DC5 Chapter 1 : Getting situated
Go figure, the first thing I do to the car is put a big wing on it! Picked up a carbon fiber almost-replica of the RSX A-spec / Integra Type R wing from the classifieds section at ClubRSX.com. While the OEM piece is flat on top, this one has a stylish lip to it that I really like. I had Maaco paint it to match the rest of my car. Not the greatest of paint jobs, as is usually their reputation, but luckily you don't notice the mistakes unless you're really scrutinizing it. I really like what it does for the car's overall image, since before it was looking a bit too much like those last two generations of Cavalier. The car also came with no window tint, so I got 20% all around including a windshield banner, and then the "Acura" & "RSX" trunk badges were removed for a cleaner look.
@ Lookout Mountain in Golden, CO // 10.30.12 - PB
@ Lookout Mountain in Golden, CO // 10.30.12 - PB
@ Horsetooth Reservoir in Fort Collins, CO // 5.7.13 - PB
@ Horsetooth Reservoir in Fort Collins, CO // 5.7.13 - PB
One of this car's many little flaws is the paint. I don't know what the previous owner did, but the clear coat is terrible on the driver's side. I have to polish it every few months to keep it from being too noticeable. The car's eventually getting a full color change. This Desert Silver Metallic looks excellent in certain light, but none of the factory colors were really all that exciting:
Amber-housed turn signals are a sure sign of the era, so I made a subtle change with red vinyl to bring them into the modern age. For my 25th birthday, I took a drive up Pikes Peak for the first time since the road was fully paved:
@ Pikes Peak Highway // 5.28.13 - PB
@ Pikes Peak Highway // 5.28.13 - PB
@ Pikes Peak Highway // 5.28.13 - PB
@ Pikes Peak Highway // 5.28.13 - PB
@ Pikes Peak Highway // 5.28.13 - PB
@ Pikes Peak Highway // 5.28.13 - PB
That drive resulted in my next mod. I made the mistake of making all of my scenic stops on the way up the mountain rather than on the way down like they tell you, and the downhill killed my stock brakes. I upgraded with EBC USR Black Dash discs and Green Stuff pads. Brake fade was at the forefront of my thoughts, so slotted discs made the most sense:
@ 8.7.13
To further improve the canyon experience, I ordered a pair of Eibach sway bars and Ingalls end links. At first I only installed the rear bar to get a sense of the change it made by itself. I definitely noticed a difference, feeling confident in taking corners a little bit faster. Due to rust, the original end links had to be cut off the car, but otherwise it's a pretty simple install:
@ 2.10.14
@ 3.13.14
@ 3.14.14
@ 3.14.14
That Spring I decided to do something about the dents on the front of the stock hood. Browsing Craigslist, I spotted a carbon fiber replica of the Mugen hood for a great price and couldn't resist. I'll tell you, though, having owned this hood for a while now and taken in all of its detail, it has taught me my lesson on knock-off parts. The weave and overall fitment of this Carbon Creations panel are both terrible. It needs a new clear coat, which I'll do just so it doesn't look worse, but it's getting replaced later on with the real deal. Also notice that the previous owner had installed windshield nozzles that were not only ridiculously large, but not even positioned correctly. I must have been too wowed by the carbon fiber to pay attention to detail. The guy also had a Carbon Creations rear hatch for sale, but I got used to the hood's fitment quick and decided not to risk it. At least the locking hood latches came as part of the deal, because the hood's latch loop did not want to get along with the factory latch, which I had to then remove:
@ Horsetooth Reservoir in Fort Collins, CO // 4.12.14
@ Horsetooth Reservoir in Fort Collins, CO // 4.12.14
A trick I tried on my Accord to get a nice exhaust note was a simple Magnaflow muffler swap and resonator delete. Sounded really nice for a Honda; quiet as stock when you're just cruising, but then gives a nice deep tone when you get on it. I don't yet have the resonator removed, but this is the muffler I went with:
@ 5.21.14>
After having a proper HID retrofit on my Accord, the RSX's halogen lights were depressing. I got a set of pre-retrofitted headlights off another ClubRSX member, then went back to The Retrofit Source for the missing pieces. This whole deal was a dud from the get-go. First, the shipping company wasn't gentle with my lights and they broke. The seller kindly gave me a partial refund so I could replace the parts I needed. Then I realize that my radiator support must not be aligned correctly, because all my front end pieces are ever so slightly off and the lights came aimed at the ground - the seller was using them on his car, so they had to have been fine for him. I got the aim height figured out, but the twist on one of the projectors isn't level. A couple years later and in my laziness am still staring at unequal beams. I'll get around to it. Otherwise, though, I'm loving the lights. The projectors are Morimoto Mini H1s, with 5000k bulbs and 35 watt ballasts, just like with my Accord's setup:
@ 5.21.14
@ 5.21.14
@ 5.23.14
@ 5.23.14
