. Most non nsx owners i believe like the pop ups, but i think as you own the car and then the longer you look at it, the more you can fall for the 02+ look. that is what happend to me.
keep in mind i also own a stock 05 nsx that i'm leaving alone. here are my observations
Advantages to starting with a 97-01 na2 and converting the front
-i don't like how the factory attached the door extensions on the 02-05 cars. they used ds tape at the top, with 6 or so clips to firmly hold the extensions to the car. the problem is that when you look down the side of the door you can see the dimples in the extensions where they clips hold them to the car. when you put the factory extensions on a pre-02 nsx you use ds tape only to hold them on, so they are perfectly smooth and the fit and finish is much better.
-I don't like how the factory rear under spoiler (the small spoiler underneath the rear wing) is attached on the 02+ cars. in the center their is a 4.5 inch round hole where the center attaches to the trunk lid. this is way over kill and the nsxr doesnt have this piece. (so you cant get rid of it easly on an 02-05 nsx) the nsx gt did have it.
-my o5 nsx and any 01 + nsx is ulev and they (like the s2000s of the same vintage) used and auxillary air pump and air injection to reduce emissions. you hear this air pump from time to time when you drive the car (especially at idle at a light) i prefer how my car does not have this air injection. My 08 s2000 does not have it (it was done away with in 06 and if they would have had an 06 nsx would not have had it either. I prefer not having it on my white nsx and wish my 05 didn't have this system, but in reality it is not that big of a deal
-the 97-99 nsx uses the same part number 6 speed as the 04-05 nsx.. which seems to have reduced incidends of rough shifting.
-the fit and finish of my 0em honda dry carbon nsx-r hood is half the hood to fender gap as a 02-05 stock nsx aluminum hood.
advantages of starting with an 02+ na2 nsx
-i prefer the silver stiching on the dash and door panels of my 05 and any 02-05 nsx
-i prefer the lighter silver dash and door panel trim compared to the darker trim on the pre o2 cars.
-i prefer the smaller, simpler and improved abs of the 01 and newer nsx.. i will add this to my nsx-r project (this is still on my must do list)
-i would have preferred to not have to modify my headlight buckets to fit the 02+ headlights. (the 02+ nsx has a slightly reshapped headlight bucket for the height adjuster on the headlight) you can avoid modifing your pre 02 nsx bucket by not having headlight height adjustment, but to me that is sillly so i modified mine.. wish i wouldn't have had to do this, but my change looks oem.
-from a purely econonic standpoint it is cheaper to sell the early car and just buy an 02+ car if using all honda oem parts is important to you (i have 20K in the front end bumper, beam, dry cf duct, headlights, honda hids etc nsx-r hood- most of the money was the hood, and then an extra 2k on the sides and 1k on the rear).. it is way more cost effective to just start with an 02+ nsx versus converting.
but in the end i'm happy with how it came together and the fit and finish on my nsx-r clone is better then my unmolested 05.
thanks and please keep the comments coming
Last edited:
I realy like your car the way it is. Well done.
i met you at cars and coffee, this is the cleanest nsx i've ever seen
in 2007 decided that i really liked the fixed 02+ headlights and the nsx-r front look.
so i purchased and an authentic dry cf honda na2 nsx-r hood from japan (thanks rjp)
with ramons help we removed the windshield wipers, motors, windshield washer tank,
i replaced the heavy front bumper beam with a procar aluminum one weighing less then 2lbs, used procar billed cnc machined headlight brackets. and all brand new oem honda parts (headlights, bumpers, hids every nut and bolt to completely rebuilt the front bumper setup
How much did this mod cost you? I love the look
- Joined
- 24 January 2004
- Messages
- 1,472
tampa
rough costs on 02R front end conversion
procar aluminium beam - roughly 1K (detlef now sells a cf beam which is probably better)
honda oem dry carbon nsx r hood 10K... you can get a downforce one for 1/4 the price
honda oem headlights 2k
honda factory hids 1K (you can substitute aftermarket ones for 1/4 the price)
honda uper and lowever 02+ bumper 1.4K. (you can get aftermarket, but i would not do that on this piece as the honda is urethane (sp) aftermarket ones are fiberglass and willl show rock chips etc
mis bumper pieces 500.00(frame, gaskets etc)
headlight brackets. (i did billet procar and the were expensive, downforce has ok ones for 125.00
painting hood and bumper to match. ???
