It feels so good to be back on the road again. With all that has happened the last two years, I couldn’t have been happier to hop back onto a plane to go see some new things in another city. To be honest, it almost felt normal. Getting to the airport and feeling that intensity from the hustle of everyone on the move felt a little intimidating at first, but then that old familiarity came back. I was busy again, but like, a satisfying busy. Where you lay your head on your pillow at night and you feel accomplished. Boy did I need that…

To say that things went from 0-60 ‘real quick’ would be an understatement. All of a sudden, it seemed as if everything was just back all at once. Wekfest in Seattle was happening, I was stoked about it but exactly a week after that was the Los Angeles event. That’s a lot of preparation and content to go through. On top of back-to-back events, I was also in the process of prepping LJ Garcia’s old FEEL’S widebody Civic for its presentation at the Los Angeles event. Time just flew by so quickly it seemed. It was literally hopping on a plane for Seattle, flying back, and then heading straight to Art of Attack to work on the Civic. All the while I was also making sure I had stuff on order that would arrive for the show in time. I had a new booth display, display stuff for the Civic, and new merchandise commemorating the re-emergence of the car after nearly two decades. Let’s just say things haven’t slowed down—but, I really wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s been a lot of pressure but also A LOT of fun seeing everything come together. I couldn’t be happier right now in 2021…

I thought a lot about how to present this coverage of both Wekfest events. I tried to shoot as much as I could but it’s just one of those situations where I always feel like I could have shot more. Perhaps if there was just more time to experience it all. Wekfest is a job as much as it is fun and good times with friends, but I have to remind myself that I’m working. That means I not only shoot photos and try to get video for a Vlog episode, I’m also helping set-up the show while judging the Honda/Acura categories. The judging is actually what takes the most time because I have to give each car a detailed look and if the owners are present, communicate with them if they have anything noteworthy to say. In-between I’ll try to shoot or get video but that’s not always possible. Once I got back, it took me a few days to process all the photos and I waited for the Los Angeles show to happen so I could finish both sets at once. I tried doing this because there was a part of me that considered combining both shows together and presenting them in multiple alternating parts. But that ultimately sounded way too ambitious and confusing so here we are now with the photos displayed in chronological order per usual.

It just seems the easiest way to do things. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right?…

I feel like people don’t read blogs anymore or they don’t have the attention span for it, so maybe I should stop taking so much time to put these posts together… but then I remember that when I first started doing this, people didn’t read blogs and they didn’t have the attention span for it. And look where we are now? So let’s keep this going and people that care will take the time to go through it properly…

As for my thoughts on the show itself? Well, that’s easy. It was a great show considering the long lay-off and time away. I imagine this was the first big indoor show for a lot of people so most were probably pretty happy to just be able to be at a show like this again. So we could have done way worse, lol. Everything went smoothly, there was a bit of rust on our ends due to the time away but I wouldn’t say that it was something that was very apparent to anyone who attended or showed their cars. It felt great through and through. Let’s say I had a good feeling about things even though a lot of the guys on staff are usually a bit stressed leading-up to a show. The only glaring omission this year was the absence of the Canadian contingency that usually participates in the Seattle event. There were roughly about 80-100 exhibitors vehicles that would be there inside the building from Canada if it weren’t for the current restrictions from the borders. It was a bummer that they weren’t there but it’ll just make next year’s event even more meaningful when they’re back. I look forward to seeing our Canadian friends return in 2022 and on…

I won’t say too much more for now and get to the photos since I have to leave for Las Vegas tomorrow. SEMA was an event I wasn’t totally set on going to this year but that small part of me that felt like I’d be missing out on some potential opportunities told me that I should go. I’ll continue to upload content throughout the week while I’m there so I need to spend time prepping all that before I go…

Enjoy the photos…

I’ve made it a bit of a tradition to go visit my friend Terry every year I go up to Seattle. I don’t get to see him very often so I make the effort to go hang out at his house. He’s usually working on his own car or a friend’s car for the Wekfest event so it’s also my opportunity to capture some behind-the-scenes content for you guys to see…

