When most people think of the North American car scene, images of car shows at the Queen Mary, meets at In-N-Out, and track events at Willow Springs may initially come to mind. Seldom will Canadian-built cars end up being the first thought as defining factors in current styles and trends. The reason, however, that the Great White North tends to fade into the background is not due to incompetence, but their ability and modesty to hold secrets. To allow the cat out of the bag, so to speak, Canada has more than a few incredibly well-engineered cars, which are neither documented in forum build threads nor attend car shows but they are easily on par with many SoCal builds built simply for the enjoyment of ownership. Vincent Ong’s S2000 is a great instance of what Canada has to offer, proving that world-class Honda builds are definitely not restricted to the us and Japan.
Vincent was originally born in the Philippines to a family of car enthusiasts. He fondly recalls receiving toy Tonka and cars trucks to play with as a child. His father owned a bakery, but also had a garage where he kept his many cars; it was there that Vincent realized his passion for everything automotive. To state that Vincent has oil in his blood is not just a poetic way of describing his passion; it’s actually quite literal. When Vincent was just five years old he was helping his father change a wheel when his hand slipped off the tire iron and launched a sizable gash in his index finger. The cut eventually healed with little scarring, but to this particular day the oil that had been on the end of the tool is still embedded within his skin.many years of living inOntario and Canada, the Ong family moved back to the Philippines. This relocation, however, was a short stint. Upon realizing the pollution’s impact on their health, the Ongs decided to check out British Columbia, Canada, where they have been calling home since.
A few years later, Vincent was finally of sufficient age to start driving and choose a car of his very own. Surprisingly, he chose to accept a hand-me-down ’89 Camry. It was beautiful, he says, joking about its condition but with no trace of regret, fondly recalling just how much oil it leaked. Vincent says a refill was necessary each day when leaving for school. Still, in order to build his dream car, vincent understood the importance of doing well in class for the sake of his future career–and driving a Camry to high school graduation was a small price to cover: the Honda S2000. Vincent’s first experience with the S2000 was when his brother-in-law purchased one the first year they were on sale. From the moment Vincent rode in the car, he knew he had to have one.
Vincent began purchasing parts for his future car prior to ownership, such as a titanium exhaust as well as a Spoon S-Tai front bumper. Vincent endured, finally finding an ’07 model with only 5,000 kilometers around the clock, though waiting for the ideal car in becoming available for sale can be a frustrating experience. The bumper and exhaust were immediately installed, and Vincent took his car in the market to the track. After the first session, he knew he was hooked, and although he found the S2000 to be very capable on the track in stock form, he knew the car was far from complete, especially in the aesthetics department. If you’re having fun in a car, you might as well look great doing it in which we wholeheartedly agree, vincent explained that .the very first track day, BC Racing coilovers, RPF1s and RE11s, were ordered and installed. He or she is the first to admit that he is anything but mechanically inclined, although vincent is adamant about doing all the work to his car himself. Everything Vincent did to this car has been his first time together with the specific task, from changing oil to repairing fiberglass and even the supercharger install. Vincent operates under the pretense that if I can follow instructions, I could put an automobile together. The Spoon fenders for this car were actually a damaged set that he found took and used the opportunity to learn how to work with fiberglass. Of course, virtually nothing ever went smoothly. He gained the ability that now allows him to help other folks with their cars, which he quickly points out is as rewarding as feeling the real difference the parts make when driving the car, though he confesses that many parts took him triple some time it should normally take to install.
The aforementioned Spoon bumper and RPF1s are no longer about the car (since you may have noticed). After several years of ownership, Volk Racing TE37s and a Voltex Circuit front bumper replaced them. Vincent admits that although he had his eyes about the Volks and Voltex bumper for a time, he decide to enjoy the Enkei and Spoon counterparts so long as he could. It’s in this same mind-set that he chooses to really benefit from the affect each part has on his car one at a time, never purchasing and installing multiple parts at once. Vincent credits his parents for raising him well: When investing in clothes and stuff, you enjoy them as long as you can. I can believe that this practice really helps make the most of owning and modifying a car–particularly when combined with the make everything yourself rule that Vincent has looking for his time he shares with his car.
