S2000 F20c Toda Dry Sump Kit!

June 30, 2020June 30, 2020 / WhoisAnts / Leave a comment

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….

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….

Same same but different.

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.

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

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!

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

The front where the dry sump gear is mounted.

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….

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.

All the bolt holes underneath the pump I have no idea what they do.

From the pictures of the few cars that run this online, those holes below are unused.

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.”

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.

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?

Turning out attention to inside the engine. This plate is mounted to the block to divert the oil to the new 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.

O-ring on the dry sump I should replace….

This is why I can use the OEM Oil filter location, how cool is that!

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…

Toda ITBS looking pretty. I made a post why these are rad… Here

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.

Pick Ups: Brand new OEM S2000 F22c Shortblock

February 9, 2018February 9, 2018 / WhoisAnts / Leave a comment

Today I took delivery of a brand new OEM Honda short block. Unfortunately it’s not for my car, but for my friend Edwin. Some guy out in NorCal was selling OEM F22C short blocks for $4500 each! We called Honda and unfortunately they confirmed that they are now discontinued. With that being said, it is now a sellers market for OEM short blocks. The $4500 included free delivery to Socal, so Edwin sent the seller a $500 deposit and we had a short block on the way to my house!

Within a few weeks, I had a Sprinter van and a few dudes show up at my house….. Moments later they unloaded this masterpiece at my doorstep.

Of course upon delivery I checked the package to make sure I did not receive a box full of bricks, since Edwin entrusted me with $4000…..

Looks like an engine! But is it new?

Definitely new

Still fresh with that assembly lube

Absolutely perfect.

Some of you guys may wonder why don’t you go with a “built” block….. to me it seems like a majority of these “built” engines end up blowing up or not running properly. The FRM cylinder walls definitely make the engine more difficult to rebuild. I’ve known people that have gotten their engines built at some of the top shops in the country still have weird oil burning issues etc…. with an OEM shortblock you can 100% know this engine is reliable. I believe that is the premium you pay in this situation. On the same note, I would only trust built engines built by some of the top JDM tuners, like TODA racing or K-tech Engineering, I’ve personally seen their engines built on the track really abused, most built engines in the USA never ever see circuit racing track time, mainly drag racing for the most part.

It’s crazy how when I think back to 6-7 years ago in the S2k scene, an OEM short block was around $2k and a used hardtop went for around that same price too. With the prices now on hardtops, you can see how special the S2k is, how limited it is, and how in the future it can someday be a car worth something to not just us diehard S2k owners, but actual car collectors.

Another quick Youtube Video I made. Please let me know how I can improve.

PickUps: JDM Honda S2000 book

January 31, 2018 / WhoisAnts / Leave a comment

2018! and it’s almost Feb already! Pretty nuts how fast my life seems to be moving nowadays. So I don’t know if you know this, but AMAZON JAPAN ships to the USA. Typically for smaller items like books and magazines and such…..It’s way cheaper than your local JDM bookstore, because you are paying the actual price of the magazine + shipping is pretty damn reasonable. So when the next S2k Hyper Rev comes out, I’ll definitely get my friends together to order some!

With that being said, my wife had an order in and she asked me if I wanted something. So I asked for this super rad super jdm book.

I can’t read Japanese well (not at all) but they are tons of good pictures here I don’t ever see online

Super detailed buyers guide explaining all the different models and generations of S2000s. I really wish we had an English version of this.

The Model 100 is basically the 2000-2001 Ap1 for the US, the s2k came out in 1999 in Japan. Model 120 is the equivalent of a 2003+ ap1 model in the USA. So if you are ever on a Japanese OEM parts site, you now know what these numbers mean, they reference these a lot of Japanese webpages.

The Model 130 is an Ap2 with an F20c, but the styling and interior is like the USA 04-05 model years. I know in Europe they kept the F20c and even had a DBW version, I believe in Europe the F20c with DBW is called a F20c2. The JDM Model 130 kept the cable throttle.

The buyers guide goes into further detail of what to look for in an S2000. They are some pictures but of course everything is in Japanese.

