Editorial: What the New NSX Should Have Been

Honda enthusiasts and car lovers alike have been awaiting Honda's new move-- their replacement flagship supercar...the legendary NSX.  

Yes, the NSX is the car that was partially designed by Ayrton Senna, the legendary F1 driver.  Originally created by Honda to be the ultimate driving machine which was cheaper than its competitors, more reliable, and of overall better ride and build quality, the NSX was a dream on wheels.

Yes, this is also the same car that inspired the chief engineer of the McLaren F1 (Gordon Murray) as well, setting a goal for ride quality and handling.  Heck, Murray even went to Honda's R&D facility in Japan asking them to build him a V12 or V14 motor, only to be disappointed by a denial and ultimately having to settle for a mere BMW engine instead.

And yes, as one can imagine, replicating this dream on wheels can only be amongst some of the world's toughest tasks.  Asking engineers to make it eco-friendly, competitively priced, and an amazing vehicle to drive as well???  Well, that's unthinkable...or so you believe.

You see, this 2015 NSX in question is an amazing machine.  Sporting a longitudinally mounted, twin-turbo V6 motor with a hybrid drivetrain and all-wheel drive, this car is expected to be pumping out an estimated 500 horsepower (per Jalopnik).  But I'd like to pick a bone with Acura...and I sort of did in this letter I conjured up while in a conversation with my brother.  

This is what I think the 2015 NSX should have been.  A lot of what I say is just comprised of multiple ideas which I believe would lend themselves well to a new, unique, reliable, quick, light, fun to drive supercar.

So here's what I think the 2015 NSX should have been....all opinions welcome, negative and positive:

Since Acura's concept for the NSX was a cheap, reliable, and fast super car that is also eco-friendly, they should have done a couple of things differently.

The weight associated with a hybrid drivetrain, especially one involving three electric motors (two up front and one in the rear) along with regenerative braking and the large lithium-ion battery is insane.  According to Motor Trend Magazine, the curb weight of the NSX would be about 3100 pounds.

Supercars are supposed to be light, but making a fully carbon body like the new Porsche 918 will cost a lot of money and that is not an option for the new NSX since it doesn't fit the car's concept well.

Since the new Civic Type-R is a turbocharged 2.0 liter meeting emissions requirements in Europe, which are extremely stringent, and since Honda is so good at building motors, what would stop them from building a stout, high-performance, twin, sequential turbo four cylinder capable of revving very high but also capable of good emissions?  For example, an adjustable waste gate that responds to throttle input to bypass much of the exhaust gases when cruising to turn down the boost and use less fuel could be one of many ways to cut back on pollution.

Turbocharged engines also create much more torque than naturally aspirated engines, so the final drive could remain relatively high which would be great for keeping RPM's down at cruising speeds which could also save on gas.  In addition, turbocharged engines are more volumetrically efficient as shown by MotoIQ.com.

There would be drawbacks to the turbocharger.  An OEM turbocharged engine is much more reliable than an engine turbocharged with an aftermarket kit, so perhaps reliability wouldn't be an issue.  However, what about turbo lag?  That would take away from the response otherwise present with the electric motors which give so much torque goodness without the wait!

To assemble the car, take the aforementioned engine and put it in a light, small, aluminum chassis, longitudinally mount it in the middle of the car, and give THAT all-wheel drive.  This would cut down weight by a lot, and it wouldn't need much more power to beat the other "hypercars" because the power to weight ratio would be so high.  The design concept would almost be similar to an Ariel Atom, but with wider tires, more aggressive stance, cleaner looking body panels, full interior, and more.

Ariel Atom

There would also be drawbacks to a small chassis similar to the Ariel Atom's.  If it were like the Ariel Atom's it may not be quite as safe as a chassis in an average production car, or in a top of the line supercar.  It may also be uncomfortable for the driver to get in and out of the car, but then again, when you're getting in a racing bucket seat is it that big of a deal anyway?

Regardless of potential issues, the pros associated with a design concept like this would result in a unique and alternative creation.  Not only would this be a four-cylinder supercar, but it would be affordable, light, and quick...at least in theory.

