S2000 progress - Sakatsu motor

I like it alot... Where was I when this thread started??? Good luck on the rest of the build.

The motor isn't too small; that's the beauty of the S2000 in my opinion. It may not have the insane power (and can never get near the insane power) of a Skyline or a Z.... but with the tiny, aluminum block engine sitting right there between the driver and the front wheels, Honda made a really small, quick and awesomely nimble little car. Between the S2000 and the NSX, I think that Honda has the whole weight distribution thing cornered (pun not intended, but I like it!), no one else can touch them! (Erm, they paid me nothing to say that, but if they want to....)

Anywho, I'm gonna have to glue in the interior tub and putty the transmission tunnel all pretty. I've done alot of cutting in it, too, just to get the Sakatsu engine and tranny to fit. In fact, there are now holes in the tub! Fortunately they are hidden by the dash. It will take some work to get sorted though. I am looking forward to finally getting the engine mated... I think you're on to something, exhaust smoke. That probably would have been the better way to do this, but I'm hard headed and wanted to use the whole thing. ($40, I'm gonna use it all! To hell with the $20 Tamiya kit!) However, the metal engine is heavy so you'll have to do some creative bracing to get it to stay put. I'd suggest drilling a hole into the engine block, running some aluminum (or brass or, best, steel!) rod into it, then epoxying the hell out of the other end of the rod into the transmission that is molded into the Tamiya chassis. Something like that, 'cause seriously, that thing weighs as much as the rest of the car, even with all the resin bits that I've put on it.

I'm considering cutting the side windows off the glass and displaying it with the windows "down." I don't think that will detract fromt he car, eh?

I'm considering cutting the side windows off the glass and displaying it with the windows "down." I don't think that will detract fromt he car, eh?
A convertable with the top up and the windows down looks normal.
A convertable with the top down and the windows up looks kinda goofy.

Just my :2cents:.

hey i just cant remember wut an SAS kit is-can anyone remind me im drawing a blank.thx

Got the engine put into the chassis. I could just wait till some serious progress was done so I could have something to show for real, but I'm so excited tonight!

Here is the chassis puttied to the interior tub. It's kind of rough still, but it will be painted black and the engine and driveshaft will hide the mistakes.

http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/500/75086S2000Mugen15b-med.jpg

Here's the motor in the engine bay. It's kind of blurry, but you can see the wire harnass on the throttle body (well, sort of). I'm going to cut that off, I think so that the hood can lay down. After all that work, that's the only part that gives me trouble! ARGH! But I am as yet undecided, since the hood will always be displayed up, so I may not have to. Opinions?

http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/500/75086S2000Mugen16-med.jpg

And here is the underside. Looks like it's made to go there! I had to file the top of the shifter and the bottom of the transmission mount to get it to fit between the interior tub and the brace. I was super lucky, it fit perfect! (If anyone else is doing this, barely file the top, but cut the lower transmission mount right in the middle.)

http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/500/75086S2000Mugen18-med.jpg

Now I have to wire the engine like crazy, build a muffler and modify the exhaust... And exhaust smoke, your plan on how to attache the motor will give you some trouble in the header. Nothing you can't figure out, but just a headsup.

Feedback still, as always, welcome.

This is the question that comes most readily to me; what will you do for the rest of the engine bay?

There's a need for a brake booster, firewall, radiator, cooling fans, battery, windshield washer reservoir, and a bunch of other little things that surrond an an engine.

Are you planning on scratchbuilding all of that, or have you thought up some kitbashing sources?

:iceslolanits looking good, what are your plans for exhaust?? ps: thanks for the uploading tip i figured it out!

Steal from my parts box: a battery from a Revell Civic, brake resevior from a Revell Civic, radiator from Tamiya NSX (twin fans from a Civic radiator), driveshaft from the two ends of a Datsun 510 driveshaft and an aluminum tube of the proper length (that will look nice and shiny, eh?)

Scratchbuild: the pretty Kevlar/Carbon Fiber Mugen air intake (that will fill up most of the space ahead of the motor), the brake balance controller thing, the heatshield between the header and the battery, fuse boxes (with Civic decals), and the radiator resevior.

