Fresh Midori Green EK
A “Honda” to an enthusiast can be considered a first love by all. The infatuation usually starts while were growing up, seeing the occasional phoenix yellow DC2R with matching Recaros driving around, or admiring the electron blue EM1 at the Eibach meet in California. Over time, our interest in these things fade away as we involve ourselves in other forms of motorsports, or decide to move to a different style of modifying. There’s nothing wrong with change. But when you see a particular 90s Honda parked on the side of the road, with the set of wheels and the colour you always wanted, you realize that; there’s nothing like a classic.
There will be a time when it will become almost impossible to source those Sprint Harts in the size you could never find, and the simple task of bidding on a mint set of EK9 headlights on Yahoo Japan may become a dog fight. Du realized this. Being an initial EK owner years ago, he decided to sell up and see what was over on the other side. Like most enthusiasts, you’d like to settle down and buy something comfortable, maybe something with leather seats and a sunroof. However, the urge to tinker and fiddle with things eventually turned his sensible daily into a snow plow, and his 16-inch wheel collection turns into an assortment of 19s and 20s. He then decided that a cruiser just wasn’t cutting it, and purchased a turbo car, only to realize that he needed to get back into the Honda game.
I’ve always related the Honda scene with sneaker freaks. They only fuck with the classics. I mean, they’re always bringing out Retro’s and new colour ways, but they always stay true to the original. Case in point, there’s more than a few EK’s rolling around Sydney at the moment with lip kits and wheels, but what sets Du’s car apart is the overall look and presentation. The rare Midori green paint is considered by many to be the nicest OEM colour Honda has released. Along with white and chrome lipped Gabs, it has the same sort of effect that the original Jordan 4’s have with the White/Cement combo.
Being part of the Honda community over the years, Du began to pick up on certain things. Like for example, when the opportunity to grab some super hard to come by Top Fuel C and B pillar bars pop up for sale, you need to pounce on it. Although it may leave your wallet feeling lighter for the rest of the week, the satisfaction of bolting up discontinued parts rather than the regular run of the mill on your pride and joy, make it all worthwhile.
Du’s interior looks pretty straight forward. There’s a steering wheel, seats, windows. But the little details is what stands out and makes you appreciate the effort that was put into it. The CTR cluster I would imagine would have been difficult to source, and it isn’t every day you see a Mugen steering wheel mounted on a Mugen boss kit.
The colour combo that Du decided to go with definitely has alot of the SoCal Honda influence we’ve all seen throughout the years. I’m sure that it could look at home with a bunch of neo-classic Honda’s with shaved bays and gold-plated ITB’s. So it’s fitting to see some of that wacky styling with the Mr. Alex EK9 Wing lifters. In my opinion, the wing really completes the car, and although I’m sure it would help if he was aiming to shave some seconds off his Wakefield lap time, it gives the car character.
The car was purchased initially as a pre facelift VTI-R. Demonstrated by the photos, Du has gone to town and face lifted all the bumpers using OEM Civic Type R front and rear bumpers, grille, and lip kit all ’round.
Those unfamiliar with the EK models will notice that the bumpers now have a clean-shaven look, free of the black factory moldings. Looking closely, the lights seem a shade darker, and the tail lights may look a little brighter. This is because Du has updated them both to EK9 items.
Thanks to Zico and his mates, he was able to source the parts from anywhere and everywhere. After a few months of hoarding and storing of parts, he began the process of putting his car together.
According to Du, the car is capable of running 13’s down the 1/4 mile. At the moment, the car serves as his daily driver which proved to be a challenge for him. Budgeting time for having the car off the road to complete the engine conversion and respray was one of the most difficult parts of Du’s build. Despite this, Du would like to eventually take his car to the track.
So, what we have is a daily driven functional car that looks the goods and packs a little punch too.
“After owning my first Honda, I went through a few cars to come to realize that Honda’s are the shit”.
It’s great to see an EK completed with such care and detail, and this is a perfect example as to why they’ve been able to have such a strong following.
Engine
Standard B20b Block
DC2R Head
DC2R LSD Gearbox w/4.7 FD
ORC clutch
Bigtube Tri Y headers
Aluminum radiator
Xforce 2.5 inch hi flow cat
Fujitsubo 2.5 Legalis R cat back
BLOX velocity stack w/filter
Short ram polished intake
Cusco oil catch
Sard fuel pressure regulator
Hondata s300
Output 122.2FKW ATW
Suspension
Tein monoflex coilovers
DC2R 5lug brake conversion w/DC2R brake booster + Mastercylinder
ASR reinforcement kit w/ 22mm rear sway bar
Skunk2 RLCA
Hardrace front and rear camberkit
Hardrace front and rear swaybar endlinks
GAB sport 16′ +15
Rays black short lug nuts
Interior
Topfuel B/C pillar bar
Carbing front strut brace
Mugen Rear strut brace
Mugen Bosskit
Mugen Steering wheel
Civic Type R cluster
Skunk2 Gearknob
Sr3 Recaros
Response DVD 7” DVD player
Exterior
Complete in/out respray in Midori Green
Spoon mirrors
EK9 headlights
EK9 front lip
EK9 grill
EK9 wing w/ Mr Alex lifters
EK9rear bar and lip
EK9 rear tail lights
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