The last major stage of the coupe project involved swapping in a twin-cam B-series powerplant, something he would have done sooner if he'd had the dough. Picking up work at Sportcar Motion solved that problem and came with the additional benefit of working around experienced import heads.
Every project needs a map, some point(s) to focus on when the vision gets blurry. Throughout the buildup, Stockinger kept his eye on two elements. He was shooting for performance inspired by a more visceral reaction to some familiar intangibles, namely the way his friends' cars sounded and the palpable excitement of street racing. Both elements motivated him to keep building the car, even as several friends were getting out of the scene. As police began to crack down on local street races, Stockinger and other enthusiasts headed to the dragstrip. But even that lost its luster.
"I was limited to running only race weekends when the tracks were open. They've permanently closed [local strip] Carlsbad since then," he laments. "Running at the strip was also looking fairly expensive. Everyone is moving really fast and I'd need to drop some serious coin just to keep up."
Stockinger has passed that stage in his life. He's priming his daily driver for a different motor thrill: autocross. "I never thought [the Civic] would take me this far," he admits. He's experimented, tried, failed and learned. And now he has one cherry, JDM-flavored Civic to show for it.