We recently came across an OG customer who had all three catalogs that King created in the late 80s / early 90s. Each of these hand-assembled catalogs was called a Volume and included a carefully curated collection of Mugen parts, King parts, information about Mugen, and information about King's racecars and services. Each include thoughtful introductory letters written by King's CEO Scott and are a terrific snapshot of Honda/Acura performance culture at the time.

Because we don't spend much time looking in the rear view, we actually didn't have these Volumes anymore in our own library of literature. In fact we only printed about 1000 of each Volume. So Bill Yoon generously loaned the Volumes to us (including the price list inserts) for us to scan and make available to share with our friends!

Click an item below to download the PDF scan.

KMS Volume 1.pdf (4.43 mb), Circa 1989

KMS Volume 1 Price List.pdf (1.11 mb)

KMS Volume 2.pdf (5.24 mb), Circa 1991

KMS Volume 2 Price List.pdf (909.23 kb)

KMS Volume 3.pdf (3.79 mb), Circa 1993

KMS Volume 3 Price List.pdf (2.24 mb)

In this post, longtime friend of King Motorsports Russell Laviolette completes his amazing reunion story. Continued from Part 1. Thanks Russell!

==

Fast forward to 2015. I’ve since sold the Civic Hatchback and purchased a 2000 Acura Integra LS. It’s a fantastic car. But the problem is it isn’t “my” car. At least not my *first* car. It’s not *my* blood, sweat, and tears that linger on its chassis, though I’ve spilled my fair share.

About two years ago, I began the search to find my first car. I’ve heard stories before of guys doing the same, but my hopes weren’t high for this one. CRXs aren’t treated as well in their old age as Barracudas and Camaros are. Searching Craigslist, Autotrader, and forums every night for weeks came to no avail. This year I began to intensify the search and enlisted the help of two communities on Facebook - CRX Community and CRX Owners Group. I knew from a quick VIN search on the state DMV that the car was still in the state and had been recently registered. This gave me tremendous hope the car was still drivable and potentially in an acceptable condition. Many of the guys in the aforementioned groups were tremendously helpful. Many went right to work for me and started looking in their hometowns, local Craigslists, and other Facebook groups.

One gentleman went above and beyond. He offered to run a more thorough VIN check on the car using a paid service (CarFax, etc.), and we identified that the car was about two and a half hours from my home. Coincidentally, the car was located in the very same city as the gentleman who offered to check the VIN. This was surreal at this point and I was optimistic. But what now? It felt like a dead end. He was motivated to help me find the car and even joked about driving around the city until he found it. It was a bit agonizing at this point. I knew what city the car was in, however, I obviously couldn’t just drive down and stalk the town for a little black CRX.

Yes.

Black.

At some point one of the owners decided to paint the car. This saddened me. I knew this as it was identified when the car was last registered. This only complicated things further. Yellow CRXs are rare and easy to spot. Black CRXs are not. For several weeks users on these groups would tag me in For Sale threads, send me Craigslist links, or message me pictures of CRXs all over the South Eastern United States - but all for naught.

Then, a promising lead.

A member of one of the CRX groups tagged me in a listing for a CRX that was for sale in a South Florida Classifieds group. I messaged the seller immediately and heard back from him pretty quickly. We spoke a little about the car, and I asked if he could provide the VIN number. He says he’ll do so as soon as possible, and we continue to talk about the car. Pictures show the sad state this particular CRX is in. It’s been painted black, but it seems as if even the rain is causing the low quality coating to wash away. He tells me he’ll have the VIN shortly, and I wait in eager anticipation. I ask specifically for the four numbers at the end of the VIN as I know that these represent the chassis number that rolled off the assembly line, and no two cars will share this four number sequence. We continue to chat about the car. He tells me “all” the issues the car currently has (I’ll get back to this), but to me it doesn’t really matter.

Motor’s blown. *Don’t care.*

Sunroof panel’s missing. *Probably rusted anyways.*

Interior is trashed. *I plan to replace it.*

The text arrives containing a picture of the VIN.

