You know that saying, "There's no such thing as a stupid question?" Well, we believe that to be bull. So does Eric Hsu, for that matter, and unlike any bleeding-heart grade school counselor that may have told you otherwise, he's not afraid to call you out on it.
So think long and hard about any questions you have for him, then drop a line to: questionit@importtuner.com.
Military Ride
I am a proud owner of a JDM '99 Honda Prelude SiR Type S, and am currently stationed in Okinawa, Japan. I was wondering if you know how I could get this car back to the States and be able to drive it on public roads. This car is rare here and I was lucky enough to get one in near-new condition. I baby this car a lot and I am starting to tune it, but I don't want to leave it behind when I move back to the States.
-Woody
Via the Internet
If you're lucky and play your cards right, you'll have less hassle bringing that Prelude back to the States, since it's based on a model that exists here already. And since you're in the military, your relocation back could include free shipping of a personal vehicle. Perhaps you can contact a government office that concerns itself with the relocation of military staff. Otherwise, getting the car legally registered in the U.S. would be difficult unless the car is on a federal list of cars that a registered importer can legalize here in the States (which it probably isn't). You would have to check with the DOT and the EPA to find out who these companies are, given the state where you live. One company that has a lot of experience with JDM cars is jspecconnect.com. They bring in a good deal of Skyline GT-Rs and generally know what is needed to bring in cars that are not on the federal list of approved cars. There are other ways to do it, but those methods are grey at best. There has been a recent increase in customs agents investigating illegally imported JDM cars, so beware of false promises from shady importing "businesses".
Stud Maintenance
Recently, I read an article which suggested applying a lubricant (I think it was WD-40) to wheel lug studs to insure ease of lug nut fastening, accurate torque readings on the wrench, and to prolong stud life. This advice seems contrary to what I have been told over the years, that being: Lubricant should never be applied to studs. Who's right here?
-Ron Escue
Enkei Int'l. Inc.
On all of the shop demo and race cars that we built while I was at XS Engineering, we did a combination of the two. We would always clean the studs first and then apply a thin coat of moly based, non-metallic anti-seize lubricant-Loctite item #51606 to be exact-and we never experienced a broken or loosened stud. On the race cars with extended studs, we would also round the ends to get wheels on and off faster at the track. The Loctite and rounded studs never gave me a problem, and I'm sure both helped to make things trouble free.
It's A Series Of Tubes...
I have an '06 Acura TSX with the original K24A2 in it. It's a great car with the biggest naturally aspired K out there. DAZZ Motorsport had one, as does the 5Zigen team. I think the car has proven itself more than once, yet I still can't find many performance parts for it, namely a turbo kit. Please help!
-Nelson Petrosyan
Los Angeles, CA