For as long as I can remember, I’ve dreamed of installing Spoon radiator hoses on one of my cars. That unmistakable matte blue finish that whispers motorsport heritage, thoroughbred JDM and pure, unadulterated functionality. To the uninitiated, it’s just a piece of cooling plumbing; to a Honda purist, it’s a badge of honor. For decades, though, the timing was never right, and I never owned a car they were made for.
I got my first Honda back in 2000: a 1994 Civic CX. I was still in high school with very little money, so the modifications came slowly. Over the next couple of years, the only upgrades I could afford were used Ground Control coilovers on OEM blown shocks, Skunk2 upper control arms, Cusco front and rear strut bars, an Auto Power roll bar, and a set of EM1 Civic Si wheels wrapped in the latest tire technology at the time, the Falken Azenis RT215. Don’t get it twisted: I wasn’t some spoiled rich kid whose parents funded an endless automotive addiction. Back when I was fifteen and a half, I had gotten a work permit through school and taken a part-time job, so I had already been working for a couple of years just to slowly feed my passion.
My mom did buy the Civic for me, but it came in a morbid exchange for her own life. In 1998, she was diagnosed with terminal cancer. She fought hard but ultimately met her maker in 2001. During her multi-year battle, for reasons I didn’t understand a the time, she was able to cash out her life insurance policy early. She used that remaining time to truly live, buying all the little things she had always wanted and spoiling her four children in ways we had never experienced growing up. My older sister received help with her wedding, my younger brother and sister (then just 7 and 9) got toys and magical trips to Legoland, Disneyland, and Knott’s Berry Farm. And me? Because she knew how badly I wanted a Honda Civic, she bought me the 1994 CX in the fall of 2000.
At the time, I was excited, numb really, to the deeper truth. I didn’t fully grasp that her gift wasn’t just a car; it was her way of trying to replace the presence she knew she would soon lose. Twenty five years later, the weight of that realization still sits with me. I would trade that car, and every modification I ever put on it, in a heartbeat if it meant having her back in my life instead.
The cool parts on that Civic didn’t appear overnight. Every upgrade was a grind. In the year 2000, $400 for a set of Civic Si wheels felt like a small fortune, especially when I was earning minimum wage of $5.75 an hour, bringing home roughly $180 every two weeks after taxes. That money had to cover food when I hung out with friends, gas for the car, and my own auto insurance. It never went far, but I made it work.
Because money was always tight, I couldn’t afford a B-series engine swap, so my Civic stayed SOHC for a long time. That meant Spoon radiator hoses were never an option, they simply wouldn’t fit. Even back then, I still lived by the Functiontheory ethos that I continue to live by today. I set the car up to be a fun, great handling, grippy car to drive, incrementally buying parts to upgrade it whenever I could scrape together the cash.
A year or two later, I finally managed a budget B16 swap built mostly from used and hand-me-down parts, working part-time at Steve Taylor’s (fuck that guy) ‘Tech 43 Motorsports’ on Normandie and Torrance Blvd. Spoon hoses were still far beyond my reach. In 2003, I sold the car to fund my move from Southern California to Las Vegas. Letting it go carried a quiet ache. That Civic wasn’t just my first car; it was the last major gift from my mother before she died. There was a deep, lingering attachment to something she had given me with so much love. At the same time, I was using that car to outrun my own grief. I was 18, drowning in teen angst and confusion, buried under credit card debt from the swap, and exhausted from constant tickets, either from street racing or just being profiled in my ‘rice rocket’ in early-2000s California (you had to be there). I convinced myself a fresh start was what I needed.
I arrived in Las Vegas in June 2003, without a car. For eight months, I stayed strong. Knowing how easily I could fall back into modifying Hondas, I bought a 1999 Ford Ranger instead, practical, boring, and safe for my finances. I needed to pay rent, keep the lights on, and make my truck payments. No temptations…
Pff, yeah right, who am I kidding? You can take the Honda away from the motorsports enthusiast, but you’ll never take the motorsports away from the enthusiast. As a true connoisseur of terrible financial decisions, I managed to find a way to irresponsibly blow money on another type of motorsport hobby, even though I swore to myself I wouldn’t modify a truck. This thing was my daily for 18 years and, honestly, probably the best daily I ever owned.
That VTEC fire, though dormant, was still alive inside me. Like any addict, I was bound to relapse and succumb to the craving. In 2006, I bought another Civic, a 1995 VX model, from a coworker who let me make payments every paycheck until it was paid off. I was officially back in the game. I tried to rebuild what my old Civic used to be to pay homage to the one I had to sell. Even though it wasn’t the exact car my late mom had bought for me, I was going to keep this one forever and pay respect that way. I added suspension, tires, a roll bar, and a few other small pieces, but the car was still a single-cam. Fortunately, it came with a D16Z6 (SOHC VTEC) engine swap. Unsurprisingly, I didn’t have B-series money in 2006, so once again, Spoon radiator hoses wouldn’t fit a single-cam, nor did I have that kind of money anyway.
A few years later, I was again able to piece together a B16 swap, mainly funded by my tax return and the help of JDM Mike, who sold me used parts for cheap, including a complete SiR-II long block for 500 bucks! But still, Spoon radiator hoses eluded me. The ridiculous price compared to OEM hoses meant that, for me, just getting the motor in and driving on OEM hoses worked fine. I ended up having the B16 for about five years before ultimately stepping up to arguably the crème de la crème of swaps: a JDM DC5 K20 complete swap with matching transmission. Yet, despite having a much better motor, there was still no option for Spoon radiator hoses, since they didn’t make them for K-swapped vehicles.
Ok, fast forward now to 2021 when I purchased my FK8. Unfortunately, at the time Spoon didn’t make radiator hoses for the FK8. So despite now having the money to afford them, they weren’t an option for me to purchase. Then sometime in early 2025, I saw a FL5 equipped with Spoon radiator hoses on social media and was so excited because I assumed this meant they also made them for the FK8 platform and I had just somehow been living under a rock, missing the fact that they had finally released them for the FK8. Well, a quick internet search later revealed that they had in fact not made radiator hoses for the FK8 platform; they skipped that generation altogether and just started making them for the FL5. This was incredibly disappointing to say the least and quite honestly made me consider trading in my FK8 for an FL5 so I could finally equip my car with Spoon radiator hoses. Even though that was my initial reaction, I sat on it for a few days and eventually was able to not be so disappointed about it; heck, my FK8 was sick enough already, right? Radiator hoses weren’t going to make it any cooler (pun intended). A part of me knew that I was lying to myself and that I still lusted for Spoon radiator hoses.
