A rod type of weekend

It was a very nice August Weekend here in Southern California and as such there were multiple types of cars running around. This time the highlight of the week is the older genaration types of rides. The Rods of years past are some amazing looking machines. Heres a couple trucks that I ran into over the weekend:

here was an interesting ride. White Wall rubbers on red mags on an 88 Honda Accord thats all tagged up

Alignment

Took Belle(95 Civic) out for a much needed Toe only Alignment at work and now she is handling alot better than before. and since the Toe was set back to factory specs, she won't be going through a fresh set of rubbers montly!

Having never had a hella flush wheels on the car before, I wanted to see how much camber the car had in order to clear under the fenders and I'm quite amazed that the rear had 6 degrees of camber! WOW

Fridays S13 spot

Running low on batteries this morning from staying up all night coming from the club, but its Friday so I know that we'll make it.

Todays spotlight, since I was running late going into work, and there was MAD traffic from a burning BigRig, I was able to run into this S13 that is no longer an S13, but looking much more like its older brother, the R32 Skyline:

Looks cool doesn't it? I like the stance and the wheel fitment. This car since first spotting it in 2008 has come a long way from sporting mutiple shades of primer. It still has a lil bit of work to go but Im sure that when its done, it'll look great.

Here is the real R32 for reference:

2011 Summer Civic Project

Being an avid car enthusiast that  is into japanese cars, One usually cant deny that the Honda Civic is one of the easiest and affordable platforms in the market  to modify and tune. Anyone can trully make it into their own design. Having had this particular civic since 2008,icouldnt let it just sit there and remain stock. 
This partuicular civic was bought by my girlfriend at the time form one of my good friends. He replaced the motor with a lower milleage motor that was freshened up. All maintenance was done and all seals replaced. He also installed a new clutch kit along with a lightened flywheel. Eventhough this is not the fastest car out there, I don't mind since it gets great gas milleage.

The car now is in its second Iteration. After I bought it from my firend, the car was immediately modified. A plethora of carbon parts were installed just to update the look and the car was lowered on Mars full coilover suspension from my good friend Robert @ TCSportline.com. After the ride height was set, next in line was wheels. Wheels are what make or break the car so something different had to be installed. After looking, I ended up deciding on some XXR 501 wheels in 15x8 +15offset with 195 tires. I also Installed a CF backed Seat for the driver side to help when I was gonna track the car. Here is what she looked like after I was almost done with her:

This picture was taken in San Diego by Seaworld actually. Funny thing about this picture is that on the way to SD, a Dodge Neon tried to race us but we just laughed at the driver. I guess the Neon's driver's girlfriend got embarrased when she saw us laughing that she started getting mad at her boyfriend. Lol.
Sadly a couple months later, after my brother took it to school without me knowing, even with a detachable steering wheel, the car was stolen. All the aftermarket parts that was installed were gone. After all the hardwork and labor of love, the car was stipped. I had felt like I lost a member of the family.
The car was recovered thank goodness and I promply turned her back to stock in hopes of selling it since I feel like it would never be the same again.

Come 2 years later I still had the car. I guess I just couldn't let it go. Letting my brother drive it, since his turbo car wasted gas, was what it was mostly used for. Since he wasn't big of a honda fan, the car started to get neglected and parts were broken. The car also had an incident when a car not paying attention hit its rear end.
So being that it was being neglected I took it back and now am starting to modify her again.
I started off with replacing the interior front seats. My brother had installed a tenzo seat that came off an integra. Eventhought its a comfortable seat, it just sat way too high, so in turn, I tore that out and installed some DelSol seats that I bought from craiglist for $100.
Suspension work was next and I found a set of affordable Function Forms coilovers on Honda-tech that I ended up only paying $300 for. I also installed a set of Godspeed Project rear camber kit for $35.

