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 CONTENTS
Features>>
12 FRANTIC FIT
We’ve seen supercharged Fits before, as
well as a few K-swapped versions, but
this is the frst one we’ve come across that
uses both!
18 MR. CLEAN
RC Chacon is quickly making a name for
himself and his shop, RC’s Garage. Get a
closer look at where he started and where
he hopes to go.
24 TIME CRISIS
We pitched a reality show based around
Ryan Hoegner’s life but the networks
weren’t interested in a series about barbe-
cue, painfully blatant Crossft pitches, and
useless ’80s trivia.
40 GOLD & OPPORTUNITY
From RC’s Garage, authentic Mugen
aero, ITB K Series heart, all smothered
in eye searing red. Yup, this GSR is a
neck breaker.
48 THE THIN LINE É
RC Chacon got rid of his old hatch project
only to have it stay in the family, so to
speak, with his buddy, Michael Blancke,
the proud new owner.
54 CLOSE CALL
This del Sol was built to get away quickly,
and, with a new K Series heart, it can do
just that.
72 CONVERTED
Mr. Walsh has owned his fair share of turbo
builds and eventually decided they weren’t
for him. Fortunately, we got the scoop on his Tech>>
boosted FA5 before major changes.
32 THE PATH TO BOOST
All boost is not created equal. We
Events>> dig into the turbo and supercharger
fronts, dispel some myths, and offer
60 HT CUP CHALLENGE some basic knowledge that you
2014 PRESENTED BY should have in your arsenal.
CONTINENTAL TIRE
HT Cup 2014 is rolling right along.
Here’s a recap of what went down. Regulars>>
64 IMPORT FACE-OFF & 08 SPOTLIGHT
CMI MARCH MAYHEM 10 ROAD RAGE
Drag action is already heating up in 2014. We
sent our new guy, Jimmy Nguyen, to Bakers- 78 ADULT TOYS
feld and Sac-Town to capture the action. 81 ROOTS
Honda Tuning (ISSN #1537-2871). July 2014, Volume 15, Number 5. Published nine times a year (Feb/Mar, April, May, June, July, August,
September, October, and Dec/Jan) by Source Interlink Media, LLC, 261 Madison Ave., 6th Floor, New York, NY 10016-2303. Periodicals Postage
Paid at New York, NY and at additional mailing offices. Copyright © 2014 by Source Interlink Magazines, LLC. All rights reserved. POSTMASTER:
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 MARY POZZI
11-TIME SCCA SOLO
NATIONAL CHAMPION

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 EDITORIAL ADVERTISING
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 SPOTLIGHT
Rodrez * rodrezspotlight@gmail.com

Just Us Then …
So many years ago that I unknowingly stitch the ’90s and
Like 10-year-olds fghting over action fgures, the array of email and
social media comments bounce around in my head day after day. “Too
the decade that followed together in a blur of good times, bad times, a bad my car is going to be cleaner.” “Should have gone turbo, what a
signifcant amount of struggle, and for some, a feeling that times were waste of money.” “Just saw the new cover car, my build is so much better,
defnitely changing, and we weren’t going anywhere. Yeah, we were here I spent three times as much. Guess it’s all about who you know ...” And
to stay. But back then, lines were drawn, boundaries established, and it the list goes on and on. I’m not pretending that there wasn’t competition,
was generically labeled “us against them.” In short, Honda versus any know-it-alls, or jealousy back in the day, but at present time, it’s gone
other brand since they hated us with a passion at that time, and, after so way overboard.
many years, not much has changed. I hear many older, long-term enthusiasts complaining about the
That time was about progression and longevity. Clawing uphill in an onslaught of a younger crowd who seems fascinated with outdoing each
attempt to prove the potential of what was essentially an economy car other, bashing one another, and for many, they see the attitude and
wasn’t easy. It wasn’t handed to anyone, and it defnitely was never mentality contributing to the dumbing down of a community that’s been
expected to go very far. It didn’t really matter, virtually unstoppable in the import world. To me,
though, the fght continued, and in the face of direct placing blame on the younger generation is a cop out.
competition, an unspoken alliance was formed, and ...THAT INSATIABLE It’s all of us—myself included. We’ve all made snide
it was us against them. Unorganized, unestab- URGE YOU HAVE THAT remarks, handed out our share of brutal opinionated
lished, and downright rough around the edges, the MAKES YOU THINK comments with nothing in mind other than tearing
standouts in this community started doing just that: ABOUT BUILDING, someone or something down, and, of course, given
standing out. If you were part of that era, part of
that magical time, you were witness to an absolutely
DRIVING, AND ENJOY- into arguing back and forth with nameless, faceless
guys on the other side of the computer screen. Maybe
relentless nature—one that still inspires people ING YOUR HONDA it’s time to take a step back, realize that we’re all after
to this day. 24/7 ISN’T JUST YOU; the same thing in a sense, albeit with different paths
Now … IT’S AN AFFLICTION and ultimately a different end game. Beating on your
I could start throwing out names; maybe run WE ALL HAVE. LIKE I chest and bragging about how your car is going to be
down the names of people from the Legends Series SAID, IT’S JUST “US.” so much better, cleaner, and faster than someone’s
along with a laundry list of others, but those who car that, coincidentally, is actually complete and
know are already well acquainted. Those who don’t running, rather than serving as someone’s fantasy, is
know probably won’t be convinced unless they saw a build thread or an as pointless as bitching about how your car “deserves” more attention
Instagram account that they could fip through aimlessly. Upon seeing a because of how much you spent.
picture of say, a drag car from a few decades ago, they’re quick to point Later …
out things like cluttered engine bays, wild paint schemes, or a ratty Worrying more about yourself rather than the next guy gives you
appearance—as if any of that mattered. Records were being established more time to concentrate on that build you keep talking about. Rather
and broken, and, in essence, history was being made. than fabricating excuses about why you weren’t chosen for a cover, or,
No doubt, times change and things are certainly much different now. more importantly, why someone else was, stick to building your idea of
You want things to be one way. It’s understandable. In this day and age, the perfect car, not what you think someone else deems as perfect. The
with everything just a click or a swipe away, you expect things to be done next time you see a car that wasn’t built the way you’d do it, keep in mind
specifcally to cater to your needs. It’s a fabricated sense of entitlement that this whole ride would be pretty damn boring if everyone did it the
that looms overhead and while you might not notice it, others certainly same exact way. Finally, that insatiable urge you have that makes you
do. In reality, it’s a growing problem that’s gone from an intermittent think about building, driving, and enjoying your Honda 24/7 isn’t just
annoyance, to an outright plague. you; it’s an affiction we all have. Like I said, it’s just “us.”

8 HONDATUNINGMAGAZINE.COM
 ROADRAGE
Aaron Bonk * facebook.com/aaronjbonk
The Turning Point
That Evo you’re thinking of unloading your Civic for,
well, it might not have ever made its way to America
were it not for Honda. As it turns out, Honda, or, more specif-
cally, Acura, was just about the most important catalyst for the entire
Japanese performance car movement. It’s a brazen thing to say—that
Honda’s upper-echelon brand created in 1986 is why you’re able to
trade up from 2.0 liters of i-VTEC to a factory-turbocharged MIVEC
engine—but it’s true.
To be sure, Acura wasn’t the frst Japanese car entry-level tuners
cared about. Mazda, Toyota, and Datsun all predated anything from
Acura and its parent company. Harken Southern California’s 1980s
street racing scene or the frst Battle of the Imports events and Honda
mentionables are few. Outside of club racing, the marque was a seldom-
used one. But 1986 changed all of that, when American Honda Motor
Company announced what would be the frst Japanese luxury car line to
show face in the United States. The all-new brand launched under the
guise of just two cars: the Legend and the Integra. It wasn’t the Legend
that performance fans and already CRX followers were interested in,
though. The Integra—specifcally its second-generation debut in late
1989 with its 1.8L twin-cam engine, double-wishbone suspension, four-
wheel disc brakes, and crisp gearset—was (even though Comptech and
American Honda cleaned house with the frst-generation chassis long
before frst-generation chassis were considered cool).
The Acura brand was revolutionary by 1986’s standards. No auto-
maker had successfully created a spin-off brand since Ford launched
Lincoln-Mercury more than four decades earlier. It was also the frst
Japanese automaker to duly compete against European makes like
BMW and Mercedes-Benz and, within two years, do so well as to rank
the company as the best-selling import in America. The NSX came
next, along with Acura and Comptech’s IMSA GTP Lights efforts, but
10 HONDATUNINGMAGAZINE.COM
it’s the Integra that positioned Acura and, ultimately, Honda on the radars
of everyday adolescent performance fans across the United States—not
the Legend or even the NSX for that matter.
Perhaps no powertrain is as poignant to the world of import perfor-
mance as Honda’s B Series. Even eight-cylinder militants hell-bent on
disparaging anything without pushrods know the difference between a
non-VTEC B18A1 and, say, the ’99 Si’s B16A2. VTEC has transcended from
Honda-specifc engineering speak to what’s become a part of the daily Eng-
lish lexicon as well as the subject of Calvin stickers plastered to the backs of
Camaros. It’s also what’d arguably convinced automakers like Mitsubishi
and Subaru to consider fnally delivering their factory-turbocharged Evo
and WRX sleds to Americans.
Technology has come a long way since we frst became privy to VTEC
in late 1990, though, and to be fair, almost every entry-level subcompact
suitable for grandma features some sort of variable valve timing. But in the
1990s, it was enough to lay the groundwork for an entire industry—one
that ebbs and fows just like any other—but an entirely new industry
nonetheless. Import drag racing, time attack, drifting—they all owe a
debt of gratitude to Acura and its B Series because without it, the world of
import performance vehicles would be an entirely different one. It’s true,
the B Series has got absolutely nothing to do with drifting, for example,
but just like you trading in your Civic for the Evo, Honda’s 1.8L powertrain
was arguably the learning platform and ultimate stepping stone for many
among today’s drifting paddock.
The same adoration for any current Honda or Acura powerplant isn’t
so evident today, though. That’s mostly because Honda doesn’t really
offer anything but also because the other guys do. Still, even if you do
choose to unload the Civic and side with those other guys, you ought to
never forget Acura, its B Series, and how it helped pave the way for just
about everything else.
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 (STREET LEVEL)
BRANDON FRIEDMAN’S ’08 FIT

Frantic Fit
SWAPPING, BOOSTING, AND DEFYING THE LAWS
OF HONDA’S SUBCOMPACT HATCHBACK
BY AARON BONK * PHOTOS BY CHAD BURDETTE

12 HONDATUNINGMAGAZINE.COM
 It’s 2014 and K Series engine swaps have become about as routine as American-
Taiwanese trading companies and cloned Honda wares. What was once a
comprehensive conversion that required all sorts of brainpower has been simplifed and
intellectually ebbed thanks to generous afermarket support. For most ’90s-era and newer
front-wheel-drive Hondas, the whole undertaking results in very few surprises.
Unless you’ve got a frst-generation Fit. Here, afermarket backing in the form of engine
mounts and wiring harnesses is in defcit. Even loose-lipped information purveyors who
otherwise indefnitely habitate online, doling out whatever K Series-related information
they may be privy to, remain dumbfounded when questions of frst-generation Fits are
posed. Tat’s mostly because of the complexity of such transplants and the ’07-08 Fit’s
comparably small engine bay. So small that all sorts of cutting and fnagling is necessary
just to get the assembly into place. Its electrical system is just as challenging. Te frst-
generation Fit’s electronics is unlike any other regularly practiced engine swap’s—too new
to follow in the footsteps of the ’92-95 Civic, for example, yet too old to play by the same
rulebook as the ’11-and-later CR-Z.