When you surf the internet out of boredom, dumb things tend to happen. My taste in cars is largely down to the Gran Turismo games:
@ 7.9.14
Went for a photo shoot in the countryside just outside of a city I lived in for a little while:
@ Greeley, CO // 9.6.14
@ Greeley, CO // 9.6.14
@ Greeley, CO // 9.6.14
@ Greeley, CO // 9.6.14
@ Greeley, CO // 9.6.14
@ Greeley, CO // 9.6.14
The carpet that my car came with had a large red stain in the passenger footwell that I wouldn't come up. The stock interior was a monotonous gray anyway, so I kept an eye out for black carpet to swap in. Found a pretty decent set in a junkyard, including floor mats! They cleaned up nicely, so in they went. Now I just need to get my hands on a set of OEM all-weather mats:
@ 9.7.14
@ 9.11.14
@ 9.11.14
Six months after installing the front sway bar and having gotten used to the feeling, I tackled the front. If I felt a difference with the rear bar, it was nothing compared to how this one reigned in the front end on turn-in. Round-abouts became my playground:
@ 9.28.14
@ 9.28.14
Those EBC Greens dusted like crazy as the slotted discs tore through them, and they faded just like stock. I stepped up to Hawk HPS pads that I'd heard good things about. Noticeable improvement in dusting, and they did brake harder and hold up to heat better... once warmed up. Those first couple stops from cold aren't the most confidence inspiring:
@ 10.9.14
A friend I met through CB7Tuner.com also owns a 370Z, and he invited me to go for a drive up to Mount Evans with the VQ Club of Colorado. I need a V6 in my life, the soundtrack on that mountain cruise was insane!:
@ Mt. Evans, Colorado // 10.19.14
@ Mt. Evans, Colorado // 10.19.14
@ Mt. Evans, Colorado // 10.19.14
I finally got my hands on a pretty clean set of the 17" 2005-2006 RSX Type S wheels I'd been wanting. Honestly, against the RSX's body lines, I prefer these wheels over anything aftermarket. My only complaints are that I want wider tires, and the offset isn't low enough to place the rim anywhere near flush with the fenders. The guy I bought them from used them for drag racing, so he used his worn-out slicks as packing material in shipping. To add a bit of sporty flair, I got some OEM "Honda Factory Performance" wheel decals for them:
@ 10.31.14
@ 10.31.14
Hit 150,000 miles while closing out 2014:
@ 12.10.14
There's a cool area off I-25 just south of the Wyoming border that I had passed a few times on my way to and from Cheyenne. I finally got around to stopping off for a little photo shoot:
@ I-25 in Colorado near Wyoming border // 12.12.14
@ I-25 in Colorado near Wyoming border // 12.12.14
@ I-25 in Colorado near Wyoming border // 12.12.14
@ I-25 in Colorado near Wyoming border // 12.12.14
The greatest damage that my headlights suffered in shipping was a major crack where one of the projectors was tightened into the stock reflector bowl. At first I tried J.B. Welding it back into one solid piece, but it didn't last. I finally got around to ordering a new pair of headlights to swap the one projector into and give the good one a brand new cover. Here you can see I left the covers off to make aiming easier, specifically the 'twist' on the one projector that jumped housings. The tiniest adjustments would throw the beam way off, the further it away from the car it got, so after a while of messing around I once again settled for 'good enough' and gave up. I've blocked the lights individually while aiming them at a wall on more level ground than the parking lot used in these photos, and as far as I can tell, the passenger side (that didn't arrive broken and therefore have to be moved) is perfectly level, but I still have to get the driver side right. One day...:
@ 2.11.15
@ 2.11.15
@ 2.11.15
@ 2.14.15
Went out for breakfast one morning and a CB9 parked next to me. Had to capture the moment. A glimpse at my future garage:
@ 3.12.15
I finally get a place with a garage! That last apartment I was in was intentionally dirt cheap so I could pay off a student loan, and I'm grateful for it, but it was a hole, haha:
@ 4.10.15
With my newfound work space, I got to work. First picked up some cheap Kicker speakers to replace the blown stock units in the front doors. Man, Acura really didn't want you putting aftermarket speakers in the RSX, but whatever, it works:
@ 4.25.15
The starter was starting to go out, and with my car having history on the east coast I figured it made sense to also replace some of the wiring while I had the front of the car torn apart. I do wonder why Honda leaves a length of cable completely uncovered. It was the same in the Accord. I put plumber's tape and heat shrink over the new wiring:
@ 5.19.15
@ 5.19.15
@ 6.9.15
@ 6.9.15
@ 5.19.15
Finally got some rubber for the 17's:
@ 7.12.15
@ 7.16.15
@ 8.26.15
@ 8.26.15
@ 11.15.15
Picked up a replica RSX A-spec front bumper lip, which I'll get painted later. I only meant to put it on for a test fit, then got lazy and days turned into months. Fitment's perfect, though!:
@ 12.3.15
Well, it's a good thing this happened now and not a few months back when I didn't have a garage and was working in a different city than the one I lived in! Somehow, a spider gear in the differential broke into three or four pieces and blew out of the bottom of the transmission. I was lucky to find a replacement so quickly because these cars seem uncommon in my area to begin with, so to find one wrecked was great. I now live within walking distance of my work, and with this happening in the dead of frigid-cold winter, I let myself get lazy, as you can tell by the dates on these photos:
