S2000 F20c Toda Dry Sump Kit!

The post has been a long time coming. I’ve been super busy with work and life…. not much has changed with the s2k besides bolting on the rear and front subframe with knuckles. Pretty much making it a real roller once I get some wheels. I did some small things along the way, such as installing power flex bushings. I got a whole bunch of goodies I’ve been hoarding over the years to install eventually…

The F20c Toda Dry Sump Kit is something I’ve been eying for years. Literally years… if you look back to posts like this from 2011, I’ve always looked at these parts in envy. A year or so back, someone posted this one for sale, after I found out it is DISCONTINUED, it was a done deal, the hoarder in me couldn’t resist.

The thing about these parts is that there is not much information out there besides the stock photos and description on Toda Racing’s site. I emailed Toda Racing USA and Japan for more information regarding the product, they replied to me saying that they have ZERO documentation. Even the person I bought this from, who bought this brand new told me this did not come with documentation. Kinda crazy when someone spends over $10,000 USD on this brand new and they receive no instructions. No worries, I’m crazy enough to think about installing this on a street car. Think is the keyword, but in reality, all I want to do is document this for the other S2k Otaku out there. This is some true nerd S2k nerd shit going on, hang on….

S2000 Toda Racing Dry Sump
I’ve told you guys I’m a hoarder right? I was able to mock this setup on a spare blown engine I’ve had sitting around that someone gave me. The previous owner of the engine dropped a valve so, the engine needs a ton of love if I want to resurrect it, F24 stroker engine anyone? I also threw on my Toda ITBs for shits and giggles because it reminded of the Toda Racing stock photo I’ve been drooling over for years….

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Same same but different.

S2000 Toda Racing Dry Sump
Let’s start with the crank pulley. The Toda Racing F20c dry sump kit uses an OEM stock S2000 crank pulley. The pulley is machined out to fit the gear that goes to the dry sump pump.

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Here is the Crank pulley exploded. You can see how the OEM crank pulley has been machined for dry sump gear.

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There are bolts that mount from behind the crank pulley to mount the inner piece. Don’t forget to put your crank pulley bolt in before you bolt the piece in!

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The rear, you can see all the holes where it bolts into the crank pulley

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The front where the dry sump gear is mounted.

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Dry sump pump gear on the crank pulley….
So the order of operation is…. Put crank pulley bolt in crank pulley, bolt in metal gear holder, (no idea what to call that thing), screw in and torque down crank pulley bolt to engine, there is a hole in it to access the crank pulley bolt. Lastly bolt in dry sump pulley and install belt at the same time to the pump.

Mounted with the belt on….

S2000 Toda Racing Dry Sump

You can see how the belt runs the pump here. From what I can tell, most of the other dry sump units that toda racing produces also runs this very pump. If you were to look at their bespoke K20 Formula 4 engines or Super GT engines they all use this type of pump…. I don’t know what hole is oil-in and what hole is oil-out yet. These are things I need to figure out.

S2000 Toda Racing Dry Sump
All the bolt holes underneath the pump I have no idea what they do.

S2000 Toda Racing Dry Sump
From the pictures of the few cars that run this online, those holes below are unused.

S2000 Toda Racing Dry Sump
If we turn our attention to the oil drain bolt towards the rear of the pain, it is the same bolt used in the OEM oil pan. I love how they retained this and did not change the bolt to a different size or pitch.  They are two oil drain bolts to drain oil from the “pan.”

S2000 Toda Racing Dry Sump
What’s these 3 holes here? This is why I think this is great for a street car. No other Dry Sump Kit manufacture for the F20c has these bolt holes. This is where the bracket for the OEM AC Compressor goes. So in Theory you can run AC with this! I’m not gonna play race car driver, I love having AC in my S2k as it gets very hot in the summer, and I’m all about the hardtop 24/7 life.

S2000 Toda Racing Dry Sump
If we look at the bottom of the Dry Sump pan you can see the separate sections this pan has. Another cool things to note, This Toda Racing Dry Sump Unit is casted from magnesium. Yes, this might weigh more than other kits out in the market but I feel like this is the most thoroughly thought out kit out there, shy of like IF HPD make a dry sump kit for this like how they do for the K series, where the dry sump pump is ran off of the internal oil pump chain…… Maybe AT power would make something like that if there is enough demand?

S2000 Toda Racing Dry Sump
Turning out attention to inside the engine.  This plate is mounted to the block to divert the oil to the new sump.

S2000 Toda Racing Dry Sump

S2000 Toda Racing Dry Sump
So what’s that hole right there.  That hole is where the OEM Oil pump would pump oil to, if you were to follow that hole up the engine, you would end up at the oil filter….So that is another super super cool thing about this kit.  YOU CAN RETAIN YOUR OIL FILTER LOCATION! Yep, no need to remote mount your oil filter to run it inline like the other kits on the market.  See I told you this was extremely thought out.

S2000 Toda Racing Dry SumpO-ring on the dry sump I should replace….

S2000 Toda Racing Dry Sump
This is why I can use the OEM Oil filter location, how cool is that!

S2000 Toda Racing Dry Sump
I needed some washers to mount the engine, so I found these cam trigger gears…. apparently they are discontinued and I shouldn’t be using it like this…

S2000 Toda Racing Dry Sump
Toda ITBS looking pretty.  I made a post why these are rad…  Here

S2000 Toda Racing Dry Sump
Favorite part of the Toda Racing ITBs, the coolant breather to make burping your coolant system easier.

That’s it guys, hopefully you enjoyed the in depth look of the Toda Racing Dry Sump kit for the F20C / S2000.  I really wish there was something like this when I was searching.  There is seriously nothing out there.  Now my new issue, how the hell do I mount a dry sump tank in my car, I don’t want to put it in the trunk nor do I want to put it at the passenger footwell.  I don’t even know what size tank to buy…. that’s for me to find out.. Hopefully running by 2030 haha.

Travel: My Visit to J’s Racing, Osaka, Japan

Slowly getting back into the hang of things…..Sorta.  Last month I went to Osaka, Japan.  I was on a family trip with my wife and daughter in Beijing, China and my wife and I decided to take a small vacation to Japan.  I have never visited any other in city in Japan besides Tokyo, or Yokohama like where ASM is….but that’s pretty much next to Tokyo. I’ve probably been to Toyko 8+ times now….. Osaka was an eye opener!  The whole vibe of the city was so different, much slower paced, and more relaxed.

This visit to Japan I rented a car because my wife hates public transportation. Man driving in Japan was terrifying for me.  I’ve driven RHD in a RHD country before in Thailand, but I just treated Thailand like there is no rules (Sorry Thailand)…. But Japan, man Japan has a ton of rules, and sometimes the traffic signs that make no sense to me even though I can read Japanese at a decent level.  Not being confident, driving on the ‘wrong’ side of the car + the super super narrow streets + bunch of oneway city streets…. I must admit I was a shit driver.  Sumimasen Japan!