JULY 2014 13
 BOLTS & WASHERS
PROPULSION
K24A2 engine swap
RSX Type S transmission
Custom engine mounts
Wiseco 11.0:1 pistons
Total Seal piston rings
Lightened and balanced connecting rods
K20A2 oil pump
K20A2 intake camshaft gear
Walbro fuel pump
K-Tuned fuel flter
K-Tuned fuel rail
K-Tuned fuel pressure regulator
K-Tuned fuel lines and fttings
RC Engineering 1,000 cc/min fuel injectors
Hybrid Racing 74mm throttle body
Jackson Racing supercharger
Custom intake system
Custom Morris Tuning headers
Custom 3-inch exhaust piping
Burns Stainless muffer
NGK spark plugs
Hondata K-Pro engine management
K-Tuned radiator hoses
K-Tuned shifter box
Exedy three-puck clutch
Lightened fywheel
Drive Shaft Shop axles

SUSPENSION
BC Racing coilovers
Energy Suspension bushings
Custom front and rear alignment kits
Custom front chassis brace
Custom rear bracing

RESISTANCE
Wilwood 12.5-inch rotors (front)
Wilwood four-piston calipers (front)
DC5 Type R rear disc conversion
Fastbrakes rotors (rear)
Hawk pads
ATE Super Blue fuid
Custom steel-braided lines
Brandon Friedman wasn’t in
WHEELS & TIRES denial of any of this before ditching
17x9 CCW LM5 (+26/+18 offset)
215/40-17 Falken Azenis RT615K his Fit’s 1.5L L-series for the TSX’s
bigger and more powerful K24A2.
EXTERIOR
Custom paint
But that wasn’t necessarily the game
Mugen aero kit plan when he frst took delivery of his
Spoon Sports rear spoiler
Fit. Initial modifcations remained
INTERIOR simple but decidedly important to the
Recaro Euro-R seats fate of the four-door hatchback. An
Personal steering wheel
Mugen pedals excessively lowered ride height in an
K-Tuned shift knob efort to achieve what he calls “hella
Def gauges
fush” accolades landed Brandon’s Fit
PROPS in the body shop for fender repairs
Friends who helped through the nightmare build
Girlfriend Jessica all around; it drove away with a full
Morris Tuning color change and impending plans for
Midnight Auto
Southern Fresh Dan at CCW an automatic-to-manual conversion
Stunna Ben, Mike, Sean at K-Tuned
Drive Shaft Shop along with a supercharged and fully
built K swap.

14 HONDATUNINGMAGAZINE.COM

A 2.0L K Series frst made its way
underneath the hood along with a
Jackson Racing supercharger system.
Te results were an easy 305 hp and a
cracked piston. Worse things could’ve
happened, though. Brandon explains
of how 305 hp just wasn’t doing it for
him: “I quickly got used to the power.”
As such, the block was soon swapped
for a 2.4L version built at the hands
of Drag Cartel, resulting in 426 hp
and, ultimately, afer several thousand
miles of use, a broken valve that took
the entire assembly out of commis-
sion. Afer all of this, Brandon sought
simplifcation and transplanted a
relatively stock albeit supercharged
K24A2 into place. At 8 pounds of
boost, “it was boring,” he says, which
prompted him to strengthen the
engine’s internals himself. For this,
Brandon looked to Wiseco for its
forged pistons, moderately upping the
engine’s compression ratio to 11.0:1
and increasing its damage threshold
exponentially. Te rotating assembly
was high-speed balanced and the
more capable oil pump from Honda’s
2.0L engines, like the RSX Type S, was
modifed to ft. Up top, the valvetrain
remains entirely stock aside from the
K20A2 cam gear that was retroftted
into place, allowing for the full 50
degrees of intake valve timing adjust-
ability that the TSX’s gear doesn’t
aford. It’s all very simple yet very
BRANDON’S 2.4L-
MOTIVATED HATCH-
BACK IS EVERY BIT AS
QUICK AS YOU THINK
IT IS, BUT IS HAVING
TROUBLE PROVING
IT. ON ITS DAILY USE
FALKEN TIRES, IT’S
SPUN THROUGH MOST
OF THE QUARTER-
MILE, POSTING A BEST
OF 12.4 SECONDS
calculated and very capable.
Two engine failures might sound
discouraging, but attempting to trans-
plant any K Series into a ’07 or ’08 Fit
can lead to just as much frustration.
Here, the framerails must be clear-
anced, the ABS pump relocated, and
the shifer tunnel modifed. And be-
cause of lacking afermarket support,
a custom header and intake system
must be fabricated. All of this makes
the swap arguably one of the most
challenging of all K Series transplants.
None of that stopped Brandon
from going through with it, though.
On his own. Afer situating the 2.4L
engine and RSX transmission in
between the framerails, he fabricated
JULY 2014 15

a series of brackets to bolt all of it into (Above) core support. Brandon’s custom
place. Te Eaton-based supercharger, The last thing
touches don’t end with the one-of
you’d expect
as it turns out, doesn’t just increase to see under engine brackets. To direct outside
power output but afords more room the hood of an
air past the throttle body, a tube was
innocent Fit.
up front where most intake mani- fashioned that terminates into an
folds would require hacking up the almost factory-appearing air duct at
the windshield cowl. Along with the
specially fabricated exhaust header
OWNER SPECS whipped up by Morris Tuning, it’s
FAVORITE SITE the sort of bespoke alteration neces-
www.honda-tech.com sary for such swaps and is arguably
SCREEN NAME what’s kept the list of successfully
Tubbyatl completed K Series-equipped Fits
BUILDING HONDAS such an abbreviated one.
12 years
DREAM CAR
Brandon’s 2.4L-motivated
Porsche 911 GT3 hatchback is every bit as quick as
INSPIRATION FOR THIS BUILD you think it is but is having trouble
K Series–powered Fits proving it. On its daily use Falken
tires, it’s spun through most of the
CONNECT quarter-mile, posting a best of 12.4
seconds—scores faster than your
niece’s Tidewater Blue automatic Fit
DRIVE SHAFT SHOP
www.driveshaftshop.com with its Hello Kitty stickers on its
back window but slow enough that
HONDATA
www.hondata.com a successive trip down the dragstrip
has already been planned. All of
K-TUNED
this afer Brandon revisits the dyno,
www.k-tuned.com
where he says the K-Pro will once
FALKEN TIRE again be stroked, this time to the
www.falkentire.com tune of at least 400 hp.
16 HONDATUNINGMAGAZINE.COM
K24A2:
THE PERFECT K SERIES?
The ’04-08 TSX’s 2.4L i-VTEC engine
is a bit of an anomaly. As far as North
American-bound K Series engines are con-
cerned, it’s the only 2.4L version to feature
Honda’s performance-oriented version of
variable valve timing. Every other large-dis-
placement iteration—like the Accord’s, the
CR-V’s, and the Element’s, for example—is
stripped of VTEC on its exhaust side and
what’s left of it on the intake side is there
only for reasons of low emissions and im-
proved fuel economy. Like the K20A2 of the
RSX Type S, the K24A2 features VTEC on
both camshafts and VTC on the intake side.
Here, though, valve timing adjustments are
limited to a 25-degree window instead of
the K20A2’s 50 degrees of movement. The
K24A2 doesn’t yield any more horsepower
than its 2.0L counterparts, but its 13mm
stroke increase and marginally larger bore
result in a whole lot more torque—about
24 lb-ft. Its camshafts are also some of
the most impressive, even rivaling those
of overseas-only Type R powerplants. On
paper, the K24A2 is just about the most
impressive K Series engine Americans have
ever been privy to. It’s no surprise that it’s
also among the most expensive.
 pro corsa
black 17 18

assetto gara
black, bronze, green, red, white, matte graphite silver14 15 16 17 18
gold, orange 16 17 18
fuchsia, purple 16 17

w w w. t i r e r a c k . c o m
1-888-835-8473
dealer inquiries invited ©2014 Tire Rack
 (INTERVIEW)
INDUSTRY LEADER
BY AARON BONK
R
andy Chacon isn’t old
enough to remember
VTEC not existing. He
was a toddler when Honda
engine swaps transcended
into the mainstream, and was barely
of legal driving age when the K Series
frst appeared. None of that really
matters, though, as Chacon’s since
established himself as a leader among
the growing phenomena of shaved
and tucked engine bays. Trough his
Phoenix-based business, RC’s Garage,
which began as a backyard side gig
nearly seven years ago, Chacon’s
perfected his engine bay craf and is
18 HONDATUNINGMAGAZINE.COM
responsible for countless award-
winning and media-adulated Civics,
Integras, Accords, Preludes, and the
like. Since 2007, Honda fans have
looked to Chacon for what’s now
considered the boilerplate way of
approaching a Honda engine bay.
And if you ask him, the hard work’s
paying of. RC’s Garage has grown
exponentially since moving into its
frst small warehouse in 2010 with
even bigger plans for the future. Read
on as we sit down with the engine bay
czar and fnd out how his interest in
modifying Hondas developed and
where his company’s headed.
HT: How did you become inter-
ested in the Honda brand?
RC: I rode in a friend’s CRX when
I was 15. [It was my] frst time ever
being in the car. I didn’t even know
what it was. We were speeding around
following his friend and we ended up
rear-ending his buddy [laughs]. I fell
in love with how small and quick the
car was and [immediately] wanted
one. It was a white ’88 Si.
HT: Your business, RC’s Garage,
is primarily known for its attention
to detail and its ability to customize
Hondas and Acuras in a unique way.
How did you develop this niche?
RC: I got that from my dad when we
were building my frst car, a ’68 [Dodge]
Charger. Anything that needed replac-
ing, we replaced it and split the cost.
Everything was done in our garage,
from replacing rusted panels, to
installing a new vinyl top, to paint and
bodywork. My dad can even do interior
but I haven’t picked up on that skill
yet [laughs].
HT: How was RC’s Garage
initially formed?
RC: Well, I worked at a shop out
here called Tokyo Seed Pros. When
they closed down, I had people hitting
me up to do side work. Eventually, I
didn’t like having a boss so I found
myself consistently doing side work.
Te name came [from a] joke, just
something to say when people asked
who did the work: RC’s Garage or RCG.
HT: Can you tell us about the frst
time you shaved an engine bay or
tucked a set of brake lines? What sort
of mistakes did you make early on
and who or what do you credit to you
now being an expert in the process?
RC: Well, let’s say just that the frst
time I shaved a bay, in this day and age,
I’d talk sh*t about myself for the way I
did it [laughs]. I just broke bolts of in
holes and covered them with Bondo.
[Tose were] the good, old DIY days.
I didn’t care. It was my own car. I still
have that car and have since stripped
down the bay and fxed all of my rookie
mistakes. My ’00 [Civic] hatch was my
guinea pig for my start in the shaved
bay world. Poor car [laughs].
HT: A lot can go wrong when
relocating high-pressure brake lines
or other components that Honda’s
engineers spent years designing suitable
locations for. Do you have any advice SUSPENSION PACKAGES
for the novice enthusiast who plans to versus buying
take on a brake line tuck or wire tuck on SAVE individual components
his own?
RC: Yeah, don’t do it [laughs]. No, just Pro-Plus
Performance Handling Package
kidding. Nowadays I’d recommend using • Pro-Kit Lowering Springs +
sof brake line tuck kits from company’s Front and Rear Anti-Roll Kit
like Downstar. Otherwise, I wouldn’t • Increase cornering grip and
turn-in response
recommend trying to do a brake line tuck • Shorten stopping distances and
on your daily [driver] if you have never maintain ride quality
bent and fared lines before. Te lines have
to be prepped right before faring to ensure
Sport-Plus
Aggressive Performance Handling Package
they won’t develop hairline cracks and • Sportline Lowering Springs +
leak. Wire tucks are [also] something that Front and Rear Anti-Roll Kit
can’t be rushed. If you’re going to do one
for the frst time, research and do it right.
Don’t do it on your daily [driver] if you are
not sure. Way too many times I’ve had to
fx cars that were people’s daily drivers.
HT: Aesthetically, what else can we
expect to see? One can argue that a thor-
oughly tucked bay is now almost more
common than a more original-looking
one. Any thoughts on that?
RC: Both, but I favor the tucked and
shaved engine bays. I’m a show guy and
feel like if you are going to show a vehicle, Pro-Street-S
• High performance
you need to have the bay done. Ninety- coil-overs for the street
fve percent of people who look at cars at • Rust-free, stainless steel
a show are looking at the bay. Tat’s for technology
Hondas, at least. It’s become a key part • Quick, adjustable lowering
from 0.8"- 3.0"
of builds. Most people walk by cars with
there hoods shut. I’ll stick with a stock bay
for my daily drivers [laughs].
Call or visit tirerack.com for
HT: How’s business in Phoenix? applications, availability and pricing.
Do you think not being located in, say,
Southern California works to your
advantage or against it?
RC: Business is steady. I’d say espe-
cially since my only form of advertising is
through Facebook, which is not really even
1-888-835-8473
©2014 Tire Rack
advertising. It’s more of a way for me
to show what I’m up to. One hundred
percent of my work is by appointment
only and through word of mouth. I
guess I’m doing something right if my
business has consisted primarily of
building custom bays for Hondas and
I’m still in business. I’d love to be in
California building cars, but I’m not
sure if it would work to my advantage
or against it. Tere are a lot more
Honda heads out there so it could work
to my advantage.
HT: RC’s Garage is known for
its ability to complete signifcant
aesthetic transformations. Tell us
about some high-horsepower engine
builds, unique engine swaps, or
any race-related builds that readers
might not know about.
RC: We do not build engines. I will
do everything else but assemble a
long-block. Maybe in the future, but
right now, that’s something I do not
prefer to deal with. Lately we’ve been
doing work on cars with [Chevrolet]
LS1/2/7 swaps, [Mazda] FD RX-7s, and
such, and some air-ride vehicles. We do
have a shop road race car and a shop
drag race car in the works. I don’t
have an ETA on those but they are
in the shop slowly being worked on.
Maybe 2015?
HT: Do you fnd modern-day
Hondas as appealing as those from
the 1990s and early 2000s? Why or
why not? For example, do you fnd
a ’06 Civic Si as fascinating as a ’92
Civic Si?
RC: I love older Hondas, especially
K-swapped ones, but I also love all
Hondas and think everyone should
own one. Tey are all good for their
own purpose.
HT: Can you tell us about your
frst experience with a K Series
engine?
RC: My frst experience was years
ago when they were new to the scene.
I was like, “Damn, only ballers can
aford sh*t like this,” which was
true because [they] were expensive.
[Tey’re] pretty afordable nowadays.
Years later, my frst personal [experi-
ence] with a K Series car was the
’92-95 Civic four-door that my buddy
David and I built that was on the
cover of Honda Tuning. It went from
turbo B to turbo K just like that. Now
my shop specializes in K swaps.
HT: Modern Hondas are becom-
ing more difcult to modify. How
does RC’s Garage plan to address
this moving forward?
RC: We’ve moved into working on
a lot of newer Hondas. You just have
to adapt to it like anything else. Some-
one should introduce me to whom-
ever’s in charge of the new Hondas
that go out to company’s to be built for
SEMA. I’ll gladly show the world how
RC’s Garage will address modifying a
newer Honda [laughs].
HT: What is your all-time favor-
ite Honda and why?
RC: Te ’88 CRX HF. Te car is
just fun. It’s a great little car, even for a
big ass guy like me. Or a ’96-00 Civic.
Tey’re afordable, great on gas, and
practical. You can’t go wrong. I even
got my dad to fall in love with his ’96
Midori Green hatch.
HT: How did that happen?
What did your dad think about
you moving on from a Charger
to a Civic?
RC: He just talked sh*t, always
making fun of my “rice-burner.” Now
those same rice-burners are taking his
ass back and forth to work every day
[laughs]. It’s all in fun, though. My
dad is very laid back. He’s the type of
guy who will walk up to [me and] my
group of friends and just start talking
sh*t. I can credit my frst car to my
dad, the Charger, and my frst Honda
to my mom. It was the next afordable
thing and afer that frst wreck riding
with a friend, I was sold on one. She