The firewall, beleive it or not, is there. It doesn't extend all the way up, since I am going to use some styrene to box in some mesh from a Revell Civic to go up top of the leading edge of the windshield. That bit of styrene and mesh will be glued to the top of the existing firewall and the windshield.

I went to my friendly Honda dealer Saturday and took some pictures of the engine bay. That is a serious engine bay. More wire in there than in the space shuttle. That's going to be the hard part, wiring it convincingly and correctly. By no means to I plan to replicate every bit of it, but it's gotta look right and that alone is going to be crazy.

The exhaust is going to be a single pipe like the Spoon exhaust for the S2000. I know it's a "Mugen" car, but to build a fast car, you gotta source parts from all over.... plus, I like it better and I gotta stay true to my first allegiance!

Looking good! Can't wait for more progress!

Side-note..
What do I see on the top, left-hand corner of the first picture?? :grinyes: :dunno:

niiiiice :)

Looks real good... Are you gonna add a stock intake or aftermarket...or you should just forced induction with a custom turbo..haha

Man that girl is hot! Oh and nice work on the S2K too. :evillol:

http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/500/75086S2000Mugen15-med.jpg
http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/500/75086watermark-med.jpg <--- Jay didn't mean to delete this completely, but he screwed it up.
Oops! :redface:

Willimo, check your PM for more details. I'm trying to get the pic back online.... :bloated:

Ok, so I've gotten the body painted and most of the engine bay built up. I've got a long ways to go yet, but it's starting to look like a car. Left to do: polish the body, add the CF decals and gloss those up real nice, scratchbuild the defuser, modify a SAS spoiler to a Mugen part; and install the radiator and air intake (which I may not be able to do until the body is mated to the chassis, still planning my angle of attack there).

Here is the underside. The exhaust is half modified hald scratchbuilt. Everything from the split back is scratch, made from solder and aluminum tube for the muffler. The rest is Tamiya until right before the cat, that's the Sakatsu header coming down off the engine. I think the whole think looks pretty fly and fit with minimal fuss.

http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/502/75086S2000Mugen20-med.jpg


The next two are shots of the motor with all the wiring I'm going to do in place. In fact, the only thing missing is the radiator and hoses, and the air intake. I think I could probably get away with putting the radiator in now, but the intake will have to wait until the car is almost done, and the strut bar will go in last. The bar is from the Civic model, as is the battery, and brake reservior. The fuse box and battery will have a decal from the same kit. I also fixed the fuel rail and the little cover, made it lay down closer to the engine and not crooked anymore. For anyone building this motor: cut the injectors down a lot, almost to nubs.

http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/502/75086S2000Mugen19-med.jpg

http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/502/75086S2000Mugen21-med.jpg

This model has so been a real eye-opener, espescially this part. I knew that the car had the engine mounted far back for better weight distribution, but it wasn't until I put this together that I realized everything was behind the front wheels. The only thing in front of the wheels is the radiator, but that's understandable since it needs to have good air flow. When looking at the engine on the actual car, it's easy to forget that the whole space ahead of the motor is just the air box, a part that weighs nothing (comparatively). This just makes this car so much cooler to me.

Next time you see this car, it'll be done. So, if you have any suggestions, let me know before its too late!

Looks good man. I never noticed how far back the motor is in an S2000 untill now.

This is looking sooooooooo good

OMG!!! :eek:

Soooo.... incredible.... :sunglasse

Next time you see this car, it'll be done. So, if you have any suggestions, let me know before its too late!Don't forget the red "ENGINE START" button. ;)

This is an awesome project and you're doing a terrific job on it!!! Keep it up!!! :sunglasse

i thought my S2000 with a supercharged motor was cool, but it SUCKS next to this!!

I have ordered this engine at hlj and i see i won t be disapointed !
Maybe i will display it on an engine dyno...

maybe its too late but you should put a window in the hood so that beautifull engine can show frome the outside without opening the hood