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stickydiljoe

'Stickydiljoe' aka Joey Lee is a freelance photographer, writer, and creator of The Chronicles.
Wrapping up the season at the biggest car show in Los Angeles…

Wrapping up the season at the biggest car show in Los Angeles…

It’s been a pretty big year for us when it comes to car shows but it was time to close out the car show season in Los Angeles for the annual Wekfest event. Since this is one of our biggest shows and one happening in our hometown, we wanted to do something major by having a big display for Battlecraft, Exceed, and The Chronicles. Our brand new Voltex GR86 Street Version II was set to make its first public appearance at this show so we created a full floor display for it so the car could sit center stage. Our actual wheels were still on a boat somewhere in the Pacific Ocean so we decided to present the car on a brand new set of dead stock bronze Volk CE28N wheels. In our heads, we knew this would look good but still ended-up shocked when we finally saw the wheels on the car for the first time. After our excitement calmed we loaded the car up onto the trailer and were off the next morning to the Los Angeles Convention Center…
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Believe it or not, I actually paid $50.00 for this Honda S2000…

Believe it or not, I actually paid $50.00 for this Honda S2000…

While I was in Japan one random evening about a month ago, I was laying in bed just doom-scrolling away on my phone when I came upon a post for a S2000 raffle back at home. I never join these things because frankly, I don’t think I’ll ever win. Are these things even legit? Who actually wins? For whatever reason, I decided I’d purchase a spot. What’s the real harm in spending $50 to support a fellow enthusiast? If anything it’ll be fun and I can join in on the collective disappointment with my fellow car people who participated…

…but there’s an actual chance I could win, right? Even if it’s a .001% chance, that’s still a possibility, right??….

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The U.S. debut of the first Voltex Widebody GR86 and Exceed Japan FL5 Civic Type R…

The U.S. debut of the first Voltex Widebody GR86 and Exceed Japan FL5 Civic Type R…

After landing back at home in California, Yasu and I show up with a bunch of parts and only a few days to help complete the USA’s first Voltex Street Version II widebody GR86. Kristian and Jay had been hard at work on the GR86 over the last few months but I had been in Asia so even I had no idea how the car would look. Before I left, the car was literally in pieces. I was excited to see how much the car had changed and boy was I surprised but how far along the car was. We had enough time to even work on my FL5 Civic Type R! Since we had brought the brand new Exceed aero kit for the Type R back from Osaka with us, we immediately had to throw it on to see how it looked in completed form. Good thing I already had wheels waiting to be installed and a meaty set of Yokohama ADVAN tires…
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Back in Asia and busier than ever!!…

Back in Asia and busier than ever!!…

Yes it sure has been a while but I haven’t just been sitting around doing nothing! These last few months I’ve actually been back and forth from the U.S. to Japan to Indo and back again. There’s just so much going on and with Yasu around, it’s been hard to sit down and put new episodes together. But we’re back now! In this episode, we go to Indonesia to visit Sara Choi, I some how end up driving around an international race track in a wagon before flying to Japan for one of the best events I’ve attended all year! This new car show from the brains behind Option magazine and Video Option brought out all the major tuning shops as well as enthusiast cars I’d only ever seen on the internet. It was crazy! There were cars I’d NEVER thought I’d ever get the opportunity of seeing in-person and they were just all sitting there together. It was a real dream come true and yet another unexpected bucket list item checked-off the list…
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Dave Chik’s Civic featuring the new Exceed V2 front lip…

Dave Chik’s Civic featuring the new Exceed V2 front lip…

A week before Wekfest San Jose, I had Dave’s Civic sitting here at the shop because we needed to install the new Exceed Version 2 front lip to debut at the show. He’ll be the first one to tell you that his Civic isn’t a ‘show car’ but myself and everyone around him thinks otherwise. It’s such an incredibly well-built car with some many nice detail touches. To us, it’s the perfect choice to run the new Exceed front lip. The Version 2 lip comes on the heels of the discontinuation of the original Exceed lip. It goes without saying, and it might be obvious to some, but the relationship between Exceed and Mode Parfume is now non-existent. The two companies parted ways due mainly to a difference in views and ethics so Yasu set-off to create a new variation of the popular Exceed lip…
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What a busy weekend it was at Wekfest San Jose…