helped me get one—an ’88 [CRX]
HF with a B16 swap. My dad even
repainted that car with lefover paint
from my Charger. Sh*t was hot! It was
Charger Orange with tiger interior,
a Wings West kit, with 17s, and drag
radials in the front on the weekends
for street racing. Good times.
HT: Being located in what’s
ofen called VTEC Alley, how has
your close proximity to so many
other Honda-related, high-perfor-
mance businesses helped or hurt
you? Was VTEC Alley a concerted
efort among everyone or did it
happen by chance?
RC: Unfortunately, I’m no longer
in VTEC Alley. As of August 2013,
I moved into my new 4,000-square-
foot facility fve minutes down the
road. Te only thing I miss around
that little sh*t hole is the people.
Tere’s a great group of people over
there with a lot of knowledge. You
could build an 8-second show car in
that parking lot, like Jake Blackman’s
EM1. None of us fought for business.
We all had our own specialty.
HT: How has social media
impacted your business? A
positive or negative comment
can spread quickly on the Internet.
Has this worked to your advan-
tage?
RC: First and foremost, Joey Lee
from Te Chronicles has showed
22 HONDATUNINGMAGAZINE.COM
tons of love for my builds, and I believe
it’s helped tremendously in allowing
people to see my builds and what I
do. It attracts people to our Facebook
page. It’s crazy to see the amount of
people who like my page. It’s not crazy
numbers, but to me it is and it means
a lot.
HT: Your work has transcended
beyond your own cars and can be
seen on customers’ and friends’ cars
throughout the media. How does this
make you feel?
RC: Fantastic. It seems like almost
every month there are pictures of cars
I’ve done in magazines from events or
that get featured. I’m super grateful,
and I appreciate all the love people have
shown me.
HT: Do you have any personal
projects planned?
RC: Always, but every time I talk
about one, I never get around to doing
it like how I used to. I’m going to do it
how I used to—just build it and show up
to a show with it. Boom!
HT: If your shop didn’t exist, what
do you think you’d be doing with
your life right now?
RC: Man, that’s a tough question,
but I’d honestly probably be going
nowhere. If I had to guess, in jail. Tat’s
honest. Te success of my shop and
the birth of my daughter steered me in
the right direction. I only want to do
great. It’s not in my nature to let people
down. I started my business with barely
enough money to get a business license
in my backyard in 2007, moved into a
1,200-square-foot shop in 2010, and
then moved into [my current shop] in
2013. I only plan to move forward and
am already looking to expand.
HT: What’s in store for you and
RC’s Garage?
RC: I don’t know what the future
holds for me. I do everything when I
feel the time is right. I’m feeling like
the right time to do cars in-house from
start to fnish is coming. Tat’s coming
soon, which would mean expanding to
8,000 square feet and putting in a paint
booth and fabrication equipment. I can
dream, right? Te power of dreams is a
powerful thing.
HT: Any closing thoughts?
RC: Starting this year, 100 percent
of RCG shirt sales will be donated to
kids with cancer. Obviously, being in
business is about making money but, to
me, the only important thing is making
enough money to take care of my kid. I
live my everyday life and make sure my
shop stays running. I can’t see myself
doing anything else at this point in
life but being a great dad, a great car
builder, and a great businessman.
HT: Anything else?
RC: Tis guy needs a vacation
[laughs]. [Tis year] is looking to be
another big year for us. A big thank
you to my family, friends. sponsors,
fans, customers, and everybody who
supports us. It’s all greatly appreciated.
If anyone is ever in Phoenix, feel free to
stop by and check out the shop.
CONNECT
RC’S GARAGE
4653 S. 33rd St.
Phoenix, AZ 85040
623-330-6139
Facebook:
RC’sGarage
Instagram:
rcsgarage
 (RACE-BRED)
RYAN HOEGNER’S ’98 INTEGRA TYPE R

24 HONDATUNINGMAGAZINE.COM
 Time
CRISIS
The juggling act of dedicated employee,
business owner, family man, and enthusiast …
TEXT AND PHOTOS BY RODREZ

Tere simply aren’t enough
hours in the day. You’ve no
doubt said it, as have your parents,
and most likely, their parents as well.
Te surge of technology over the past
few decades has inarguably made life
much easier for newer generations
albeit with a distinct by-product that
seems more pronounced now than
ever before—too much to do, and not
nearly enough time.
You don’t have to tell Ryan Hoegner
(aka VTECvoodoo), owner of this ’98
ITR, about a time crisis. He divvies
up the hours of each day among a
number of responsibilities. From his
9-5 at Eibach Springs, a company he’s
proudly worked with for over a decade,
to his co-ownership of a gym dubbed
CrossFit714, to time spent with his
wife and three children, you could
say that Ryan’s plate went well beyond
full sometime ago. Oh, and then
there are the cars. His current stable
of vehicles casts a shadow and blurs
any of the typical categorical lines or
labels associated with most car fends
as his DC2 is joined by a ’64 Impala
and what he refers to as his ’06 Toyota
“BroRunner.” Prior to his recent trio
of cars from very diferent walks of
life, Ryan owned an ’81 Porsche 911
and an ’01 ITR street car. When asked
about his automotive ADD, he says, “I
really enjoy the build process. Figuring
out a game plan, trying to round up

JULY 2014 25
all of the parts, meeting new people,
learning more about the cars and
their history, etc. It was amazing with
the Porsche. I’d travel late at night
to grab random parts from forum
members and end up in their barn
until 1 a.m. talking about cars. I’m
experiencing the same thing with the
Impala—hanging out with all of these
60-plus-year-olds with 50 years worth
of stories to tell. I even watch all of
those random automotive shows on
TV, no matter how awful. Lords of Car
Hoards? I’m in. Dallas Car Sharks?
Sure, why not!”
In 2013, Ryan was scouring the
forums in search of a new project to
take on and wanted to do something
a little diferent. Rather than collect
parts and build the car over weeks or
months with his almost non-existent
spare time, he wanted the car built
in about eight hours … in front of
10,000 people. “I always wanted to
build a car at an Eibach Meet, but,
of course, never found the time,” he
says. While scanning Honda-Tech,
he came across a ’98 Type R that he
immediately recognized. He adds, “I
saw ‘mikehonda’s’ ITR for sale. It was
basically a caged roller. Tis car had
some really awesome history behind
it and was on display at some of the
original Eibach Honda meets and ITR
Expos.” With only six weeks separat-
ing the purchase of the car and the
meet, Ryan reached out to the one guy
he knew would be able to spearhead
the operation. “I called Brian Gillespie

“I’VE HAD A BUNCH OF BUILT MOTORS OVER THE YEARS,

AND THEY JUST DON’T LIVE AS LONG AS AN OEM
HONDA LONG-BLOCK. SO INSTEAD OF THROWING $10K
AT A BUILT MOTOR, I HAD THE TRANSMISSION BUILT.”