Then, one day in August 2025, everything changed. Spoon Sports posted on Instagram that they were finally producing their legendary radiator hoses for the FK8 platform. My pulse quickened. They were preorder only, but I didn’t care how long it would take, I just needed to be on that list.
I did what I always do with JDM parts: I jumped on RHDJapan.com. Nothing yet. Frantic, I checked other grey-market sites and found them on Blackhawkjapan.com. I’d never ordered from them before, but I know of others that have had good experiences, so I took the leap and placed my order immediately.
On September 2nd, 2025, I received an email: the hoses were still in production and wouldn’t ship for about three months. After waiting 25 years, what was another three months? I tried to stay patient. Every morning I’d check my email, heart in my throat, hoping for a shipping notice. Ninety days came and went with no word. On December 6th, I finally reached out to Blackhawk. They confirmed the hoses still weren’t ready. Another long stretch of silence followed.
Then, on January 23rd, 2026, the email I had been waiting for finally arrived: my order had shipped! About a week later, the package showed up at my door.
Holding that box, I didn’t feel the frantic rush of an 18-year-old trying to build a “rice rocket” or the ego of someone chasing clout. I just felt a quiet, heavy peace. Twenty-five years later, the blue silicone hoses are finally going into the engine bay. They won’t make the Type R any faster, and they’ll never replace the presence of the woman who started this whole journey for me, but they stand as proof that some passions are worth holding onto, no matter how long the wait.
You know I couldn’t just order one part, especially with the hoses being only $179. It felt like a waste of shipping costs, so I leaned into some gearhead logic and added a few more things to the cart. First up was a Spoon low-temp thermostat. It just made sense since I’d already be accessing that area for the hoses anyway, and with the car’s ongoing overheating issues, I figured it couldn’t hurt the fight in cooling. Next, I grabbed the Spoon rearview mirror since it would complement my Spoon Aero mirrors I had previously installed on the car. And finally, I figured why not get a Spoon shift knob to round out the whole theme of the order. (see the link below for the Aero Mirror Install)
And… while you’re at it, you might as well click the link below to read about my Spoon Wing install.
First up, let’s talk a bit about low-temp thermostats in general and maybe clear up some of the misinformation you have heard or read about them, even more specifically on this chassis, too.
Understanding Low-Temperature Thermostats
Opinions are often split on whether low-temperature thermostats actually improve cooling or inadvertently make it worse. On the positive side, a lower-temperature thermostat serves as a proactive measure to manage thermal loads before they become critical. By opening earlier, it allows the cooling system to begin dissipating heat during low-load intervals, providing a wider safety margin or “thermal headroom” for high-intensity sprints. This cooler environment promotes denser intake air and lowers cylinder head temperatures, helping to prevent engine knock. The ECU can therefore maintain more aggressive ignition timing and better volumetric efficiency, potentially resulting in a measurable increase in horsepower and torque during a race. Of course, this benefit is most relevant in extreme scenarios, not typical daily commuting.
Conversely, critics raise significant concerns regarding daily street use. In automotive circles, the standard arguments against running a low-temp thermostat generally focus on the following six points:
- Different Environments: Spoon Sports (or other manufactures) designs parts intended for sustained, high-heat track racing rather than standard street driving.
- Street Versus Track: Race cars require aggressive, constant heat rejection, whereas street cars are engineered to heat up as quickly as possible and operate within a specific temp range.
- Engine Wear: Low-temp thermostats can keep street engines running below their ideal operating temperature, possibly causing premature wear and tear or damage.
- Oil Issues: Cooler operating environments prevent engine oil from reaching its optimal temperature to burn off moisture and fuel contaminants.
- Efficiency Loss: Running consistently below the factory-designed operating temperature burns more fuel and increases tailpipe emissions.
- The Marketing Factor: Performance companies sell these parts because an eager market demand exists, not necessarily because every consumer vehicle needs them.
Modern vehicles may suffer from “open-loop” fueling issues, where the computer remains in a warm-up mode that triggers poor fuel economy, carbon deposits, and persistent dashboard warning lights. For some FK8 Civic Type R owners, this presents a specific hurdle: CEL Diagnostic Trouble Code P0128, which indicates the coolant temperature is below the expected regulating threshold. The FK8’s ECU expects the engine to reach its factory operating temperature, usually around 172°F, within a specific window. Because performance thermostats from brands like Spoon open as early as 154°F (68°C), the engine fails to hit that target in time, causing the ECU to assume the thermostat is stuck open. This, however, is an intermittent issue heavily dependent on the climate you live in and driving conditions, and most owners simply use a tuning platform like Hondata FlashPro to avoid this issue altogether.
The ECU fuel enrichment argument relies on the assumption that a low-temp thermostat drops the car below the warm-up threshold, which isn’t true for the FK8. The factory ECU typically switches from open-loop (warm-up) to closed-loop (normal driving) efficiency at a relatively low coolant temperature, often around 140°F to 160°F. Because 154°F is still well above the ECU’s threshold for normal operation, the car will not get stuck in a rich fuel loop or wash the cylinder walls.
Skeptics also bring up the common “dwell time” argument, claiming that if coolant flows too rapidly through the radiator, it lacks sufficient time to undergo effective heat exchange with the passing air. This entire concept is a thoroughly debunked forum myth that completely misunderstands basic thermodynamics. A radiator is a continuous heat exchanger, not a staging area where water has to sit still to get cold. The counter-argument to this myth is based on the principle of turbulent flow: moving coolant faster actually increases efficiency by creating a “tumbling” effect, ensuring more liquid molecules physically contact the radiator tube walls.
