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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Plenty of surprises on a trip with Sara Choi and friends…

Plenty of surprises on a trip with Sara Choi and friends…

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…
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First night drive…

First night drive…

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…
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What did I just see…

What did I just see…

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…
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Debuting my new Civic Type R N1 build in Japan!!…

Debuting my new Civic Type R N1 build in Japan!!…

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.
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The Civic Type R you never knew I had in Japan—and why it’s gone now.

The Civic Type R you never knew I had in Japan—and why it’s gone now.

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.
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Did I really just buy a Civic Type R??!…

Did I really just buy a Civic Type R??!…

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…
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Goodbye old friend…

Goodbye old friend…

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…
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On the hunt for cars from Osaka to Tokyo!!…

On the hunt for cars from Osaka to Tokyo!!…

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….
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