Acura RSX, ILX and Honda EP3 Forum banner

Circuit's Silver 2002 RSX Type-S

15K views 74 replies 23 participants last post by  SanDiegoLoCo 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi Everyone! I just introduced myself over in the noob section, so I figured I'd start my build thread!

I'm starting with a 2002 RSX Type-S with 248k miles that I bought from a good friend for $1000! (story in my intro thread).

My last build (2003 Mazda Protege5): https://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123838414-Circuit-s-03-5-Protege5

My instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chris_mtechnica/

I am a partner at MemoryFab / MTechnica and will be running a set of our wheels.

Car came with:
  • Injen SRI that supposedly did not have the right CARB number
  • Tanabe Racing Medalion with Hello Kitty tip and aftermarket cat not CARB approved for the Type-S
  • Full Polk Audio/Kicker/Pioneer stereo system and Python alarm installed by my team and I when I worked at Circuit City about 10 years ago (told you we were good friends)
  • Some ricey black 17" wheels
  • A pool in the spare tire well
  • A dead battery
  • A nasty dent/scrape on the driver side rear fender
  • A flickering battery light on deceleration (after the battery replacement). I've read a bit on here that it could be the charge harness, serpentine belt, auto tensioner, and/or the alternator.

Photos:







So now what?!?!

I had to purchase an OEM cat and Injen CAI to pass smog. I also replaced the exhaust with a Tanabe Touring Medalion since the Hello Kitty tip was killing my street cred :laughing: and was just too loud.



(check out that sweet condensation in the reverse light)

Plans for the car are:
1. Restore/replace/upgrade all the old, faded, worn-out, broken bits with new OEM or aftermarket (where applicable)
2. Build a fun daily driver in an OEM+ style
3. Have fun and don't go too far!(I definitely went too far on my Protege5 and it was no longer fun to drive except to and from shows/meets)

I've got the following on order:
  • Tail light gaskets
  • Cargo cover rubber grommets
  • OEM Honda Transmission fluid
  • OEM Honda Cabin Air filter


I found this list in another intro thread and will definitely be looking closely at all these things

-Coolant Flush - Should I just stick with OEM coolant? Anything to upgrade when I do this? I was told the radiator was replaced in the last year
-Oil Change - Hamp filters on order, will pick up oil locally - Done
-Tranny fluid change - On order - Replaced with new OEM
-Air filter - New Injen CAI installed
-Air cabin filter - On order - Done
-Spark Plugs - NGK (7746) IFR7G-11KS on order - Done
-Lube hinges and latches
-Inspect brake hoses
-Bleed brakefluid and replace with new Heavy Duty Dot3
-Inspect all fluid levels (Brake, Clutch, Power Steering, Coolant Level)
-Check suspension bolts and tighten as necessary
-Inspect autotensioner and replace as necessary - Working fine
-Inspect serpentine belt and replace as necessary - Replaced with new OEM
-Inspect CV joint boots and replace if cracked or worn
-Replace front and rear brake pads
-Silicon spray all door and trunk seals
-Inspect lightbulbs - Replaced with new OEM or upgrade
-Valve adjustment
-Rotate and balance tires
-Recharge R134a refrigerant if your A/C is not blowing as cold as it used to be
-Adjust Parking Brake (if not fully engaged within 7-9 clicks)
-Replace Battery (it may be nearing the end of its useful life) Done
-Inspect and adjust idle RPM
-Replace water pump
-Replace starter (if you get that scratchy sound on cold startups) - Getting the scratchy sound. New alternator received, waiting on IM gaskets to replace
-Replace Oxygen Sensor (even if its not giving you a check engine light, replacing it at your mileage will almost certainly give you better fuel economy) - Replaced with new Denso

did i mention motor mounts in there somewhere? i would take a look at them too to see if any needs replacing. also trunk and sunroof for leaks, i know the older rsx have troubles with the seal being bad or need changing.
Planned mods after all maintenance is done:
  • New or refinished bumpers
  • Type-R or some other lip kit
  • Type-R wing or shaved trunk with 05-06 lip spoiler
  • 17x9 +25 MTechnica Aero with 245/40 tires
  • BC Racing coilovers with 10/16k Swift Springs
  • Race Header
  • Kpro
  • Little OEM+/JDM/Mugen bits here and there
 
See less See more
7
#4 · (Edited)
Here's some all around photos as a good starting point.