Radiators transfer heat faster when the temperature difference between the coolant and the outside air is at its highest. Moving the coolant early doesn’t hurt cooling; it prevents the engine block from storing excess heat early in the drive cycle. Once the car is hot, both the OEM and aftermarket thermostats are wide open anyway, meaning maximum flow is identical. If your engine temperatures are rising, it’s because the radiator is maxed out, not because the thermostat opened early.
Ultimately, the most important variable is the driver’s habits. Personally, I always wait for my car to warm up before setting off, partly because I run a higher-weight oil (5W-30), but mostly because I have a natural mechanical sympathy for any machine I drive. I have an aftermarket oil temp gauge plumbed into my oil pan, so I can see in real-time exactly what the engine is feeling. Even though the coolant reaches operating temperature relatively quickly, the oil takes much longer. I make it a point to drive very conservatively until that oil reaches at least 180°F, meaning no wide-open throttle, no revving above 3–4k, and no unnecessary loads for those first 5–10 minutes.
Given the notoriously hot FK8 chassis and the fact that I live in Las Vegas, where it is over 75 degrees for more than 200 days a year, over-cooling is highly unlikely. Even on late-night summer night highway drives, my oil never drops below safe operating limits. I haven’t had any issues with a CEL myself because I am currently running Hondata, which allows me to tune past the P0128 code easily.
However, because I strive for full transparency and remain unbiased, I will mention one caveat. Once a year, I have to smog my car, which means I have to uninstall my custom tune and reconnect all the sensors that I normally keep unplugged for my flex-fuel setup. During this process this year, I ran into the dreaded P0128 code just as I was backing out of my garage.
I followed my standard, careful warmup procedures, but the lower opening temperature of the thermostat meant the coolant didn’t reach factory-expected operating temperatures within the specific ECU timeframe before I touched the gas. Keep in mind that every year, I have to flash the car back to stock and drive it for about 100 miles to get the readiness monitors to register so it can pass the test with all active sensors. Normally, I just knock out a straight 100-mile drive and head straight to the smog shop. This time, though, tight schedules forced me to do that drive late one night after getting off work.
This meant the car had to sit in the garage overnight. The next day, I let it warm up for a solid 10 to 15 minutes. The Check Engine Light didn’t pop while idling, but the second I put it in reverse and backed out of the garage, the dash lit up. Frustratingly, that meant I had to clear the code and drive another 100 miles to reset the drive cycles all over again. I know what you’re thinking, that sounds a bit excessive. But I refuse to let my car get flagged in the DMV system for a failed smog test, so I gladly take the extra steps for peace of mind. To replicate my results after finally passing the test (pro tip: you can turn the car off and restart it once it’s completely warm without the CEL popping up), I drove home with a clean dash. Sure enough, the next morning after a 10-minute warmup, the exact same P0128 code triggered the moment I backed out of the garage.
So, basically, what I’m saying is that you might actually encounter a Check Engine Light after installing any low-temp thermostat on your FK8 (or likely the FL5 and DE5 chassis) if you have a stock ECU. The only reason most owners get away with running them without an issue is that they likely have an aftermarket tune. A custom flash eliminates the factory ECU from searching for that specific, rigid coolant temperature warm-up window.
When you install an aftermarket tune via systems like Hondata or KTuner, the reason your dash stays clear of that P0128 code comes down to a deliberate change in the ECU’s software tracking logic. A custom flash prevents the light from triggering using two primary software methods:
- Hard Disabling the Sensor Flag: Tuners can explicitly toggle off the specific P0128 Diagnostic Trouble Code (DTC) within the calibration parameters. The software routine is effectively muted. Even if the car detects that the engine is taking too long to heat up, the ECU is commanded to ignore the issue and suppress the light.
- Widening the Warm-Up Window: Alternatively, a tune can rewrite the factory thermal target tables. Instead of expecting the engine to cross a rigid, high-temperature threshold within a tight factory timeframe, the software parameters are relaxed to match the behavior of a low-temp thermostat.
The second you flash the car back to factory baseline settings, those suppressed tracking loops are fully restored. The factory ECU goes right back to aggressively looking for its specific, rapid warm-up curve, triggering a Check Engine Light the absolute moment your low-temp mechanical hardware cycles cold fluid into the engine faster than the stock software expects.
At the end of the day, both sides of the debate make valid points, but I find it hard to believe a company like Spoon would produce a part that didn’t offer a genuine improvement. For me, it comes down to a simple mentality: if it’s good enough for Spoon, it’s good enough for me. I know it’s a very fanboy thing to say, but honestly, if they make it and run it on their track cars, it is for a good reason, no matter what the keyboard warriors argue. Since I don’t just daily drive the car, and the thermostat is incredibly easy to swap back to OEM if needed, I feel completely confident running it.
On a side note, after having this installed on the car for about 8 months, I have noticed a few quirks. Despite how brutal the summer heat gets here in Las Vegas, when I’m coasting for a while down a long hill, like coming back down from my local mountain, the car tends to drop a few bars on the OEM dash temperature gauge, and my oil temperature plummets to about 150°F. This isn’t the end of the world. I just make sure that as I merge onto the freeway, I refrain from hard acceleration and allow both the coolant and, more importantly, the oil to rise back up to normal operating temperatures, which only takes a few minutes.
If I’m just driving around town or cruising on the freeway in normal conditions, the car stays right where it should. The factory engine coolant gauge sits dead center, and my oil temperatures hover between 200°F and 220°F. However, in the evening, as ambient temperatures drop into the 80s, holding a light throttle on a flat stretch of the freeway will pull my oil temps down into the 170 range.
Ultimately, a modification like this should really only be installed if you are incredibly diligent about monitoring your engine vitals, which means having an aftermarket oil temperature gauge is practically mandatory. If you never track your car and only use it to daily drive, this setup probably isn’t right for you. Running consistently cool can potentially cause richer air-fuel ratios and accelerate carbon buildup faster than normal. Because this car isn’t my daily driver, I feel completely confident I won’t run into any premature issues. If anything, I’m just anxious to finally get it out on the track and see what kind of differences it makes. I’m confident they will all be positive steps in the fight against track-day overheating.
Let’s now begin the “How To Install” part of this post.