Being in Osaka, Japan, I knew I had to do at least one car related activity.  In my mind the most famous car shop in Osaka is J’s racing.  When we think of JDM S2k tuning in America, we think of Spoon Sports, Mugen, ASM, Powerhouse Amuse, and of course J’s Racing!  (notable mentions out there to Tracy Sports, C-west, K1 Labs, Toda Racing, Car Garage Amis, Feel’s aka Honda Twincam, m&m Honda).

So after hanging out in the city with my wife, I dropped my wife back at the hotel and I drove to J’s Racing.  From Dotonbori, the most touristy popular place in Osaka and also where our hotel was, J’s racing was around 30-40minutes away.  They are located in Ibrakaki, which is a city in the Osaka prefecture.  It was raining and I only had about 1 hour before they closed!  Luckily my friends made the call to them to let them know I was heading over.

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So after a drive in rainy traffic, my rental Nissan march and I made it to J’s Racing.  J’s racing is located off of a tiny tiny tiny side street, you can totally keep driving and miss it.  Japanese tuning shops are always in the most unassuming places.  In America, car shops in general are typically located in industrial areas, while Japanese tuning shops tend to seamlessly blend into the neighborhood.  I remember seeing a picture of RE-Amemiya, the famous RX7 tuner shop, located smack dab in the middle of a suburban neighborhood…. crazy.  Oh yeah, you can’t park your car like this in the J’s racing lot, but on this particular day, J’s racing garage was closed for business and the President/CEO Murakami san was there taking care of paperwork.  Murakami san said it was cool for me to park in the lot, thank god, it was mad raining that day.

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Super soul-less minimal car, but it does work as an appliance!

Upon arrival, Murakami san greeted me. He knew I was coming, he immediately asked me if I wanted to see their cars. Of course I agreed! Another tangent… I was pretty damn stoked, but I’m the kind of the person that gets excited about shit but in the moment it doesn’t seem like I’m super excited, but always retrospectively I realize how rad a moment it was…. If you ever meet me, don’t be offended when I don’t seem excited about your car, but in fact I think it’s extremely rad. If there is good reason for me to think it’s rad.

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This was the first thing I saw upon entering the garage area, the world famous J’s Racing S2000 Demo Car.  It’s crazy, an object I’ve watch countless times on Youtube in Hot Version Touge battles, being right in front of my eyes.  The car has a crazy presence, and the dragon livery totally makes sense after experience a bit of Osaka.  I used to think it was tacky as hell, but now I understand, it’s a product of it’s environment.


This car attacking the touge in Kyoto, another city I visited on this trip….

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Murakami san proceeded to pop the hood/bonnet, exposing the 2.6 liter stroked F20c. I am curious how they stroked the engine and what crankshaft they are using to gain that displacement. I know some 2.5 and 2.7 liter F20c engines in the USA made by inlinePro….According to the video above the redline of this engine is at 7800RPM. I’m curious if this is on the stock FRM sleeves or not…

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Of course I’m an ITB man, Individual Throttle Bodies for you perverts and I couldn’t help to point out the Toda ITBs on this setup! Utilizing a very special J’s Racing plenum and air box made for this application. Unfortunately the airbox portion of this does not fit on LHD cars as it hits the brake booster and ABS system.

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Everything is wrapped in gold foil to reflect heat! Of course the rest of the J’s Racing Catalogue is here….. Cooling plate, Radiator, radiator cap, radiator hoses, exhaust manifold, and valve cover!  Can’t forget that J’s racing torque mount!

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Another shot of the beast, I love how SEGA is one of their sponsors. The SEGA genesis was my first game console as a child and I can remember that point in my life as a turning point, I spent countless hours with my friends playing SEGA genesis games… In fact I was so loyal to the brand I had a SEGA Saturn and SEGA Dreamcast… RIP guys.

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Craftsquare mirrors and of course you can really see how wideeeee this J’s Racing Body kit is. This is the Type-GT version, which is one step crazier than their type-s kit.  I must admit I didn’t like this kit when it came out, but it’s growing on me.

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The rear end with the super massive GT wing and interesting center exit exhaust. The iconic J’s Racing Waza Kanji and the red accents really make this stand out.

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Next to the world famous J’s Racing S2000 Demo car was this DC5. I asked Murakami san if this DC5 is a demo car, he surprised me by telling me this car is in fact a customer car! He told me, “looks like demo car right”. I completely agree.

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Up on the lift/hoist was another J’s Racing car. This one is rocking the Type-S wide body kit with TE37 and craftsquare mirrors.

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Being on the lift/hoist it gave me the perfect up-skirt view.  J’s racing coil-overs, and J’s racing diff mounts.  Although I am curious what that AN line running from the diff to the pump solenoid-looking-like thing up top is?

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here you can see the J’s racing special reinforced rear subframe.

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After looking at the Type-S kitted s2k for a bit I walked to the back of the shop and saw another relatively famous car…. This J’s racing Honda fit! I was slightly bummed their famous K24 GD fit was not at the shop, that is one of my favorite J’s Racing cars.

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Rocking some fender flares and some TE37s.

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I believe this Honda Fit races in Super Taikyu.

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If you look at the sponsor Seidoya. They make all the brake products for J’s racing, including their 6 pot calipers….

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To the right of the car was this interesting lift system. Which they use to transport goods to their 2nd floor.

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and perhaps their 3rd floor too? J’s Racing is definitely one of the larger tuning shops I’ve been to in Japan.

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Near the fit was this particularly sad looking Honda S660 that’s probably seen a circuit wall or two.

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Back to the S2k on the lift. I was checking out the J’s Racing 6pot Calipers underneath these meaty TE37.

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I had to snap more shots of the touge monster.

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Of course it’s rocking the Mugen Dry Carbon Hardtop. I remember being blown away when I saw one of these in person. Now I’m a bit jaded since a bunch of my friends own these tops Authentic of course? One of the best tops in my opinion, even though they are like 3 S2000 tops to really choose from.

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A wider shot showing the rest of the garage.

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The Dc5 Type R again

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Touge. For all you non Chinese Character readers out there (Yes, these characters came from China), this character is made up of mountain on the left, and on the right there is the character for up and the character for down. All this put together is mountain pass since you go up and down the mountain.

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A quick rainy glance outside you can see all the cars they use for development of new parts. Like this FK8 Type-r!

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This customer car was under the demo car on the lift/hoist. It looks like a decent build with an HKS supercharger, Type-S body, and J’s Racing Radiator and hoses….

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Of course they were these massive Endless brake calipers under the TE37. Along with the J’s racing Type-s fenders with fender inserts!

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This shop runs on solar power! It was a rainy rainy evening, so I doubt the shop was harnessing power from the sun while I was there. The inner earth lover likes this, since this in my mind justifies them running straight pipped race cars.

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I checked out the showroom…

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I ended up buying an umbrella because I thought I was gonna use it. I turns out the rain stopped after I left…. and I had to carry a long ass umbrella back to China and then back to the states. I had to check this into both flights because it was so damn long.

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Yep this is what I bought….

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J’s racing spec K20 with some Toda Trumpets on the valve cover.

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A closer look at what was on the counter….

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Pretty cool display made with a bunch of American License plates.

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Wall of hyperrevs

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Interesting product I’ve never seen before. It looks like it was hydro-dipped. S2k valve cover.

