Alpha Digital

Alpha Digital – A Year End Review

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As 2019 draws to a close I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who worked with me this year. Without the great support of you all, I never would have been able to accomplish the things I did this year.

I wish doing some of the events I did, shooting the cars I did, and traveling was as easy as clicking a button, but the truth is for me, there are a lot of pieces of the puzzle that need to come together in order for me to personally pull these things off. None of if works without the support of friends and family.

I had many goals this year, and I felt like I achieved all of them. My first was to build the current relationships I have and I felt like I did that. People that used to be more like acquaintances are now great friends of mine, and people that I knew through other friends have simply become friends and I love that. To me, nothing is more important that those friendships and I hope to make more this coming year! In addition to this, I focused more of my energy building these relationships and letting go of other ones to help my growth and I will continue to do that.

I technically traveled more, and while I wish I could have made it out to a couple more spots, there’s only so much I can do as a dad of three girls and that’s fine. Watching them grow is something I will never not want to do. My wife puts up with a lot from me, and she is my number one, my rock, that’s there to support and guide me when i’m not sure what the fuck i’m doing, which is often. I know that I can trust and depend on her to keep this ship sailing. Lets see what types of places 2020 brings.

Lastly, stepping outside of my comfort zone as one of the biggest things I wanted to do with myself this year and I felt like I achieved that. Surprisingly, I did not shoot as many cars as I wanted to this year, due to being so busy with school. However, I made the time to shoot with local businesses with subjects that weren’t related to cars, and I found out that I absolutely love it. I plan to continue developing my strengths as a photographer outside of cars, but cars will always be my passion.

My hope is this coming year things start settling down a bit in my life and around the house. I have a lot of goals and chores I want to complete once this damn snow melts. Graduation is on the horizon, kids are getting bigger, and the race car draws nearer. I hope to keep making moves to put myself in the position to do some really cool things down the road.

My goals for 2020? To crush it. To grow. To have no regrets. Take shots, risks, make friends, network, and to reach for the fucking stars.

Thank you for reading, following, supporting, and even hating.

Happy New Year.

– Alex

Happy Roller Friday

I dont have much for an update, so enjoy a few rollers I shot last weekend of some local cars.

Its nice to get back to shooting rollers this way. Much less involved than rigs and a different outcome. Different, but still cool in its own way.

– Alex

Wekfest Seattle Part 3.

Happy Friday. I know this coverage was supposed to go up this past weekend, but as always, time finds a way to evade me and excuses make their way into my head. But here I am with the final installment of Wekfest Seattle. We ended the last recap with cool wheels, so that seems like a fine place to start this time around. Warning, if I reused any pictures from the last recap, I apologize, I cant 100% remember what I did and did not already share and I am too tired to care at the moment.

You cant go wrong with a set of TE37s on just about any car. They’re a universal wheel that looks good on just about anything you can put them on. Find a nice caliper to put them in front of and you’re golden.

Add some badass fenders to the mix and you’re literally over 9,000 on the power scale. Much power.

Each time I go to a show, you always find interesting things people put into their vehicles. With some cars its bottles of alcohol, cigars, and PornHub shit, and others, its teddy bears and heart stuff.

I must admit, the heart hood prop is a first for me.

More Volk coolness on an STI parked near the front of the show.

More TE37 goodness. I don’t get tired of these wheels.

Serious. I don’t.

I think SLs are definitely my favorite iteration of the Volk Racing series. That followed by the time attack editions I would say are my favorites, either that or Ultras.

I saw more Skylines at this show than any so far.

Speaking of Skylines, this one definitely took the cake. Word has it that it was built and raced in Japan running a sub 60 second run around Tsukuba which is amazing. The car was then shipped to a new owner in Canada and made its way down from there to Wekfest Seattle.

Jaw dropping beautiful.

This was definitely one of my show favorites. It’s not everyday you get to see an R34 in person, let alone one of this caliber.

Did I mention there were a bunch of Skylines?

One of the many clean builds at Wekfest was this Rx7. It was spotless and sitting on a set of Rays Gramlight 57DR wheels which happen to be one of my favorite wheels. Its funny that these were a bit more rare to see at the show in comparison to the TE37/CE28s.

Gramlights are a really nice choice of wheels that aren’t too hard on the wallet. I don’t see them a lot.

In addition to being more cost friendly than their forged cousins, they’re also surprisingly light.

