NSX Health Check Service

Now, the Front bank.

The outer primary tube will be quite close to the A/C Compressor and you will need some sort of protection against the radiant heat.

While I was working in US for the race project, I used ceramic coating around the turbo charger area but not on the entire parts.

For NSX, I know lots of owners treated their entire aftermarket headers with ceramic coating.

Majority of aftermarket headers are made from SUS304 which has big expansion rate. The design and layout of KSP headers took this expansion into consideration but without the use of any coating.
Applying the coating will reduce the radiant heat which means that the heat will be kept inside the tube until exiting the exhaust.

As I have no data with endurance test using ceramic coating on the entire headers, I decided to follow the same procedure that majority of owners using KSP headers in Japan.
It is to apply heat rejection sheet at the face of A/C compressor and wrap the small part of the primary tube with heatshield cloth.

Attachment 7050
Ideally, I wanted to use the Gold plated heat rejection sheet like the one used on McLaren F1 or many Formula 1 chassis. As it is very expensive, I decided to get the standard silver one.
I wrapped very short area of the Front primary tube close to the A/C compressor to minimise the radiant heat. If I am going to use the ceramic coating, I’ll probably use it just on this small part.

Attachment 7051
The label on the A/C compressor. Mine is the Denso 10PA15C and it’s shared with other production cars so the reconditioned one is available if I need it in the future.

Install the Front header and put back the A/C compressor back in place.

Now it’s time to put back the Front beam. As we removed the Front engine mount bolt to take out the front beam, if we follow the manual, we should loosen all four Eng/MT/AT mounting bolts/nuts and follow the correct sequence to minimise the noise/vibration as well as any unusual initial force on the mount bush.

However, I found it fine using the following sequence.
Loosen the Rear mount bolt. Install the Front beam. Install the Rear beam rod assy (the U shaped reinforcement bar). Tighten the Front engine mount bolt to the spec and then tighten the Rear mount bolt to the spec.

Attachment 7052
There are several methods to hold the nut with small lever for the Front engine mount. I normally use the tape method.

Lower the car and apply 1G to the suspension.
Now tighten the bolts at the sway/anti roll bar bush.

Start the engine and check the installation. Go out for a short gentle driving to warm up the engine. Once it’s upto the operational temperature, stop the engine and pull out the 7.5A Clock fuse to reset the ECU.

Wait for a while, start the engine and let it idle without any load such as A/C, headlights, radio and so on. 10min should be enough and the idle should sit at the different specified rpm for MT and AT models. After this, the ECU will learn further the study value while you are driving the NSX.


E. The works of art.

Attachment 7053
All three primary tubes sit parallel to the ground which is important for me to clear the speed hump.

Installation completed.
Attachment 7058 Attachment 7057

Attachment 7054 Attachment 7055 Attachment 7056


Although I already test driven both the KSP headers and ABS upgrade kits on several different NSXs while I was in Japan last time, I will write up some impression notes later....


Regards,
Kaz

Looks nice, they have done a good job keeping the front header out of harms way.
The Taitec is a little lower, but I'm still pleased with the fit and finish :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kaz-kzukNA1

Lower the car and apply 1G to the suspension.
Now tighten the bolts at the sway/anti roll bar bush.

---

How do you do that exactly?

Hi, goldnsx.
Not sure I understood your point of question as it is fairly simple and similar to what we do on the alignment flat patch.

Just lower the car on the ground, shake it to rest the parts and simply tighten the bolts to the spec at the holder of sway/anti roll bar bush....

Kaz

I think Kaz was simply meaning - lower the car so the suspension is under normal gravity load (1g) then tighten the bolts.

Thanks for the explanation. I understood the 1g-task correctly then. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nobby

Kaz

interesting read for sure, for us NA1 owners ... have to admit with discussions with Sudesh in the past re the ABS on my car I have my concerns re it, and this work would be something i would very much contemplate during ownership of my NSX as I plan to keep her. What is the total cost of this upgrade and how easy is it to get hold of the ABS system from Japan?

Is this something you can do for us owners in the UK?

Would there be able to be a group buy for this option with your supplier in Japan?

Who else out there would be interested?

Keep going with the great write up ...

---

Hi, all.
As I received several enquiries about ABS upgrade and to answer the question from nobby, hope the following information will help you.

Yes, I’m more than happy to help the owners with old ABS to convert it into the latest one.

Unlike in US, all Honda genuine parts are sold at exactly the same price everywhere in Japan unless you are a Honda employee or you run Honda dealership. Therefore, there is no group buy discount on the OEM parts in Japan. You can save at least the delivery charge by sharing the cost with others but I think it’s worth asking NSXCB vendor Andy at vtecdirect to seek better deal as I believe he has regular delivery from Japan and thus, should be able to save extra on the delivery charge resulting in cheaper landed value that will lower the import duty and VAT.

In US, the price of Honda/Acura genuine parts differs from dealer to dealer depending on the type of parts and the discount policy. I have several contacts there so I may be able to help you on this if you take this route.

Science of Speed (SoS) offers the RHD NSX ABS upgrade kit including the conversion loom for US$1,948.00. On top of this, you will need to pay extra for the international delivery and of course, there is the import duty and VAT on the landed value (goods + delivery charge) for UK Custom plus the handling charge to the courier company for clearing the UK Custom.