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NGK plug prices…. NGK racing plugs are around $30 per 1. Not terrible.

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Some Moty’s oil… the good stuff.

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At this point it was absolutely pouring rain. I haven’t seen rain like this in awhile since I moved to Southern California. It seriously rains in Socal like a handful of times a year.

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Since my car was pointing the wrong direction and I didn’t want to hit one of the many many expensive cars in the lot and reverse is super weird in RHD for me (The lot looks bigger than what it really was) Marukami san helped me move my car so it was pointing the correct direction, talk about Japanese hospitality! Thank god because I would of had to reverse into that one way road in traffic!

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I snapped a few more shots before I left this epic machine.

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Thank you Marukami san for you help! J’s racing, you guys are alright in my book. After visiting, I have a greater respect for the tuning brand as a whole, just a bunch of guys that started from nothing and now have a worldwide following.

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I like how they are repping Mugen here!

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As I as driving back to my hotel, I couldn’t help to look at the dealerships as I was driving by….

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I can’t remember if I’m on the famous Kanjo sen here, but I was on it at one point and wish I had the Egg shell civic with me.

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I’ll finish this post off with this picture I took of some Japanese company/ school? Smoking room. This would never fly in America nowadays, but I thought it was cool and interesting due to the number of people in the room smoking.

Life: Import Showoff Little Tokyo 2019

Sorry for the long pauses between blog posts, I’m crazy busy as life goes on. A few months ago I checked out Import Showoff Little Tokyo…. Import Showoff used to be the premiere car show/meet in SoCal…. but man has times changed, and have changed for the worst! People used to mark this event down on their calendar as THE show to go to, but now it’s only a shadow of its former self. The lot was small, the attendance was low, the car variety was…. minuscule, and the quality of cars itself was to be desired.

Just because you have a car and access to a vinyl machine, putting anime stickers on your car doesn’t make it awesome.  Something about the Itasha execution in Japan is vastly different than what people in the USA are doing, maybe something lost in the interpretation? maybe it’s the USDM style of Itasha? I don’t know.  Kind of like how some people interpret VIP cars here in the states is so far removed from the Japanese style, VIP-ing a Lexus IS, Honda Civics, and other small cars….. IT NEEDS TO BE A FULL SIZE SEDAN PEOPLE….. went off topic, /end rant.

Probably won’t come back next year, not much to see, would rather eat at Marugame Udon down the street.

2019 Neisei Showoff
This Mercedes caught my eye. I’m a big fan of the burple color of the car, it really pops in the SoCal sun.  Stance is great, wheels look rad, I’m definitely feeling the late 80s-90s vibe coming off of this car.

2019 Neisei Showoff
I’m not too knowledgable with Mercedes cars if you can forgive me, so I don’t know exactly what model this is, but man this oozes style.  I can totally see Don Johnson with an all white blazer exiting this car after doing lines of coke….

2019 Neisei Showoff
Not everyday you see one modded with a sport “tuner” steering wheel.  Gives the interior a different vibe.  These cars always had a fat steering wheel making you feeling like you’re driving a cruiser.

2019 Neisei Showoff pretty much half of the show in this picture 2019 Neisei Showoff
Sick 240z, great cruiser look.

2019 Neisei Showoff A car I know much about, since I own one. Same gen too, a UCF30 Zenki model….Although this is done up, the UCF31 Kouki models look soooo much better.

2019 Neisei Showoff
The normally matte black engine covers were painted gloss white.

2019 Neisei Showoff Along with the window visors…. Some typical VIP goodies, junction produce curtains, and maybe trays?

2019 Neisei Showoff

2019 Neisei Showoff The rear looks great, probably my favorite part on this build. Upgraded LED tail lights and burnt exhaust tips look so good. I love how this bumper really squares out the rear of the car.

2019 Neisei ShowoffThis RWB car was present. Pretty cool color theme, the sakura leaves + the more earth tone gundam motif on a white car goes well. Makes the car seem a bit elegant in my eyes….

2019 Neisei Showoff 2019 Neisei Showoff

2019 Neisei Showoff 2019 Neisei Showoff
The Other half of the show… Yep that’s it.

But forreal I’m an S2k guy and what does an S2k guy wanna see…. They wanna see this beauty.

2019 Neisei Showoff
Moses’s NFR Ap2.  Side note, I legit thought his name was Nalgas, and when I went to search for nalgas on google, I just saw a bunch of pictures of butts…..  Real reason I wanted to check out this car was to check out the ASM BBS clear ways wheels on this car.  I think the only set in the USA?

2019 Neisei Showoff
Probably the reason why these might be the only set in the USA is because they’re like ¥120,000- a pop. Yes, per wheel, so 480,000yen total or like $4528 with current exchange rate for the whole set, and of course you have to get it shipped here from Japan…. I mean it’s not terrible if you’re used to German car E88 BBS wheel prices, but a few more grand more expensive than some Volk wheels or even when they re-released, the Mugen MF10s…..

2019 Neisei Showoff I love how OEM the wheel looks. Especially with the NSX S-Zero center caps.

2019 Neisei Showoff
Engine bay is standard ASM x Mugen stuff.  Mugen Intake, Origin arm, ASM CF cooling plate….

2019 Neisei Showoff
He also has the ASM Wing/Trunk Combo…. The GT-09 trunk + wing.  It’s a trunk with the bottom of the wing stands molded into the dry carbon trunk… pretty neat.  I remember looking this up on the ASM website awhile back something like 910,000 yen or $8,394.84 with nowadays terrible exchange rate.  Of course you have to find a way to bring it back from Japan.  Pretty cool seeing it in person! I can’t imagine ASM having that many units left for sale….

2019 Neisei Showoff

2019 Neisei Showoff
A closeup on that WEAVE yo. The ASM race car has a setup similar to this.

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One step closer.

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He’s also rocking the ASM dry CF bonnet. The dry carbon version of the hood I used to have. Side note, this hood is made by the same people that make the Mugen hood in Saitama, a company called CHALLENGE. That’s why the rain duct setup is similar to the Mugen hood.

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2019 Neisei Showoff
A bit closer

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Gabe was there too and won best sports car

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2019 Neisei Showoff
At this point I was chasing my daughter around.

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2019 Neisei Showoff
Chickenjoy anyone?

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Oh yeah, next to the s2k was this 4th gen prelude with a bunch of ARC parts on it. In a past life I was a 5th gen owner, the 4th gen is definitely unique.

2019 Neisei Showoff
This one was hopped up with a Jackson Racing Supercharger, bunch of shiny ARC bits, including the famous ARC hot air intake.

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Somehow back to Moses’s ASM themed S2k. BBS clearways in full effect. In my opinion, #1 in show, for execution, quality, whatever. I’m biased.

Life: Random Shop Hangs

Hey all,

It’s now August if you can believe it.  This year has been pretty busy, a new job for me and new ventures in life.  This past week I made some time out of my day to head to my friend Alan’s new-ish shop.  He used to have another spot in Gardena before, but now has a much larger space in La Habra.  Hit him up on his IG if you ever need some parts for your S2k.

