1400th Post

…and it’s Track Whore time!

SlowMotion Pt3 ….finally

Up close and personal with some of cars that came out

if you have an internet connection you probably know this NSX

This Supra put down 785hp on the dyno that day

 Subaru with a really cool pearl clear on all of it’s carbon fiber

One of my favs of the day

for Regal

Another one of my favs

Always a soft spot for DSMs

stoked too see this car roll in, I had just featured it a couple weeks before

Hondas!

Pair of Domani / EL conversions even showed up

Hatch Life X WestHill Motorsport

You regulars will know our friend Yoshitomo from WestHill Motorsports, he’s a true grassroots racer and a hard core Honda enthusiast. His shop is located just west of Mount Tsukuba, his shop and cars were severly damaged or lost in the events of March, the current government estimate is 10 years for full recovery. Our friend, supporter, and fellow enthusiast will be making a very special offer via Hatch Life in an attempt to break into the North American market and get back on his feet. You guys remember the trick gauge pod they hooked me up with?

We will be making these available for $190 shipped from Japan. Let’s take a closer look at what you’ll be getting for your hard earned paper

Each one is hand made by Mr. Yoshitomo Nishioka, owner/operator of WestHill in the shadow of Mount Tsukuba, is that enough JDM cred for you?

They come loaded and wired with 45mm ProSport gauges; water temp, oil press, oil temp

We even have you covered on the exposed screws

Empty ones will also be available if you would like to do a A/F, boost, etc setup

If you are interested I can email you the 9 page step by step illustrated install manual that comes with each gauge pod in MS Word format

Personally, I love mine, the peace of mind of having an oil pressure gauge, it does away with those awful A pillar pods, and it’s just an elegant, unique, and useful addition to the car.

This is just the initial post, I’ll be receiving a sample in the mail this week to take pix of any detail you would like to get a better look at, and more details will follow regarding options, right now EK is confirmed, EG and DC Integra I’m waiting to hear about.

Hatch Life will not be making 1 cent off these! Feel free to email me anytime, it’s my honor to be a part of this.

I even put it in the JDMego font for you guys lol, I miss ya Jay

Is That an EK in Your Pocket or…

Thank You Green EK

For 3 crazy years she served as Hatch Life’s banner, and it’s probably been at least that long since I’ve seen her posted anywhere so if you know where she is give me a shout.

oh and if you guys want the old banner back, just let me know, it is kinda weird coming here and not seeing the green car lol

Original Owner

It’s always hard for me to think of EKs as “old”, but we live in such a disposable culture people just don’t hold on to cars like they used to. Especially not A to B econoboxes like Civic hatch backs. The fact is even EKs are starting to get up there in age and finding an original owner car can be difficult, just finding a truly clean unmodified one in the midwest can be frustrating. All this adds up to my mind being blown when I read that this is an original owner car, seriously how many OG hatches modified in such a thoughtful, tasteful and dare I say timeless manner can there really be out there? This car symbolizes “Hatch Life” more than any other car I’ve had on here I think, this dude doesn’t see his hatch as a stepping stone to his next project, he’s not just playing around with a hatch because they’re cheap and trendy, he’s living the Hatch Life.

talk dirty to me

Friends & Fenders : A Love Story

I’ve mentioned Duke on here plenty of times, you all know him. Let me tell you a story about what kind of friend Duke is and what I mean when I say BFF. I call Duke up Sunday afternoon to ask him if he will help me roll my fenders sometime. He says hell yea bring it over after work. I go to The Barn and switch cars after work

I get to Duke’s and am greeted with fresh home made fettuccini alfredo with blackened chicken and garlic sauteed mushrooms with accompanying salad. I sit down to dinner with his family and we just talk like, I guess a regular family. I never ever had that experience growing up, and it was definately a great feeling, but oddly foreign, it was a “hmm I find myself having strange new feelings that every one else takes for granted” moment. Yes, you guys are my therapists today lol. After we eat Duke proceeds to get down to rolling my fenders to be more accepting of my new wheels….in the pouring down rain.

Just as we set the car down for the last time and began to survey Duke’s magnificent handiwork the skies parted giving way to this awsome rainbow right over Duke’s garage

Fenders were right on point for what I wanted

Then without missing a beat in the conversation Duke, knowing all about my OCD and being completely accepting of it, starts hand drying baby girl

By this time I’m seriously starting to question what I’m really looking for in a mate. After he finishes up all those pesky jambs that hold water he thanked me for coming over. He thanked me after doing all that work in those miserable conditions for me. Seriously if it weren’t for Julie and her damn vagina I’d marry the fuck out of this dude. And that my friends is a BFF

So anyway here’s how My Prescious sits today, I know it’s nothing special but I love her all the same. This is her first time on the street since last fall so we went down to the river for some glamour shots but I suck as a photographer.

and yes I still rock a roll call, and every one of them means something special to me

Don’t worry Dave, my StanceIsEverything.com banner is the middle of rear window!

