Good Works Garage
Watching the Used and Abused guys on Youtube was how I first came to know about the Good Works crew and with the recent Honda Nationals (H-Nats) they had been popping up all over my feed. I dropped a message to their page simply for a sticker and was a bit surprised when I was invited to come down and check out their little space in the North Rocks area. This coincided beautifully as I had spotted a Koyorad Radiator for my DC2 in the Castle Hill, which I later found out belonged to Sam who originally invited me to the garage, it's a small world! Sam, Jovi and Rose rent the space out to store and work on their projects in their spare time. Sam and Jovi work as mechanics full time so the time when they can come down is often late evenings or weekends off.
The place looked a mess with enough Honda parts to build another 3 track cars, regardless everything had its own spot much like a teenagers messy room. The garage oozed character despite its appearance and I was keen to start looking around. Engines in various stages of work were on stands around the garage ranging from turbo K series builds to an awesome looking B series with a turbo and Jackson Racing supercharger hanging off either side. D series parts were in boxes and the motor that was pulled out of the ED featured in the Used and Abused video was tucked up the back with apparently only 80000 or so km on it.
Jackson racing supercharger hanging off the back with a turbo up front
Without the collector welded on the headers gave off a very Zonda look
The star of the garage was Sam's Black EK Civic which sat up the back. The K-series motor sitting in front was being prepared while the SOHC D series was waiting to be pulled. The rest of the car was completely gutted apart from a single Bride seat and cross brace which was fixed in the rear for added support. Elsewhere on the car almost everything that could be swapped for carbon fiber was, fenders, doors and mirrors were replaced. The carbon bonnet had been cut for top stage vents which was sourced along with the carbon boot hatch from Daniel Meredith's Time attack EK4 (@ek4_k24) which many Sydney enthusiasts would recognise. A set of PCI wing mounts sat on the rear with a Voltex wing which Sam said he preferred over the PCI one they would normally support, the PCI love didn't stop there with a set of their iconic side skirts giving the car a flush appearance.
Advan RG sat on the rear and with the other 3 sets in the garage it was pretty obvious that they were Sam's favourite. With my lens and the car as it was I couldn't get a picture to do it justice but Sam's facebook had some from its previous form which gives a good idea on how stunning it looks.
Amongst the other cars there were two EG civics side by side, the red one with a K20 sitting happily in its bay while the white one sat empty. Both were stripped inside and were being prepped for further work. Just behind these was the office and race space where a custom built PC running Assetto Corsa was set up. Wakefield park was loaded and the Spoon Sports EK9 was ready to go, despite running a 1:17.1 in my own DC2 I failed to put down even one lap without an off. I blamed the lack of the sensation of speed when using the sim but If i had some more time I reckon I could lock down a clean lap.
Sam had me thinking about starting my own collection of valve covers but I doubt the rents would approve of me screwing into the gyprock walls. The SR3 Recaros were in mint condition on DC2R rails, shame I had already picked up my own bride seat a few months earlier as he mentioned these were for sale along with a D series turbo kit and a bunch of EK coilovers. The Advan overalls on the wall had a very old school Japanese vibe along with the Honda Primo set that was in need of a wash on the floor nearby.
The small office space out the front was home to the pictures and magazines Sam and friends had collected over the years. The Chronicles and Honda are almost synonymous with each other so it wasn't surprising to find their stuff here.
Sam's daily driver is just as cool as his track build. His ED civic was still running the D15 dual carb on a set of Lenso rims and the rear had been completely stripped bare. These things pop up from time to time in varying condition, this particular one was picked up for $600 in manual.
This was pretty much my first little garage tour and me being the Honda fan I am was in a very happy place the whole time. I wish it had been a bit lighter and with decent weather so I could have had a look at the two track cars they kept upstairs however that will have to wait for another time. They follow the similar pattern to the other builds shown to give you an idea.