I will admit I am falling out of love with my S2k, or the S2k scene,  makes sense since my S2k is just a pile of metal with no end in sight.  The scene is definitely stagnant and all the builds that are coming up are all the same IG bullshit, but what can I expect? the S2k is a 20 year old car now!  Another quick irk I have with the scene is the people trying to make a quick buck off of fellow enthusiasts, raffles of cars, buying shit off of RHDJapan or Jesse Streeter and then trying to resell it in USA for 30% more, Euro Spec floor mats readily available from Hendy UK.  Come on people get a real job, it’s not nice to pray off the ignorance of people.

On to the main event…

Upon arriving at Alan’s shop I couldn’t help to notice this duo in the background.
Alan S2000 Shop La Habra CA
Son’s Silverstone Ap1 with some Varis Goodies and a black ITR. Amazing the prices these ITRs are fetching on Bring a Trailer now.  Son’s Ap1 is rocking a HKS Supercharger kit! Probably my favorite SC kit for the S for obvious JDM reasons.

Alan S2000 Shop La Habra CA
Some S2ks from Alan’s personal collection.  His S2k CR with a Ballade Sports integrated bumper/CR lip combo he uses for the track (he still has his factory one) and his amazing red Ap2 with J’s racing half lip, ZE40, Mugen Dry CF hardtop, and wing.  This car is probably my favorite Red S2k of all time.  Of course JDM model girls in the back to match!

Alan S2000 Shop La Habra CA

Alan S2000 Shop La Habra CA
Alan’s Ap2 is rocking an Official Brembo BBK under those Ze40.  Not some ghetto fabbed DC5-R conversion kit.

Alan S2000 Shop La Habra CA Love it, so well put together. Realized I should have took a picture of his RX7 spirit R Recaro seats in the car…..

Alan S2000 Shop La Habra CA
Now back to Son’s car. Son is a true track meister, all of these parts on his car have purpose to chase down the fastest lap times…  I believe he manufactures these vents on his car.  Those Stoptech Calipers look great behind the SSR wheels.

Alan S2000 Shop La Habra CA If you guys know me, you know how fanatical I am about authentic parts, but knowing how hard Son drives this car, I can look at the other way…. sorta.

Alan S2000 Shop La Habra CA
yeah…

Alan S2000 Shop La Habra CA
A wider shot of what goes down at this shop. Collectively they are Zero Auto Factory, you can follow everyone here

Alan S2000 Shop La Habra CA I should have took a picture of the HKS supercharger, but Son wasn’t around and I didn’t want to touch his car without his permission.

Alan S2000 Shop La Habra CA
Alan and his crew part out S2ks by the boatload, so they were some F20c/F22C chilling around

Alan S2000 Shop La Habra CA

Alan S2000 Shop La Habra CA
Circling back to Alan’s Ap2.. You can see the Mugen dry CF hardtop, AUTHENTIC OF COURSE….. voltex wing + tamon design trunk spoiler. The exhaust on this car is a FEEL’s exhaust. Which I believe is for sale.

Alan S2000 Shop La Habra CA

Alan S2000 Shop La Habra CA
They were working on this S13 with an SR20det. They told me this used to compete in formula D wayyyyyyyy back in the day when SR20det cars could actually stand a fighting chance.

Alan S2000 Shop La Habra CA

Alan S2000 Shop La Habra CA
Man this car is perfection

Alan S2000 Shop La Habra CA
Cody’s 300zx. Man as times go on, these are so cool and so 90’s. Remember they used to have a commercial of this car racing a fighter jet? Link here for those that have never seen it.

Alan S2000 Shop La Habra CA
Alan has all sorts of cool stuff laying around for sale. Like this ASM 07+ header

Alan S2000 Shop La Habra CA
I’m better with my money nowadays…. or else I would have bought this already!

Alan S2000 Shop La Habra CA
Son’s Varis trunk + J’s racing rear bumper.  Love the lower aero bits.

Alan S2000 Shop La Habra CA
Voltex swan neck

Alan S2000 Shop La Habra CA
Closing this out with the best Red S2k in the game.

Life: Chronicles Year 10

Hey all,

I am still alive…. Life has been busy, my daughter, new job in a new field, house stuff, etc…. adulting really takes a toll on you.  It’s funny when I tell my friends from highschool/college and mention I still have my s2k(partially) and I’m still into it, going to meets, writing blog posts, etc, they look at me like I’m a 30 year old going on 18.

I can’t shake this car thing, especially Honda S2000s, even though the scene is drastically different than when I first started.  Before I couldn’t fathom why the OG S2ks guys sold their cars and went on to different things, I would think why would you leave the greatest car god has ever created (JK not JK), but now as a fully grown man guy (I think), I finally understand, life changes and sometimes you don’t got time to drink boba and smoke cigarettes till 2am in the morning.  This younger crowd does make me think about the s2k as a platform….but I am in this for the long run…. we’ll see if this turns into 911 and the Ant.

Sorry for the long tangent…. I finally had time and approval from my boss, aka wife, to make it down to the Chronicles year 10 meet. In fact we just got off a cruise from Mexico that morning, I even made my wife, daughter, mother-in-law rush off the boat at 7am with all our luggage instead of having it delivered to the dock for us so I could make this meet. Which means our continuously screaming child was under her care for the day, while I bare the heat of beautiful Corona California…..  It was a hot one for sure, in fact every year is hot as fuck, so this year was no different.

Excuse the sensor dust… I tried my best to remove it.


Upon entering the meet, I had to say what’s up to Joe, lowkey one of the best builds out there.  He’s a super humble guy that doesn’t live for the gram like 75% of these owners nowadays.  His Mugen S2k CR is a thing of beauty and has been featured before.  I definitely look up to him, since he’s a great father and has this sick S2k, #lifegoals.


Next to Joe’s Mugen CR is Carlos’s ASM bumper S2000 CR, another S2k CR that has been “ruined” with Voltex rear over fenders and Mugen rims.


Sara Choi’s Voltex’ed S2000 CR.


EK with J’s Fenders


EG Civic with a rad Pocari Sweat livery, Osaka JDM wing, J’s racing fenders, and super jdm mismatching rims.


Jackie made it all the way from Vancouver Canada to make the meet. I’ve been following this build for years, before instagram when he just had a build thread on S2ki.  In fact I remember his car in this video back in the day. He had an 04 ASM bumper before.  Now he’s rocking a Voltex race front bumper, Voltex rear diffuser, spoon hood, craftsquare mirrors, and Voltex wing…. When he was rocking the ASM front bumper, the Voltex kit wasn’t even out yet, that’s how OG this guy is!


I love the Te37 wheels in this color.


Interior shot that shows the stack cluster.  I love the stack cluster, I actually prefer it over the S2k speedo.  Iconic Cusco blue rollcage and momo wheel with NSX-R horn button.


Another guy from Canada came down in this super clean styled Toyota Century.


I don’t even want to say VIP style, because this is the VIP.  When I think of VIP style, I think VIP cars are trying to make their car look and feel like this.


ITRs were plenty.


Sang ‘s  J’s Racing widebody turbo s2k looking good…. car for is for sale btw!


