Subj: 200 hundred miles and then...
Date: 10/26/00

Hi All:
Yes, this was the most amazing thing about the weekend.
Friend Miled had mentioned coming down to visit and pull a service on his '91 NSX. He had heard great reviews about my quality of service (propagated solely by me) and, wanting to be in a story, he decided to come visit. The first scheduled weekend was canceled due to not having all the parts (There was also a forecast for rain. You tell me the reason for not coming!). I believe there was one more canceled weekend before we connected. I was beginning to think he was getting cold feet, was having second thoughts about me working on his car, and was just too polite to say so. He assured me that wasn't the case.
Miled's departure from NY was later than planned, so he arrived about 2230 (10:30 PM). His comment to me was that he drove 200 miles without hitting a bug, and then smucked one as he was exiting for my house. Sure enough, there was a big juicy bug smeared on his windshield. He backed into the garage where I could examine his car and it was bugless! All I have to do is drive to work and back (20 miles) and the car needs a wash, the front is peppered. Surely the headlights must have some bugs on them........Nope, spotless!

(Quick recap) Miled has two piles of towels (stacked linen closet neat) in his trunk that never fall over, even when aggressively dodging water puddles. Can drive 200 miles at night without a bug strike........ He is not human.

I put the car on the lift, let the transmission oil drain, and depart for Denny's for an evening meal. I order the Grand Slam; Miled orders two main meals. "Ah.... Miled, who else is coming?" No one, just a usual meal order. After good conversation and a return to the garage, it was late but I thought we should get something done. Miled brought a Japan NSX Honda emblem to replace the Acura emblem and a NSX Type-S emblem to replace the Non-NSX Type-S emblem in the rear. The hood emblem was easy to replace. Miled held the hair dryer to heat up the double side tape while I pulled up on the emblem as it loosened. Its operation was completed when Miled applied enough heat to my fingers, which caused a quick jerk from pain, and OFF came the emblem! The installation was easier. Peel double stick tape, put two male pins on emblem into two female holes on nose. If the emblem isn't straight? It's not my fault man. The "H" looks great and after a little admiring, we tackled the Type-S. We now have the procedure. Miled heats my fingers. "Oops, sorry!" he says (but he ain't fooling me) and off comes the old emblem. The placement of the emblem takes research. We view pictures of Type-S Japan cars for exact position. Both of us take turns with our interpretations for placement. "Hey Miled, it's your car. You place it and I'll adjust it." After several minor adjustments, the emblem sticks. We both agree it's perfect ('cause we can't move it) and I look at my watch. 0315 (3:00 AM) Saturday morning! Time for bed. I ask Miled what time he wants to start work tomorrow, I mean, later today. We agree on 0900 [9:00 AM (I'm trying to teach the 24 hour format to my friends who live in a two twelve-hour day world)]. At 0545 (5:45 AM) my son's alarm goes off [he forgot to disarm the alarm before he went on an FTX (Field Training eXercise) with the CAP Civil Air Patrol)]. Craig is a sound sleeper so he sets the radio volume full blast. It jolts me awake, and I can only imagine how Miled feels because the clock is next to the bedroom wall where he is sleeping. I stumble across the house, grumbling as I go, to shut the alarm off. I fall back in bed to catch a few more hours of sleep. My alarm goes off seemingly just as my head hits the pillow. I shower, eat, and prepare to start work on Miled's car. I thought sure the commotion I made would wake Miled, but it doesn't. I go upstairs, rap on his door, and call his name. After no response, I start work myself. I fill the transmission with oil, change the fuel filter, and request Craig's assistance (who has returned from CAP) to flush the brake and clutch fluids. Craig wonders why Miled isn't helping. I explain that I've tried to wake him two different times, but he must be really tired........or dead? We both look at each other and discuss who gets his NSX. About 1130, Miled comes out to the garage and we change the coolant, clean the brakes, install new pads, and install miscellaneous parts. It is now dinner (supper) time. I suggest we take a break and go get some pizza and call Sylvia Mills to wish her a Happy Birthday!! I call ahead and order a personal pan pizza for me and Miled wants two large ones. "Ah....Miled, I won't need any more than my personal pan." "The two large ones are for me," he replies. I raise one eyebrow, ask where he puts it all, and then we head out to pick them up. I eat mine, Miled eats one large, part of the other, and offers some to Craig. After a while, we return to the garage to install a new center console trim panel (second new one), new shifter knob (second new one), and the new climate control head. Pulling the climate control face panel with electronics attached, we discover the panel behind has just as many electronic parts and wonder which component needed to be replaced. With the new CC panel installed, we give it a try, only to find that the problem still remains. (New dilemma: Do you install the new trim panel knowing that you will have to remove it again and risk damaging it?)
It is now 0215 Sunday morning. I decide to go to bed, Miled wants to finish the interior work. I wake at about 0900, shower, eat and head out to the garage. I assume Miled was up late so I don't try to wake him. Miled has this compulsion to clean things. I have noticed that the bathroom is cleaner after he comes out than when he goes in. Hmmm, maybe I should move his bed around to all the rooms in the house? I do a couple miscellaneous tasks, adjust the valves, and Miled arrives at 1230 just as I am finishing the last valve adjustment. He's hungry, so he goes in to heat up the remaining pizza which is a good idea because I know the oven will be cleaned when he is through :-) I start the car up (and it does, whew!) and check for coolant leaks, oil leaks and the like. The only thing that remains to be done is to change/bleed the antilock brakes. This requires that the car be in gear to recharge the accumulator after bleeding. Miled comments that the clutch pedal doesn't feel the same; kind of spongy. I suspect that some air must be trapped in the system or crud, because it was real nasty looking when it was drained. The clutch was bled by pumping, so this time I decide to use the vacuum pump. I would have used it before, but the collection bottle top was cracked. After some time, I found a substitute bottle, and proceeded to suck out the fluid. Because the clutch fluid reservoir is small, I suck all the fluid out. Now there was all kinds of air in the system. I filled the reservoir again and ran the pump half as long but still sucked all the fluid out of the reservoir. This time I have Miled man the reservoir while I run the pump. The pedal feel has improved.
Miled's cell phone rings so he steps into the house where he will have privacy and less noise. As I am trying to top off the clutch reservoir, I run out of fluid.