26 HONDATUNINGMAGAZINE.COM
[Hasport] and he was immediately in.
I wouldn’t have even tried this with-
out him. He put together a great crew,
including his staf along with RC
Chacon from RC’s Garage and Chris
Tybor from Whoopee Doo Racing,
and they showed up ready to work. I
spent the next couple of weeks calling
all of my buddies in the industry to
round up all of the parts.”
During the 2013 Eibach event,
spectators were witness to a complete
K-swap install along with brakes,
suspension, a few interior pieces, as
well as a custom transmission built
by Chris Tybor. “I’ve had a bunch
of built motors over the years, and
they just don’t live as long as an
OEM Honda long-block. So instead of
throwing $10K at a built motor, I had
the transmission built. Every modifca-
tion, every gear, was selected by Chris
at Whoopee Doo Racing, and this car
accelerates like it has 300 hp! It’s pretty
amazing.” Te project was dubbed “Te
ITR Build presented by Norm Reeves
Honda” and afer a long day in the
smoldering heat, the car was essentially
complete. Tat is, until he had a chat
with RC Chacon about adding the RCG
touch to the build.
Afer the event, Gillespie towed
the car to Arizona and dropped it
of at RC’s Garage. Te engine and
K20A2 with the
everything around it was pulled, and
RCG touch. RC got to work doing, well, what RC
BOLTS & WASHERS
PROPULSION
K20A2
Hondata K-Pro
Hasport mounts
K-Tuned header
K-Tuned intake
Skunk2 exhaust modifed by Makspeed
Skunk2 test pipe
Skunk2 Pro Series throttle body
Eibach valvesprings
Eibach retainers
Walbro fuel pump
RC Engineering injectors
RC’s Garage custom fuel lines
RC’s Garage custom regulator
Rywire engine harness
K20A2 trans built by Whoopee Doo Racing
K-Tuned shifter
Clutchmasters clutch and fywheel
MFactory differential
MFactory close gearset, Third-Sixth
MFactory 1.0-way metal plate LSD
OEM 4.389 fnal drive
SDR ceramic diff bearings
Mainshaft and diff shim clearance by WDR
Circuit Hero oil pan baffe
Koyo K-series swap radiator
Password:JDM battery relocater
Odyssey battery
POWER
240 hp/165 lb-ft of torque tuned by Makspeed
SUSPENSION
Eibach R2 coilovers
Eibach 750 front/550 rear springs
Eibach 26mm front sway bar
ASR 32mm rear sway bar
Mugen bushings
A Sport adjustable camber/caster
Tubular upper control arms (Heim joint)
RESISTANCE
Wilwood Dynapro 6-piston calipers
Wilwood GT Spec37 two-piece hats
Wilwood Polymatrix B compound pads
Wilwood Exp600 brake fuid
Mugen brake lines
WHEELS & TIRES
15x8 +35 Rays Gram Lights 57DR
225/45-15 Toyo R888
EXTERIOR
MOB Works paint
JDM front end conversion
Mugen wing
FAL windows
CRZY Engineering splitter/diffuser
INTERIOR
Buddy Club P1 Limited seats
PCI adjustable seat brackets
Crow harnesses
Custom rollcage
Nardi wheel
Circuit Hero shift knob
Password:JDM carbon-fber fuel pump cover
PROPS
RC Chacon of RC’s Garage, Chris Tybor at
Whoopee Doo Racing, Brian Gillespie at
HASport, Eddie Lee at Mackin, Michael
Hamrick at Wilwood, Myles Bautista at
Makspeed, everybody at Eibach, Ben Howard
at K-tuned, Buddy Club, Doug at Hondata,
CRZY Engineering, Stan Chen at Toyo Tires,
Brian at ProCar Innovations, Brandon at
Skunk2, Gil Salazar at Circuit Hero, Kevin at
Clutchmasters, Chris Pinedo and everybody
from Norm Reeves Honda in Cerritos, Ryan
Baserri of Rywire, Leon at Password:JDM,
Matt at ICB Motorsport, and Fred Crow of
Crow Safety Gear
JULY 2014 27
does: completely reworking the bay guy seriously blows me away.” Inside the cabin, a protective
for a clean, yet fully functional setup. To maintain reliability and lon- rollcage commands the majority of
Ryan adds, “He put a ton of time into gevity, the power modifcations were attention, followed by a pair of Buddy
this thing. He cleaned up the bay, did kept mild with a Skunk2 throttle Club bucket seats anchored with PCI
a mild shave, tuck and respray, com- body, K-Tuned intake and header, seat mounts, and little else. Intended
pletely rewired the entire car, and even a Makspeed–modifed Skunk2 strictly for weekend track days, any
rebuilt the stock K20 with new gaskets exhaust, and Eibach valvesprings and nonessential amenities were ditched
and seals. He did an amazing job, the retainers. Te combination, tuned by in favor of weight savings, including
Myles Bautista of Makspeed, resulted the rear glass, which is now an FAL
in a solid 240 whp. Not surprisingly, polycarbonate piece.
OWNER SPECS
the suspension is based around the Te import community as a whole
DAILY GRIND best that Eibach has to ofer in their doesn’t ofen take kindly to embracing
Private Label manager at Eibach Springs highly praised R2 coilovers and multiple manufacturers, especially when
FAVORITE SITE front sway bar, supported by custom they come from the domestic side. Ryan,
Honda-tech.com
SCREEN NAME
tubular front control arms and Mu- on the other hand, looks beyond those
vtecvoodoo gen bushings. Wilwood’s Dynapro imaginary boundaries, pulls inspiration
BUILDING HONDAS six-piston caliper is efective, yet from all facets of car building, regard-
Since ’94 compact enough to ft beneath the less of the country of origin, and even in
DREAM CAR 15x8 Gram Lights 57DR’s wrapped in a time crisis, has been able to reach his
’32 Ford
sticky Toyo R888. automotive goals.
INSPIRATION FOR THIS BUILD
To kick Tony Jackson’s ass
FUTURE BUILD
Working on a ’64 Impala
EXTRACURRICULAR ENTHUSIASM
If you were into Hondas during the late ’90s in Southern California, you probably recall the Honda Club.
CONNECT Ryan says, “I created the club as sort of a AAA for Honda owners that offered discounts at dealers, hotels,
shops, etc., as well as publishing Velocity magazine for the club, which also showed up on local news-
EIBACH SPRINGS
www.eibach.com stands. I organized some events at Norm Reeves Honda that included guest speakers like Oscar Jackson
and Doug Macmillan of Hondata.”
HASPORT
www.hasport.com
In the mid 2000s, Ryan felt it was time to organize a Honda-specifc meet, which he simply referred
to as “Eibach Meet” to take place at Eibach’s Corona, CA, facility. The frst event brought in close to 100
K-TUNED cars and was considered a smash hit at that time. The next year, however, with the help of a few friends,
www.k-tuned.com
the Eibach meet grew exponentially. So much so that it had to be moved to a large-scale facility to host the
WILWOOD event and its 600-plus cars and thousands of spectators every May.
www.wilwood.com

28 HONDATUNINGMAGAZINE.COM
FUNCTIONAL
THE RC’S GARAGE WAY
 (WRENCHIN’)
FORCED INDUCTION

THE PATH
To make more power, you’ve got
to burn more fuel, and to burn
more fuel, you’ve got to deliver more
air. But your naturally aspirated Honda
engine will never be able to take in any

TO BOOST
more air than what the earth’s atmosphere
says it can. You can try by increasing the
amount of time the valves stay open or the
amount of space below the combustion
chambers, but cams and more displace-
ment can only do so much. Only forced
induction has the ability to compress
the incoming airstream, resulting in a
whole lot more oxygen molecules within
the same amount of space. Tis denser TWO WAYS TO FORCED INDUCTION:
stream of air means more fuel can burn,
which means combustion’s going to be a
WHICH ONE’S RIGHT FOR YOU?
whole lot more impressive. As it turns BY AARON BONK
out, though, turbochargers and su-
perchargers go about all of this in two
entirely diferent ways.

32 HONDATUNINGMAGAZINE.COM
 Reverse the damage
caused by time.
Mothers® Back-to-Black® Heavy Duty Trim Cleaner Kit.
Unmatched deep-cleaning power that erases the damage
caused by the elements and restores your exterior trim and
plastic to its original and natural showroom color. Whatever
you do, don’t call it a cover-up.
Every turbo is based off
of the same design: an
exhaust-driven turbine
wheel (right), a compressor
wheel (left), and a common
shaft that allows the two UNDO WHAT THE ELEMENTS
to rotate as an assembly. HAVE DONE TO YOUR TRIM.
Here, exhaust gases fll
the turbine housing, which
spin the wheel assembly,
causing positive pressure
to build up within the
compressor housing.

mothers.com • detailguide.com
facebook.com/mothersusa
 No other form of forced
induction has the ability to
yield more peak power than
turbocharging. Here, power
is limited only by what the en-
gine’s internals can withstand.
TURBOCHARGING
Nothing has the ability to increase
peak power more than a turbo, and
nothing can do it as efciently. But you
can’t just bolt a turbo onto your single-
cam and expect it to do something out of
the ordinary. Here, the turbo is just one
component of an entire system. Every
turbo is made up of a couple of housings—
a compressor and a turbine—each with
their own impeller wheel, joined by a
common shaf that’s positioned within its
own cartridge and supported by a series of
bearings. It’s all very complicated sound-
ing, but all you really need to know is
that whatever exhaust gases your engine’s
already producing are now being used to
make all of this spin, squashing the air
within the turbo’s compressor housing
and sending it into the combustion cham-
bers for you to enjoy.
Tere’s a whole lot more to it than that,
though. Te story begins with a special-
ized exhaust manifold that sends gases
34 HONDATUNINGMAGAZINE.COM
toward the turbine housing that
would otherwise pass through
the tailpipe, causing its impeller
wheel, its common shaf, and
opposing compressor wheel to
spin. Te results draw and com-
press more air into the intake
manifold than any naturally
aspirated engine ever could.
Still, there’s more to it. Like the
wastegate, which is an exten-
sion of the exhaust manifold or
turbine housing, counteract-
ing all of this and redirecting
exhaust gases away from the
turbine wheel to avoid excessive
boost. Te intercooler’s just as
Air-to-air intercoolers like
important. Once air is compressed, its these help drop intake air
temperature rises. Hot air doesn’t just hurt temperatures on turbo and
performance, it can also wreak all sorts of centrifugal supercharger
systems. First, outside air
havoc on your engine. Most intercoolers enters the system through the
are nothing more than simple air-to-air air flter that routes toward
heat exchangers, like your radiator, that the turbo’s compressor
housing. Once the air has been
cool the air that fows through it using a compressed and heated, it
series of fns and tubes. exits the compressor hous-
ing and passes through the
intercooler where it’s cooled,
SUPERCHARGING much like how a radiator
Superchargers also compress air but lowers coolant temperatures.
Finally, the cooled air passes
are driven in an entirely diferent way. into the throttle body and is
Here, instead of making use of exhaust introduced into the combus-
tion chambers.
gases that you don’t care about, the
 Positive-displacement
superchargers don’t compress
air exactly like turbos and
centrifugal superchargers do.
Instead, the system is made
up of two chambers separated
by a series of rotating, inter-
meshing lobes that increase
airspeed, resulting in a backup
of air within the second cham-
ber and positive pressure.

supercharger is driven directly of the

crankshaf, like an A/C compressor
or mechanical power steering pump.
Tere are all kinds of superchargers,
like positive-displacement, Roots-type
superchargers that are integrated directly
into the intake manifold, which can make
intercooling pretty tricky. Here, air enters
through a single chamber before being
pushed into a second using a series of
rotating, intermeshing lobes that increase
airspeed. Since the second chamber can’t
be emptied as quickly as the frst, the air
backs up, resulting in boost. Positive-dis-
placement superchargers like these yield
immediate response that’s proportional to
engine speed but lack in terms of adiabatic
efciency. In other words: they provide
decent low-end power but sufer up top as
temperatures rise.
Centrifugal superchargers are more
like turbos than they are Roots-type su-
perchargers but, instead of exhaust-driven
turbine housings, they’re driven directly
of the crankshaf, which can make them
more responsive. Unlike positive-
displacement superchargers, centrifugal
superchargers don’t spin at a 1:1 ratio with
the crankshaf. If they did, they’d never
produce any boost. Instead, a series of
internal gears turn the engine’s 7,000 rpm,
for example, into 60,000 rpm. Like turbos,
all superchargers pack more particles of
air into the engine’s combustion cham-
bers. Te results are ofen perceived as
reduced lag since you won’t be waiting for
all of those exhaust gases to accumulate to
spin a turbine wheel. Te bad news is the
parasitic drag associated with supercharg-
ing. Here, it takes engine power to spin the
whole thing, which can cost you 10 hp, 20
hp, or more in the long run. But still, the
net result is always more power than what
you started with.
A supercharger will never produce
as much peak power as a turbo, but its
Centrifugal superchargers
work similar to a turbo. Here,
though, unlike turbos that
are driven by exhaust gases,
the supercharger is attached
directly to the crankshaft
pulley by belt.
simplicity and ability to pass emissions
tests because of how it interacts with the
catalytic converter is one of its biggest
advantages. It’s true that superchargers
can provide better low-end response when
compared to turbos, but they’ll almost
always fall short in terms of top end power
production.
STUFF YOU’VE BEEN WRONG ABOUT
•Comparing a turbo’s 10 pounds of
boost to a supercharger’s 10 pounds of
boost will never make sense. It’s true that

36 HONDATUNINGMAGAZINE.COM
 PERFORMANCE, ENHANCED.

the air pressure exerted within the two are

equal but the volume of air being deliv-
ered to the engine is entirely diferent.
•Te same is true when comparing
turbos to one another. Equal boost doesn’t
necessarily mean equal horsepower.
•In fact, just forget about how much
boost you or anybody else is making and
focus on how much airfow is delivered or
how much power’s being made.
•A bigger wastegate isn’t always neces-
sary. Large-valve wastegates are only
needed when a whole lot of exhaust gases
must be bypassed.
•A bigger intercooler isn’t always bet-
ter. As intercooler size increases, the abil-
ity of air to pass through can diminish. As
a result, boost pressure can drop.
•Custom cams, more displacement, and
expensive tubular exhaust manifolds are all
NEW FOR 2014: KONl SUSPENSION KITS ways of increasing power and efciency, but
sometimes turning up the boost makes just
The entry-level performance KONl STR.T (1120 Kit) and rebound adjustable KONl as much sense. It’s also free.
•As such, it doesn’t really matter if you
Sport (1140 Kit) provide world-class suspension performance and body lowering
make 400 hp at 18 psi or 25 psi. Horse-
with H&R Sport springs. These kits provide the confidence that your shocks and power doesn’t really care about all of that
springs are properly matched and add the convenience of one complete package as much as the Internet does.
in one purchase and one installation. •Tat’s mostly because cylinder pres-
sure—not boost—determines how much
power your engine will make and when
exactly it’s going to blow up.
•Turbos don’t necessarily lag. Only
oversized or improperly sized ones do.
•Instead of lag, though, you’re probably
talking about boost threshold—the point
at which the engine spins fast enough to
create at least some boost.
•You won’t waste more time than
SPORT COIL-OVER FSD you will comparing the minutiae of
what makes brand ABC’s turbocharger
supposedly better than brand XYZ’s.
Unless you’ve got some fairly specifc

