Hello. My Name Is Sean, And I’m A Petrolhead

They say the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. Like many of you, I have an obsession with the automobile that delves way past fanatical. My addiction came unwarranted and I had no defense mechanism to ward it off, all of a sudden one day I started looking at cars in a slightly different way and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about them, driving them, modifying them, destroying them and rebuilding them ever since.

I didn’t choose this hobby much in the same way I didn’t choose my career, it simply chose me. If you take several seemingly unassociated interests – cars, cameras and tools – you get most of my DNA, coincidentally the molecular makeup of a Speedhunter. I had full intentions of using this post to talk about a typical day at the track while simultaneously introducing my car to the audience… but as all petrolheads know, when there are cars involved, murphy’s law will always prevail.

So rather than an edited recap of my experiences at Super Lap Battle earlier this month, this will be an unfiltered day in the life. A day with joyful highs and not-so-awesome lows, but during the course of which I was reminded of the real reason we are addicted to cars; community. So sit back, relax and enjoy the ride, because at the end of the day that’s what it’s all about!

To any of you unfamiliar with my car, let me get you up to speed with the Midori hatchback I call Leroy. I originally purchased the car in 2005 after another of my Civics was stolen and stripped. I was gutted at the time but knew that there’s no better way to heal than to start a new project, so on I went. Fast forward a few years and I had moved from my home in Phoenix out to Los Angeles where I joined the staff at Super Street Magazine and continued to build the car.

Over the years my priorities changed, as I’m sure most of you can relate to (or will one day) and the build has taken a lot longer to get where it is today than I had planned. Rearranging finances and paying ridiculous rent in LA left me with very little cash to dump into Leroy. Therefore it goes without saying when I finally got around to swapping the engine back in January, I was stoked!

Now I know a stock B18C Type-R is nothing crazy by today’s standards, but compared to the pathetic 200k D16Y7 it replaced, it might as well be a 2JZ! All kidding aside, I had developed the car in tandem with my driving skill and as this would be my first time out at Buttonwillow with a B-series, I was quite eager to see how it felt!

As I touched on earlier, one of the best things about the track is getting to spend a day outdoors with other enthusiasts. Regardless of whether they’re old friends or new acquaintances, everyone in the paddock just seems to “get it” – those of you that track your cars will surely know what I mean, and for the rest of you, you’re missing out! Here I’m giving some stickers to two web celebrities – Alex “JDMized” himself, and “Big Mike” of Prelude fame.

But there’s never quite enough time to chat since there is always something going on at the track. I can’t remember a single day I’ve spent driving that didn’t absolutely fly by. Here you see the most important part of the day, the dreaded tech inspection – it’s all down hill after this! Fortunately this wasn’t my first rodeo and while the engine may have been a virgin to the circuit, the car certainly was not.

Even still it’s always somewhat  nerve racking when the inspector takes a little longer than you expect. At Super Lap I had the treat of having Jeremy Croiset, a NASA Honda Challenge driver, perform the inspection on my car. Aside from a slight concern with my D-ring routing on my anti-submarine belt, I was good to go. Quite literally two minutes after this photo was taken my group was called to pre-grid… time to boogie!

As I got strapped in I made sure to take note of my #maximumattack decal just to remind myself what time it was! Not wanting to miss my session I made haste and rolled over to the grid.

This is my favorite part of any track day because this is when all the jitters are released. I can’t speak for everyone, but I can get quite anxious ahead of a track day, running scenarios over and over in my head. But when push comes to shove and I’m strapped in with the car running all the anxiety is gone, replaced by determination and focus.

One of the cool things about SLB is that it’s completely open to spectators and you never know who to expect. This year Kazuhiro Furukawa made it all the way out from Osaka to attend the event. I have to admit it was quite an honor to have the man behind Car Craft Boon aka Osaka JDM giving me props on my car and driving style. Unfortunately I had promised a ride-along which never came, but I fully intend to make good on my offer one day! Sumi massen Kazu-san!

Out on track Leroy was an entirely new car, and Buttonwillow was suddenly an entirely new track. While the layout of the course remained the tried and true clockwise #13 configuration, all sorts of interesting nuances had surfaced that weren’t present at my previous speeds. On paper, and even in photos, Buttonwillow is a fairly boring circuit, but anyone that’s driven it can tell you it’s the imperfections that make it difficult.

