Nowadays I meet quite a bit of my car friends through social media and without it I don’t know how I would find all these cars to shoot. I’m glad that Fred found me through Flickr because without social media I probably wouldn’t have met him and have had the opportunity to shoot his Evo VIII along with his friend Ken’s Evo IX! More photos after the Jump. -Cullen
Steve Youhana’s Civic hatch has been a work in progress since the day he got. The vision that he has had with this car was constantly evolving. It started with a B16 swap, wheels and suspension. The next year it was a turbo kit. That is how I remember first seeing Steve’s hatch. Clean, Simple, and well put together. More on Steve and his hatch, including a bunch of pics, after the jump.
This first time I can remember actually taking notice of a Honda Ruckus was on MTV’s Rob and Big. Rob and Big get matching scooters and scoot around their friend’s dirt track. Ever since I’ve kinda wanted one. But where I live it doesn’t make sense. In big cities like Los Angeles the Ruckus has a HUGE following. Like anything Honda an aftermarket has popped up catering to Ruckus fans. I have begun to see more scooters at different car shows. I’ve known Danny from the car scene for several years now. When I first met him he had a moved from Long Beach to the Midwest. At the time he had an exceptional Honda Civic hatch with a built/boosted d-series. With his Honda Roots it is understandable why the ruckus was so attractive to him. He bought this ruckus a few years back and started modding it just like his car. This ruckus is one of my favorite because of the attention to detail.
Check out this S2000 we seen at Import Face Off this past weekend. More pics after the jump. – Alex
Ran into Elmer and his dope 240 while shooting Nate’s S13 and had to take a quick snap. Don’t have much info on it other than it’s a 1990, has a CA18DET motor swap, and Megan Street coilovers.
More pics and info –> [read more…]
We had the opportunity to shoot Nate’s S13 last year and were excited to hear what he had in store for 2012. If you spent anytime on the web this past week you’ve likely seen the teaser photo Nate and his team released. As we expected, it caught fire and is being praised by many of the industry’s leaders as one of the best looking non-pro drift cars out today. Luckily, I happen to reside a 40 minute drive away from Mr. Hamilton and jumped at the opportunity to feature it on WMD once more!
Tyler bought this Miata with the standard wimpy 1.6 liter inline four. The original motor was showing its age- the previous owner was into drifting so it had been more than flogged. It was new motor time.
There were all sorts of options. He could have turbo’d it, swapped a LSX motor in it, or done a 4.6 mustang swap. But tyler always had a fetish for rotary motors. Those crazy doritos in a pill, triangles in a bucket…
Joe Schneider isn’t you’re typical Southern California enthusiast. He showed up to the Annual Eibach Meet in 2011 and changed the game up on the So Cal Honda crowd. In a community that seeks out JDM, worships the K series, and is tightly knit – he managed to get a lot of attention. Bucking many of the trends.
More pics and interview after the jump. – Shocker Joe [read more…]
I arrived at Dusty’s shop at about 10:30 PM last night where he was starting to put the motor together. I was actually suppose to be there around 9:30 so things were already on there way when I got there. Some of the first signs of progress I noticed were the roll cage was complete, the lime green Enkei RPF1 wheels were on, the parachute was installed and of course it had What Monsters Do stickers on it! Enjoy the pics. Video coming soon!
I always like shooting at least a couple of shots of the tool box, tools, etc. You can tell a lot by the stickers on a person’s tool box.
So organized.
I worked with Dusty earlier in the week to get these special order lime green super lightweight 15×7 Enkei RPF1 Wheels for the build. Dusty was using a friend’s set before and these lime green ones seem to fit his crazy camo concept.
The completed roll cage.
Roll Cage by Hickam Series.
The purple DJ Safety parachute.
The remainder of the photos are of the motor and transmission being put together and mounted on in the car. They are in chronological order. I’m putting together a video as well!
And just like that, the motor was in. Next up, turbo. Part 3 coming soon! More pics below.