“5137” are the last four digits.





My heart palpitates. This is my car. My very first car. It’s been almost ten years since I gave it away. We continue to talk further, but I keep my cards close and don’t reveal what’s really going on so as to not be taken advantage of. He starts to note that he has local buyers who are offering a $100 more, and he wants to sell to them. I have to lay it all on the table now. I tell him the history of the car and my relationship with it. Frankly, he doesn’t care. He wants the money. We agree on a price, but I’m concerned any minute he’ll sell to local buyer. I make an appointment to pick the car up a couple days later and hope he doesn’t sell it from under me. A great friend has offered his truck and trailer and says the night planned won’t work for him, and he wants to do it sooner. At first it’s one night sooner than planned. We then realize that very night is the best for both of us and I excitedly acquiesce. The plan is in place. I’ll head to his shop after work and we’ll make the two and a half hour drive to south Florida to recover an old lost friend. We set out, and I’m just as giddy as the first time I made the journey to pick up this black and yellow bombshell.

A lot has changed since this car left my possession. My then girlfriend and I have split. I found a wonderful new woman, married her, and finished college. Started my career and had two beautiful little girls (one just last week as I write this). This car was a link to the past that I remember with fondness. The trip takes us longer than expected, and we make a stop at Publix supermarket for a very late dinner. Part of the fun of this trip was talking about cars - about the future of this particular car and all my plans and aspirations. We arrive a few minutes later and it’s in worse shape than I expected. It will require an enormous amount of work, but I knew that and that’s okay.

At this point in my life I am in a better position to do all the things I want to that I couldn’t when I was 17. High quality Japanese wheels (likely Mugen). As many new old stock OE parts as possible. Thorough bodywork and paint. Anything necessary.

As I mentioned before there were some things he didn’t disclose. The pictures showed a motor, but this isn’t the motor that would come with the car. The original block had received a VTEC head at some point and would eventually give up the ghost when a rod decided to exit through the side. He mentioned something about a “test pass” causing this. I estimate the original block had close to 400,000 miles on it at this point. It will make a nice coffee table. The front bumper was off the car so I could inspect the “frame.” The damaged I caused when I wrecked it many years prior was still evident. When I removed the rear bumper after returning home, I found the car was involved in a rear end collision at some point. This was quite disappointing. They attempted to repair the damaged metal with fiberglass. It was horrendous.



Nevertheless, when I began looking for this car I knew I would require the help of a fantastic community. This will be true of the restoration as well. This sport compact automotive scene often gets a bad name in this regard, but I have encountered numerous people who have gone out of their way to help me make this happen. Sure, I’ve encountered many who weren’t willing to help, but I press on. Those who have helped have certainly outweighed those who laughed at my efforts.

The plans are for a full OEM restoration with some exceptions. Mugen products will play a large part in the restoration of this car. But at the same time, I’ve begun to feel a bit nostalgic about many of the parts I’m considering replacing. The more parts I replace with “OEM new” the less it becomes “my” car. I’ve started to feel the desire to just restore some of the original parts. I know that requires more time and effort, but that just seems so much more appealing to me.

Despite it all, stay tuned for updates, and if you’re able to help in the acquisition of parts, especially new old stock OEM parts, please don’t hesitate to connect with me on Facebook. Additionally you can follow my build thread (that has been slow as of late) over on NWP4LIFE (http://forums.nwp4life.com/zerothread?id=49357).

Thank you for taking the time to read my ramblings and many thanks to King Motorsports for their continued support in this endeavor. Thanks are also due to Yoel Rodriguez, Brandon Katrein, Brian Cain, Kyle B., Ryan at Auto Fair Honda, Jose Chacon, Jason Haradon, Scott Zellner, Ronald Wu, and many others. Thank you all!

Longtime friend of King Motorsports Russell Laviolette gives us a peek into the special slot in his brain's memory bank reserved for his first car. We'll glimpse inspiration, ambition, a bit of charity, and a community-fueled reunion. This is PART 1 of his story. Thanks Russell!