What a busy weekend it was at Wekfest San Jose…

It really does feel like car things are happening non-stop now that we’re in the heart of the summer season. Not long after my trip to Seattle, it was time to prep for the San Jose stop of the Wekfest tour—which also happens to be the biggest. Yasu decided to make the trip for this one as well since we were set to debut the first two Exceed Japan V2 front lips in North America at the show. He finished up the new parts and literally had them overnighted to California so we would have the time to get them painted and installed. We carefully selected two of the nicest Civics in the West to debut the new Exceed lip and had a nice booth display right up front at the show! Before the show however, we had some prep work to do and then it was off to San Jose!…
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Cutting up the Voltex GR86, Wekfest Seattle & first mods on the FL5 Type R…

Cutting up the Voltex GR86, Wekfest Seattle & first mods on the FL5 Type R…

Now that I’m back in the USA, it’s time for me to catch-up on all the stuff that’s been happening here at home. The moment I walked through the doors of Battlecraft, Kristian was already hard at work cutting-up our GR86 in preparation for the Voltex widebody kit. If all goes well, that project should be ready to debut by end of summer. A few days later, I re-packed my suitcase and hopped on a flight to Seattle, Washington for the annual Wekfest event. It was an incredibly busy weekend so I didn’t get much filming done, though I did catch a good portion of the early roll-in. When I got home from my trip to the PNW, I was already re-united with Yasu since he decided to make the trip to California for the upcoming Wekfest San Jose. He showed-up with the JDM headlights off of his FL5 Civic Type R and swapped them immediately since he’d been dying to get his hands on some USDM ones. Not long after, it was time to pay a visit to our friends at APEX’i since they had some special for my new Type R…
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Last night with NO GOOD RACING before I go back home…

Last night with NO GOOD RACING before I go back home…

Well it’s been fun Japan but it’s time for me to go back home to Los Angeles! Before I leave though, Yasu and I link-up with our friends from NO GOOD RACING for a fun cruise night! Ryuji wanted to have a get-together before I left and it worked out that I had a free weekend open for some fun. I still haven’t packed my suitcase or anything but hell, I can never turn down an evening of car activities in Osaka. You never know what to expect or what will happen but it’s almost always an amazing adventure…
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Chan-Oka Honda Meet in Japan 2024 Photos…

Chan-Oka Honda Meet in Japan 2024 Photos…

For the past two years, I’ve purposely extended my Spring trip to Japan so that I could stay for the Chan-Oka Honda Meet. The name comes off a little weird to us in America but it’s named by and after the guy who hosts it. Chan-Oka is a very-devoted Honda enthusiast who focuses primarily on tuning and styling from the early 2000s era of Hondas from the West Coast (California, Seattle, etc.). His group of friends absolutely love this particular type of style. They study it using whatever resources are available to them online and also by looking through old issues of Honda Tuning and Super Street magazines. Many of these guys have never been to America before but it’s actually pretty surprising how good they’ve become at replicating this specific look. I guess you can say the same thing about Americans or people from other countries and how they try to replicate Japanese car builds while never having set foot in Japan…
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We brought the EK9 Type R out to one of the best Honda events in Japan…

We brought the EK9 Type R out to one of the best Honda events in Japan…

Summer is here which means it’s time to put the EK9 away for the season! Haha, yes that sounds strange considering most enthusiasts put their cars away for the winter but if you know Japan, you understand how harsh their summer season can be. It’s just way too humid and hot to be outside which means I’m taking my ass back home to a slightly-less-hot Southern California. I’ve been here way too long so it’s time for me to go back to catch-up on regular life…

With me being gone, there’s no reason really to have my EK9 CTR outside so it’s going to stay in a nice comfy warehouse in Osaka. Before we do that though, Yasu and I decided to load the car up on a tow rig so we could safely transport it 7 hours to the Kanto-side of Japan. If you’ve followed me for the last few years, hopefully long before that, you know that I usually end my spring journey in Japan by attending the Chan-Oka Honda Meet. It’s a smaller event, but the quality definitely exceeds the quantity of Hondas inside this up and coing event. This small lot in Saitama holds some of the best Honda builds in Japan! There’s a particular style that these enthusiasts follow and it’s very much the more ‘USDM’, West Coast style of building Hondas from the early 2000s. These guys get all their inspiration from magazines like Super Street and Honda Tuning from back in the day. They execute the style faithfully and I can honestly say that they do their research. The Hondas here are legit.
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