The parts list from SoS is slightly different from mine and it looks like it is trying to re-use as many old parts as possible for DIY purpose to reduce the cost.

It seems that it requires the disassembly of old ABS modulator/accumulator to re-use the big tripod like bracket and some of the bolts to build up the latest ABS structure.

If you are going to pay someone to install the ABS upgrade kit, then I think you won’t save a lot by re-using the old bracket and bolts as you need to pay for the disassembly process.

I wanted to take out the old ABS and keep it in its original structure so decided to purchase the new bracket and the bolts.

I’m happy to negotiate some discount on group buy for the ABS conversion loom from KSP Engineering, if required.

As far as I know, the conversion loom from SoS is actually from another NSX shop in Japan.


For your reference, followings are the parts list of my ABS upgrade.

Please note that this is for RHD standard NSX and as mentioned above, it also includes some of the extra parts that could be re-used from your old system if you are doing DIY installation with extra hours for disassembling the old one.

Also, you may need extra parts depending on the state of your NSX.

If you are interested in the 2002 Type-R ABS setup, you will need to replace the Brake Master cylinder, Brake Booster, different ABS modulator, different brake pipe U & V.

Parts No. Qty. Description
46210-SL0-003 x 1 Prop valve
46215-SL0-000 x 1 Bracket, Prop valve
46372-SL0-N00 x 1 Brake Pipe S
46373-SL0-N00 x 1 Brake Pipe T
46374-SL0-N00 x 1 Brake Pipe U
46375-SL0-N00 x 1 Brake Pipe V
46376-SL0-N00 x 1 Brake Pipe W
46377-SL0-N00 x 1 Brake Pipe X
46378-SL0-N01 x 1 Brake Pipe Y
46379-SL0-N01 x 1 Brake Pipe Z
46395-SM4-951 x 1 Clip, Brake pipe: Can be re-used if it was not damaged.
46396-SL0-003 x 1 Clip, Brake pipe: Can be re-used if it was not damaged.
57101-S2A-003 x 3 Mounting Rubber for ABS modulator
57102-S2A-003 x 2 Mounting Bolt for ABS modulator
57110-SL0-Z03 x 1 ABS modulator
57115-SL0-003 x 1 Bracket, ABS modulator: Can be re-used/modified the old one. Extra hours.
57116-SL0-000 x 1 Black metal bracket for ABS modulator
57119-SL0-900 x 1 Guard, modulator: I didn’t order this and just re-used the old one as I couldn’t use the spare tyre any way.
90170-SL0-000 x 3 Flange bolt, modulator bracket: Can be re-used if they are not corroded. Extra hours.
94071-06080 x 2 Nut washer, mounting rubber ABS modulator
95701-06016-05 x 3 Flange bolt, Prop valve
95701-08020-05 x 3 Flange bolt, ABS bracket: Can be re-used if they are not corroded.
95701-08040-05 x 1 Flange bolt, Prop valve fixing
ABS Conv. Loom x 1 KSP Engineering

The time required for the conversion depends on how you want to remove the original brake pipes and what you want to do with the old ABS controller.

If you are happy to just cut and destroy the old pipes and happy to leave the old ABS controller as it is, then some NSX specialists in Japan with lots of ABS conversion experience are doing it in about 4 -5hrs but these people are really the top specialist.

I normally prefer taking off the brake pipes without damaging them, take out the old ABS controller from the cabin and spend some time for cleaning the area under the bonnet.
Thus, I usually spend about 8 - 10hrs including the bleeding of the brake fluid.
The corrosion at the Front R & L brake hose/pipe connection points inside the wheel arch and other corroded brake pipe fittings around the ABS always slows down the process.

Again, hope these info will help you.

Regards,
Kaz

Kaz,
Assuming you are doing it your way and you purchasing all the parts, what is the total cost to do this conversion.....i.e. How much all inclusive?

SS

Hi, Silver Surfer.

As I hand carried back almost all of the parts except for the ABS modulator, I don’t have exact figure for the delivery charge, import duty+VAT and the handling charge at the courier company.

I normally use EMS for the delivery from Japan and the delivery charge plus the parts cost will create the ‘Landed Value’ for the Customs purpose.
The duty rate depends on the type of goods but assuming it is around 3.5% of the Landed value.
The duty is then added to the Landed value and the VAT is calculated against this total figure.
The handling charge at UK courier company to clear the Customs would be around GBP14.00.

The exchange rate is really bad for us at the moment.

Based on the above assumption and using my list that includes some extra re-usable parts from the old ABS, it would be somewhere in the region of GBP1,500 – 1,700 for the parts from Japan.

Of course, this figure will change depending on the better deal on the ABS conversion loom, the exchange rate and the latest parts price in Japan. Honda normally revises the price in Spring and Autumn.

Because this ABS upgrade is so popular in Japan, quite often, the new ABS modulator is out of stock. I had to wait quite a while.

The labour charge will depends on how you remove the original brake pipes, original ABS controller removal or not and the state of each NSX. To be on the safe side, I would assume it will be around GBP600.00. If you DIY the installation or have a good mechanic friend, then you can save a lot.

So, not a cheap upgrade but as mentioned in my previous post, for me, this upgrade is like the investment for the future.

With the latest ABS, I may be able to stop my NSX before hitting something whereas with the old one, I will pray for the luck but probably end up with hitting the object.

Hope this will help.

Regards,
Kaz