KONl-NA.com
 Not a ProCharger
You call it a ProCharger but, as it
turns out, you’re really only right about 10
percent of the time. You’ll need to call it a
centrifugual supercharger if you want to
be right the other 90 percent of the time.
Like Kleenex and Rollerblades, the Pro-
Some things are
Charger name has somehow transcended
from one company’s brand equity to your
meant to be yellow.
generic term for any beltdriven blower.
Trouble is, ProCharger’s not the only
centrifugal supercharger around, and all
of this doesn’t make a whole lot of sense
when staring at the compressor wheel of
Your headlights
something from Vortech, for example. aren’t one of them.
Mothers® NuLens™ Headlight Renewal Kit removes yellowing,
class requirements, chances are, every scratches and smudges with a simple, fully mechanized process.
major turbo maker is capable of produc-
No hand scrubbing, just crystal clear lenses.
ing something that’ll meet whatever goal
you’ve got.
•Forget about twin-turbocharging your PowerBall 4Lights® Quick
four-cylinder engine right now. It’ll never Change Polishing Tool
make sense. Patented foam technology
removes oxidation and mothers.com • detailguide.com
•And then forget about twin-charging
restores clarity. facebook.com/mothersusa
your four-cylinder engine using a com-
bination of a turbo and a supercharger.
It’ll also never make sense and will always
be slower than a properly turbocharged 3” Soft-Flex Backing Plate
engine. safely contours to any surface.
•Te air within the turbine housing has
nothing at all to do with the air within the
compressor housing. Exhaust gases that
8 oz. PowerPlastic 4Lights®
exit the cylinder head and rotate the tur- Plastic Polish clarifies, maintains
bine wheel leave the turbine housing and and prevents future damage.
pass through the exhaust system. Intake
air enters through the air flter, past the
compressor inlet, through its outlet, and
into the throttle body.
•Te air within the intercooler has
nothing at all to do with the air that passes
around it just like the coolant stream in-
side your radiator has nothing at all to do Quick Change Severe Damage
with the air that passes around it. Restoration Discs remove stains
and unsightly scratches.
 (STREET LEVEL)
JAY CALDERON’S ’97 INTEGRA GS-R
GOLD &
OPPORTUNITY
Meet RCG’s latest, and perhaps, greatest creation yet
BY JOEY LEE * PHOTOS BY RODREZ
Te one thing that we learn about
opportunity as we grow up is that it’s
more ofen than not, at the expense of another.
When it knocks, you’re told to answer and if you
don’t it might just leave you for someone else. Te
crazy thing about opportunity is that there is no
guarantee that it’ll put you in an advantageous
position. It’s a game of chance where the odds
are always 50/50 and you’re required to play if
you want to advance in the game known as “life.”
Taking opportunity up on its ofer comes with
an understanding that you are probably taking it
away from another.
Jay Calderon is a betting man who has an-
swered opportunity’s call and has convinced it to
work completely in his favor. He is the owner of
this ’97 Integra and, without sounding terribly
cliché, let’s just say that he’s “struck gold” with
this build. As of press time, the car has only been
out in public a handful of times and judging by
the response it has garnered thus far, it’s safe to
assume he’s onto something very good. It didn’t
happen overnight though. When he frst heeded
opportunity’s beckoning, he didn’t have or even
want an Integra. “Originally I was building a ’97
Civic DX hatchback,” Jay recounts. “I had been
collecting parts for it for a little over a year and
already acquired most of the hard-to-fnd parts
40 HONDATUNINGMAGAZINE.COM
that I always wanted. Tis Integra was actually
my friend Deeds’ project at the time. He was
already in the process of building it and even
had a Mugen aero kit for it. Te car was stripped
to a bare shell back then, and he had told me his
vision of how he wanted the car to look; it would
have the full Mugen aero, would be painted New
Formula Red, and the [Integra] would be on
black Mugen MF10 wheels. I loved the idea of it.
I had never seen a red Mugen DC2 before so I
was excited to see the outcome.”
Not knowing that opportunity was on his
doorstep waiting, he continued to stockpile Civic
parts in his garage until he spotted something
familiar for sale on the Internet. Jay continues, “I
was on a local forum one day and saw a Mugen
kit for sale. Tese aren’t exactly common so I
knew right away that it was Deeds’ kit. I called
him and asked why he was trying to sell it. He
told me that he was going through some issues
with his personal life and needed the money. He
threw out the idea that maybe I should take the
project of of his hands and fnish it. I already
had a car to build so I didn’t think much of it, but
in the back of my mind, it sounded intriguing.
We talked some more, and I’m not entirely sure
how it happened, but I ended up with his bare
shell and the full Mugen kit.”
JULY 2014 41
42 HONDATUNINGMAGAZINE.COM
BOLTS & WASHERS
PROPULSION
K20A2
Hasport engine mounts (gold plated)
Hondata K-Pro
Kinsler 60mm ITB kit with magnesium
manifold
Kinsler throttle-body horns (gold plated)
R Crew Race exhaust manifold
Mugen Twin-Loop exhaust with 2.5-inch piping
Injector Dynamics 1,000cc fuel injectors
All-In Fabrication tucked radiator
-16AN braided cooling hoses
K-Tuned electric water pump
K-Tuned A/C and P/S Eliminator Kit
Mugen oil cap
Mugen coil pack cover
X2M5 six-speed manual transmission
Rywire K Series mil-spec engine harness with
mil-spec connector plate
Hondata K-Pro V3

SUSPENSION
Buddy Club N+ Spec coilovers
Gold-plated Function7 rear subframe brace
Voodoo13 rear lower control arms
Vision Technica adjustable front upper control
arms
Gold-plated Mugen shock tower bar

RESISTANCE
Mugen Monoblock FD2 CTR front calipers
Custom slotted front brake rotors with custom
top hats
Type-S Mugen FD2 front brake pads
Mugen Hi-Performance brake fuid
Mugen Micromesh brake lines
5x114.3 USDM ITR conversion
RCG brake booster delete
Hush Performance clutch master cylinder
adapter
Wilwood brake master cylinder
Wilwood clutch master cylinder

WHEELS & TIRES

17x8 +55 Mugen MF10
215/40-17 Falken Azenis RT-615K
Rays Engineering aluminum lug nuts

EXTERIOR
New Formula Red paint
Mugen front bumper
Mugen side skirts
Mugen Gen. 2 rear spoiler
First Molding FRP aero vented hood
JDM DC2 black housing headlights with HID
JDM DC2 clear side markers
EDM DC2 taillights
SiR-G rear Honda emblem
Ganador Super Mirrors

INTERIOR
Custom six-point rollbar
ICB Japan Pursuit MK1 seats
Gold-plated Mugen seat rails
Mugen Racing III steering wheel
Gold-plated Checkerd Sports steering boss
Mugen pedal set
Mugen shit knob
Mugen instrument cluster
Mugen start button
K-Tuned billet shifter box (gold plated)
K-Tuned shifter plate (gold plated)
Custom RCG foor plates
Custom RCG fuel pump covers
JDM DC2 clock delete plate
CDM DC2 airbag block-off tray
JDM Honda dual-din carbon fber stereo cover

PROPS
My lovely girlfriend, Valerie; my mother,
Rosanna, and father, Rich, for supporting
me the whole way; my brothers, DC, Nic, and
Zach; my grandpa, Greg, and all my family
in Las Cruces; huge thank you to RC at RC’s
Garage and everyone else at RCG who lent
a helping hand; Matt, Jake, Jose Chacon,
Mike Blancke, Terry Froelich for amazing
paint, Matt and Amy at ICB Motorsport,
Mikey Cristi at DippedParts, Robert at
Hush Performance, Ryan at Rywire, Joey at
The Chronicles, Hasport, K-Tuned, Injector
Dynamics

JULY 2014 43
 Te terms “my loss is your gain”
were never truer until the very
moment that Jay acquired Deeds’ DC2.
He then began selling of the parts
he had collected, including the Civic
shell, so he could use the money and
devote all his attention to the Integra.
Te frst order of business was fnish-
ing the chassis and getting it ready for
paint. Holes that weren’t being used
in the engine bay were being welded
shut and Clayton Kyle, a fabricator in
Tucson, Arizona, created a custom six-
point rollbar for it. While the car was
in the paint booth afer completion of
the rollbar, Jay started hoarding parts
for the DC2, including a K20A2 RSX
Type S engine. “I had the idea stuck
in my head that the Integra was going
to be painted New Formula Red since
Deeds had it, so I went through with
it and had the entire shell resprayed,”
Jay says.
OWNER SPECS
DAILY GRIND
Trainer at QuikTrip
FAVORITE SITE
nwp4life.com, stickydiljoe.com
SCREEN NAME
Jayy
BUILDING HONDAS
4 years
DREAM CAR
Honda NSX-R
INSPIRATION FOR THIS BUILD
Mr. Deeds, Rudy Falcon’s DC5
FUTURE BUILD
’10 Acura TSX
ICB’s customiz- Opportunity came knocking once
able Japan
Pursuit MK1
again, but this time it was talented
seats suit this Honda builder and Arizona’s own RC
DC2 perfectly
Chacon, of RCG/RC’s Garage doing
the knocking. At frst, Jay had just
requested RC’s services to complete
a simple fuel and brake line tuck, but
what resulted from their joint ven-
ture was anything but ordinary. RC
suggested he go with a tucked radia-
tor to further simplify his engine bay
and run 60mm Kinsler individual
throttle bodies to make his K20
setup more potent, and not surpris-
ingly, Jay ofered little resistance. A
mild restoration of the car was also
proposed and then a plethora of
brand-new OEM Honda parts came
rolling in.
“Te color scheme I really wanted
was red and black but there just
seemed to be something missing,”
Jay says. “I needed that additional
‘pop’ for my build to stand out. I
remember back in high school, one
of the cars that I always admired
was Rudy Falcon’s RSX (HT July ’07
cover). Te gold accents in his engine
bay were mesmerizing, and I decided
to pay homage to that look while
adding my own little twist to it. I had
my Hasport mounts, valve cover,
strut bar, and Kinsler ITB horns
plated initially, but RC stepped in yet
again and came up with the idea to
take it even further. We then took a
K-Tuned billet shifer assembly apart
and had each individual piece plated
in gold, along with some other interior
accessories.”
As if the car wasn’t stunning enough
with the 24K plating contrasting
against the New Formula Red paint,
the coup de grâce of Jay’s entire build
might be a mod that only the keenest
eye of a Honda afcionado would no-
tice. Behind his 17x8 custom anodized
black MF10s are Mugen’s Advanced
Complete Brake System. Te brake kit,
originally designed for a Japanese FD2
Civic Type R, had to be altered to ft
the GS-R and required custom brake
rotors and top hats as well. If you didn’t
notice—yes, the brakes also happen to
be gold in color. Te positive vibes just
continued to fow afer that. Jay found
himself sponsored by Falken Tire,
received a nice hookup on a new set
of ICB Japan Pursuit MK1 seats, and
is currently in the process of having a
high-compression K24 block built
by ERL Performance that will be
nestled in the bay by the time you’re
reading this.
“It’s funny looking back at it now; I
never had any intentions, nor did I ever
think I would have parted ways with
my Civic for an Integra—but I’m glad I
did.” We would have to agree. Oppor-
tunity not only came knocking, it blew
the whole door of in a gold-plated tank
with RCG behind the wheel.