Starting off, let me show you how to install FK8 radiator hoses.
Here is what it looks like before diving in.
First off, you’ll gain access by removing the air intake. This is done by removing the three 10mm bolts that secure the intake to the chassis: two up front on the radiator core support, and one behind the air box by the battery. You will also need to remove the rubber weather stripping around the air inlet on the core support and unplug the MAF sensor.
You’ll also need to remove what I call the plastic cowl, but Honda calls a ‘FR Bulkhead Cover.’ To do so, you’ll first have to pop off the 13 clips that secure it.
Removing the air box will now give you easy access to the radiator hoses.
As you can see, I’d previously installed the Acuity ‘reverse flow’ hoses in a grasping-at-straws attempt to help cool my car. In the early years of the FK8’s release, these were hailed as a vital ingredient in the ‘overheating prevention recipes’ everyone was cooking up to keep these cars alive on track. But ultimately, I think they’re a total gimmick, one of those ‘sounds good on paper’ mods that, as more of us have actually tested them, have been proven unnecessary for real-world cooling efficiency.
I started by loosening the worm drive clamps that came with the Acuity hoses. If you’re still running the stock setup, you’ll likely be wrestling with the OEM spring clamps, which require pliers and a bit of patience.
Technically, you’re supposed to drain the radiator first by loosening the petcock at the bottom, a task that requires jacking up the car and yanking off the plastic undertrays. But let’s be real: no matter how careful you are, you’re going to spill coolant on the ground. I didn’t even bother with the drain plug; I just pulled the hoses and prayed for the best.
I switched to a 1/4-inch drive ratchet for easier access than a screwdriver.
The flood gates have opened.
It just keeps flowing.
Yeah, sure… it makes a mess. But like I mentioned earlier, it’s going to make a mess either way, so I just embraced it and used a couple of old shower towels to soak it all up.
Now, with the hoses off, you can easily access the three 10mm bolts that secure the thermostat to the engine.
You might have noticed that I have a couple of extra wires cluttering the area; these are actually for my Flex Fuel sensor. One goes to the secondary O2 plug and daisy-chains into that, and the other goes to the coolant temp sensor on the bottom of the radiator.
Two of the bolts are easily accessible, but the third requires an extension, just don’t go too long, since there isn’t much room in there. Be careful to ensure the socket is properly seated before trying to loosen it; you don’t want to round off or strip the head. This word of caution might be a little ‘play-it-safe’ since these bolts aren’t on there incredibly tight, but it’s still a habit worth mentioning.
Since Ever was the one taking the pics, you know there had to be some irrelevant, artsy ones… boy, that guy sure likes his bokeh.
To be fair, these hoses served me well for the almost five years they were installed on my car. I just don’t think they’re a worthwhile upgrade if you’re doing it thinking it will help keep the car cooler. Again, that’s just my opinion, but it’s an opinion backed by five years of real-world experience and continual overheating
Three bolts later and the OEM thermostat is out.
Of course, nothing is actually wrong with this one, as it only has 16k miles on it. I just figured I might as well give the Spoon thermostat a try while I’m in here. This way, I can get first-hand experience to help form opinions based on real-world testing, rather than just regurgitating the same misinformation that is all too often spread online. I find it’s better this way because I’ve done the work myself and can speak with confidence about these specific mods.
Here they are side by side. The OEM on the left and the Spoon one on the right.
Spoon, much like Mugen and other aftermarket tuners, often uses modified OEM parts as a baseline. As you can see, the Spoon thermostat uses the same plastic housing as the OEM unit; Spoon simply places a small gray vinyl sticker over the ‘Honda’ logo stamped into the plastic. This is likely to help distinguish the modified part from the stock one, making the installation less confusing when you have both out at the same time as I do. Without that sticker, you could easily mix the two up. The only physical difference is that Spoon recalibrates the internal wax element to open at a lower temperature, a change that’s impossible to see with the naked eye without a reference point.
See, no difference is noticeable.
And lastly, a side-by-side comparison: the OEM unit is on the left, you can tell by the ‘Honda’ logo stamped into the housing.
In order to give me time to do the install, Mom and Maddie went to Star Nursery to do one of Angie’s favorite pastimes: shopping for foliage to plant in our backyard. As you can see, Maddie was pretty excited about the plant she picked out!
Time for the thermostat install. This is such an easy job; you literally just unbolt the three bolts, remove the old thermostat, slap the new one in, and then tighten the bolts back down to 18 lb-ft of torque. It’s also best to hand-snug them in a crisscross pattern first to ensure the gasket isn’t pinched before applying the final torque, which helps avoid cracking the plastic ears. No Hondabond or any other form of RTV is necessary, as the thermostat utilizes a rubber O-ring style gasket that provides a complete seal when compressed against the clean mating surfaces.
Below you can see the grey vinyl sticker signifying the fact that it is the Spoon thermostat.
The orientation of the bolt holes is designed to be asymmetrical, creating a fail-safe that allows the housing to be installed in only one direction. This ‘error-proof’ layout ensures the radiator hose outlet is perfectly aligned and prevents the unit from being bolted down incorrectly. This design choice, often called “poka-yoke” in engineering, serves as a physical fail-safe. Because the three bolts are not evenly spaced in a perfect triangle, the housing will only line up with the threaded holes in the water passage in one specific orientation.
I snugged them all down by hand; this also allows me to better feel for any potential binding or pinching of a gasket.
Annnnd of course, some more ‘art’
And now, it’s time for the pièce de résistance.
There should be nothing special to installing these; they “should” just slide right on.
BUT!
As you can see…
There is a gnarly kink in the hose.
And sure, why not throw in some more ‘art’ while my world is imploding because the hoses don’t fit.
On a side note. Knipex spring hose clamp pliers are an 11/10 tool and a must-have for anyone dealing with factory spring clamps. Their rotatable tips allow you to grip clamps from any angle in a cramped engine bay, while the locking mechanism holds the tension for you so you aren’t fighting the spring. They provide significantly more leverage and safety than standard pliers, preventing the clamps from slipping or ‘pinging’ off during the install.
