jimrankin

Hi Mondo, I have a 2004 unit and that's why Dynospot didn't think the piggyback was a real option. I really don't plan to add forced induction but just not having to add parts like a different crank sensor and having the option open to do almost anything later is probably worth the added cost of just going to the AEM unit. Life keeps throwing me curves and fastballs I don't seem as able to pick up anymore so the car has been neglected for the past few weeks. This was going to be a "track summer" but I'd better get moving or it's going to be "maybe next year".

Hi Mondo, What ECU was used to get the dyno readings on your graph? From what I read on the Honda and S2000 blogs the stock Honda ECU programing (especially early units) is kind of "cast in stone" as Honda didn't allow for non-factory tweaking, or even corrections by a dealer if the factory decided it could do better at a later point. Bit of engineering ego at play there? Always take what information I get with a grain of salt but it was explained by an S2000 blogger that the piggy backs are basically "fibbing" wrong information to the stock ECU's so they do what we want instead of what Honda intended. Dynospot tuner said if my unit was a later version he would go with a piggyback as they work well and are plug-in. He doesn't advise it on the older units as the cost to install and tune is too close to just going all new with the plug-in type aftermakets like the AEM which can be used no mater what you do to the motor later. Dynospot reps the AEM unit and seems to have quite a bit of experience with it and tuning in general so I at least have close by local support for whatever I decide to do.

I was already prety set on the AEM unit and we have a tuner in San Jose (Dynospot) that RNR turned me on to last year. Had the car dynoed and it was right up to S2000 specs but I still hate the Vtec, reminds me of the old 2stroke 400's, bog like a bitch and then suddenly the front wheel was over your head. LOL. So much crap happening that my spare time has been eaten up so the car is still apart and summer is here so it may spend a while yet in the current tune. Also, my current ECU is a 2004 so there is a problem with some of the "piggyback" units that are unfortunately designed for later Hondas. Keep the thread alive as it probably will be a good source of ideas and experiences for future reference. Thanks and if I ever get time to get something done I'll post my thoughts and results. Jim R.

Theres an engine under my bonnet? Whats a bonnet? Well, I'm off to Denneys for a double Grand Slam so can't wait for any answers. Better take the new pickup, wide buckets and a slush box. LOL

Probably have to mount the Ebrake lever dead center just under the front edge of the pasenger seat to even get noticed by todays standards.LOL. Came of age before "the pill" and came back from Viet Nam to the "sexual revolution" that it started. We thought then that we invented sex, just like every generation before and after us! No matter what generation your from it's still the most fun you can have with your clothes off, just like driving a seven is the most fun you can have with them on. Have a great weekend everybody!

You mentioned that setting up the Vtec was a problem for 7evin. One of the reasons I've been looking at aftermarket ECU's is to get the power band "smoother" across the whole RPM range. I'm running a stock 2.2L S2000 motor so I'm not going to gain much HP, if any, with the aftermarket ECU, just putting the curve back to something normal. If 7evin did an aftermarket ECU was it a choice for the Vtec tuning curve or is this some feature that Honda motors "need" for some reason I can't fathom? Old dog but always trying to learn new tricks. Thanks.

Just venting.... OK, I've got to admit that just chucking the whole E brake and taking my chances would have been SOOOO much easier. LOL. I actually got the Honda unit down to size to fit where I wanted it and decided to mount it to the differential support cover as there wasn't much but a bit of the bottom of the unit left and that was where it sat anyway. Being an idiot I thought I'd use four "thread-serts" instead of just tapping the cover. Had to drop the dif down to get the cover where I could fit in the Mandrel tool but thought the trouble was worth it as I wouldn't have to worry that the cover wouldn't hold the screws. Got every thing ready and installed the hand brake lever just fine till the fourth and last mounting screw that broke the thread-sert when tightened. when I backed out the other three one broke off and one spun! This was the first time I had used the thread-serts that came with the Marmon tool and have had great luck with the bags of aftermarket serts I've had for a while. I probably should have drilled the crap serts out and re-installed some of my old ones but didn't want to go through dropping the dif again since I had also just installed the brace I made and the new 71/2" long bouts and spacers for joining the rear upper and lower suspension mounts, none of which came easy, another long story. I ended up just friling out the thread-serts which now ment I had to go with four 5/16" mounting machine screws because of the hole size for the serts. Anyway, it's in! Just have to order a new shorter cable and wire in my warning light and I can move on to something a bit more productive. Hope everyone else had a good weekend.