CONNECT HOOD RICH

FALKEN TIRE
Jay Calderon’s Mugen-themed Integra is one of the best we’ve ever seen but there is one important piece
www.falkentire.com missing from his authentic Mugen aero kit; the incredibly rare original Mugen hood. The hood itself went out
of production years ago but the rest of the kit is not nearly as scarce. There are rumored to be less than 10 of
K-TUNED
www.k-tuned.com them in the United States, and if you can fnd one, or convince someone to sell you theirs, expect to fork out
up to $3,000! Those who are the most die-hard of Mugen collectors have taken the search beyond the United
ICB MOTORSPORT
States and Japan, and have begun looking in more obscure places, like Malaysia. Jay’s engine bay is so stunning
www.icbmotorsport.com
that he probably never needs to have a hood on anyway, but in the event that he does, he has an aggressive First
RYWIRE Molding FRP hood from Japan, which is pretty unique in its own right.
www.rywire.com

44 HONDATUNINGMAGAZINE.COM
Real simple car care.
Mothers ® California Gold ® Synthetic Wax. It’s specially
formulated with microencapsulated polymers and ultra-fine
polishes that provide unparalleled depth, shine and protection in
an easy-to-apply, effortless-to-remove traditional paste or liquid.

mothers.com • detailguide.com
facebook.com/mothersusa
 (STREET LEVEL)
MICHAEL BLANCKE’S ’92 CIVIC CX

A LOVE/HATE RELATIONSHIP
FROM THE START
TEXT AND PHOTOS BY RODREZ

Te ’92-95 Civic, or “EH chassis” as

U.S.-bred versions are stamped, is by
far the most popular body style to build and
modify. Flanked by two monumentally popular
Civic generations (’88-91 and ’96-00), the slip-
pery, mid-’90s hatchback has proven itself more
than capable with countless street, show, and
even record-setting race versions that blanket
the Honda enthusiast crowd. With all of that
notoriety comes a rather tricky part—building
a standout. Owning one of these vehicles auto-
matically places you into very crowded waters,
and breaking free from the herd is typically
short-lived as trends and “looks” seem to disap-
pear only moments afer they’ve arrived.
From a purist’s standpoint, simplicity still
reins supreme as hard-core EH fanatics search
for a proper balance of performance and un-
compromising aesthetic touches. For Michael
Blancke, owner of this ’92 CX, the lure of the
popular hatchback wasn’t all that enticing. “I
started out wanting to build my ’95 four-door,”
he says. “I was collecting all of the parts for a
couple of years, including a built ITR motor and
SiR interior.” As the parts pile continued to stack
up, Michael’s good friend RC Chacon, owner of
RC’s Garage, was busy building the exact car you
see pictured. Only, at that time, its chest cavity
was home to a boosted B Series heart, and the
car had gained national attention as it graced
the cover of this very magazine. Avid HT readers

48 HONDATUNINGMAGAZINE.COM
JULY 2014 49
will recall from the article that RC
wasn’t exactly a big fan of hatchbacks
either, which is ironic considering
both he and Michael ended up build-
ing a hatchback—the exact same car
in fact.
So how did an anti-hatchback
guy with a built B Series on the back
burner end up with this K-powered
CX? Well, let’s start from the begin-
ning. Michael adds, “I took a ride in
my good friend Rhett’s K-swapped
ITR, and I was hooked! I immediately
wanted to go K Series. So I sold all of
my B Series stuf and started collect-
ing K-swap parts to piece together
a motor.” Te four-door sat in the
backyard for quite some time while
50 HONDATUNINGMAGAZINE.COM
the scavenger hunt continued, until
Michael brought it to RC’s Garage in
hopes of fnding some solid motiva-
tion. Te build process began, albeit
slowly, and not long afer, motivation
again waned. “I just lost motivation
again. A short time afer that, I had
the opportunity to buy RC’s old car
[but] the frst time it was for sale, I
didn’t want it. He ended up buying it
back afer selling it, and then I got a
weird itch to buy it. He wanted me to
buy it because he wanted one of his
good friends to have it, and this time
around, I really started to like it.”
Michael says emphatically, “Never
RC’s Garage
signature bay
have I liked hatchbacks, I’m a four-
treatment . door guy, LOL.” With the majority of
the K-swap ancillary parts already on
hand, the sedan chassis was aban-
doned for the time being and Michael
and RC got busy working on the hatch.
Te original plan called for a
turbo K Series; Michael purchased
a turbo kit, but it was intended for a
K24/K20 combo. He soon realized
that a straight K20 as compared to a
Frankenstein setup carries enough
diferences to cause far too many head-
aches. Rather than forcing the turbo
kit into the bay, the components were
instead sold and the money was spread
out across the entire build, in naturally
aspirated form.
Te sanitary underhood appear-
ance is a direct result of RC’s Garage
signature cleanup process that main-
tains the car’s functionality while
removing or hiding any unwanted
eyesore that might take away from the
bay’s appearance.
Afer having the engine bay
resprayed by local paint guru Tony
Froelich, the powerplant was prepped
for duty. Using Golden Eagle’s head
stud kit, a K20Z3 block was mated to
a K20A2 head ftted with Toda valve-
springs that provide support for a set
of custom ground Web Cams. Te
cold side sees an increase in airfow
thanks to an RSP Euro CTR intake
manifold, Hybrid Racing 70mm
throttle body, and a Vibrant Perfor-
mance Vanjen clamped JDL 3-inch
intake. With momentum on the build
at an all-time high, Michael and RC
decided to make the trip from Ari-
zona to Lake Elsinore, California, for
the annual Eibach meet, which was
quickly approaching. Te scramble to
fnish led to an electrical gremlin that
Michael can laugh about now, but he
wasn’t smiling just a few hours before
hitting the road to SoCal. He recalls,
“Te night before Eibach, I kept
blowing a fuse, which led to no power
to the ECU. We could not for the life
of us fgure it out. Soon there was a
team of people trying to fgure it out
with Hasport’s wiring guy, Brian
Tomas, leading the way. It ultimately
came down to my own human error
BOLTS & WASHERS
PROPULSION
K20Z3
K20A2 head
Hondata K-Pro
Golden Eagle head studs
Hasport engine mounts
Engine bay by RC’s Garage
Toda valvesprings
Web Cams (custom grind)
RSP CTR intake manifold
Hybrid Racing 70mm throttle body
P2R throttle body spacer
JDL Auto Design 3-inch intake
K&N air flter
Vibrant Performance Vanjen clamp
R Crew header
Walbro 400-lph fuel pump
K-Tuned fuel pressure regulator
K-Tuned fuel pressure gauge
Karcepts power steering delete
Karcepts A/C delete
K-Tuned fller neck
All-In Fab radiator
-16 AN radiator hoses
K-Tuned coil pack cover
EP3 transmission with TSX Sixth gear
Hybrid Racing shifter box
Competition Clutch stage 4
Hasport axles
SUSPENSION
Ground Control coilovers
Koni “yellow” shocks
ITR front sway bar
Full Race traction bar
Function 7 subframe brace
Function 7 LCAs
Next Miracle X-bar
RESISTANCE
OEM ITR fve-lug (32mm)
RCG brake booster delete
S2000 clutch master
WHEELS & TIRES
16x7 +42 Volk CE28
205/45-16 General tires
EXTERIOR
Championship White by Terry Froelich
First Molding fugel plate lip
Sergeant rear wing
JDM headlights/corner lights
INTERIOR
Bride Brix 1 seats
Bride lowdown rails
Mugen 3 steering wheel
Works Bell quick release
Custom shift knob (four-speed)
OEM black interior swap
PROPS
My wife, Maria, and my kids, Nathaniel and
Natalie, for the support; RC and the crew
at RC’s Garage; Matt at ICB Motorsports;
Aaron at TSR; JDL Auto Design; Locash
Racing; Ryan and Collin at Autofair Honda;
Hasport, Downstar; Chris Ortiz at HGH
Tuning; The Chronicles and Honda
Tuning for showing love; all of my friends
who have come to lend a hand or help out
with parts; Bryan Thomas, Morgan, Terry
Froelich, HOSE-B, Sergio, Enrique, and to
everyone for the love and support, it’s very
much appreciated!
JULY 2014 51
afer being deprived of sleep when I
installed the fuel pump. I pinched a
wire when I tightened down the pump,
and it was causing the fuse to blow. We
went through like 20 of those 15-amp
fuses. LMAO, FML!”
Having repaired the issues at hand,
the Civic did make the trek to the
massive Eibach event on time and, not
surprisingly, captured the attention
of attendees throughout the day. Te
OWNER SPECS
DAILY GRIND
Detail manager at Toyota
FAVORITE SITE
azht.net, k20.org, nwp4life.com
SCREEN NAME
clean4door
BUILDING HONDAS
continue inside
12years
DREAM CAR
Imola orange NSX
INSPIRATION FOR THIS BUILD
Had to keep up with the homies at RC’s Garage
FUTURE BUILD
’95 sedan
only problem was, some were saying of bronze CE28s of the 16x7 variety.
the words that still ring in Michael’s A purist at heart, Michael Blancke
ears. “I swear if I would have heard focused on a solid balance of tasteful
that it still looked like RC’s car one appearance and usable performance.
more time, I was going to drive it of “I can honestly say I love the car now,”
a clif. LOL!” Jokes aside, it was time he says. “Even RC loves it. LOL! Weird
to revamp the exterior bits to make how that works. Te plan now is
the car truly his, and knowing this, simple: Drive the sh*t out of it and take
Michael contacted the one shop that it to the track to do work!”
could procure tough-to-fnd JDM
goods quickly—ICB Motorsport. He
adds, “I hit up my good friend Matt
of ICB and ordered a First Molding
hood and fugel plate. While I was
there, he brought out a Sergeant wing,
which looks a tad more aggressive
than a Spoon wing and it’s fberglass.
The clean look
Decided I wanted it, and I color-
of the bay matched it to the car.” Michael also
and exterior
purchased a fve-lug conversion from
the cabin. RC’s Garage and sourced a classic set

CONNECT
ICB MOTORSPORT
www.icbmotorsport.com
K-TUNED
www.k-tuned.com
HASPORT
www.hasport.com
GOLDEN EAGLE
www.goldeneaglemfg.com

52 HONDATUNINGMAGAZINE.COM
www.avid1wheels.com 818.626.9768
 (STREET LEVEL)
DEEJAY BECK’S ’97 DEL SOL

Sunshine, great weather, and convertibles: For many outside of Califor-

nia, that’s exactly what they think about the West Coast, and DeeJay Beck,
of Hayward, California, built his frst del Sol to take advantage of just that. “It was
lowered, fresh paint, wheels; it looked good but it was really slow,” he says. Sport-
ing a stock D15, he wasn’t exaggerating and that became painfully obvious one
summer day. DeeJay recalls, “My girlfriend and I were playing hooky and driving
to Santa Cruz when I saw this lowered Civic, and we started messing around in
trafc.” What he thought was just two car guys messing around on the road was
anything but. “We got stuck in trafc, and these guys were pissed,” he says. “Tey
started yelling at my girl and when I yelled back, it got bad.” Bad is in reference
to the four occupants of the car hopping out with the intentions of starting some
serious trouble. “Te four began smashing on my ride, and came afer my girl and

54 HONDATUNINGMAGAZINE.COM
CLOSE CALL
REBIRTH OF A GETAWAY CAR
BY BRIAN MCGURK * PHOTOS BY QUICKWORKS

JULY 2014 55
 BOLTS & WASHERS
PROPULSION
K20A (ITR)
Hasport mounts
Hondata K-Pro
Karcepts intake
OEM TSX throttle body
Karcepts throttle body spacer
Karcepts 4-2-1 race header
RBC port/polished intake manifold
MagnaFlow muffer with custom piping
R Crew fuel rail
R Crew custom fuel lines
Walbro 255-lph fuel pump
Aeromotive fuel pressure regulator
OEM DC5 (R) transmission
Hybrid Racing transmission cables
Hybrid Racing K-swap shifter
Drive Shaft Shop axles
Koyo DC2 full core radiator
R Crew radiator hoses

SUSPENSION
Skunk2 Pro C coilovers
Skunk2 alignment kit
Skunk2 rear LCAs
Password:JDM front shock tower bar
J’s Racing rear shock tower bar
ASR rear sway bar
Energy Suspension bushings
ASR subframe brace

RESISTANCE
Hawk HP+ brake pads
OEM DC2 brake upgrade
Super Blue brake fuid
Steel braided brake lines

WHEEL & TIRES

16x8 +32 Volk Racing TE37
205/45-16 Dunlop Direzza Star Spec

EXTERIOR
Type R “style” lip
Custom front splitter
Custom rear diffuser

INTERIOR
Buddy Club P1 seats
Custom cabin bar
Personal Grinta steering wheel
FA5 Civic Si shift knob
Razo Pedals
Razo Mirror

PROPS
Johnny Ngo at N1 Concepts
Jei Chang at Blacktax for my tune
Christian Perez at The Street
Fighter Compound

OWNER SPECS
DAILY GRIND
Video game software quality assurance
FAVORITE SITE
shoryuken.com
SCREEN NAME
Buttons I,” he says. Realizing he was stuck,
BUILDING HONDAS
10 years, give or take
DeeJay acted quickly, got out of the
DREAM CAR path of their blows, and afer trading
NSX Type R paint with at least two other cars, the
INSPIRATION FOR THIS BUILD
The four guys who jumped me on the freeway
couple and the car were safe. DeeJay
in 2007. felt that if his car had a little more
FUTURE BUILD “go,” the situation may have been
’01 MR2/S electric power steering conversion
in my del Sol. Stage 2 engine tuck, repaint avoided entirely.
jet black. With his frst del Sol down for the
count, DeeJay was on the hunt for a
CONNECT replacement, but he wasn’t going to
settle for the same underpowered
HYBRID RACING single cam. Instead, he was on the
www.hybrid-racing.com
hunt for a more suitable canvas. “I
HONDATA knew what I wanted to build,” he
www.hondata.com
says. “I wanted the best del Sol Honda
KOYO RADIATORS made, and that was what I got.” Te
www.koyorad.com
’97 del Sol VTEC sports a factory B16

