It's been almost 6 weeks since dropping her off at the body shop and almost 5 months since we started this project but Bumblestook is finally back in her full glory. Eric and the boys over at
K2 Auto Body in Edgewater, NJ did a fantastic job not only with the respray but making all the panels fit perfectly. She came out even better than what I had envisioned in my head.
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| Bumblestook - 6-5-2018 |
One of my major goals with this project was to retain as much of Bumblestook's original racing heritage under the hood while taking her back into presentable streetable form. I wanted to put her together in a way that stayed true to my original design ethos when she became a competitive BSP car which was to take all the best parts of each generation S2000. Her exterior reflects that design ethos, with parts from every major revision, AP1, AP2 and CR while of course adding a little extra zing from my favorite tuning company of all, Mugen.
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| Bumblestook - 6-5-2018 |
To get her color to really pop, she was painted in 4 stages; a bright white base color, Rio Yellow on top, then a layer of pearl then finally clear coat. One of the design goals was to not noticeably interrupt the gorgeous OEM lines. The shop resealed the rear quarters, redid the holes and installed new threaded inserts to make sure the ASM overfenders fit perfectly flush including pulling the rear bumper out to line up perfectly. The downforce front fenders were reworked heavily to fit even better than stock and in the side view, even discerning S2000 owners wouldn't be able to tell you the car is now 25mm wider. To keep the lines flowing and to further hide her muscular stance, Downforce carbon fiber 1x1 weave side diffusers were added. This serves two purposes. First, aesthetically it traces the outline of the car better and giving a splash of black in keeping with her yellow/black color scheme. Secondly, it's there to keep cones from creating large streaks on the rocker panels when I run them over at an autocross. She's widebody without flaunting it.
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| ASM rear over fenders - 6-5-2018 |
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Downforce 25mm wider front fenders and
Downforce CF side diffuser - 6-5-2018 |
In the front, the only cue left that she is actually an AP1 in disguise are her AP1 OEM lights. Many prefer the AP2 lights which in some ways I do as well but this is a salute to her origin. They've been polished up and clear coated to bring back some new life. Her chassis is still very much AP1 and the lively and raw character found in all AP1s is still very much there and it was important for me to keep that heritage alive in her exterior.
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| Bumblestook - 6-5-2018 |
Only looking at her head on do you suddenly realize something is different. She's got a wider, more athletic stance than a normal S2000 with broad shoulders to let you know she's pretty but means business. In the rear, the previously all black painted Mugen wing was stripped of paint showing her original carbon fiber textures. The wing is now body colored with the side carbon fiber exposed just like Mugen intended. Decked out in authentic Mugen goodies, for the first time, she deservedly and proudly wears the Mugen badge in her rear. No replica parts here...this is the real deal.
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| Bumblestook - 6-5-2018 |
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| Bumblestook - 6-5-2018 |
Since she's going to see track time again, we've got a rear tow hook back on the car. I finally found a manufacturer that doesn't make flimsy ones. The
Raceseng tow hook is not only an eye catching design but is really well constructed. I just hope I never have to use it. The antenna was also deleted and the hole sealed over to give her a cleaner look.
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| Raceseng rear tow hook - 6-5-2018 |
Lastly, and for me what really completes the car, are the 17x9 +42 Mugen MF10s all around wrapped in 255/40/17 Bridgestone Potenza RE-71Rs.
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| Mugen MF10 - 6-5-2018 |
The build isn't over yet though. Later this week the interior is going back in and we're going to be buttoning up the final pieces of mechanical work then she'll be ready for some testing.
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