In the first session I took things easy and used the morning practice as an investigation exercise. Not surprisingly I shaved over ten seconds off my previous best with the old single cam and clocked a 2:10 and change right off the bat. In terms of time attack that’s nothing to write home about, but I wasn’t there to “compete”, I was there to enjoy my car and I was quite pleased.

Here I’m discussing the session with my friend Peter Tarach, better known as the Editor in Chief of Modified Mag. He was telling me about some issues he was having with the new big brake kit he had just installed on his Evo VIII and I was explaining that my car felt great, I just needed to sack up and drive it. Prior to the event I told myself if I could do a sub-2:10 on the car’s maiden voyage I’d be happy, but I figured I could do better than that.

In the second session I started getting a little more brave, trying to find out just how deep the braking zones were and how early I could smash the throttle on the way out. The result of the second session was a 2:09.639, but it wasn’t without at least one four-off excursion along the way. It was a step in the right direction, but not the reward I had expected for my perceived effort. There was more left in the car, I was sure of it.

I went out in the third session hell bent on dipping into the 2:08 range even if it meant accidentally removing some body panels, but Leroy had other ideas. As I came out of the second turn of my second hot lap the car made a very familiar sound, one of a cylinder with no spark. I decided I’d go ahead and limp the car back to the hot pits, kill it and have a look around. Not surprisingly, Leroy didn’t seem to like that idea either and instead died completely in the second to last turn.

When I popped the hood I noticed that one of the spark plug cables had managed to remove itself from the distributor. I thought, “eureka, I’ve solved it” only to jump into the car to find it still didn’t want to start. I went back over and decided I’d check for spark, and when I pulled the number one wire I discovered that it had decided to come apart. Now things were going to get interesting, time to hydrate!

The nice thing about tracking a Honda, other than the insanely low cost of operation, is that there are bound to be a half dozen or more at virtually any open weekend in the states. This means you can be lax with your spares if you’re not afraid to pull a favor. Here we see my buddy Jared’s car which would be the troubleshooting donor. Thanks again Jared!

So I quickly stole the wires off Jared’s car and slapped them on Leroy to check for spark… nothing. Classic Honda ignition I thought to myself. I’ve owned five of these cars over the years and just about every one of them eventually stops running due to something inside the distributor.

Now that we had narrowed it down to spark, it was time to pull my distributor and borrow another one. As lucky as I was to have three people offer up theirs, none of them were directly compatible with mine (wiring plugs) so I did the next best thing and borrowed some guts.

The two main components inside the distributor which power the ignition are the coil, which supplies “the juice”, and the ignitor which tells it when to do so. There are two other very important (and difficult to swap) sensors in the distributor as well, but based on personal experience, when a car doesn’t have spark either the coil or ignitor are the culprit the majority of the time.

With my new found bits inside my trusty distributor I was feeling pretty good as I buttoned the car back up. If things went well I’d still have one more session left to go for it!

But as you can tell from the look on my face, things went badly.

With the sun quickly approaching the horizon, a brain trust had assembled. As you can see, there was an overwhelming sense of “WTF” in the air.

During one of the desperate cranks the car managed to sputter out a backfire, leading some to think I may have bent some valves. While I found it unlikely considering I hadn’t over-revved the recently overhauled engine, it’s always better to play it safe than sorry. After we removed the valve cover I checked timing… dead on.

We had decided to check for spark again, just for the hell of it, to discover that it had miraculously appeared. Armed with little test equipment, we next checked for fuel in the most crude way we could. At this point Loi Song from Sportcar Motion had also chimed in and we were convinced that the fuel supply was insufficient.

With the sun now threatening to go away entirely, I made the judgement call to pull the fuel pump while we could still see it. At this point my only concern was getting the car ready to drive home again!

Once I had the pump assembly out of the car I began to strip it to components while Jared was simultaneously removing the functioning Walbro from his. My concentration was soon interrupted by another familiar sound in the paddock, laughter.