Having the car sit at an acceptable level, I went in search of some wheels. I was thinking about getting the same XXR wheels that it had before but since I had those before, I wanted something different. I had less of a budget building the car this time so I went searching through craigslist. I found a set of Diamond Racing Wheels that were teal in color for $600 but I offered the guy $500 for it with tires and he accepted so those went on the car;

Sizing were 15x8 also but this time the offset are more aggressive than the XXR wheels with a 0 offset. In order to fit properly in the front of the car, a set of Skunk2 coilover kit set at max negative camber let the wheels sit flush with the fenders. Even with the camber kit the car still rubbed so a date with a fender roller fixed that.
I hated the wheel color so I sprayed it white:

I also installed a set of Weathertech Window Visors since its popular now. While the car was lifted on jackstands I also adjusted the ride height and removed the oem side mirrors. Why? To install a set of mirrors I've had for 4years. These went onto the fenders!

Since I haven't seen anyone stateside do it, I said F' it, why not. I also hit up my friend Rob again @TC and he hooked me up with a BYS style lip in poly/plastic. I wanted to stay away from carbon for the lip since the car is sitting a lot lower than before. Carbon lips are way too pricy to get destroyed and let alone get stolen!You can also see the OEM honda mudgaurds that I bought from work.

A Couple of days later, I hit up Mandy again from Godspeed Project and she hooked me up with a blue 6-point rollcage:

Looks kinda like Cusco without the Cusco pricing! lol ( you can also see the DelSol Seats) While i was at it I installed a set of Rallye/Wink 5 panel mirror to help get rid of the blind spots;

 

This is how she sits for now. I want to do more mods but I dont know what else to do.

here she is with my friend Barry's 4door DC: HellaFast and HellaFlush with his B20GSR and Diamond Wheels:

For now I guess, Im just gonna enjoy driving her around again!

Its not just junk!

Over the weekend, I had to find replacement parts for my 95 civic hatchback project(more on this later). Since most oem parts are very expensive, even at employee cost(I work for a honda dealership), the easiest way for me to save some money is to go to the local junkyard.
Junkyards to me are more than just junk. Some can find some truely amazing gems or even rare parts there. A friend once found a set of 17" Works VSXX there and he ended up only paying $300 for the set, which usually would cost over $1100 for a new set.

This was something interesting that I saw there, its a 93 Honda Prelude(though the car was beat) with a turbocharged H23 engine:

Its neat to look at but the more I looked at the kit, I noticed the reason why its at the yard. All parts that was used on the build was replica's of well known brand. On Engine builds, let alone turbocharged ones, I would spend more money on quality parts. Its not that I'm against replicas(easiest way to save some money), but when its as important to the car as an engine, its something that you wont want to skinp on. You never know how parts, like the wastegate or even the turbo, will perform under such heat or loads that the engine produces.

Fire is not a cars best friend. Looking at this near new Mini Cooper convertible, fire will decimate everything in its path. With enough heat, plastics melt and burn, even metal components start to bend and deform.

I wonder what this civic owner did or why this happened, I wont  show the interior(bloody) , but the car is riddled with bulletholes. The bullets went through both sides of the car. Hopefully who ever was inside came out alive...

Being a big fan of track cars, I feel sad sometimes when I see cars that has a lot of potential end up at the yard. Cars can sometimes be saved, engines replaced and everything swapped out to let the car live again to be appreciated by the next generation. This Mazda Miata could have been one of those cars but the owners have just neglected it and let it die:

Reminds me of my friend Jerrel's Miata (http://kropsblog.com/) when we had to pick it up and it was still in pieces.

After a couple hours at the yard, on the way homoe, I spotted this cool work truck. I would mind driving this thing daily if the gas wasn't so expensive.

And this Black on black Mercedez CLS. This would be one car I wouldn't mind having for a daily

I Ended up spending only $8.61 for all the parts I needed for the civic which would have been over $50 easily at the dealer. Though the parts are used, they still work and Im happy to keep the money where it should be, in my pocket!

Rough World

Just so you guys can see how massive those fender flares are on the RWB porsche check this:

RWB from Stephen Knoop on Vimeo.


and heres a vid of them racing around putting those beautiful machines to work!

RAUH-Welt BEGRIFF from Luke Huxham on Vimeo.

