Helix Auto Works

01/18/2026

After cleaning up some of the engine components, I decided to take apart the oil pump from this C32B. To my surprise, the oil pump gear was stuck in place and showed signs of significant overheating.

The original C32B from the ’05 NSX also suffered an oil-related failure, based on the damage we found when we tore it down. I also had the chance to pick up parts from another C32B that experienced oil issues as well—making this three NSX C32B engines with oil-related problems that ultimately led to engine failure.

All three engines had different mileage but suffered from the same issue: oil problems and a spun cylinder #5 bearing. I even remember a few years ago a Targa 3.2 NSX that also spun a bearing during a track event.

I don’t know if there’s any direct correlation here, but it does seem like C32B engines may be a bit weaker in this area—or possibly have an oiling-related design issue. Or maybe it’s all just a coincidence. Either way, I’ll be in contact with the engine machine shop to see if there’s anything we can improve to help prevent this issue moving forward.

Have any other C32B owners experienced oil pressure issues or bearing failures, especially on cylinder #5?👀

Do you think this is a design limitation, a lubrication issue under certain conditions, or just coincidence?
I’ll be discussing possible improvements with the machine shop, but I’d really like to hear from the community.🙌

On a side note, I’ll be focusing more on the carbon fiber parts over the next couple of weeks while I wait for the engine and chassis work to be completed.

01/11/2026

Now that the mystery NSX bins are finally in the garage, I’ve started sifting through bags and containers, collecting loose parts from what feels like a massive NSX Lego set. It looks like some of these parts were left outdoors and uncovered at some point, judging by the water marks and mud/clay buildup in certain areas.

There’s definitely a lot of cleaning and degreasing ahead, but that was totally expected. The cylinder heads look to be in good shape—I’ll be dropping those off with Allen at Burtonsville Performance Machine. The block is heading to with Mike, and the crankshaft will be sent to Mile High Crankshaft in Colorado.

Fingers crossed this part of the project goes as smoothly as possible so we can start assembling the engine and get this car back on the road. In the meantime, I’ll be organizing and labeling everything to see if anything is missing—which, knowing my luck, it probably is.

On a side note, the NSX chassis PPF color change is just about finished. After that, the car will be heading back to so they can align all the panels and gaps and finally close out that chapter of the project once and for all.🙌

Stay tuned for more updates on this madness. 🏎🏁

12/23/2025

After the fiasco with the first 3D mold attempt, we decided to give this project another shot—this time learning from every mistake we made along the way.

We’ve now finished scanning the rest of the NSX interior parts, cleaned up the scan data, and created proper CAD files that we can refine, modify, and 3D print to make new molds. The goal is simple: produce our very own carbon fiber NSX interior parts.

This process is fully documented in the latest episode of Rescuing the Last Legend – Episode 8 (Part 1).

https://youtu.be/dSq6wl3qeDY

More progress, more lessons learned, and more carbon fiber coming soon. Stay tuned. 👀🔥

CarbonFiberParts 3DScanning 3DPrinting ReverseEngineering CarFabrication ProjectCar JDMBuild JDMLegends CarReels AutoReels JDMReels CustomInterior BuiltNotBought GarageLife HelixAutoWorks

12/18/2025

It’s time for the final color change on the NSX.

Now that all the key pieces have been removed to allow for a proper transformation, we’re applying a full PPF color film to get this beauty ready for next year’s car show season.

Huge thanks to our friends Ali and Samy at for teaming up with us and helping bring this part of the vision to life.

Things are coming together—slowly but surely—and we couldn’t be more excited.
Stay tuned for the final reveal 👀✨

JDM JDMLegends JDMNation JDMCulture ProjectCar CarBuild CarRestoration SupercarBuild CarWrap ColorChangeWrap PPF PaintProtectionFilm WrappedCars CarDetailing ShowCarBuild CarReels AutoReels BuiltNotBought GarageLife CarEnthusiast CarCulture RescuingTheLastLegend HelixAutoWorks ImportLegends NextLevelBuild

11/30/2025

I finally installed the upper and middle radiator support bars, replaced the cracked A/C line, fixed the hyperflashing issue, cleaned and polished the headlights, and reassembled the rear bumper.

The taillights and spoiler were a nightmare thanks to rusted hardware and glue, but they’re off. We washed, clayed, and polished the car for the wrap, replaced the damaged passenger fender, added Stacy side skirts, and installed the NSX-R front support bar for extra rigidity.

Now it’s ready to go on the trailer for its color-change transformation.

10/04/2025

09/28/2025

Moving forward with the project, we finally got the lower radiator support bars for the NSX. They took a little while to arrive, but they’re here at last. Honestly, we wish the parts had shown up back when we were working on the chassis in Georgia, but part availability with these cars can be tricky.

Thankfully, our friends at squeezed us in, welded the parts, and rechecked the measurements to make sure everything up front is straight. We also grabbed new front bumper brackets and other small bits to finish the front end.

On the interior side, Jay and I focused on the door windows—replacing the regulators, upgrading the guides to Teflon guides from , swapping the front and rear door sashes, cleaning and re-greasing the rails, and replacing most of the window clips.

The new A/C line is now installed, along with a fresh ignition key system. The car was missing parts, so we sourced a complete set to make it whole again.