In a very bizarre turn of events, the pump Jared removed from his car actually appeared to be worse off than mine! Regardless, his car started up and ran and mine did not, so I was going to use the rusty old thing!

Taking no chances, I also ran over to the fuel station with a jerry can and added two gallons to the tank just in case. With the new pump in place and priming with a distinguished whizz, the sun was all but gone completely. With my fingers crossed I cranked again with hope…

Depressingly, hope is not one of the few requirements for an engine to run. By now I was completely stumped, the car “seemed” to have fuel and spark, so the only thing left to verify was compression. I quickly ran through the paddock frantically asking everyone in sight if they had a compression tester I could borrow to no avail.

As bummed out as I was by the car not starting, I couldn’t help but stand back and smile at the number of friends that had stepped in to lend a hand. Virtually everyone who remained at the track was offering their help, a humbling experience indeed. Sadly I never did get the car running that day and Leroy had to be towed back to LA, luckily I had managed to bum a ride back, as well as a tow, from some friends.

When I finally got the car back to my friend’s shop I was able to test the compression and it was nearly perfect across the board. I decided to grab another distributor laying around and threw it on the car, just for the hell of it, at which time it fired right up. In the end it turned out to be the TDC sensor, the one which I had pointed to at the track the day before while swapping internals.

In the end nothing went boom (always a plus) and I discovered, yet again, to always bring spares to the circuit. But I’d argue the real lesson I learned is that no matter how well prepared you are, nothing beats having a well-stocked pool of friends. As much as I’ve bonded with cars during my life, it’s the friendships I’ve earned that really shaped my life.  To those of you who have helped me over the years, and many more whom I’ve yet to meet I’d like to say thanks for making the world a better place.

My name is Sean, and I’m a petrolhead.

More stories by Sean Klingelhoefer on Speedhunters

More time attack stories on Speedhunters

Global Time Attack

-Sean

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1

Quality read Sean.

2

Quality read Sean.

3

This was a very interesting post. I never knew so much can happen in one day when working on a car.

4

This was a very interesting post. I never knew so much can happen in one day when working on a car.

5

i wanna ask the americans, does these hondas get stolen alot? cause they do in malaysia especially the ones the have b16 engines

6

i wanna ask the americans, does these hondas get stolen alot? cause they do in malaysia especially the ones the have b16 engines

7

i love how he only has one mud flap. lol

8

i love how he only has one mud flap. lol

9

Great story Sean, must have a look back at some of your Super Street blogs about your EK. I'm trying to get some money together to start on a track project for here with either an EK9 Type R or DC2 Type R top of the list. I'd be interested to hear how strict California is on road legal track day cars and aftermarket vehicle modifications?

10

Great story Sean, must have a look back at some of your Super Street blogs about your EK. I'm trying to get some money together to start on a track project for here with either an EK9 Type R or DC2 Type R top of the list. I'd be interested to hear how strict California is on road legal track day cars and aftermarket vehicle modifications?

11

Sounds like a fun day to me, Sean. Someday I'll have to tell you my "I drove across the continent to race my EG with a freshly built B18C in the Open Track Challenge, only to spin bearings in the last corner on Big Willow during Day 2 of a 7 day event and then swapped in a junkyard B16 bottom end so I could drive it back to Toronto with my tails between our legs" story. 
 
B-series distributor problems = time for a K-swap! :P

12

Sounds like a fun day to me, Sean. Someday I'll have to tell you my "I drove across the continent to race my EG with a freshly built B18C in the Open Track Challenge, only to spin bearings in the last corner on Big Willow during Day 2 of a 7 day event and then swapped in a junkyard B16 bottom end so I could drive it back to Toronto with my tails between our legs" story. 
 
B-series distributor problems = time for a K-swap! :P

13

Sounds like a fun day to me, Sean. Someday I'll have to tell you my "I drove across the continent to race my EG with a freshly built B18C in the Open Track Challenge, only to spin bearings in the last corner on Big Willow during Day 2 of a 7 day event and then swapped in a junkyard B16 bottom end so I could drive it back to Toronto with my tail between my legs" story. 
 