John, Picked up a Honda ebrake like yours yesterday (AllHondaParts recycler with an indoor {it was raining and I'm a whimp} warehouse) and did some serious surgery on it so now it will fit behind the differential mount in that little square between the frame tubes. Will have to do the welding and last of the fab this weekend and get some pictures. Weird part is that after I bought the Honda unit I mentioned it to another "car" friend and he told me an 80's BMW 3 series brake unit is about as small and thin as anything could possibly be made. Will "fit in your pocket with the handle the only thing sticking out". Won't be bothering checking that out unless something goes sideways with finishing the honda parts tomorrow.

Truely amazing that the "flashlight battery", even if it is a high tech (jumble a bunch of lettters here for whatever is todays latest word in material combinations) evolution of the old carbon original is at the heart of so many things. Open up that $98 snap-in pack for your 18V battery drill and it's just a bunch of "C" cells ganged in series. My marine hand held replacement battery cost more than the replacement for my truck and is just a cluster of AAA's. (and the truck's came with about 10 times the warranty). LOL. Been through the Tesla plant in Palo Alto a few times and not a lot of minimum wage types there, especially in the battery development shop. I don't personally feel there is going to be a really practical pure electric car in the near future. Going to have to be some really quantum leap in both storage and insulating materials before we see something that not only stores and rapidly delivers large current loads, but can be recharged very quickly without burning up. My prediction (from about 20+ years ago so you can see how well that turned out) was for a hybrid where the "power plant" would have the crank of a two cycle diesel "fixed" in place, the "block" would rotate at the most efficient fixed speed and the block would also be the rotating part of the alternator. All electric drive so no other moving parts in the drive train. Small mass power/generator plant, small battery as recharge was constant and no drive train. Oh well, maybe next decade...

Noted the posts about leaving the E brake on... Had to install a "bright and prominently positioned indicator warning light" as part of the E-brake requirement for CA brake and light inspection and was thinking "what a stupid hassle" but did drive off with the Ebrake on and saw the light right away, no damage, so I guess I was the stupid one for questioning our state DMV. LOL.

I went on line last night to see if I could find a picture of a Miata emergency brake lever and mechanism and came across this link with some photos and text about how to shorten the lever. Pretty straight forward on the "shorten" process, just what I was doing on the Honda unit I was cutting up. looks like it may be an alternate but so is the "other" honda handle unit JohnK is using. I think I see a junkyard trip in my weekend plans. Link to the Miata handle mod This may be of help to someone in the future anyway. http://www.miata.net/garage/short_brake_lever.pdf _ between short_brake_lever I had the exact chrome lever mounted on the passenger side that is in the photo I beleive Mondo posted. It was uncomfortable to passengers and HOT when parked in the sun. Trying to make the car as comfortable as possible as I'm retiring later this year and plan on making some long trips next summer, not just track days and 200 mile jaunts. As all you married guys already know, "if she isn't comfortable, you soon won't be". LOL.

Got pulled over by a hard ass Truck inspector in Fremont because I have "blacked out" tail lights. Started telling me I had to have "one of everything" like wipers, side lamps, bumpers etc. After all the trouble I went through to get the car past CA light and brake inspection I knew it was legal and after a half hour of standing my ground he called in and found out about "Kit Cars" being based on 1960, not my 2009 first year of registration. Did get me for no front plate though and warned me he would get me for $800 bucks and a moving violation if I didn't leave there and go straight home and get it "fixed". LOL. Hand brake required in 1960 in CA. DMV requirements so just keeping it legal.

John, Your right about "no room". All of my sheet metal is riveted in between the cockpit and the rear area so even tighter and can't see from front to back. I just made a smaller drive shaft loop (safety reasons, not space) but even it takes up most of the space. Going to try to find a Miata donor car as suggested to at least see if what it has will fit, if not I'm brakin' out the big hammer and smoke wrench! LOL. When I went to modify the Honda brake I bought it was so hardened I could barely cut it and spent hours lowering the pivot point, reshaping the shortened ratchet profile and cutting teeth into it only to find it was still too "tall" to fit comfortably, even when angled down so the handle end release button was at the console level. Is your lever/rachet hardened? Looks like I could really shorten up the handle and go with minimum cable pull as the wilwood mechanical brake only uses about an inch pull in the short lever hole and still under 2" in the long pull hole.

