Side Vent Grill removal

[I_M_Legend]

In order to remove the side vent grill, do you have to remove the scoop as well?

Any additional tips? Mine is faded black so I'm considering replacing them. Alternatively has anyone been able to recondition them back to black?

http://www.nsxprime.com/wiki/Mesh_Side_Air_Intake

http://www.nsxprime.com/forum/showt...ng-Side-Vents-from-Stock-to-CF-from-Downforce

 

[Old Guy]

The air intake has to come out. The side air scoop is retained by two 'special nuts' plus a clip between the two nuts. The nuts are a treat to get at - don't drop them because chances are they will disappear somewhere into the body - might want to order spares if you are feeling clumsy. The service manual also says that you should remove the lower side sill and the little air outlet which I think would make getting at the lower nut easier. The latter is your choice because people have done it without removing the sill (and probably cursed a lot).

If they are not nicked up (which would be a pain to fill and sand because there is not a flat surface in sight, I would consider having them resprayed in Berlina Black.

 

[I_M_Legend]

The air intake has to come out. The side air scoop is retained by two 'special nuts' plus a clip between the two nuts. The nuts are a treat to get at - don't drop them because chances are they will disappear somewhere into the body - might want to order spares if you are feeling clumsy. The service manual also says that you should remove the lower side sill and the little air outlet which I think would make getting at the lower nut easier. The latter is your choice because people have done it without removing the sill (and probably cursed a lot).

If they are not nicked up (which would be a pain to fill and sand because there is not a flat surface in sight, I would consider having them resprayed in Berlina Black.

That's what I was afraid of. I'm not sure I want to torture myself with something like this. Maybe I'll just try soaking it in some 303 and hopefully that will bring it back to life.

 

[danny49]

Thats what i did ,It worked great!

 

[NSX_n00b]

[MENTION=34822]I_M_Legend[/MENTION] I know it seems daunting and there are more than a couple of threads out there that say get a 22mm box wrench with a flexible head and it isn't too bad. While that is true the one time I did it that way I found myself using more swear words than brain cells. I found a smarter solution that I think is 1000x easier...

For the Left side yes the intake snorkel (or whatever you have there) has to come out, but that's a couple of bolts and it comes right out.

If you want to do this don't go buy the 22mm wrench. Instead go buy an 1/8' flat head cabinet screwdriver with an 8" or 10" shank like this:

Then you'll reach into the abyss with one hand and find the star/flower nut, then use your other hand to feed in the screwdriver and use your hand that's in there to place the tip into the groove of the nut and hold it in place. For the Left side you want the tip in a bottom-ish groove:

With the screwdriver in place grab a wrench or a small hammer or something and tap the handle of the screwdriver with a bit of force. This will be enough to break the nut loose then you just use your hand to finish unscrewing it. Repeat for the other nuts.

For the Right side vent you'll want the blade into a top-ish groove:

then the side vents just pull right out of the rear quarter panels and the black plastic pieces come off with two regular screws and two post screws that have a slit in the post, just use a flat head to take those out.

 

[I_M_Legend]

@I_M_Legend I know it seems daunting and there are more than a couple of threads out there that say get a 22mm box wrench with a flexible head and it isn't too bad. While that is true the one time I did it that way I found myself using more swear words than brain cells. I found a smarter solution that I think is 1000x easier...

For the Left side yes the intake snorkel (or whatever you have there) has to come out, but that's a couple of bolts and it comes right out.

If you want to do this don't go buy the 22mm wrench. Instead go buy an 1/8' flat head cabinet screwdriver with an 8" or 10" shank like this:

Then you'll reach into the abyss with one hand and find the star/flower nut, then use your other hand to feed in the screwdriver and use your hand that's in there to place the tip into the groove of the nut and hold it in place. For the Left side you want the tip in a bottom-ish groove:

With the screwdriver in place grab a wrench or a small hammer or something and tap the handle of the screwdriver with a bit of force. This will be enough to break the nut loose then you just use your hand to finish unscrewing it. Repeat for the other nuts.

For the Right side vent you'll want the blade into a top-ish groove:

then the side vents just pull right out of the rear quarter panels and the black plastic pieces come off with two regular screws and two post screws that have a slit in the post, just use a flat head to take those out.

Thank you very much for the great tip!

To be clear, I'll have to remove the entire side scoop in order to replace the plastic vent?

Any value to perhaps replacing those star nuts with a "normal" nut?

 

[Old Guy]

If you want to do this don't go buy the 22mm wrench. Instead go buy an 1/8' flat head cabinet screwdriver with an 8" or 10" shank like this:

Indeed, that would be the hot ticket for use on those flower headed Honda 'special nuts'. In a previous century they were known as carburetor adjustment screwdrivers so that you could sneak it in to the base of the carb with the air filter still in place. I have a relic in my tool box that is a nudge under 14" long. You still need to get your hands in there. Not so easy if you need the XXL stretchy nitrile work gloves.

 

[NSX_n00b]

Thank you very much for the great tip!

To be clear, I'll have to remove the entire side scoop in order to replace the plastic vent?

Any value to perhaps replacing those star nuts with a "normal" nut?

Yes you will need to full remove the side scoop to get the plastic vent louvres off. You can’t access the screws with them attached to the quarter panel.

As for replacing the star flower/nuts, why? I mean I guess if you plan to take the side vents off frequently it may help for using a smaller sized nut to fit a smaller wrench on it but I personally would just use the star nuts


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