B-series distributor problems = time for a K-swap! :P

14

Sounds like a fun day to me, Sean. Someday I'll have to tell you my "I drove across the continent to race my EG with a freshly built B18C in the Open Track Challenge, only to spin bearings in the last corner on Big Willow during Day 2 of a 7 day event and then swapped in a junkyard B16 bottom end so I could drive it back to Toronto with my tail between my legs" story. 
 
B-series distributor problems = time for a K-swap! :P

15

@IanFahrenholz I clearly see two in the rear

16

@IanFahrenholz I clearly see two in the rear

17

Wicked read, nice to see an update on Leroy too.

18

Wicked read, nice to see an update on Leroy too.

19

Id love one of those MAXIMUM ATTACK stickers, Iv just got the Tee, but the sticker is great!

20

Id love one of those MAXIMUM ATTACK stickers, Iv just got the Tee, but the sticker is great!

23
GabeEastChicagoArgenta

This tells the story of the grassroots trackrat so well.

24
GabeEastChicagoArgenta

This tells the story of the grassroots trackrat so well.

25

Sick read Sean !!! Im all the way from Cape Town South Africa and we love our honda's mad respect keep it up ! aweee

26

Sick read Sean !!! Im all the way from Cape Town South Africa and we love our honda's mad respect keep it up ! aweee

27

I liked this article. A lot. Good work.

28

I liked this article. A lot. Good work.

29

I've got a big grin after that story. Reminds me of the not-so-few times I've had issues at the track; people are always ready to lend a hand, even complete strangers! For love of the sport :-)

30

I've got a big grin after that story. Reminds me of the not-so-few times I've had issues at the track; people are always ready to lend a hand, even complete strangers! For love of the sport :-)

31

i think i saw sean at SOW about 2yrs ago...  i recognize those bright, shiny control arms.  buddy, you got lapped two times in a 20min session.  nice, im a huge fan.

32

i think i saw sean at SOW about 2yrs ago...  i recognize those bright, shiny control arms.  buddy, you got lapped two times in a 20min session.  nice, im a huge fan.

33

You just made my entire work day more awesome!  Thanks!   I cant wait to get out to the track next summer with some friends.

34

You just made my entire work day more awesome!  Thanks!   I cant wait to get out to the track next summer with some friends.

35

We got the same sickness bro.

36

We got the same sickness bro.

37

What a great piece! Loved the direction you took this one. Makes me want to get out on the track fo sho!

38

What a great piece! Loved the direction you took this one. Makes me want to get out on the track fo sho!

39

@crazybiscut Like crazy... Civics, Integras, gets stolen and passed around like a pen. Also to include S2000 seats. It is very common for people to rip a hole in your soft top and take em.

40

@crazybiscut Like crazy... Civics, Integras, gets stolen and passed around like a pen. Also to include S2000 seats. It is very common for people to rip a hole in your soft top and take em.

41

@Speedhunters_Rob thank you mister!

42

@Speedhunters_Rob thank you mister!

43

@Angela trust me, this is borderline uneventful in the scheme of things. GST suffered an engine fire at the event for example!

44

@Angela trust me, this is borderline uneventful in the scheme of things. GST suffered an engine fire at the event for example!

45

@S30z @crazybiscut yep they are stolen very frequently. For a long time the Civic and Integra were at the top of the theft charts. You basically have to accept the fact that every time the car leaves your sight you may never see it again. It's one of the sad realities of being an American.

46

@S30z @crazybiscut yep they are stolen very frequently. For a long time the Civic and Integra were at the top of the theft charts. You basically have to accept the fact that every time the car leaves your sight you may never see it again. It's one of the sad realities of being an American.

47

@HLB @IanFahrenholz yeah he still has two as far as I'm aware!

48

@HLB @IanFahrenholz yeah he still has two as far as I'm aware!

49

@PaddyMcGrathSH thanks Paddy! I had no idea you were interested in Hondas! I still remember when we were at the ring in 2010 and I stopped to take a photo of a stock EK4 and you looked at me like I was insane and said something like "what in the hell are you taking a picture of that thing for?" And I said something to the effect of "oh, I own one of these, but this one is another rare color" while feeling as though you had lost all certainty of my taste in cars lol.
In regards to the Restrictions, it's quite bad, but that's a story for another day and one I plan to tell.

