Nnovation - Mee’s milano red eh3
Author/Photographer: Kai Her/Kong Xiong (@kongo_nsx), Jan. 22nd, 2025
“Gotta catch ‘em all!”
Poke’mon shopaholics have taken control of the reels on my social media platforms lately. All these resellers will storm into the big stores like a Target or Costco and greedily purchase the new training card boxes and sets by loading them into their shopping cart and then resell them for later at double the value at a later time (when no one else has them). I am not a collector nor consider calling myself a reseller just because I tend to hold onto the items I purchased and then appreciate them. In the end, it’s more difficult for me to let something go because I’ll grow too attached to that item or object.
I guess everyone’s’ values and perspectives into things are different. Some people buy to resell for profit, and some people purchase to actually enjoy what they have acquired. Which side of the line are you on?
I thought it will be nice to begin this blog with that just because this type of behavior already exists in the car community. When an item becomes discontinued or is at a limited amount, the prices sky rockets or you’ll eventually get those rare buyers who will just purchase to resell at a higher price at a later time. Although, when that does occur, everyone else would most likely mock or criticize the seller and their for sale posts on social media. So it’s actually very relatable to the car community, especially in the Honda scene.
You’d probably will be thinking of Spoon Sports or Mugen parts when it comes to it being a bit overpriced. I have seen the speed clusters selling for thousands of dollars and as much as a discontinued shift knob going for at least a thousand. However, is it really “overpriced” though, if people are actually willing to pay that amount of dollars for those parts? I guess, at the end of the day, you’ll have to make that justification yourself to see if it was worth the purchase.
Like for example, I purchased my OEM hardtop for my S2000 (also discontinued) for $4,800 and it came with all the OEM hardware. The top also came in a Rio Yellow and I had to paint it myself, so was it a worthy purchase? In my personal opinion, of course it was. It was what I have envisioned for my build and I knew I didn’t want to buy anything higher than $6,000 for one. So when I saw it posted for $5,500 and was able to negotiate with the seller to drop it down to $4,800, it was worth any penny!
So when it all comes down to it, the real question is, are you willing to pay the asking price for what you’re after? Well, that’s an easy question for Mee to answer. Mee is a true collector in my eye. He is willing to pay for the things he desire, even if it costs him an extra quarter more. He’s “gotta catch em’ all” to become a Spoon Sport master someday. If Ash Ketchum did it, I believe that Mee can as well!
Mee’s Civic became an epiphanic beginning self-statement that it’s never too late to get what you f**king want! It wasn’t just another Civic to Mee. Mee took the build to another level as it was a symbol of rebirth when he began this resto-build (way before NnovatioN). As an ongoing reminder declaring that he’s never too old to still follow his aspirations and that goals don’t expire and ambition has no end! “Never cease in elevation, it’s a timeless pursuit” was and still the motto Mee follows vigorously till this day! Mee’s EH3 is a prime example exemplifying what it takes to get the best he could get with “no regrats.”
(Mee’s EH3 was initially a simple and elegant resto-build! However, with some NnovatioN influence, it slowly transformed to what you now see exemplified here!)
I first met Mee through Kong. Apparently, Kong and Mee are brother in-laws and it just so happened one day, Kong invited Mee to attend a car show with the both of us. From then on, I began seeing Mee more frequently. Our bonds grew tighter and like how a car community brings in people and build tides, Mee and I pretty much hitted it off!
It wasn’t too long after that, when NnovatioN have finally decided that we want to expand our brotherhood, Mee was first pick! His vibe and persona matched our aura and really, that’s all it took, and the passion to just be involved in cars. Ok! I’m sugarcoating that a bit. According to the NnovatioN brothers, everyone would often joke how difficult it was for me to consider Mee to be a part of the NnovatioN brotherhood; because for everyone else, there was no second thought. Although, that is not true, the real reason why it took me longer to expand the brotherhood out was just how chill it was before that already. I was content with just keeping it to a minimal, but now were a group of nine! Furthermore, since Mee was the first potential member amongst the original four, I just had to tread slowly and with much caution.
Till this day, it’s become an NnovatioN inside joke, but it’s what keeps the jokes and bullsh!t alive amongst us. Right, Jackson!? LOL! Talking about Mee, I just had to include that part of the story in this blog. Ok! Now onto the coverage!
(Mee’s EH3 cursing down a long stretched road with the golden glare as a backdrop effect. Thank you for sharing the picture, Kong!)