This year, the guys spent a couple of sleepless nights putting Pow’s Civic together. It’s a car that Pow has owned for over ten years now and the last time it ran was in 2005! He wanted to redo the car and give it a full rebuild for Seattle’s biggest show of the year…

Most of the content I captured for Pow’s Civic I used for the Vlog on YouTube but here’s a photo of it right after they wrapped it up at around 3AM. It’s one of those cars that you should see in-person to truly appreciate and it’s always cool to hear stories from enthusiasts who have owner their cars forever…

Terry didn’t do too much to his Integra this year. A couple years ago he refreshed the engine bay set-up and added some detail touches to the car, but he kept it simple for 2021. The first major thing you’ll notice is the addition of custom silver Mugen MF10 wheels. Terry has never been real big on using Mugen stuff but he thought the wheels would give the car a whole new look that most that know him wouldn’t expect…

He had one of his front bumpers resprayed for the show and was planning to run the FEEL’S front lip for the event, but, spoiler alert, he ended-up running his traditional Spoon Sports front lip…

The engine bay is still looking as great as ever but one of the small new details being a new clutch line…

I’m convinced that Terry has one of the best engine bays in the country, and I’ve seen a lot of engine bays in my time. His is just top-notch with so many great details, some traditional components, and many modern innovations that make this set-up special..

A glimpse of his pristine Hytech header which is a rare commodity in this generation…

Though there was a bit of stress trying to put Pow’s car together in time for the show, it didn’t stop the boys from enjoying some Hennessy and pizza…

Tucked tightly behind Pow’s Sprint Hart CP-F wheels are baller silver Endless brakes…

It sure was nice to just be hanging out in a garage doing car things again. It doesn’t even matter what city and where it’s happening. The vibe is always consistently the same…

Once both cars were done, the only thing left to do was clean them up for the show. This was on Friday night too so they actually finished early with a full day to just chill…

On the day of the show, we got started bright and early. Everyone on the staff got up at 4AM, got ready, and arrived at the venue by 6AM for set-up. One of the first cars I saw that morning was a familiar one. The GReddy-built Pandem FC3S RX-7 pulled-up now in Washington where it was to be displayed at the Intec Racing booth…

Intec also pulled into the venue with an enclosed trailer housing an BNR33 Skyline GT-R…

I didn’t get a close look at the car after it was unloaded but I was told that the Skyline came with an RB26DETT refreshed from the Nismo Omori Factory…

In the staging area, I spotted Austin from Never Content’s FD3S RX-7 and a car which I had been excited to finally see in-person; Nikolay Konstantinov’s Koguchi Power-tribute RPS13…

Tam Le’s Taitec widebody Acura NSX on Volk TE37SL…

Custome Sky Design widebody NSX on Work Meister L1 wheels…

This guy was stuck outside trying to burn-off his gas to meet the 1/4-tank requirements while I was waiting for cars to arrive to shoot. I don’t know when he finally got into the building but at least he got a nice photo out of it, lol…

The big bodies arrived soon after…

Josh Velasco’s widebody 1JZ-GTE swapped Lexus Sportcross ripping by T-Mobile Park on the way into the venue…

The Pacific Northwest always has a nice collection of Lowriders and they always know how to make an entrance at Wekfest…

Spotted this blue FK8 Civic Type R on Volk CEs cruising around probably trying to burn off some gas…

This Civic sedan with EF3 JDM front conversion was pretty exceptional, built by Ben from Backyard Boogie…

Imported Toyota Crown sitting static on custom-built Volk Racing C-Ultra wheels…

S2000 on Advan TC4 wheels wearing a full Miku Hatsune Itasha livery…

One of the best-looking builds of the Seattle event was this E46 M3-converted 3-Series wagon. Not only does it have the complete front-end but there’s also a significant amount of bodywork done to the rear quarters to give it that flare which matches the OEM M3 body line…

This photo came out dark as fuck but there’s an S2000CR in there with bronze Volk ZE40s…