So, why don’t my hoses fit? Well, to be honest, I’d secretly been worried about this ever since I ordered them. You see, my FK8 doesn’t have a stock radiator; it has a much thicker Koyo unit. Way back when I did the radiator install in 2021, I simultaneously installed the Acuity reverse-flow hoses.
In their instructions, Acuity specifically mentions that the hoses must not touch once installed. Because of their extra ‘curviness,’ this is a challenge. They even suggest trimming some material to ensure a gap, because if they touch, the heat from the hot hose will bleed into the cooler hose, effectively negating the whole purpose of the ‘reverse flow’ theory and rendering them useless for combating coolant temps.
The theory behind these hoses is that if the ‘hot’ supply line and ‘cool’ return line touch, they’ll heat-soak each other and kill the cooling efficiency, which is why Acuity explicitly warns you to keep them separated. That’s a tall order in an FK8 engine bay to begin with, but once you throw in a much thicker Koyo radiator like mine, the clearance disappears, making it nearly impossible to keep them from touching without some serious trimming.
So, I did have to trim quite a bit from the Acuity hoses when I first installed them, but I wanted to believe that was just due to their specific ‘extra’ bends for the reverse-flow routing. With the reduced clearance of my thicker Koyo radiator, it was a nightmare to keep them from touching. I was basically hoping this was only an Acuity problem and that I wouldn’t run into it with the Spoon hoses.
However, it was instantly a problem the second I test-fitted the first Spoon radiator hose. I was now faced with the daunting task of trimming down these super-JDM, ‘waited-months-for-these’ hoses. Honestly, I wanted to think that Spoon would have ensured their hoses fit even with an aftermarket radiator, but I guess it’s just not possible to have one set of hoses fit both OEM and thick-core aftermarket radiators perfectly.
When I trimmed the Acuity hoses years ago, I wasn’t very careful, and the results were pretty rough and raw. This time around, since these are the ‘holy grail’ of hoses, I wanted to try my absolute best to ensure that even after they were trimmed, they still looked like they’d come straight from Spoon.
I marked the line. Extra-sharp, surgical-grade razor in hand, nerves at a jagged all-time high. I stood there staring at the blade, paralyzed by a single, gut-wrenching question: Was I really about to defile these things of beauty? (why not make it B&W for extra drama)
I took it easy, trying to only slightly score the SEP material, sort of like cutting a piece of glass.
It didn’t take long before the pain in my finger from pressing down on the bare blade became too much to handle. I finally gave in and loaded the blade into a box cutter to allow for more leverage, better control, and, most importantly, less finger fatigue.
Again, just some more B&W for drama.
PHEW! I did it. Honestly, it didn’t come out half bad, in fact, I was actually content with the result. It was a massive improvement over the hack job I did on those Acuity hoses years ago.
Just that one cut removed enough material to allow the hose to fit perfectly, without even a hint of kinking. I also made sure to cut the end that wouldn’t be visible, since it sits tucked underneath the core support and the plastic radiator cover.
There is just something about that iconic blue. Yes, technically a set of Billion hoses would be a lot cooler, but they don’t make them for the FK8 yet.
See? No kink. You’ll also notice I opted for OEM spring clamps, which, in my opinion, makes for a much cleaner-looking install than those tacky worm drives. Now, before you worry that I’m reusing the original factory clamps, keep in mind those were notorious for snapping and causing catastrophic coolant leaks on earlier FK8 models. Even though my car is a 2021 model, the actual part updates didn’t happen until after mine was manufactured, meaning I was still at risk. To play it safe, I purchased a set of freshly updated OEM Honda spring clamps. By using these revised parts, I’m getting that perfect factory look and constant tension without the fear of a snap ruining my day
Now it’s time for the lower radiator hose and this is where it gets a bit more complicated.
I started off just as I did with the upper hose: making a clean, even line to cut on. By using a worm clamp as a guide, I’m able to create a perfectly even, circular mark around the hose to ensure my cut stays straight.
I put the clamp on and applied just a slight amount of tension, enough to prevent it from moving as I traced around it, but not so much that it would deform the SEP hose.
Once again, my nerves were on edge as I prepared to cut. At this point, I was just praying that the results would be as clean as the upper hose, because there’s no going back once the blade hits the silicone.
And why not another B&W one, just to drive home the drama?
On the left is the amount I cut off the upper hose. To be extra safe and ensure I only had to cut once on the lower one, I took off a bit more, as you can see on the right.
Time to slap it in.
You’ll have to lay under the car to be able to slide it on the lower radiator outlet.
Here you can see how it comes up from the bottom.
Then slide it onto the thermostat housing.
Welp, I needed to cut A LOT more off. As you can see, the hose is making contact with the fan shroud, which is a major no-go. Another thing to point out: unlike the upper hose where I could cut from either end, the lower one has a sharp bend right where it exits the radiator outlet. This meant I was forced to cut from the side that slides onto the thermostat housing, meaning if my cut wasn’t perfect, it would be staring me in the face every time I opened the hood.
Back to the operating table. See how much more I had to cut!
There it was, the results of what I had to do just to get these to fit. It was definitely nerve-racking trying to get the cuts perfect as to resemble how they had arrived from Spoon.
As you can see in the picture below, I’m sliding on the spring clamps for the final install of the lower hose. This shot also does a great job of showing how the bottom of the hose has a sharp, pre-formed bend with almost no straight section left. Trimming from that end would be a disaster; trying to force a pre-bent curve onto a straight radiator outlet is a recipe for a bad seal and potential leaks.
Not gonna lie, these plies are sick.
I’ll admit it: the cut wasn’t perfect. After all the surgical preparation and the ‘holy grail’ hype, seeing a jagged edge staring back at me felt like a gut punch. I’m my own harshest critic, and right now, I’m beyond disappointed… but c’est la vie. The blade slipped, the perfection died, and now I have to live with it.
Here you can get a better visualization of the clearance between the lower hose and the radiator fan. It’s still a bit close for comfort, but before I made that second cut, it was clearly resting against the fan, a recipe for catastrophic failure.