Tons of Great pictures in this book. I enjoy the prototype S2k Material.

This is pretty awesome. The Del-Sol was used as an S2k Test mule. Pretty much Del-sol skin but all S2k Drivetrain. These are used for testing purposes and not to reveal what the actual car looks like. The S2k was actually used as a test mule for the ill-fated NSX car with a v10 Engine.

interesting Tail lights

Some early renderings

Another crazy early prototype S2k. Look at that crazy lip. I can see a bit of ASM in that front bumper. The side is interesting too.

Wind tunnel testing

So that is just a glimpse of the book. I highly suggest you guys buy it! Definitely cements myself into S2k Otaku-dom….

Parts Review/Pick Ups: Toda S2000 ITBs / Sports Injection

September 1, 2017September 1, 2017 / WhoisAnts / 1 Comment

Hey guys. I’ve had this part for a while now, holding onto it hoping that one day I can resume my build….. If you guys know me, you guys would also know I’ve done the ITBs thing before. In a previous life I had Jenvey ITBS. You can check it out here, jesus it’s crazy to think I was only 23 when I made the first post on this blog. I regret not taking more pictures….

Here are a few pictures off of my flickr of the jenvey units:

When you receive the Jenvey Kit, it’s unassembled, so you have to go about assembling the kit yourself. The coolant temp sensor port to the right, you have to drill and tap that in yourself. The coolant line to the left, that is not standard, I had to cut and weld from an intake manifold I had laying around. Take note of the flange of the coolant exit, the bolt behind that flange is a pain in the ass to get once it is on the car. I had to use an allen bolt and cut off the head of an allen key to reach it.

You can see how I welded the factory coolant line here, so I can retain the bleed functionality. I later cut this off since it wasn’t flush with the head…. dummy me, I should of checked beforehand. Those vacuum ports you see, I had to drill, tap, and screw in each of those nipples…. (Stalker photography was a logo I was working with for awhile… I wonder what happened to that adobe file.)

All assembled and glorious looking. Unfortunately, I was never happy with the fit and finish of these units. I had to source my own injectors, I went with Ford Racing Injectors 440cc Injectors.

For the TPS, jenvey made an OEM s2k TPS adapter which I had to buy later on….

The problem I have with the Jenvey ITBs, that I’ve always repeated, is that the Jenvey ITBs were not created with the S2000 in mind. They were created for F20/F22c kit cars. The lack of thought, i.e the missing coolant bleed port, bad coolant flange design. Hayward performance remedied this issue by creating their own ITB flange, and still utilize the Jenvey throttle bodies.

I’ve always wanted the Toda Racing ITBs. I wish I went with this setup from the get-go. The Toda ITBs comes with a Toyota based TPS system and in the instructions how to wire this up to my current setup.

The fuel rail it comes with is beautiful. Super heavy duty, it’s a billet piece. The jenvey fuel rail feels like a cheap aluminum tube compared to this.

I love how these are compatible with the OEM s2000 injectors, so that cuts cost of sourcing different injectors and allows you the option of upgrading injectors later on.

For the Jenvey ITBs, I had to convert my fuel system to an -6 AN system. For the Toda units, all you have to do is bolt the OEM Banjo bolt system to this fuel rail. Little things like this is what I really like about the Toda system and JDM products in general. The level is meticulousness is unrivaled by any other manufacture.

The TODA ITB units come pre-assembled. They are based off of the Toyota AE101 ITBs. The one I have is the 88mm units.

As you can see the whole is already tapped for the coolant temperature sensor and the flange for the coolant exit, is where the OEM intake manifold is, so it is much more accessible to bolt this to the head…

Same TPS as the Toyota AE101.

You can see how some of the vacuum ports work, there is 2 per runner.

Closer look of the linkage between throttles.

Of course this will plug and play with the OEM throttle cable, while the Jenvey units you have to come up with something yourself.

One port with a barbed nipple already. Probably for brake booster.

The trumpets feel incredibly solid, as if they are machined out of a block of aluminum. The Jenvey throttle trumpets felt really cheap to me, you can even bend the Jenvey trumpets by hand.

