About a month before heading up to Seattle for their first ever Wekfest event, I decided that I wanted to do a display booth for The Chronicles. I had never done a booth outside of California, other than Japan of course, and never really planned to. It was a bit difficult to get all the booth supplies to any other cities on the Wekfest Tour because I’m usually traveling by myself or with Tiffanie. I can’t just bring a canopy, a couple of tables, and all that merchandise on the plane with us and even if we could, I think I’d prefer not too because we already have enough to deal with in just camera gear and suitcases alone. The decision to do a booth in Seattle was because I think I’ve done a pretty good job of representing myself and the website over the last few years in the Pacific Northwest region. So much so, that the meets I’ve hosted up there have been incredibly successful, and I’d even go as far as to say that I probably have seen the most support outside of California in the state of Washington. I don’t know what it is, it could be that I have made some good friends up there and they have spread the word for me, or I’ve just gotten lucky or have played my cards right and people just enjoy the site up there. It seemed like a good idea, but again, I didn’t want to travel with all the gear. Luckily I have some really great friends who are always willing to help. I had been trying to convince Yuta to make the trip with me up to Seattle because I thought he’d really enjoy the show. He’d heard all my stories of my trips up there over the years and seemed genuinely excited about seeing the cars that were going to be at the show. So we started digging around different travel sites looking for the best flight but so much had been going on in the previous weeks that we’d just been too occupied to book a flight early enough that was cheap. He ended-up doing the math and realized that it would cost the same to drive all the way up to Seattle from L.A. as it would be to fly. The only difference is that flying is roughly three hours and driving is, well…not three hours. It’s more about 15-18 hours if I remember correctly. There’s a reason why people fly because they want to save time. Not Yuta. The guy is more than willing to make the drive, and he sort of dislikes human interaction so much so that he’d actually prefer to drive the 18 hours BY HIMSELF. He’s wired very differently than most people, if you didn’t realize that already. But I understand how he is most of the time and wasn’t going to stop him from making the trip. I wanted him to experience at least a little bit of Washington and the car scene up there but obviously it was amazing that he’d be willing to drive because he could bring all my booth stuff, along with a huge chunk of the Wekfest merchandise so as to save Ken some shipping on the items. That way we wouldn’t have to worry about getting the boxes in and out of the airport, lugging them around everywhere, taking up space in our rentals, and in general, life would just be much easier for all parties. I don’t know how it makes Yuta’s life any easier but he’s also the same guy who can listen to the same 6 songs everyday in the exact same fucking order. It’s like the equivalent of Chinese Water Torture, but executed in the form of Taylor Swift tracks…

Yuta left early Saturday morning from our shop in Los Angeles, arrived in Seattle the following day at 5:45 AM, dropped-off the merchandise, and then slept in one of our hotel rooms for a few hours and came back to run his own booth (because why not bring that stuff as well to make some money). I don’t know if he’d ever do it ever again because it didn’t sound pleasant at all, but he got a good dinner out of it and some cash…

Prior to Yuta deciding on driving, I was looking for different ways to be able to run my booth without actually bring anything other than merchandise. My display flags could obviously go in my suitcase but the flag poles weren’t going to make it, and I would need a tent, tables, and chairs. As mentioned, I had some friends up there in the area who could probably help me out, and one guy that always comes through in the clutch for me was my old buddy Terry Suvonnarith. He’s one of the OGs in the Honda community up there in the PNW and everybody knows Terry. He’s still into cars but has recently dedicated his time to building Ruckus’. I don’t know why because they aren’t crazy popular like they were at one time, but I’m also not going to ask for an explanation as to why anybody does anything just because it isn’t popular in the public eye anymore. I still play Pokemon GO on my phone and other than Salem, I might be the only one left in the world, haha. I don’t care that it’s not popular anymore, I just like to see things through until the end, you know what I mean? If Terry wants to build a Honda Ruckus, fuck, build like a million of them. The guy has a good job, a good house, one of the best Integras ever, an NSX, a fucking 1991 Toyota Camry All-Trac, an Toyota Venza, just about everything someone would want. I don’t question it is what I’m saying. He actually rides them too, which is probably one of his motivations behind building one. I remember we had one at our old shop a year ago and it was so low that you couldn’t even go over speed bumps with it so it was nothing more than a glorified prop with wheels on it. It was completely useless. But I’m glad people still enjoy them because they are pretty cool if you actually ride them around and shit…