Of course details are always a pain, but let's be honest-- great ideas don't flourish when someone points out why something won't work, but rather when someone points out ways to get around the limitations.  THIS is a design philosophy I believe Honda and Acura have had for years...and that's why I purchase their products.

Thanks guys,

--Lexi.Laron

K-Tuned Robbed!?

Over the past couple of months I have been attempting to create a prototype for a car part for a business that I want to start.

Ever since I was a little kid I have been into cars and anything mechanical.  I have always been playing with RC cars and model cars and Hot Wheels.  I always took them apart, inspected them, modified them, put them back together, broke them, painted them, showed them off, they were my life for a while.

And when I was 16 I wanted a car more than anything, but it was something I could not afford.  With my family struggling to keep our house and with me and my brother supporting them, it was difficult.  I became a lot stronger, but I never had time to buy a car, let alone the money.  It was a lot of work, but I finally got my first car, an old Lexus that I started fixing up myself.

It was that car that helped inspire this blog.  No, it was nothing special, and neither is my blog-- it's just a Blogger, but it's still my own blog and Lexi was my first car ever.

This brings me to a story that I'd like to share with you.

Recently while on Facebook I saw that K-Tuned had been robbed after their appearance at Honda Day.  Now, I'll be the first to say that the people I met last year at Honda Day representing K-Tuned were some of the nicest, most informative people I have ever met selling parts.  I talked with one of the guys about their shifter setup for a good fifteen minutes, just going over their display k20 engine and shooting the shit in general.

The point of this story is that if someone has a dream or if someone is living their life to the fullest as I imagine these great guys are, don't just take a giant crap on their affairs.  Thieves, take a moment and think before you take something.  It's wrong to take something from someone period, but just because it's a company doesn't make it any better.

To those who want to know more about the story, you can read about it at K-Tuned's Facebook page here.  Give them a "like" and show your support.  Thanks for reading y'all.  Keep the dream alive-- whatever it may be.

Auto X, Racing Hondas, and More

So, while all of you have been chillin' in the familiar old scene, maybe chillin' with the hellaflush heads or battlin' with the track warriors, you have probably not ventured out to a new scene in a while.

Well, I am now stationed in Wisconsin for an engineering job that I'm working as a part of Drexel's Cooperative Learning Experience.  It's quite different out here, but in a good way.

The East Coast is all about stance and car shows and car meets...at least where I'm from, the Philly area.  Like for example: H2O International.  Check out some of the pics below to get a flavor for what my life was like back on the "BEAST COAST" (I did it for teh lulz).

Photo cred to Tiff Erbe of The Daily Werks Crew out of Levittown, PA

Photo cred to the Daily Werks Crew FB Page

Again, photo cred to the Daily Werks Crew FB Page

Well, firstly I must say, that the midwest goes hard too.  Secondly, I must say I am really loving the car culture here as well.  Chicago is more like Philly and the surrounding cities in that there are meets, but I have been involved with the auto crossing crowd since I have gotten here.

Here are a couple of pics of stuff on my way here-- the first is my DC5 and the second is off of Columbus Drive in Chitown, Illinois.

Photo Cred to myself yoo lol

Again with the flix!

One of the first things I did when I got here was reach out to some local car clubs and Facebook Pages who are about the Honda lifestyle.  The first page I liked was Wisconsin Honda Group.  

The admin, Joel, a guy who drives a dope Del Sol, hooked me up with some dudes near me in Rockford, Illinois who were into auto x and they drove Hondas too.  They run a page called Secret Society that posts car scene stuffs from the midwest.  Y'all should check it if you're trying to smell what I'm smellin' if you feel me.

Here are some pics of Secret Society's moderators' cars-- Danny and Mike.

Danny's JDM front-ended Teg with a BBK, Mugen Valve Cover, and other goodies that I haven't seen or asked about.  He was rocking Advans when I saw him at the track, but he changed to a new pair of shoes last I checked.