(Philosophy time)
Do I top off the reservoir with my non Honda brake fluid while he is away? It is compatible, it won't take much, and I can pour some into the empty Honda container so that it looks like I have just used all that he brought. (Miled is returning so I need to make a quick decision.) I can feel the kind of pressure building that is similar to the kind felt when trying to hold a sneeze from coming out. Before I explode I say, "Miled, the brake fluid container is empty and the reservoir is not topped off, what do you want to do?" (whew! I said it, conscience clean, pressure gone) We discuss it for a bit and then decide to bleed the remaining Honda fluid and fill it with the type I use. The system doesn't hold much, so if he wants to put in Honda fluid before the next scheduled change, not much is lost. The clutch pedal feels normal, all planned work is completed, so we take the car for a test drive. The shakedown run gets a clean bill of health, Miled loads the car and prepares to head home. We decide to eat at a pizza shop that will be along the way to his house. I take my Civic Wagon so that he will not have to come back. We place the orders, sit at the table and wait.....and wait.... and wonder what is going on because the place is empty. Turns out the order got lost, and being out of the cook's view, nothing was thought of it. Our order finally arrives. It's getting late and Miled has a 3 hour drive ahead so we say farewell.

After returning home from work the next day, I see the message light flashing on the answering machine; I push the play button. "Larry, it's Miled. I got home OK, but something is wrong with the car. It has lost power. Give me a call." I take a breath, let out a deep sigh, and think what could have possibly happened. I know Miled is very particular, and I pride myself for the quality of work I perform. I think that because of the lateness of our projects, I must have let something slip through the cracks, and I have damaged the trust he has in me. With anxiety I call him. I learn that his RM exhaust had blown a baffle (through the muffler) and that was the cause of his misfortune. (YES, reputation still intact!) He further states that his trip on the Palisades Parkway was very foggy with many deer waiting his approach. (Unfortunately, reputation still intact) I suggested that he call Mark Basch and try to get one off his free, soon-to-go-to-the-grave-yard, stock exhaust systems. Miled recalls that he still has his original one at another location. He gets it installed at his brother's garage and leaves another message on the answering machine. "LARRY! I can't take it! The exhaust is so quiet, it sounds like I am driving a TL!!!
After consoling my friend, we now have a plan of action, and it is only a matter of time before he gets the necessary parts and we complete another project.
(Note: Could the exhaust be the REAL reason Miled will not be driving his car to NSXPO?)
Stay tuned for NSXPO. Which will be coming soon to a computer near you!
Larry G.