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It will have been a year in March when I first joined this superb forum, a reply to one of my early posts was sprinkled with the little used word 'upgrade-itis'...... Now being a former Royal Navy Medic I recognised the 'itis' bit as an inflammation, but because there was not a hint of Latin in the first part of the word I of course dismissed it. I went on my merry way and replaced my dented sump, now, it would have been foolish to just replace like for like when there is the option of baffles...... and Mr Eales you silver tongued devil you "you know these things corner like nothing else on the planet...... will you be putting slicks on it ?" me wide eyed and dopey says "yeah why not"..... he puts the baffled sump back on the shelf and picked up a much nicer looking pile of stuff, then says "you'll need these then......" Go find my post about the sump.... baffles, windage trays and trapdoors.... oooh and a modified pickup...... oh the joys...... but the cost more than justified because I won't have any oil surge issues.... and the old sump was goosed anyway........ I had a lovely summer, I met a great bunch of people in Essex and went on a couple of track days, plus thanks to a great guy called Graham, four dashes up the Shelsley Walsh hill, the real bonus was that for the whole of the summer I didn't really break anything too expensive. Then we went to the Westfield Factory, the open day...... Wheels, Tyres and new suspension all justified as "well they're 15 years old and probably goosed anyway" Yesterday I spoke to a lovey guy called Luke at Playskool.......... Discs, Pads and new Calipers are on the way, and to top it all off I have to trundle up to Crewe with the trailer to get a Tyre Rack fitted...... So in summary I feel I've been had, not one of you lovely people has even hinted at saying "save yourself Mr Dixon, run away, the UPGRADEITIS is gonna get ya !" Happy new year all, see you out and about as long as you promise to tell me that the ASBO is lovely and say things like "ooooh that looks to be worth every one of the copious pennies spent on it......" I'm off to the IMF now to see if I can be bailed out..... Nem.....................

Well, I got lucky.. it stayed dry for me.. Just as well really seeing as the car is a BEC, with flappy paddles and a lockup clutch.. I was basically re-learning to drive on the way home This is John Cobbs (old) car - John used to be Surrey / Sussex AO and the car really is a testament to him - he's thought of everything! When we met a few years ago I said to him at the time that I would like to buy his car, thinking it a bit of a pipe dream.. now a tinge of guilt taking it away from them. Assurances that she will be doted over were duly made.. Anyway.. a pic of her home safe Time for a hot bath

Your welcome Barny, it's been a pleasure working with you

Today he drove The Red Beast lives! Absolutely amazing, just a short run round the block, but what an amazing job Mart and Ro have done, I honestly couldn't be happier! Really proud of how the car looks, and I have high standards, so thanks again Mart. Off to Simpsons tomorrow for a shiny new exhaust...

Looks a great Calendar, thanks to all those who work so hard to put it together. Really looking forward to getting SuperTedTekTec, or whatever it's called out for a full season!! Not forgetting his wee excursion to France, Mange Tout Rodney mange tout

I used to like that weekend. Seems daft to me

Looks like a great season of events again Nick Soooooo looking forward to getting out agin It goes without saying really but, "Thank You" to you and the SSOT for all the time and effort that's put into organising this for us

Last sunday 11th Jan went from Kent to Essex through Dartford Tunnel and a return journey,the new system you set up a account and get charged every time you use it,less time waiting paying with cash and works out a little cheaper. Until i looked at my crossing history,i had been charged twice for the north bound journey!! Just phone them i thought and they can refund my £1.67. Not that simple,after the first woman just hung up!! This time got a man who looked into my account and was looking at the images and could see a ovious mistake,but still had to refer it to the financial department and tells me i have to wait for a phone call to see if they are going to give me my money back. Do they deliberately make it as hard as possible so you just dont bother? Has anybody else has this problem?

All done looking forward to another great year of competing

And me, bring it on ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Great accomplishment.. well done gents. That's a rather serious garage and lighting set up there too.. well jel

Happy to pop over to help out if you need a hand.

The guide was referring to the bridge and called it the Dartford Bridge, it is course called the "Queen Elizabeth 2nd" bridge. Serves you right Russ for the fine

Take a look at SGS engineering. I bought a crane and engine leveler from them for dismantling my donor car. Better value than ebay and they delivered pretty much straight away. If you decide to sell it after too, the loss would probably be less than it would cost you to hire one for a day anyway!

Two blokes can lift an engine by themselves Others will advise if they come "split" Or borrow and engine crane - plenty of those amongst the Essex memebrs Or buy a crane. What was your plan come build time?

Get a hoist or crane. I have used mine dozens of times since and even before the kit arrived and yet tomorrow is when I am actually fitting the engine!

Seeing as you are not going to post on here anymore Breath Monster; Good riddance I say - nothing but a pain in the A*** from the start.