Danny's clean-ass interior.  Photo by Lexi.Laron

Mike's gutted EK...  Photo cred goes to Joel Zabel of Wisconsin Honda Group.

We went to Madison International Speedway shortly after hooking up and had a blast.  Mike's EK sounded especially beastly coming out of the slalom on the auto x course.  That air horn you see in the headlight (made by PWJDM) definitely makes it louder if it doesn't do anything else, at least.  Hahah, much love to Mike and his EK.

Photo cred to Tahrek of Secret Society

Me and my DC5 coming out of the slalom...

Tahrek of Secret Society

After that I definitely realized that in the East Coast, where I'm from, there is a huge emphasis on parts that definitely outweighs the emphasis on functionality.  After tracking my car, I realized that all of the modifications I made had definitely improved the capability of my RSX infinitely!  However, the only way to be the fastest car is to be the fastest driver...and that is not focused on at all in the car show, stance, hellaflush, form>function scene AT ALL.

So, to improve my driving skills, I hit up another auto x in Milwaukee with the Wisconsin Autocrossers Incorporated guys.  This one was really fun because the track was very high-speed and the cars were much more serious.  I placed pretty well for my second time out, but I definitely need to improve the smoothness of my driving.  I was plowing out of corners and oversteering at times and overshooting because I was not looking two corners ahead at times.

Check out my video of me racing :)

Overall, I can't wait to get deeper into the scene out here.  I hope you guys enjoyed this post!  I'll have much more to come.  Stay true to you!

Best,

--Lexilaron

The New 2016 CR-Z

It seems that after the BRZ and FRS were released the tuner industry exploded.  New parts were being made everywhere and these cars have aftermarket support rivaling traditional Japanese sports cars like the 240sx and the 3000GT VR-4, for example.  As a result, it's not a surprise that rumors of a new, affordable sports car are spouting from Honda enthusiasts' mouths.

 

We all know about the CR-Z.  It was Honda's attempt at a revolutionary sports car that would combine hybrid power with a fun-to-drive chassis.  With a chassis based off of the insight, and with a small weight of about 2,700 pounds this car was supposed to be a success in the tuner community.

 



 

If you follow the chassis or if you're an enthusiast you may be familiar with a few upgrades, like the Jackson Racing Supercharger Kit as shown above, or the full Mugen body kit.  But other than that, this car hasn't been hyped up all that much in terms of aftermarket support.  So what did Honda do?  They tried to make it cooler...and they did.

 

 

The Mugen CR-Z was released at a price tag of around $35,000 USD, however and that may be a little steep for a fancy body kit on a hybrid sports car if you ask me.  Honda also made the Mugen CR-Z RR which was only suppoed to be produced in limited production (about 300 units).  This is cool as well, but I'm uncertain as to whether this went into production or not in Japan.

 

Well, Honda may be trying to remedy ALL of these problems with the NEXT CR-Z.  Do you know what this is?  It's the new Civic Type-R...er well...we'll talk about that.

 



 

 

It's a chassis based off of the Civic Type-R which will supposedly be used for the new CR-Z.  And this would be pretty cool.  With 276 horsepower 2.0 L turbocharged engine, the Civic Type-R is being designed to be a serious competitor with high-performance FWD cars on the Nurburgring, and I'm sure the CR-Z will only come slightly short of that.

 

According to Motortrend Magazine, the new CR-Z which is currently sitting in R&D is sitting on a shortened Type-R platform and is anticipated to come with a turbocharged, 1.5 L engine with a 7-speed dual clutch transmission to transfer the power to the ground.  It is anticipated to still be a hybrid, but this will be no mama car.  This will be a serious competitor for the BRZ and FRS and the price tag is supposed to be below $30,000.

 

Let's see what Honda can come up with!  The ball's in your court now, Honda of America!



RSX Type-S Hood Latch Fix: Revision Three

Hey guys,

So I just got finished moving to Wisconsin for a job that I took as a co-op with Drexel.  I have been quite busy getting my bed together and my new desk all ready so that I can have a room to live in hahah.  However, after a couple of smooth days on the job and after getting everything all set up, I have directed my attention back to making car parts and back to my hobby.