@ 12.8.15
@ 12.8.15
@ 12.9.15
@ 12.15.15
@ 12.28.15
@ 1.4.16
It was during disassembly that I noticed that the passenger side engine mount had an especially bad tear. Could the extra axle movement due to the bad mounts have caused this? I took the opportunity to replace everything, plus the shifter cable cover plate that broke. The crows feet wrenches raise another curiosity with Honda. That was the ONLY way to get the passenger side mount off because it has a nut on a stud too long to get a socket over, in a space too tight to get a crescent wrench around:
@ 1.15.16
@ 2.1.16
@ 2.18.16
A little over two months after the transmission first broke, I was driving again, on a gearbox with unknown mileage:
@ 2.18.16
@ 2.18.16
Aside from cars, another major passion of mine is reading. I'm mainly into science fiction and fantasy, but I appreciate talented writing of any genre. I hid some House Stark direwolves from the TV adaptation of Game of Thrones in the taillights. A Song of Ice and Fire isn't even my favorite (that spot goes to The Kingkiller Chronicle series and its first book, The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss; I can't recommend that story and Pat's writing enough, if you're into fantasy! You can almost think of the plot and setting like a more mature Harry Potter.), but doesn't everyone put stickers on their car just as a statement to others of what they're into?:
4.7.16
Went for a drive one morning and re-created a classic photo of mine:
@ Horsetooth Reservoir, Fort Collins, CO // 4.10.16
Happy birthday to me! Finally got the Mugen-Showa coilovers I'd been wanting for a while. This just might strike the beginning of an obsession with real Mugen parts. For the non Honda enthusiast, Mugen is basically to Honda what Shelby is to Ford. They're not owned by Honda, but they make everything from bumpers and shift knobs for your street car to engines for Honda's Formula One race cars:
@ 5.26.16
@ 5.26.16
@ 5.26.16
@ 5.26.16
@ 5.26.16
This is not a mod I slept on, and installed them as soon as I had time. Once again I ran into that east coast rust, having to cut one of the main nuts off of a front knuckle. Nothing's ever easy, working on cars:
@ 6.1.16
@ 6.1.16
@ 6.1.16
@ 6.2.16
@ 6.2.16
Here are some photos immediately after installation, before driving would have broken them in and settled the springs:
@ 6.2.16
@ 6.2.16
@ 6.2.16
@ 6.2.16
... and broken in after some solid drive time. The ride on these is perfect for a daily. They're just barely stiffer than stock, while keeping the car high enough that you don't have to go sideways over speed bumps - they are actually made by the same manufacturer as stock, after all, everything's just uprated to Mugen's specification. The improvement in handling is at least as noticeable as with the sway bars, and the ride isn't at all bouncy. My only gripe is that the height is static. No enthusiast likes to see fender well gap, and these leave a lot of space. Personally, I wouldn't mind that speed bump crab walk for the aesthetic improvement:
@ 6.8.16
Soon after I began to get a grumbling around turns. Replaced the axles and half-shalf bearing:
@ 6.21.16
@ 7.1.16
@ 7.26.16
Some scenic shots, including when I attended the 100th anniversary of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb:
@ Pikes Peak, CO // 6.26.16
@ Pikes Peak, CO // 6.26.16
@ Pikes Peak, CO // 6.26.16
@ HWY34 between Loveland and Estes Park, CO // 7.2.16
@ HWY34 between Loveland and Estes Park, CO // 7.2.16
@ Horsetooth Reservoir outside Fort Collins, CO // 7.18.16
@ Horsetooth Reservoir outside Fort Collins, CO // 7.18.16
@ Rist Canyon outside Fort Collins, CO // 7.18.16
@ Horsetooth Reservoir outside Fort Collins, CO // 8.17.16
I finally got off my ass and took that front lip off. It may or may not see paint before the full color change, I haven't decided:
@ Greeley, CO // 9.26.16
@ Greeley, CO // 9.26.16
I bought Energy Suspension polyurethane bushings forever ago, and finally got around to having the fronts pressed into a spare set of control arms that I then painted to match my coilovers. Not sure when I'll get around to the rears, especially considering I'm missing two of the bushings that aren't sold on their own. I really need to get those braided brake lines to complete the image, and maybe even paint the calipers. Before you go assuming, no, I wouldn't paint stock calipers red or any other bright color, and yes, the bushings were greased for install, I just wiped the outside stuff off to handle them for painting:
@ 10.6.16
@ 10.10.16
@ 10.10.16
Winter came, and I bought my very first set of dedicated snow tires. Firestone Winterforce, I'd recommend them! I'll probably get them studded for next winter. Letter paint was my doing:
@ 11.28.16
@ 12.1.16
@ 12.2.16
@ 12.9.16
Out for a drive, from Loveland to Estes Park, CO:
@ Hwy 36 to Estes Park, CO // 4.24.17
@ Hwy 36 to Estes Park, CO // 4.24.17
@ Estes Park, CO // 4.24.17
Those April Showers...