The capped off vacuum ports on the flange, and on the flange of the runners.

The knob you see in the middle if the main throttle idle adjustment… Not pictured is the coolant bleed port on the other side of the ITBs.

Overall, I’m really excited for the Toda ITBs, I mean it’s the same system that the ASM race car uses!

PickUps/Parts Review: TODA RACING 60-70MM CATALYST ADAPTER (TestPipe)

April 5, 2017April 12, 2017 / WhoisAnts / 3 Comments

I got some parts reviews I’ve been meaning to put up…. Since I have an ASM 70mm Titanium exhaust (Which I believe is the best S2k exhaust ever, much better than the SS version, the sound is so crisp!), I’ve always ran it with an invidia 70mm testpipe which is 70mm straight through, for what that is, the Invidia unit is a great value for what it is and fitment is spot on. This Toda Racing 60-70MM CATALYST ADAPTER, makes perfect sense to me, smooth transitions should mean higher exhaust velocities right? I’m not an engineer, but it makes me feel better because it says Toda racing and has a sticker for RACING USE ONLY

Toda Test Pipe-2 I’m a huge fan of Toda Racing. It seems like every Honda shop uses their products to build their engines, including the world famous KTECH….. and they run engines in Super GT…. How cool is that!

Toda Test Pipe
Of course another shoutout to RHDJapan some of the beautiful benefits of globalization….

Toda Test Pipe-4 Quick peek inside….

Toda Test Pipe-3 A good look at the transition….

Toda Test Pipe-6 side by side shot with the harbor freight jack

Toda Test Pipe-5

Toda Test Pipe-7 Absolutely beautiful….

Toda Test Pipe-8
Welds for days.

Toda Test Pipe-9

Toda Test Pipe-10

Toda Test Pipe-11

Toda Test Pipe-12 I love how this comes with an OEM Quality Gasket.

Toda Test Pipe-13 Bolted on the car….

Toda Test Pipe-14 Mated with the ASM 70 MM Titanium Exhaust……

Toda Test Pipe-15
The only thing that would complete this would be an ASM or Toda Exhaust Manifold….. If only…..

Toda Test Pipe-16

After installing this on the car, the car was noticeably quieter on pulls. I would assume this is because the air is moving faster now since it has a smoother transition, while before it was a 60mm exit on the header dumped directly into 70mm test pipe. Honestly the car felt the same powerwise.

Pick Ups: Recaro SR-7 ASM IS-11 with Recaro Japan Rail

October 9, 2016April 12, 2017 / WhoisAnts / 2 Comments

It’s crazy how things can change over time. If you were to talk to me about my S2k 4-5 years ago, I would have told you, “Race Car Bro.” Now I have come to the conclusion that I’m a shitty driver, and I would like a well-rounded car. Not only can I play pretend racecar driver, by running track days with 34234340 other people on the field, spinning out, and pretend I’m going fast, but I would also like something that I wouldn’t mind cruising to the meet to school noobs on how not JDM TYTE their car is….. Kidding not Kidding.

These seats are the embodiment of that. Coming from Recaro SPG seats, I figured I should at least make my car more comfortable for people that ride in the passenger side, especially my wife who hated my Recaro SPG seat, and actually hates this seat, but hates this less…. which is the key…..

I’ve been looking for this specific seat for awhile now. Since my driver’s side is a RECARO RS-G ASM LIMITED IS-11, I wanted a seat that would compliment this on the passenger side. The Recaro SR-7 ASM IS-11 have been discontinued for awhile now, they have an updated seat out now, the RECARO SR-7F ASM LIMITED IS-11 GK. It took awhile, but paitence paid off and I found a mint example of this seat.

With the seats. you also need rails. After extensive extensive research, I decided on Recaro Japan Rails for the Ap1 S2000, I do not believe they make a seat rails for the 06+ s2000 passenger side. The Recaro Japan rails are bottom mount rails for Recaro seats, and can be side mounted if you attach the Recaro Side Mount adapters. Like the name implies, these are Japanese Market Recaro rails, they do not officially sell these in the USA. I initially was going to run Bride RO rails, but after asking around and talking to people that ran Bride RO seat rails on bottom mount Recaros such as SR6 or SR7, the conclusion is that the seats sit too high on Bride rails, higher than stock! I picked these up used from Yahoo auctions with my seat.

