This update would probably make more sense if it were titled “Photos From The Weekend” but it just sounded a little too generic. That or you’d be lead to believe that The Weeknd took these photos so I just gave it a more specific title. In reality it really is just a collection of photos that I shot over a weekend but a bulk of it is from the EF vs DA Meet. It was a pretty busy weekend compared to the previous few and it seemed like there were events just stacked one after the other. On top of that, we also had some friends stop by AND Yuta was doing a healthy amount of spring cleaning in the back of the shop. We’re quickly running out of space here and we found out that our shipping container was finally released so there would be even more car parts coming…
Since cars and parts were being rearranged to make space, it presented us with a rare occasion where all of our cars were outside for the first time in what seemed like forever. This resulted in some pretty good content for our Vlog and some solid event coverage since I attended three different meets that weekend. I didn’t shoot any photos from the early morning meet but did snap a few later that afternoon…
My Q45 was already outside for the weekend since Yuta was moving some stuff around the shop so I just decided to take it out for all the various events that were going on. I drove it earlier that morning to the Brew’s Cruise meet in Long Beach and then Der rode with me to go to the Brekkie gathering in Tustin….
Spotted this silver Ferrari 355 looking very photogenic parked alongside the Assembly building located within FLIGHT at Tustin Legacy…
Never thought I’d get the opportunity to see a Pagani Huayra Roadster in-person but I honestly had no idea how to fully appreciate it when it actually did happen. This car is incredibly captivating and should be appreciated as a work of automotive art, but it’s so far beyond anything that’s relatable to me that I found myself just kinda glancing at little details of it and not being able to take it all in…
The full carbon body is amazing to see and the craftsmanship is top-notch but realistically I just stood there and stared at the giant side mirrors for like, 15 minutes straight…
Jonny Grunwald’s TCP Magic widebody RX-7 has been out and about lately showcasing the brand new Volk Racing 21C wheels in bronze…
A regular at all the Brekkie events is Joe Le and his Aston Martin V8 Vantage sitting pretty on Volk Racing TE37SL…
I didn’t take too many photos at the Brekkie thing being that it consisted mostly of unattainable supercars and things beyond my tax bracket so I just chatted with friends and acquaintances before heading-out and grabbing dinner. The following day, I was up early once again to drive down to Irvine to check-out my first-ever “EF vs DA Meet”. Why it’s called that I’ll never know, being that it isn’t anything even close to a competition, but I guess adding the “versus” in the name makes it more appealing than “EF and DA Meet”, so I get it. When I pulled-up to the GReddy facility, I quickly realized that the meet was exactly what you would expect it to be…a gathering of EF and DAs…
Upon entering the GReddy facility, we were greeted by a pair of AT Civics, one of them being Junior Asprer’s Mugen CR-X…
One of my favorite Honda builds and one that I haven’t seen in quite some time is my good friend Dave’s DA Integra. He rarely brings the car out to any events these days but it still looks perfectly frozen in time. One of the most remarkable things about this particular Integra is that Dave has owned it since it was brand new. Even more impressive is that the factory body has never been repainted…
Most Honda enthusiasts tend to shy away from tan interiors but Dave pulls his off just right with a good collection of parts and a nice contrasting color palette to keep it soothing to the eye…
One of the centerpieces of the interior is a pair of Recaro SP-G3 Winning Rocket seats..
Mugen Racing 3 steering wheel paired with an NSX-R horn button. The shift knob is a classic ARC titanium knob…
Mugen air spoiler mounted to a rear hatch was hosts FAL glass…
SSR EX-C Fin complete with magnetic center cap and a pair of Zinc-plated NSX brake calipers up front…
Those he’s had the car since it was brand new off the showroom floor, the factory Honda powerplant is long gone and in its place is a JDM B18C Type R engine…
He can switch-off between various valve covers that he’s collected over the years but for the EF vs DA Meet, he showcased his rare, authentic, JUN Auto cover with the signature painted gradient and matching JUN oil cap…
Mixed-in with the JUN components are some Spoon Sports accessories and a TODA Racing header…
Peeking out through the bottom of the JUN valve cover are a set of TODA Racing cam gears…
One more shot of Dave’s engine bay…
Through the FAL rear hatch glass reveals a mint NEXT! Miracle X-bar…
Junior Asprer’s widebody Mugen CR-X Pro on a set of classic Mugen MR5 wheels…
A Mugen badge is embedded into the Mugen front bumper to authenticate the aero…
A look at the widened rear quarter panels and Mugen rear wing…
A look under the rear bumper is an incredibly-rare dual outlet Mugen exhaust to complete the CR-X Pro package…
Clean two-toned AT Civic on Takechi Project Racing HART wheels put together by Genesis Auto…
Sitting snuggly inside the tiny engine bay of the AT is a D16A1 swap originally from the first generation Integra…
Unique to this set-up is a TWM manifold which allows for the mounting of dual Weber carburetors…
Had a chance to catch-up with Rene Mendez at the meet and got to see his cream-colored EF again. There’s a pretty crazy story behind Rene and his car. It’s a little too long to get into but he actually sold this car a couple years ago and got heavily into motorcycles, then he got into an accident one day and almost lost his leg as a result of his injuries. He’s had to have multiple surgeries to get his leg healthy again, including skin-grafts and metal rods to help with the healing, but during his recovery, he reacquired this Civic again. Working on the car has been a good distraction from all his rehab and it was good to see him out and about…
