Honcho's Long Road to Imola Type-S Zero

[Honcho]

PPF
The car is being wrapped. First, a foam bath. Then, it is wiped down with alcohol prep. Then, the Xpel Ultimate goes down.





Fenders and bumper complete. Hood is tomorrow.

 

[bogle]

Hey, that’s a pretty car

 

[docjohn]

looks amazing..

 

[Honcho]

MCS Suspension

While waiting to grab the car from PPF, the MCS suspension returned with revisions. Both the shock bodies and rods were changed. Both shock bodies are 25mm longer and the rear rods are 25mm longer on top of that. This is about the same as KW.



Rear shock components (6kg x 7" springs). I decided to use JRZ bump stops and boots- they fit the MCS perfectly.


Rear shock assembled.



Ready for installation.

 

[docjohn]

getting close to the finish line....are you going to corner balance?

 

[Hass]

Fancy!

 

[Honcho]

getting close to the finish line....are you going to corner balance?

Nah. If this was a pure track car, maybe.

 

[DreamPowered]

super detailed on the build. Glad to be back on prime

 

[Honcho]

PPF

Very pleased with the PPF application. Highly recommend Ride & Joy Window Tint for any NSX owner- they were great to work with and absolutely LOVE the NSX. Many shops I spoke to claimed that Xpel did not offer pre-cut templates for the NA1/2 NSX, but this shop was able to get it just fine. The product used is Xpel Ultimate Plus, which is the latest version of Xpel's self-healing film and has a 10-year warranty. The clarity is so good, you can't tell there is PPF on the paint, even in direct sunlight. There are only a few small seams on the car. This was mostly because some of the complex curves on the NSX could not work with a single piece of film. The installer was a real pro though, and he put all the seams (except one on the A-pillars) on body lines so they just disappear. I can now drive the NSX worry-free. I'm really pleased with the result!

 

[docjohn]

Full ppf is really a peace of mind that just makes any day a driving day..

 

[Honcho]

Full ppf is really a peace of mind that just makes any day a driving day..

Drove the car to work today.

 

[docjohn]

yep you can just hose it off and blow dry..

 

[Honcho]

yep you can just hose it off and blow dry..

Did you PPF the S?

 

[docjohn]

yep, same material as you. Hulk also...

 

[jazzmann]

I'm curious about doing this for mine after a paint correction. How long does it last, and what kinds of things can occur as it ages? Cracking, peeling, loss of transparency from oxidation? How is it removed if it needs to be replaced? @Honcho - love the shit eatin' grin in the pic of you next to it. Exactly how I felt driving yours/mine for the first time

 

[docjohn]

The expel product is 10 years, if you use their ceramic wash and booster. It is pulled off with a heat gun. I only have 2 years running on my SUV and the bottom rails wheel wells are getting pitted/cloudy, but that can be easily replaced, the rest of vehicle is still clear , nice.

 

[Honcho]

I'm curious about doing this for mine after a paint correction. How long does it last, and what kinds of things can occur as it ages? Cracking, peeling, loss of transparency from oxidation? How is it removed if it needs to be replaced? @Honcho - love the shit eatin' grin in the pic of you next to it. Exactly how I felt driving yours/mine for the first time

As docjohn mentioned, the product itself is warrantied for 10 years for fading, yellowing or peeling. The adhesive is designed to release with heat so that you can replace a damaged section Were you able to get those rock chips out of the front bumper? I remember they always caused me grief lol.

 

[Honcho]

MCS Suspension

Picked up the car from Parker 4WD today. Chad installed the revised MCS suspension and set the ride heights to match the NSX-R on their level alignment rack. Good news is the revised shock lengths were able to hit those heights. Initial driving impressions are extremely positive. The shocks are very composed over bumps that caused the NSX-R to pogo and bang the car like crazy. But, when leaning into a hard corner, they exhibit the same firmness and confidence that you get from the R. In other words, exactly what I wanted! Holy moly it's good.

One fitment issue though- the rear adjuster knobs interfere with the engine cowl. We left them off for now, but I'll have to sort that later. It's not the end of the world, since the adjusters can be articulated with a small wrench too. Or, I can just cut a larger hole in the cowl. The shocks are currently set to 8/18 front and 8/18 rear (0=soft, 18=hard).

In some bad news, day was the first warm day of the year and the A/C is only blowing "coolish". It means I probably messed up on one of the A/C line joints somewhere. Good thing I put leak dye in it. I'll have to take the car in at some point for a leak check.

 

[mwagner10702]

I told you that you would love them. Regarding the rear adjuster knobs, you will note I don't run any for the same reason - the holes in the cowling are too small. I use an 8mm driver and keep it with the car.

Surprised you are running full hard rebound (18) on the rear dampers.

 

[bogle]

I also keep a socket on an extension in the glovebox to adjust the rears while out. Though after a bunch of experimentation, I mostly just leave them at 3 clicks from full soft front and rear. They feel good and soak up the sometimes-super-crappy surfaces around my place

 

[Honcho]

I also keep a socket on an extension in the glovebox to adjust the rears while out. Though after a bunch of experimentation, I mostly just leave them at 3 clicks from full soft front and rear. They feel good and soak up the sometimes-super-crappy surfaces around my place

Even in the "middle" settings they're quite compliant! The 8/6 split was the way to go too.

I told you that you would love them. Regarding the rear adjuster knobs, you will note I don't run any for the same reason - the holes in the cowling are too small. I use an 8mm driver and keep it with the car.

Surprised you are running full hard rebound (18) on the rear dampers.

Thanks Mark, you were 100% right. I can't wait to try these on the racing circuit. Mine are set to 8 clicks from soft on the front and rear. I'll edit the post! Good call on the 8mm socket- that's an easy solution and beats drilling out the engine cowl!

 

[Honcho]

VTEC Tuning 2

Took the Zero out today for more VTEC tuning. @MotorMouth93 was kind enough to run his tuning script on my prior VTEC pulls and I made adjustments. Unfortunately there was a lot of traffic on my testing road, so I only got one good pull out of it- hopefully it is enough data to tweak the adjustment a bit more.

At VTEC activation the car is going properly to about 12.5 AFR, but then between about 6000 and 7000 rpm, AFR rises to about 13.8. Then it drops again up to 8000. Need to smooth it out some more. This is version 1.7 of the tune and, VTEC fluctuations aside, the car is driving really, really well.

 

[Honcho]

Re-Assembly 115

Trunk struts, etc.
I had the original struts rebuilt at Strutwise in 2018, but alas, they failed again. Decided to replace with new ones.

One note- these used to come packaged with the ball stud. Not anymore. You need to buy it separately.



Old, crusty studs with flakes of R-77 red paint on them.



New stud. The original ones were painted body color from the factory, but these replacement units appear to be zinc-coated.



Job done. I broke the clip on my brand new wire harness. Moving too fast. But, like every other NSX, I now have a black zip tie there LOL. Sigh.



Funny thing was I did all of that VTEC tuning ripping up and down the road with a full NSX-R suspension sitting in my trunk! It doesn't get much more NSX than that.



Also decided to replace the set screws on the engine garnish cover since my originals were a bit rusty.

 

[docjohn]

what are you doing with the old R susp? I have a leaking front as well.

 

[Honcho]

what are you doing with the old R susp? I have a leaking front as well.

Selling it. Thankfully the leak appears to be just cosmetic- they run and dyno normally. Night and day compared to the MCS though.