50

@PaddyMcGrathSH thanks Paddy! I had no idea you were interested in Hondas! I still remember when we were at the ring in 2010 and I stopped to take a photo of a stock EK4 and you looked at me like I was insane and said something like "what in the hell are you taking a picture of that thing for?" And I said something to the effect of "oh, I own one of these, but this one is another rare color" while feeling as though you had lost all certainty of my taste in cars lol.
In regards to the Restrictions, it's quite bad, but that's a story for another day and one I plan to tell.

51

@DavidPratte I can't say I've ever had a day at the track that wasn't fun! That story does sound briefly familiar, Peter probably told it to me before, but I'll have to get the long version from you Dave!

52

@DavidPratte I can't say I've ever had a day at the track that wasn't fun! That story does sound briefly familiar, Peter probably told it to me before, but I'll have to get the long version from you Dave!

53

@HLB this won't be the last you see of him, lots in store for Leroy in 2013!

54

@HLB this won't be the last you see of him, lots in store for Leroy in 2013!

55

@benpopham I'm pretty sure they'll hit the store eventually

56

@benpopham I'm pretty sure they'll hit the store eventually

57

@Jeroen Willemsen thanks dude!

58

@Jeroen Willemsen thanks dude!

59

@GabeEastChicagoArgenta it takes one to know one, once you've made it you enter an unspoken lifelong brotherhood lol

60

@GabeEastChicagoArgenta it takes one to know one, once you've made it you enter an unspoken lifelong brotherhood lol

61

@Cronic thanks for the kind words! It's nice to hear that Hondas are being appreciated more and more outside the states. I know a lot of our readers strongly dislike them, but in all honesty they're pretty remarkable little cars

62

@Cronic thanks for the kind words! It's nice to hear that Hondas are being appreciated more and more outside the states. I know a lot of our readers strongly dislike them, but in all honesty they're pretty remarkable little cars

63

@keepsitreal222 haha that's too funny! That's when the car was still completely stock in the power train, but even then it was fun to drive. If you can check your ego and just have a good time, you'll fit right in at the track. My motto has always been " somebody's gotta be the slowest car out there!" And while its almost never the case, even at SuperLap, if you set your expectations low and focus on you rather than everyone else, you'll have a blast every time.

64

@keepsitreal222 haha that's too funny! That's when the car was still completely stock in the power train, but even then it was fun to drive. If you can check your ego and just have a good time, you'll fit right in at the track. My motto has always been " somebody's gotta be the slowest car out there!" And while its almost never the case, even at SuperLap, if you set your expectations low and focus on you rather than everyone else, you'll have a blast every time.

67

@Corey K at the end of the day it's just a place for shared experience and #joyofmachine. Glad you got a kick out of it,
!

68

@Corey K at the end of the day it's just a place for shared experience and #joyofmachine. Glad you got a kick out of it,
!

69

@TRDAE86 the good news is there isn't a cure in sight!

70

@TRDAE86 the good news is there isn't a cure in sight!

71

@SVT_Bryan glad to help you get through the day! Start marking your calendar now, spring is right around the corner!

72

@SVT_Bryan glad to help you get through the day! Start marking your calendar now, spring is right around the corner!

73

Great Write up Sean, If it wasn't for this i would have never found the rusty pump or the loose rotor in my distributor. SLB/GTA 2012 was one i wont forget any time soon.

74

Great Write up Sean, If it wasn't for this i would have never found the rusty pump or the loose rotor in my distributor. SLB/GTA 2012 was one i wont forget any time soon.

75

Please Please Please more of this stuff!! Love your Civic! always wanted one myself, but it's hard to find trackdays in Bavaria :)
Great writing. Want to race instantly!

76

Please Please Please more of this stuff!! Love your Civic! always wanted one myself, but it's hard to find trackdays in Bavaria :)
Great writing. Want to race instantly!

77

Opening Shot: You in a nutshell :P. Love it! Ah the relationship between man and his battle wagon!

78

Opening Shot: You in a nutshell :P. Love it! Ah the relationship between man and his battle wagon!

79

Opening Shot: You in a nutshell :P. Love it! Ah the relationship between man and his battle wagon!

