Time to work on that old organic clutch. Friction improvement part 2.

Hi everyone 

So the car is back on the road, after years stopped at the garage, and some issues arose instantly.

1- the clutch... it slips midrange.

2- wheel bearings are shot.

Evidently, I instructed the mechanic to replace the bearings with OEM parts, but not the clutch. That, I took under my care as, again, I believe that OEM is always a compromise, and an s2000 should be a no compromise car.

As such, after looking for several alternatives, ai decided to go for: Competition Clutch.

Stage 4 to be precise, and since we are to open the thing... flywheel was an easy hoock-up, so, UltraLight flywheel is ordered too.

I'll update the post with new images as I get the parts, but for now, some ebay screeshots will do.

1- ultra light competition clutches flywheel

2- stage4, ceramic 6pad  spring'd competition clutch with 300% clamp force pressure plate 

Stay tuned... but this mod will make the already amazing mid-range (AEM V2) extend rigth into vtec range as rotational inertia is reduced and High flow (decat) will improve high-end delivery.

Response should also improve, but i'm cooking a diferent approach for that one... depending how the PUMA ST220 itb project goes, I may create a killer recipie that doesn't bankrupt you, for s2k's

Update: WOW

The car feels a lot more rev happy. And if you lift-off (or reverse) it sounds like a grinder, but hey machanical noise is part of the fun... this is why I hate comfortable and filtered-out cars in the first place.

Under vtec is seams quicker to gain revs and evidently it's a hitch in slow traffic. The engagement is close to all or nothing and with about 8cm pedal travel...but the worse is that, unless you plant the back of your foot on the car floor and leverage, the 300% more clamping force makes you stall the car or spin the tires. So yeah, slow traffic if bad, but the s2k was not built to live on a traffic in the first place. 

The first day of rain made me spin 1st, 2nd, and 3rd (under vtec), and fortinately I heel&toe for years now, else the first shift down would have been... bad... bad is the word for locking your reqr wheels mid highway exit.

Very good upgrade, but DO take the driveability impact into consideration if you don't have a dailly driver alternative to your s2k.

The difference in weight between the oem cluth assembly (spring, plate and flyweel) is considerable. The car will stall easier and the speed to gain or loose rpms will also be quicker.

In my case, with an AEM v2 CAI and a decat job you can clearly feel a stronger vtec kick.

S2000 HID to LED conversion ... DIY, NO KIT!

The S2000 is equipped with factory xenon bulbs. It was nice back then... it was expensive back then... it is expensive still. 

When your bulbs go, you're looking at a good 60Euro/each, but have some moisture enter the headlight body and the ballast will go, and those are WAY more expensive. 

And trust me, they'll go out some day. There is also the matter that they are not Bi-xenon, They light pretty good ahead, but more is better, and they take their time to heat and provide the best light. LED, on the other hand, is powerful, cheap, they last longer and you can use the increased efficiency to add power to the package... equaling MORE LIGHT. 

So how did I do it?

1- Remove the front bumper, and while with the wrench at hand, remove the headlight lower support (small metal bar under the headlight assembly)

 

2- Without surprises... proceed to remove the headlights.

3- Start to dissemble the headlight. The ballast is external on this boy, so you can just remove it and, if it works, EBAY the thing. You'll never need that again. Remove also, the lamp, coil pack and cable.

4 - Depending on the LED bulbs you've chosen, you may have to make some adjustments to the fittings, I used a step-drill and bored enough to fit an H7 1300W equivalent, vented aluminum light.  If you opt for h1's you'll probably find out there's a lot less to drill. Still It's all plastic so the drilling is messy but easy. 

DO NOT forget to air-blast the assembly till all the dust comes out. Else, you need to place the headlight assembly in the oven (soften the glue) and then pull the glass appart to clean...NOT an enjoyable experience.

5 - Create the Wiring for the new Lights. You'll need to plug into the ballast input plug.

You should test the connections before insulating them.

 

 Remember: if it doesn't work, check the polarity.

6 - Use a good Insulator. I'm a fan of T-Rex... it's good, easy to work with and it can resist a nuclear attack. 

Do not forget : you're fighting moisture... and THAT gets everywhere! Make sure you're sealing things nicelly. 

Do not worry with dismantling as LED lasts way longer and, in this case, changing bulbs is easier with the front off and light assembly out... you can go crazy on the insulation.

7 - Test!

Presence lights:

 

LowBeams:

 

HighBeams:

 

 

The end result is better light (even during day time and with garage lighting, it's noticeable), longer life, WAY less money and it's cool :)

 

Friction improvements time.

Hi,
I've recently improved a couple of things in my S2000.
I've installed a set of EBC Red Stuff Brake Pads in the front and a set of EBC green Stuff at the back and to make the huge braking performance increase justifiable, I've decided to re-paint my 5Zigen Proracer GN+ rims with a BMW 400 reference Gun-Metal Paint and fit a set of grips-as-nothing-else-around Toyo R888 Tires.
Here are some pictures:

Results:
I now have a new hobby called - "Overtaking on the OutSide".... it's very cool. While everyone else is on their brakes trying to stay on the inside lane of a hard bend, I just flyby on the outside with massive grip and control flooring it like a bat out of hell.
Since I'm now so fast in the bends, I normally find a lot of slower moving vehicles when exiting bends but since the brake bite a grip is so huge I immediately slow down to speed without a fuss.

It's a brilliant Setup and I RECOMMEND it over just about anything I've tested so far. I mean I've been on High performance tires before, but race tires are just a different level of grip. The same goes to EBC.. I've been on Red-Stuff before, but RedStuff on 300mm discs are very different from what I've tested before.