duct for behind radiator (i used procar dry cf one ) it was 1K, but you can get a dali one for 200.00
thats the costs off the top of my head. pm me if you need anything else
rough costs on 02R front end conversion
procar aluminium beam - roughly 1K (detlef now sells a cf beam which is probably better)
honda oem dry carbon nsx r hood 10K... you can get a downforce one for 1/4 the price
honda oem headlights 2k
honda factory hids 1K (you can substitute aftermarket ones for 1/4 the price)
honda uper and lowever 02+ bumper 1.4K. (you can get aftermarket, but i would not do that on this piece as the honda is urethane (sp) aftermarket ones are fiberglass and willl show rock chips etc
mis bumper pieces 500.00(frame, gaskets etc)
headlight brackets. (i did billet procar and the were expensive, downforce has ok ones for 125.00
painting hood and bumper to match. ???
duct for behind radiator (i used procar dry cf one ) it was 1K, but you can get a dali one for 200.00
thats the costs off the top of my head. pm me if you need anything else
So, Tom, is your full scale model happy sitting in your garage? Does it get sad and lonely in there? :biggrin:
Possibly one of my favorite NSX's, as Im a big fan of the NSX-R! I'm glad I had to chance to check it out when I was in California at the South Coast meet. A lot of nice little details:wink:Congrats on the Honda Tuning shoot, It was great. Henry, really does nice pics. I had the article framed for my office.:redface: Hope to see you at NSXPO 2010 in Vegas:biggrin:
I saw a gorgeous black R8 on the way home today.
I like our cars better. Yours is spectacular.
I like our cars better. Yours is spectacular.
+1. Absolute Perfection!
Great looking ride Tom!! Tasteful mods throughout the car. Also took me 7 years to get it where I want it so I know how gratifying it must feel. Congrats!!
Jeff
Jeff
As they say build it don't buy it... and you did one hell of a job. Car looks incredible man, well done.
- Joined
- 24 January 2004
- Messages
- 1,472
Everyone... thanks again for all the replies. This is what makes nsxprime so great. what a wonderful community we have.
Turbo2go. the stock front beam on a us spec na2 nsx is about 20-22 lbs (it is stamped steel) the procar one is about 1.5 lbs. they now have a cf front beam that i think is closer to 1lb. the stock rear beam is alumuminum on a us na2 nsx, but it is very heavy, i bet the stimpo one or the procar one could save another 10-15 lbs there as well
thanks
tom
Turbo2go. the stock front beam on a us spec na2 nsx is about 20-22 lbs (it is stamped steel) the procar one is about 1.5 lbs. they now have a cf front beam that i think is closer to 1lb. the stock rear beam is alumuminum on a us na2 nsx, but it is very heavy, i bet the stimpo one or the procar one could save another 10-15 lbs there as well
thanks
tom
GREAT looking NSX. Definately a dream car of mine and a great example of what all NSX owners should strive for.
I guess you met my brother down here in Kansas City the other night? He works for Applebees Corporate and mentioned going to dinner with you? Said you guys talked quite a bit about the NSX and he sent me to this thread. Again, amazing car. :biggrin:
I guess you met my brother down here in Kansas City the other night? He works for Applebees Corporate and mentioned going to dinner with you? Said you guys talked quite a bit about the NSX and he sent me to this thread. Again, amazing car. :biggrin:
Similar threads
- Sticky
