Subj: It should have been an easy job
Date: 4/16/2003 8:09:54 PM Eastern Daylight Time

Hello:

After a long absence, I'm going to try my story telling again. The kids are gone, the cat is dead, and now all I have to contend with is the military. However, they also know this and it may become, "Send Larry, he doesn't have any family or animals to be away from!"

This story started to unfold several months ago when I purchased a set of 16/17" wheels from Don "The Don" Lebentritt. We worked out a deal which involved cash and a valve adjustment. The cash was paid and now that a glimpse of spring was warming the air, April 5th found us talking about a time that would be acceptable for both to perform the preventive surgery. Because of events that consumed either one or the other in the coming weekends, I thought that Saturday the 6th might work just fine because Dave Moore was coming to my house on Sunday for a track tech inspection. Don had recently purchased a small lift, so it seemed more convenient to drive to his house and do the adjustment versus coming out to my place the night before, and do the valve adjustment the next day after the engine had cooled. The other reason to make the trip to his house was because he mentioned that a friend's daughter had just got her license and was looking to buy a car (Don thought my CRX might still be for sale). I instructed Don to put the car on the lift, remove the wheels and lower the car, and be ready for my arrival.

Don said he had most of the common tools so I tried to figure what I should bring. I decided I needed my valve adjusting tool, step feeler gauges, rubber hammer, pry bar, long socket extension, drop cord, trunk protector, and my service manual because of added service notes. I loaded the stuff into the CRX and headed to Don's.

To give you and idea how little I've been around to use my CRX, the last time I filled it was in October of 2002 :-) As I cruised along the Interstate, I once again experienced how peppy the little car was; that it still accelerated well in 5th gear; that even though it was small on the outside, it felt large on the inside. This drew a sigh. "Did I really want to sell the little car?" I have more Hondas than I have time to keep up with. "Do I really need to keep it, after all, I have the NSX to play with?" But still, it was so fun to drive!

As I neared Don's house I drove by a used car place that had a Red/Black NSX and a Yellow S2000 out front. I thought I would ask Don about it when I arrived. I pulled into his yard and turned the CRX around in the width of the driveway and backed up to his garage door. Don came out to greet me, we exchanged pleasantries, and then I asked him about the NSX and S2000 down the road. He said he knew of the S2000, but didn't know they had the NSX. "Wanna go take a look at it before we start?" I asked, "Sure," was the reply. So we hoped in the CRX and drove the few miles down the road to the dealership. A salesman came out and we asked if we could look inside the NSX. He went for the key while Don and I looked it over.

It was a 92 5spd with 37K, asking $34,995. The inspection revealed that the right rear fender had been repainted (or replaced); corrosion on the latch and tools in the trunk; the interior had new mats; some of the smooth leather had wrinkles; and it looked like the console had contact paper applied as you could see where it had been cut; and most panels had wrinkles like it didn't adhere well. I think it would make a good track car, but it would take some effort to make it a show car.

Don test drove the CRX on our return to his house and then we decided to order lunch before we started on his car. While we were waiting, Don showed me plans to add on to his garage. I think he has been inspired by my place and also wants to have a garage larger than his house. He is also making a run on the number of vehicles owned (5 I believe, I still have 7). After lunch we proceeded to the garage where Don has been running electric heaters to warm the area.

The NSX is as I requested. Wheels off and tools ready to be used. I feel Don is getting a little excited. The NSX resting on his new lift; new tools just begging to be used; and anticipation of getting to work on your own machine (and screwing it up and blaming it on me...no, that isn't Don, that's someone else). I had called Tony earlier to see if he wanted to join us, but he still wasn't feeling well so I didn't expect him to show. I put the trunk cover on the car, cleared a couple places to keep the parts separated between the front and rear banks, and proceeded to disassemble. Don being taller than I was able to reach half of the parts from the left side of the NSX while I worked on the right. We started with the front bank and I explained to Don how each part was secured, order of disassembly, and what to watch out for. After we finished taking parts off the front, we started on the rear. The valve cover wasn't coming off so I had Don tap it with a rubber hammer while I lifted, but it wouldn't budge. I got out my pry bar and tried to lift while Don tapped the cover...still wouldn't budge. "Don, did you remove the nuts from the center of the cover cause I didn't?" "The what?", was his reply. I smiled, but the bar down, got the deep well socket and proceeded to remove the center nuts. "There, that ought to work better!"