==

An abundance of stories have been written about the importance of a first car. The sense of independence and adventure personified by these masses of metal is well documented. But what does it look when a car comes full circle and is reunited with a past owner - an owner who first experienced those emotions in this very car?

I, like many, was baptized into the Sport Compact industry during the late 90s. Blossoming from the grassroots movement of the mid 90s, it would reach global status when the blockbuster franchise "The Fast and the Furious" began in 2001. Despite the fact that I was excited by the film, it didn’t quite capture the vision that initially enthralled me.

That vision was represented by the enthusiasts of Southern California. Avoiding fiberglass body enhancements, underbody neon lighting, and a litany of monitors in obscure locations, these gentleman (and of course women) were doing it “right.” Many of them were importing parts from the motherland (Japan) and tempting others with parts the Red, White, and Blue never received. There was one particular car that caught my attention among many great ones: Erik of FF Squad and his gold CRX. The car featured many JDM parts (Japanese Domestic Market) including a CRX SiR front end, RHD conversion, Japanese spec glass roof, and Mugen MR-5 wheels. Ironically, this car is now just minutes from me, thousands of miles away from California. I knew I wanted a CRX and the hunt began.

I was working a miserable job at a local movie theater at the time and knew my only chances for a car lay squarely on my shoulders. Eventually, I would save a decent amount of money but didn’t know if it would be enough. My brother-in-law called me out of the blue and told me he found what I was looking for - a CRX Si - and, best of all, yellow. I traveled as soon as possible to see the car and immediately loved it. It was the first year of the iconic second generation and again, it was yellow! I knew nothing of the Y49 curse fortunately. Some days later I would return with my stepfather to retrieve the car and tow it to its new home. It needed virtually nothing to run save a driver’s side CV axle. Unfortunately, it wasn’t as easy to replace as it should have been. Four broken sockets (including Snap-on) and a breaker bar in excess of three feet long, and the 32mm nut still wasn’t moving. Eventually, we would melt the bolt with an oxyacetylene torch. Desperate times. Desperate measures.



It would take a bit longer to save the money necessary to insure the car and take care of other legal details, but it was now roadworthy. I still remember driving the car forwards and backwards in my yard in an attempt to learn to drive the manual transmission well. After several years of driving the car, I began to tire of it. The pernicious curse struck sometime in 2005. After purchasing an imported JDM engine for the car (DOHC ZC) and investing quite a bit of money into improving the power of it, I was involved in a rear-end collision. It was my fault, and the CRX was a mess. Hood wrinkled like aluminum foil. Life blood dripping from the undercarriage. Despite it, the car fought on. I tethered the hood closed and drove the car home, coolant leaking into the Florida aquifer. The car would run for quite a bit longer, but I lost the vision. I sold many of the parts acquired and began thinking about another car. An opportunity presented itself to purchase a 1995 Honda Civic Hatchback from the original owner, and I wasn’t going to hesitate. I brought what I could to the owner that night and picked the car up the next day.

The CRX was now second fiddle. I would eventually give it to a woman I worked with who was walking to work each day. She was in her fifties, and the Florida heat is unforgiving even in the winter. She would eventually trade the CRX for a minivan much to my chagrin. I had always harbored hopes of reacquiring the car from her in the future, but now that possibility dissipated. Or so I thought.

** to be continued in PART 2 **

==

The CRX (Erik of FF Squad) that originally inspired Russell:

The following review comes to us via King customer Andy Thompson - thanks Andy!

****



Skunk2’s Pro-C Coilovers are a solid choice for an all-inclusive, mid-level suspension offering features beneficial to track-specific applications.

Why I Chose Pro-C

I initially set out to find an authentic suspension that offered modern coilover features and chassis-specific production. Although many with newer vehicles will not have this issue, my dated EF chassis has quite limited aftermarket choices. So the Pro-C was one of my only choices.