80

I Love the colour of your car is it original ? minty green. Cool post aswell.

81

@Curlytop yes it's a factory color that was only offered to the North American market and only on 1996 models which was the first year of the body style. The name of the color is Midori Green. Midori being the Japanese name for the color makes it ironically "green green".

82

@zz when I was flipping through the photos from the guys I about died when I found that one. I felt a little strange about leading with a photo of myself, but the symbolism was too good to pass up.

83

@iller I can only assure you more stories like this will be coming! It's overwhelming how positive all of your responses are! Maybe next year if I return to Germany wee can do a track day together :)

84

@Jared Reyes it's a blessing in disguise, surely a reward for your kindness! Can't wait to see you set a new PB after replacing that stuff lol!

85

@sean klingelhoefer  @S30z  @crazybiscut Ughhh. There have been so many times I've wanted to try owning a Honda but the theft factor has always scared me away. Maybe if I move back to Japan someday.......

86

This thread sucks. Who cares about this piece of shit civic breaking a distributor and then a whole post with pictures of you rehydrating and staring at your broken junk?
I know you work for speedhunters, hence why this trash was featured. Being that you are so closely associated you need to rock better junk than a highschooler's dream car.

87

Dude...I remember reading about your Civic in a Super Street magazine. I think it was you teaching how to install something...I think tow hooks? I never knew it was you though haha.
Amazing stuff like always.

88

I agree some pictures like the "rehydrating" wasnt needed but I think the point was to give the feeling of his frustration. I really liked this as a "story" of friendship and the atmosphere at local track day events, which I think was the whole point.

89

@hanakuso
Distributors are a known issue on these units. Why not bring a spare? You built the whole car and can't diagnose a no spark issue, then assume it's the fuel pump when you weren't getting spark the whole time?

90

Your Roll Center Adjuster  (RCA) install and review in Super Street finally made me install my J's Racing RCAs.  Steering improved was exactly  as you said. 
Also, I would've never guessed how Alex aka "JDMized" looked like.  This post makes me want to start wrenching on my cars again.

91

@Greenwood You sir, are a dickhead.

92

@Greenwood clearly you missed the point of the post lol. You can call my car junk and make fun of me all you, I'm going to continue going out into the world and doing more productive things with my time and likely enjoy myself. I'm sorry I can't afford anything better than "a high schooler's dream car" but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy myself at the track.
Furthermore if you actually read the article you would have seen the part about how I was "told" that there actually was spark after the components were swapped (it takes 2 people to check for spark and I was the one cranking ;) ) so we moved on to the next possible culprit. I was a mechanic myself for several years and considering the combined amount of people that had looked at the car (including people from Evasive, Sportcar Motion, MotoIQ etc) and weren't able to diagnose the car at the track, I doubt you would have done much better.

93

Great post Sean, and a brilliant read. I really need to get myself something simple to play with, this French thing I have now baffles me and everything is covered over with plastic haha! Lol at all the hate going on in the comments, "the pictures weren't 99.999% the same old cars I've seen posted everywhere, ever...". Variety is the spice of life guys, if all you want is cars and no culture, go check out the Free Ads! Great insight, and brilliant to see a Speedhunter just being a dude that like his cars. If you weren't into this kind of stuff I'd be worried...

94

@Greenwood @Greenwood clearly you missed the point of the post lol. You can call my car junk and make fun of me all you all you want, I'm going to continue going out into the world and doing more productive things with my time and likely enjoy myself. I'm sorry I can't afford anything better than "a high schooler's dream car" but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy myself at the track. Furthermore if you actually read the article you would have seen the part about how I was "told" that there actually was spark after the components were swapped (it takes 2 people to check for spark and I was the one cranking ;) ) so we moved on to the next possible culprit. I was a mechanic myself for several years and considering the combined amount of people that had looked at the car (including people from Evasive, Sportcar Motion, MotoIQ etc) and weren't able to diagnose the car at the track, I doubt you would have done much better.

95

@MitchThompson
Just a realist who sees this poor attempt at an article for what it is. Petrolhead, more like petrolsnuffer. High schoolers in auto tech have better trouble shooting skills.