With the parts removed I asked Don if he understood how the VTEC worked. He said he didn't, so I gave a quick explanation, then asked if he wanted to try adjusting the valves. He said yes, but wanted to watch me first. With the engine set at TDC on the number 1 cylinder, I checked the setting on the intake valves. The were set correctly, so I had Don pull on the feeler gauge so he could "feel" what the correct setting felt like. I then checked the exhaust valves and both were too tight. I adjusted one and Don tried the other. While Don worked on that valve, I answered my cell phone. It was Tony. He asked, "Are you done yet!" I said no, and explained what had transpired so far. Don asked if Tony would make it out. So I said, "Don wants you to come out so he can have an adult conversation with someone." Tony laughed and said I would have to grow up. I said, "I don't know which will happen first. Me growing up, or Don getting that valve adjusted." Tony said he would stop by in the morning because we would still be on the valves. Don, although slow, was doing a very good job setting the valves correctly. Time was getting late, so I told Don that I wanted to finish the rest. He moved on to cleaning parts while I finished the rest. The four nearest cylinders (1,4,2,5) were all set the same. Intake fine, exhaust too tight. It was like they used the same feeler gauge setting for intake and exhaust. It wasn't until I got to 3 and 6 before the intake got loose and the exhaust was set right. I remarked that the person must have been short and couldn't reach the valves as well.

Well, the valves are adjusted, and we start to put the parts back on. I dropped my little stubby ratchet and it fell just out of reach of my fingers. I asked Don if he had a magnet? (I forgot to bring mine) He went into the house to look for one and I got my hand in a different hole and got the wrench out. Don returned, said he couldn't find one, but I told him it was OK because I got it out (he figured as much). I asked if he had a mirror? I like to look on the back side of the valve covers (especially the rear) to insure none of the wires are trapped under the cover. Don went in the house once again looking for one. He said he couldn't find one, so we went in together looking for something that would serve the purpose. He first grabbed a piece of aluminum, but it was just shinny and not reflective. He then came out with the plastic base that held a razor. Although it had a shinny reflective surface, it still made objects look distorted. Looking around, I saw mirror switch/receptical plates installed in the bathroom. The switch plate was the largest, so we took that off the wall, went back to the garage, and it worked perfectly. When it came time to replace the igniters, I explained to Don that the wiring harness had to slip over one of the center nuts before he tightened the igniters. When we placed the spacers over the nuts, I showed that if everything was correct, there would be equal distance to the top of the stem. For the rear bank, we swapped sides and Don did the bulk of the assembly. When we did the ignition harness, he said it was OK, but after we put the spacers on, you could see they weren't equal distance from the top. Don used the mirror and could then see what I was talking about. We loosened the igniters, got the harness in the proper position, then tightened them.

Parts are installed and now it is time to start the engine and check for leaks. Everything was good on top, so I ask Don to raise the lift so I could check the bottom. Don pushes the raise button, the pump makes noise, but the lift doesn't raise more than a half inch. Don lowered the lift, tried again, but the lift wouldn't raise. I sighed and said, "Why do things like this always happen to me?" Don got out the lift installation sheet and tried to look for a clue as to why the lift wouldn't raise. The fluid wasn't up to the fill line so we added fluid to the reservoir, spilled some on the floor in the process, but it didn't help (fluid in the reservoir, that is). I thought the pump might be air bound, so we disconnected the hose to the hydraulic piston. Fluid spilled on the floor before we got the bucket under the pipe. We started the pump, which seemed to be working OK, so we attached the hose. Tony was on the phone again. I told him what was happening. When he heard about the spilled fluid, he immediately wanted to know if I spilled it? (hoping to get back at me for my teasing of his Exxon style coolant spill he did at my house while working on Miled's car) The hopeful balloon was burst when he found it wasn't me. After other fittings were loosened and tightened, it didn't change a thing. The lift still wouldn't go up. Don was puzzled as he had raised and lowered vehicles earlier. All right, now what do we do? The only thing left to bleed would be the piston itself, which was under a very low NSX!