I hit up Terry as we chat on Facebook from time to time and I’m sure he already knew that I was going to ask him for something. I used to have this battery that I would use to power lighting equipment for photoshoots that I left up in Seattle because I couldn’t bring a big lead acid battery back on an airplane. Terry was kind enough to store it for me at his house but I forgot to tell him that it had to be charged on a consistent basis, otherwise it would just die. So last year, I asked him to charge it for me because I had some shoots to do in Seattle. I’m not even going to lie to you about this, I think I almost burned this dude’s house down. The fucking battery was already dead and he just left it on the charger in his garage. He didn’t know too much about it so he just assumed it needed to be charged a long time. He messaged me one day and was like “Hey man, how long am I supposed to charge this battery for because it doesn’t look like it’s charging.” I was arriving the next day so I just told him to leave it on the charger. Maybe it had been awhile so it just need time to charge. I come to show up at his house that following night, took the battery out of the casing, and this fucking thing was so bulged-out and swollen, and incredibly fucking hot, that I swear it was minutes away from exploding. The fucking thing was like a lead acid bomb wanting to go off in this man’s house next to his Integra and NSX. I was like “Uhh, yeah man, I don’t think this shit is good anymore” and casually took it out of his house as to not alarm him of any potential of just blowing his house up. So anyways, I hit him up a month ago and asked him if he had a canopy and some tables I could use. I came up with this genius-idea to just bring my canopy top and I could just like, lay it on top of his canopy top or change the tops out right so we wouldn’t need to bring the frame of the tent. It probably wouldn’t have worked because they are completely different but whatever. As long as it looks somewhat stupid and not completely stupid, I could get by with it at the show. This is also the same type of logic that got me through high school. I wasn’t completely stupid, just stupid enough to graduate-type of mentality. You know? Okay so he was like “Yeah, I guess we can try that.” He also told me he had tables of different sizes and he’d go and take pictures of them for me to see if they would work. I love this dude because he cares so much. Tables are tables. If they have legs to stand on and are flat and I could put shit on it, then it’s fine. But this guy actually went to his friend’s house and took photos of tables for me. He wasn’t lying, they were of various sizes. I think he also wanted to take photos of the chairs for me. He’s just a detailed guy I guess. So I told him that I might still need the stuff, even after the fact that Yuta decided to bring all my gear up to Seattle, because I kinda just wanted to go hang out in his garage because it had come to be an annual tradition for me. Ultimately I didn’t go to his house to get the stuff because I decided it was better that I actually get some sleep for a change instead of hanging out in this man’s garage all night.

I bring all this stuff to light because I just want to let you know that it is important to have good people in your life that support you.

So a huge “Thank You” goes out to both Yuta, Terry, and all his other friends that got involved in trying to help me get a booth display together at Wekfest Seattle.

A few days before the event was set to take place, I was slowly packing my luggage and getting the merchandise ready for the booth. My phone buzzes and it’s Terry again messaging me about the booth and if I needed anything else. One of the questions he asks me was if he could bring his Ruckus along with a few others and I said sure, we can make space by the booth for them. That’s no problem. We decided that we would have one of his cars on display in my booth as well and he asked me if I wanted to have his NSX or his Integra at the show. With absolutely no hesitation, I told him I wanted the Integra there. Now don’t get me wrong, his NSX is pretty nice. By all accounts it would be a car that everyone would probably enjoy seeing at a car show in 2017. But….butttttt….It ain’t his Integra. I mean, his Integra is ALL-TIME. You can call me a kiss-ass, a jocker, whatever. I don’t give a shit, I’m a grown man. I’ll admit when I like something, shit. Terry Suvonnarith’s Integra is ONE OF THE BEST HONDAS EVER BUILT. Quote me if you want on that. I love that car man. He’s the original owner, meaning that he bought it brand new off the lot in 2001, and has held onto the car ever since. That in itself deserves some sort of accolade. How many people just build, sell, and repeat these days? To me, this car is one of the last few Hondas that represent a bygone era. An era, back in the mid-2000s before social media made it possible for everyone to believe that they were master car-builders and a time when it was truly just fun to build a Honda because the door of endless possibilities had just opened. The K-swap was still a very new thing and everyone was doing whatever they could to the B-series because engine bay customization hadn’t become the craziness that it is now. The true “style” of it hadn’t really fully developed yet. Guys in California were doing it one way, the guys on the East Coast were doing it there way, and the young enthusiasts in the Pacific Northwest had their own unique take on it. It is a style that would eventually become the standard in that area and even the top builds up there today still emulate many of the little nuances of the early years…

Allow me to elaborate…

For the older Honda guys, whenever anyone mentions Terry’s Integra, or “Spriggan’s” Integra, they always say “Oh yeah, the silver one with the C2s on it.”