Rear wheel bearing replacement

Hi all.
As expected, 4000km after the first rear wheel bearing gone bad, the second followed.
This time however it happened in the middle of summer vacations.
Portugal is a difficult country for people like me. You see I work my ass off, and in return I get to buy most the stuff I want. In order to do so, I have to deliver 75% of my earnings to Taxation. Most Portuguese however live off state funding and get to spend my 75% taxes... and still argue that I drive a rich man's car ... odd at the minimum.
During this austerity times being lived all across Europe, and in particular, Portugal, while I worked across the summer, most took their vacations.
During my summer-at-work the bearing went bad. I ordered a new one from Honda Portugal, as having one sent from the states would cost the same because of stupid excessive taxation of imports. I placed the order and it took a full week to arrive. Why? Spanish truck-drivers were on strike and no parts stock is kept in Portugal for the S2000.
After getting the new bearing I arranged an in-a-day intervention like the last time. However the mechanic told-me the Lathe's craftsman was on vacation!
I finally got that scheduled to a Saturday (sacrificing my time-to-recover my sleep) a full month latter.
All that month driving the S2000 on a bad bearing is only describable as pure torture. 1st because the car is not meant to drive slow. 2nd because the S2000 has little or none acoustic shielding. You find your self being overtaken by old man at 50km/h. The worse comes after the heating up of the bearing and the squeal... constant squeal. After 1 km you tell the ATM pin to the car, speaking all by your self... and 2km into this you are ready to tell ho is you lover, how many laws you've ever broken, the drugs you've done and each and every other dark secret you may have... believe-me Opus and the Masons would want their car's allways on good bearings.
The month went by and by the end of it it stopped squealing and started popping. By that time you either stop or embrace for accident.
So everything was set and I was going to spend a full day in the garage but have the problem solved the same day. Saturday came... I got up 50% in pain for being that early and 50% in relieve as the squealing and popping was about to end.
I was 10% the way to the garage when I got a call from the mechanic saying : not today man! going for some vacation.
I was ready to start killing people.
I immediately turned around, and drive the car into my garage. I took the tool box out and the 2ton jack under the car... and hands on the job. And that's my way of doing things! If you are willing to pay for something you know how to do yourself, than you are doing it for the speed and comfort of service. If that's not happening...than screw them all and teach them a valuable lesson: vacation if good but you will not be making any money while sitting on the beach.

I also went to the business garage where me and my partner had some car's to sell and grab a Citroen C4 picasso to drive arround while this was being done (and this is a desperate measure as I hate diesels and particularly big ones).

So hands On... First part: dismantle everything:

with the car still on the ground, loosen the screw on the wheel and the centre hub.

 To do the centre hub you'll need to unlock-it by tapping the deformed part of the nut border using a hammer and a screw driver.

 Then you can loosen-it just enough to be able to unscrew-it with the wheel off the ground.

Then use the jack and lift the car off the ground. Remove the wheel.

 Then a good set of drivers to unscrew the brake calliper.

 Remember to lock the nut with another driver like shown.

 Gently pull out...

Place-it somewhere where it's not in the way of anything  but don't let it hanging from the brake-lines

 It's then time for the brake-pads and the brake calliper bracket.

 Then, gently remove the ABS sensor and place-it in a protected location (the upper triangle is perfect).

 With a big screw-driver and a hammer, unscrew the rotor holder screws. They probably will be difficult to remove and failing to remove will damage the screws, SO use the hammer and hit the screw driver against the screws twice with some conviction, and you're done.

 To remove the ball-joints, first unlock the nut by removing the locking pins. You'll find them in all three ball joints (upper triangle, lower arm and lower control arm).

 Unscrew the nuts from the ball joint.

 To remove the Ball-joints, most people use a ball-joint separator. However that is a conic assembly. I decided to drop some of the car's weight on a wood stick that set between the ground and the ball-joint screw on the rear lower arm. THEN I used a 1.5Kg sledge hammer and tapped it (gently being a 1.5kg one) twice on the hub body near the ball-joint screw. This will send a shock-wave through the metal, good enough to shake it loose, but not enough to damage.
Then the same for the rear control arm (but without the wood stick... this one comes out much more easily).

Then it's time to unscrew the hub nut.
To remove the semi-axle from the wheel centre hub, use a rubber sledge hammer and hammer it vigorously. Some people use metal ones and do it gently... I honestly recommend the rubber ones.
This will both loose the semi-axle and the ball-joint from the upper triangle.

 This is the end result. Time to use a metal brush and do a little metal maintenance work on that rust while you sent the hub to the lathe's smith.

On the picture you can see the old hammer with the wodden stick I used "hurt" by the ball-joint screw, the rubber sledge hammer, the small metal hammer and the 1,5kg sledge hammer. Plus the hub assembly ready to go to the lathes shop and the break disk.

 Send THIS to the lathe shop:

The Lathe shop will:
- Press the hub out of the bearing. Half of the inner race will remain attached to the hub itself. It will need cutting to be removed. Probably the hub is also bad so either a filling and machining or machining and sleeving will need to be done.
- Remove the snap ring that holds the bearing in the hub. Press bearing to remove it out.
- Press the new bearing in.
- Place the snap ring.
- Press the hub in.

The final assembly should look exactly like this. Since bearings are directional, the black ring must be visible.

Re-install everything and tighten everything according to Honda's manual torque specs. EXCEPT the big HUB nut.
Honda issued a call-back (ignored by most dealers) to change the tightening torque from 185nm to over 298nm...but never ever less than 245nm.
Failing to do that will kill the bearings sooner, and if you have after-market wheels with different offsets, it will happen even sooner.

That's it! ;)