What’s up everyone! I stopped by Matt’s Shop last night on my way to our Fat Tuesday celebrations to take a peak at Dusty’s Alamo Autosports Texas Mile Civic CR-X! Pretty much a shell at the moment as the new Hickam Series built roll cage and (purple) parachute are being installed. The car ran a 190 last year but Dusty is shooting to not only hit the 200 mph but to break it with a 210 mph run. For the motor, the CR-X will run a similar set up to last year’s with a single cam turbo four cylinder. As far as wheels, the 15×7 offset 41 Enkei RPF1 Racing Series MAT wheels. Keeping the car at the lowest weight possible can make a huge difference and every pound counts… can’t go wrong with the RPF1.
I will post more pics on the progress of the build as they’re completed! Some of which will include the purple parachute, lime green RPF1 wheels, carbon fiber dash, and wood grain painted valve cover! This dude is crazy! Enjoy the pics and quick video. – Alex
Check the quick video and gallery!
I met with local drift guy Nate Hamilton last Friday for a quick photo shoot in North Dallas. Though It was tough finding a good spot to shoot during rush hour on a Friday, I finally found what I though at the time was a abandoned mechanic shop. Turns out it only looked abandoned. The owners also have another shop across the street and while I was waiting for Nate to show up, they cam over and interrogated me for a few minutes. There I was with my tripod set up, taking pics of the shop, checking to see if any of the doors were open, prowling around the back of the building, all without permission… so I guess I can’t really blame them for asking for an explanation! I proudly said I was with What Monsters Do, to no surprise, they said “who?” so I had to start name dropping. Told them I was the Marketing Director at Enkei Wheels, was shooting Nate Hamilton’s bad ass full built 240, etc. Turns out they love Enkei Wheels and a couple of the mechanics are fans of Nate’s. They gave me the go ahead to shoot and just asked that I give them a heads up next time.
Nate and team member Jake Morgan showed up minutes later, unloaded the car, and the shoot began. So let’s take a look at Nate Hamilton’s 1988 Nissan 240SX drift car! Nate has owned the 240SX since 2007 and built it from the ground up. It was his everyday driver and bone stock when he purchased it. I love seeing these type transformations. Like the hole idea that you can start with a low cost everyday beater and end up with a full blown drift machine. (The car was built by Kustomz Unltd.) I don’t have all the facts on the build but I’ve noted what I do have. Check out the pics and feel free to share! – Alex
For suspension, Nate is currently running all KSPORT products. For wheels he uses the lightweight 17×9.5 +18 Enkei RPF1 Racing Series MAT Wheels in front and 18×10.5 +15 for the rears. Though Enkei offers the RPF1 in matte black, Nate’s RPF1 wheels are custom painted black with purple accent to match the car’s color scheme.
Equipped with a Corvette V8 LS2 engine with LS6 heads and cams, the 240 is pushing about 450 horse power and sounds amazing. The transmission is a lightweight durable T56 6 Speed.
Nate keeps PSALM 91:11) stamped right on the front driver side panel. The verse represents a guardian angel and gives Nate piece of mind that Jeorge, a good friend of his who passed away, is still on the track with him. The number 144 after his name also represents Jeorge’s favorite number. The number 44. The number 1 was added last year during XDC New Jersey when another car already was using the number 44.
NateHamilton144
NOS Energy Drink is one of Nate’s number one sponsors and started backing the team earlier this year.
The gages along with a Keep Drifting Fun sticker on the right of them.
The board.
Custom roll cage built by Kustomz Untld. More pics below!
Took a few minutes during lunch to shoot Brock’s green drift Nissan 240sx this afternoon. Brock already was using the Enkei RPF1 but will be running the PF01 for the season. Brock White is one of the five selected ASD MOB Prospect drivers for 2011 and was one of the first to take advantage of the Enkei Wheels ASD partnership program. The ASD program is designed to help and educate grassroots drift guys on what you need to do to make that pro-AM to Formula Drift transition. A “how to” on what it takes to be a pro. This not only includes set up and driving techniques but also tips on behind the scenes sponsor/partner relationships, media training, and more.