Speaking of clean builds, Wizzer’s RSX was one of the cleanest if not the cleanest DC5 I have ever laid eyes upon besides Spazz’s RSX from Wisconsin.

The overall build is awesome and you’ll realize that if you follow him on IG.

Sitting pretty on a set of CE28s.

A glimpse of the fresh and painted shaved bay sporting a beautiful sidewinder turbo setup.

Another glimpse of the beautiful forced induction setup. Wiggins and Vanjens are seriously the way to go if you’re FI. Boost leaks are a bitch.

Wizzer wasn’t the only K series build sporting forced induction.

This beautiful EP also had a nice painted, tucked, and shaved bay to go along with the turbo setup. I like the AN fittings that are utilized in the setup.

Beautiful exterior finished off with Mugen MF10s.

This EG had such a sick K swap turbo setup on it with some awesome work done by All In Fab.

What looks to be a 35R with open dump and downpipe that is clearly hood exit. I couldn’t imagine driving with a setup like this and trying to sneak around cops.

All In Fab work is top notch.

I saw at least two cars sporting these SBS ported K series intake manifolds which is pretty cool because as far as I know, SBS performance is based out of MN by a guy named Elvis who custom ports these intake manifolds and seals them back up. I remember back when I was deep in the Honda scene and Elvis came to MN. It is really cool to see his work making it all across the U.S to the PNW..

Speedfactory from Tacoma had their crazy 2000+ HP, 7 second EG at the show.

The setup on the car is incredibly nuts. To think that each of the cylinders on this B series is producing over 500hp a piece is absolutely insane. These engines are incredible and capable of producing some jaw dropping numbers. Not bad for being a near 30 year old engine.

Would suck if that angry bird accidentally got left in the down/up pipe. Would likely get shot out.

A billet B series block that Speedfactory sells.

As sexy as these Cayman’s are, I think for the price you pay for a GT4 I would rather buy an older GT3 or 991 turbo. This one was pretty clean though.

Some lambo goodness

Sweet center exit exhausts.

This single turbo E90 335 caught my attention.

Makes me miss mine.

Clean turbo B series EG.

Another example of a clean K swapped turbo Honda.

Even trucks look good with TEs

Love this EF. Turbo B series with a hood exit dump tube and ram horn manifold. Clean shaved, tucked, and painted bay.

Did I post this MR2 yet? If not, it was damn clean. Can definitely appreciate a beautiful SW20.

This might have been the cluster on that turbo EF. The s2000 cluster swap is a nice addition to the interior.

Another clean EG, however this one is naturally aspirated.

Coolest Cayman I’ve seen yet belonging to @Thehypebunny.

Love how wide the rear of this car gets.

Those dished wheels though!

Of course, riding on air!

The entire car looks like it was executed perfectly. Obviously the owner isn’t going for a low key look. This car was definitely meant to be seen and shown off.

This BRZ belongs to @3cities.brz and was a pleasure to look at.

The car had a sweet wrap and aggressive setup to it. The widebody, wheels, fenders, and wing all work together flawlessly. Such a sweet build.

This R8 below was super clean!

Love the duck bill and rotiforms.

The group Steep Streets representing with their crazy low and cambered vehicles.

City of Angles baby.

Don’t know how people are able to go this low and not ruin their car. I know these are likely bagged but still.

Passed by a sweet rat rod build while walking around.

I think this guy had cans of Rainier lager on his car somewhere. Random.

A whole bunch of low riders in a group. A bunch of them with hydraulics and other cool suspension mods.

Crazy setup that I cannot begin to describe in the back of one of the low rider cars.

Wekfest DJs always providing the beats during the show. Always liked the vibe the show had with some good music.

Managed to snag myself a shirt. I had my Wekfest Chicago shirt on which surprised a few of the staff that someone from the midwest would be at the Seattle show. But evidently, I wasn’t the only one as Chenstur ITR was there from Iowa.

I likely could have carried this display away, wheels and all. Thats high light they are!

After the show we grabbed a bite at Pyramid Brewing across the street. Enjoyed the beverages and food while recapping the show. The weather was still gorgeous out, so we made a stop down to Alki beach where a bunch of the cars from the show ended up afterwards. This S2000 was parked on the street.

If you recall from the part 1 recap, this F80 was in the first row of cars. IT was nice to see it out because it was super clean!

