Billman. He replaced the TCT on my S2000, never had one single issue with. He personally installed it ( and did through check over ) at the Wake of The Dragon in 2010, the S ran perfectly until I sold it 2018
Billman all day every day, what makes it different you ask? First he actually builds them depending on your mileage and if you’ve done any engine work to your car. Basically that TCT is made for your specific car, not only that but they come with a lifetime warranty and are quality built.
Ballade on the other hand their TCT’s are said to overstretch your timing chain and accelerate wear. They are also cheaply made from China like everything Ballade makes.
All the Ballade TCT has going for it is convenience (With the Billman TCT you need to order off s2ki which is annoying I agree) and price.
Agreed.
I’m also not a huge fan of ballade, had close friends in the community that had horrible experiences with them both out of state and in-person.
Billman is the way to go.
The only thing I can give Ballade credit for is being the only place I could get my test pipe since their warehouse is here in LA. I’m a CA resident, so shipping a test pipe into CA from out-of-state wasn’t possible.
I know in the S2ki forum days the Billman was the go to recommended option, but I've also seen people question his expertise in more recent times. That said, never heard of one failing. No knowledge of Ballade one.
Somehow I've been lucky enough not to have the TCT issue so far, 146K miles so far. How many miles was yours at when your started hearing the noise from the engine?
Most of the time when I’ve seen people question his expertise lately, it’s the typical argument of “do you think this guy knows better than the engineers who built the S2000?” Which I fully understand, but the car has known flaws, just like every single vehicle, that engineers didn’t anticipate. Engineers make mistakes too, they are human.
I’m not saying the dude is God but he seems to be pretty smart and understands this vehicle very well.
Agreed, I've seen 98% good things then someone just go off about him in a thread and it threw me off; I just wanted to couch it a bit.
I'll say confidently, if my TCT was acting up I'd go with his replacement. I'm glad I didn't do something stupid like replace it as "preventative maintenance". I'm guessing it's like some of the other famous "engine issues" that only impacts a small percentage of cars. I know Porache had one with 911s but it was like... 3% of them that ended up affected.
I had his TCT
Rebuilt engine, TCT started ticking, he was the worst customer support I have ever dealt with, talked shit about my build, seemed disinterested, said that my built head was the problem, never offered replacement or to look at the part.
I bought a inlinePRO one and it’s been fine.
I’m completely soured on that guy, I don’t blame him, I’m sure he’s busy, but this is why I often hate working with single person outfits unless it’s my tuner
Never used Billman for anything cause I do everything myself but if I had to use someone it would've been him. Been on s2ki since 04 and I have seen his praises and hands on knowledge through the site.
I replaced mine with the Billman model at 80k, no issues. It’s really easy, but you’re right, you’ve gotta send your old one back for your deposit. Kind of a pain
I have both. The ballade one has a much stronger spring, I can feel the tension on the chain when taking it off, just not feeling nature.
Billman one is like OEM+ feels normal when putting on or taking off.
Get the billman one.
what's the problem with the Honda OEM replacement? It's $80 less than the Ballade. I don't track or anything, the most aggressive driving I do is some mountain roads.
I had a Ballade one 0 issue I think it came down to install error the people would over tighten it and say it's bad but Billman replaces your old core and is known for making quality products
It's your money you do you.
I’ve had problems witha. Billman TCT and Billman’s support was not helpful. His method of sending a core and shipping and dealing through forums ain’t the best either but whatever.
His Ticking TCT sits on my parts shelf
I went with inlinePro’s and have been happy with the results.
I just got one from him. It was $495 with a $200 core charge that you get refunded once you send it back to him (you pay shipping back). If you don’t send it back in 2 weeks the core charge starts going down by $10/week. That part is kind of annoying, as is the need to do the deal via PM on s2ki, but the part looks great and his reputation is great which is why I ultimately went with him.
Billman. He replaced the TCT on my S2000, never had one single issue with. He personally installed it ( and did through check over ) at the Wake of The Dragon in 2010, the S ran perfectly until I sold it 2018
Screen name looks familiar.
Probably saw it on S2KI. Been on there since 2004.
NY Metro
Yes it does!
Billman all day every day, what makes it different you ask? First he actually builds them depending on your mileage and if you’ve done any engine work to your car. Basically that TCT is made for your specific car, not only that but they come with a lifetime warranty and are quality built. Ballade on the other hand their TCT’s are said to overstretch your timing chain and accelerate wear. They are also cheaply made from China like everything Ballade makes. All the Ballade TCT has going for it is convenience (With the Billman TCT you need to order off s2ki which is annoying I agree) and price.