As a kid growing up with high interests in automobiles, you can probably guess or relate to the idea that when you grow up, you want to own a Supra (Mk4) or a Skyline (GTR R34); or some type of super car. Well, for me, it was a Skyline. However, for Mee, it wasn’t! He specifically remembered that his dream car wasn’t any of those JDM legends or a Ferrari. It was in fact a 5th generation Honda Civic hatchback!
He would always dreamed of owning a clean Honda one day. That dream became life when he excitedly purchase this Civic all the way back in 2009. Mee’s vision with the Civic was to build it up nicely with any JDM parts he could gather or afford during that time. One year became four rather quickly and by the time he knew it, his family was already growing as well. He married his high school sweet heart (Mai See) and with phenomenal news that he is going to be a father for his newborn son, he loss interest and the dream of building a show car Civic deliberately withered away.
(The Civic is no longer “ordinary.” With plenty of tasteful mods seen throughout the interior, exterior, and engine bay, the accumulation of those parts easily exceed over the whole value of the car.)
As the dream slowly faded away, Mee decided that it was optimal to sell the Civic. So, in 2014, he sold the Civic to a friend in Merced, CA. Little did he know, it was one of the biggest mistake he made and regretted. Fortunately, the friend did whatever he could to take care of the Civic under his ownership. Six years later (2019), Mee purchased the Civic back from his friend and slowly restored the car.
Meticulously restoring the interior, steam cleaning the floor, refinishing the interior panels, and relentlessly cleaning/detailing the Civic tirelessly, the Civic began to gain its glow back! AND, the dream of fulfilling a clean show build Civic began knocking on Mee’s front door again. That was just the plan for it; to keep it as clean and stock as he could and lowering it down on some nice JDM wheels (Regamaster Evo’s preferably).
(Wearing many Spoon Sport parts throughout the car, it would only make sense to get a custom plate truly declaring your love of the brand and product!)
Well, those plans altered after Mee’s encounter with NnovatioN. Well, maintaining a clean Civic was still a part of the vision, however, to simply keep it a resto-build had to be tweaked a little bit. With a bit of the NnovatioN touch, the Civic slowly stepped away from that resto-build to a full aftermarket JDM build.
In 2022, Mee found his way to NnovatioN, and after accepting Mee with open arms, the Civic was also embraced to a whole new building platform. Mee began attending all the shows with NnovatioN. With the same burning passion amongst us to motivate each other, it fueled the evolution of the build to a beautiful red machine.
(The assembly and accumulation of parts are predominantly Spoon Sport. I think Mee is finally stepping away from a Spoon catalog build. If you follow him on the socials, he already gathered a diversity of optional parts to switch and play around with.)
Demonstrated above is currently how the Civic now sits. Not so low to the ground now, Mee is running a beefier and meatier fitment on the EH3. Still tremendously relying on OEM lines and parts, the Civic is a clean example of what would be considered a clean Honda in today’s generation and back in the early 2000’s. Let’s explore the Civic a bit more and on what Mee has modified thus far with the EH3.
Starting off with the interior and probably the most prized possession in Mee’s Spoon Sport collection are the Spoon Sport carbon kevlar gen. 2 bucket seats. Just when you think the seats was already enough, Mee went the extra mile and purchase Spoon seat rails for the bucket seats as well. In a clean interior such as this, it will only make sense to diligently choose your parts wisely to match the rest of the interior.
Since Mee has to “catch em’ all,” it was an easy choice for him to stick with more Spoon Sport parts. The stock hub have been switched to a short Spoon Sport hub and attached to the hub is a Momo steering wheel with a Spoon Sport gen. 3 horn button. Upon further inspection, the shift knob have also been switched to a Spoon Sport duracon knob.
Mee was able to acquire these bucket seats from a trade with a set of wheels he owned awhile back. If I could remember correctly, it was a set of Regamaster plus some extra cash on top. I think Mee will be able to fetch a very expensive gold penny in the future whenever Spoon Sport does decide to stop the production of these seats. The gen. 1 seats are discontinued and the last time I saw a pair for sale, it sold for thousands of dollars within hours.
(On the side note, Mee’s Civic is the Si model (hence the EH3). Honda’s famous Sport Injected model still in production throughout the different and later generations of Honda’s and its history.)
(The front spoiler is an authentic carbon fiber Spoon Sport front spoiler. To further identify the spoiler being of a Spoon Sport product, a “Type One” decal have been stuck on the lip.")
