Machine check!!
Now that I’m back home from Japan, it’s time to put the EK9 away for the summer until I go back. I figured now would be a good time though to give you all a breakdown of the entire build. Just to put a nice cap on this project for the time being…
Over the past year or so, I’ve been joking around with Sara calling her my ‘manager’ because she’s been trying to convince me to go back to Indonesia with her. I went 7 years ago and though it was a fruitful life experience, I can honestly say that I didn’t have the greatest of times. I don’t think I ever made it a secret either. Whenever people asked me if I would go back, I often said I wouldn’t. Not so much because I was treated poorly or anything, I think the people that invited me last time tried the best they could to give me the most positive of an experience. Circumstances just made it difficult for me to fully enjoy it. When Sara Choi decided that she’d start competing in a drift series down in Indonesia, I was all for it. I’m always gonna root for one of my closest friends. She planned to spend a bulk of her time down there to practice and train to be a better driver but there were definitely times when I think she felt homesick and wanted her friends there. She brought it up a couple times and at first, I wasn’t really trying to go. Just because mainly I’m pretty busy as it is with a loaded travel schedule and I had this preconceived notion that I wouldn’t have much of a different experience if I went back. But some time went by and it seemed like Sara was really enjoying herself down there and wanted me to see it for myself so I told her if she wanted to plan it out for me, I’d bring some of our other friends down there too and we’d make a trip of it…
First night drive down the street was a success. Been busy the last few weeks so the EK9 hasn’t been getting much attention but now that we’re back from Indonesia, Yasu was able to spend some time on the car…
One of the major issues we had with the Civic was when we first acquired it, it was a bare shell which had a fuel tank in it that wasn’t in the greatest condition. That had to be swapped for another cleaner one since it was kind of rusty inside. After we brought the car back from Wekfest Japan, we also noticed the rear main seal was leaking so that also had to be addressed. The car is still running a bit too rich but that’s mainly because the injectors are a bit too big for the B16B when it’s paired with this particular Mugen N1 ECU we are running. After a drive down the street to the local gas station to fill up the new tank, we discovered that VTEC crossover comes at 4,000 RPM which was quite a surprise. The car gets kinda rowdy pretty early in the powerband but eventually we may switch to a different unit, possibly something more modern like a Link ECU. The idea of keeping the Mugen ECU is cool cuz it’s very traditional and goes with the theme of the car but it’s just dumping fuel with the RDX injectors in there…
On the list of “Random things I never expected to see in Japan” was this incredibly-rare Lancia 037 Stradale sitting outside in the rain in Wakayama…
For those that aren’t aware of what an 037 is, don’t worry you’re not alone. The Lancia 037 was a mid-engine sports/rally car built in the 1980s to compete in the FIA Grouo B World Rally Championship. It is notable because it was the last RWD car to win the WRC, which it did in 1983. Because of Homologation requirements in the WRC, Lancia had to create a minimum of 200 street-able production cars to compete. From ‘82-84, a total of 207 are known to have been produced…
It’s been a crazy last few days! After finally revealing to you guys that I had an EK9 Civic Type R here in Japan the entire time, I went and explained the reasons why it no longer existed. It was a terrible accident and thankfully everyone came out unscathed. Sure I was bummed about it, but Yasu and I tend to view things pretty positively most of the time so I knew we’d find a way to turn this awful ordeal around. Our good friend Shogo offered us a bare Civic Type R chassis and the gears were then set into motion to make it an entire build that would debuted at the 2024 Wekfest Japan event. In this episode, you’ll get to see the N1 chassis come out of the shop for the first time after it was completed and I give you some detailed information on exactly what parts were chosen along with an explanation of why.
What if I told you that I’ve had an EK9 Civic Type R this whole time? Would you believe it? And what if I told you that it’s long gone now? Pretty crazy right? Well, it’s true. There’s another thing I have to tell you; it was supposed to be in California a long time ago. It’s a series of events, some rather unfortunate, that lead to the ultimate demise of an EK9 I had tucked away…
…and lead me and my friends on a journey to create another.
It’s been nice being at home. I still have a bit to show you from our last trip to Japan but yeah, it’s been really nice settling back into a normal routine here in California. After Nostalgic 2Days in Yokohama, we still had a couple of stops in Japan before hopping on a plane back to the west. Once I got back, it was time to unpack and figure out how to display all these new collectibles I got. While that was happening, I was also presented with an opportunity I didn’t think would ever happen. I guess you can say it was an offer I couldn’t refuse. Here’s to a whole new adventure…
Back when I decided to buy this thing, I had nothing. No job, no direction, no money. I had sold my Accord and I just thought I really wanted to get a Q45. It was a dream car oddly enough. I didn’t even have any resources to build one and all of a sudden I just had this big ass car that came with wheels and suspension. I had goals for it. Some day I’d get a Mode Parfume kit, respray it Candy Red, it’d be different. The Chronicles wasn’t even a concept that came into my brain yet…
By this point in the trip, I had already been in Japan so long that I felt like I lived there and my friends were just visiting me. Attack Tsukuba was coming up and it was time for us to head back to Tokyo. Before that however, we go model car hunting and stop by one of our favorite shops in Osaka, Car Make Across. It’s always good to see Joe and I was surprised I hadn’t seen him my entire trip. We love seeing all the cool stuff at the shop and I had a gift for him so I really wanted us to go see him before we left Osaka. One we got to Tokyo, I had to take everyone to all the model car shops I had found the previous month to make sure they got to see all the cool collectibles. During an evening, we met up with some friends and I got to see a Civic that I had been wanting to see for a very long time….
During Auto Messe weekend, we always try to host a gathering somewhere in Osaka because there are so many people in town for the show. It just makes sense to bring everyone together for some post-show activities. That way it maximizes the experience for those who come to the Kansai region and it allows them to get a taste of true Osaka car culture. It’s not unlike Tokyo, when the masses all link up at various night meets in the city. This is just on a smaller scale but with a completely different vibe. If you enjoy cars, you already know that Osaka will be thriving that weekend. On this particular evening, we decided to bring our newly-finished Mintia “Cold Smash” EK4 Civic race car out. We had friends in town who hadn’t seen the car in-person yet and even though it is a dedicated race car, we thought it’d be fun to see this thing smashing around the city. A few days after that, we all headed over to Kyoto for a fun evening with Kei Miura from TRA Kyoto. You may know him as the man behind the popular aero parts company(s) Rocket Bunny and Pandem. We all grab dinner and then head back to his shop where he shows us some of his latest projects and goes through the unique process in how each build came together….