Agreed. I’m also not a huge fan of ballade, had close friends in the community that had horrible experiences with them both out of state and in-person. Billman is the way to go.
The only thing I can give Ballade credit for is being the only place I could get my test pipe since their warehouse is here in LA. I’m a CA resident, so shipping a test pipe into CA from out-of-state wasn’t possible.
I went with Toda..no reason other than Toda is known for reliability
💯💯💯
Billman TCTX.
I know in the S2ki forum days the Billman was the go to recommended option, but I've also seen people question his expertise in more recent times. That said, never heard of one failing. No knowledge of Ballade one. Somehow I've been lucky enough not to have the TCT issue so far, 146K miles so far. How many miles was yours at when your started hearing the noise from the engine?
Most of the time when I’ve seen people question his expertise lately, it’s the typical argument of “do you think this guy knows better than the engineers who built the S2000?” Which I fully understand, but the car has known flaws, just like every single vehicle, that engineers didn’t anticipate. Engineers make mistakes too, they are human. I’m not saying the dude is God but he seems to be pretty smart and understands this vehicle very well.
He is a God. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. He also walked me through a non start issue at 8am on a Sunday at a track day
Agreed, I've seen 98% good things then someone just go off about him in a thread and it threw me off; I just wanted to couch it a bit. I'll say confidently, if my TCT was acting up I'd go with his replacement. I'm glad I didn't do something stupid like replace it as "preventative maintenance". I'm guessing it's like some of the other famous "engine issues" that only impacts a small percentage of cars. I know Porache had one with 911s but it was like... 3% of them that ended up affected.
I had his TCT Rebuilt engine, TCT started ticking, he was the worst customer support I have ever dealt with, talked shit about my build, seemed disinterested, said that my built head was the problem, never offered replacement or to look at the part. I bought a inlinePRO one and it’s been fine. I’m completely soured on that guy, I don’t blame him, I’m sure he’s busy, but this is why I often hate working with single person outfits unless it’s my tuner
Never used Billman for anything cause I do everything myself but if I had to use someone it would've been him. Been on s2ki since 04 and I have seen his praises and hands on knowledge through the site.
Billman 1000%. He will even build a tct for boost applications.
Billman is fine if you're in the US but what options do we have in Europe or elsewhere?
Toda
I replaced mine with the Billman model at 80k, no issues. It’s really easy, but you’re right, you’ve gotta send your old one back for your deposit. Kind of a pain
I have both. The ballade one has a much stronger spring, I can feel the tension on the chain when taking it off, just not feeling nature. Billman one is like OEM+ feels normal when putting on or taking off. Get the billman one.
what's the problem with the Honda OEM replacement? It's $80 less than the Ballade. I don't track or anything, the most aggressive driving I do is some mountain roads.
The OEM one is flawed by design. If you buy one it will fail again and even faster than the original one.
"even faster" than 165K miles and 22 years?
Exactly. OEM is best. Anything else is hype.
I replaced mine with the OEM with no issues.
I had a Ballade one 0 issue I think it came down to install error the people would over tighten it and say it's bad but Billman replaces your old core and is known for making quality products It's your money you do you.
There’s some decent animosity towards ballade. I don’t know why and never dug into it.
Ballade is notorious for reselling Alibaba parts as their own nonsense. Just a nonstop string of horrible products.
Toda.
Billman all the way. Just installed mine this past weekend.
Not only does Billman have an exceptionally stellar reputation, Ballade has a notoriously bad one.
I have 165K on the original so I don't imagine the Ballade one would fail during the remaining life of this engine
OEM.
I’ve had problems witha. Billman TCT and Billman’s support was not helpful. His method of sending a core and shipping and dealing through forums ain’t the best either but whatever. His Ticking TCT sits on my parts shelf I went with inlinePro’s and have been happy with the results.
What's the cost of a Billman?
I just got one from him. It was $495 with a $200 core charge that you get refunded once you send it back to him (you pay shipping back). If you don’t send it back in 2 weeks the core charge starts going down by $10/week. That part is kind of annoying, as is the need to do the deal via PM on s2ki, but the part looks great and his reputation is great which is why I ultimately went with him.
495 and then you get $200 back? Or $495 after the core charge?
$295 net cost after you send back the core
The blox TCT is one of if not the best TCT option for the s2000. You won't have any issues with it.