EKs & Coffee Seattle 6.4.23
I’m pretty sure we can all agree that the sixth generation Honda Civic chassis is a timeless car. Whether it’s a hatch, coupe, or sedan, they’re all so great. Random fact: My first car was a ‘98 DX 4 door that I never got the chance to build due to a pretty bad accident. It’s been over a decade since that happened and I’m still pretty bummed about, but I guess it wasn’t my time to enjoy cars yet. Eventually I’ll try to get another one and finish what was never started. Until then I’m just gonna enjoy what’s around and get some inspiration.
Over the past many months, I’ve been getting close to a few friends who all happened to own an EK hatch. Most were local, while the rest were out of town. I’ve always wanted to co-host some type of private meet dedicated to a specific car, and for some odd reason they had a similar idea as well. I don’t know if this was a sign from God or the universe revolving around us, but I guess it was meant to be. The vision of “EKs & Coffee” finally came to a reality last weekend, and it was nothing but a great time with the community and OG enthusiasts. The vibe was super dope & chill, and everyone was able to engage with each other properly. Big shoutout to Chelsey Pacheco from All Love Here, Johnson Bui at Just P’s Garage, Bobby Multani & Anton Madamba from BAHO BOYZ, and Mikey Legaspi for setting this up! I couldn’t have asked for a better group to host this with. Thanks to Austin Hironaka at Hiro’s Hotrods for allowing us to kick it as his spot for this event! Lastly, thank you to Chen Dien at Coffeeholic House for supplying us with the best Vietnamese coffee up here.
I made it to Austin’s shop in time to witness Raul Rodriguez roll in & unload his car. He made the trek all the way from Yakima along with his homies Jesus Aguilar and Edgar. These guys are real ones for making the drive out here just for our meet.
We were able to make a special order of the best Vietnamese coffee in the Northwest to give to our attendants. CRACK!!!! Shoutout to Johnson for making some dope stickers as well!
Chelsey pouring up that good good for her sister, Ashley Tolentino.
More cars started to show up and it was getting hot!
OG enthusiasts Fred de Leon and Mikee Andrada chopping it up.
Such a beautiful line up.
Jon Duong’s DAP hatch was shining bright under the sun. He made some subtle, yet big changes by switching up the SiR bumpers with OEM ones paired with an Exceed lip and tossed on a set of EC Works mirrors.
Rainier Deleon, aka “Toto”, came out for once to chill with his super clean white hatch loaded with many Type R goodies including a K20 R motor. I messed up and didn’t get a photo of the bay, but still this car is sick. A bit different from what I’m used to seeing with Toto since I knew him for his other crazy hatch, Smokey: A legendary build that everyone in the Honda scene should know about. THE REAL CYBER EK! Hopefully it’ll be revived one day…
Mikey was able to bring in Isaac Lafountaine’s boosted EK3 on JLine SMDSL2 wheels. Haven’t seen this car since like HIN Seattle 2015. Still looks great!
Ryan Medrzycki’s raffle winning SiR EK4 sitting proper on CEs. The car is perfect as is. Wouldn’t change a thing.
I didn’t know up until recently that Fred sold his CR-X, but this K-swapped DAP hatch is pretty damn hard as well. I give him so much props since he enjoys this street build as much as he can on the track.
Brandan Mangkornkeo’s silver hatch on 949 6UL wheels. The car will be going under the knife with a full makeover within the next year, and I’m stoked for him.
Have you ever had someone in your life who you knew from social media, but never met in person, yet when y’all finally linked up you just feel like you haven’t seen a close friend in a long time? That’s exactly how I felt with Chelsey. Not only does she have a dope EK, but she’s one of the most down to earth people I’ve met. We started chatting it up last year, but it’s been a consistent flow of convos about cars and life in general. She pretty much helped initiate this whole event with the homies, and it’s been a blessing ever since. Chelsey recently moved back from SoCal and brought up her clean hatch slapped with a few CTR parts and mercury silver TE37s. For those that don’t know, she’s a filthy barber! So if you’re looking hella bucked and need a fresh cut, book her ASAP through blends.cp!