Cripes - I'm a lost cause then - it got me before I'd even taken delivery of the chassis - when I was a Stoneleigh last year I started upgrading the bits I hadn't even got!

Couldn't agree with you more Barny ;) Thanks Nick & team

Wait till you get it seriously, you only have a mild form at the moment

...said the smiling bride on the morning after her wedding night You love it and we all know it! But we're happy to help the weak-willed spend their money and watch the spouse-related fallout fun.

Here's an example of the service kits, it's just a cleaner you work into the foam with a brush, then rinse off with warm water, (flushing from inside out, usually), followed by a filter oil to re oil the foam. (It's the special oil that traps all the fine particles). You can wash with warm water and detergent, but the cleaner is better and safer for the foam, long term. You can get in bigger, non aerosol bottles too! But it lasts for ages so you should be fine with the small size.

Assuming no roof or tonneau cover etc, I'd just be arming myself with plenty of old towels and some bin bags, tape etc, and trying to protect what I could - passenger seat, any carpets/soft trim. If you haven't already got on, you can get some of the bikers one piece waterproof coveralls reasonably cheaply to help keep you dry. And if the rains really bad, regardless of whether the car is windscreened or aeroscreened, try and beg, steal or borrow a helmet. (It's strange how much more comfortable it is to drive in the rain if your head/face is protected from it!)

Re the valve clearances Make sure the engine is stone cold and avoid the threads on s2k about setting them tighter than honda recommend as this can cause low compression when warm If the engine is not tapping and has good compression then just check them and if it's in tolerance then leave them be As far as the engine oil. The Honda S2000 has a 9000 mile service intervals I'm guessing here but don't think your car would have covered that sort of milage since the last oil change. As Dave said modern oils are very good and just as long as you Don't get it to a high temp 120+ deg c then it will be ok on the stock service milage On my last car (Mitsubishi Evo 6) I changed the oil before and after every track day but left the filter till it had done a few 1000 miles but the oil temp did hit 130 from time to time. If I was you I'd just do the oil and filter once a year for peace of mind On mine I'll be changing it once a year along with the filter unless I see oil temps over 120

The detergents in some modern high performance oils are nothing short of stunning. I've had engine run on them for a year or so that on strip down were not just cleaner than before the oil change, but looked clean enough to be recently stripped and rebuilt! So yes, no need for flushing treatments or additives.

Back again! Just drain (while warm) the oil and replace. Be careful with the filter, S20's (the car), seem to have a bit of a reputation for the filters working loose in some circumstances. I don't know how true this is, but both my OEM Honda filter and my Honda dealer workshop manual both have quite detailed tightening notes on them. As they're only cheap, I picked up one of the cup shaped sockets that fits in a 1/2" ratchet to do mine - tightening with a strap wrench seemed to get vague results. Like I say, I may be worrying about nothing, but it seemed better safe than sorry! The K&N filters can be cleaned and re-oiled, K&N do a clean/oil kit. Depending on age/milage, the valve clearances may need checking/adjusting, TBH, it's probably worth doing anyway so that you know exactly when they've been done, going forwards. As for the rest, check all fluid levels, brake pads etc, then go over all the car you can get at, certainly all critical steering/suspension/braking system parts and do a "spanner check" IE check everything is as tight as it should be. While at it check for condition of joints, rubber covers, chassis tubes etc, looking for any damage, or chips etc. repair/replace/re paint as appropriate.

No, don't take the sump off unless absolutely vital, (general comment, for anyone reading the thread!) Honda build the engine using a sealant called Hondabond, (actually several sealants under the group name Hondabond), instead of gaskets for some non-regular service parts. The sump is one, the joint line of the casting is a complicated one and the sump carries some bell housing bolts too. Not sure how easy it would be to separate with the 'box attached, but assuming it was OK, there's a lot of joint faces to get scrupulously clean, both engine side and sump side, before fresh Hondabond could be applied. Get it wrong, and you've got squashed out sealant floating round in the sump, ready to clog the oil pick up... the he baffle is such a simple arrangement anyway, that there's precious little to be gained dropping the sump for cleaning. (I'd only consider it post catastrophic engine damage, but then you'd probably want it off anyway!) Oops, door bell ringing, back in a mo...

The lengths some people go to avoid a clank by the anchor! he he.

Hi, I was thinking of selling my MSA 'Half Cage' as shown on the Westfield site: http://parts-shop.westfield-sportscars.co.uk/body-fittings-trim-rollbars?product_id=706 It's brand new, never been out of its bubble wrap! Not sure if you want to spend this much buit I was hoping to recoup as much of the original cost as possible, so around £300. It's also in Bristol which I appreciate is another issue. Mark