That’s because this image pops-up in their heads…

It’s a memorable car not only because of all that was under the hood but because it was one of the few really nice Integra builds that rode on 18-inch Racing Hart C2 wheels. Another thing that makes it stand-out in the minds of many was the rare FEEL’S front lip. It’s one of those lips that kinda at first doesn’t look like it’s meant for the JDM front bumper but then you look at it closely and realize that it is for the bumper and it actually flows pretty well. It’s unique. I don’t know if I have seen another one but Terry still has his because he has two different bumpers which he swaps because he doesn’t drive with this lip on it. Strange but it’s a show car guy thing, okay?..

That photo above was from a Honda Tuning magazine feature that happened in 2010, if you’re wondering…

This was how the engine bay looked in 2010…

You can see above that nothing was really shaved or smoothed-out, as that wasn’t the style that the guys like Terry from Trik Speed were known for utilizing then. The engine bay would be cleaned-up and much of the stuff deemed useless eliminated, but the bays would still have all the holes and what not that the factory bay would have. There’s nothing wrong with that and many still prefer this look today over the fully-shaved or semi-shaved bay. Trik, for the unaware, was the crew of PNW Honda guys that helped to establish the identity and recognition that that region built some of the best Hondas in the country then and now.

If you don’t believe me, please click to check out the features of some of the most well-known Pacific Northwesters that represented Trik, 2t0, and their friends/associates…

Rainier “Toto” Deleon’s Civic feature from Super Street 2009 | Terry Suvonnarith’s Integra feature from Super Street 2010 | Steve Kwan’s Civic feature from Honda Tuning 2010 | Rainier “Toto” Deleon’s Civic feature from Super Street 2013 (Yes, it was so good we had to do it twice) | Steve Kwan’s Civic feature from Super Street 2013 
Darnell Andrada’s Civic feature from Super Street 2014 | Jeff Diaz’s Civic feature from 2009

And that is just to name a few. There are also a couple others from up there who have been holding down the Honda community up in Washington for over a decade now, guys like Huy Hoang, Bill Master, and Mel Diego… Huy is at the top of his game right now with three awesome Honda builds at this year’s Wekfest event. Yes, THREE cars. Bill has always been doing great work in his turbo EP3 Civic, and Mel Diego is like your classic Honda guy who has all the Mugen parts you can think of.

I should also mention a guy by the name of Tai Akigami who has been a supporter of The Chronicles for a long time now. He was pretty close to finishing his Civic build but then decided to scrap the whole thing one day. It would have been great to see that car completed but priorities change over time.

If there was one thing that was pretty prevalent in most of their builds that was almost a staple with many of their Hondas, it would be three things;

1. some of the rarest parts from Japan, some we didn’t even know how they were able to acquire back in the day…
2. Jiffy-Tite Motorsports quick-disconnect fittings
3. STACK digital instrument displays

In 2017, if you show me any photo of a Honda engine bay with Jiffy-Tite fittings on it, I’ll probably assume it was a Honda from the Northwest. And don’t even get me started with STACK clusters. Those things are so cool still, even though there are a plethora of other digital displays that offer so many more options. I couldn’t help but smile that day at Wekfest Seattle when I would peek inside an interior and spot a STACK cluster in-use. I don’t know who started it, I don’t know who will actually come out and claim that they did, because that’s not something that these guys would go out of their way to proclaim, but it has become a signature look for them. You could put a great Honda engine bay from California side-by-side with an equally as great bay from the Northwest and I guarantee you that a diehard Honda guy would be able to tell you which was from where. It’s all in the execution. They also are very good about not being overly minimalistic in their approach as well. Like, the engine bays would be incredibly clean, often repainted, but there would be aftermarket oil breathers, -AN fittings and proper plumbing, fuel pressure regulators mounted in a way where it doesn’t look like it doesn’t belong, and it would just have this “look” to it where it didn’t seem like the engine didn’t function or work. Now you got guys trying to do engine bay tucks and not putting intake arms on their throttle bodies because they think it makes the bay look more “naked”. If anything it just looks incomplete. There’s a way to execute an engine bay in a way where you could accessorize correctly without things being cluttered even if you have a lot of additional plumbing or oil ventilation. I guess you can say that their engine bays are also a variation on some of Fred Chapman from ATS Garage’s work. He also put a bay together very well where accessories didn’t seem like it was being overdone. It’s all very interesting if you study the details.

