Bare with me…I’m currently at my parent’s house for Chinese New Year festivities and the computer I’m using was the same one I used almost 8 years ago and it’s age reflects it’s speed…

Anyways, today’s updates consists of me eating a bit of crow, figuratively speaking of course…We all know Mike G’s Civic aka “Tank” and we have all learned of the lore and legend behind it’s existance…In reality of course, outside of the internet world, the car, much like ourselves, leads a much different life. I’ve known Mike for quite some time now and I’m not afraid to admit that I and the rest of the homies have basically sat back and watch this car sit for almost 6 years. Life outside of Hondas took over Mike’s life and getting the car back together was not a huge priority anymore. We all just kind accepted that fact and really had no hurry to push Mike to bring his car back. After all this time, most people didn’t even know that the car was still around. When Mike G informed all of us that he was bringing “Tank” back, we really didn’t know what to think. The only thing we thought of whenever he talked about his car were the images from years ago that still continue to be posted all over the internet today. I personally was a little iffy about the whole thing because I just didn’t think that he had the resources to get it done. That and I was worried that maybe his time had past and him bringing the car back out would not get the recognition he anticipated because the community had shifted so greatly from 5 years before. So I sat back and whenever he had something to show me, I would give him my feedback. When I was notified that he would possibly be getting the cover of Super Street’s annual Honda Issue, I was starting to think that this car would get some steam behind it and make a real push in 2010.

And then everything snowballed.

I know that Mike might not want me to talk about this stuff but hey, let’s be real. I’m not one of those random ass people from some other part of the country that just merely tunes in and gives him props to boost his ego. While I may not be incredibly close to Mike by any means, we have stood side by side and I’ve come to know him pretty well, for better or worse. It started to snowball when the car wasn’t in running condition for Eibach, and then the car wasn’t ready for its mag shoot, and when it finally came time for the car to be tuned, the motor just took a shit. It was set to make it’s huge return in running form at Nisei Showoff last year but with all the problems the motor saw, it just didn’t happen. Shit basically hit the fan. The lore of “Tank” had a sudden dose of reality…things weren’t good. I’m not gonna go into the reasons why the motor was fucked because I honestly don’t know the real story, all you need to know is that the car was fucked. And yes, no matter what the numbers were that you heard from whomever told you, yes…it was probably right on. News traveled quickly on the internet. Of course during that time, Mike and I had a bit of a falling out. It wasn’t anything serious or terribly personal and I also won’t really elaborate on it but it took me a couple months to finally want to listen to what Mike had to tell me or even absorb his words but hey, we can’t always see eye to eye on things. That’s just life. I finally realized that Mike G is who he is and I am who I am and we will butt heads. Whatever happened happened and he and I are good. Throughout 2010 however, with all that was happening to “Tank”, we all kinda sat back and waited to see what was coming next. Many of us who know Mike personally were wondering if he was going to crack. Nothing really worked out the way he wanted it to and anybody who was faced with the car issues that he had would have totally been down.

Luckily for Mike G., he had good help and Mike from Plan B Motorsports decided to take on the project and help him get the car running correctly. Mike was to tear the motor apart and reassemble it, fixing whatever was wrong with it along the way. The end result, to put it simply,…was better than anyone expected. We all waited for Mike G. to hit us with more bad news, because it started to become a reoccurring theme for him. It’s fucked up to say, but that’s the truth. Nothing seemed to be going his way and the car didn’t look like it would ever run. When news hit a couple days ago of what Mike and Doug at Plan B were able to accomplished, we were shocked. Not shocked because we had no faith in Plan B, because Mike knows what he’s doing and he’s very good at what he does, but because the motor was able to make GREAT power. They got “Tank” running again and it runs fucking good….

261.6HP/182LB-FT on 91 Octane. The “Michael Douglas” as the Plan B guys have come to call it, is making K-series type numbers. That’s pretty impressive…

Here are the specs…

GSR Motor AKA Michael Douglas, assembled by Doug and I @ Plan B Motorsports
Machine work done by RS Machine
Ported Head
85mm CP 11.9:1
GSR Eagle Rods
Clevite Bearings
Skunk2 Pro Series IM
Skunk2 72mm TB
Skunk2 Pro 2+ Degreed by Dave & Dr. Charles @ Skunk2
Skunk2 Valve Train
Skunk2 Header
Eric Valdez (Street Image) custom 3″ exhaust and turn down which houses the Burns Stainless Muffler
Eric Valdez (Street Image) fitted the GSR trans w/ an LSD to get the Michael Douglas powered Tank rolling.
Greg (Go-Autoworks) custom 3inch Cold Air Intake

I call this post “Eating Crow” because I was very skeptical as to if this car would ever run again. Not only is it running now, thanks to Plan B Motorsports, it’s running strong and it’s healthy. I kinda felt that everyone gave this car a little too much credit when it came back because it was based purely on aesthetics and just simply because it was “Tank”. I just wasn’t ready to really accept this project fully yet because I didn’t know what direction Mike G was going. Knowing that this car is in the type of running condition it is now puts a bit of a smile on my face. I knew a majority of what was going on behind the scenes and to see this car making pulls in the Youtube videos I’ve attached below finally makes me believe that “Tank is back”. Big props go out to Plan B Motorsports and to Mike G for following through on the car. With all that had happened in 2010, I was almost beginning to think that the car was going to sit another 6 years…

Here are some pics from Mike G. himself when the car was at Church Automotive Testing…

I know some of you may have looked at the dyno sheet image and wondered why it said “turbo eg” on it. No, it’s not turbocharged. The name was existent because Mike G. had dyno’d there before and that was the file name it was designated. This incarnation of “Tank” is all-motor….

Mike G’s still got some loose ends to tie up here and there but when he’s ready, we’re gonna schedule a time to get some better photos of it for The Chronicles. For now, check out the videos below…

Like someone on his NWP4Life thread said….”Welcome back Mike”…

Thanks for looking…