Welcome to part 5! This S2000 has gone through quite the transition over the last 4 parts and honestly, we still have about 3-4 more parts to go. I’m shocked just as much as you are that Ever hasn’t lost interest and began to shift his attention to something else. For some strange reason though, Ever really likes this car. While recently working on this car I even heard him say “I like working on this car”. There is a strange dynamic between him and this car, he never enjoys working on cars and is always trying to come up with excuses to not work on them. I think I’ve even seen him crack a little smile while wrenching on it too.
Anyways, click the links below to read Part1, 2, 3, and 4 to see how much work has gone into this thing so far.
Hopefully you are all caught up now. In this post we are doing a lot of stuff:
- Fixing the front bumper/splitter
- Installing Eibach front sway bar
- Installing AP2 rear sway bar
- Deleting A/C
- Deleting the Air Pump
- Installing new TCT (timing chain tensioner)
First thing we are going to do is work on getting the front bumper to fit better and be securely attached to the car.
When the car was purchased, it came with a large splitter and aero is not usually something that any of us have installed on our cars. For us, aero is seen more as a handicap or a way to band aid sloppy driving. We all would prefer to achieve fast lap times with “driver mod” rather than bolting on performance. Don’t get me wrong, aero, when paired to driver skill has the promise to be a potent combination. In short, we don’t feel we are fast enough to need aero, and we all have time left on the table without it.
As you know, Ever’s car was quite the jalopy and was built for “looks” more than it was for “performance” This was obvious because the car came with 235 tires stretched on to a 9.5-inch wheel, a “stanceworks” sticker on the rear window, and random bits of aero mounted to the car to make it “look” cool.
On the first day we began working on the car, one of the first things to go was the oversized front splitter. Unfortunately, once we unbolted the splitter it became apparent that the splitter was indeed a structural part of the bumper and without the splitter the bumper wasn’t securely fastened to the car. This was because whoever installed the bumper had cut the bottom side of it where it would normally bolt to the core support.
This meant that without the splitter, the bumper was only being held on by the five bolts on the top of the core support and the two side bolts to the fenders (one per side). Because of this, the bumper was very flimsy and wouldn’t have been safe to drive above 60mph. Unfortunately, this meant that for a quick temporary fix, we were going to have to reinstall the front splitter.
As you can see below, without the splitter there is also a lot of air turbulence potential. Air flow will always take the path of least resistance, so unless you have proper ducting or cowling, the air is just going to be exiting under the car and not directly flowing through the radiator. As the air begins to hit the radiator, it will choose the path of least resistance and not go through the radiator. Without proper ducting this can affect cooling as well, because not all the air going through the bumper is going through the radiator.
Because the bumper is too flimsy without it and because the air flow isn’t ideal, Ever has chosen to reinstall the splitter. The one thing that he is going to do that will justify it some is he will be drastically cutting down the splitter leaving it sticking out only 1.5 inches
Just look at the size of that thing! That’s how it came when Ever bought it. Keep in mind that there is also no rear wing to help balance that much front down force.
WOWSERS! That thing looks better suited to be on Fire Ando’s time attack Evo rather than a streetcar with 235’s.
He is now putting the bumper on to measure how much needs to be cut off.
Thanks to Marlon for the cellphone picture of us cutting it.
MUCH less aggressive, and as you can see it fill in a lot of the void space under the bumper to help increase air flow through the radiator.
We could obviously improve upon this, but it has yet to be decided how “permanent” this solution is.
Car came with a Stant gas cap, and I wasn’t having any of that nonsense. I had Ever order a new OEM.
Next up is sway bar upgrades. We are increasing the front size to 32mm by installing an Eibach sway bar and decreasing the rear size by installing an AP2 rear sway bar. A while back we did an install of just the Eibach front sway bar on Pat’s S2000, and the results were impressive. Pat couldn’t believe how much more stable it made the car and how much easier it was to drive at its limit on track.
You can read all about the install process (we previously did on Pats car) by clicking the link below. If you only read one of my links that I post, make sure it’s this one. There is a ton of great info in it, and it also helps people understand that not all modifications are created equal.
Pat has of course had an S2000 for a few years now and is well versed it what it takes to have a well-balanced one. This is helpful for Ever because he can ask Pat what parts he needs vs what he wants. We all know Ever likes to overindulge in the high-end things. To keep this build fiscally sound, both Pat and I must help keep Ever focused on only buying things he needs.
Pictured below is the Eibach 32mm front and the OEM AP2 rear (that’s off pats old car. He now has a karcepts rear sway bar)
On to the front: This car came missing all plastic wheel splash guards and plastic under valences so accessing the sway bar it extra easy. Having the front bumper removed also made this install super easy.
I’m not even going to explain the process, you can just click the link above to read the “HOW TO” install the front sway bar.
Ever did order brand new OEM end links (since his most likely have 300k on them) but they are back ordered and weren’t going to arrive soon enough for us to include them in the install. They are on the way and when they come, we will swap them out.
Next, we are moving on to the rear sway bar. AP1’s are known for being “twitchy” and more challenging to drive then their AP2 successors. This is because when the AP1 first came out it was designed to one of the best sports cars in its class. Unfortunately, the byproduct of that meant it was difficult to drive quickly unless you were a seasoned driver. The car would almost always end up biting most amateur drivers and they would end up snap oversteering them off the side of a mountain. For this reason, the AP2 was released as a more watered-down version of the hardcore AP1, making it a much easier car to drive and with much less snap oversteer disasters. In true American fashion they increased the size of the engine from a 2.0 to a 2.2 and softened up the suspension.