John, Thats pretty close to what I'm looking for but the trans tunnel may be a bit too narrow to sneak it in next to the drive shatf. The honda handbrake I got was different than yours and yours looks more like what I need. I really need to find the time to go by a local "pick n' pull" type yard and find a good match but work and rain are killing my car time. I can't seem to load a photo as they are too large. Really cramped at the area I wan't to use and with the welded in cross braces moving it forward where there is room puts it up past the shifter. No room at all between the seat and the tunnel so it has to mount inside like yours.

trying to see if one at a timae will work.

Trying to find a REALLY low profile emergency brake handle to fit in/above the drive shaft tunnel between the seats. Had a big old fasioned lever on the passenger side that worked but was in the way and if the sun was on it for a while vied for "hottest part" with the muffler. Tied to modify a Honda center console unit but just not getting it down to where I was looking for. Anyone used/know of something really short that might fit in the space I have? For some reason my uploads take forever and then come up failed so I'll send this and then try photo again.

LED's use much less power, exspecially if wired/designed correctly, than incandescent bulbs. No heat to worry about, lighter gauge wire and best of all, if they are left on overnight, you can still start the car.

I kind of miss the rantings. Since I don't work in downtown San Francisco much any more I just don't get that daily dose of homeless alcoholics screaming about what ever it was that made their existance so meaningless and, at least to them, so tragic.....

When measuring DB there are quite a few different weightings (scales) that are used so you can get different levels of the same noise producing object. 119db is up there but if the weighting measures peaks then buffeting reads higher than the sustained noise average. At 119DB "average" levels screaming at your passenger wouldn't even get heard. I think "threshold of pain" is somewhere around 125db. As for MC riders and hearing loss, well, riding beside one is louder than riding on one. I never got noise fatigue from riding (my HD was only semi-loud because the cops gave HD riders shit back then) but when riding with a pack your ears were ringing in before the first gas stop.

It's not the rushing by that does the damage, it the really distubed air buffeting that gives you the high impact that does it. Even though it's not a sharp rise like a gun shot it does have a massive pressure level difference and it's near constant so the damage builds up over time. If we sat up high (like a motorcycle rider) we would be out of the disturbed air and get more 'wind' but less buffeting. There is a claim that the sub-sonic disturbance from really large wind generators blades turbulating the air they pass through can damage you hearing and you can't hear or feel it. Too late for me to worry about it, half deaf anyway, but really something to think about for the younger crowd while there is still time.

Did the MINI E work for you? How long did you get to use it before they took it back? I'm doing some work up at the Tesla plant in Palo Alto and they are doing a lot of different cars as test bench vehicles but the battery shop is where any real breakthrough has to come from. Still WAY too long to get a recharge and the thinner the battery foils get the harder to stuff high energy recharges into them. If you can't get a decent recharge in as long as it takes to stop for lunch or dinner it's just not going to get over with the public. Humm. maybe we could go all Italian and make the meal last for about three hours....

For some reason I had thought the whole climb was done on one surface, pretty impressive driving on changing surfaces with the same tires.

If you live near a clock tower with wireless access you just might get a peak at him feeing the pigeons, before he starts shooting...

Better to have raced and lost than to have never raced at all... Even with a short right foot (pretty common problem, I was wondering why that sneaker wouldn't lace tight) getting on track is as close to using that "semi" as you can get. LOL!!

I've been in both. I'll take the trafic and the heat. In 1965 I rode my brand new Honda 305 SuperHawk across half of connecticut in a freezing rain, then sleet and then snow storm, way before all the fancy new cold weather clothes were on the market. Somewhere outside of Norwich I stopped for my tenth cup of diner coffee and swear to god, heard the Momma's and Pappa's singing "California Dreaming" on the juke box and swore to myself to get the hell out of New England and never to be cold again!! I won't even go snow boarding for a weekend just because it required sub freezing weather. LOL. My whole family lives within miles of the coast along the CT, RI and NH shore and I only visit between June and August just in case of an early or late cold snap. Your right, I'm a whimp,....but a warm one. LOL