The L.A. stop of the nationwide Wekfest Tour has always had a different feel for me than the rest. For one, the venue is so incredibly different than any of the other stops on the tour. Long Beach is so scenic and this show is the only one on the tour that is outdoors. It isn’t incredibly large so it doesn’t hold as many cars, but the sunlit waterfront location makes-up for the wide spaces that you usually get from the convention center floors. Secondly, the WFLA show is unique to me because I don’t carry the judging workload that I would usually get on the other stops. I always feel like Socal is too close to home for me (because, as a resident, it is) and it just wouldn’t be fair if I judged the Honda and Acura classes being that I am so familiar with everyone. It wouldn’t be fair to my friends because they wouldn’t be able to compete and I wouldn’t feel right picking them if it came down to them competing with say, another builder that had an equally as impressive car. I just think it is better for all parties if I just sat the WFLA show out and let someone else step-in to judge. They still give me some specialty awards to decide on as well as my own “Chronicles” award but for the most part, that is it. Instead of judging, I have my own booth to sell merchandise and I spend the rest of my afternoon doing what I think I do best; media coverage. Der has been busy partying, traveling, and not doing automotive stuff but he had a couple hours during the morning to help me do some filming for the Vlog series. While he was doing that, I was able to set-up the booth and shoot photos before the show officially opened to the public. I was able to get a ton of photos this time around because we got set-up pretty early and I didn’t have to do anything else. On the other stops of the tour I have to rush to shoot as much as I can because judging takes so long that it eats up whatever free time I have…

What was great about both the Eibach Honda Meet and the Wekfest LA event this year was the weather. My god, I swear, all of us rejoiced that morning of the Eibach Honda Meet when we realized that it wouldn’t get any hotter than high 70s. Wekfest LA tends to be a little cooler than Eibach because it is closer to the ocean but even so, it was overcast much of the morning and surprisingly comfortable throughout the day. I think everyone had a better time because of it and the overall mood that afternoon was very positive. I walked around shooting without fearing of heat stroke and passing out on the dead grass of the Long Beach waterfront. Tiffanie showed up a couple hours later to help cover the event too and she captured some really good stuff. I’ll throw her stuff into the mix in Part 2 and on but this first part covers only the early morning of the event. There were some really good cars this year so stay tuned for much more…

Now, on with the photos….

Wekfest LA 2016

Long Beach, CA

Words & Photos By Stickydljoe

As many of you saw at the 2016 Eibach Honda Meet, the Nemos-Garage EM1 Civic was without its engine. Angel and crew were waiting on some parts to be completed at the fabrication shop and the car finally came together for Wekfest LA. It is still at about 70%, I would say, but things are definitely coming along…

Here is how the coupe looks now with the K-turbo set-up in place. The firewall will remain that way as everything was designed so that the firewall was completely bare. The area where the brake booster and master cylinder once was has been filled and shaved, and the brake components are now hidden from view under the cowl…

Above you can see more angles of the engine bay with the All-In Fab components and Precision Turbo set-up. The turbo manifold and downpipe still need to be altered in some way so they don’t rub against one another but everything is looking pretty good so far…

The interior of the Nemos-Garage EM1 Civic, featuring a full Alcantara Suede-wrapped dashboard that houses an iPad where the radio and A/C controls once were, and the instrument cluster has also been replaced with an AIM digital instrument display…

One of the coolest little details that I really enjoy is the OEM Honda push-button start on the steering column, which has also been wrapped in suede…

Brand new 16-inch Volk Racing CE28N wheels were redone in a eye-catching black chrome finish, and behind the spokes of the wheels are Endless big brakes mounted using custom-fabricated caliper brackets…

At this angle, you can see the Battlecraft custom 3-inch titanium exhaust. It should be noted that the color on this EM1 is actually not Electron Blue Pearl (OEM EM1 SI blue), but is a blue hue from BMW…

Parked at The Chronicles booth was my boy Jonathan Wong’s Suzuka Blue EF Civic. He recently acquired Kei Miura’s one-off TRA Kyoto Rocket Bunny front bumper and sideskirts, had them paint-matched, and installed them in time for WFLA. For those that don’t know, this bumper and sides are the actual ones off of Miura’s personal EF Civic. Wong really wanted the kit and asked Miura to make more a long time ago. Miura decided one day to just send Wong his own kit and here it is now in the U.S. How crazy is that?…

OsakaJDM carbon fiber rear wing for the EF chassis on Wong’s Rocket Bunny Civic…

Jonathan’s Mugen Steering Wheel III…

Brand new Raw Heart decal for 2016…

Angel Torres’ supercharged K-swapped Civic made its return to the car show circuit after spending much of its time last year as a dedicated time attack vehicle…

Right across from us at WFLA was the Autofashion USA booth…

Ojay Bayang’s freshly-completed K-Break UCF30 Lexus LS430 on Work Wheels…

Elroy from Autofashion USA’s J-Unit Mazda 6 on Superstar Leon Hardiritt Gemut wheels…

Ryan Ordinario’s Accord wagon with Mugen aero kit and Mugen M7 wheels….