So how does one get the wheels back on a NSX that is setting so low that the brake rotors are almost touching the ground? The answer is VERY CAREFULLY! There were two issues to overcome. 1) How do you get a jack under the car? 2) What can you use as a lift point without causing damage? Don had two hydraulic jacks and the NSX jack. The car wasn't high enough to slide either jack under anything that was remotely strong enough. We tried baring the lift itself, but to no avail. After a little pondering, I decided to put a 2"x2" block of wood under the wheel lugs on the front wheel and use the hydraulic jack to raise the lower A arm. That raised the suspension high enough so I could get the scissors jack under a reinforced suspension point. With coordinated lifting, this raised the NSX high enough to get a 1.5" block under the normal lift point. We repeated the same on the operation for the other front wheel until we could get a block under the other front lifting point. Swapping sides, we kept raising the NSX while watching the rear to insure that we would not be lifting the whole car from the front (the car was pivoting on the rear lift points). We finally got the car high enough, with the nuts of the rear ball joints just touching the ground, and got the front wheels on. Repeating the same technique, we got the left rear wheel on. Don tried the lift again...and this time it went up!! The remaining rear wheel was put on, we lowered the lift, and backed the car off.

With the car off the lift, it worked fine. We positioned the car back over the lift and it raised the car. Now we tried driving the rear wheels onto the lift so that the weight of the car would be on the lift from it's lowest point. The lift wouldn't raise. Don backed the car off the lift and we lowered the lift onto 1.5" blocks. Don positioned the rear wheels back on the lift. Once again it didn't raise. We repeated the process with 3" blocks under the lift and this time the lift raised the car. We concluded that with the wheels on the car, the lift was able to raise enough allowing the hydraulic piston be at an angle that would lift the weight of the car. With the car raised, we torqued the wheels, checked for leaks, and the rest went well.

We decided to order out again and after dinner, I asked Don if he would play something on his clarinet and sax.

NOTE: For those of you who were unaware, Don plays in an orchestra that provides the musical composition for different plays.

After Don gave a little musical repertoire, he asked me to try. I declined...he persisted...I declined...he handed me the licorice stick. Like, what was I supposed to do with this? The answer seemed to be the obvious...blow in it! It has been many years since I made a reed vibrate and after the first sound that came out (something similar to blowing down a pipe) I was ready to quit, but Don was insistent so I tried again. After fruitless attempts, Don decided that we should do what we should have done first, start at the beginning. This meant just blowing through the mouth piece. I finally got the hang of blowing a high pitch squeal that caused the cats to retreat to the far end of the house. Once I got something that resembled a sound, Don connected the mouth piece back to the instrument and I too was ready to play in an orchestra (Providing I was playing the part of a cat's tail under the rocking chair). Don though I might do better with the sax. After considerable time I was sometimes able to run the scale without running out of wind. So the lessons learned from this story are?

1. Things always take longer than you think.
2. I should stick to torquing and not tooting.
3. Nothing I do ever goes smoothly, but it always works.
4. It's fun to be with NSX friends!

Now the bad news. Don E-mailed the next day. It went like this:

Don: Thanks again for all of your efforts on Saturday. I couldn't have gotten the car off that lift without you. Drove it to band rehearsal last night. Car behaved beautifully, but coming home from band I had a small mishap. I guess I took the circle too fast and lost control. Probably a combination of the cold, almost shot rear tires, and lack of experience. Back end came out and pointed me towards the shoulder of the road. Had to make a choice between trying to save it and possibly hitting the curb sideways or even worse the telephone pole or running the driveway curb straight on. Went with hitting the curb straight on. Luckily it wasn't a high curb. Hit almost dead center and went across the lawn and hopped back off the curb on the other side (circular driveway).

Larry: Actually, I differ with your explanation for the root of your mishap. After precisely adjusting your valves, your car had untapped power that hadn't been experienced during previous outings. With the exhaust valves possibly not fully closing, some explosive power was escaping. Thus you were not prepared for the experience of an HSO tuned NSX. Hence, it was not your fault (or maybe the valves you adjusted gave it the extra HP, thus it was your fault).

Larry G :-))