Living where snow and salt is a yearly occurrence, Vincent also owns an ’07 Civic to the winter months. Nicknamed the Snow Bunny because it’s cute and white, it’s the polar opposite of his S2000. Developing a second car allows him to perform all of the major modifications to the S2000 while it’s safely in their garage, so he takes advantage of this downtime to plan a project every winter. The quality of work Vincent puts into his car is unreal; the volume of patience he has is extraordinary, never settling for good enough or second best. A fantastic example of this resolve is the original exhaust manifold that is still in the car in the end these years; (he is awaiting a certain discontinued ASM header to pop up for sale). We are able to say undeniably in our minds that there are only a few people who put such deliberate thought into how they can enjoy their car as much as possible. From the short time we spent with Vincent, photographing and talking about his car, the eye to detail he puts into his car was obvious in the other facets of his life, his daily grind being a civil engineer designing highways (perhaps this is why Canada has such nice roads! ), along with his passion for culinary arts. Since you can probably guess from Vincent’s attitude if it come to his car, it will probably be a are employed in progress till the day he no longer owns it. Until that day, we will definitely look forward to see what he does with it next.
It all started when I is in 5th grade, says Ethan Hamilton, owner of this 2002 RSX Type-S. I remember it like it was yesterday. I was lying inside my family’s den-room floor watching television with my mother when the RSX commercial popped-up on the screen. I saw the (RSX) and instantly fell in love with it. I turned to my mom and told her that I would one day own one of these cars.
For the most part, you wouldn’t think much of just what a kid in 5th grade thought about his dream car because kids can be pretty fickle at that age. They want and ask for one thing and then ignore it moments later. It will require a special form of determination for a person to have a dream in their younger yearsIf I really wanted something, I’d must set a goal for myself whilst keeping to it, I remember my mom telling me that. From that day on I began saving money and well, I assume you can claim that I did it. Hamilton declares.
The whole thing sounds a little too fairy tale-ish, and is particularly, but his journey to acquiring his dream car wasn’t exactly that simple. See, by age 15, Ethan had already saved-up enough for the car-it just wasn’t an RSX because he didn’t have quite enough yet. Instead, he settled on the 1998 Accord commuter vehicle to get around in while he continued to save lots of for his DC5. Once his senior year of high school rolled around, he had saved up only enough. The Accord had seen the ravages of any adolescent youth so it was time to retire it looking at the daily duties. Ethan then found an RSX inside the exact Satin Silver Metallic finish he had and wanted his dad provide him a lift 4 hours north of Alabama to go get it. He recalls, Once I got myself the car, I had one dollar left in my savings along with a dollar during my checking account! To state that I was ‘broke’ could have been a gross understatement.
Fortunately for Hamilton, he didn’t stay broke for very long and found ways to acquire more funding for his dream build. He was still living out his days as being a high school senior and spent every dime he earned on parts. Like a lot of us, he would sacrifice an effective meal in the interest of his ride and whenever the holidays or a birthday rolled around, he just asked for money to put into the car. Shortly after, Ethan found himself with a nice group ofto be effective so he could fund his automotive addiction. Every paycheck went into the car and all seemed well-that is, until he took a fateful drive with his friends that might ultimately alter the entire direction of his build. I was cruising around with some friends and my buddy Paul was begging me to have on the car to see how quickly it was. Such as an idiot, I downshifted to First and hammered on the gas. I went full throttle into Second gear, then tried going into Third, but missed and accidentally downshifted to First. For any college student with limited funds, it wasn’t the best scenario to be in, although that was basically the end of my K20 motor. He can laugh about it now. Hamilton’s mom saw how hard he worked and how much he loved his car, so she gave him the green light to use his school credit card to finance his engine build so long as he paid it off with time.
Ethan opened the motor to find that he or she had dropped three valves and ruined the cylinder head. Before installing some 11.7, the bottom end was still okay so he machined it to 87mm: 1 Wiseco pistons. He then acquired a new K20A cylinder head and upgraded all of the valvetrain components to back up a collection of Kelford 179-B cams. He’d taken a ride in certain other cars equipped with the same cams and loved how they performed. While the motor was out of his RSX, Hamilton also spent the time to cleanup his engine bay. He shaved some parts of it allow it a cleaner appearance and opted to remove his powerheat and steering, air-conditioning, and ABS system before re-spraying the bay. After the motor went back in, it looked such as an entirely new car beneath the hood.
In hindsight I can’t claim that I totally regret blowing my motor. Obviously, it would have been better if I had just built my motor later but things just happen. I took it as a learning experience and I’m proud to say which i built my own motor and did basically everything to the car on my own. I started out as simply a high school kid with a dream and now I am just a technician for a Honda dealership. The automobile is tuned now to I’m and 230whp getting used to generating power. I still drive my RSX all the time and i also find myself falling crazy about the car yet again. I have some big plans for it, including a new aero kit and all of, so I’m excited for what’s ahead.