96

@Dekro yep, that was me lol. There aren't too many Klingelhoefers out there ;)

97

@sean klingelhoefer
You're right. I apologize. I'm simply used to working on more complex problems and reading better quality posts. Keep doing what you are doing man.

98

The proof that size doesn't  matter

99

@Greenwood on the bright side, at least you got what you paid for ;)

100

Awesome story! Can't wait for spring to hit some more HPDE's!

101

Damn distributors.  I just got a point by from a Corvette @ Summit when my rotor set screw decided to back out and sideline my session!!  I heart Midori!

102

I love Midori Green civics. reminds me of the old days.

103

@Greenwood you sir are a f*#k head. at least this car sees track use, Unlike what ever ur driving which in guessing is either nothing cause your brokea*# OR you think its much to good to be seen on a track.

104

Sean, it was great meeting you finally! And I'm glad you eventually troubleshot the problem with the distributor. 
Most likely I'll see you at the LA car show this weekend.

105

@MitchThompson  @Greenwood This comment better suits me than Sean!

106

Hey Sean, can I/we get a desktop of the second pic? It'd be highly appreciated.

107

Awesome, soon I will get to chase you in my Z :D

108

The three California-based Speedhunters should have a race one day.
Sean's Civic, vs Larry's Z, vs Mike's wife's Honda Insight (no more Mustang and AE86).
 
I got my money on the Insight. It's bigger than the other two cars, allowing it to have more space to stick Speedhunter stickers onto it. We all know that a single Speedhunter sticker instantly adds 10hp. Just imagine 500 of those all over the car. BAM! Instant win right there.

109

Great right up mate. Hope there are many more articles like this to come. Gives me more motivation to get my GTR done and back on the track. Bring on 2013!

110

Why? Because race car!! :D

111

Good stuff..

112

@sean klingelhoefer  @iller Would be my pleasure!

113

@LouisYio Mike also has an S30

114

@sean klingelhoefer  @Greenwood That guy is right, why don't you drive an MP4-12c? What kind of hunter of speed are you anyways?

115

@Mike Garrett  @sean klingelhoefer  @S30z  @crazybiscut That sucks guys, my car isn't done up (that you can see from the outside ;) and NZ isn't all jandals and slaps on the back but I'm always forgetting to take my keys and lock the car in town and it's never been touched.

116

@sean klingelhoefer  @Curlytop It's kind of like saying Macha Tea and Pizza Pie.

117

@sean klingelhoefer  I vaguely remember that! Ireland is pretty much over run with Hondas of all shapes and sizes so they make a lot of sense for a track car. Their low capacity keeps the annual road tax fees low too plus they're very cheap - EK9 CTRs can be got for around €3,500, DC2s for the same and DC5s for €5/6k.

118

looks like fun!

119

@Larry Chen A really bad one apparently :P

120

@Larry Chen A really bad one apparently :P

121

@Larry Chen A really bad one apparently :P

122

@Larry Chen  @Curlytop I should eat a pizza pie and drink macha tea while driving my midori green Civic.

123

@Larry Chen  @Curlytop I should eat a pizza pie and drink macha tea while driving my midori green Civic.

124

@Larry Chen  @Curlytop I should eat a pizza pie and drink macha tea while driving my midori green Civic.

125

@ra21benj I was shocked at how much a difference those little things can make, turned me into a believer! Glad to hear it helped to inspire you to give them a shot as well!

126

@ra21benj I was shocked at how much a difference those little things can make, turned me into a believer! Glad to hear it helped to inspire you to give them a shot as well!

127

@ra21benj I was shocked at how much a difference those little things can make, turned me into a believer! Glad to hear it helped to inspire you to give them a shot as well!

128

@Robo_No1 I'm glad you appreciated it, if there's one thing I hoped it would do it was inspire other people to get out there and enjoy their cars - not sit behind a computer and criticize others. But to each their own! Best of luck with the plastics mate ;)

129

@Robo_No1 I'm glad you appreciated it, if there's one thing I hoped it would do it was inspire other people to get out there and enjoy their cars - not sit behind a computer and criticize others. But to each their own! Best of luck with the plastics mate ;)

130

@Robo_No1 I'm glad you appreciated it, if there's one thing I hoped it would do it was inspire other people to get out there and enjoy their cars - not sit behind a computer and criticize others. But to each their own! Best of luck with the plastics mate ;)

131

@impound Gets you every time! lol.

