As much as it might sicken parents, their children's maturity process involves experimentation. Growing up is about trying stuff, figuring out what does and doesn't work. The same can often be said for Honda enthusiasts and their journeys through Mod Hell. You want to change your whip and make it uniquely yours, in part because everyone else is doing it. But sometimes those initial choices end up in regret.
Josh Stockinger from Oceanside, Calif., knows all about making iffy early choices regarding his '98 EX coupe. Currently part of the sales staff at San Diego's Sportcar Motion, Stockinger bought the car used in 2000, began some mods a year later and admits he really didn't know where he was headed with it.
"I was jumping around for a while until this project began," he says, recalling his first forays with "body kits and lots of rice." With those days behind him, Stockinger now revels in the understated authority of the Civic's current JDM motif. For a while, he kept the factory single-cam, 1.6-liter, augmented with the common induction and exhaust mods, and even a Gude cam.
Once he came across a friend's S2000 loaded with Spoon Sports gear, Stockinger was hooked on the JDM and OEM theme. One of the biggest headaches he's endured involved body kits and aero pieces that don't sit flush. The aftermarket parts he'd been buying, with their loose fit and ugly gaps, didn't measure up to the JDM and O.E. offerings.
"I want things to look factory, like they're meant to be there," he explains. "The JDM stuff, especially the JDM OEM stuff, always fits perfectly."