Hondas have really made a return to the spotlight in a big way. Not so much for all the hoopla and obsession over what's "JDM" and what's not. That's old news. And no, big body kits have not made a comeback either, despite what some guy on whatever internet forum claims will happen. Hondas are back in a big way because people have gone past just simply purchasing JDM parts and have taken customization to a whole new level. Custom fabrication is the weapon of choice now and enthusiasts have really gone above and beyond to set themselves apart-particularly in their engine bays. A simple wire-tuck just doesn't cut it anymore. People are shaving engine bays, tucking brake lines, and doing custom fuel line set-ups. Many have gone as far as to do full brake booster deletes and clutch master cylinder tucks. Doing engine bay wire-tucks are almost as common now as lowering a car and getting wheels. The new hotness right now isn't even tucking wires. Enthusiasts are showing wires now but in "mil-spec" form. Mil-spec harnesses are custom engine wiring harnesses that have tefzel wiring, new pins and plugs; all shrouded in Raychem heat shrink. The coolest thing about it is the mil-spec disconnect is that it's visible on the firewall. No mil-spec harness is complete unless you get to show off the quick-disconnect. If you're wondering what that plug looks like, just imagine the big plug that OCP used to shove into the side of Robocop's head.Ryan Basseri, better known simply as "Rywire", is probably one of, if not the most well-known custom harness creator within the Honda community. He's responsible for creating some of the best engine harnesses around. The guy is a wiring genius and can wire basically anything. In fact, he's even done a full mil-spec Honda Ruckus! We're almost curious to see what his house is like in hopes of finding a mil-spec blow dryer or PC harness. When word got out that he was building a Honda for himself, all eyes were on his build to see what type of custom one-off modifications he would introduce to the rest of the Honda community. He surely did not disappoint.
"I decided to build a CR-X because I've always been a big fan of them," Ryan explains. "They have a bit of a cult-following and I just can't seem to stay away from them. The second generation CR-X is my favorite Honda of all time and I've actually owned about seven of them in my lifetime. I just decided to do up a really nice one this time around." We sense a bit of modesty in those words. Only because the CR-X he had built before this current project was definitely no slouch. This one just happens to be better in every way. If you somehow think that you're a bigger fan of EF-chassis CR-Xs than Ryan, take this into account; his CR-X is his weekend cruiser and his daily beater, which he uses to drive from NorCal to SoCal and back almost on a weekly basis, is an Acura NSX. Now that's love.
"I really wanted to challenge myself with this build," Ryan states. "I wanted to learn how to build a Honda the right way. No short-cuts, just quality parts, quality work, maximum effort. Just do it right the first time you know?" The main problem however, was trying to find quality time. Being a self-made businessman assembling something as time-consuming as custom engine harnesses doesn't leave much personal time to do anything, let alone build a car. "It definitely took a lot longer than I anticipated."
Everyone knows building anything worthwhile takes time but what might have seemed long to Ryan was only a span of five months. It was just a matter of finding time to get all the custom work done. The chassis started out as somewhat of a crusty red shell. Matt Woodworth at Hoodfab was responsible for stripping and re-spraying the entire body in a Desert Sage Metallic tone.