Day 1 of maintenance!



Got the following done:
  • New front wiper blades
  • Rear wiper delete with OEM plug
  • Replaced driver's side tail light gasket and upgraded bulbs to LEDs (passenger side story below)
  • Replaced front O2 sensor because of "slow to respond" CEL
  • Replaced cabin air filter (and learned there's 2, so another is on order)
  • Filled windshield wiper fliud (it was empty from the CAI install)
  • Attempted the red overlays and totally screwed up. Need to order another set.
  • Changed out spark plugs only to find the current set in there was exactly the same as I put in. Only thing I noticed is that 3 were super loose, so at least there's new plugs that are in there tight.

Issues I ran into today:
  • Passenger tail light had at least 5oz of water in it. Poured/soaked as much as I could until I found the side marker light was a large bulb and totally melted the housing. Ordered replacement OEM tail light
  • Drained oil but the drain plug was something I've never seen before. It looked so sketch and I didn't want to put it back on the car. I didn't have another car so I ordered one off Amazon that will be here tomorrow.
  • Learned that my auto-tensioner marking was way out of spec, so I'll be ordering a new serpentine belt as well

Here's some photos of the drain plug :dontknow:




I also picked up an A-Spec rear lip for $100 today. Will be storing it till I can source the rest of the kit and Type-R wing and get the whole car painted or wrapped.

More to come tomorrow!
 
#5 · (Edited)
Turns out the oil drain plug was completely stripped so I had a new oil pan installed at a local shop. I read the how-to and just didn't have time to tackle dropping the subframe.

I installed the replacement passenger tail light as well.

Yesterday I tackled another batch of parts!



  • New OEM Serpentine belt
  • New rear O2 sensor
  • New Alternator
  • ITR brake ducts (withtout the tube since it would hit my CAI anyways)
  • Depo blacked out headlights
  • All new bumper hardware
  • New OEM driver's side fender liner

The starter I am saving for another day since the gasket for the intake manifold (hondata) and throttle body (hybrid racing) have yet to arrive.

The alternator came out fairly easily thanks to the how-to! the main issue I had was getting the 10mm nut off and back the ground line.



Seprentine belt was cake thanks to the how-to and removal tool I got from Amazon.




Old destroyed vs new OEM fender liner



Newly refreshed front end

 
#12 ·
Didn't see you list it but decent racing seats since typically the leather stock seats are shot. Especially at your mileage. Hows the interior look on this?
 
#14 ·
The interior is in OK condition. The front seats are both tearing on the bottom where they all tear at the seams. I had Evo 9 Recaros in my last build and would love another set. Not a priority right now.

Those DEPO headlights look pretty cool! I've heard that they are hit or miss in terms of the housing seal so you may want to add some epoxy or reseal them yourself.

You've done a good job so far! Keep it up!
I read that too, added clear sealant around the entire edge, and they still fog up with rain :(. Eventually I'll get a set retrofitted with projectors.
 
#16 ·
Wow 248k is probably the highest mile K20 i've seen. Def interested in the updates. List of parts so far show this is gonna be a good build.

Do you know what has been done to the engine thus far to survive 248k miles? Timing chain replaced? Any other details on that?
 
#17 · (Edited)
Thanks! I just confirmed with my friend that the timing chain is STOCK :eek: . I've been assuming it was and am looking into local shops to replace it (along with a Hybrid Racing tensioner).

Better shot of the Spoon mirror without fingerprints LOL:



Today I replaced the radio for a newer one with Bluetooth (stereo was from 10+ years ago when I worked at Circuit City). Also tossed in an EP3 hazard switch while I had the dash kit out.