The Recaro Japan Seat Rail bolted onto my seat PERFECTLY. You can tell Recaro did their research for the S2000, since on the passenger side, the adjustment lever is short and bent on the right-hand side to accommodate the hump in the floor pan.

The Rail fit perfectly, even the adjustment is OEM like. I’m pretty sure Recaro makes the OEM seat rails. I know they make the OEM S2000 seats.

This seat was made in 2014 🙂

I like to give a detailed review of these products, because when I did research, I found out that there is very little information out there on this setup. Finding out the correct rail to buy was half guess work, half logic. I was looking for specific bottom mount Recaro rails, but I saw there are only two types Recaro Japan rails out there, and the other one is the Ultra Low edition that is side mount only. This is the clearance between my center tunnel and the side Bolster. The clearance is just millimeters, it touches, but it doesn’t push up against the center tunnel hard.

Between the door panel and the seat.

The side bolster and the door panel. Plenty of clearance.

Door side Bolster, taken with my DSLR.

Side bolster to center tunnel again. I know I gotta upgrade that carpet center console cover, it looks really bad…..

I love how the Red stitching matches with my Red/Black theme I have going on in my car. I actually think that the Recaro SR7 is the same seat as the Mugen CRZ seats, the Mugen MS-Z….. I could be wrong

Full money shot of the seat next to my driver’s side seat. I want to replace the center console cover and armrest to really clean things up. Oh yeah, I sold my rollbar and put my interior back in…… things are coming to change that soon. If there is any knock on this seat, I do feel like the head rest area is too hard, not soft and bouncy like my RS-G.

Pick Ups: FEEL’S Radiator + Billion Hoses + Mugen Fan Switch

October 1, 2016April 12, 2017 / WhoisAnts / Leave a comment

Sup internet! Things have been slow recently on the site… We just purchased a house and we’re in the process of getting things finalized. As you know houses in Southern California are crazy expensive! My only requirement is a garage, luckily the house we are looking at has enough room for 3 cars! No more wrenching in my apartment parking garage getting strange looks from my elderly asian neighbors. This also leaves an empty space for a future daily/project 🙂

I noticed recently that there was a pool of coolant on the ground wherever I parked….. I decided to replace the radiator since I knew the plastic one will end up cracking sooner or later, this has happened to me on numerous cars I’ve owned.

Since the radiator was out, I had to pair my existing Mugen thermostat with this new Mugen fan switch I ordered:) Overkill, and probably not good for my car since I’m not tracking my car like crazy, and I may be running too cool…… but it says Mugen!

I was holding on to these Billion Hoses for awhile now, waiting for the day I would have to change the radiator. Billion hoses are extremely popular in Japan, even ASM runs them on their cars. You don’t see too many of these hoses on S2ks in the USA.

I was able to pick up a FEEL’S Radiator for the S2000 for a good price used….. I wanted to give the radiator a nice polish to freshen it up, but I was in a pinch and driving my friend’s WRX around and wanted to give it back to him ASAP! I’m not a big fan of driving other’s peoples cars around in case something happens.

First things first, I bolted on the Mugen Fan Switch. *Pro-tip, if you have a standalone EMS, you can set the temperature when to have the fan kick on. I knew I was able to do this in the Hondata software when I had KPRO, you can save a few bucks…..

Next, I swapped over the Fans from my stock Radiator. It was a simple bolt-on affair. Everything fit perfectly of course being FEEL’s!

My FEEL’S radiator came with a FEEL’S radiator cap. This is actually a Gen 1 cap since it is green in color and the lettering is Gold. According to instagram user @all.inclusive.honda

I reused most of my OEM radiator hose clamps except the bottom one. It was a bit corroded from years of use, so I swapped the top OEM clamp to the bottom and used a new worm gear unit that was included with my Billion Hoses.