Skunk2 designs and tests all of their products, specific to application. This is important because the coilover actually matches the intended chassis it was designed for, instead of a coilover that was originally designed for one chassis and has been translated to fit others.

I wanted a fully-inclusive suspension that had springs matched to struts, versus a two-piece spring and strut combination from two separate manufactures. I wanted fully independent adjustability in spring rate, dampening, and ride height. The Pro-C smartly offers ride height adjustability independent of spring rate. With many older suspensions, changing ride height also adjusts the spring rate as a negative side effect.

I was also interested in an inverted mono tube strut to maintain a larger oil capacity while offering strength and responsiveness. The Pro-C does not offer inversion, but still uses a mono tube design versus an OE style struts twin tube design (which can feel unresponsive in performance applications).

Here is a comparison of the EF OEM suspension versus the Pro-C:



Pros

12-Way Valving

The Pro-C offers a relatively simple and effective valving system. Removable keys on the top of the strut easily control dampening. The keys are retained to the top of the piston rod via rubber o-rings, which allow them to be left in place during driving.

Many lower quality suspensions advertise 36-way adjustability, which is fine, but can be quite frustrating to keep track of and count out when readjusting damping. With Skunk2 offering 12 points of adjustability, it gives the user enough range to dial in damping with meaningful differences between each click. I currently have my suspension set at 3 in the front and 5 in the rear, for casual street driving.

CNC Machined Aluminum Strut housing and Spring Perches

If you live anywhere with rain, snow, or dirt; aluminum threading and perches are a huge deal. A common issue with lower quality aluminum and steel struts is corrosion, and trying to adjust spring rate after any amount of time usually involves ditching the spanner wrenches and grabbing a punch and hammer. The Pro-Cs are made of 6061-T6 aluminum, which is a tempered grade. This makes the threading much more corrosion-resistant and spring rate adjustability a feature that persists despite your weather or road conditions.

I have two summer seasons on my coilovers, in which they still adjust with ease after road grime is wiped off. I personally apply silicon lubricant to threading to repel water (although road grim builds up quicker but is easily removable).

Cons

Street Comfort

Contrary to what is advertised, these coilovers are by no means comfortable. With almost no spring load and low dampening settings, you will still be feeling every crack in the street. On the other hand, the feeling is confident, and there is a total absence of slack in the system. That said, make sure the rest of your suspension system and bushings are up to par-- if not, expect the soft spot in your system to be amplified.

Clearances with UCA

Although this is not a coilover specific issue, some double wishbone suspension setups with front camber kits may run into clearance issues with certain degrees of camber. On my EF, I am running an irrational 4.6 degrees of camber in the front, in which occasionally my front knuckle knocks against the springs and spring perches of the coilover on larger bumps.

Final Word

If you’re a Honda enthusiast looking to get involved in some motor sports such as local auto cross events or open road racing events -- while still being able to drive your car on the street -- this is definitely a great choice.

If you’re planning on driving your car every day or commute long distance to work, the Pro-C may not be for you. Or consider purchasing the Pro-C with lower spring rates.

I am constantly tinkering with my suspension and plan to try a different set of springs for summer 2015. Thanks for reading.

Detailed look at the Pro-C:



****

See more Skunk2 Racing products at the King Motorsports online store!
http://www.kingmotorsports.com/m-43-skunk2-racing.aspx

Who doesn't love to admire Mugen's Honda creations from the 80's and 90's? Here are a few of the more obscure brochure covers from Mugen that you may have missed!

Mugen Accord Coupe



Mugen Accord Sedan



Mugen Accord Wagon



Mugen Prelude Spec II (3rd gen), circa 1988



Mugen E-AB Prelude and a rare color shot!



The Mugen CR-X PRO. circa late 1985. This car was equipped with a Mugen roll bar for track demonstrations.



Mugen CR-X PRO.2 from an early 1988 Mugen promo brochure



Mugen Sports Civic Special-circa 1986! Beautiful white CF-48 wheels on red!