@ 4.28.17
Sourced a pair of discontinued, genuine Mugen chassis braces from a friend at ClubRSX.com who was getting rid of his RSX. Front strut bar and rear "mid" bar.
@ 5.6.17
@ 5.6.17
@ 5.6.17
@ 5.6.17
@ 5.7.17
@ 5.7.17
@ 5.7.17
New tires for the 17" wheels to replace the balding Firestone Firehawks. Goodyear Eagle Sport A/S, 215/45-17. Soon after install, I got to test these in the rain and - as you'll see further down - the snow. In warmer temps, they're great in the wet and dry, but they break traction pretty easily (even on dry ground) in the more frigid winter temperatures.
@ 5.16.17
@ 5.16.17
@ 5.16.17
"May Flowers"... ha! It's the middle of May and this wet snow storm brought down tree branches all over town.
@ Fort Collins, CO // 5.18.17
Went up to Estes Park again, this time with friends...
@ Hwy 36 to Estes Park, CO // 5.22.17
@ Hwy 36 to Estes Park, CO // 5.22.17
@ Hwy 36 to Estes Park, CO // 5.22.17
@ Estes Park, CO // 5.22.17
@ Estes Park, CO // 5.22.17
@ Estes Park, CO // 5.22.17
@ Estes Park, CO // 5.22.17
@ Left Hand Canyon, Boulder County, CO // 5.22.17
God, I love Colorado. I went out for lunch one day and then just felt like taking the long way home and going for a drive. Totally impromptu. These mountain roads, and even just pulling out of the neighborhood on any given day and seeing the peaks in the background, it never get old!
@ Rist Canyon near Ft. Collins, CO // 5.26.17
Threw a code for either the VTEC solenoid or its oil pressure switch at a bit over 203k miles. Just replaced the whole thing...
@ 6.4.17
@ 6.4.17
The clear coat on the Carbon Creations hood is starting to get pretty bad. I attempted to re-do a section myself with a rattle-can product, along with some serious wet-sanding and buffing. *UPDATE: It looked excellent for a while, but a few months later, I can report that it's not holding up. Granted it wasn't an automotive-grade clear, so I may make another attempt before taking it in to a shop...
I managed to score a Mugen ITR air box, but it needs modifying to fit around the left-hand-drive brake master cylinder that doesn't exist in the Type R. Specifically, I need to cut off a corner and re-fiberglass it. A project for another time...
Some parts for the eventual interior transformation: black trunk carpet, all-season trunk mat (my second!), and cloth rear seats from an '05-06 model. Found at a junkyard, and it all cleaned up to look just about new.
Snow was pretty hesitant to fall this winter, and the first time it flurried in the city, it came with some very low-hanging clouds, so I headed up to the local reservoir that I like to stop by every now and then...
With winter finally threatening, I had to take a good drive through the mountains, following Peak to Peak Highway down west of Denver, north to Estes Park...
It turned out to be a pretty warm winter so far ("a weak La Niña," I hear), and as of New Years, we only got one decent snow fall...
There's not a whole lot left that needs doing to the suspension, but I aim to finish off the handling, short of a big brake upgrade, before I move on to the exterior aesthetic transformation. I found a pair of Skunk2 rear LCAs on the Club RSX forums for cheap and had to jump on them. They were a bit of a pain to install, because S2's hardware isn't correct for the car, and extended flange bolts in Honda's spec don't seem to exist. I had to settle for hex bolts with washers, of which the 22mm heads are barely small enough to get a socket around with how the three bolts on the rear trailing arms are so close together...