56 HONDATUNINGMAGAZINE.COM
 “I COME FROM AN OLD MUSCLE CAR
FAMILY,” HE SAYS. “BIGGER IS BETTER,
PLUS I LIKE THE NATURALLY ASPIRATED
THING.” DEEJAY SOURCED A JDM K20A
LOCALLY AND GOT RIGHT TO WORK.

and rather tired OEM Cypress Green
paint. Some fresh body panels from
Honda and a new coat of color were
frst on the list, but the result wasn’t
what DeeJay expected. “Te body
shop didn’t listen to me and tried to
match the color,” he says. “It’s not Cy-
press Green Pearl, but it’s close, and I
think it looks cool.”
When reassembling the car, he
wasn’t content leaving the interior
alone. He wanted it subtle, only re-
placing the driver seat with a Buddy
Club P1 variant and upgrading the
wheel and pedals. Te B Series version
of the del Sol was defnitely faster than
its D15 counterpart, but, in reality, the
B16 just wasn’t enough for him.
DeeJay began stockpiling parts for
a K20 swap. Why a K Series rather
than just boosting the B? “I come
from an old muscle car family,” he
says. “Bigger is better, plus I like the
naturally aspirated thing.” DeeJay
sourced a JDM K20A locally and got
right to work. Te intake system was
upgraded with an RBC intake mani-
fold and larger throttle body, while
the OEM exhaust system was ditched
for a Karcepts header and custom
piping—a must when dropping a K
into an older chassis like the Sol. A
bigger engine warrants more fuel, so
R Crew goods replaced the factory
fuel lines and fuel rail. Once the
engine was in, DeeJay had a Walbro
fuel pump waiting in the wings. With
all the pieces lined up, the engine
swap was essentially a simple process
of unbolting the old heart, installing
a set of Hasport K-swap mounts, and
bolting everything back together with
the new 2.0L. Te new engine called
for new axles by way of Drive Shaf
Shop, and Hybrid Racing provided a
new shifer and transmission cables to
shif crisp and precise.
Deejay admits that his last del Sol
was lowered more for fashion than for
performance, a fact he realized when
his prior build struggled to maneuver
out of its own way. Not wanting to
make that mistake again, he upgraded
all of the suspension components

JULY 2014 57
with Skunk2 parts, and replaced all A K20A replaces
the factory B16.
the tired bushings with Energy Sus-
pension polyurethane. To help put
the power to the road, a set of Volk
Racing TE37s wrapped in Dunlop
Direzza Star Specs were added, and
the car was complete.
Te build that DeeJay took on was
somewhat of a response to the guys
who tried to jump him. To make sure
it never happened again, it evolved
into not only a great getaway car,
but a great all-around performer. If
you happen to see him on the road,
don’t expect him to play around on
public streets. He made it very clear
that he learned his lesson, and adds,
“You never know who you’re f***ing
around with.” Words to live by …

OEM IS BEST
“I don’t want special stuff, that’s ridiculous,” DeeJay says. When asked about why the mostly OEM
upgrades to his K Series, DeeJay tells us that he simply doesn’t want to work on his car all the time. That’s not
to say he’s lazy, but he doesn’t want to order special tools, parts, or training for his build. He adds, “I love the
fact that I can get everything I need at an [auto] parts store.” At its core, a del Sol is essentially a Civic, a point
DeeJay was quick to make. On the other hand, he also pointed out that it’s not really a Civic. He explains, “It’s
like you get all the bonuses from having a Civic, without driving the same car that everyone does. I like that.”
Although DeeJay loves his OEM parts, he’s going to have to travel outside the brand for his next mod: an
electronic power steering conversion using parts from an MR2. When confronted with the affront to Honda he
states, “I know ... I don’t want to talk about it.”

58 HONDATUNINGMAGAZINE.COM
Acura
Integra 1994-2001
RSX 2002-2006

Honda
Civic 1992-2011
S2000 2000-2009
 (EVENTS)
TRACK DAY

HT CUP W
ith only two events so far
in 2014, the HT Cup is
shaping up to be a battle
royal with a number of
new participants, and with that new blood

CHALLENGE 2014
came plenty of heated action over a fve-
lap battle. Over 20 cars were registered
and on track, leaving competitors shoul-

PRESENTED BY
der to shoulder as they muscled their way
through the hungry pack in an efort to
push toward the top of the food chain.

CONTINENTAL TIRE Although the majority of drivers

showed up in DC2 Integras, we also saw
a few hatchbacks and a few more S2000s
to join last year’s winner, Jason Kim and
ROUND 2—THE REAL BATTLE BEGINS his AP2.
On this day, the skilled driving of
Joseph Bundalian in his DC2 placed him
in the top spot with Graham Downey
HT Cup 2014 Schedule and his S2K right behind him. KJ Valle, a
familiar name from last year’s series, was
able to rectify the faulty VTEC function
March 16: Buttonwillow on his K20-swapped Civic sedan and fght
April 27: Chuckwalla Valley his way to a Tird Place fnish.
July 5: Thunderhill Raceway With multiple events planned
throughout 2014, the points race is only
September 21: Chuckwalla Valley
beginning and there’s still time to jump in
HT Cup Finals: Date and location to be announced and join the challenge!

PHOTOS BY JDMZIPTIES.COM

60 HONDATUNINGMAGAZINE.COM
 Results for March 16 Round 2
1 Joseph Bundalian 25
2 Graham Downey 20
3 KJ Valle 16
4 Loi Hua 13
5 Brian Hua 11
6 Lewis Liang 10
7 Jason Kim 9
8 Larry Luster 8
9 Henry Torres 7
10 Romeo Gerolaga 6
11 Liam Downey 5
12 Roger Pompa 4
13 Ish Gonzales 3
14 Andrew Hake 2
15 Matt Padilla 1
16 Xi Chen 1
17 Jonathan Chao 1
18 Raymond Lee 1
19 Jei Chang 1
20 Son Vo 1

CONNECT
RACELINE USA
www.racelineusa.com

KJ Valle, Joseph Bundalian, and Graham Downey fnish at the top in Round 2.

62 HONDATUNINGMAGAZINE.COM
 (EVENTS)
DRAG RACE/CAR SHOW

IMPORT FACE-OFF:
BAKERSFIELD, CA
PHOTOS JIMMY NGUYEN February 16, 2014, Famoso Raceway

T
he Import Face-Of tour
made its way to Auto Club
Famoso Raceway for some
heated drag action and
accompanying car show. HT
alumnus Jason Park of FCS, Jeremy Loo-
kofsky of Drag Cartel, Javier of Hondata,
and a trio of cars from the SpeedFactory
team were in full force, looking to make a
statement at the season opener.
During the event, one of the most in-
teresting stories involved SpeedFactory’s
Kevin Kempf, who afer a two-year hiatus
to tend to his growing family, returned
to driver duty in the Competition Clutch
Civic. Having been of-track for such a
long period defnitely took its toll, and
Kempf debuted with a 9.65, a far cry from
the team’s previous high 7/low 8-second
passes. However, that frst pass was all
it took as his very next hit resulted in a

64 HONDATUNINGMAGAZINE.COM
blistering 8.07 at 188 mph, knocking of
any road rust and silencing any doubters
in quick fashion. Later in the day, during
frst round eliminations, having pulled the
parachute afer his run, Kempf felt the car
pull hard enough to the right to kiss the wall
causing some body, intercooler, and wheel/
tire damage. With the 26-inch front, 15-inch
rear tires unusable, SpeedFactory mounted
a set of much smaller 25-inch front, 13-inch
rears in order to make it to the next round
against a lightning-fast Lookofsky, and
later, an RB26-powered Miata. In the end,
the Competition Clutch Civic did indeed
take the win in FIP, but blew its engine at
the fnish line in the process. Te drama for
SpeedFactory didn’t stop there. Cole Mar-
mon’s Vibrant Performance–backed coupe
sacrifced a turbo during its run, but the
team was able to swap it out and get back on
track in order to take home the win in FWD
class with an 8.65 at 175 mph. And fnally,
SpeedFactory’s Avid Racing hatch made
it to the All Motor Pro fnals with a 10.22
at 131 mph afer swapping out a broken
transmission, which they later backed with a
10.15 before the engine let go and they were
unable to make the fnal call, leaving them
in the runner-up position to AMP class
winner Jerry Guzman of Jerry Built fame. In
the Outlaw class, it was Jason Ames’ Civic
taking top honors with a 9.214 at 157 mph,
while All Motor Sport, was won by Anthony
Marquez with an 11.907 at 115-mph efort.
Keep tabs on upcoming Import Face-Of
events by logging onto importfaceof.net.

66 HONDATUNINGMAGAZINE.COM
 (EVENTS)
DRAG EVENT

N
CMI
orthern California’s CMI
(California Modifed
Imports) series may not be
the most recognized, but it’s
one of the most established. Since 1994,
Sacramento Raceway Park’s played host to
the series that’s done its part in proliferat-
ing import drag racing throughout the

MARCH
state in the midst of competing organiza-
tions that have since disappeared or, at the
very least, gotten muddled up with bikini
contests and deejay battles.
Te all-import, quarter-mile venue

MAYHEM
returned to its home track earlier this year
with its annual March Mayhem event
where the quickest Honda time of the
day—9.58 at 156.86 mph—earned Chris
Limpin and his sixth-generation Civic
First Place in the Synergy Extreme Front
Wheel Drive class. Te heads-up grouping
is open to all front-wheel-drive, four- and
Import drag racing thrives in Northern California
six-cylinder-powered imports. Here,
restrictions are poignant and include
a turbo inducer wheel diameter maxi-
mum of 72mm, factory glass windows
all around, an original dashboard, and a
maximum slick size of 25 inches. Nitrous,
wheelie bars, and one-piece front ends are
not permitted.

TEXT BY AARON BONK *PHOTOS BY JIMMY NGUYEN

68 HONDATUNINGMAGAZINE.COM
 Street-derived classes like these have
arguably played a signifcant role in
import drag racing’s revitalization across
the country. Import drag racing’s peak
in the mid 2000s came at the expense of
seemingly unobtainable cars that fans
could simply no longer aspire to build
themselves nor relate to. Today’s classes
better limit modifcations—a factor that’s
helped keep costs down for racers without
sacrifcing the sport’s competitiveness. As
a result, participation is up and the sport
continues to thrive. Visit CMI’s website
for information on upcoming events
throughout California, including Sacra-
mento, Bakersfeld, and Fontana.

Universal Technical Institute has teamed up with

Neil Tjin to help make the UTI Gulf Racing Edition
Ford Focus ST sweepstakes car the beast it is today.