ITS A ROUGH WORLD!

If you're into any type of motorsports, one can't really deny or forget the presence of Porsche ino matter where it may be.; Being a big fan myself and being into JDM, one can't deny that those two worlds will sometimes mix. With tuners in japan having their own unique style, its not a hard fact to see why RWB(http://www.rauh-welt.com/) is a stand out among the crowd . If you've been online this past year, it's no suprise that RWB has become such an Internet sensation. With Naki-san's vision of how each car should be, based on the owners character, no two cars that come out of his shop is the same. No wonder that his style is unique.

Nakai-san's personal ride is Tunerhaus; just look at its presence just sitting there. It looks like its ready to paunce and destroy all cars that gets in its way:

This 996 is his newest creation just finished a couple days ago: Amazonian sports such a unique colorcombination. Who would have thought that cream and red would flow so well together!

I just love how RWB incorporates canards into their builds. Not only are they in front of the car, but they are also present  on the side of the vehicle, on the massive rear overfenders! I have not seen any other tuners out there that has done this let alione make it look so good! Check those canards out on Afromania!

Look at how even without a GT Wing Nakai's build looks amazing:

"“Whatever it is, the car has to look good. If your car doesn’t look good, sound good, and feel good, you’re not going to drive it like you should.”
Nakai-san from RWB!

Cool Vert

Being a former S2000 owner, I am very fond of convertibles. Convertibles give a freedom that normal coupes, sedans don't quite make you feel. Having wind brush up on you hair and tussle it to and fro, theres just nothing like it in the world. Its almost like riding a motorcycle but more safe and secure. Hence when I saw pictures of the N's Factory Lexus SC430, I immediately fell in love. The car evoked aggressiveness while still looking very high class. The Stance is just perfect and fitment is spot on!

Can you just say WOW!

Freeway Spotting

Southern California is a very unique and interesting place. Being that we have the best weather anywhere, and since we don't really have a winter here, Motorist can enjoy their cars on a daily basis all year round. We don't have to worry about snow and adverse weather so theres nothing really stopping us from enjoying our drives other than traffic!

On my daily commute, usually from home to work and back,  I often see cars that are intriguing or unique in their own sense. some have style, some have spunk, and whatever they have, they manage to stand out from the crowd. Hence the reason why they are posted here.Forgive the pic quality,  Most pics are taken with a I-Phone so quality is not the best

Lets start off with one of the more iconic vehicles in TV and in movies. The bug that can do it all and one that reminds me of speedracer. The bug with  Characterand style! The one and only Herbie!

Funny thing about this Herbie was that it was driven by an Asian guy with a fro! lol

Being that California is a Tuning Car hotspot, I often see company cars on a daily basis; like this ARK Performance Genesis:

And sometimes these Cars have to be moved And sometimes they break down. Don't know the reason why this is on the tow truck but regardless, this car that I dubbed the Kaiser car/truck is:

Maybe its on the way to put a V8 motor like this Suicide Runner:

From the Expensive: Merc SLS

To the affordable , yet unique ae86 Levin Taxi:

California rides do have some style! Agree?

heres some more before I have to get back to work:

So We Shall Begin

Fist things first, My name is Elson E. An automotive consultant/designer for over 12years, specializing in the High performance field of automobiles. Making Cars unique and different from what is normally seen in the streets and highways of Southern California, where I currently reside.

I will be using this post to showcase what is out here in SoCal and What is seen out in the world. This is just for my personal preference of my taste, and all the opinions here will be my own and will not reflect anyone elses.

Here are a couple of cars I've built that I'm proud of. Most I no longer own but still they are/were a part of my journey:

My 01 Honda S2000  that went through many different looks. It was the first expensive( to a college student) car I bought and its the car that I've kept for the longest. This Pic shows it at the Best Form it ever was in my opinion.

Then there was this 03 Nissan 350Z that I installed a turbo kit on and eventually got into Import Tuner Magazine: here is the full feature: http://www.importtuner.com/features/impp_0709_wendy_cheng_nissan_350z/index.html

Well thats it for now...