I went off on a crazy tangent there. All I was really trying to say was that I put Terry’s Integra at my booth because it would be a great example of a timeless automotive build that anyone could look at for hours, no matter what era, and appreciate it’s body of work. The young ones could learn and the old guys could reminisce. I think you need car’s like Terry’s Integra out at car shows these days because it shows that preservation is possible and you can put a car like his built over a decade ago against a car built in the last few years and it would still be able to stand toe-to-toe with it. Often times at car shows these days, everyone is all about chasing trends or being the next big thing. It is far too easy to forget about the styles that helped to evolve the scene and what ideas made cars great in the past. Everything comes from something you know. There has to be an idea there. There has to be an idea that was inspired by something or someone. That’s so important when you think about building a car that can be relevant for more than 6-12 months.

We both agreed that Terry’s Integra wouldn’t be competing, alongside the other Hondas in attendance because it almost wouldn’t be fair really. He didn’t really prep the car for display and just brought it out as more of a personal favor to me. He was more excited about bringing his Ruckus in with all his other friend’s bikes. To him, this is just a car that sits in his garage that he likes to cruise from time to time.

On the other end of our display, the second half of the 10×20 space being reserved for Battlecraft, I had Franklin Woo’s CTR-inspired K20 Civic. I thought it would be a cool mix of Hondas from Terry’s, which was a representative of the old PNW greats, and Franklin’s, which is one of the current best Honda builds in that area. Woo’s Civic was also just featured in this year’s annual “Honda Issue” by Super Street magazine. His Civic is like a re-imagined classic CTR-style build. It pays homage in many ways to the famed EK9, but with a modern twist and addition of select parts that he’s always wanted. They’re both very different builds that ultimately only true Honda guys could really differentiate and understand fully…

And I guess that’s where we can finally pick-up our coverage from that day. In Part 1, you got to see many of the nice builds rolling into the venue. Today, for Part 2, we’ll look at the cars inside the Centurylink Field Convention Center. Enjoy…

This is Terry’s Integra in 2017, all cleaned-up and on display at The Chronicles booth at Wekfest Seattle 2017. The only recent additions in the last couple of years are the StopTech Trophy Sport big brakes up front. When I say “the last couple of years”, I really mean around five years ago when he did his last major overhaul of the car. If you don’t believe me when I tell you his car hasn’t changed, check out this coverage here from the Nisei Showoff event in 2012. It’s virtually identical…

You saw above what the engine bay looked like in 2010 but there were some changes during that overhaul I spoke of. The firewall was cleaned-up, studs on the wall were shaved, and the entire engine bay was re-sprayed a battleship gray. The oil breather was also relocated to the back and re-plumbed. He also went with a AEM coil-over-plug set-up and retuned the car with the same AEM EMS he’d been running for years…

I love that he just runs a OEM Type R valve cover now and still has a Cusco front strut bar on…

Same Jenvey individual throttle bodies with polished horns that definitely show some age now after all these years. Check the Jiffy-Tite fuel fitting running to the fuel rail and the fitting running to his positive crankcase ventilation

Full-size radiator with rewelded filler necks for the -AN fittings and cooling lines to match the rest of the plumbing throughout. When the firewall was shaved Terry also redid the brake lines and relocated the proportioning valve out of sight…

When it’s all said and done, someone should create a hall-of-fame for great Honda builds and this thing would be on display…