I’m liking the blue accents in my engine bay with the blue Valve cover and Billion hoses. I promise you I’ll polish up the radiator so it’s more bling bling, I would prefer taking it off again, giving it a quick sand and polish….It looks like my Cusco oil catch can needs some love too. Unfortunately the coolant problem wasn’t my radiator, it was actually a rubber cap I had on my thermostat housing since I deleted the coolant line that runs through the throttle body and into the IACV…. The caps I use are typically used as vacuum caps, so they’re not exactly rated for coolant, it’s quite difficult to find caps in this size made for coolant. The cap on the coolant hose on the firewall is about the same size, so I ordered another one and installed it on my thermostat housing, hopefully this will hold up better.

I was able to register for the Chronicles Year 8 meet, my car is definitely not at the same level as those guys, but I was able to buy an early bird ticket. I will be seeing you guys out there, don’t be afraid to say hi!

Tech: S2000 Variable Intermittent Wipers

August 17, 2016August 18, 2016 / WhoisAnts / 6 Comments

Tech: S2000 Variable Intermittent Wipers

One thing that has always irritated me about the S2000 is that the wipers only work in three settings. A predefined INT, Low, and High, but sometimes that INT setting isn’t enough, especially when you are stuck in that awkward area where it is raining, but is raining too little for Low setting and too much for the INT setting….. Most cars come with a variable INT setting from the factory , my Subaru has it, my Lexus has it, heck even most Hondas have it. I will have to admit, this mod is pretty much useless for me since I live in Southern California now, where it rarely rains, and even when it does rain it lasts around 30 minutes, yep, 30 whole minutes….. this is no Florida.

Being the S2000 Otaku I am, I feel like there is nothing new about the S2000 I could possibly learn, but I was sadly mistaken after I read this FINAL SPEC magazine from Japan. FINAL SPEC is a badass magazine, it is different than Hyperrev because this issue focuses more on restoring S2000 than outright Modifications and in detail!

In the magazine, Spoon featured an article detailing what to look out for with S2ks as they age and what can be done to an AP1 model to modernize it. I have personally done most of what they recommended in this red box, AP2 headlights, Ap2 Tailights, Ap2 Center console, but what is this?! Honda Access Variable wipers? I never knew these even existed. At first, I thought they came standard on Ap2s in Japan, but after looking through a few websites and photos, this was not the case….

After some intense searching, I found out that they are in fact a Honda Optional item, from their Honda Access line. Intrigued, I found a part number and put an order in…..

A few weeks later this item arrived at my doorstep. The box came with the wipers, a harness plug, and a sheet of black stickers….. I’ll explain more on that towards the end of the post.

Obviously, there is one major hurdle preventing me from using this out of the box. The Wipers in Japan are on the left-hand side, while in the USA our cars have the wiper on the right side. The pinout looks the same but mirrored compared to the US version, I verified this with my Multimeter using the US factory service manual tests. So what made the Variable Intermittent function tick?

It seems like the circuitry that controls the variable delay is on this board. Prior to purchasing this unit, I researched day and night for other Honda models that have similar looking Wiper stalks with variable delay thinking I could possibly retrofit it for my S2k. Most US honda models that use a direct input for the wipers, not via CANbus, have a central multiplexer that controls the variable delay……

One thing I noticed about the JDM Variable Intermittent Wipers is that the wiper stalk has a two pin wire.

After opening up the unit, you can see how there is a circuit board integrated and that the wiper contacts are on the opposite side.

Even the pins are flip-flopped upside down.

The US S2k wiper connections on the left and the JDM unit on the right. You can see how it is different due to the orientation of where the wiper stalk sits.

After some desoldering, I was able to remove the JDM Variable Intermittent Wiper control board from the housing.

After even more research, I found that the 2003-2005 Honda Civic EX came with a Variable Intermittent Wiper stalk that looks identical to the JDM unit, but on the correct right hand side. The pinout on this civic unit is identical to an S2k, but has 2 extra pins for the Variable intermittent wiper circuit.