Gotuning tommy, representing Gotuning with his crazy ASM S2000 CR…. the 4th “ruined” S2000 CR at the meet.


For this event, Spoon USA brought out their Super Taikyu S2000 all the way from Japan.


Yep looks race car.


The Spoon Super Taikyu car rocking some Titan7 wheels with some 6 pot Spoon calipers.


Of course this isn’t s2kandtheant without talking about Areen’s S2k….. This is for sale too… My S2k friends’ s2ks are slowly disappearing.


Great deal if you buy it!


Since I am currently working on an EG civic, I was taking notes of all the EG civics there.


EG civic with Mugen lip, Mugen strut bar, and some green TE37.


What amazes me are these small details, like how clean this hood support is!


It is amazing how some of these cars were at wekfest in the bay area a bit prior to this event, and they all made it down to this meet.


Another shot of Jackie’s S2k.


This del sol was exceptionally done.  Mugen front bumper, Te37, K swap with Kinsler ITBs, and S2000 Spoon mirrors.


What impressed me the most are these recently discontinued crazy $$$ Mugen x Recaro MS-R seats.  You could buy many del sols for these price of these two seats.


Simple Amuse R1 front bumper S2000 with CE28n


Modest AP racing big brake kit on the s2k.


This Spoon civic that pops up at every big meet.  Pretty much everything from the Spoon catalogue except the mishimoto radiator.  I think I last saw it at Eibach in 2018.


My buddy Gabe with his Ap2 with an Ap1 front bumper.


Mugen MF10s up front and TE37 in the rear.


Joe popped his hood revealing the Mugen intake, super rare mugen spark plug cover, and ASM strut bar.


ITR with Mugen kit on some TE37.


This is by far my favorite EG Civic at the meet.  Super super clean JDM EG6 SIR.  Here you can see the super clean and rare EG6 Mugen exhaust.


This civic is perfect sitting on white Mugen MF8.


I love how pristine and stock the engine bay is. I love the OEM resonator and OEM airbox.  I find it funny how I’m coming full circle nowadays, where before I would want the most modded car, but now I want the most original car as these cars age.


Everything about this civic is perfect, sunroof visor, window visors, and yellow interior.


TSX wagon on Mugen MF10s with some more Mugen goodies.


Clean Ap1 rocking the Ap2 Mugen kit sitting on Mugen MF10.


Mugen kit goodness.


Clean r32 skyline in an interesting green color.


Pretty good turnout.


Lotus Elise on an APR kit


Front shot of the Super Taikyu Spoon S2000.


Another shot of Gotuning Tommy’s ASM s2k on Titan 7 wheels.


The Evasive booth had this Ap2 with the new Greddy Gen 2 turbo kit


Love the ASM tow hook peeking out of the Amuse R1 bumper.


shot of the Mugen ITR from earlier, The open hood reveals a K swap.


EG Tank Mike was present


Clean NA1 NSX with TE37.


Quad tipped Spoon exhaust.


Spoon prototype hardtop.  It’s amazing looking at the hardtop in detail, it is CNC’ed out of one piece of metal.


Super clean EF, I’ve been really interested in EFs lately… something about those boxy looks.


Under the hood of the Spoon Super Taikyu S2000….


Sang’s S2k again.


S2000 with wings out in full force.


Super clean ARC theme BB4 prelude.


Engine shot of the ARC theme’ed prelude.


Youtube famous LATOMMYLA TWM ITB EK civic.


shot of the TWM ITBs.


EK is on green TE37.


At the point I changed lenses that had a super scratched polarizer on it….. I didn’t realize this till later.  That’s why all the picture from here on out seem a bit hazy.


Jackie’s S2000 again showing his AP Racing pro 5000 calipers in detail.


Notched authentic Spoon hood for the turbo.


under the hood of Tommy’s car, showing off the ASM intake and Mugen Spark plug cover, and ASM dry CF hood.


Areen’s ASM hood…. looks familiar :p

Closing out this post with Phil Robles crazy Eg civic.  2019 just started, hopefully we’ll see my S2k get one step closer to a car again!

Life: Petersen Museum Japanese Cruise-In & Super Street Meet 2018 Part 2

We’re back with part II of of my Petersen Museum X Super Street Meet coverage! Please see here for my prior coverage.

DA Integra with Speed Star Racing by SSR EX-C aero covers…. try finding these nowadays.  I would hate to lose a center cap.


Dat JDM parking sensor.


A GTR with a bunch of overtake parts on it.  For those who don’t know Overtake is an in house brand by bulletproof automotive, some of their parts are made by companies such as Power House Amuse, makes sense since they are the official US Powerhouse Amuse distributor.


R33 GTR owned by Kinganytime of Hoonigan fame? Not sure if he’s a part of them anymore.


Red Cressida also featured on Hoonigan


Evo IX from DTM autobody rocking the full Voltex kit.


Love when other makes rock ASM parts.  This is very common in Japan since ASM is the Recaro dealer and outfits many of their seats into cars, i.e Porsche 911.


DanOften’s Ap1 with voltex bumper, spoon hood, and craftsquare mirrors.


Pretty serious seat setup.  Hopefully this car actually sees track time.


First gen civic with a Honda motorcycle engine.


Not sure what motorcycle this is from, I’m sure I would of found out if I read the paper above…


The wheels look like Watanabes, could be wrong…..


CHP rollin by making sure everyone is staying CARB legal.


Super Clean Civic VTi.  The  EG Civic VTi is kinda of like the SIR model but for the UK market, it comes with a B16a.  It doesn’t have the white SIR cluster, but does have red gauge needles, and a tach that goes to 8k and reads in miles.  No idea why I didn’t take more pictures but I thought it was pretty cool… Makes sense to import cars from the UK since cars are being exported from Japan at an alarming rate.


My friend Alvin was drooling over this AW11 MR2.


We decided to go downstairs into the Petersen museum since the meet was pretty small…. Out in the parking area they had this E30 M3 on display.


Inside the Petsersen Museum, out front and center, they had this Porsche 911 993 GT1 Race car on display.


Forshadowing the Porsche exhibit in the museum.


Amazing rear end, the exhaust setup looks insane.


I really like the overall shape of this car, it is very elegant.


They also had Iconic vintage Japanese sports cars out front as part of their Japanese car exhibit.  Super Rad Honda S800, grandfather to the almighty S2000.


A Subaru 360… kinda like a jdm volkswagen beetle knock off.  To the left of the Subaru is a Toyota Sports 800, which also rocks a boxer engine.  You could say this is the grandfather to the current GT86.


Finally some more S2k content, and a very historic one in fact.  Most people remember Suki’s VeilSide S2000 from 2 Fast 2 Furious….  Did you know she is Steve Aoki’s sister?  And their father is the founder of benihana….. now you knowwwwww.  I can’t remember the last time anyone mentioned ROJA wheels… throwback.


Interior is pretty standard, mostly reupholstered and the addition of gauges in the center.


The Time Machine Delorean from Back to The Future.


One of a kind Toyota 2000GT Convertible custom made for Sean Connery in the film You Only Live Twice because he was too tall….


