AP1 Honda S2000

[danl]

This is the Build Thread for AP1 Honda S2000. Reply below.

 

[danl]

I've been debating making a profile for this car for a while because a Honda on a Mitsubishi site is sacrilege. It turns out, I just love cars and drivers cars like this are becoming rare. I was originally in the market for a black C5 corvette and I saw this Honda S2000 show up. It was sitting on a lot for MONTHS and they kept dropping the price. As you may or may not know, these cars have become a bit desirable as of late. I decided that if I don't pick this one up, I will never get to experience a car like this. It also checks a couple boxes for me that I've never had in a car. At it turns out, the price kept dropping because people were trying to get a loan on the car and lenders would not approve a 25 year old car. I am fortunate enough to have the ability to save the money needed to pay for it without a loan. So I got a fair price on a really neat car.

Stats:
Year: 2000
Miles: 22,049 at purchase (22, 6XX now)
Engine: F20C1
Transmission: 6MT
Modifications: K&N air filter

 

[danl]

The day I bought it:

The dealership was trying HARD to get me to drive this guy:

I decided against it because the roads were wet. Here is the other side of Honduh.

 

[danl]

I had do drive through some light rain on the way home which was unfortunate, but the underside didn't really get too wet. I got it home safely and immediately put it on ramps and ordered the stronger AP2 valve keepers and retainers. The earlier ones will crack if you experience a mechanical over rev. Not knowing the history of the car and not wanting to drop a valve on an engine that is extremely difficult to rebuild and no longer available new, I decided to replace them before enjoying the 8900 rpm redline.

These things are REALLY easy to work on. I took my time and did a valve lash adjustment as required when finishing it up. It was such a joy to work on if I'm being honest.

Compression test on just 1 of the cylinders. This is a cold test and I didn't open the throttle plate because i forgot. All 4 holes were the same.

So, it turns out I got a good one. Lots of these now are oil burners because they can score the cylinder walls, lose compression, and burn oil. This winter I may do the oil squirter banjo bolt upgrade to give the cylinder walls more oil at high rpm. Next up was a deep clean of the interior as I do on all new to me cars.

Finally finishing it up with a single DIN head unit upgrade that supports apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

So thats it, I've just been enjoying it for the past 2 months. I have about 600 miles on it and its been great. It had a bit of a rough idle but I put a bottle of fuel system cleaner with P.E.A in it and she immediately smoothed out, so there must have been a slightly clogged injector. I do not plan on modifying it because I want it to be turn key reliable and just a really nice example of a Honda S2000.

 

[pauleyman]

Hold up....22k miles????

 

[danl]

Yeah.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

Very nice acquisition. They usually aren't so clean. Ya know, I've wanted one of those since the days when Hector was running three Spoon engines with Motec system exhaust.

I've been debating making a profile for this car for a while because a Honda on a Mitsubishi site is sacrilege.

Don't worry. I've got 2 Honda profiles, so you're only half the prick as I.

 

[Dericsh]

What a find!! Congrats!! I can’t believe that mileage.

My buddy had one that burned a valve due to a clogged injector, if my memory is right he ignored a lean code for too long. We lapped a new one in by hand, that was a long night with many lessons learned. Lol.

He’s beating himself up for selling that thing years ago. Congrats again. Enjoy it!

 

[danl]

Thanks everyone. These cars certainly have their issues. I came to find that they have crankwalk issues in the later model years. They aren’t as reliable as a civic as some owners would have you believe.

The transmission is fantastic though. It really is as good as people say it is.