Super chill at Alki with a beautiful sunset to accompany the perfect weather. I couldn’t think of a better way to wind down the night after a great show. Wekfest provided some awesome vibes to go along with these awesome builds from the pacific northwest. It was definitely a sight to behold, and worth every cent I spent to get out there. Shows and builds like the ones I saw are the type I love and live for. My wife even got into the show and liked looking at the different builds. I hope to add Wekfest Seattle to my regular stop each year for shows because I definitely want to come back as time and money allows to keep seeing how the scene out there progresses.

And with that, my recap of Wekfest Seattle is complete. If you followed the recaps from beginning to end, I applaud you. You’re literally one of the few people I write these things for. That’s the whole goal behind AlphaDigital, to share my experiences and passions captured through my lens with you. If only one person read through my entire recap, it was well worth the hours I’ve invested into these recaps and photos.

Thank you for reading through. As always, follow me on IG @AlphaDigital_ for more pictures of cars and random things I encounter!

– Alex

Mondays :/

Been incredibly busy shooting and editing, I think I have somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,000 photos to go through this week from multiple shoots. So bear with me. Here is a roller I did of my friends GTR that will be in the Crown Rally later on in August!

Wekfest Seattle Part 3 will be up this week as well so stay tuned for that.

Caffeine and Gasoline Sunday! So bring your car on out!

Looking forward to sharing some shots from these shoots ive done and have coming up!

Happy Monday!

Alex

Wekfest Seattle Coverage Part 2.

Happy Sunday. The weather we have been getting in MN is absolutely nuts. It literally went from like 100 degrees and 2000% humidity to mid 60s and completely clear all within 24 hours. I just don’t get it. Why the weather is more bipolar than an ex girlfriend and why the hell I live in this state.

Had some crazy storms here yesterday too, taking out power, and forcing me to buy a generator. I’m still scratching my head as to why I’m here. Was going to try and hit up the Pearl Street Brewery show yesterday in LaCrosse Wisconsin, but unfortunately they got some nasty weather too. So instead, I did nothing. But hey! Here I am, following up on Wekfest Seattle.

So where were we?

Ah yessss, the first row was literally all I got through so here we go.

People are getting more and more creative with how they display some stuff in the show now. Take this accord for example. Its got some sake stuff with a cool Goku looking action figure in the middle. Do people utilize these things outside of shows by chance? Like do they go to a parking lot in the evening, bust open their trunk and have some sake? Do they have it cold? Or do they have a Bunsen Burner sitting around with a can of gas to warm the sake up with? These are questions that need to be asked. But anyways, some folks get really creative with their displays and most are cool, some are head scratchers. This one is cool.

Walking down row 2 yielded a lot of S2000s and GTRs. A lot of great looking cars in this row as I am a big fan of both the S2ks and GTRs. I’ve always wanted an S and will probably have one sometime, but I have to say, these things seem to be holding their value pretty well. It’s not hard to come across something like an AP1 or 2 with a shit ton of mileage and ruined fenders for like 10k, but those aren’t what I’m interested in. Maybe someday I’ll find a clean unmolested AP2 to take home, but enough of my rambling.

There were a lot of Volks at this show, a TON of them. How the hell do people find the money to pay for these things? Maybe it’s just that I’m horrible with my money and if I saved some I could have a set of my own. I did own one set though, bronze TE37s for my Integra, and they were beautiful. So in the sea of Volks in the show, seeing a set of Mugen MF10s was refreshing.

Do they still call these intakes the whale penis? Nice and clean bay on this S and I’m loving the purple accents.

New Formula Red has always been a favorite color of mine when it came to S2ks. Back in the day, I almost pulled the trigger on a super clean NFR AP1 locally on Work XD9s, and I really wish I did. I think this S has an Amuse bumper on it, which I think is a good choice compared to some of the other ones you can get. I enjoy the Amuse option along with ASM. Seeing this picture now, I wonder if something happened in the engine bay, because the underside of that hood looks like it has seen better days.

Fitment-wise, this thing was on point. I’m not a big fan of too much poke, although a little bit really makes a car looks mean. But the CE28s, Spoon calipers, and slotted rotors all go together well, it’s a classic setup in my opinion. The ZEs on the yellow AP2 in the background a sweet too.

Rounding off the build is what looks to be a Kraftwerks supercharger and carbon fiber goodies. Super clean car all around.

Clean fitment with the Volks and Rays lugs(?). I love this car.

This GTR was crazy, the wheel/brake combo made the entire thing looks so mean!