I saw a few of these at the old Toyota Museum, which is long gone now.


Mazda FD RX7 prototype.


Mclaren 720S entirely made out of Legos.


Jaguar XJ220


Kenmeri Skyline


Famous Super Street ex-editor JDMWong’s EF Civic painted Suzuka Blue with a Rocket Bunny Kit…. funny how those two are not things I like in my book, but work soooo good here.


SSR SuperFins.


Close up shot of the superfins.


Incredibly rare Mugen Exhaust for the EF.


Dragcartel K series engine up on display.


With a mean looking header.


A Titan Motorsports Supra.  Titan motorsports is a shop famously known for tuning Supras.


Classic and new Ford GT.


Period looking Nissan Race car.  Reminds me of speed racer.


Amazing how minimalistic this car is.


Period correct zip ties holding everything together.


Mazda Cosmos.


Another Toyota 2000gt, this one more original.

Afterwards we went downstairs to check out the Porsche exhibit…. I don’t know my Porsches too well, so excuse my lack of knowledge.  This looks like a Porsche 911 930.


Yep, the 930 is a turbo…


I haven’t seen too many of these Porsche Carrera GTs in person up close.  This front bumper is where ASM found the inspiration for their bumper design.  You can see it right?


ASM may of found inspiration from the fenders too.


To my surprise, the interior looks very dated for a car of this prestige, typical early 2000s look…. You can’t see it, but something on the door card was coming apart on the passenger side.


Never a fan of tan interiors…


Porsche 911 Targa.


Porsche 356 speedster.


A more modern Porsche….


This car is the famous Rothmans Paris – Dakar Porsche 959.  I believe the dirt is original too… This must be worth a cool million dollars+.


Slantnose 911.


This car was double roped off, if that means anything.

I am going to end off this post with this Zenki 240sx on CP Hart-R wheels, I walked back into the show and took one shot and left….

Life: Petersen Museum Japanese Cruise-In & Super Street Meet 2018 Part 1

A month ago I went with some friends to check out the Petersen Japanese Cruise in / Super Street Meet in west LA. The last time I went was 2 years ago and the complex was packed with crazy cars, check my previous post here. This time unfortunately, there was a noticeable decline in attendance compared to 2 years ago, along with the quality of cars. My theory is that the first 2 years they did not charge a fee for showing a car, while this year they did, in addition when I went the first year, they provided free validation of parking, while this year I paid the full price of parking, I think this deterred a lot of people from coming.

I am still trying to figure out if I will go next year, I am currently more inclined not to go, due to what I saw this year.


The day started cool, but man it was getting hot and one hour in I was sweating hard.

Top Rank Importers had a strong showing, there was a large representation of RHD JDM vehicles showcasing what they have to offer.  With the 25+ year rule and all sorts of vehicles are now eligible to be imported to the USA, fly by night importing companies have popped up everywhere.  I’ve heard stories of people essentially exporting a crushed up JDM salvaged title car, only to be repainted and resold in the USA….. make sure you do your research….  tangent over.


Not many S2ks in attendance at this meet.  For whatever reason, I find myself attracted to these oddball cars.  For example, this mid 90s Toyota Camera on Volk Te37 SL.


I’m not a huge wheel guy, but I hope these are authentic.  If they are authentic, then this guy gets points for buying wheels that cost five times the price of the car.  Seriously, you can buy four 1995 Toyota Camrys for the price of one set of Volk Te37 SL.


Panda Toyota Supra on Volk TE37.


Rad to see a time attack Supra, I’m just going off of the banner though.


Another interesting car that caught my eye.  This late 90s early 2000s Toyota Corolla.  If you’re like me and grew up Asian in the 90s/early 2000s, EVERYONE had this car.  Your uncle, your friend, your teacher…. you had to have known someone that drove this car.  The Volk TE37 SL wheels caught my eye with this Corolla.


Inviting me to take a look closer to the engine bay.  I believe this is the XRS version, which offered the 2ZZ engine, the same engine that came in the Celica GTS of the same era.  Pretty cool, because you don’t see many of these around.  Toyota was doing really crazy shit during this period, I remember the first Scion TC had a supercharger option you could of got from the factory.  Nuts right?


I do like that TRD strut bar, something about TRD strut bars always look so beefy and functional, I dream of getting TRD chassis bars for my Lexus LS430 and IS300.  Man Toyota was really doing something during this time period, even my personal cars are Toyotas from this era.


The interior had these TRD Sport seats that I am sure are incredibly rare.  TRD generally have a very limited run when they release parts.  It’s not like Mugen that in comparison have a much longer window, for example the Mugen intake for the S2k is still available brand new and the S2k was discontinued almost 10 years ago!


This Nissan Skyline R32 GTR had it’s hood opened and something immediately caught my attention.


This Nismo RB26DETT NISMO FINE SPEC FINAL EDITION badge certifies this RB26Dett is a Nismo crate engine assembled at their fabled Omori Factory.  A quick google search shows this Long block is over $13k USD for the long block itself and limited to only 200 units.  As a Honda guy, I am jealous of the in house factory support Nismo gives their cars.  I mean how rad would it be to see a Final Spec Mugen F20/f22c…. one can only dream.


The special Nismo engine is paired with a Nismo Intake manifold and typical jdm goodies, a la HKS and Cusco.


For the wheels, this R32 GTR Skyline had huge Endless calipers and Volk ZE40 in bronze.


The Nissan Skyline showing was strong this day.  It was the most common car out there.


Hakosuka GTX.  Another car on my dream car list.


Period car next to some period correct old men.


Once again another Nissan R32 Skyline GTR.  I love the Castrol livery on this car, a throwback to the Group A days.


Frontal of the Castrol livery R32 Skyline.


NSX on Volk TE37

With Recaro SR3 seats.


Of course this is S2kandTheAnt, you need some S2k coverage!  This is the Super Street project Ap1 S2000 they built within a week.  It features the prototype of the new Greddy Turbo Kit Gen 2 with a more modern Garrett GTX turbo, improved exhaust manifold, more power, and still smog legal!  I never really understood the plight of California residents until I became one, having a smog legal upgrade really saves you some headaches.


I previously shot some photos of this kit at Eibach this year.


This project features the new Seibon dry carbon trunk…… which is typically seibon quality.  I mean look at that gap between the tail light and the trunk!  This most definitely is not ASM quality.


The Super Street project ap1 setting on Konig wheels.


Levin with some carbs.


Ending off the post with this DA Integra with Speed Star Racing by SSR EX-C aero covers in super mint condition.  This is a great period correct build! See you guys later for part II.

Parts Review/ DIY: ASM THROTTLE BODY IS-09 + ASM THROTTLE BODY SPACER IS-09

 

What really brings me pride with this S2000 blog is that I do installs/Parts Reviews of rare or expensive s2000 parts.  Parts that usually have just a small blurb written about them on minkara in Japanese and there is barely any in depth information about it anywhere else on the net.   We all know Japanese tuners really suck at internet-ing.  I’ve been lagging on the S2k since I’ve been trying to remodel my home bathroom on my own with no prior knowledge of really working on homes……it’s coming together slowly.