Back in the 80's, a Mugen limited slip diff turned any CRX/Civic or Integra into an auto-x or road race terror. It simply revolutionized what we thought possible in a FWD setup! This basic design is still winning championships worldwide....

Right click to see the full size image.



http://www.kingmotorsports.com/p-1464-mugen-limited-slip-differential.aspx

It's 1984 and first Ghostbusters, Gremlins, Police Academy and Beverly Hills Cop are in theaters. And these amazing exhausts are in Mugen's lineup for Prelude, CRX and Civic!

Right click to see the full size image.

Check out this radical design on the City exhaust:

This weekend I stopped by my local Autozone to return some parts. As I pulled into the parking lot, this red beauty was the only car in front of the store. I swear there was a golden beam of God-light piercing through the Pacific Northwest cloud cover, shining directly on to this JDM wonder. I heard angels singing; somewhere in the world, blind people were seeing for the first time. It was an Autozone Miracle.

I found the owner inside -- his name is Brian B. and he was more than happy to talk about his ride. I knew immediately he had a story behind this very clean second gen CRX which he affectionately calls "Suki."

Brian was more than happy to share -- and it's clear there was a lot of love put into this CRX. Love, combined with a few rear-ender heartaches that he persisted through. Here's his story in his own words:

****

My dad first got a CRX when I was 6 years old. I remember fond times of him taking me around town and on long road trips in that car. Since then, I wanted a CRX of my own.

My dad called me up early 2006 and told me he had a friend that had an abandoned one located on his property. I inquired the story about the car, what year it was (since I wanted a second gen) and what color it was. He told me he had no idea about the details on the car, except for the fact that the previous owner drove it out on to his friends property and got out of the car and killed himself. I was reluctant to pick it up after hearing such a horrific story. He decided to pick it up and possibly flip the car after he did the maintenance work. He sent me photos of the car after he received it and I became very interested. A Rio Red 1988 Honda CRX DX.

I purchased it from him for $1,000, which is cheaper than any of the mods I later did to the car. At first I drove it around as a daily driver, just enjoying having a car I have longed for. After a year's time, I became bored with the stock d15b2. I had the itch for more horsepower. I started saving as much money as I could while still attending college. After a year and a half of owning the car, I had the money ready to start my motor swap and my first set of suspension parts. I decided on the B16a because I felt it fit the chassis and style I was going for since it came that way from Japan. I mistakenly cheaped out on suspension and went with Megan Racing coilovers and KYB AGX. This was reversed years later.

I spent a month swapping the motor in along with a minor wire tuck. The big hurdle was modifying the stock Japanese harness from the B16a to work with the stock DX harness, since the old harness was tired and brittle. I wanted most of the Japanese harness to look untouched. I tucked the fuse box to right above the ECU on the passenger's side and tucked both headlight harnesses. I was starting to make some progress with the car.

One advantage to being a poor college student with a car project is funds are limited. Now that might sound odd, but it makes you think multiple times before you hastily make a purchase on a part for style or performance. This gave me time to figure out all I wanted to do to the car, without making it look over the top or so similar to the rest.



My uncle (a frame puller at a body shop in Kennewick, WA) offer to paint my Rio Pink / faded car as long as I helped pay for supplies. I would be stupid not to agree. It was really easy to get it started and place the primer on, but the downside was is getting the time for him to finish up the car. Especially since I lived in Boise, Idaho at the time. The car stayed in its primer state for one whole year before going under the gun.

Two weeks before heading up to my uncle's for the paint, I was rear ended by a semi at a traffic light. His excuse was that he couldn't see me and forgot I was there. This is after he hit my rear bumper 5 times before stopping.



Luckily, this is what my Uncle did for a living, so it was no big deal to pull it out.

Car was then painted and all of the pieces put back together:

I had the itch to make it look as OEM/USDM as possible...



A few weeks away was a local car show called Shakotan Matsuri (Lowered Car Festival). I felt I was all ready for it, and then I was rear ended by my roommate's sister.





