Let's not beat around the bush; East Coast heads want to see East Coast cars, and West Coast peeps, West Coast cars. It isn't rocket science. Rest assured, no one is neglecting the East but a plethora of quality builds just happen to be right under the noses of those of us on the left side of the country. The truth is it just might take a bit more work for the guy located smack dab in the middle of Delaware than for the guy in L.A. That is unless that guy is Pakorn "PK" Siriveeraphan, from Orlando, Fla., who just so happens to own one of the most badass Anthracite Metallic EF-style hatchbacks you've ever seen, never mind what coast it's from.
Built by PK, this Civic is the culmination of knowledge and experience gained from building three different EF-type chassis Civics. "I had been working at All Version Motoring since 2003 and at the time my boss suggested that I build a Honda to represent myself as well as the shop," PK says. "I had always been a fan of the EG chassis but so many other guys at the shop were already building them so Pop, the shop owner, proposed the idea of building an EF. I never really liked that body style but I learned about all the JDM parts available for it and the differences between the USDM and Japanese versions and it blew my mind."
The first was a B20 VTEC-swapped EE (U.S.-spec EF) hatchback while the second was another swapped hatch that met an untimely end via an accident in 2004. "A month after the accident, I made a deal to trade a set of 15-inch Advan ARS wheels I had for a '91 Honda Civic from a very good customer of mine," PK says. What sounded like a lopsided trade turned out to be more than PK had expected. "When I got the car the paint sucked," he says. "On top of that, you tap the brakes and the cluster light would come on. Turn on the headlights and the brake lights would be missing; it was an absolute mess."
PK and his father decided it would be a good idea to build the Civic from the ground up so they began by stripping the entire chassis down. Luckily for PK, his dad happened to be attending auto body classes at the time, which made the EE the perfect test mule.
Accompanying the stripped-down chassis was just about every JDM EF Civic piece imaginable: front and rear bumpers, an SiR front end and rear wing, you name it, PK probably has it. He also added a Password:JDM carbon-fiber front lip and side skirts that were paint matched. PK's father spent at least three hours a day repairing the chassis and parts and prepping it all for paint. The entire painting process took more than eight months because the hatchback was meticulously painted piece by piece and the chassis itself was sprayed twice.
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