So I wanted to do something a bit... different. Instead of showing you the one vehicle I'm going to be ridiculously proud of, I'm going to share with you my story through Hondas. I've meticulously kept a running spreadsheet of every related part I've purchased or sold (save the first 2, which are older).

MY CURRENT BUILD BEGINS ON PAGE 2

From first to now. It all started when I was 16. Someone rear-ended my 94 Sentra that I loved so much, and we went to the local junk dealers and I found my first love, 1990 Honda Accord EX 5-speed. Super stock, super mint. I wasn't exactly into the scene yet, and this was just something for gas mileage.



After my waterpump gave out and was fixed, I left the mechanic's shop not knowing they didn't get my hood latched properly. Didn't even make it home before the hood destroyed my windshield. My mom was a weird creature and insisted I just get a new car altogether rather than fix the windshield. Yeah, that new car was a 90-hp Saturn. I'm sure you can imagine my thrill. Fast forward 4 years to 2009, I was 21. I needed a car and I needed one fast. Picked up this baby for $600!!



Sadly, the rest of it looked like this



My intention was to swap it into a shell I had already purchased. But I was lazy and money was an issue so I just drove it like this until the auto trans was about to explode. I replaced it with a 92 Civic CX hatch with a fresh D15B swap from Tiger. Wasn't much of a looker, but again I needed something quick that ran well.



Thing was loud as hell and rode like dog ****. So i spent a few bones on KYB GR2s and eBay springs, a Yonaka exhaust and picked up a set of wheels on the cheap. It was still ugly.



I was supposed to trade it for a pretty clean DA 4-door that needed a trans but the guy backed out after I already bought a transmission for it (Couldn't exactly trade for a non-moving vehicle... I drove 110 miles for work). In my rage I got on craigs to find some "JDM" retail therapy. There I found an Si shell that I skipped out on work to look at. All original interior in great condition. $600 later the baby was mine. I don't have a picture of it on the 2 steelies and 2 donuts, some flat, but after the next weekend it was swapped and the wheels were on. Took the exhaust too, but it had dropzone coils and struts so I left the KYBs and sold them seperately.



It didn't take me long to yearn for a set of nicer wheels, so I sprung for a brand new set of Konig Retracks 15x7.5 +32 wrapped in Falken Ziex 512, sprayed the bumper white too.



Later added a CF duckbill and lip but I don't have a good pic, so here it is sitting with my dad's turbo coupe.



I loved this thing, but things kept going wrong, ball joint stripped out while i was driving (slowly thank God) bushings wore out, and tie rod started to wear. Someone broke into it and stole my iPod and my girlfriend's bag of make up and straightener and stuff (she was more upset than I was). It wore me down, and like a girlfriend that you fight with a lot, the car just fell out of favor with me. I put her up on craigslist and sold her without the wheels.

Total $ in the car: $2695
Total $ in car as sold: $1920
Sold for $3000
(Net profit: $1080)


Started looking for a new ride immediately. Found an LS swapped EK coupe on slips in the Sandusky area for $2800. Loaded 3 dudes in my mom's EM2 and headed up. Was a steal if I ever found one. Had a few issues, mostly wiring but luckily that's something I excel at.



Guy was getting out of the game, and ended up throwing in everything he had. So I also got B16 head and intake manifold, M/T drag slicks on steelies, and 2 extra ECUs. After I sold all of those things, as well as the Slips I was already down to $2060 in the car (or technically $980 if you count the net profit from the hatch sale)



Wasn't a big fan of the Retracks on the coupe, so I traded them for 2 sets of Si wheels (keeping my tires) which I then sold a set and traded another set for some purple blades. I know how everyone hates painted wheels but I'm a sucker for purple. Bought a lip, wrapped it and the grill in some plaid skin and also upgraded the suspension to Koni Yellows.



Total $ in the car: $1885 (the $900 from the Retracks and tires transferring over makes it look higher than it should be)

Really liked the coupe but the wiring was still sketching me out. Really the motor altogether was sketching me out. So i through it up on craigs for a trade. Kid from town offered me his GS-R. Wasn't a fan of the 2-tone but it seemed like a low-risk deal so I took it (keeping my blades). It still has very clean interior, well taken care of.



Suspension and exhaust were wasted, first thing I did was sell the blades to purchase a set of Form & Functions. Luckily I snagged a B16 trans on the cheap and flipped it for a quick $275 profit, and used that towards the $400 my buddy wanted for his brand new DR-21s with tires. (Essentially took painted blades and tires plus $150 and turned it into brand new wheels and tires and great suspension. can't complain.) Next step was exhaust and picked up a full Apexi WS set up with Blox test pipe for $275. Also traded one of the spare ECUs I had for a cruise control unit, speaker pods, and a new header from tegpower Chris.