Keep in mind that the engine moves front-to-back under acceleration and deceleration. Despite having an aftermarket rear motor mount to help keep that movement at bay, it isn’t solid; there’s still enough play to worry about. You have to ensure that radiator hose has enough clearance so it doesn’t rub or chafe while you’re driving, because a tiny rub can turn into a pinhole leak real fast.
With the thermostat and both upper and lower hoses installed, it’s now time to refill the cooling system. I’m going to be using a vacuum filler, this isn’t strictly necessary, but it makes life a hell of a lot easier and helps ensure there isn’t any air trapped in the system.
I bought this tool specifically for this job just to help make things go smoother, and it did not disappoint. This was the easiest coolant fill I’ve ever done, not just on this car, but on any car for that matter.
The tool works by using a Venturi valve; essentially, as compressed air rushes through the valve, it creates a deep vacuum that sucks every bit of air out of the cooling system, collapsing the hoses flat. While you can technically get away with a small 5-10 gallon air compressor, I’m running a full 60-gallon setup, which is a total game changer for a job like this.
Because the vacuum process requires a high, sustained flow of air to reach and hold a full vacuum, smaller compressors tend to struggle and constantly cycle. With my 60-gallon compressor, I’m able to maintain a powerful, constant stream of air across the valve without any drop in pressure. It makes the entire process faster, more consistent, and ensures you aren’t fighting a losing battle against a tiny, underpowered air tank.
It’s worth noting that I had to pinch off the overflow hose to allow the vacuum to build up. Don’t overlook this step if you’re trying a vacuum fill, if that line stays open, the tool will just suck air from the atmosphere, and you’ll never get the vacuum you need to pull the coolant in.
Here’s what the whole things looks like in use.
The pressure built up quickly to 25 inHg of vacuum. It’s easy to misread these gauges as ‘negative PSI,’ but technically, you’re looking at inches of mercury. Reaching 25 is exactly where you want to be; it’s the sweet spot that ensures the system is completely evacuated and the hoses are collapsed, ready for a bubble-free refill.
Once you’ve reached the target, you can close the valve and disconnect the air line. At this point, the system should hold that vacuum perfectly. This is the ultimate test: if that needle holds steady, you know your hoses and thermostat housing are sealed tight with no leaks.
Now I’m simply topping off a gallon of good ol’ Honda Type 2 coolant. I wanted to make sure I had enough in one container to replace exactly what I just lost. Since this wasn’t a full flush, there is still plenty of coolant sitting in the block and various lines, meaning I didn’t need the massive amount of fluid usually required for a total system flush.
The vacuum filler kit comes with a separate valve and hose assembly that you submerge directly into the coolant bottle.
And here are the instructions for the use of the vacuum filler kit:
The tubing connects via a quick-connect fitting and features the aforementioned second valve to allow for more control over the suction.
You’ll want to leave the valve closest to the gauge closed until you’re ready to suck in the coolant, which is controlled via the second valve furthest away from the gauge.
The end of the suction tube even features a metal filter, which serves a dual purpose: it prevents large particles from being sucked into the cooling system and acts as a weight to keep the hose submerged at the bottom of the coolant bottle.
I even went the extra mile and primed the suction tube to ensure it was full of coolant before starting the refill. Honestly, the tiny amount of air in that line isn’t enough to create an air lock, the deep vacuum in the engine would just swallow it up, but I’m a perfectionist. I wanted to prevent even a single ‘micro-bubble’ from entering the system. Since the tool does all the heavy lifting of pulling the vacuum anyway, it’s not like this adds much work to the process. It helps me sleep more soundly, it certainly can’t hurt (other than a bit of that bitter coolant taste), so I’ll probably always do it this way.
Now I can reconnect the quick-connect fitting and begin the suction filling process.
time to open the valve
Look at it go! It happens fast, though, so be ready to close the valve if you start running low on coolant in the container.
Once the gauge reads zero, you can disconnect everything and just top off any remaining coolant in the expansion tank.
After making sure there are no leaks, which there shouldn’t be, since the system held a perfect vacuum. I was ready to go. While a pressure test is generally the go-to for finding a mystery leak, a vacuum test is arguably a more rigorous way to verify your work. If your seals and hose clamps can withstand being sucked inward under a deep vacuum, they aren’t going to have any trouble holding pressure once the car is running.
With the cooling system sealed and filled, I can now begin reinstalling the airbox.
Once the airbox is back in, you can just see the ‘Poon’ logo poking through. In hindsight, it likely says that because I trimmed the material off the radiator side of the hose. If I had cut the engine side instead, the ‘S’ in the Spoon logo would probably be visible. My original plan to hide the cut completely backfired on me; I should have trimmed the engine side to keep the branding centered. Hopefully, you can learn from my mistake: when you’re installing your own hoses, make sure you cut the correct side to keep that logo front and center.
Because in reality, the silicone intake hose completely blocks the side I didn’t cut, so I should have just trimmed the engine side. Here I was, thinking I was being all professional and proactive by cutting the ‘hidden’ side, only to find out both sides are hidden. Now, unfortunately, my ‘S’ is hidden too.
With the camera positioned directly above the engine bay, you can just barely see the ‘S’ in the logo. While I’m somewhat disappointed, I’m still content because the thing you’re really paying for isn’t the logo… well, maybe a little. But you’re mostly paying for that sick, iconic blue SEP material.
Thermostat and radiator hose install now complete, engine bay all reassembled, and the car back on the ground. Let’s move on to the shift knob install.
First, I want to compare the differences between the original ‘golden era’ Spoon shift knob and the redesigned version meant for 10th-gen and up Civics. Separately, there isn’t a huge noticeable difference. In fact, I actually had to pull out an older one I had from the golden era to compare it to the one I received from Blackhawk. When I first opened the package, the size difference wasn’t as drastic as I’d anticipated, or as the online photos had led me to believe.
The only real tell-tale difference is at the threaded base. As you can see, the ‘golden era’ knob is countersunk and features a small hole for a hex set screw (grub screw) to lock it in place. In contrast, the newer design for the 10th and 11th Gen is meant to work with a lock nut that butts up against the bottom. This change is exactly how they achieved the extra added height required for the modern shifter setup.
