The NSX came with a lot of choice parts, things I would have bought on my own which was one of the things that made me feel the car was "right" when it crossed paths with me. Kudos to the old owner for having impeccable taste. :)
However, I just had to do some changes to make it feel truly mine, even if it's minor.
One of the things about the North American NSXs that always irked me were the ugly turn signals on the front and rear sides of the car. The JDM and Euro versions don't have them except for the small amber signals on the front fenders. I addressed this issue in my old NA1 by simply spraying them with VHT Nightshade tint spray. Easy to do, nice results but they were a tad too dark for me and I didn't like the fact the spray doesn't allow you to control the amount of tint. A better solution are the vinyl overlays by BlueBatmobile on NSXPrime. His little pieces just installs with a heatgun, a squeegee and some water. Takes a bit of time to make it look right but the results are nice and the best part is mod is completely reversible.
It took me about 40 mins to do this:
and here's the final result:
Another thing I wanted to do was replace the missing engine bay cover. The first owner of the car did away with it (a common NSX thing to do) in order to display the so-so looking engine bay. I say this with a lot of love and respect for the mighty C32B but lets face it: compared to what's residing in the engine bay of the R8, Ferraris and Lambos the NSX mill is pretty homely. There are wires, hoses, firewall and milk jugs exposed everywhere. It was meant to be felt and heard, not seen. I was pretty disappointed the oem carpeted engine cover with the holder for the targa top had long ago been sold off, so one of the first things I shopped for was a stylish aftermarket cover. The only one that appealed to me (and can clear the SOS Kenne Bell blower kit and Comptech aluminum strut bar) is the GT-One. This design has since been copied extensively by Downforce and Seibon along with others. I found one being sold by 'tof' on Prime and drove to Ogdensburg, NY to pick it up. Install was a snap. Love the finished look it gives the rear hatch area as well as the extra seal it provides the glass.
Lastly, as much as I like the looks and idea of the JDM NSX-R Momo Tuner 350mm steering wheel, I hated the thin rim on it. Heck, even my Acura ZDX daily driver has a thicker grip. After some searching on the web one night I came across an interior shot of one of my all time favourite supercars, the Pangani Zonda.
The red leather is a bit too much but I liked the look of the Nardi steering wheel with its thick rim and D-shape. Some further digging came up with the model: The Callista. A quick call to my friends at GoTuning and a couple of weeks later this arrived:
Once installed it was a perfect match with my custom weighted, polished and countersunk shift knob.