The NSX duo pulling-up to the staging area…

A closer look at the custom widebody kit by Sky Design which looks to feature a ZZT30 Celica headlight conversion that has been integrated into the front-end…

Though the aero might not be for everyone, the car is actually very well-executed. The NSX-R scoop up top is fully-functional and actually delivers air to the individual throttle bodies…

Terry pulling-up with Toto in his Integra sitting nice and low on Mugen MF10 wheels…

Tony from LCM Garage in his Porsche 997 on Mag Blue 19-inch Volk TE37…

Nicholas Nguyen’s Alpine White E90 M3 sedan on bronze Volk CE28…

You guys probably remember Steve Kwan more for his EK Civic build over the years but now he’s got himself a red E46 BMW M3 coupe on Desmond Regamaster EVO II wheels…

Tam Phan’s incredibly clean slick-top BMW E30 coupe on BBS wheels…

I think Don finally blew-up his motor so he showed-up to Wekfest in someone’s else Civic…

Master Franky’s clean DA Integra with what looks to be a US Racing Sports front lip and Mugen sideskirts…

For this edition of Wekfest, Franky opted to run 15-inch Sprint Hart CP-F wheels over his Endless front brakes…

Big Livesport wing on this Civic paired with a J’s Racing front lip…

Khyle Ramos from Backyard Boogie’s 4-door Integra on bronze CEs came rolling-in with all his friends…

Always a pleasure seeing this silver coupe every year. This Civic just stays frozen in time and looking like a time capsule on Mugen M7s…

While the coupe remained unchanged through the years, guys like Jacob Reyes were busy fully restoring their Civics to immaculate condition…

This clean EF9-converted Civic looked like something you’d seeing cruising around overseas…

One of the more unique builds of this year’s Wekfest was this turbocharged Chevy Trailblazer SS on Mag Blue Volk TEs…

The Seattle Wekfest event probably plays host to the most 2nd generation 4-door DB Integras I’ve ever seen. And by ‘most’, I mean TWO…lol…

Bill Master and Huy Hoang arrived with their signature builds…

Huy’s DC5 remains one of the best Honda builds in North America and it has remained mostly unchanged the last few years…

Mel Diego’s Mugen-themed EP3 Civic is another Pacific Northwest staple that you’ll see annually at the Wekfest events…

Ken Edwards went full-on YELLOW for this year’s Wekfest in his ’01 Integra Type R wearing full Mugen aero paired with Volk TEs…

Mikee Andrada’s freshly-built 96-98 Civic hatchback running the first Exceed Japan front lip in the U.S. along with a cut-out hood which makes room for massive Kinsler ITBs…

Another shot of Jacob Reyes’ pristine restomod silver Civic build…

Danny Pak’s GT3-widebody Ferrari 458 driving past T-Mobile Park. I really wanted to shoot more in front of this section of the venue like I have in year’s past but the roll-in groups were so scattered that I wasn’t able to get a consistent flow of cars every time I walked out there…

Don and his loaner Civic looking pretty good as he awaited staging inside…

One of the big debuts for this year’s Wekfest event in the PNW was this Wonder Civic built completely from the ground-up by Austin Hironaka from Hiro’s Hotrods. Austin has built some pretty nice Hondas in the past but has recently decided to go all-in on opening up a shop to build projects full-time. This Civic marks his first full build since opening up the doors Hiro’s Hotrods. He left no area of this car untouched and carefully created a car that would ultimately win ‘Car of the Festival’ (aka Best of Show) for this year’s Wekfest…

Fully reworked and shaved engine bay hosting a JDM B18C swap with Kinsler individual throttle bodies…

The B-series fits snuggly inside the tiny bay of the Wonder Civic with a radiator tucked under the core support and a nifty oil breather set-up with a catch can that has been integrated into the chassis. Wiring everything beautifully is a Rywire Mil-Spec engine harness…

That’s all for now. I still have another set coming which will show more of the cars inside the show which will come in the next few days. Thanks for looking!!…