You may remember this: http://lexilaron.blogspot.com/2013/09/rsx-front-bulkhead-reinforcement-plate.html

This is a proposed fix for the problem that is common on the RSX where the front bulkhead rips after the stress of opening and closing the hood occurs over time.  It really is a simple part, and it's taking me a lot of time to create, but it's more for fun than anything else.

Anyway, I do have some updates!

After test-fitting the second prototype, I realized that the install would be made exponentially more difficult with the driver side brace (on the right in the picture) being as long as it was.  I determined that the resistance to shear forces would be nearly the same if only two holes were used and so I decided to make it shorter for installation purposes.

Notice the holes are bigger as well on the top.  These were made larger to fit around the welded on nuts that sit on the back of the bulkhead.

Let's take a look to give you a better idea of what I'm talking about.  This is the whole bulkhead that sits in front of the radiator:

Here's the part of the bulkhead (on the passenger side) that the hood latch mounts to.  Note the rusty threads.  These threads are part of the welded on nut that I mentioned before.  The nut is welded to the back of this thin piece of metal:

Other than these minor changes, the hood latch was untouched.  It will be test-fitted once more and then it will be ready to go out for machining.

Thanks for reading guys.

New Performance-Oriented Honda in the Making?

Omaigod Omaigod Omaigod Omaigod Omaigod Omaigod Omaigod Omaigod Omaigod  OH MY GOD!

So I was reading on Facebook today and I saw a post from GT Channel talking about the possibility of Honda creating a new RWD sports car similar to the S2K.  The car would be very small, much like the Miata MX-5 and would have a very small engine-- perhaps 1.3 to 1.5 L.

This is exactly what I've been waiting for...light, affordable, fun to drive.  Check out the link:

http://www.gtchannel.com/blog/scoop-honda-working-rwd-compact-sports-car

RSX Front Bulkhead Reinforcement Plate: Fixing Your Broken Hood Latch (UPDATE)

So if you own an RSX you have probably heard about the hood latch problem which is prevalent among these cars.  Well, chances are that's because the problem IS prevalent and there's also a chance that this has even messed up your day!

Well, if you follow Lexi.Laron, chances also are that you have seen a post that I made which talks about my solution for this problem.  Since you've last read it, I have also been working on it and have made significant progress as well.

Again, my friend Eric sent me his design with the moved bolt holes.  You can't notice it here, but the second hole was moved on the left side of the picture.

After taking his design and tracing it onto cardboard, I took notes.  Some hole resizing is necessary and some relocation is necessary as well.

Note that the right brace in the picture was also cut.  I have determined that the added reinforcement by the third hole on this bracket will be minimal and will also make installation more difficult.

Next comes my second revision where I will take angles on the bulkhead to determine how much curvature or bend will be required to produce the parts.

____________EDIT____________

Go to ClubRSX for exclusive details on what is involved with this bracket.

http://forums.clubrsx.com/showthread.php?p=41090209#post41090209

Who Wants a Drift Car?

Apparently this drift car out of Torrence, California is up for sale.  The person originally funding the build is now unable to pay for the car and so "World Racing" is looking to liquidate its assets by selling this beauty.

Serious inquiries will be taken in person.  To see more pictures and specs, check out some of the stuff I took from Wrecked Magazine!  It's pretty cool.

Sweet diff, bro.

Do you even squat?

Lemme see ya grill, you wanna see my what??

Radiator in the trunk, yo!

