I did something outside of my comfort zone.

I entered the civic in a car show.

Not just any car show but arguably the most prestigious one throughout the year – SPOCOM. I guess if I had to choose one to do it would be this one. Luckily, my brother was motivated to do the show as well – he did just put a pretty BA air setup in his car – so I was more inclined to enter with him.

We both just kind of went with it. There wasn’t a real plan to do so, but we did commit to it very early. It just was of meant to be I guess… we were going to install the air on the S, I had already gotten the Regamasters, and I had new retrofits coming my way.

#SpocomPrep

This actually wouldn’t be the first car show I’ve participated in. My first was my NB miata at Wekfest circa 2013 (btw, its WEAK-fest, not WHECK-fest). I miss that car. I remember taking a lot of time cleaning the thing and getting sad noticing every imperfection doing so.

It was no different this time around.

I ended up washing the whole car and noticing cone burn marks on the paint I haven’t noticed before. That took some elbow grease to get out. I clay-barred the metal parts of the car and polished.

I did an Instagram poll about putting the EVO stickers on the Regamasters and the majority voted yes. I took off each wheel to clean and applied the stickers… it’s really stressful especially if you’re a perfectionist like me.

Further, I had an issue with the suspension where the passenger rear didn’t go as low when I airred out. Turns out the strut wasn’t maxed – 9 and 1/4 inches from the top of the strut body to the top of the locking collar. I turned the cup and bottomed out to 7 and 3/8 inches – the same as the driver’s side. I dunno why I never checked it when I first installed it. I’m usually pretty good when it comes to things like that.

From 5pm to 1 in the morning… I was exhausted.

#Roll_In

Our scheduled time was at 10:30 in the morning. We were directed to pull into a parking lot at the venue and waited over an hour for the earlier arrivals the situate themselves inside. No biggie.

Ended up meeting some cool people in the lot – Jordan recognized my car from Instagram and KJ just so happened to park next to us. He came solo and this would be his first time putting a car into a show too.

There were some nice cars waiting in the parking lot. I don’t know why I didn’t take more pictures… I guess I was just too excited about the show.

The guy with the Lexus staged with us inside – the more the merrier! We got a pretty centralized spot.

#SpocomHawaii

We went home and took a nap before coming back later in the evening. Spocom isn’t considered to be the “Super Bowl car show” for no reason. There were so many great builds around every corner. The exhibition hall and the arena were used. That was new to me. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever went to Spocom as a spectator… I think the last time I went to something similar was when it was called Streetcar Showoff… or something…

It was difficult to nail down just one car I felt was my favorite… but if I had to choose, it’d be Randy’s K-swapped Midori EK hatch. I’d probably do something very similar to him… but I’d put it on air 😛

Again, I kick myself for not taking more pictures… But I did slap together a walkthrough of the event.

Overall it was a great experience! Had a really good time meeting people, talking cars, and seeing the Hawaii aftermarket car scene. When you really enjoy doing something, being in the environment that you love, it’s liberating! My other half calls it “being alive in your element.” I thought it was going to be a long drawn out night, but it the 11 pm end-of-show time crept up really fast.

I thought this would be the only show I’d do with the civic. This experience makes me reconsider it. Maybe another in the future?

See you around liberators! Keep on DRIVING!