I spent another year waiting for insurance money and the time to get this damaged fixed. I also picked up a new set of wheels, which still happen to be my current wheels. These were originally going to be a temporary solution until I could afford a rebuilt set of BBS RSs or a real set of Work Equip 03, but then ended up staying with the car a lot longer than I wanted them to be.



One of my buddies gave me this old (but now very popular) 5 panel Wink mirror back in 2008. I like to think I was on the cusp of everyone and their moms' owning one.



Once I finally got the the rear end fixed again, I decided to upgrade the tail lights to the 90-91 EDM tail lights with the EDM center piece with fog light. This means the fog light is on the driver's side, rather than the passenger side like the JDM fogs.



Mind you this project car was also my daily driver throughout all of this.



Finally got around to purchasing the Koni Yellows + Ground Control sleeves with top hats.

Went out with my friend and his Fit for a photo shoot.





Coming up to the more recent mods, I decided that the stock bushings were old and tired as well with over 220,000 miles on them, so I spent the winter of 2010 replacing everything.

I finally got the car to a nice spot. It was the perfect blend of daily driver and tough machine that I always wanted. Since 2011, not much has changed on the car. I went back to a Broadway convex mirror because I was tired of seeing the Wink 5 panels everywhere. Future long-term plans include Hondata tuning, more aggressive cams, REAL wheels, Bride racing seat and harness bar, and a Nardi Racing woodgrain steering wheel with quick release hub.











More of this shoot here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nateshrum/sets/72157628388718047/

Parts List:

B16a from Hmotorsonline
Prelude LMAs
Si steering rack
Hasport Motor Mounts
Hasport Shift Linkage
2.5 inch cat back with magnaflow exhaust and dual tip
Koni Yellows + Ground Control sleeves and Ground Control top hats
Complete bushing overhaul
ODB1 conversion (With Ostrich chip emulator)
Si interior
EDM flush wing
EDM tail lights and center fog light
GT Styling Solarwing II
DA Integra Front and Rear disc brake swap
OEM VW MK3 VR6 Euro lip

****

** Thanks Brian for sharing this awesome build and pictures with us!! **

You can find a full range of parts for the first and second gen CRX at the King Motorsports store!

https://www.kingmotorsports.com/s-86-crx.aspx

In the King shop last week! We finished up an old school EV 1.3 HF build. This engine will soon be installed in a beautifully restored 1985 HF.



The tricky part of an old school engine build like this EV 1.3 HF is a shortage of OEM rebuild parts- they are getting very scare.

Because 1st. over bore pistons are no longer available, we commissioned Wiseco to build a forged piston with the exact dimensions of the factory piston with the bore size we needed. We stress relieved and deburred the factory connecting rods and the whole rotating assembly was balanced to our specifications.



The EV 1.3 HF cylinder head ready for final assembly. Valve seats were carefully blended and just a touch bowl work to increase efficiency. Will 50+ mpg be a reality using yestertech?



We also got this info & picture from Yawsport:

"Captured fresh out of the paint booth over 1 year ago, this champagne Honda Civic 1300 Hatchback (affectionately named "Champ") will adorn the fully blueprinted EV1 engine currently being finished up by King Motorsports. It's been a long road to find some of the engine internals needed to complete this detailed build, but it will definitely be worth the wait. Stay tuned for the full write up of this project as well as some custom suspension goodness."



The EV 1.3 HF engine is almost buttoned up and looking terrific!



http://www.kingmotorsports.com/engine_building.aspx

In 1985 American Honda mailed this postcard to enthusiasts all over the US to help introduce them to Mugen competition parts.

Note the spelling of CRX for the US versus CR-X for Japan. How would you like to see these guys coming up behind you in your rear view mirror?

A Mugen CRX prototype in a full scale wind tunnel back in 1984- Validating all aero mods.

See also our pic of wind tunnel testing for the Mugen DC2 Type-R.