Taken directly from Wrecked Mag:

Here are the STATS of this Formula Drift legal/ready Scion FR-S:
Chassis: 
Acid Dipped and seam welded chassis by WORLD Racing.
Every single hole on the body has been filled for strength and appearance.
100% powder-coated body, chassis and rollcage
Custom rear sub-frame mated with Winters rear end (FD legal)
Custom tin-work
Air-Jacks with plumbing and nitrogen wand

Body:
Custom carbon fiber hood and rear deck lid.
Lexan MR10 windows with NACA ducts
NACA ducting in roof for driver cooling and ventilation

Drivetrain:
Winters “Quick-Change” 10″ rear end 4:12 ring/pinion – ask for ratios
Quaife QBE69G (6-speed sequential) gearbox
Ray Bates 300m (“OEM” FRS spline) axle stubs for 930 CV’s
Mark Williams Axles
“No-Lift” shift cut mechanism from Angerole

Safety:
OMP Eco Life – Fire Suppression system
Recaro Profi SPG Racing seats x2
Crow Enterprizes 5 point harness’

Fuel:
12 Gallon ATL Fuel Cell
Misc. A/N lines and fittings from Earls have been plumbed for the tank

Cooling: 
Rear-Mount Mishimoto Custom dual-pass Radiator
Earls hoses, fittings and plumbing are completed

Suspension/Steering:
Front:
KW Suspension Competition 3-way adjustable coil over
Solid Toyota MR-2 power steering pump has been fitted to work with this steering rack.
Right hand drive conversion w/ Nissan 240 steering rack fitted for MR2 pump
Toyota MR-2 power steering pump (p/n 1960-17017)
Vorshlag GD High Caster aluminum front caster plates (60mm)
Cortex Competition lower arms (front)
Cortex Toe Link Assembly (pair)
Cortex Bump Steer Kit
Rear:
KW Suspension Competition 3-way adjustable coil over
Cusco rear pillowball lateral link

Oiling: 
Dry Sump Tank (3Gal) Mounted
Dry Sump Pulley (for use with ATI damper)
Dry Sump hoses, fittings and plumbing are completed.

Brakes:
Wilwood Rotors, Hats, Calipers and pads… (custom)
Tilton Pedal assembly w/ reservoir
Tilton proportioning valve
ASD Hydraulic E-Brake (Pull-Up style)

Wheels:
Motegi Racing Traklite 1.0 (Drift)
17×8 Front
18×10 Rear
(Also includes 1 spare set of 4 wheels)

Tires:
Falken Azenis RT615R – 255/40R17
Falken Azenis RT615R – 295/40R18

DIY: Preulde Ball Joint Removal and Installation for an 05-06 RSX Type-S

Hey guys,

After driving for tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of miles you may start to feel your car hate you.

Bushings wear out and rot, suspensions components fall apart, engines blow up-- so much crap can go wrong!

If your're experiencing slight, infrequent wobbles on highways at speeds above 60 mph and you're getting clunking, popping sounds when you're turning your wheel while parking perhaps there's something more than voices inside of your head.  Perhaps your ball joints are going!

Well, if you have an 05-06 RSX Type-S, then you're in luck because I'm going to show you how to replace your ball joints without buying a whole new $300 steering knuckle!  You can just use some BB6 Prelude ball joints!

_________________________________________________________________________________

Disclaimer:  I am not responsible for any inconvenient or undesirable outcomes that may result from following these instructions.

Parts needed:

1. 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2" ratchets
2. 8 mm, 10 mm, 12 mm, 17 mm, 19 mm, 22 mm, 36 mm
3. Table Vice
4. 2 lbs mallet
5. 1 lbs hammer
6. Sleeve to fit around inner diameter of ball joint to disperse hammer impact
7. Cheater bar
8. Flat head screw driver
9. Phillips screw driver
10. Pittman Tie-Rod Arm Puller
11. Tie-Rod Separator Pickle Fork
12. Impact gun (I used an old electric one, so if you brake a stud with your 180 gal compressor tank don't blame me)
13. Chisel
14. BB6 Prelude Lower Ball Joint (Information Taken from ClubRSX.com)
1. Go to the following link to purcahse the ball joints that I purchased.  Note, I am not responsible if problems ensue as a result of installing ball joints not specific to this car model.
2. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000C9Q0VM/ref=pe_385040_30332200_pe_309540_26725410_item

Optional Parts:

1. Puller (three-armed puller from Harbor Freight)

Start by removing your wheel.  This will help a lot when you're doing things to your car...always know how to remove a wheel...