I don’t have any pictures of the process of me wiring the JDM Wiper control board to the 2003 EX civic unit, but it is self-explanatory once you look the jdm unit over with a multimeter. After days of cursing and inhaling enough solder for a lifetime, I finally merged the JDM control board with a USDM S2000 Wiper Housing using 2003 Honda Civic EX Wiper Stalk….. Did you know the windows and the wipers run on the same 20A fuse? I found that out the hard way.

This is from a Japanese website I found online. Remember that sheet of black sticker that came with the wipers.

According to the Japanese instructions, after installation of the JDM Variable Intermittent Wipers unit, you have to remove the 7.5A Fuse “FR WIPER AUTO STOP SIGNAL” since the control board is taking this function now.

And now it’s gone!

This is what I love about JDM tuning. The Meticulous attention to detail, since the fuse is not in use anymore, they provide you this black tape block it out the description on the fuse panel.

No more!

This is what it looks like after I got everything buttoned up and tested. Everything works perfectly.

The wiper sits slightly higher than the turn signal stalk.

This is expected. In the JDM Modulo catalogue it mentions that after you install the Honda Access Variable Intermittent Wipers, the wipers will sit higher than the turn signal stalks. I suspect that the Wiper Stalk Arm is also from the Honda Parts Bin….

With the steering wheel on…..

You guys might be wondering why I have a hole in my center console where the roof button used to be. I recently sold my harddog roll bar and put my interior back in. I used to have my accessory power socket here, but it has since been moved back to the glove box. …. I’ll figure out a way to fill it soon.

Life/Pick Ups: CraftSquare Mirrors with Blue Tint + Random Toda Pulleys! + More!

August 8, 2016December 30, 2016 / WhoisAnts / 1 Comment

Woah, I haven’t updated this blog in awhile. Life is kicking into high gear again. I’ve been studying to do a possible career change. Working in infrastructure IT is kicking my ass and is starting to feel like a burden on my soul….

Luckily for my birthday, my most beautiful and caring wife bought me an item I’ve been eyeing for a long time now, something I imagined that would be part of my build years ago….Craftsquare mirrors…… Not any Craftsquare mirrors, but the spec with the anti-glare blue tint. My birthday was in May, and these have been on order since then! They arrived from Japan late July to my surprise. I finally got around to installing them during a tech day my first hosted a few weeks ago…..

Areen was present and was installing some ricey parts, like this Billion coolant adapter to run a coolant temp sensor and this ASM Oil stopper bracket to make sure his oil filter doesn’t come off when he’s bombing up and down the TOUGE to deliver tofu.

Why did he need to install the coolant adapter? because he was installing the Defi Link Meter Advance ZD to keep an eye on his car’s vitals….

My mirrors out of the packaging…. I love getting new parts from Japan. I love even more when they are gifts from my wife…..

Areen getting his car on the lift.

After a few minutes of cursing, we finally got one side on! It was in the 90’s this day, I was sweating my ass off….. You can see how the Craft Square Mirrors look compared to the stock elephant mirrors. I’ve never liked the look of the OEM mirrors, they always seemed so bulky. I do miss my power mirrors though…..

Both Mirrors on…. My car has been repainted on the driver’s side… the shitty shop that repainted my car on that side didn’t take my mirror off…..so I have a big ass circle where the mirror used to be..

Areen got got his Trust Oil filter adapter installed with his ASM Oil Filter stopper…..

🙂 I feel like I need a single exit exhaust cap for this car….

Must be nice to be rich and cut into $200 Spoon hoses to install an adapter….

Areen modeling theDefi Link Meter Advance ZD….
Oh yeah he got Toda Pulleys too…. see the end of the post for more info….

Areen giving the thumbs up!

Carlos stopped by in his CRX with brand new Volk TE37. They look perfect on this car.

Mark stopped by with his factory fresh Mitsubishi Evo X Final Edition!

This only has a few thousand miles on it…..still has the factory Panasonic battery.

Final shot of my craft square mirror… .you can see the ring on my door in this picture….

I took a few shots of Areen’s Toda Pulleys a month earlier…..