Here you can get a better view of that grub screw hole in the ‘golden era’ unit. You may also notice that the newer design is ever-so-slightly taller, we’re talking just a few millimeters, but remember that most of that added height comes from eliminating the countersunk threads. Because of this, the difference is much more noticeable once installed than it is when you’re just comparing them side-by-side. The milled-down body also has a less abrupt taper than the original, and this fatter base allows for a much cleaner look against the shift boot collar. The transition is so smooth it looks almost OEM.
Let’s move on to the installation. There is a ton of misinformation online about removing the FK8 shift knob, and I constantly see people scarring, chipping, or outright wrecking their OEM hardware. The trick isn’t raw power, it’s alignment.
The boot collar needs to align with specific internal grooves before it will release. I found that rotating the boot nearly 180 degrees while applying downward pressure was the sweet spot. You can actually feel when the grooves line up; once they do, a firm pull pops the collar down cleanly to reveal the lock nut. It still requires some force, but by rotating it, you aren’t fighting the plastic clips that so many people end up snapping
With the shift boot and collar finally pulled down, you can more easily see the alignment grooves I’m speaking of. Seeing these makes it obvious why you have to rotate the boot; if those internal tabs aren’t lined up with these channels, you’re just tugging against solid plastic.
Once the collar is out of the way, you’ll see the 14mm jam nut. You have to loosen this nut first to ‘break’ the tension between it and the shift knob. I used a 14mm wrench to turn the nut clockwise (standard righty-tighty actually moves it down the shifter stalk here) while holding the knob steady. Once that connection is broken, the knob will spin right off without any struggle.
Now the new Spoon knob can be threaded on. Re-cinch the jam nut to ensure the knob doesn’t loosen over time, then pull the shift boot and collar back up, making sure to align the grooves once again before clicking it into place. Lastly, install the Spoon gear indicator sticker. Do not install the sticker before the knob is tightened down; if you do, you’ll have a nightmare of a time trying to get it perfectly level and symmetrical once the knob is actually cinched into its final position.
For almost 15 years now, I have exclusively run Spoon shift knobs on all my cars. The ergonomics and feel of them are just amazing. The Spoon Sports aluminum shift knob achieves this legendary status by prioritizing functional engineering, perfect ergonomics, and pure tactile feedback over flashy aesthetics. Machined from lightweight billet aluminum, it delivers an exceptionally crisp and direct shifting feel that connects your hand directly to the transmission synchros. Its iconic, slightly elongated shape accommodates both top-down and side-grip (AKA pistol grip) styles comfortably, while raising the grip surface slightly closer to the steering wheel to minimize your hand’s transition time. Furthermore, Spoon deliberately rejects the heavy, counter-weighted trend in favor of this ultra-lightweight aluminum design; this maximizes your physical perception of gear engagement while simultaneously protecting internal shift forks and synchros from the premature wear caused by heavier knobs.
Now, let’s move on to the last and arguably most pointless modification: the Spoon Sports rearview mirror. Ever since high school, I’ve been buying Broadway mirrors from the Mitsuwa Marketplace off Western and Carson in Torrance, CA, to run in all my cars… and I mean all my cars (I know it’s not there anymore and it moved to Del Amo mall area). It’s a staple item that I need to have installed on a vehicle before I can officially call it my own. It became my personal trademark, though, honestly, it’s probably a trademark of many car enthusiasts, especially in the Asian-American car community. You could say it was a bit unusual for a white guy to be so obsessed with them. Anyways, I’ve had them in all my cars, my truck, my drift car, and even all of Angie’s cars over the years. Not only was it a worthwhile upgrade, but it also became a core part of my persona.
For all those years, I never was interested in any other mirror and the Broadway mirror, in my opinion was the pinnacle of reflective viewing.
Knowing all this, it should come as no surprise that to officially christen my brand-new FK8, I took a drive over to Tokyo Discount on Fort Apache and Tropicana in Las Vegas, NV. For a little over 10 years, that’s been my go-to store for Air Spencer Blue Squash air fresheners and Broadway mirrors. I picked up a new mirror to outfit the Type R, but immediately after clipping it on, something just wasn’t right. It took up way too much of my peripheral vision, creating forward blind spots I had never experienced in any vehicle before.
Now, every Broadway mirror is at least slightly larger than the OEM mirror, and they can range in size to extreme lengths. I never opted for those massive ones; I always stayed with the tried-and-true 240mm flat style. I could never get used to the warped field of view on the convex ones. But being a taller guy in a compact Japanese car, I already sit higher up than most. A wider rearview mirror meant more forward visual reduction, completely offsetting the benefits of the wider rearview angle.
With the FK8, it just never sat right with me. This was likely because the Honda Sensing radar mounted to the windshield already blocks a lot of the forward view. Combine that with a windshield that isn’t the easiest to see out of when you’re tall, and the mirror left a bad taste in my mouth. Still, my dedication to the Broadway mirror oath I had taken nearly 30 years prior was one I was willing to take to the grave. So, for the first five years of ownership, I never removed it, I just dealt with it.
Perhaps my devoutness to the holy Spoon brand would absolve me of breaking the sacred oath I had pledged to the Broadway mirrors defining my very soul.
So that day, after installing the radiator hoses, thermostat, and shift knob, I saved what was intended to be the easiest install for last: the Spoon rearview mirror. It’s a simple stick-on affair, utilizing 3M adhesive tape pre-applied to the backside of the glass. All you need to do is peel the backing and align it over the OEM mirror. The design makes it incredibly hard to mess up because the Spoon mirror fits perfectly inside the stock housing; the OEM mirror has a recessed face with a plastic trim ring around it, making alignment effortless.
However, there is one major caveat to keep in mind. Because the Spoon mirror is convex, it does not sit completely flush against the factory glass. To bridge that gap, there is a large piece of foam tape right in the center. The most common installation mistake people make is pushing hard on the middle of the mirror to get it to stick. This almost always results in the glass snapping right in half. It is extremely important to apply pressure only around the outer edges to ensure the 3M tape gets perfect adhesion, while giving the middle of the mirror only the slightest, gentlest press.