A closer look at the wheel…

Love the wheel and color choice on this GTR. I think there’s something about the copper/zinc look on some wheels I’m seeing these days that makes me really dig it. I don’t think Ive seen too many GTRs rocking these Work CR Kai wheels.

If anyone here is familiar with @Doczilla12 on IG, then you should be familiar with some of the sick cars he has. This GTR is one of them, and my favorite GTR (35) of the show. The color of it was amazing, and while i’m not usually a big fan of lighter blue colors, this car definitely pulled it off.

The Copper/Zinc HRE wheels completed the entire look. Phantasy Kolors did such great work with this thing, and the entire F7lthy team had sick rides.

Trunk on the GTR. Loved the look and execution, the custom carbon was great.

Full shot of the rear.

Classic Bride/Takata combo and a sweet looking roll cage.

These HRE S101 wheels start at $2300 A PIECE. I dont even want to know what the coating on it cost to give it that sick look.

More wheel porn.

Another widebody GTR in the mix.

At this point in time, I began to shoot sparingly because the battery on my camera had begun to die, and my spare was in the car. I was panicking because I did not know whether or not Wekfest allowed re-entry, but thankfully they did. Unfortunately , I think I forgot to swing back through and get some front shots of some of these cars. So that’s why they’re missing unfortunately. But here is another Doczilla creation.

This NSX was wild. The first NSX I have had the pleasure of checking out with a Liberty Walk Kit. If anyone knows anything about the new NSX and Liberty Walk kit its that neither are cheap. To say this NSX was sick is an understatement. There weren’t any words I had, just facial expressions

Wheel fitment on the car on point. Phantasy Kolors came through for this car just like his GTR.

Aired OUT.

Doczilla made use of what little room he had in the back of this thing. Just like with the GTR, the trunk setup on this car was so clean.

I have to say that the “Google Lens” and “Translate” feature it has is awesome. I went right to the Liberty Walk website which is all in Japanese, and my phone translated all of it for me. Liberty Walk is making some sick stuff, and have come a long ways since starting with Lamborghinis.

I caught Joey Lee from StickyDiljoe going around judging. I managed to talk to him for a moment and to let him know how awesome his work is. Follow him on IG @StickyDiljoe and hit his website up @ http://www.stickydiljoe.com for some of the sickest event coverage.

Here’s something I don’t see all the time! An MR2! I love these cars and they’re a classic. The overall execution on this one was perfect.

The 3SGTE that they stick in this tiny ass compartment seems like a pain in the ass to work with, but the owner of this cleaned it up and made it look great! Love the chassis brace on it as well.

This silve DC with the JDM front end was one of the cleanest of the show, and I think theres a video feature on it on youtube by StickyDiljoe.

I love that the owner decided to stick with a B series, an look at that crazy attention to detail in the bay!

A clean interior, Bride seats, Takata harnesses, and a Racepak(?) cluster. I had a USDM ITR cluster in my old DC2, and I personally love the analog style clusters.

JDM front end with a spoon carbon fiber lip. I always thought 16 inch wheels were the best looking on the DC chassis, but these look like they’re 17s, and it works well with the car, and likely the brakes need something big in order to fit.

The extra height bigger wheels give the car is likely much needed because the spoon lip hangs so low. I also love the oem optional sides. Oem optional kit is the best looking kit imo.

Here is a clean USDM equivalent to the silver one. This red DC was also very clean, and the USDM front provides that classic look that Integras came with in the states.

The Volk TE37s with perfect fitment.

This owner once again retained the classic B series that these cars came with. The bay on this is really nice. That battery is so tiny.

Another red DC with Endless brakes and Mugen MF10 wheels. A JDM front conversion and Spoon CF lip on the front.

This teg was outfitted with a K series engine and wonderfully tucked bay. Look at the weld porn on that intake!

Turbo peeking through!

B series outfitted with a forward facing turbocharger and sidewinder manifold.

Some random clean wheel fitment. Love the Volk/Brembo combo on this RSX.

More Work Emotions.

FD with beautiful TEs.

Even though a lot of cars had Volks on them at the show, it just goes to show that you can never go wrong with them.

That’s a wrap for this evening! Its been a busy day, but I’m happy to knock this second part out tonight! Thank you for reading through, stay tuned for part 3!

Alex

Wekfest Seattle Coverage Part 1.

Well its here, for those of you who care, my Wekfest Seattle coverage. My hope is to be able to entertain the few of you who read these to help kill some time or for whatever reason, and to share my work with whoever is interested.