(For an exhaust system, you can almost choose anything that is aftermarket out there. Many aftermarket manufacturers still develop exhaust systems for the 5th generation Hondas. However, Mee possesses brand loyalty. His exhaust system of choice is…you guessed it! A Spoon Sport exhaust system!)
(At the top rear end of the Civic, the spoiler have been replaced to a carbon fiber Spoon Sport spoiler as well. Further representing the Spoon Sport pride.)
Fully dressed in many Spoon Sport products throughout the Civic, it’s easy to miss them not knowing what Mee has done to the exterior and interior of the Civic and its transformation. Many spectators or judges at car shows may not know how much money Mee poured into the metamorphosis of the Civic than seeing it’s a typical Civic on wheels.
However, people who pay extra attention to detail and execution can only appreciate a build like Mee’s. Whether you still look at it as a resto-build or a Spoon catalog build, the Civic is truly a master piece. You just have to know what you’re looking at to genuinely admire the Civic.
(As I zoomed into the details of Mee’s wheels, it was conveniently identifiable that his choice of aftermarket front caliper was a pair of Spoon Sport twinblock caliper. Upon further investigation, the lug nuts were also the newer version of Spoon as well. But don’t worry guys, the wheels aren’t Spoon Sports though. The Te37s are in magnesium blue finish with the specs of: 15x8 +35.)
(The Te37’s are wrapped with Falken rubber. The tires specs are: RT660 205/50/15.)
By now, you should know that NnovatioN are a bunch of wheel hoarders. LOL! It’s almost abnormal to have only have a set of wheels for the Honda. We embrace in diversity and usually try to pick up a few sets to switch them in and out amongst the many shows we attend around California.
For this coverage, Mee decided to run with the Te37’s from his stash. I was hoping to see if he’ll swap them back to the Evo II’s, but time was limited as I hit him up last minute. Little did he know I was in town, so he didn’t have much time to swap out the wheels. He was actually working out when I have reached out to him about 15 minutes before the shoot asking if he was free.
Mee went a different route with the engine bay. Of course, it would be nice to dress up the bay entirely with Spoon parts, but since the Swap was just done a few months ago, he is now on a quest to gather as much Spoon Sport B series parts as he could.
(You can easily see some Spoon accessories across the engine bay. Starting off with this Spoon Sport radiator cap; and right behind it, Mee already scooped up a pair of Spoon radiator hoses as well.)
(Further traveling north of the engine bay, you can spot a Spoon Sport strut bar behind the motor and behind the strut bar, Spoon reservoir covers were also embracing the master cylinder.)
(The stock spark plug wires have been switched to the pricey Spoon Sport wires that is now discontinued.)
(To finish off the last Spoon Sport product in the engine bay was the oil cap.)
(Another shot of Mee’s engine bay at a distance to show case what he has done so far to his swap. Aside from the noticeable Spoon Sport products, an icebox intake filter is utilized, stock mounts have been upgraded to Hasport mounts, the stock GSR snail-like intake manifold have been exchanged to a Skunk2 Pro Series manifold. The aluminum radiator is also a Skunk2 Pro Series and last but not least, the header have been swapped to a T1R header.
What to really appreciate about the engine bay is to understand that in California, it’s quite difficult to keep a swapped motor Honda within state regulation. So, Mee kept the swap some what simple…for now. It’s still an amazing swap truly still retaining the essence of a early 2000’s Honda build, sticking a dual cam vtec motor into a light weight Honda chassis. With that, you own the streets.
This sums up the coverage of Mee’s EH3. It was a very enjoyable moment to capture the contents of Mee’s car. I got to experience a little bit of what it takes to perfect my rolling shots. I have never done it before, so with Kong’s guidance, I was able to capture a few shots worthy to share in the gallery, although a third of the photos belonged to Kong.
To recap, Mee’s Civic will always be a great reminder to ourselves that you’re never too old to get back into the game. Or that, its still definitely fine to have a short hiatus in your journey as long as you don’t stray too far away from the true and initial goal. You can accomplish anything you set your mind to.
It was a pleasure to write this blog about Mee’s Civic. I really got to reflect to myself in my personal values again and just indulge in the path of success. Mee demonstrated that with his Civic so I’m going to let it serve me as a motivational factor that I can also achieve whatever I seek in life. Thanks for reading! Signing off!