Of course he got the optional ASM Idler pulleys too!

Mike giving the water pump pulley a closer inspection

Can this build get any better?

I’m loving the Project Mu Rotors!

I’m closing out this post with AE86 Ron’s S2k. This thing is mint with some choice mods…. I’m loving how his car sits with Advan Wheels and Spoon Calipers!

Pick Ups/DIY: Spoon Radiator Stays + Opera Performance Reservoir Covers + Mugen Bolts

July 17, 2016July 17, 2016 / WhoisAnts / Leave a comment

Pick Ups/DIY: Spoon Radiator Stays + Opera Performance Reservoir Covers + Mugen Bolts

I noticed my OEM Radiator stays were getting a bit crusty, so in went some Spoon Radiator Stays in black. The are a generic unit from Spoon, they fit all Hondas, and fits the S2000 with no difficulties.

The old radiator stay with a bolt that probably is not the correct one. Remove the 10mm Bolt holding the radiator stay in place.

After the stay is off, remove the rubber bushing inside the radiator stay. I was able to push this rubber bushing out with my hand.

The Rubber Bushing removed from the old radiator stay.

Get your brand new Spoon Radiator stay and press in the rubber bushing you just removed from your old radiator stay. I was also able to do this with my hands again.

Since I replaced the radiator stay with a new shiny part, I couldn’t bring myself to reinstall the crusty old bolts. The solution to that? Mugen. The answer is always Mugen. In this case it is more Mugen bolts.

The Cusco Cooling plate has a cutout for the JDM Vin Tag. I need to figure out what to put here, it currently looks so empty. Now that the Radiator stays are changed out, my radiator is looking a bit beat. Perhaps some new hoses and new a radiator are in the works for the future.

I took a better picture of the Arvou Tow Hook on my Amuse R1 bumper. Not having a front tow hook makes me nervous at a track day….. Previously I was running a tow strap, but the strap was not long enough to clear my bumper, so if I require a front tow I’m sure my bumper will be destroyed. This Arvou unit is milled out of a single block of aluminum and protrudes a 2-3″ from the bumper, ensuring a safe tow.

I found famed S2000 tuner, Opera Performance on Instagram. I’ve always been a fan of their tuning philosophy of making the lightest car possible. I envy their ability to swiss cheese cut holes on an S2k to save weight and build badass roll cages. If I was in Japan, I would bring them my S2k for a chassis makeover. In Gran Turismo the car was very competitive for what looked like a stock bodied car because it was “solid as a rock” due to the chassis reinforcements via roll cage, and weight reduction from Carbon Fiber parts. Their race car weights around 2000lbs…..Almost 1000lbs less than stock…..Check out this old feature on this thread

I was able to purchase a few T-shirts and reservoir covers. It came with a handwritten “thank you” from the owner of Opera Performance, Yasuyoshi Yamamoto.

My Mugen Sock has seen better days, perhaps I can try to throw it into the wash? I installed my Opera Performance Reservoir cover on my clutch master cylinder and saved my extra Opera Performance cover for another day.

The S2k and the Ant

An S2k Otaku view of the world

Pick Ups

S2000 F20c Toda Dry Sump Kit!

Pick Ups: Brand new OEM S2000 F22c Shortblock

PickUps: JDM Honda S2000 book

Parts Review/Pick Ups: Toda S2000 ITBs / Sports Injection

PickUps/Parts Review: TODA RACING 60-70MM CATALYST ADAPTER (TestPipe)

Pick Ups: Recaro SR-7 ASM IS-11 with Recaro Japan Rail

Pick Ups: FEEL’S Radiator + Billion Hoses + Mugen Fan Switch

Tech: S2000 Variable Intermittent Wipers

Tech: S2000 Variable Intermittent Wipers

Life/Pick Ups: CraftSquare Mirrors with Blue Tint + Random Toda Pulleys! + More!

Pick Ups/DIY: Spoon Radiator Stays + Opera Performance Reservoir Covers + Mugen Bolts

Pick Ups/DIY: Spoon Radiator Stays + Opera Performance Reservoir Covers + Mugen Bolts