Lol, I know you know I'm joking.  Take the damn wheel off.

Next, remove your wheel speed sensor cable and your brake line from your strut.  These are my Tein Street Flex's...love these things.  Pretty sure that the wheel speed sensor line (mounted on the bracket at the back of the strut) requires a 10 mm while the brake line requires a 12 mm socket (bracket closest to you in picture).

After you're finished with removing those lines, remove the brake caliper.  The two outer-most bolts on the top and bottom of that big piece of metal are for the brake caliper.  You're going to want to take the bottom one out and wiggle it a bit to loosen it up, then take the top one out.  I believe this requires a 12 mm short socket.

With your caliper bolts removed from the caliper bracket, lift the caliper up and bungee cord it to your shocks.  This will prevent the caliper from dangling by the brake line and eventually braking the line and spewing fluid everywhere.  BRAKE FLUID EATS PAINT LOLZ.

Now you're going to want to remove this bracket shown in the next picture.  It's the brake caliper bracket.  The two bolts holding it to the knuckle are 17 mm bolts.  Use a short socket and a 1/2" ratchet with a cheater bar and some rust penetrate to brake the bolts free.

Next, you'll want to remove the rotor from the hub.  But first, you'll need to remove your spindle nut.  You'll need a 36 mm socket for this and an impact gun.

First, take a flat head screw driver and pry the flange on the spindle nut away from the spindle.

Take the 36 mm socket and bang that jawn off of the spindle after using your flat head screw driver for the aforementioned step.

Now, you're going to need to remove the two phillips screws holding the rotor to the hub.  They may be frozen on there from a long history of usage, so I recommend taking a phillips bit and putting it in a short socket.  Then, take the socket and put it on a 1/4" ratchet and torque the screw off of the rotor.  You can even hammer the bit into the screw lightly before using your ratchet to twist the screw out of the threads.

BE CAREFUL not to strip the screw.  If you do, you're screwed!  Use some more rust penetrate if you have to before you remove these screws.

The following picture shows the knuckle attached to the LCA with the C.V. Joint in the picture.  Notice the castle nut which is in focus.  It has a pin in it.  This pin is called a "cotter pin."  Remove the cotter pin from the castle nut.

Next you'll need your tie-rod separator pickle fork and your Pittman tie-rod arm puller.  Both can be purchased from Harbor Freight for approximately $30.00

Place your Pittman arm puller in between the ball joint and the LCA.  This will take some wiggling, so be prepared to be frustrated and afraid if this is your first time doing this.

Here's a better view of what your Pittman arm puller should look like.  Tighten the bolt on the puller so that it rests on the end of the ball joint.  In other words, the ball joint has a stud that sticks out (as a part of the ball-and-socket mechanism).  Make sure your Pittman arm puller has its bolt tightened up against this "stud".

Next, insert your pickle fork in between the ball joint and the Pittman tool.  Hit the end of the pickle fork with the 2 lbs mallet until the pickle ball joint and the LCA come apart.  You will hear a loud "POP" noise when you do this.  It's most likely due to miles of rust and wear on the components making them stick.

Here's a pic of what it will look like when the ball joint is separated from the LCA.  You will be able to separate the LCA from the ball joint's "stud".

Now, remove the bolts and nuts holding the strut to the steering knuckle.  The bolts shown in the picture below are both 19 mm bolts.  However, the nuts which tighten the flanges of the bolts to the strut are located on the other side.  These nuts (deez nuts) are 22 mm nuts.  To remove the bolts, you must hold them still while rotating the 22 mm nuts on the other side of the steering knuckle.

The strut and the steering knuckle separated...

Now, look behind your dust guard (the black thing that sits behind the rotor).  You will see this black thing which is bolted to your steering knuckle.  This is a wheel speed sensor.  Remove it using a 10 mm socket (I think...it may be an 8 mm socket).

