brookliner7

So after working a 17hr shift in the ICU as an intern, I find what we all dread the most.
That sinking feeling in your chest that usually happens but then you realize you 're just an idiot and
parked your car in a different spot.


Well, it wasn't till long after the police left that it started sinking in....so, here's a small timeline to help me process this....Because seriously, who really cares about a 13 year old used car but me?



I guess many here might be able to relate who worked on and built their cars....
This was not just a car, this was, (embarassingly) a way of life.
This was my escape from the hard days of work of my life, this was what I looked forward too after a stressful day, this is how I enjoyed being alive.

This was my blood (from scraped knuckles and stuck manifold bolts) my sweat
(from 100 degree AZ weather and she needed her susp adjusted) and my tears (seeing something destroyed so easily that I spent a quarter of my life to build)



So after several years of building my Ls-V EJ1, a weird thing happened.
I felt it was done....
Then I felt empty....
Like kinda after the world series, or when the playoffs are over, or when you graduate.
It was anticlimatic....
I was off to the "well what's next?"
So then I pondered what I'd like to create, the next project, In my mind.... the next used car masterpiece...

I don't think I ever anticipated this car to be done...I enjoyed thinking about where I could go next with it, whether geographically or style wise. I enjoyed the journey of watching how it changed over time, and in that change a mirror of how I somehow changed. Though it's always been a pile of metal and rubber to everyone else, it was more than that to me. It had a piece of me in it...it is hard now to accept that that part of me is gone.


Just back from driving it home to AZ after flying out with my dad to pick it up from a member here in Fresno Ca.



First thing in order was suspension setup.
I must add that the tokico blues and ground controls made it through 7 years without needing anything or any replacement.





Second in order was to look for a turbo kit.
And yes, no REAL turbo kit is complete without nunchuks










With the help of my friends Brandon, Isaiah, and Dusty, we now had an enjoyable car to drive while getting 37mpg on the freeway.





Ahhh....2005ish...












Back in the day doing undergrad.....those were the days...
Along side with my friend John's 355




Drove out to Santa Barbara to pick up this clean set of rock n rolls...















Time for a turbo swap



Off to Missouri for Med School...time for some new rollers.












With all my free time while finishing my first year of didactics, I finally had the time to get her ready for paint...
Took her to a paintless dent repair place before I started sanding/prepping so there wasn't an ounce of bondo on her.









one can only appreciate the amount of color sanding and buffing when you first see how much orange peel there was after the new paint....



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Cut and buffed...











St. Louis Missouri for a show...





Kansas City Mo,




Last set of wheels, picked these up near San Diego from a fellow HT'er here, then moved out to Austin Texas where she would meet her fate.









Well, I guess this is how I'll remember this car....
All my road trips, meets, races, break downs, fixing it with my friends and family, leisurely drives with windows down, and that feeling that this was my car...this car was a reflection of my effort, passion and commitment.
It will be all those places I have gone, all the places I wanted to go. And the places where I didn't care to go, just as long as I was sitting in this car going there.



As we all start out with that little spark...a small vision in our minds of how we want our car to look and be, it is our idea. We own that, whether we ever have enough time or money to ever see it happen, it will live there in our minds.

You will drift and think about off and on...before you realize it, you have spent hours, days, years of your life making your plans and carrying them out to make it happen.
And if doing those things makes you happy as it did I, then that's what living life is all about.







\

RIP 5/25/2012

Found by hiway patrol dumped off the 410 in San Antonio

Eddie

Damn man sorry to see this. You got to experience something great your coup was awesome.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Oh yea FCK! Theives.

abs0Lut

Best thread I have ever seen on HT.

I'm glad I don't live some where with such a threat of car thieves.

temecula_civic

IM sorry about you loss. Ive had a cpl cars stolen in my time. an 88' crx SI W/ DOHC ZC swap and my ever so missed 92' Integra W/ B20 swap.