My buddy Princess Yow purchased the ASM throttle body and ASM throttle body spacer locally.  He’s not too much of a wrench, and installing a throttle body on an S2k is simple install so I had him swing by the Ant Garage, I love showing people how easy it is to wrench on their cars, especially S2000s, everything is super easy to work on.


So what is different with the ASM throttle body compared to an OEM one?  The ASM throttle body is a slightly larger diameter.  The entry diameter of the throttle body is 70mm while the exit is 66.5mm.   Of course since Princess Yow has a 06+ model, we have the version made for DBW cars.


The ASM throttle body is made by Toda Racing.


Princess Yow also got the ASM throttle body spacer to go with his ASM throttle body.  What this spacer does is smooth out the transition of the big throttle body to the stock intake manifold.  You can also accomplish this by porting the intake manifold, but this is much less invasive.


The ASM throttle body spacer comes with 4 bolts and 2 throttle body gaskets.  Once for each side of the throttle body.


The best feature of the throttle body spacer, this beautiful ASM logo…. If you have an Ap2, make sure you buy the AP2 version since the intake manifold opening diameter is slightly larger than an AP1.


Love anything that says TODA Racing on it…..


Princess Yow and I see eye to eye on many things…. He’s also a huge fan of quality JDM products.  His engine bay consists of a Mugen intake, ASM Tower bar, Amuse header, and ASM cooling plate….  He’s running Ohlins, a Koyo radiator, and samco hoses in case you guys were wondering.


I dived into his piping hot engine bay…..I already removed the intake arm in this picture.


The stock throttle body removed, it was quite easy.  Just remove one clip holding in the harness, and 2 hoses that run coolant through the throttle body.  Man DBW cars are easy to work on…. no need to take of the throttle cable.


I attempted to install the throttle body spacer… First gasket on.


2nd Gasket….


and ASM throttle body….Love that ASM logo up top! At this moment I realized why the throttle body spacer came with 4 long bolts….  The OEM studs that hold in the throttle body were too short.


Feels good putting more ASM parts on the car.


I’ve taken off my fair share of bolt studs in my day.  So to take off the studs off of this application, take two nuts that thread on the stud, tighten them against each other with 2 wrenches, and then with one wrench spin it counter clockwise to remove the stud it is attached to.


I didn’t use these nuts pictured, but nuts I had in my bin…. But you get the idea.  I have a video coming out soon.


Here it is all installed!  Keep in mind since you installed a spacer, this pretty much moved everything throttle body forward 1/2″.  Don’t forget to reconnect the 2 coolant lines back in and plug in the map and throttle sensor.


If you are OCD, feel free to trim out the area that the throttle body gasket protrudes.


The intake arm gave us a little resistance since everything was pushed forward 1/2 a inch… It was silicon so it wasn’t too bard.  I don’t know why Princess Yow doesn’t run clamps on some of this stuff….


The intake arm is now rubbing against the ASM strut bar.  I believe if you retain the OEM arm, it does not do this.

Since we were already wrenching…..

After we tackled the throttle body install.  We did a full fluid change, transmission, oil, and differential, and installed two new OEM remanufactured S2000 rear calipers…..


The finish alone is why this is better than autozone remanufactured calipers.  I noticed his recently installed autozone calipers were already rusting!  I believe he got these from Majestic Honda, a very popular online Honda dealership….


The rear calipers installed!


Nothing can beat new.


We were wrenching late into the night… I didn’t really take pictures of his car since I was getting pretty tired at this point.  But he is rocking some Mugen GP wheels.  Don’t see too many of these on cars nowadays.  I think we finished wrenching around 5am…. We started around 10pm.


to finish off this post, check out his Spoon calipers! I took this picture right after I helped him bleed his brake system….  For spoon calipers, we bleed the inner bleeder first and then the outside bleeder.

 

Life: Eibach 2018 at AutoClub Speedway Part 3

Final post of Eibach 2018 at autoclub speedway! I’ve noticed something with my pictures I need to take more into account when I’m going over them….  My pictures look drastically different my iPhones (yes mine and my wife) compared to what I see on both my Mac Pro Desktop and Macbook even though I thought I calibrated them….

Check out my previous post here if you pissed it.

On to the pictures!  At this point I was done checking out the cars in S2k row and started to venture out to the vendor area.  An overcast arrived that was greatly welcomed, so being not so hot AF I really took my time…


Always a classic S2k look for me, Powerhouse Amuse R1 bumper and bronze wheels, in this case Mugen MF10 (I do wish they were CE28N) and a black OEM hardtop.  This white car was also rocking spoon aero mirrors…. I still don’t know how I feel about the aero mirrors since I’ve re-fell in love with stock mirrors recently haha.  I’ll probably change my mind about that in a few weeks, as I always do.


I do miss my Amue R1 bumper…..


This new gen NSX came fresh off the drag strip.  It ran a stupid fast time….I just can’t remember what it was…. thrilling I know.  I believe it only has exhaust modifications done to the car.


Not really a looker this one…. It would be a half decent build if it wasn’t for those awful headlights.  Some mods really detract from the car, for example, for me at least, anytime people add these headlights or tail lights I really lose my S2000 boner.  OEM is perfection.


This AP1 is packing an HKS super charger.  Probably spent all of his money on the HKS Super charger so he had to go for the eBay headlights……


It was the first time seeing the Rywire Sema S2000 in person and it is glorious.  It’s amazing how much nicer it is in person compared to in pictures.  I spent a good amount of time looking over the fine details of this build since I’ve worked on a number of stock S2ks over the years and know when I see something not OEM under the hood…..


In pictures it does look strange with the really wide hips…..But in person it doesn’t look too drastic.  Who can say no to the Mugen SS Bumper… especially one that has been widened for extra smileys.


I’ve had numerous ITBs on my personal S2k, so this Kinsler unit with the top feed injectors definitely peaked my interest.  It’s interesting how Ryan integrated the DBW module and basically machined a shaft to match up with the Kinsler linkage.  I’m pretty sure he’s using a Subaru Drive by Wire throttle unit.  The way this was done, it could only be done with the Kinsler ITBs because the linkage is sideways compared to other itb setups….. Not the best explanation I know.


I love how extra plates with gussets were welded to the body to look super OEM.  The bung coming out of the brake master cylinder was interesting.  I really like this brake line look…. super tempted to do an ABS tuck….


really clean and tidy setup.


interior was very simple with a Mugen Gen III Steering wheel and JDM Recaro RSG.  Looks like a pretty beefy rollcage, but lets be honest, this car will never see a race track….


Interesting blend of the Mugen SS rear bumper and Mugen Ap1 rear trunk lip.  For me the side skirts make the car look really boxy and loses one of my favorite S2k lines.


Another SEMA heavy hitter, the Mode Parfume Ap1.  Mode Parfume is mainly known in the VIP crowd.  Mode Parfume brings an interesting look to the S2k, really rounds out the lines of the car.  Besides the kit this car is rocking a J’s Racing hood and Volk TE37.


The blue this car is painted is excellent.