I have a TON of suspension parts coming together to do a full overhaul. Here's everything received/ordered so far:

  • BC Racing coilovers - Extereme Drop Kit w/ 10k front, 16k rear Swift springs
  • ES Black poly bushing kit
  • Whiteline rear upper knuckle bushings (only bushing ES kit is missing)
  • Ingalls Front and Rear Endlinks
  • Ingalls rear camber arms
  • New OEM tie rod ends and hardware
  • Todd's adjustable tie rods (back ordered)
  • Hardrace extended ball joints / roll center adjusters (back ordered, instead of Buddy Club since they don't have the locking ring and that's scary to me)
  • Hardrace rear trailing arms (rubber bushing)
  • Used OEM front and rear control arms so I can have a shop press in the bushings with minimal down time
 
#26 ·
Thanks!

The front end looks a lot better. You're off to a good start in having a reliable fun car to drive. Sooner or later you're going to have the urge to tweak the ECU tune - it will feel like your engine is a 1000k miles newer.
Thanks! I couldn't pass up a deal on a DC RH recently, so that's sitting until I get all the maintenance done and can get a KPro.
 
#28 · (Edited)
Thanks!

Here's the big suspension install update!

  • BC Racing coilovers - Extereme Drop Kit w/ 10k front, 16k rear Swift springs
  • ES Black poly bushing kit
  • Whiteline rear upper knuckle bushings (only bushing ES kit is missing)
  • Ingalls Front and Rear Endlinks
  • Ingalls rear camber arms
  • New OEM tie rod ends and hardware
  • Todd's adjustable tie rods (STILL back ordered)
  • Hardrace extended ball joints / roll center adjusters
  • Used OEM front and rear control arms so I can have a shop press in the bushings with minimal down time

Front control arm comparison




Front suspension comparison



Ball joint comparison



Rear suspension comparison



Rear control arm comparison



Rear camber arm comparison



Work in progress shot




I thought I had some random no-name strut tower bar. I was wiping it down to post it for sale on craigslist, when I found this ... Needless to say, I'm keeping it :D




Now here's a comparison after the install. Coilover height is same as they were in the box. There's about 1.5-2" to go down in the front, about 0.5" to go down in the rear.


 
#30 · (Edited)
Thanks!

Started a new job at Netflix this week so I've been driving her daily.



Picked up a set of new OEM Honda Access window visors








Yes, lower window moldings are next on the list.

My exhaust was also hitting the sway bar, so I picked up a pair of hangers from the cat/downpipe since they're shorter. Exhaust is now WAY too close to the bumper, but at least its not hitting the sway bar. Will have to find some urethane or rubber bushings that are somewhere in between.



 
#34 ·
I saw you went with HardRace ball joints. Did not like the Buddy Club ones? Both great options :fistbump:
During my research I found that the Buddy Club do not have a provision for the retaining C-Clip and people had instances of them popping out. I didn't want to deal with that.
 
#42 · (Edited)
License plate bracket was ready to fall off, so I decided to get an offset plate relocator. I also cut off the "baby teeth" that hold the plate bracket. Cleans up nicely.




Wheels are on! Running -2 front and -2.9 rear for camber. Need to play with the height a bit in the rear and try to remove a little more camber, but she's good to go.



 
#47 ·
this keeps getting better and better! wheels look good, i was just looking into the 9 et25 up front. how is it at -2*?

i'm on x9/8, et35 and gf's wheel shopping for her car. if she wants my set i was looking at some hypergrams which come in x9 et40 or 25. the 35 scrubs inside close to lock which isn't an issue but don't want to make it worse.

i ran et25 before w/ a x10 but that's another stor
 
#48 · (Edited)
Finally swapped out the lower window moldings!





Picked up some Rays 35mm Duranuts in black. Sad this style has been discontinued. The new style is so ugly lol. Also threw on the Motorsports full center caps on one side.






I'm also in the process of moving all my photos to imgur, since Photobucket are a bunch of assholes and are blocking all photos hosted on other sites unless you pay $400/year. RIP to pretty much all forums :rest




Thanks! The front is pretty much perfect. Rubs the fender liners even though they're cut. That could be resolved by raising the car, or letting it fix itself :D. I'll be doing the latter. I do wish the rear were higher offset so I could run the same amount of camber all around. Maybe go +25 front and +40 rear with a 5mm spacer to clear the trailing arm?
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top