I knew that as soon as I decided to go to Seattle, that I should plan it around a show of some sort. Initially, the choice was Stance-wars, so I booked my trip and hotel for that weekend but soon found out that Wekfest would also be going on. In order to spare my wife the agony of going to two different shows, I chose the one that I knew was likely to not let me down, which was Wekfest. And as hard of a choice as it was, it definitely proved to be worth it.

After a quick bite and beer at MSP we were off on the 3 hour flight to the pacific northwest. As someone who has lived in the midwest all my life, almost any place is a sight worth seeing. The PNW is beautiful to say the least. The terrain, from the hilly countrysides to the trees and ocean. The break from the monotony of corn fields and and farm houses was a much needed refresher. That along with just being in a nice city aside from the one I’m used to allowed me to escape the reality of having to back to work the next week, but I regress, Seattle is a beautiful and welcoming city and I would gladly go back any day, Wekfest or not.

My wife and I made ourselves cozy the first night doing some site seeing before the show which was the following day. We took some time to explore the area we were in, eat some good food and drinks.

Our first stop was Dukes Chowder House for dinner and the Crab Uncakes were the first thing to be devoured. This was probably a first and a last for me, simply because while the food was really good, I just didn’t think that the pricing was on point, but hey, i’m stingy.

The 2nd place we stopped at a few hours later was a bit more up my alley. Ba Bar in Seattle apparently had a weekend special that consisted of a moscow mule and a bowl of pho for $15, which I gladly paid.

Both were delicious and well worth the money.

While the bowl was not as big as I hoped, I imagine its the proper size bowl for your average person, or much rather, what we should all be eating portion-wise..

Everything about the bowl was delicious and easily better than 80% of the pho ive had back home. This bowl lasted 15 minutes, and after a few more drinks we decided to call it a night.

Fast forward to the morning, we quickly located a coffee shop and made our way there for our daily brew. Bullet Proof Coffee was the joint we decided to hit up, and on our way back, we were greeted by this gorgeous E46 M3 on HRE wheels. I decided to drool a bit while my wife made her way back inside the room.

After a little while a friend of mine from Seattle picked us up and we headed out to a pre-Wekfest lunch at Din Tai Fung, which is a dim sum restaurant that I had never been to before. Again, it was delicious.

The soup dumplings were great and I didnt scald my mouth due to some helpful tips given to me by some friends.

This was also my first time trying bok choy out. Definitely something I would order again if given the chance.

Once we stuffed ourselves full of food we left the restaurant and made our way towards the show.

You could tell you were getting closer to the venue based on the cars you were seeing. As we got closer, all sorts of modded cars were driving around. Upon entering the parking garage there were a lot of great looking vehicles. The garage itself could have been a separate show. Side note: whoever thought charging $40 for parking is out of their mind rich now. Crazy.

This Skyline that parked next to us was just one of the many examples of clean cars that probably should have been in the show itself. I had to check this out for a moment as its kind of a rare thing to come across in my neck of the woods, but evidently not in Seattle.

While the line for the show was long, it went rather quickly. One thing they did differently for this show was have people walk through metal detectors, which they didnt do in Chicago which was kind of interesting. I watched a guy hold up one of the lines because of the sheer amount of video gear he had. Im checking youtube daily to see when this block buster coverage comes out, because seriously, it was a lot.

Upon entering the show, you were greeted by multiple vendor tents and several rows of beautiful cars. Lots of places were selling random shirts, stickers, and other gear. Speed Factory was in attendance selling actual parts like catch cans and radiators. Cray.

The show itself had a great overall vibe. Many people were meeting each other and catching up with old friends and some meeting new ones just based on the conversations I overheard. Its awesome that these events can bring new and old friends back together to share that common interest, passion, and lifestyle.

There were several rows of cars, I would say that the show easily had 3-400 cars in it, all of them top notch. We quickly picked a row and started walking.

This gorgeous F80 M3 greeted us right away in the far left row. I don’t know about you guys, but Ive been on a bimmer kick for quite some time now. Ever since owning my E90 335i, Ive found myself checking for different BMWs that I like on craigslist or autotrader. The F80 M3 is just a sexy all around car. While I’m sad they did away with the v8 that was in them, the turbo 6 seems like a really badass setup. The stance on this thing was on point and I loved all the carbon goodies.