Next to the mode parfum car was this J’s Racing Widebody Turbo’ed S2000, I follow the owner on instragram.  This looks like a very well executed build, with the power to match.  Love those Project Mu calipers and craftsquare mirrors.  Sometimes it drives me insane when there is a crazy widebody S2k, but is running a stock engine….. Wide body needs the power to match the looks!


nice and tidy turbo setup…. big ass turbo at that.


I saw this car for sale recently and it listed Tein Flex suspension on the car, details like this make me cringe, like seriously, you’re gonna spend 30k+ on body work alone and then you’re gonna get the cheapest jdm suspension you can buy…..  I was pleasantly surprised when I saw motons on the car.


Greddy showing off their Gen 2 Turbo Kit.  The only smog legal turbo kit for the s2000.  For the Gen 2 turbo kit, Greddy redesigned the exhaust manifold to make it much stronger, the older generation manifold was known to crack, in addition to the redesigned manifold, Greddy upgraded the turbo to a more modern Garret GTX2867R, oh yeah, Greddy ditched the super outdated eManage and now run Hondata flashpro.


I believe this car is actually owned by one of the owners of Evasive Motorsports.  Super clean build with voltex front end, volk te37, and project mu BBK.


I would love a 2nd s2k and boost the hell out of it.


Another shot of Gotuning tommy’s ASM’ed S2k running Titan7 wheels.


This booth stopped me in my tracks.  Nisin, in addition to making cup noodles (JK), they also make the OEM brake calipers and Spoon calipers!


Nisin had this on display.  It’s a 6 pot caliper they are planning to release soon.  They revealed to me that the new Spoon BBK is going to be based off of this caliper.  I can’t wait.


In addition to the BBK they are planning to release, they have performance brake pads available now!


All types of S2ks were present, including ones like this…..


I saw some random Japanese people at the Pit Garage booth…. later I found out it was the J’s Racing president…. oops, should of got him to sign something.


ICB selling high quality JDM goods in addition to the new Regamasters.  On the table we have a beautiful saclam exhaust.  For people that don’t know, the guy that runs Saclam is an ex-Mugen Engineer.  That’s why if you look at older mugen exhausts for 90’s Hondas, you can see the influence he had on the exhaust tips.


Interesting wrap color on this Type-R.



Pricing for the Regamaster Evos


I walked back to say goodbye to some S2k people.  I couldn’t help to notice Moses’s  Amuse Euro 70mm exhaust with some gold bling bling….


People were leaving, love all around….. refreshing from all the internal hate of car things in my heart (kidding not kidding)


Russan Hammer snapping a few shots for the gram.


Another shot of dimsum Jon’s car.


JDM umbrellas were out in full swing.


Moar of this.  I wish I framed this better.


stopped by to look at the finer details of this new Greddy kit!


Sara Choi’s S2000 CR I used to see rolling around in Monterey Park…. I like the Volk Te37 on this, really flows will the rest of the build’s dark accents.

Life: Eibach 2018 at AutoClub Speedway Part 2

Welcome to part 2 of my Eibach coverage. I’ve been overwhelmed by the positive response I received in the past few days, you guys are the reason that I keep taking photos, as crappy as they are, and continue to keep writing as horrible as my grammar is…..

I was blown away at the line up of S2ks.  It was like seeing an Instagram feed of S2ks in person.

Let’s start where we left off last post in Part 1


I wasn’t aware who this was in part 1, but my buddy let me know this is JDReyes


Voltex kit with ASM fenders, Spoon Hood, and White Volk CE28N…… all in Cocaine white.


Russian Hammer’s White ASM Ap2 with newly bronzed Volk CE28n again……


If there is one kit I’ve seen take over the S2k scene in the past few years, it’s the Voltex body kit.  It has really taken over in the past few years since Evasive first dropped the sketches to the public on FB years ago….  It’s a great looking kit, but to me it was destroyed by how many rep kits they are nowadays.  I do agree it is probably one of the most functional body kits since voltex did test it all in a wind tunnel.


Another voltex kitted S2k running Volk TE37SL with EVS fenders and an ASM hood with EVS hood vents.  Something about the vents on the fender reminds me of when Z3 fenders were super popular on imports, hell even my Honda Accord with a purple body kit had them back in the day.


Another angle.


Yep, Voltex is very popular.  Note the J’s Kitted S2k by S2Boost parting the sea of voltex


EVS fenders on this white Ap1 with a spoon hood and voltex front bumper by kaotik


side shot showing the red ce28n, voltex front flares, voltex sideskirts, circuit garage rear over fender, and craftsquare mirrors.


Silverstone Ap1 with voltex front bumper, spoon fenders, spoon hood, and craftsquare mirrors.


Hector Lavario’s Voltex kitted Ap2…..


All these S2ks looking super clean….. I’m not sure if it’s because i’m ADHD or jaded, but I miss seeing the variety of tuning styles in S2ks.  There are so many different manufactures of body parts for the S2k, maybe it is the effect of social media, but s2ks now are looking pretty similar following the same cookie cutter mentality, most S2ks run the same type of body kits or parts, like a voltex body kit, voltex wing, Amuse R1 Bumper (I’m guilty of this), CE28 or TE37….  Only 12+ years ago, I remember there was a variety of styles people were trying out, such as Tracy Sports, Amuse Wide body, INGS+1, Cwest, Car Garage Amis, Sorcery……  I can’t remember the last time someone actually brought up INGS+1 in a conversation,  I think it’s a great looking front bumper.


Voltex wings all around.


S2k row.


I think this is the first time I’ve seen car shop glow tail lights in person……. Digging the rear end of the Silverstone Ap1.  Voltex Swan Neck wing + CSG tail lights, K1 Laboratory Duck Tail, and what looks to be a J’s Racing Exahust.


Another shot showing the Volk ZE40.


I just realized that the sebring silver car to the left is rocking Euro headlight washers…. It’s funny how europeans can’t get rid of these fast enough, but on the other side of the ocean people are adding them to their cars.  The Volk TE37 fitment looks so period correct on this Ap1.


Next to the row of S2ks, they were a row of DC2, most of them being type-r…. Phoenix yellow is so good.


And Championship white.


relatively modest ap1….


I wonder if this spoon sticker is the reproduction or an original?  He’s also rocking a Spoon snorkle and J’s Racing cooling plate….


Another shot of Joe’s S2000 CR


I think Kaotik was explaining why he gold wrapped his Mugen intake something something…..


One of the few Turbo’ed S2ks in attendance S2boost.  It must be a SMOG thing, but they don’t have as many Forced Induction (FI) S2ks on the west coast compared to the east coast.  I remember a bunch of guys out east turboing their S2k when I lived there.


Joe’s S2k CR never ceases to amaze me…..

I’ll cut if off here.  I’ll post up part 3 soon which will complete my coverage of Eibach.  Once again, I must iterate that Eibach 2018 was a HUGEEEEE event.  I didn’t even get to see half of the event because of the utterly large amount of cars and decided to focus primarily on what I know, S2000s. Although I did own an EG civic at one point in my life and did preform a B16a swap on my friend’s EG, I will admit my knowledge in other Honda chassis is lacking.