Along with every car that manages to grace these pages comes a unique story, sometimes filled with sorrow, pain and heartache. Fortunately, the story behind Kiet Hong's RHD converted Acura RSX contains none of the above. If anything, his story is typical: He wanted to separate himself from other RSX owners, build a ride that's not only quick but also flashy, win races and show trophies, and get heinas wet with the sound of the loud exhaust, all while overcoming obstacles like getting money, losing time and breaking screwdrivers. In the words of one wise man: "SHOCKER!" The real story, though, is how Kiet told us his story, filled with memorable quotes, run-on sentences and a lot of head scratching, mostly as a result of his hilarious accent. Either way, accent or not, run-on sentences or not, the one thing we can't fault Kiet for is his hard work. We can't knock his hustle.
At first glance, his RSX may be loud and absurd but once absorbed into the deeper parts of the cerebral cortex, the car immediately becomes a venerable work of art. Kiet says it best: "I chose BASF's Candy Fuchsia Pearl paint because it's something different and not everyone has that color. You get sick and tired of seeing the same color. When do you ever see a guy rocking Candy Fuchsia Paint? Never. A real man drives a pink car. LOL." And "LOL" is right. Only real men drive pink cars. In California, however, real men do drive pink cars and they do it with their boyfriends in the passenger seats.
I kid, of course, because Kiet's whip is much more major and features more than meets the eye. "Yeah, it's kinda old," explains Kiet, "but it's running 14 psi with 399 whp, fully tuned." Not many people can say that about their cars. It all began a year and a half ago, when Kiet went on the prowl for a RHD clip. Instead of me explaining it and possibly taking things out of context, I believe only Kiet can tell this remarkable story:
"Finding a RHD clip wasn't easy. It took me one and a half years to finally find one; I almost gave up. The clip I got was in very good condition and had everything I needed, but sat at Ballistic Motorsports for six months. I was in the middle of the show season, and I had to wait until the end of the year to start my project. I only had a few months to start and finish my project. The conversion for the RSX wasn't easy; it was a lot different from other JDM Honda conversions. Most of the stuff isn't interchangeable. There was a lot of work and manpower spent on this project."
Remarkable indeed. The one major problem he encountered with the RHD clip, aside from actually finding one, was getting the proper windshield to fit. "How and where the hell am I going to get a JDM windshield?" Kiet reenacted how he felt when he found out he needed a new windshield: "I called all the top tuner shops around the state. The reason why I need a front windshield is that the USDM glass and JDM glass is completely different." His savior was Robert Chae from Fizz Autosport, who managed to source the glass in a few days.
At this point, Kiet endured some unneeded stress: "Getting it shipped over from Japan was not easy or cheap," he said. "Anything can happen to glass. At the same time, I told him to get me all new carpet and floor mate from Honda Japan. Might as well. I was still scared and concerned about the glass. Time was running short and I couldn't make any mistakes."