This STI was dead sexy. The simplicity of the car was great. No crazy fender mods or distracting “loud” modifications on the outside. The overall build seemed really simple. Lower the car, add some subtle goodies on the outside, debadge/desticker it, and throw some CCW wheels on it.. and BAM, Emeril Lagasse would be proud.

The CCW classic wheels are a personal favorite of mine and look perfect on just about any car.

While Ive had my neck broken at car shows many times, especially at Wekfest, this particular Porsche broke my neck in a special way that would make Linda Blair’s character from The Exorcist cringe. You had to be there to appreciate it, but the paint and body was so pristine.

The overall stance of the car was perfect. Everything went together so well it had me drooling, which is something I dont really do with older Porsches often. It was pretty evident that this thing was well taken care of.

Ask my friends, lately ive had something about the BRZ intrigue me. They’ve grown on me considerably ever since I sat in one at the TC Autoshow in Minneapolis this winter. I don’t know what it is about them, but I think they look great, and the new FA20 that are finding their way in to Subaru’s are really appealing to me over the EJ platform.

This clean WRB BRZ was just one of many in the show and an example of how a BRZ can look clean without the ridiculous RB kit, sorry for the unpopular opinion.

This WRX (above) immediately made me think of the one below from the Chicago Wekfest. Really cool to see the difference in builds from two different people from different regions in the U.S. While I wouldn’t expect their builds to vary that much within 1500 miles of each other, its still cool to see.

An R32 with some dished out wheels.

This was one crazy unique RSX. The wide body on it is something I would never do personally, but fit well with the overall build of the car, which looked aggressive AF in person. Its not every day you see an RSX with rear wheels this wide and a center exit exhaust. This car may not have been everyone’s cup of tea, but I bet you most people did a double take looking at it.

What kind of show would be complete without a Supra?

As you can tell by the plate, the Supra looks to be from Canada which I think is great. Being able to have people from Canada attend shows down in the U.S is awesome for variety, as Canada seems to be able to get much cooler cars than us.

Below was a pretty slick looking Datsun with its hood chopped up to accommodate the ITBs under the hood.

Another 86 with the ever popular Work CR-KAI wheels.

Surprisingly, I did not see as many Takata harnesses around the show. I did see quite a bit of Willans and Crow harnesses though. Maybe my mind is playing tricks one me. Either way, they all look great.

Beautiful S14 with awesome wheel fitment. I have always loved these cars, and certainly never get tired of seeing them!

Well thats its for part 1 of my Wekfest Seattle coverage. Stay tuned this weekend for part 2 and many more photos!

As always, for more pictures hit me up on IG @AlphaDigital_

Thanks for reading!

Salute to the Fourth Car Show

Another year, another Salute to the Fourth Car show and like previous years I was tasked at capturing some of the cool rides that were in attendance.

Salute is a nice event that The Commission puts together each year that lets the car community get together on 7th street right in front of the skatepark and pool. Each year draws right around 100 cars that line the street for spectators to see, and for the most part, weather has cooperated wonderfully, save for last year when there was a monsoon that caused the show to be cancelled.

This year, crowds of cars and bikes lined the street which was under construction. Regardless, the turnout was nice, and seeing some new cars along with some of the familiar was refreshing. New vendors were in attendance displaying some of the great work they do, such as Sonny’s Custom Coatings and Precision Auto.

Having pretty much spent my time growing up around these guys made me happy to see they were doing what they loved. I’ve known Sonny since my grade school years and Josh when I was modding Integras a decade ago, definitely two solid guys id hit up.

Like the years before, the turnout of bikes was small, but there were still some pretty cool ones in attendance that had me stopping and looking.

Fresh this year was TYC photography’s supra that graced the show along with several other cars from the Twin Cities. Knowing Adam, I expected nothing less than an immaculate car and boy was I not let down. The fresh CCWs mounted on the car really gave it a nice look. Paired with the classic lip, sideskirts, carbon diffuser, and TRD spoiler, it was no surprise to me that Adam would take home a trophy.

Under the hood was a 62mm single turbo setup with the all too familiar purple velocity stack from his S2000, or at least a similar one. I feel like its not common to see a Supra with anything smaller than an 80mm turbo these days. Seeing a smaller single setup is kind of nice, and I could only imagine how nice the response is. I think this would make for a fun street setup for sure!

CCWs never get old.

If anyone has been to shows in Minnesota, this chrome green wrapped NSX is probably familiar. All dazzled up for the Crown Rally too! This car is the complete package! Mr. Pha ended up taking home a trophy with this whip, and the entire TYC crew made off with some serious hardware. Congrats to them for sure, the amount of work and dedication to their cars paid off and it shows.

