After all that USDM Jam coverage, it almost feels a little odd now to go back and post some actual builds from America, haha. I know the annual Toyotafest event was this past weekend, but there was just so much going on last weekend that I could only squeeze in enough time to attend one event, which was Sportcar Motion’s open house/meet. Sportcar hasn’t thrown a meet in like 3 years now but Loi decided one day a couple weeks ago to put a meet together at his shop. It wasn’t very heavily promoted on the web so I didn’t expect too big of a turn-out. SCM is also in sort of a random location as well so if you haven’t been there, it’s not the easiest place to fine. I chose to go to the Sportcar event instead of Toyotafest because Loi is a good friend of mine and he’s always been an essential part of this site’s success. In the beginning, I had no real idea how to use a camera or how to shoot and Loi was one of the guys that really helped me get my photography to where it is today. I am pretty much self-taught but Loi has always been the guy to supply the equipment for me. He was a photography major in college so he just always had camera gear laying around that I could use. He’s so busy these days building his time attack Hondas and running a business that it doesn’t leave him a whole lot of time to shoot anything. He just goes to events now with his Canon S90 digital camera and gets photos with that. When I first started, I didn’t even have a camera. Loi had an old Canon Rebel XT that he wasn’t using because he had upgraded and basically gave it to me to use for whatever I wanted. If it weren’t for that old camera, I wouldn’t even know how to operate a camera today. All the credit goes out to Loi so I always make it a point to help him out whenever he needs something. I originally met him a couple years ago through mutual friends and started hanging out at his shop when I lived in San Diego. We formed a friendship and I am happy to see all the success he has achieved now with his time attack builds. Back when I first met him, he hadn’t really even got that heavily involved with time attack yet so it’s crazy to see how much Sportcar Motion has accomplished in such a short amount of time…
When Loi first mentioned that he and Morgan were putting a meet together, I didn’t think we would be able to make it down there because I thought it fell on the same day as DPK David’s wedding shower. I told him we might not make it and then I checked my calender and found out that it was the day before. Even still, the girls had a lot of stuff to prepare for the shower so we had to set aside some time to make the drive down to San Diego for the meet. At first I didn’t think the girls were even going to come but I guess with all the hectic preparation that had been going on the days leading up to the shower, they needed a little break and the girls decided to come along…
Rodrez getting some gas for his side project FA5 Civic SI before we headed down to SD. DPK David rolled out in his Civic coupe as well and I drove May’s three hub-capped Yaris…haha…
When we got there, I really had to pee so I ran inside to the bathroom and on the way, I spotted Ryan Novak’s R33 Skyline GT-R. You probably know that name more for the Honda projects that he has but when you’re ballin’ out of control like him, you can occasionally drive a Skyline too…
I don’t see too many R33 GTRs nowadays after the U.S. government seized a majority of them…
Shot of the engine bay on Novak’s GTR… The R35 GTR is definitely an amazing car but there is still an indescribable feeling whenever you have a R32, 33, or 34 in front of you…
The interior of the R33 Skyline is as mint as can be…
Outside of the shop, the first two cars I took a close look at were Enrique Rosario and Alex Colon’s Civics…
Enrique’s Civic has made huge strides since I first saw it a couple years back… he recently re-did somethings and the car is looking really good these days…
The engine bay is about as clean as it is going to get without deleting the brake booster and redoing the brake hard lines…
Alex’s Civic rocking the SCM front bumper sold by Sportcar Motion…
His bay is looking pretty good as well. You can spot his Rywire mil-spec harness and plate against the firewall… Also spot a lot of Skunk2 accessories…
Loi Song from Sportcar Motion snapping some photos of Rodrez’s baby…
A rare photo of father and son…
FA5 Civic with FD2 conversion and Mugen RR (or RR-style) front bumper…. Also has TE37s on it but it would probably look slightly better (opinion) on some thicker tires. Just seems a little unnecessary to have such a skinny tire with all that room to play with…
The rear is also converted but with the ’09 and up FD2 Civic taillights. They are slightly more angular and less round than the taillights people usually use when doing the conversion…
Never seen this trunk before… Looks to be a “CSL” style trunk that you usually see on BMWs…it’s an interesting look…
Renzo Marsano’s FA5 Civic sedan that recently ran 1:59 at Buttonwillow. Anything below the 2-minute mark is pretty impressive, especially for a street car with full interior and no real aero upgrades…
17×9 WEDSport TC105Ns and Endless brakes…
Supertwinz John and Lost is Black aka Brandon…
Rywire NSX on matte black Regamaster EVOs…
Alex Peng’s S2000 that recently ran a 1:58 lap time at Buttonwillow during the Global Time Attack event…
“Big Red” aka Ken Suen’s FD2-converted Civic sedan and the Sportcar Motion Integra Type R…
Ken’s Civic has changed drastically from when I first spotted it in the parking lot of last year’s Spocom 2011 show… I heard he is making huge strides on the track as well and running some really good times…
Rays 57Motorsport G07WT wheels on Hankook RS3 tires… also note the Brembo brake caliper and the brake temperature strip on it…
If you haven’t noticed by now, the old ITR bumper is now temporarily back on the Integra after the custom-built front end from Evasive was destroyed during Global Time Attack…
World Racing’s Scion tC time attack car…not the one with the crazy wing on the front…
Lotus on black Volk CE28s…
Sportcar Motion’s “Dirty Hybrid” CR-Z on gold Advan Racing RG-Ds…
Loi recently got his other project, “LRRH”, back from World Racing. It was there for some fab work in the engine bay as well as the full cage…
The bay is nearing completion. Just a couple things here and there and it should be up and running again…
The dump pipes still need to be made as well as the rest of the plumbing for the intercooler…
Engine breather and oil catch from AFI Turbo…
AFI Turbo K-series intake manifold…
AFI turbo manifold… Can’t wait to see this thing running…
Morgan’s EK9 Civic Type R…
Another Sportcar Motion project that will eventually be finished…
Another shot of the “Dirty Hybrid”…
…and a shot of the K-swapped bay. I guess you can classify this car now as a “KR-Z”…
Jose Guzman’s RSX is coming along… He recently added J’s Racing front fenders to go with his Backyard Special bumper. He just needs to get his suspension dialed-in and the car should be hitting the road once again…
DPK David’s EJ1 coupe…
GRETS_ONE aka Joseph Riofrir used to own a gold Integra coupe a couple years back with an ITR front end on GAB Sport wheels that you guys may or may not remember. These days, he’s working on this 4-door Integra on Enkei J-Speed IIIs…
David Nguyen’s Integra on Volk TE37Vs… Not only does he have an ITR front end, he also has a right-hand drive conversion that has all the necessary paperwork…
I was wondering where his ITR wing went but when I spoke to him, he mentioned that his wing was getting painted…
PingPing’s authentic Canadian Acura CSX with Voltex wing and J’s Racing FD2 front bumper… I shot this car a couple months back when I encountered the abandoned puppy that Arn Reyes eventually took home…
If I remember correctly, he used to daily drive this CSX but now he uses it more for track events. He hasn’t added much else to the car since I shot it, the only thing I noticed was the orange ducting in his J’s bumper…
That pretty much wraps it up. We had a lot of stuff to take care of back at home before DPK David’s wedding shower that Sunday. We hung out for a little bit more with baby Maddox and then headed back up to LA…
Thanks to Sportcar Motion, Loi Song, and Morgan Jade for hosting the event and also providing stacks on stacks of pizza along with cold drinks…