Making History : Longest Blog Post Ever

bandwidth check! 100mbs coming at you…

I finally got a day where I could just lay around and watch Moto GP
and catch up with some old friends, so I figured why not catch up with
my old friends here. Wassup all my old pals Karsten, UK Phil, Johnny,
Slappy, Freddy, Banpei, Nick and CrazuKnights, Rolling Republic and
the whole crew at Club xB. I haven’t forgotten about y’all, you guys
saved my friends life!
I’m just gonna ramble about random stuff I’ve run across lately,
nothing that hasn’t already been on the forums or other blogs, that
wouldn’t be very Hatch Life of me now would it?
First today started with this, the single craziest thing I’ve ever seen, seriously click it

WTF DUDE come on over!!!
seriously how crazy is that?
I wonder what gave me away

Then my buddy Cliff blew my mind

Pretty crazy day so far.

I had a little get together a while ago, unfortunately it wasn’t long
before the facilities were rendered temporarily out of service. Here’s
a little tip from me to you; if you remove the blood BEFORE calling a
plumber, you will avoid the extra $250 biohazard disposal fee.

So on with the car porn….
Couple of awesome builds I’ve ran across lately

As for my own build, nothing new to report except new wheels for the
red car. I was realllllly close to getting Axis Sakuras, as seen on
Greg’s kick ass xB next to the always fresh Dennis Dizzle

but went with Stance Emotions, they feel lighter than my Rota HM3s
despite being an inch wider, maybe it’s just me. Gonna have to roll the rears.

Got fabulous service and pricing from Element Wheels

Speaking of xBs bB Squad has been holding it down

this one more than any other one I’ve seen makes me want to get one someday

So what else, I’ve decided if I ever have an S13 coupe it will
definately get flares rather than over fenders

and that box flares on Foxbodies will always be sexy

and that my next mod will definately be rear air horns

But I’m seriously thinking about a Miata, I’ve lost a lot of weight
over the past year and can now get in them real comfy

But Lord help me I’ve kinda been diggin on Yugos lately

Been thinking about how our buddy Jason’s cars fit into the whole “stance” thing

Also been wondering why you don’t see more EL/Domani fronted hatches,
they’ve got a really interesting look

I always love to see people having fun with random body panels

I’ve decided these are my two favorite e-famous cars to date, Mike and Yuta

and that this is my personal favorite EG to date, I mean I am seriously fucking infatuated with it.

Speaking of which some great new blogs have popped up be sure to check
some of my favs Kyusha Kai and Private Runners

Best article of the year goes to…

Some gorgeous Jaguar renderings I ran across a while back

Some more cool random stuff

Beefy Stance!

I will never get tired of tripodding

I am LOVING this whole USDM phenomena, and the fact that it has
completed another circle! I think the Japanese are better at copying
us than we are at copying them.

full circle!

Hopefully we’ll see some more Odyssey love come out of it

Temple Racing/Osaka JDM always running hard

Akebono always stylish

And while everyone was searching for the perfect stance, these two
dudes, you know who they are, quietly slipped under the radar as they
perfected the whole “Form Follows Function” philosophy. True JDM circuit bred EKs.

I also love seeing pure Euro style applied to japanese cars

This is pretty much exactly what my backyard would look like if I won
the lottery

The engine bay war continues to escalate almost as rapidly as the
stance war, resulting in some magnificent fabrication

I still have a lot of respect for the “I don’t give a fuck” swagger of some cars

Ohio always reppin’

Speaking of Ohio cars I spotted this on one of my fav sites Just a Car
Geek and instantly recognized it as the “mystery car” I grew up down
the street from. Turns out it’s a one off built by some excentric
wierd crazy genius hermit dude. Check out the whole story

While we’re getting all personal here, and for the curious types, yes I am still madly in love with Miranda Lambert and Ice Road Trucker Lisa Kelly

I’ve been getting not so gentle urges to acquire a Midori at some point

This rendering caught my eye the other day

Cool little MKI

Viscious EK

I would so love to clean this up and hang it on my living room wall

I love some of the great more creatively free and fun builds lately

and some builds you just gotta wonder how the owners are still alive

I’m usually not huge on newer Preludes but man these two are just killing it

Killer sedan

Amazing Supra

When was the last time you saw a nice contemporary looking SVX?

this is just nuts

God Bless the Bosozoku

I was looking for this picture of House grafitti and found a pic of my
best friend Julie, and also a perfect representation of what it’s like
to be a car enthusiast in Ohio in December

and even one of the infamous Super Duke

So here it is, what are the odds that I’m such a fan of grafitti and
House? This is awesome

Alright, til next time kids

Eibach 2010 : My Favs

Now that I’ve had time to take in all the coverage I gotta hand out my awards, which, are meaningless since I’m nobody lol

Best in Show

Top EK

too close to call, it’s a tie

Top EG

no question here, hands down

The Single Cam Pride Award

The Demon Camber Award

once again we have a tie

Best Wheels

awesome rebarelled BBR Comps

The Keepin it Fresh Award

goes to this EF for thinking outside the box, unique, one off, and well executed

Best Radiator Stay Award

had to make up a category for this one

Honorable Mention

all phenomenal builds that deserve huge respect