Special thanks to the companies involved:

> Falken Tires > Axalta
> Vortech > Baer Brakes
> Katzkin Interiors > Sony Audio
> MagnaFlow Exhaut > Forgestar Wheels
NO PURCHASE OR ENROLLMENT NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. Ends 10/31/14, subject to full Official Rules
available at www.uti.edu/FOCUS. Open to legal residents of the 48 US or DC who are at least 18 years of age at
time of entry. Void where prohibited.
 CMI
MARCH MAYHEM

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70 HONDATUNINGMAGAZINE.COM
 MORE STOPPING POWER ...
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• Perform under heat and load
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• FMVSS approved, TÜV approved

CONNECT Available locally from

CMI
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cmiracing.net most premium vendors.
www.ebcbrakes.com
 (STREET LEVEL)
JONATHAN WALSH’S ’08 CIVIC SI
Worried, anxious, sweaty palms, nervous laughter—all
signs of a modifed Honda owner, especially Civics, while
anywhere else other than the driver seat. Owning easily stolen
cars with afermarket parts that can be easily sold on online via
auction sites and popular forums can be downright stressful.
It is a reality though. Car thieves are the plague of automo-
tive enthusiasts. Tey destroy hopes and dreams for a few brief
moments of feeting fun, most likely in an attempt to impress
their loser friends, or for a few dollars to spend on their pathetic
and meaningless lives. Jonathan Walsh out of Atlanta, although
never having one of his Hondas stolen, made a conscious deci-
sion to move on.
72 HONDATUNINGMAGAZINE.COM
Jonathan owned a heavily modifed ’96 hatch that had tens
of thousands of dollars in parts and labor on board. He’d grown
worrisome over the years and understandably so. “Te car had so
much money invested in it that it got to a point where I could no
longer enjoy it. I did not want to take it out for fear that it would
get stolen,” he says. He longed for the days of being able to drive
places and leave his car parked without worrying. Te hatch went
on sale for $25,000 and sat for a while. Inquiries resulted in ofers
well below the asking price. “I was searching some forums when
I found my ’08 Civic Si sedan on sale for $32,000, cash or trade.
Granted I never really wanted an Si, but it had the JDM FD2 con-
version. I told myself I need this car so I can fnish the conversion
and make it my own.”
 One of the main pieces needed to complete the rear conver-
sion was a CTR trunk lid. One was tracked down to a supplier in
Canada, but the purchase took a turn for the worse when customs
agents fagged the shipment. “I was actually really worried,” he
says. “I thought it was a fraud or something. I even had to give
them my social security number!” Fortunately everything worked
out in the end, and the conversion was completed.
Upon frst glance, especially if the Civic was moving, the Vi-
brant intercooler is only slightly noticeable and is ofen mistaken
as a radiator. People are surprised when they discover the engine
is boosted. Jonathan owned many a turbocharged setup through-
out the years, and his desire to drive his cars hard has resulted
in many blown engines. You’re probably thinking that this car’s
engine is going to end up the same way, and you’re probably
right, but Jonathan decided to make a change afer the shoot was
completed, by removing the Precision turbo and replacing the kit
with a Jackson Racing supercharger. “Tis car taught me that I
ofcially hate turbos,” he says. “Tey have caused me nothing but
problems—every time, every car.” He admits that the majority of
damaged engines were of his own doing.
Interestingly enough, the OEM Fiji Blue Pearl paint attracts a
lot of attention. “I was not crazy about the blue at frst, but when
I saw the color in person, I thought it was pretty badass,” he says.
“I actually fell in love with the color although never having really

Converted Embracing the new generation of Honda performance

BY JONATHAN “JT” THOMPSON * PHOTOS BY CHRIS DORNON

JULY 2014 73
 liked blue cars.” He is asked about the and milder approach on this project.
BOLTS & WASHERS
paint a lot and people tend to assume Te car is designed to be comfortable
PROPULSION that it’s a custom shade. Jonathan and driven a lot. A daily driver is used
K20Z3 thinks waxing the shell every other to commute to work while all other eve-
Boomba engine mounts
Hondata FlashPro car wash has something to do with the ning, weekend, and cross-country trips
Skunk2 Racing valves blue phenomenon. Te blue seems to are delegated to this FA5. He opted for
Skunk2 Racing valve springs
Skunk2 Racing retainers shif depending upon the time of comfortable seats this time around to tie
Skunk2 Racing keepers
Walbro 255-lph fuel pump day and weather, further adding to into his new theme. “My Recaro seats are
Precision 62/62 turbo its mystique. the most comfortable seats I have ever
Vibrant intercooler
TiAL blow-off valve Being that he is a certifed Honda had. I have had Brides, other Recaros,
TiAL wastegate Buddy Clubs, Corbeaus, Sparcos, and
Custom intake piping Master Technician, Jonathan can
HKS air flter do pretty much anything himself; these seats that I have now are the most
Ridgeline throttle body
RBC custom intake manifold however, he decided to take a simple comfortable that I have ever sat in.”
Aeromotive fuel flter
Aeromotive FPR
K-Tuned fuel rail
DeatchWerks 650cc injectors
Earl’s Performance lines and fttings
Full Race exhaust manifold
Custom 3-inch downpipe
Skunk2 Racing 3-inch exhaust system
Mugen quick shifter
Corsport bronze bushings
Competition Clutch 4-puck clutch
Gator Stage 3 axles
Fluidyne radiator
KSport radiator hoses

SUSPENSION
TEIN coilovers
Progress sway bars
SPC camber kit front/rear

RESISTANCE
Brembo slotted/drilled discs
Hawk pads
Project Mu brake fuid
Goodridge brake lines

WHEELS & TIRES

CCW LM5
F: 18x9 +32 * R: 18x8.5 +32
F: Nitto NT555 255/35-18
R: Nitto Neogen 225/40-18

EXTERIOR
Fiji blue pearl
CTR headlights
CTR front bumper
CTR fenders
CTR taillights
JDM Mugen front lip
JDM CTR hood
JDM CTR trunk lid
Mugen rear spoiler
Mugen side skirts
Mugen rear diffuser
Mugen RR third brake light

INTERIOR
Recaro Speed seats
Arc Titan shift knob
CTR steering wheel emblem and stitching
AEM wideband gauge
GReddy Profec B boost controller
GReddy turbo timer
Speedhut boost gauge
Speedhut oil pressure gauge

PROPS
Dan at CCW, Donavan at Vibrant Performance,
John at K-Tuned, Kyle at Donkey Power
Injection, Mark at Origin Fabrication, and
Mike at K-Tuned

74 HONDATUNINGMAGAZINE.COM
 Te Civic shocked Jonathan in hatchbacks that are inherently loud,
OWNER SPECS many ways. He thought all newer somewhat uncomfortable, and usually
DAILY GRIND
Hondas were too overweight and lacking creature comforts like air con-
Honda Master Technician boatlike to be competitive and fun to ditioning and power steering. Most
FAVORITE SITE dive through corners. Now he loves importantly, he likes that he can drive
Instagram to tell people how well it handles. He his car again without worrying about
SCREEN NAME also discovered that he likes owning it being stolen. “Granted it’s not the
Moogencigit
BUILDING HONDAS
a newer car. He fnds the spacious fastest car on the street, but it’s fast
11 years cabin, quiet ride, and overall feeling enough to put a smile on my face and
DREAM CAR of safety more satisfying. He is used for me to enjoy my Honda the way I
Nissan R34 GT-R N1 Spec to owning heavily modifed late ’90s used to,” he says.
INSPIRATION FOR THIS BUILD
Enjoy my hobby again
FUTURE BUILD
Toyota FR-S naturally aspirated LS1/3/4 swap
THE CONVERSION
Eighth-gen Civic Si sedan owners love the CTR counterpart that, like so many other cool Hondas, never
CONNECT made it to the United States. Fortunately they can get the look by converting the front and rear to JDM spec. Up
front, the fenders, hood, bumper, grille, fender liners, and headlights from the JDM version can be bolted right
BOOMBA RACING
www.boombaracing.com on; the only modifcations being a little wiring for the headlights/side markers and some trimming of the U.S.
bumper support. In the rear, a trunk lid, taillights, and rear bumper complete the transformation, or you can opt
DEATSCHWERKS
to use the original U.S. bumper though the bottom of the Japanese taillights will stick out about half an inch.
www.deatschwerks.com
Unlike the front end, it’s not a complete bolt on. The factory holes for the U.S. rear taillights have to be trimmed
PROGRESS TECHNOLOGY in order to ft the slightly larger JDM lights. It’s something you can do in your driveway with a rotary tool and a
www.progressauto.com
lot of patience.

76 HONDATUNINGMAGAZINE.COM
 NEW PRODUCTS

ADULT TOYS
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 SHOW OFF YOUR BUILD! FINISHED OR NOT

GRASSROOTS
If you think you’ve got a standout build, submit a few quality digital photos (without watermark) and a list of specs to
editorial@hondatuningmagazine.com and you might just see your pride and joy in print. Good luck!

id e)
ti 9 worldw
Ad a m Raspan00 in Apex Blue, 69 g, K&N
Owner: R (1 of 2 MS Tunin
S2000 C tuned by
U mm test
Car: ’08 ndata FlashPro il wrap, Invidia 70 SS oil flter
H o t fo A W
Mods: e with gold hea dual exhaust, B 3 with low
K in ta k um E li te 17x 9 + 6
FIP ctr S II o ok
eddy Spe Advan R ts, Hank
pipe, GR Spec-R springs, rs, Muteki lug nu ads, LHT
if t a ce e p
lock, Sw r caps, 3mm sp 8 brak brake lines,
te XP10/XP el
type cen 0-17, Carbotech SOS stainless ste d ETD mount,
2 5 5 /4 ra c e , d y m o
RS-3 der b , P ud ock-
ster cylin o on E T D interior c
brake ma amber joints, Sp ount, Covercraft m counter-
c m u
Hardrace indscreen camera anodized alumin
w ck
Modifry ro-Bolt USA bla evelop-
P ng and d
pit cover, and washers n gin e eri
s serious e hance an
d
sunk bolt gineers put some hoice parts to en
d a en d so m e c
“Hon lly selecte
lso says,
r’ s o w n er, who a y did right, I carefu
ec a g the
work by th verythin .”
o te : G re at photo ther than alter e and performance
N c ar an d ra u s ab ilit y
this erall
ment into rease the car’s ov
gh tl y in c
sli

Alex L averde
R
Owner: ’01 Integra Type
Car: - h o rn
wer ram
3 0 0 , P roven Po muffer, CP
ata S aFlow
C5, Hond st, Magn oler and
o d s : T urbo B18 nd 3-inch exhau X Racing interco h tank,
a
M
manifold ff valve, C m oil catc
exhaust ds, TiAL blow-o c injectors, custo i RPF1 wheels,
Ea g le ro 0 0 0 c l, ke
E n ke
pistons, Precision Turbo 1, lutch and fywhee tors, Russell bra r,
in g , e 4 c a n d ro e - b a
pip h Stag e pads acing ti
o m p e ti tion Clutc e tires, EBC brak A coilovers, EM R RG hub and
C a S-driv , Tein H wheel, N l
Yokoham ki SR48 lug nuts ort bar, MOMO ter shift light, tota
, M u te s s up p to M e to rq u e e
lines Beak r, Au t of nd licens
7 LCAs, controlle , 301 lb-f s dlebars a ck carb,
Function e, GReddy boost r output 418 whp hicle: ’04 Rucku Facto ry h an
bla
quick rele
as p ow e Ve r-Fatty gs, Otto O 28mm il
C o m p o siMo Ube r, and g as c ap and pe ni fuel pump, OK nd Jockstrap, Tra
a rn e s s , p h o ld e o rd :J D M s t, M ik u t fra m e a rco a tin g
s w a p , D anMax h e/riser, fuel pum ickstand, Passw ey bike GP exhau illight, Dorf sea Customs powde
Y6 ang dk nk d ta arp
Mods: G s, carb clocking f nt frame cover an 0-12 rear tire, Mo THBX Turtlehea R rear shock, Sh
fra m e bolt e t, F L P fro v o n 14 0 /7 d e rs , M NN p u ll e rs , AT
,
stretch headlight brack -12 front tire, A tor, Dr. Pulley sli , forks, and axle
lowered Kenda 100/600 over, DR2 Varia nt disc brake kit
er, nk c fro
plate hold h/bell and gas ta eedometer, RRS oni
NCY clutc r sp ilovers, K
Te c h va p o
ro un d C ontrol co ur Customs
iffn AEM inta
ke, G Fat Fo
bert GrVi er arms, lug
n e r: R o L S D , D C header, upper rear camb action bar, fve- ring
Ow A c co rd e e d a n d jus table (E SP ) tr E n gin ee
JD M ve-sp s , ad ance ay’s
Car: ‘97 2A swap with f nk2 upper A-arm it Speed Perform 18x10 and 18x9 R “style” side
2 u c , n
Mods: H truts, Civic EF Sk wer braces, Expli n Acura calipers zect grille, Muge ts, custom LED
s to to ,A h
“yellow” t and rear shock Prelude, dual pis s, Stillen front lip nley HID headlig y, Acura MDX
n nd ta tr
(FFC) fro from Odyssey a Nitto Neogen tire r lip, retroftted S and keyless en control, console
n ve rs io n w h e e ls , e s t re a , H o A tr im l clim a te
c o ’s W le a
xchange
D g, Wings arking po JDM dig
it
Arthur E e Sports rear win ghts, foglights, p bag, SiR gauges, t for spra
y-
alu li
skirts, V DM intersection th-gen Accord a nsole insert
ir
d by o w ner excep
,J six co omplete
taillights steering wheel, , and woodgrain Idaho. All mods c
d g ra in l p la te s h ic le in
wo o s ea ry ve
ats, door ail delive
n d a A cc ess foorm cord served as a m ieces.
lder, Ho , this Ac t body p
lid cupho ported in 2007 t on aftermarke
N o te: Im u x p a in
rdea
ctory Bo
ing the fa
A Z E N I S