Your final step will be to completely press the spindle from the hub.  To do this I used a puller, but you could probably do this by having someone hold the axle while you pull the steering knuckle out.  In other words, you'd save yourself about $20 at Harbor Freight.

Here's my steering knuckle...annoying as shit.  The wheel bearing lies in that little cylinder that you see at the center of the picture.

Next, put your steering knuckle in your table vice.  I used the part of the steering knuckle that bolts to the struts as the "clamping point" so-to-speak.  You can use a cheater bar to turn the vice tighter to get a better grip if need be.

Here's the fun part!  Take your 2 lbs mallet and bang away at the ball joint on the shown spot below!  Try not to hit your thumb!  :)

You can always use rust penetrant to help this process and the installation process as well.  For the installation process just spray the penetrant around the hole and around the new ball joint.  For the removal process, just spray the penetrant around where the ball joint goes into the hole.

Here's that stupid-ass old ball joint.

Here's that smart-ass new ball joint!  :)

Place the steering knuckle in the vice and then place the new ball joint in the hole in the following way:

Hammer lightly AROUND the ball joint while it's in the hole.  Make sure it does not go in the hole unevenly and make sure that the threads on the end of the ball joint are not contacting any surface below the vice while doing this.

To finish off the job, you can use a little socket-like jawn to go around the inner diameter of the ball joint's end.  The fit of this tool is shown in the picture after the following picture.

You can fit the sleeve around the end of the ball joint in the following way to disperse the impact of the hammer around the end of the ball joint evenly.  This will allow you to bang the ball joint in as hard as you want without messing it up by banging one side in more than another side.

Almost in!!!  (That's what she said)

Notice how the seat of the ball joint is flush with the steering knuckle.  This step (installing the ball joint) took me an hour my second time.  Expect to take a while installing this ball joint.  This step is normally done with a hydraulic press.

Take the ring off of the dust boot.

And if your ball joint is a CHEAP aftermarket replacement (like one from China) then put some more grease on the inside of the ball joint!  Mine was a $50 AC Delco part, but I still decided to put some more grease in it.

Now, take the snap ring supplied with your ball joint and install it on the ball joint.  Note that putting the grease on AFTER this step is probably a better idea than what I did, but we're not all perfect, now are we?

If your snap ring has holes on the ends to be able to use pliers to install it then good for you.  If not you'll be fidgeting with screwdrivers and hammers for 20 minutes.  You'll need a second person if the latter is applicable to you.

Re-install your dust boot and the ring on your dust boot.

Walk back to your RSX <3 .="" p="">

And pull your spindle back through your hub.  I installed the nut on the spindle lightly so that the spindle would not fall back through the hub while I was re-installing it.

With the ball joint seated in your lower control arm (LCA), torque the castle nut.  I used an impact gun for this and torqued it as tightly as I could to make sure nothing would come apart while I was driving.

Now, place the cotter pin that was supplied with your new ball joint into the ball joint's stud.  Wrap the pin around the castle nut.

Now, re-install your strut bolts.  Loosely tighten the 22 mm nut to the other side.

Put your rotor back onto your hub assembly and put your rotor's screws back on.  Tighten them as reasonably as possible (don't tighten them on like a monkey, but don't tighten them on like a kitty).

Put your caliper brackets back onto your steering knuckle and place your brake pads into the brackets.  Re-apply anti-squeal grease if you don't have much grease on the back of your pads.

Torque your spindle nut as much as possible with your impact gun and then notch the flange on the spindle nut by taking a chisel and a mallet to it.  Notice that the flange is smashed into the groove in the spindle.

Now, bolt your wheel speed sensor, wheel speed sensor line bracket, and brake line bracket back onto your strut.  In addition, re-install your caliper.  Calipers are important for stopping.  Stopping is good...unless you want to die.

Give everything a good torque (remember your strut bolts and everything else).  Inspect all bolts and makes sure everything is tightened to spec and you're good!  Put your wheels back on, torque them to spec, and take your car off of jacks!

Now you're good to go.  Go test drive that bitch and have a good time!  Until next time, enjoy yourself :)