But right as I went to install the mirror when I went to align it into position, I noticed that for some reason it didn’t fit… it was too wide? I was confused. How could this not line up why was the Spoon rear view mirror wider than my OEM mirror was.
Welp, here is what is most likely the most embarrassing moment I’m willing to admit to. I had a total lapse in JDM judgment, making quite possibly the ultimate rookie mistake. As with everything you order from Japan, it’s built for the JDM market. As we all know, there are subtle nuances that make JDM parts slightly different from their USDM counterparts. For example, you can’t use RHD wiper blades on a LHD car, you have to be careful ordering a master cylinder brace since the RHD mounting is completely opposite, and JDM floor mats are explicitly cut for an RHD footwell. Admittedly, I never even thought about the rearview mirror glass size being different. I guess that completely nullifies my JDM degree! Maybe I overlooked it because, for the last 30-ish years, I’ve just been installing clip-on JDM Broadway mirrors, which fit identically regardless of what market the factory base came from.
So, unable to complete my Spoon Superfecta installation, I was left sitting there pondering my own stupidity. At that exact moment, I was so ashamed of not knowing there was a difference. I’m supposed to be the guy when it comes to JDM Honda stuff! Why didn’t I realize a JDM mirror wouldn’t work on my USDM car? What was I supposed to do next? I couldn’t easily sell a JDM Spoon mirror here in America, considering nobody owns an actual right-hand-drive FK8 around here. Even if they did, why would anyone go through the rigamarole of buying a used mirror when they could just order a brand-new one from a reputable dealer? They definitely aren’t going to buy it from some crazy white dude in Las Vegas, that sounds sketchy as hell.
Then, a thought hit me: wait, how cool would it be to buy an OEM JDM Honda rearview mirror assembly and have a true JDM setup? I jumped onto the ol’ interwebs to source a complete factory JDM assembly. But after about an hour of digging, I came up empty. I did manage to find a few Japanese OEM parts suppliers, but the sketchy translations and lack of clear diagrams left me entirely unsure if I was even ordering the right part.
So, in a last bit of frustration and shame, I hopped onto Go Tuning / Spoon Sports USA and had to succumb to ordering overinflated-priced parts that would actually fit my USDM car. Yep, I had to order from them because they carried the Spoon mirror glass specifically designed for a USDM rearview housing. (They also carry the specific LHD windshield wipers too, in case you were wondering). Fortunately, they had it in stock. Since they are located in Orange, California, it didn’t even take a full two days to arrive at my house in Vegas.
Below are the two mirrors… the JDM and the USDM one. as you can see from the boxes there is no difference in packaging.
But, flip it over and you can see the last three digits of the part number are the differentiating factors.
Note that the part number is different for left-hand drive models: 76400-BRM-004
76400-BRM-005 is for RHD models.
Once out of the box you can clearly see the difference. the USDM 004 mirror is clearly almost an inch shorter.
Here is what it looked like without the Broadway mirror.
Then, with the Spoon rearview mirror installed, you can actually see my fingerprints where you are supposed to apply pressure. Remember: only press slightly on the center area of the glass so you don’t snap it in half.
And with the fingerprints wiped off.
I have to say, right away I wasn’t a huge fan of the wide-angle curvature; the convex field of view made cars look slightly farther away than my old flat Broadway mirror did. However, Spoon applies a specialized optical blue tint to the glass surface, and OMG, I can’t say enough about how crisp the view is! It drastically reduces high-beam headlight glare from vehicles behind you during night driving, even compared to the already improved “HD” glass of the Broadway mirrors. It completely eliminates the need to manually flip a dimmer switch while preserving perfect rearward clarity. I don’t really know how to describe it, but I genuinely get enjoyment just from looking at it. I will also admit that I’ve completely gotten used to the convex shape and have grown to really appreciate all the extra view it gives, especially around the rear quarter-panel area of the car. By widening your field of vision and pushing the perspective back slightly, it reveals vehicles hidden deep in your rear quarters, killing a lot of blind spots that a normal rearview mirror completely misses. The pushed-back perspective definitely takes some getting used to, but once you’re acclimated, boy, I’m left wondering how I managed to drive all these years without it.
Think of it much like the Spoon shift knob: if you have ever used one, then you know exactly what I mean about how it just feels right and gives you a sense of connection that you wouldn’t normally get from any other knob. Well, the rearview mirror is much of the same. If you haven’t experienced it, I highly suggest you do, not just so you can say you have a “Spoon part” on your car, but so you can actually experience the precision craftsmanship and engineering that went into it. Trust me, that’s not just me being a Spoon fanboy, elitist, catalog builder blindly following a name just because of the brand. It is truly miracle stuff.
Well, that was one of my typical, way-too-long articles for describing such simple things to install. But you all know I love to tell my personal stories. To me, it validates the work, and it’s also cool to take a trip down memory lane. Although my high school years, like many, had their bad moments, they were also great at the same time. Remembering all of that humbles me and reminds me of how far I’ve come, while making me incredibly thankful for the life experiences that helped mold me into who I am today.
It’s also worth mentioning that I installed these parts on my car back in February 2026, and I have quite literally been writing this blog post the entire time. I wanted to make sure that I explained everything surrounding low-temp thermostats. I wanted to make sure you knew that if you run an aftermarket radiator, you are going to need to trim your hoses no matter what. I wanted you all to know that I’m a total noob who accidentally ordered the wrong mirror. And lastly, I wanted to give you a tasteful window into my personal life. Finding ways to articulate all of this was tough; it left me constantly rewriting paragraphs or even stepping away for months at a time just because I wanted it to be perfect.
So, while this is technically a DIY to help you learn about aftermarket parts, what they do, and if they can truly benefit you, I love adding that personal touch. It allows me to sound authentic and genuine. Nowadays, more than ever, with the sheer volume of AI “slop” being generated, I feel like it is vital to keep the human element alive and not contribute to the dead internet theory.
As always, thank you so much for taking the time to read my posts (especially this 10k-word one). I would love to hear from you, whether it be the good, the bad, or the ugly. If you have questions, concerns, or comments, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me via email at Billy@Functiontheory.com, on Instagram @Functiontheory, or simply comment on the post below.