Exclusive Content…Big Mike’s Prelude build…Part 5…
This guy…always taking Myspace pics even if he doesn’t have an account….Well things have slowed down a bit due to work and school for Big Mike but he did find some time to take some stuff apart and wash the car even though it was in pieces…
Header and downpipe came off today…
Slightly used RMF header anyone?….
That’s love right there.
In the words of Big Mike:
I can’t let my car be dirty, even when it’s getting torn apart… -
Back with more as it comes…
Exclusive Content…Big Mike’s Prelude build…Part 4…
More teardown in this section and the beginning of some line work…on with the pics shall we?…
The rollbar had to come out because the rear seats and all had to go…
…All the unnecessary wiring was on it’s way out as well…
Rywire himself was on hand to custom make the fuel and brake lines…
Mostly pics today, more to come later…
An Inter-”Lude”…Big Mike drops by to say a few words…
I actually got a couple hundred things going on this week so I figured I would let the man behind the Prelude rebuild himself, Big Mike, speak on his own behalf. It’s rare to see a build spotlighted on a site like this and broadcasted exclusively to it’s readers. Usually you get a couple snippets here and there and boom, you got the finished product. This one will be different. We’re taking you from the beginning to it’s eventual debut at Nisei Showoff and though some aspects will be left to the imagination until then, we’ll try to bring you as close as we can with the details. Big Mike and I think that we have a good thing going here and I couldn’t be happier to be the home of his build. We just want to thank you guys now for reading and hope that you’re as excited for the finished product as we are. I’m gonna hand it off to Big Mike now so he can say a few things….
Vision. Drive. Passion. Work. Blood. Sweat. Love. All of these words
describe what we do, how we do, what we feel, how we feel, and who we
are. And when it comes to our cars, well, I’m sure that all of you
know what I’m talking about.The Prelude. Ironically fitting words to describe this build covered
here on The Chronicles. I am always thinking, planning, envisioning,
working, saving, watching, and learning. The intelligence, ingenuity,
artistry and creativity that has sprung up within the world of the
elite Honda enthusiast is absolutely amazing to me, and I feed on it.
This new vision that I have for my Prelude is the culmination of ideas
and inspirations and time and money, all of which are flying around,
colliding with each other causing collisions and explosions that lead
to more… and more… and more. It is a never-ending process, and I
love it.With this rebuild of my Prelude, I have aligned myself with
respectable, reputable, hardworking companies and individuals who
share the same work ethic and passion as me, and I have been honored
by them in return in that they have given me their respect as well. I
am collaborating heavily with a man and a company that I highly
respect and admire, and our business dealings have led to a
sponsorship and more importantly, a friendship. Bisi Ezerioha and
BISIMOTO Engineering will be the title sponsor of the Prelude and I
couldn’t ask for anything more in a company, and neither can you. Take
the time to check out www.Bisimoto.com and check out their new
facility located at 1916 S. Lynx Place, Ontario, CA 91761. Another
person and company that is heavily involved in the Prelude rebuild is
Ryan Basseri of RyWire.com. After seeing his work on multiple cars
that caught my attention, I started paying closer attention and
scrutinizing the man and his company, and the result is a
collaboration. The end result speaks for itself. Ryan’s skills in
wiring are very well known, but what isn’t well known is his skill in
custom brake lines and fuel setups, amongst other things. All of his
talents and abilities are being utilized in this build, and without
his help it would be excruciatingly difficult to meet the strict
deadlines that I have set for myself. Take the time to check out
RyWire.com.Discussion happens right here: http://nwp4life.zeroforum.com/zerothread?id=32206
Thank you for reading my thoughts and words, there is more to come.
Till then, God bless. -
Were you reading that whole thing in Big Mike’s voice in your head? Haha, creepy ain’t it!…More progress pics coming real soon…
Exclusive Content…Big Mike’s Prelude build…part 3…
Hmm…not sure what happened here but at the pace Big Mike is going with this build, it almost isn’t surprising…
The F20B is now officially out, clearing the way for the entire bay to be stripped down…
One of the first things that had to come out after the engine was the gigantic ABS unit. Having ABS is good of course but not for this kind of build. The OE Honda ABS unit is so bulky and comes with so many extra lines that there’s no way to have a completely cleaned and tucked bay with it in there. Not to mention that extra fusebox and wiring that’s required to run the entire ABS unit…
Fusebox out…
Brake booster, master & slave cylinder, hard lines, all out…
Gutted.
Here’s a shot of Big Mike’s arm after it got caught up on some cut hardlines. It’s bleeding arm hair haha…
Once the bay was completely stripped, the attention turned to the interior. The dash, carpet, and seats are all coming out…
Yes, I’m also wondering why there’s a clothes hanger just chillin under the carpet…
That’s it for now. With the work week coming up, the progress may slow down just a tad because Big Mike actually has a job and school…but to give you guys an idea of what’s coming next…
New parts…
…and custom brake and fuel lines…
Thanks for looking.
