I've had a stockpile of parts for maintenance that had unfortunately been getting deferred while I've focused on my other projects. Unfortunately, I've been having sporadic cooling issues on Bumbestook that were symptomatic of a sticking thermostat. Fixing that so I could feel comfortable driving the car again pushed me over the edge to finally get everything else done by SJF Performance while I was working on the garage.
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| Karcepts Rear Hub (left), OEM Rear Hub (right) |
For starters, the Karcepts rear hubs that I got last year could finally go in. These are nice and beefy compared to OEM hubs. The rear wheel bearings were due for a replacement anyway after years of abuse on massive 315 Hoosiers. Of course, if you're going to replace the hubs, you might as well put in fresh studs, so a set of extended ARP studs were installed too.
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| Karcepts rear hubs, ARP extended studs installed |
After the last track day, I had finally used up my previous set of brakes so a fresh set of cryo rotors and Carbotech XP10/XP8 pads were also put in.
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| Fresh cryo rotors and Carbotech XP10/XP8 pads |
Of course, the most important thing to fix was my cooling issue. I already had a Mugen thermostat installed but that was done 10 years ago now. I'm obviously a big Mugen fanboy but the reason why I like this part, in particular, is the OEM fitment and quality. This car's been taken apart and put back together again a bunch of times over the years but the thermostat is one piece that's largely been untouched. The bolts were almost stuck in there but thankfully they did come out but not without applying enough force to deform the head of the bolt a bit. The cooling system was then completely flushed with fresh OEM Honda Type 2 coolant and voila, the coolant temps are now finally stable.
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| New Mugen Thermostat |
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| Old thermostat finally out, new one ready to go in. |
I get the transmission fluid changed regularly but didn't get to it when I changed the oil earlier this year so that had to get done. The fluid looks pretty clean though.
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| Time to change the transmission fluid |
Finally, since the rear hubs were removed, a fresh alignment was in order. The alignment was already feeling a bit off on our last track day so it feels great to get the car handling the way it's supposed to again.
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| Much overdue alignment - 7-18-2021 |
Maintenance Updates:
- 2 quarts Amsoil MTF
- New Mugen Thermostat
- Coolant flush - OEM Honda fluid
- New slotted cryo rotors all around
- New Carbotech XP10/XP8 pads
- New Karcepts Rear Hubs
- New OEM Rear bearings
- New ARP extended studs for the rear only