See below the chart of S2000 sway bar sizes by year.
As you can see the AP2 rear sway bar is nearly 2mm smaller than the AP1 and it is also substantially softer as you can see by the spring rates.
Thankfully, Pats AP2 rear sway bar came complete with everything needed to install. This was good because as mentioned above, Ever did try to order new OEM end links for the whole car, but later found out that the rear ones are discontinued.
Installing the rear sway bar is just as easy at the front. Wheels off, disconnect the end links form the lower control arms and unbolt the x4 14mm bolts that hold the sway bar to the rear sub frame.
This was about the time I heard him say “I love working on this car” as he was just lazily laying on his back using an electric ratchet to remove the AP1 sway bar.
Below you can see the size difference between the AP1 and AP2 rear sway bars. Obviously the smaller one is the AP2.
Still laying under the car, I handed him the AP2 bar, and he slapped it right back in.
Rigby’s always on patrol.
Next, we are removing the A/C. I can’t be held responsible for making him remove his A/C. This was something that he had mentioned wanting to do. All I did was find the part number for the belt he needed and then bought it. For the record, it was his idea.
Below is the part number you will need. The belt is for a 2009 S2000 CR “without A/C” You will need nothing else to delete the A/C other than the belt. Simply unbolt the A/C compressor and just install the new belt.
With A/C
Without A/C… You’ll also notice that we still have the hard lines installed in the engine bay. This is because he wasn’t sure if he wanted to keep the A/C out permanently. They are a little tedious to completely remove because where they bolt to the condenser is behind some plastic in the engine bay. Leaving them in would allow for us to easily reinstall if he wanted to revert to having A/C.
Here is what the A/C system looks like out of the car.
Next, we are deleting the air pump. This pump is only there for emissions reasons and will not have any adverse effects on the car. A few reasons for deleting this are: clears up/declutters engine bar, stops the car from making that strange air pump noise on cold start, and saves weight.
Unfortunately, you cannot simply remove this because it will cause your car to throw a CEL.
Fortunately, companies like Ballade Sports make a product that allows you to remove it without having a CEL. Pictured below is Ballade Sports “air pump bypass emulator”. This will effectively “trick” the ECU into thinking the air pump is still connected.
It will however take an easy amount of splicing and wiring to get it to work. Thankfully, the instructions that come with the kit are very descriptive and show color coded diagrams of what to cut, where to splice, and anything else you’ll need to do.
You will wire into the Main harness and mount it near the ECU. The ECU on the S2000 is located on the left side footwell.
In the below picture of the engine bay, you can see the “before” with all of the hoses and wires.
And then the “after”
Below is the complete air pump and all accessories that go along with it that have been removed from the car.
Next, we are moving on to the TCT (timing chain tensioner). This is a MUST upgrade for anyone planning on tracking their S2000. OEM S2000 TCT’s are prone to failure and need to be replaced or “reworked” to make reliable.
As seen below, Ever’s car already came with an upgraded one, a Ballade Sports one to be exact. Now, not saying there is anything wrong with the Ballade one, but we are just not exactly sure when in the cars life this was installed and even if it was new when installed.
For that reason, again I say “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”
You’ll also remember that in Part 1 of this build series, we had an oil leak coming from what we thought was the Vtec solenoid. However, once we replaced the gaskets in the Vtec solenoid, we still had an oil leak.
That meant our next logical thing to change was the TCT. There are rubber rings that can go bad over time ad cause leaks. Sure, you could just replace the rubber seals, but you know that’s not Ever’s style.
Nope, in classic Ever fashion, he ordered a TODA one. I will admit that the TODA one does have some mixed reviews and quite honestly the Billman TCT is probably the most popular one. Even Pat uses the Billman on his S2000.
Ever likes the JDM stuff though, can’t fault him for that.
A TCT install on an S2000 is super easy and I have already done the step by step install before and you can read about that by clicking the link below.
Below is what it looks like removed.
Slap the new one in. Make sure you have it installed in the correct orientation.
For the TODA style you do not have to pull the pin out through the plug in the head (we just have the plug open so we can ensure the TCT rod extended against the timing chain guide). You simply unscrew the long black screw and that will release the rod.
Install the cap. and you’re all done!
Ever’s newly acquired S2000 has made quite the transition over the last three months, having nearly replaced everything on the car. But like I have been saying for the past 4 parts… We have saved the best for the last. In the next three parts you will see us install “brand X” coilovers, A complete brake upgrade, and of course do something about the multiple-colored panels. Obviously, I’m leaving out specific details but that just to keep you interested. While this is somewhat a tease, I promise it will surely not disappoint.
However, if you are in Las Vegas on Saturday April 16th, you will be able to get a sneak peak of the final product because, Ever along with myself are signed up for the speed ventures event at LVMS outside road course. This will be his cars maiden track day and we be the true test to see if we have successfully turned his jalopy into a formidable track car.
As always, thank for reading and I hope you have enjoyed the 5-part journey so far. Realistically there are at least 3 more parts to come (maybe more). If you have any questions, comments, or like what we are doing. Please leave a comment! Email: Billy@Functiontheory.com, Instagram: @Functiontheory, or simply leave a comment below. I would love to hear from you.