True car enthusiasts are painfully transparent. Recognized as creatures of habit, even after calling it quits, the creative juices never really stop flowing. Whether it’s a case of maximum boredom or maybe the unfortunate loss of a project car, the urge to construct is a constant threat. Similar to a bad poker player, they’re far too easily readable, although funny thing is, they’ll let you know with a straight face that they’re done, they’re moving on and never looking back. Innocent stock cars are quickly scanned down and up, then mentally picked apart and rebuilt almost systematically. Sure, true enthusiasts may take a break, nevertheless they never completely escape.
Travis Lippert is an enthusiast who lost his original Si to Nature. A storm that caused flooding in my area caught my Si, and it was totaled. I stumbled upon this car, and it just started off as a daily driver. Content with just possessing a sporty coupe for his daily commute, Travis avoided any mods for almost a complete year before thoughts of the turbo setup began clouding his better judgment. After researching online, he’d found enough positive feedback on Full Race’s turbo kit to take the plunge and purchase certainly one of his own. After installing the kit on which was basically a stock engine, he ran into an issue using the block. Out came the engine in return for a new one, and only three weeks later, he experienced the same problem. Wanting to break the cycle, Travis contacted InlinePro at the advice of the friend. I talked with them for slightly, and the following day I crafted a trip up there to drop off an LS block (B16 head). Just three weeks later, everything was willing to be found and put back together again. I contacted my friend Duong, who’s been there every step of the way with all the car since i have first started modding it, and we discussed doing a wire tuck. The following day I was within his garage and that he was finishing the tuck. I kept changing little things constantly.””, even though car was pretty much done””to somebody and pretty much letting them know to whale on it! I sat there like a father waiting for his first born to come in to the world. I sat out back, nervous, just playing them do pull after pull. The wait was well worth it, as being the InlinePro crew pulled over 460 whp in a mere 11 psi. Pushing the improve to 15 psi led to over 500 whp though that came at the price of traction, because the car began to spin the tires around the dyno. Together with the car tuned and ready to abuse, Travis admits to having an incredible ride back home. I’ve never been so happy to drive it home. I didn’t even turn the radio on one bit, I just listened to the sound of the motor as well as the turbo spooling up for 2.5 hours with the biggest shit-eatin’ grin on my face!
To get the exterior of the Si up to par with its ferocious powerplant, Travis jumped internet and started his hunt for new parts. If I would sell them. To complement the brilliant yellow Kevlar thread, a call was made to Sage Auto, which sourced a Backyard Special bumper with its infamous Kevlar lip, I came across the rarest of rare parts, a matching Kevlar hood and trunk–the only ones I’ve seen and I’ve received plenty of emails/PMs about the forums about where I purchased them and. Having been through a number of CE28s in various sizes and colours, Travis eventually decided on a set of CCW Classics, and was content. Which is, until he was chatting with Dan of CCW who mentioned a whole new design was on the way at that time which led Travis to put the Classics up for sale immediately, making room for the brand-new pair of LM16s. He adds, After throwing the wheels in the car the first time, I knew they were meant to be there. As you won’t find many cars in Honda Tuning Magazine sporting the reduced-offset style, Travis’ EM1 is surely an exception. The main reason being, after swapping the front wheels for some 22-inch slicks, he blasted a 10.96! Soon after, he was kindly asked by track officials to shut his car down, and his track days were put on hold until he decides to add a cage to meet tech requirements.
In closing, he adds, I stepped back and looked at what I’ve built, and it’s even better than I had dreamed in my head. I got the car to look and sit the way I wanted. Oh, which nice little 10-second timeslip doesn’t hurt either. Travis Lippert never really left, although he may took a hiatus from the building process. The truth is, he’s just getting started.