132

@impound Gets you every time! lol.

133

@impound Gets you every time! lol.

134

@JDMized Good meeting you as well Alex! Unfortunately I didn't end up having time to make it to the LA Auto Show press days since I was jammed up with work, but maybe I will go to one of the public days and see you there!

135

@JDMized Good meeting you as well Alex! Unfortunately I didn't end up having time to make it to the LA Auto Show press days since I was jammed up with work, but maybe I will go to one of the public days and see you there!

136

@JDMized Good meeting you as well Alex! Unfortunately I didn't end up having time to make it to the LA Auto Show press days since I was jammed up with work, but maybe I will go to one of the public days and see you there!

137

I typically don't create desktops of other people's work that aren't full-time Speedhunters, as a freelance photographer myself I feel it's the polite thing to do - but I can ask Dave if he's okay with that.

138

I typically don't create desktops of other people's work that aren't full-time Speedhunters, as a freelance photographer myself I feel it's the polite thing to do - but I can ask Dave if he's okay with that.

139

I typically don't create desktops of other people's work that aren't full-time Speedhunters, as a freelance photographer myself I feel it's the polite thing to do - but I can ask Dave if he's okay with that.

140

@Larry Chen @LouisYio 3-way #maximumattack!

141

@Larry Chen @LouisYio 3-way #maximumattack!

142

@Larry Chen @LouisYio 3-way #maximumattack!

143

That header looks suspiciously like my RS•R header. What brand would that be?

144

That header looks suspiciously like my RS•R header. What brand would that be?

145

That header looks suspiciously like my RS•R header. What brand would that be?

146

@Larry Chen I'll believe it when I see it :p In all seriousness I can't wait!

147

@Larry Chen I'll believe it when I see it :p In all seriousness I can't wait!

148

@Larry Chen I'll believe it when I see it :p In all seriousness I can't wait!

149

@LouisYio Larry's Z down the straight ftw

150

@LouisYio Larry's Z down the straight ftw

151

Then I spin out in the first corner FTW!

152

Then I spin out in the first corner FTW!

153

@MattAtDoyle Mugen 4-1. Then again about 90% of headers out there look the same lol.

154

@MattAtDoyle Mugen 4-1. Then again about 90% of headers out there look the same lol.

155

Sean, sounds like you've disappointed a lot of RWD fanboys on SH by coming out the closet with that proper FF aka Honda of yours...

156

Sean, sounds like you've disappointed a lot of RWD fanboys on SH by coming out the closet with that proper FF aka Honda of yours...and the fact that you're on good terms with resident critic and anti-ricer, also known as JDMized.

157

@sean klingelhoefer @impound Been there, done that...on a freeway entrance.

158

@Greenwood That high schooler's dream car has better factory suspension design than whatever "junk" RWD you're driving (assuming its S-chassis or AE86)...

159

@Greenwood Better quality posts? About what...rampant RWD fanboism?

160

@Larry Chen @sean klingelhoefer @Greenwood MP4-12c is still "junk" according to Mr. Greenwood. Typical RWD macho ricer...

161

@sean klingelhoefer Very remarkable for what they are and what they can do, like on take on cars three times its power, yet very underrated due to "ricer" stigma that most RWD "converts" experience.

162

@HLB Same here.

163

this car was in super street

164

Right after reading this... I browsed through the classified and picked up a spare dizzy/cap.
Gotta love Civic's for that!
Keep the stories coming!

165

@sean klingelhoefer  @Larry Chen  @Curlytop
 When you do, let me know. I'd like to be there to see it happen. Weird, perhaps. Just call me, regardless.

166

Good to see you and chat that day, Sean. Luckily it wasn't anything too expensive and your vehicle is back up and running.

167

@anderson09 Yep, I used to be an Associate Editor of that magazine, hence the project build links ;)

168

You can never have too many!

169

@The Big Mike Likewise Mike, always a pleasure my friend!

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