Thomas and friends from Prospekts made the trip all the way out from Houston, Texas to showcase their cars at the Wekfest LA event. He brought out his Audi S5 on RSV Forged wheels…

…and Jon from Prospekts brought out his Rocket Bunny Pandem R35 GTR…

Jon Tran’s Hyundai Genesis coupe on RSV Forged R1 Retro wheels…

The Phaze2 “Spoon”-inspired Crooks Corsa Porsche 911s…

Darren’s 991 GT3…

Mikey’s 997 on Rotiform SIX wheels…

Mode Parfume/Volsage Prius-R widebody sitting on Airrex air suspension and SSR MKIII Neo wheels…

Chewbacca’s Rocket Bunny NSX on concave Volk Racing TE37 wheels, also on Airrex air suspension…

Noel Barnum got bored of his Varis Arising Scion FR-S and decided to dump a bunch of money into his Scion xB. He acquired a Rocket Bunny kit and had the car repainted in a matching red to pair-up with his FR-S….

Yogi Kruthanooch’s custom BCD widebody Lexus GS on Superstar wheels now without the massive GT wing and rocking a Mode Parfume rear spoiler…

It was nice to finally see Mike Schietroma’s EM1 out in the daylight. I had a chance to see it debut at the 2015 SEMA Show, and I got to see it when it was shot for Super Street magazine, but I never really had the opportunity to shoot some detailed photos of it out in the light…

I’m sure there will be a lot of comparisons to this EM1 with the Nemos-Garage EM1 but there are so many details about it that couldn’t make them more different. At a glance you’d think they were similar but when you really put them side-by-side, they are built very differently using a variety of different parts…

Diamond Black Volk CEs on Mike’s EM1 but behind the spokes are Project Mu big brakes. Unlike the Nemos-Garage car, this build is on air suspension…

The interior is where the main differences appear. Mike’s EM1 is much more stripped-down but the entire interior has been painted and with some areas filled and shaved for a more streamlined appearance. The dashboard is retained, as-is the door panels…

ICB Japan bucket seats with Willans safety harnesses mounted to a chromed harness bar…

A peek into the trunk area reveals two air tanks that are floating above the trunk floor using the air lines that run compressed air into the suspension…

Liberty Walk Lamborghini Gallardo built by LTMW…

Chad Castelo’s beautifully-assembled NA1 Mugen NSX was on display at the Meguiar’s booth. On the driver’s side, Chad had a pair of NSX-spec Mugen M7 wheels mounted, but on the other side,…

…he displayed his NSX-spec Mugen MF10 wheels redone in a custom green finish…

The wheels are a very rich, dark, green hue but as you can see, it is pretty difficult to really capture the color without the right amount of sunlight. The lips of the wheels look almost bronze in this shot but the entire wheel is actually green…

A rear angle of the Mugen NSX and its subtle rear spoiler…

…also note the air duct mounted to the rear hatch which delivers air to the 6-cylinder engine….

Turbocharged DC5 RSX on Rays wheels housing big brakes up front…

Joseph Pham’s Mugen EP3 Civic running a Voltex GT wing using custom-fabricated wing mounts….

Jeremiah Santos’ Mugen EP3 with bolt-on fender flares and beefy Work Meister S1 wheels…

Liberty Walk Audi S5 from LTMW…

Rocket Bunny Pandem E46 BMW M3 convertible from Prospekts…

Liberty Walk Dodge Challenger coupe that once belonged to my friend Jon Sibal…

Yogi, Noel, and Robert at the Airrex booth…

Ahmed Sulfab’s turbocharged Acura Integra Type R wearing a C-West front bumper, Crowhouse front fenders, INGS+1 sideskirts, and C-West rear wing…

Bernard’s Rocket Bunny Pandem R35 GTR on super concave Rotiform wheels…

Jaycray’s Lexus RC coupe running Aimgain aero and Rotiform SIX wheels…

Wrapping-up Part 1 with this shot of Brian Duong’s Vertex S14 Kouki sitting on INCREDIBLY RARE Volk Racing TE37 MAG (Magnesium) wheels…

Stay tuned for more. There are a couple more parts to come so please come back often to check for updates!!…