Josh’s WRX from Precision Automotive. The gigantic FMIC gives it a menacing look!

This pair of s2000’s are owned by a father son duo whom i’ve known for quite some time. Hoffy, owner of the AP1 has always had clean cars, and this AP is no exception. Its really cool to see his son getting into the scene with this NFR AP2, and like his dad, the car is really clean. Cant wait to see what he does with it in the future.

This year, Advantage Custom Paint brought out their shop truck which was freshly built this year and boy was the paint job on it sweet! If you ever need paint or body work done, hit up my boy Victor Austin there and he’ll take care of ya!

As always, its nice to stroll through, talk with friends, and see some of the cars i’ve shot over the years. It never gets old and always brings a smile to my face!

Overall, SunnyP, and The Commission seriously bust their ass each year setting up this event. It’s a nice time to get out and see what the Rochester area has to offer in the car scene. While its small compared to other communities, its definitely growing and filled with up and coming enthusiasts. I highly recommend checking it out each year, at the very least, its a good excuse to get out of your house and see some wicked hot rods.

Thanks for stopping by and reading, stay tuned for the Wekfest Seattle post next! That one will be a doozy.

Check out the rest of the images from Salute to the Fourth 2019 below!

As always, for more pictures and coverage of events I go to and food I eat, give me a follow on IG @Alphadigital_

Peace

– Alex

Wekfest Chicago 2019

Holy cow, is this what free time feels like? Maybe not since i’m literally writing this at midnight (and finishing this article off days later…) How I can even muster the energy at this time of night anymore is beyond me, but still, here I am.

I’ve actually been done with all my photos weeks ago, however with life and school, time to actually sit down and collect my thoughts has been rather sparse.

But where were we? Wekfest? Yes, for like the 3rd or 4th year in a row, I cant seem to remember how many, but I do remember how much I enjoy my trips down to Chicago for the weekend to enjoy cars and time with friends.

The intention for the weekend was to leave Saturday morning, hit up Automotion, mingle, and then meander our way into Chicago for Wekfest the next day. Unfortunately due to the shit weather, we decided to forego Automotion and head to Chi. But hey, we tried.

Like literally, we rolled into the Dells, pulled into a gas station that was packed with all sorts of cars. There was really no space. Weather was in the high fucking 40s. That coupled with the rain made for a miserable 30 minutes. So off we were.

We seemed to beat the rain on the way there, but once we got stuck in traffic in downtown Chicago it came down for a good amount of time. Eventually the skies cleared up and a weird fog settled over the city which made for some cool pics.

We grabbed a bite and wandered around the city for a bit, eventually ending up at Navy Pier.

What looked like it would take 15 minutes ended up taking us like double or triple the amount of time because we ended up getting lost on the way there.

But once we got there I was able to snap some more pictures of the city with the fog.

And of course, I had to leave a little bit of AlphaDigital behind 🙂

After a bit more of wandering around, almost getting left behind by our Uber, and taking a picture of this random dude that posed for me, we decided to chill before later night festivities that arent anymore relevant to this post than the photos ive posted so far.

Our room for the weekend was the building on the right, with some of the shadiest elevators ive had the pleasure of riding on.

I ended up waking up before everyone at like 7 in the morning since thats the time I usually wake up. Since nobody else was up yet, I decided to grab my camera and head out shooting. I tried to get a nice pic of the sun coming up over lake Michigan, but my landscape photography skills really suck, so none of them turned out well. But I caught some cars headed to Navy Pier for the show as I was headed back to my room, so I got some photos of those instead.

As usual, the line to the show was long but well worth the wait. Entering the show gave me the jitters from the excitement of seeing some cool cars. I was happy to see that there were the usual cars from each year that were there, and seeing the progression on them was nice. I was also happy to see cars I wasnt familiar with from previous shows there as well, which included a small handful of BRZ and FRSs.

This bagged and boosted BRZ was definitely one of my favorites…

The wheels and Brembo brakes went together perfectly.

I feel as if the turbo kit on this thing was the cherry on top. Everything looked nice and this car was definitely well rounded, and was making some pretty good power to boot!

This FRS definitely had a lot going on, and its build is a stark contrast to the BRZ above, but I think it pulls it off nicely. Seeing the supercharger on it was a pleasant surprise too.