Russell Tolentino was able to fix his EBP EM1 just in time for the meet. He had a slight hiccup a few weeks ago, but managed to get everything squared up and rolling. From my understanding, Russ has owned this Si for quite a long time. Definitely puts it to proper use and enjoys the road & track.
It ain’t an EK, but I had to have the bro, Michael Bui, pull up and kick it with his sleek S2000 sporting a CR lip, trunk & wing, JDM AP1 headlights, and OG Desmond Regamaster EVOs that I talked him into buying many years ago lol.
Co-host Johnson has been busting his ass these past couple years with getting his car right. Everything pops such as the clean Phoenix Yellow paint done by Cy Gines at Refine Finish, Exceed front lip, Mode Parfume spoiler, and Group B Unlimited NC-01s. Alot of progress has been made, yet he still has a long way to go. Props to this youngin for killin it though!
The Bui bros and Audrey Estrada staying hydrated & caffeinated.
Here come the heavy hitters.
Mikee Andrada had some time in his busy day and pulled up in his famous coupe. For those that didn’t know, he had a pristine white hatch that was completely done up, but it was sold in a raffle that he teamed up with SpeedFactory earlier this year. A bit bittersweet, but I’m sure it went to a good home. Feel free to check out my older blog post from Wekfest Seattle 2021 about the details on both cars.
Don Nguyen’s, aka “Gramps”, DAP hatch will always be a PNW staple. He’s had this car since ‘07, and still rips it hard til this day. Fun fact: Don never wipes his car down since he simply doesn’t give a shit lol.
I mentioned it before that Joel Bello owns my favorite EM1 of all time, and my statement never changed. The last time I posted his car on here, he had the aggressive CE28s in the front. This time he matched up the rears with OG mag blue 16x8.5 +30 TE37s. So fire!
If someone were to build a proper Mugen equipped EK hatch, I would say Raul executed that task very well. Everything flows so good with the full lip kit, grill, wing, twin loop exhaust, and of course some fresh MF10s. Peep those rare OEM optional headlight covers too… Top 10 EKs in my opinon!
Solid OEM+ bay. I’m sure some people are thinking the same where the only thing he’s missing is the Mugen valve cover. Maybe he has one that he doesn’t want to put on? Who knows… Regardless, this car is fuego!
Cool Mugen Intake…
Solid Mugen Strut bar…
Rare Mugen N1 steering wheel paired with an older looking horn button.
The holy grailed Mugen cluster. So fire!
Big inspirations to say the least.
Eric Anderson brought his Wonder Civic over to the shop to store until Wekfest. Always good to have his presence!
Some wondered why this E46 M3 slid through. There’s a reason why…
The owner of the E46 is the bro, Steve Kwan: OG Honda builder and Day 1 supporter. For those that don’t know, he built & owned the infamous #dagreenek that I had the honor of doing it’s last shoot right before he sold it to Teddy Timoteo almost a decade ago. It was a bittersweet transaction since that car was super legendary back in the day when I was growing up and getting deep into the car scene. A few months ago I was part of a photo showcase and included the huge poster that’s pictured. I felt it was necessary to invite Steve to our meet and finally give him this neat display piece. Very sentimental moment for sure. Honored to have this guy in my life!
Thank you for the shot, cpicx!
Group photo with most of the attendees.
Some people had to leave, so we set up a little display for a different group photo.
I couldn’t have asked for a better squad to set up this event with. Appreciate each & every one of them!
The cars and most of the owners lol. Joel had to leave, but thankfully we had Russ to fill in the spot.
Chuck completely burnt out from a long morning…
Last little detailed shot of Raul’s hatch.
Thanks for reading through this post! See y’all at Wekfest!