The boys from Milestone Collective and their line-up of DA/DB2 Integras…
CR-X from Revstar Garage with an EF8 SiR front end conversion, carbon front lip, and RS Watanabe wheels…
B-series swap inside the CR-X hosting some rare FEEL’S Honda Twin Cam goods…
Jason’s bagged ED Civic hatchback representing Revstar Garage sitting on Walter Wolf Racing wheels…
Can’t even remember the last time I saw a “Split Second Racing” sticker on a Honda in the past decade so it was really cool to see this turbocharged CR-X from the legendary West Coast car club. Hearing this thing take-off as it left the meet was pretty amazing…
No EF-themed car gathering would be complete without an appearance by JDM Wong and his Civic on SSR EX-C Fins. He’s got air-conditioning now so he’ll drive just about anywhere these days…
Isaac, the creator of the Oldskoolhonda IG page and the one responsible for hosting the EF vs DA Meets, brought out his DA Integra on 16-inch Regamaster EVO wheels…
Enrique Guerra’s ’92 Integra running a JDP carbon front lip and Diamond Black Volk TE37…
B18C engine swap in Enrique’s DA utilizing a modern coil-on-plug distributor-less ignition set-up, a Comptech intake box, and full-size Mishimoto radiator…
A full line-up of DA/DB2 Integras is a rare sight these days so it’s nice to see them in their various OEM colors and lowered ride heights…
One thing that this meet didn’t have a shortage of were classic SSR wheels of different varieties…
One of the best EFs around was parked right up front as you walked into the GReddy facility. The turbocharged hatchback is owned and built by Kenji from GReddy and you may recognize this car also as a Hot Wheel…
I’ve also had the pleasure of featuring his build on both our YouTube channel and here on the site so you’re probably already familiar with this turbocharged B-series powerplant…
This custom ‘air box’ is actually a water-to-air intercooler which is chilled utilizing the factory air-conditioning system…
Mounted snuggly between the engine block and full-size radiator core is a modernized and upgraded GReddy turbocharger mounted to a manifold originally offered as part of a B-series GReddy turbo kit…
Ignition Projects coils mounted to a Rywire coil-on-plug adapter plate…
XRP HS-79 hoses paired with clamshell quick disconnect couplers for Kenji’s cooling system…
Just an incredibly functional, well-curated, engine bay executed by Kenji Sumino from GReddy…
One more of the EF9-converted Civic on classic SSR EX-C Neo wheels…
After the meet, I decided to go grab some lunch to bring back to the shop so Der and I could eat before he worked on his car some more. I was filming visuals for the new Vlog episode and took this photos while I was testing out the framing of each clip for the video…
It’s rare to see my Q45 out and about but I do enjoy driving it when the car is cleaned-up. I took it out the evening before but decided that since it was already washed for the weekend, I might as well take it to the EF vs DA Meet…
I cracked my Mode Parfume front bumper the last time I drove the car a few months ago but thankfully you can’t really see it in photos. The crack is quite deep and the paint is fractured on it so it will require some repair work…
Custom titanium turned-down exhaust tips hand-crafted by Kristian Wong from Battlecraft….
One of my favorite features of this current iteration of my Q45 build is the Earth-toned color scheme. When I found out that I could order anodized bronze lips and bright silver faces for my Work Meister M1 wheels, I knew I had to have them because it complimented the green of my Q so well…
Not much is done to the inside other than some audio/visual upgrades and a classic Nardi woodgrain wheel…
As explained in the Vlog, Chuy plans to take his Spoon-themed Honda Integra Type R home so he could rebuild it and turn it into a race car…
He brought a trailer to the shop to pick it up that weekend and then decided that he needed more space at his house before he could take the ITR back. So he took off without the car and has since not returned to get the car, lol….
Original Desmond-produced Spoon SW388 wheels and new Desmond Regamaster EVO II wheels on the rear of Yuta’s DC5…
The EK dashboard that is usually inside the DC5 but has been out of the car since Yuta’s been redoing some of the wiring…
Moreass came by to hang out for the afternoon after the EF vs DA Meet in his black hatchback on Mugen NR10Rs…
Another rare sight is seeing Der’s E30 M3 outside. It was a weekend of spring cleaning where all the cars were out and about so I had to get a shot of the M3 getting some sun…
And that’s all for that weekend’s photos. Thanks for looking everybody!!…
Feels great to see the community be able to catch up again with meets like these!
The photo capturing like the earlier years are also as awesome.
I remember some time ago you once considered re-incorporating the “people element” back to your photosets to give them more life. The stories you write with these cars are really appreciated. Seeing some people and faces actually did make some things that much more interesting and memorable.
I know Automotive Anatomy on YT fills this spot well with the owner profiles in the Honda community…
Maybe with this downtime not filled with Japan travels you can think about spotlighting (informally since it doesn’t take as much time and energy) some current or future builds in some kind or even some OGs (I know you mention of Split Second Racing above) and putting some old pics or text together to archive some builds (Honda or non-honda) that are personal to you or somehow was influential within the scene.
Some type of archival documenting that kind of touches base with http://WWW.PEOPLEWILLREADAGAIN.COM but not necessarily be directly exclusive to just that blog.
I felt the yearly TOP 10 pick you did back then kind of helped tie things together in our group and made more people motivated to build cool Hondas to a degree.
Just some food for thought… 🙂