If you look hard enough, you will find a very select group of individuals in Los Angeles who are none too shy to tell you that they only fix up their cars in a very specific way. You won't find them anywhere else but LA and they are usually old enough to remember how important the Gray's Sports Almanac was to Michael J. Fox. They have seen the rise, the fall and the rise again of a car culture that's influenced and impacted their lives for the past 20 years. They could care less that a B-Series engine with its fancy VTEC technology can surpass what is well outdated in their engine bays and you would feel silly, insulting even, if you mentioned the words "big wheels" and "Honda" in the same breath. They understand the JDM social circles but are remiss to call anything JDM except by the term J-spec. For them, this simple thinking is all they have ever known and all they have ever wanted to do to a car.
These enthusiasts are a dying breed as most have long sold the cars that got them through the wonder years-nothing but a faint memory that lives on through a 4x6 snapshot in a dusty photo album. But there is one who lives the memory every day. From the day he drove this car off the lot in what is Acura's first two-door sports coupe, Ernie Uy has been customizing and maintaining his '89 Integra LS with a passion that's rarely seen. From a time that saw little aftermarket support, there were few first-gen Integras that Ernie liked and devoted his time to, making sure this long lost Honda stood out like a sore thumb. Garage-kept nearly all its life, the Flint Black paint rests immaculately on a body that is straighter than straight, although he had the rear wiper, front wiper sprayers and front license plate holes shaved off by Reflections (a body shop known widely in the LA region as being masters of the spray booth). The OEM side skirts from the Special Edition model is a subtle change to the side profile and a Mugen rear wing gives off that unmistakable look of Honda prestige. The headlights were converted to H4 European headlights from Cibie and small JDM mods include the taillights, turn signals, drive lights and sidemarkers from an EF Civic.
When it came to boosting power for the stock D16A1-the first twin-cam engine brought to the States by Honda-Ernie admits he hasn't done much. "I stayed with [the D16A1] to be original," he says. "Keeping AC was also a big concern for me, so I was somewhat limited to what parts I could add, which pretty much eliminated the thought of a turbo. There are performance parts available; not many but there are a few."
He decided on a K&N drop-in filter for the stock air box but managed to source a very rare Mugen Sport exhaust, which at first he was unsure of using, saying, "I didn't know if I could live with the DTM-styled tips but after putting it on, I saw that it flowed really well with the bumper. I guess the designers at Mugen knew what they were doing." He also found a way to make an A'PEXi header designed for the single-cam D16 found in the Civic EK fit on as well. Amazingly, the original engine has only seen about 120K miles on the road but its transmission needed repairs and Ernie found an upgrade with a Clutch Specialties Hyper clutch and lightened flywheel. A DC Fabrications (this is pre-DC Sports, kids) short shifter gives nice, tight throws through the gear box.