My 10-year old sister fully supports the JDM lifestyle.



Total $ in the car: $2385
Total $ in the car as sold: $1765
Sold for $2700
(Net Profit: $935)

And that brings us to my current ride. In it's "previous" life it was a clean boosted b-series with simple mods.


Unfortunately, it had a rough patch involving some lowlifes.

 

Finally got started on this, took way too long to get rolling. i hate depending on people, have had the front end and powerplant for 3 weeks and couldn't find a single "friend" to tow the shell 3 miles. Anyway:

that awkward moment when a man takes all of your money.



how the skinny kids unload motors



the loot.



the best looking headlights at ZeroLift. of course I took the brand new one, but the options for driver side (err... passenger side?) were slim.







shortly after the tow, thing looks rough after sitting for 3 months.






core was so fresh i honestly felt bad taking it off



what we got done today. gonna clean the **** out of that bay tomorrow, see if we can't get a heart in it by Friday.

 

if you get the chance to swap a motor sans core support, do it. less than 40 minutes from unloading the hoist, moving it into the shop, hooking it up and having 2 mounts in.


hood on so you cant see that sick red top for people with sticky fingers


aaron in the middle of lining up the core, ready to be attached.


in the middle of lining up. skull-core


the goods.


aaron doin his thing. click the link for best results.


radiator back in


condenser whaaaa?!


side profile, first shot at lining it up, bumper is a lil off


instagram yo.


jegs. worst customer service experience ever. mention Honda and they stop making an effort. i had to find the banjo fitting myself, they literally just let me look myself for 30+ minutes. but anyway, hooking up fuel:


tokico out. form & function in.


this bitch of an axle wouldnt go in for like 30 minutes then slipped right in. i cant even.


back mount was starting to crack a bit, so we filled that bitch with urethane. bltches loves urethane.




few things feel better than finding authentic OEM replacement parts on your new car. i literally geeked.

 

the first fire


first oil change. nothing but the good stuff.


drove it like this until august 31st, dropping her off for paint


the trunk BEFORE bodywork... yeah it wasn't done too well


full body prime


lolderbycar


paradise blue green pearl


decided to go out and pick up some nice rollers. the steelies have really got to go. picked up some 16x7.5 +42 SSR Type-C with 205/40-16 BFG KDW


picked her up just short of dark, first picture after a short drive


2 days later, at the SloMo Dyno Day in central Ohio. Still missing a sidemarker because ZeroLift is a *****. The paint job was very well done, but he didn't know **** about lining up the front end. Was rushed and didnt get to fix it before the show


preventative maintenance (ftw)


finally got a brand new set of these suckers.


some new legs for the baby. Koni Yellow/Ground Control


function|form with some buddy club p2 camber kits


got a good unedited, untouched pic of how the light affects the paint.


at it's lowest


after the front end was lined back up. JDM fronts not easy.


last nice day for a cruise of the year probably, fresh outta the shower


"winter" mode height


lower than my boss' bike haha

 

I like what you're doing here.

 

Heck yeah man. Excellent progress. I am enjoying this thoroughly.....

 

Wow... Quite the history. Honda FTW eh? Its cool to see that you rocked Honda as your quick to get into DD. That's what they're best at if we're honest.

 

Should of got a 98-01 Rear bumper instead of that 94-97.

But still a clean car!

 

ehh, really didnt want to do an ordinary 98 bumper. Really looking at a UKDM ITR rear, but couldn't find one in time for paint. Not to mention I spread myself pretty thin financially between the paint and wheels haha. I wanted it painted by September so it would be ready for the year end events in September/October.

 

Great pics.

- Love that Accord. That design is timeless.

- That Integra sold for $2,700? I keep reading deals like that. In my area, $5,000 buys you a pile of junk. And your $2,700 car looks nice. A gem compared to what I seen.

 

I love the color on the teg and that front end!

 

it wasn't mint, the paint wasn't the best especially within 4 feet, and the hood ha a dent. the two-tone is very very unpopular around here. it's worth more than 2700, but that was the number I needed to have enough to go down and get the front and motor swaps so that's what I made a deal for. was honestly just sick of it, had to replace too many things.

 

I wasn't really a fan of the green on the JDM integra at first, but the more I look at it, the more it grows on me. Great project and props for not dumping it after it was mutilated