Franklin Woo’s Civic is no slouch by any imagination. He’s been putting this thing together for the last 8 years and finally got it to its current state about a year ago. His car was the reason why I went back to Seattle last year when I was looking for cars to shoot for Super Street. Again, it is one of those CTR-inspired builds that most EK lovers dream of but with his own twist. He’s got a First Molding front lip, C-West sides, SARD carbon airduct, Vision Technica Type-MC side mirrors, J’s Racing GT 3D rear wing, and custom vented front fenders…

Under the hood is a clean Honda NH-0 painted engine bay with a K20A swap running a polished RBC manifold and KTuned Ram-Horn header…

You can see his Super Street feature in digital form HERE…

This Honda S2000 had Voltex flares added along with a Mugen Hardtop, Downforce carbon front lip splitter, and bronze Volk CE28…

Terry’s stretched Ruckus which he just recently completed and was bugging me to take photos of…

Quoc Tran’s white Ruckus…

Tam Phan’s candy red Ruckus…

And Aaron’s Ruck. I think Terry actually works on all these Rucks in his garage, so luckily I didn’t burn his house down that one time…

Travis Weaver’s Civic is one of those prime examples of why I’m trying to push for a “Restomod” class at Wekfest because it’s tough like cars to compete with the crazy Honda builds you see nowadays, but they are also possibly way more extensive than the high caliber Honda builds for other reasons. This 1989 Civic has been meticulously restored to factory condition, brand new factory moldings and all, with added Mugen products like restored Mugen CF48 wheels in black. He also has a Mugen exhaust which took him about 9 years to find!!..

The single cam engine has been cleaned-up as well and you wouldn’t know it by giving it a quick glance but the motor is actually a stroked 1.7L D16 with a Web cam, ENDYN-built head, and makes about 155whp on a dyno. Check out that King Motorsports intake manifold. Pretty wild. I really wanted to go back with the GoPro and have him walk you guys through the entire build because he was so passionate about it, but I just didn’t have time…

This ’97-spec Integra Type R ultimately won 1st place “Acura of the Festival” honors and was yet another build that would be overlooked at a glance because of its simplicity. It was basically a bare shell when Thomas Strom first acquired it so he had to piece the entire car back together. Many of the pieces inside the interior are brand new OEM Honda parts, even the dashboard, floor mats, and single door panel. After he had himself a nearly complete Type R again, he began adding all the Mugen goodies like the Mugen front lip, Gen. II rear wing, MF10 wheels, and Active Gate brake set-up…

Since it was a shell, Strom had no problem putting a K-series engine in his ’97 ITR. The engine bay was shaved, smoothed-out, and paint-match while the engine also sees some Mugen accessories here and there. A Skunk2 Pro Series intake manifold takes the place of the factory unit but interestingly enough, he decided to retain the power-steering system for drivability… This thing was just insanely clean and well put together. With the hood closed, you would just expect to see a mildly-modified ITR with Mugen stuff but then he pops the hood and it’s another world in there. Look at the Mugen hardware holding bumper and fenders together, crazy details…

Slowlane Benny’s Spirit Rei Onevia is one of the builds I was looking forward to seeing at Wekfest Seattle. I spotted his S13 on Instagram one day and was so overwhelmed by how cool it was that I started following him to see the progress of his car. I love the Spirit Rei kit for this car and it just flows so well with the factory body. I also like how he added the Quik-Latch disconnect fasteners on the kit so it comes off easily to move the car around…

While the body was nice, it was what was under the hood that really caught my eye. A Toyota 1JZ-GTE engine resides in the shaved and cleaned-up engine bay now, and I love all the custom pie-cut and welded piping throughout. Super sick Weld Technique Factory wire cover on valve cover also…

This first generation Honda Civic caught EVERYONES’ eye that morning when it rolled-into the show. The car has a custom-made widebody kit by the owner and under the flares sit a set of custom-built Epsilon wheels with gold faces…

Under the hood is a B20 engine swap with a custom turbo kit that manages to squeeze into the tiny engine bay of the Civic…

Jeff Diaz’s JDM right-hand drive DC5 Integra Type R on white Work RSZ-R wheels on display at the PitCrew Motorsports booth…

Purple Honda Civic coupe with only an OEM SI front lip and contrasting silver Advan Racing RG wheels with Spoon Sports brakes behind them…

Under the hood is a K-series engine with a radiator set-up tucked under the core support…