Exclusive Content…Big Mike’s Prelude build…Part 2…
Back with Part 2 of Big Mike’s rebuild…
Most of this section is just based on the teardown of the Prelude. Big Mike is really goin to work on this thing basically devoting all his time outside of work to get this car done in time for Nisei. He spent alot of time over at Bisimoto wrenching on his car and waiting for the influx of parts to roll in. Sorry for the minor delay, we had an issue getting all the pics back and forth to eachother but that has since been corrected and we can move on smoothly. Not much else left to sayother than that, the pics do all the talking…
Engine is on it’s way out….back with more later. Once this motor comes out, bay clean-up begins as well as custom line work…
Exclusive Content…Big Mike’s Prelude Build…Part 1…
Just in case you guys haven’t figured it out by now, the “big” announcement is indeed the announcement that The Chronicles will be the exclusive home to Big Mike’s Prelude rebuild. He’s got so much unbelieveable shit that he’s gonna do to this Prelude leading up to Nisei Import Showoff. I can’t even begin to tell you all the details. Well, I really can’t because I don’t even know ALL the details. Most of it is even a surprise to me and I’ll be watching the progress along with you guys. It’s an honor to be the host of this build and I’m gonna do my best to do this car justice by bringing you guys the step-by-step in full detail. What I can tell you is that Big Mike will be using alot of prototype Bisimoto parts and the entire car will get a full respray in a different color. It’s gonna be wild, trust me…Just looking at the header is crazy enough. It looks like a chinese woman’s foot back in the early ages when they did foot-binding… Fucking. Serious.
Take a good look at this bay because it’s not gonna be the same ever again…
The majority of part 1 will just focus mainly on the disassembly of the ‘Lude…
Everything is coming off…fenders, sides, etc….With all the custom stuff that’s gonna go into the engine bay, it’s best to remove anything that’s not essential…
You can see how much detail was paid to this build originally just by seeing how clean everything is when parts are off the car. I mean, the parts that you would never even see are cleaner than most people’s cars on a good day…
Here’s a test-fit of the custom Bisimoto header. This is basically just for fitment purposes and a preview for everyone. The final header will be coated and refinished so it will look even more ridiculous…
A closer look…
Be back with the second part as soon as I get it from Mike. Big Mike himself will be stepping in to say a few words and give you guys an idea of what runs through his head on a build of this caliber….I promise he’ll attempt to be as entertaining as the good looking guy that runs this site…
A nostalgic moment…more Xanthic Design stuff…
I showed you the Civic from Xanthic so I guess I might as well show you the car that kinda got them noticed, at least stateside anyway. This silver carbon bodied Prelude is the sick. Then and now. Everything about it just screams ingenuity. Alot of japanese “Spocom” style, with loads of creativity that can’t be defined by a genre…I mean, when it comes from Xanthic and Weld Techniques Factory, would you really expect anything else?…
I actually read somewhere that when this car debuted at Tokyo Auto Salon or a similar show in ’05, many of the japanese spectators were asking what kind of car it was because this body Prelude is rarely modified at such an extreme level. Let’s start with the exterior. The entire exterior of this Prelude was redone completely in Xanthic’s signature silver carbon fiber. I think this might have been the first car that features the reverse tilt hood that was done in collaboration with Weld…
Front fenders were 10mm wider to house the 19×8 Iforged Swift wheels, brake upgrades included a NSX caliper swap with Weld brake rotors and pads. Imagine how rare that would be for someone stateside to rock some Weld brake parts. 90% of the people probably don’t even know that those parts existed…
You don’t really see Iforged wheels that often in Japan which fits the style of this build which of course is geared more towards US-themed builds. The trend follows into the interior with all the Sparco gear…
Full custom dash set-up with silver carbon like the exterior. That gigantic contraption sitting in place of the rear view mirror was a Sard RD-1 gauge unit…
Gotta love the grey mini-truck felt that lined the roof..haha. And of course the TJ-style fire extinguisher. I think if this thing were to catch fire you should probably just run because the whole thing would just melt. But who knows maybe Xanthic created some Jesus carbon fiber that doesn’t born…
The outside casing of the monitor looks a bit weird but I think that’s the effect that they were aiming for…
The rear followed the same theme along with the rear seats removed in place of a nitrous bottle and more sound equipment…
The bay is probably the most impressive of the entire build. Weld custom 4 barrel individual throttle bodies, Jun headwork, Weld full titanium exhaust system hooked to a Tanabe header, and NOS direct-port nitrous set-up. Tuned by Weld, the H22 was able to make 325hp on nitrous…Other trick parts included Weld power steering and coolant resevoir tanks…
For full weight reduction, driver and passenger were required to drive without clothing on as pictured here…It didn’t matter if it was a gloomy day or not…haha.
Here’s a shot of the center exit exhaust that I left out…
Overall it was a pretty extreme build but it had enough subtlety about it where you wouldn’t really notice until you really looked within. It’s a great example of Spocom Japanese-themed tuning at it’s finest. Even though alot of the USDM Jam/Spocom style tuning is mostly based on rebadging and USDM parts, Xanthic and Weld took it to another level. The Ej1 had the euro lights and the lambo doors but the Prelude doesn’t, which makes it still a pretty relevant build if it appeared stateside here and competed. Though with all the work, it would have probably been just a display vehicle more so than a build competing with street cars here. I could see it participating in a HIN or in the upper echelon EXE class of Showoff though…
On another note, I was driving home from San Diego today when some guy in an Integra was following me with one highbeam on, probably cuz he can’t afford to replace his super blue headlight bulb. I drive a 4-Runner so I kinda just changed lanes and then I happen to be side by side with a white CD Accord. I guess this thing thought that it was apart of Tokyo Street Racer or some shit and decided to go ape shits and tried to race the Integra. Mind you, both cars were less than spectacular and besides the traffic, the white Accord was also rolling on a fuckin spare donut wheel. Those things aren’t even meant to be driven over 55mph and this guy was doing ricer fly-bys and trying to provoke the Integra. The Integra wanted no part of it I guess so everytime the Integra would drive off the Accord would cut his ass off and then rev or some shit. I just wanna give that dude a shout-out if he reads this. Fuck you douchebag. Thanks for reading though….You know they make that smaller tire for temporary use and not for racing you fuck.