This white BRZ did it for me though, the overall stance with the works and BBK made it look great, and I am a big white car fan! I didnt expect anything less from a car with the NVUS group. As usual, they came out hard with a bunch of jaw dropping cars.

Walking through the show, I got a chance to check out multiple vendors. Some of whom I had seen before like Touge Factory, Rohana, Rotiform, etc. However the one thing they lacked was a racoon, like the one at the Slammed Enuff booth.

I dont know how they got that thing past officials or inspection or whatever, but it definitely made for an interesting time haha.

I definitely never get tired of seeing Hondas with K swaps in them, especially ones with turbo K swaps..

I think this car took home a trophy last year, not sure on this year, but I wouldnt be surprised if it won something. The engine bay and overall build was immaculate. I loved the piping for the cold side on the turbo, including all the pie cuts and Vibrant Vanjens. So. Much. Drool.

The same can be said for Dons turbo K swapped EK, which I believe took home some hardware from the show. Follow him on IG @EkDon

Dons EK is another example of a crazy build, with an obvious shit ton of hours put into it.

Spotted the Sheepey hardware on it. Its really cool to see what Alex is working on now at his shop, making twin turbo kits for R8s and Lambos. When I was building my integra, I remember seeing his turbo DC2 online and in magazines and just drooling over it. Its great to see how far hes come with his work and I definitely look forward to seeing more Sheepey parts on clean cars like Dons.

I can say the same thing about a B series as I did with the K. Its almost rare to come across a nicely built B series in a Honda nowadays (nothing against K series guys).

Maybe its the nostalgia that gets me. Having tinkered and built a few of my own B series, I think makes me naturally drawn to them. I love how awesome they are for a motor thats literally be around for decades.

Another example of a clean B series bay.

The world shouldve left Sonic the hedgehog alone. That new animated shit is something straight out of a nightmare.

Any love for the older Vipers? I know the new ones are sweet and all, but every now and then its nice to see these generation of Vipers.

These things are so badass!

I saw this clean Ap2 last year before the volks and I loved it. Victor is an awesome guy and I was definitely glad to meet him. Follow him on IG @Vortizz

Swung by the Wekfest table and snagged a T shirt before they were all gone too. 😀 As always, they had the beats going! One of my best memories of Wekfest was walking in to “Throw Some Ds” when it was at McCormick and seeing the sheer amount of cars in the building brought a smile to my face. Now every time I hear that song, the memory replays in my head haha

Arguably one of my personal favorite cars at the show. This 991 Carrera had my jaw on the ground. It was simply beautiful and well put together. Personally for me, I prefer builds that arent over the top and this car was it.

No crazy fender flares or anything, just a sweet Carrera with perfect stance, beautiful wheels filled with gigantic brakes and some subtle exterior mods to accent the already beautiful lines of the 991.

Inside, the blood red interior brought everything together. Porsche just has a way of knowing how to build a beautiful and sophisticated looking vehicle both inside and out.

The clear tails, duckbill, exhaust, and diffuser rounded off the ass on this thing and reminded me why I love these cars. The exhaust note the flat 6 produces is heavenly.

Overall, I absolutely loved the show. Each year, Wekfest Chicago is an event I look forward to, and one that im gladly willing to drive 6+ hours for. It is one of the premier automotive events in the Midwest that brings together builds from all around. Im already looking forward to next years Wekfest, one that I can hopefully enter a car of my own in. Until then, peep the rest of the pics below!

For more pictures from Wekfest Chicago 2019, hit me up on Instagram @AlphaDigital_

Thanks for looking!

June Update

Oh boy,

The amount of neglect this site has received is pretty bad. But such is life, and it goes on.

This months Caffeine and Gasoline had a great turnout, with food and music supplied by Jersey Jos, we were able to break the first attendance record by another 20 cars or so. We also opened up more lots for even more space.

Hopefully we can continue to increase the attendance amount as each event comes! Look forward to seeing you there! Here are my pictures from the 2nd event!

As always, if you see a shot of your car and want a high res version, please message me and I will be happy to send you one.

Alex

Rig Rollers

So ive had my rig sitting in my house for probably a month and a half now collecting dust. Last weekend I finally decided to take it out and put it to use. All I needed was guinea pig and thankfully, a friend of mine volunteered his beautiful hyper blue STI.

While it is a definitely nerve racking process, I love the results. I look forward to doing more and getting better at them!

For more roller and photos, follow me on IG at @AlphaDigital_

Thanks!

– Alex