AlwayzN2Sumthin

**** Theives, I swear a piece of dog **** on the ground is better than them.
Im sorry about your loss man, I know the feeling you get when something like that is stolen from you.
If there is a way, I hope you can get your car back bro.

RotiEatter

iTrader: (1)

Damn rip

gsrturbo-ek

one of my favorite coupes.

**** thieves...hope you find it and not in to bad of shape

robs1stcrx

damn that sucks that was a clean *** coupe

ketchup!

iTrader: (1)

what kind of security did it have?

LadyDel

I hope they are able to recover it, and hope its not in too bad of shape. That sucks. I just got a Del, and I'm terrified it will end up stolen. I'm considering a boot...I love this car.

Any chance you added your parts to your insurance policy? A lot of insurance carriers will do that..if you put anything on of value insure it on the vehicle.

Daboyu978

car looks good. why did you want from si to type r replica lip ?

j.red

That really sucks. I can see all the hard work, time, blood, tears, sweat, and love that you put into that car.
One thing's for sure, you definitely had a car to be proud of before it happened.

mikekh10a

iTrader: (2)

Wait so it was stolen in Austin Texas? That's where I live. What part of town did this take place in?

sxysweed

Thanks for sharing, sorry for your loss.

The car looked great too.

r_Senik

this thread sucks

sorry for your loss man...

plethoric33

Living out west must blow when it comes to owning nice things. Sorry for your loss man.

furious94ls

I'm very sorry for your loss. That car looked amazing. Karma WILL get these people, and it will be much worse. Hopfully they die painfully over a period of 10yrs due to cancer.

purist55

I'm sorry to hear about your loss man. My EJ1 was stolen on friday but i'm not going to spam your post. These people have no respect for the amount of hard work and dedication that it takes to build and maintain such a vehicle and I hope justice is served soon for both of us.

toyomatt84

iTrader: (1)

This was a rather well-written post, that I enjoyed following along. The ending was a bit of a tear-jerker, though. I hope this misfortune doesn't hold you back from future endeavors in automotive enthusiasm. I hope this only spurs you on to improve.

mattyfo0z

sucks that there's people in the scene who steal like it's not a big deal, cuz it's "just a car." while it might be just a car, a lot of hard work goes into building them, and i could imagine the connection you had with yours. hopefully it gets found with no wheels or something minor like that, but you never know...

good luck with your future builds.

MonkeyMagic

last paragraph and last photo choked me up

Mugen Fan

I'm sorry for your loss man, very well put together memorial for you car, I feel the same way about my car.

EM-One

I very rarely sign on anymore, but just had to on this one. I'm so sorry to hear about your loss, and I think I speak for all of us when I say thank you for sharing.

Your story was beautifully written, and you've described the feeling that we all get with our projects (our babies) so well. This post is an awesome eulogy for a car that brought so much joy to your life. I've seen this car before on the forum and have been a fan, especially when it was on the black meshes (wowza) and the RNR's.

I hope you find it in you to realize this is a great opportunity to begin a new and exciting chapter and start a new project...maybe something fresh & different to give you new enjoyment to your passion, something that maybe even your coupe couldn't provide. (S2K? Haha)

I wish you the best, and I have found that in life there is always balance; usually things get really bad before things start to get really good, so keep your faith strong and don't let the passion die. Good luck my friend.

Dual-500

Yep, you expressed what a project car is for sure. I grew up in Fresno and now live an hour or so north of Austin in Fort Worth. I've had my '91 hatch for almost 10 years and spent many hours on it. Been rear-ended twice, fortunately survived both incidents.

The thought of it getting destroyed in a wreck or stolen sux.

Thanks for sharing your story.

skylinerb26dett

I feel for you bro. Sorry to hear this.
Check out my build thread of my stolen hatch.

https://honda-tech.com/forums/appearance-build-threads-122/%2A%2Alets-try-again-stolen-ek-budget-re-build-%2A%2A-2859023/

P.s. that last pic is now the background for my phone. This story touches me very much because I feel the same way about my car. Luckily I got her back.