Next up: cleaning carpets, refreshing the rear interior, and deciding whether to reupholster the OEM NSX seats or go carbon fiber.

What do you guys think OEM seats or Recaros? Stay tuned—this build is only getting better.

09/23/2025

After the little mishap with the carbon fiber mold, we shifted focus to the lighting system—and wow, it was a mess.

The taillights flickered, turn signals went crazy, and after digging in, we found a blown relay under the steering wheel that showed signs of moisture. Once replaced, everything worked again.

Up front, things got even weirder. Someone had installed aftermarket HID ballasts on a car that already came with factory HIDs 🤦. One ballast was from a BMW/Audi platform, and there was another random one sitting in a bag in the trunk. Options, I guess 🤣.

We cleaned it all up and replaced everything with a new set of aftermarket ballasts we sourced online. With a quick polarity swap on the connectors, they worked perfectly with the OEM harness.

Now that the trunk is cleaned up and the lights are sorted, next up: installing new A/C lines, seals, and dryer so we can finally get the front bumper panels back on. Slowly but surely, this NSX is coming together.

Link for the ballast.

https://amzn.to/46PV7Ca

09/15/2025

Took my first shot at making a mold for a carbon fiber interior piece 🔧✨

I 3D-scanned an old part, printed the plug in PLA, smoothed it out, primed, cleared, polished, waxed, and laid down gelcoat with fiberglass. Everything was looking good… until it came time to pull the plug. Let’s just say it didn’t exactly want to let go 😅 The clear and primer ended up delaminating with it.

Not the result I hoped for, but that’s part of the process. Every project teaches you something new, and this one definitely did. Next round, I’ll switch up the approach and give it another go 💪

Progress over perfection — if something doesn’t go as planned, don’t give up. Keep trying, keep grinding, family. We got this 🙌 Stay tuned for try number 2!

09/11/2025

After several months of waiting for parts to arrive from Japan, we were finally ready to repair the heavily damaged 6-speed transmission that came with this NSX. At first, I was only planning on replacing the transmission case, but after further review and some advice from my friend Ben at Daisy Auto, I decided to replace the clutch case too. That delayed the work a bit, but since we were going to take everything apart anyway, it made sense to swap everything at once.

During the inspection, we also replaced a couple of synchros that showed some wear—even though this transmission has very few miles on it. Every gear and shaft was carefully checked to avoid any future issues. After a few hours of patient work, the transmission got new cases (front and back), fresh synchros, and bearings—so it should be ready to handle another 100k miles without a problem. Big shoutout to Ben at Daisy for lending me a hand with this part of the project.

No word yet on a potential C32 replacement for the NSX, so at this point I’m considering using an early-generation C30A engine with either a supercharger or a turbocharger to make up for the lack of displacement. In the next few days, we’ll shift focus to the interior and, hopefully, have a partially complete NSX back in the garage soon.

08/30/2025

While the engine parts continue their long wait game, we decided to shift gears and start messing with the interior.

After successfully installing our upgraded sound system bracket, we moved on to 3D scanning the interior panels from the '05 NSX with the goal of creating our very own carbon fiber replacements.

The rear panels in these cars are made from a pressed cardboard-like material—which, in our case, had gotten wet somewhere along the way. And even though they’re wrapped in leather, the damage was done. The panels were warped and deformed, so we figured this was the perfect excuse to try something new.

Using our RaptorX scanner and our H2D , we replicated the original panels and now have a solid CAD file we can use going forward. Definitely not an easy task—we’ve never done anything like this before—but with the help of a few tutorials and some guidance from our friend Jeff over at , we’re feeling confident about the final product.

As for the rest of the project: like we mentioned in the last episode, we’re still waiting on engine parts to return so we can figure out if they’re reusable… or if it’s time to start considering a potential swap.

We also have a few A/C lines on the way from Amayama, and once they’re installed, we’ll finally be able to reassemble the front end and make this chassis look more like a complete car again.

We’ll keep you posted as soon as we hear anything new about the engine—or when the carbon fiber interior parts are finished.

Until then, thanks for following the journey, and stay tuned!

08/10/2025

Since the engine’s fate is still in the hands of the machine shop, we turned our attention to the NSX’s front-end damage.

When I first saw the car in California, the passenger-side rail was pushed in and bent, making the bumper sit awkwardly. Once the front end came off, measurements confirmed it—10 mm down and 10 mm inward from spec base on the NSX repair manual. The main damage was to the front passenger rail and the radiator support bar, which we hoped could be brought back to spec.

To tackle this, we took the car to our friends at Black Jack Frame Machines , who put it on the frame machine. After almost a full day of measuring, remeasuring, pulling, and pushing, we finally had the chassis back to factory spec. Some welding was needed on the radiator support bar and the passenger-side A/C condenser. I had wanted to replace the entire radiator support bar, but some parts weren’t available at the time we took the car to Georgia.

For the rest of the front end, the fenders had some damage, so we dropped them off at . Most of the remaining parts will need to be ordered new, since several were badly bent or poorly repaired in the past—like the upper section of the front bumper.

At this point, it’s just another waiting game. While we wait for the rest of the pieces of this huge puzzle to arrive, we’ll be working on some interior updates. Stay tuned for more.