Christopher Rafanan’s AP2 S2000 looked fucking great on bronze Volk CEs with a Powerhouse Amuse Legalo Face front bumper. I wonder if that is a legit Amuse hard-top as well. If so, there’s a good amount of money and good taste invested in this build…

John Pokela’s Civic on custom-built Mugen M7 wheels from CITYSTARS…

This Civic may not look familiar but I actually shot Brian McAvoy’s hatchback last year when I was in Seattle. He just went and repainted the whole car after. I guess I gotta go back and shoot it again. Love the new gray hue with the Enkei Racing NT03 wheels. You can’t see the bay here but it also houses a turbocharged H2B swap…

One of the cars I’d been looking forward to seeing completed was Tomas from CITYSTARS’ Civic. He just recently put this car back together after respraying it green and debuted it at Wekfest Seattle. You may remember it back when it was blue with the kevlar First Molding front lip…

William Potts’ K-swapped Mugen-themed Integra Type R in Milano Red….

Franky Chan’s white ’95 Civic CX with J’s Racing front lip and Magnesium Blue Volk Racing TE37SL…

It’s been a couple years since I’ve seen this yellow Civic hatchback owned by Jeremiah Whipple. I believe it was at the first Eibach Honda Meet held in Lake Elsinore. Outside the Civic is running a C-West front bumper, Chargespeed wide fenders with fender extensions, and a set of front-staggered Volk TEs wrapped in THICK Toyo R888 rubber…

In the engine bay is a K-series engine with a custom intake manifold made by All-In Fabrication. The custom made manifold features a window were you can see the individual runners that routes to a center-fed Skunk2 throttle body…

Nicely-done Integra sedan with JDM front end conversion with the chrome-housing headlights, Spoon Sports carbon front lip, and WEDS TC05 wheels…

K-series engine swap in the cleaned-up bay with K-Tuned accessories,,,

Classic-looking silver Integra with JDM ITR front-end conversion and 15-inch white Mugen RnR wheels…

A better look at Potts’ Integra Type R with Mugen front bumper and sideskirts. First thing I spotted were the Ganador Super Mirrors of course…

Yet another nicely done engine bay with a K-series inside of it. A catalog of K-Tuned products within and I like the clean firewall and custom brake lines…

Caspar Hill’s LS-turbo ’92 Civic hatchback running a Rocket Dancer front lip, Live Sports rear wing, and white Advan Racing RG. Very cool…

In the midst of running around doing everything, I was able to find some quick moments to get some more photos of Tomas’ Civic. This is a much more classically-styled Honda which pays homage to the mid 2000s-era Hondas in terms of styling and execution. The outside is quite simple with JDM thin side-moldings, BackYard Special carbon kevlar front lip, BYS rear wing, First Molding kevlar side mirrors, and Sergeant/Crow front bumper…

The engine bay follows a similar theme with a B16 swap running an ARC Induction Box and intake arm. Nothing too smoothed-over and shaved, just enough for the engine to look good…

White DB8 Integra with JDM ITR front end conversion and Spoon Sports carbon front lip. I love it when Spoon Sports nerds run the orange “Type ONE” decal in the center lip as they did in Japan. Custom candy red Volk TEs put the car on the ground and behind the spokes are signature blue Spoon brakes…

In the engine bay you’ll notice that it has been shaved clean, with even the core support being filled and shaved. In the center of it all is a K-swap running a Jackson Racing supercharger unit…

Peter Phan’s Midori Green Integra with an aggressive front end set-up utilizing a J’s Racing/First Molding front lip mated to a custom splitter. In the rear the bumper has been sliced in half and under it is a carbon rear diffuser held on with custom made brackets…

Henderson Nguyen got bored of BRZs and BMWs so he decided it was time to mess around with a Honda S2000. So far, he’s off to a great start riding nice and low on bronze concave TEs and a J’s Racing front lip…

One of my favorite Hondas from last year’s meet I held at Alki Beach was Daniel Haggerty’s turbocharged S2000 Club Racer. I love how he kept the Rio Yellow body pretty much stock but ran a great set of wheels, custom black Work RSZ-Rs, and put all his focus into the turbo set-up under the hood…

There’s just something about a clean CR with meaty tires that just looks fantastic…

On that note, we are going to cut it off here. That is quite a bit of reading I know, but I hope it was informative and worthwhile. Thanks for reading and make sure to check back for Part 3!!…