A Nissan Maxima is a popular Japanese sedan. This one is a 1991 model, and the host says it was an “SC” version with a manual transmission, which usually means it’s a bit more fun to drive than the base versions.
They’re talking about shiny chrome wheels that are 17 inches wide. People upgrade wheels like this mainly for the look, but chrome can be a pain to keep clean and shiny.
Drop springs are springs that lower the car closer to the ground. That usually makes the car look cooler and can change how it handles, but it can also make the ride harsher and needs proper alignment.
A Honda Accord is a popular Honda sedan that many people choose because it’s dependable. Here, they’re saying they owned one and modified it to match the car-scene look they liked.
Altezza tail lights are a specific style of rear lights that got popular in the JDM scene. They’re often swapped onto other cars to make the back end look different.
They’re mentioning the exhaust system. People change exhausts to change the sound (and sometimes power), but if it’s not set up right it can cause problems.
Recaro makes racing-style seats. The speaker is saying they replaced a lot of the interior with Recaro seats and other parts to make the car feel more like a track car.
USDM means the parts were made for the U.S. market. The speaker is saying they replaced the U.S.-spec seats with better-looking or more performance-oriented seats from the Type R setup.
Term
gauge cost
“Gauges” here means the instrument cluster in the dash, like the speedometer. The speaker is saying the cluster with the right units (kilometers vs miles) can cost more depending on what you’re trying to swap in.
Term
bed clusters
This sounds like they mean the dashboard instrument cluster. They’re buying the right one so the speedometer/guages match the style they want.
They’re talking about going to Recaro’s seat factory to get seats. Since Recaro seats are popular with car fans, getting them directly can make sourcing easier.
Place
Ramstein
Ramstein is a place in Germany the speaker uses to describe how close the Recaro factory is. It helps explain where they were getting parts from while stationed there.
“J-spec” sounds like the name of their group or club. It’s centered on Japanese cars, and they want to connect people who are into the same kind of cars. They also seem to have rules about who can join.
“Burning out” means spinning the tires so they smoke and make noise. It’s a flashy driving move, but it can wear out tires quickly and isn’t great for the car.
“Revving your motor” means pushing the engine to spin faster, which raises the RPM. It’s often done for sound, but doing it a lot can be harder on the car.
Concept
takeover stuff
“Takeover stuff” is a slang reference to illegal or disruptive car meet behavior—typically groups taking over a public area with cars, loud driving, or blocking traffic. The hosts are saying their group doesn’t support that kind of activity.
The Wounded Warrior Project is a charity that helps injured veterans and service members. In this episode, the host says their car project is tied to that kind of support.
They’re using “boost therapy” as a joke/term for feeling better by going for a drive in a turbo car. It’s about the fun of hearing the turbo spool and getting your head cleared.
The Nissan Skyline is a Japanese sports car that comes in different performance versions. Car fans talk about it a lot because it has a strong reputation for speed and tuning. It’s brought up in meetups when people are listing the kinds of cars they see in a group.
The Toyota Supra is a sports car made for going fast and driving for fun. People talk about it at car meets because it’s a well-known model that many enthusiasts like to own and show. It’s usually brought up when discussing what kinds of cars show up in a group.
They’re talking about using cars and driving together as a way to help people feel better. It’s like a support routine that helps you deal with stress and emotions.
The speaker contrasts what veterans can access through “health services” with what they “really need,” framing the car-based outlet as a gap-filler. It’s a situational concept about access to support and finding alternative coping mechanisms when formal options aren’t sufficient.
The Volvo S40 is a small four-door car meant for normal daily driving. It’s generally more about comfort and practicality than being a track-focused sports car. It may be mentioned because it’s one of the different cars people show up with.
The Hyundai Kona is a small SUV meant for everyday driving. It’s popular because it’s practical and easy to live with. It may be mentioned simply because it’s one of the cars people bring to meetups.
Off-roading means driving on rough dirt or trail terrain instead of normal paved roads. It usually needs tires and suspension that can handle bumps and loose ground.
Rock crawlers are off-road vehicles made for climbing over rocks slowly. They’re built to keep traction and handle big bumps without losing control.
Term
razors
“Razors” usually means Razor off-road side-by-sides—small off-road vehicles you sit in like a buggy. People use them for trails and desert riding because they’re quick and handle rough ground well.
Moab is a desert region in Utah famous for off-road driving, with trails and rock-crawling routes that attract UTVs, trucks, and dedicated rock-crawler builds. It’s also a major hub for off-road events and tourism.
Bonneville is a famous salt-flat racing area where people try to set land-speed records. Cars built for it are designed to go extremely fast in a straight line.
Term
rocket cars
“Rocket cars” are cars built to go very, very fast for land-speed racing. They’re usually shaped and engineered to reduce drag and stay stable at high speed.
Land speed racing is about going as fast as possible in a straight-line run. The cars are built to be stable and aerodynamic so they can hit top speed safely.
The Honda NSX is a sports car made by Honda. It’s designed to be quick and fun to drive, and it’s known for being a special, high-end model. People mention it at car events because it’s not something you see everywhere.
The Honda S2000 is a classic Honda roadster that’s loved for how it drives and how high it revs. In this clip, they’re saying the “S2K” belongs to their wife and it’s a 2000 model.
The Nissan S14 is an older Nissan sports car that’s popular with tuners. People like it because it’s a great base for modifying and building a fun, aggressive car. Here, they’re talking about their own S14 and what they’ve been doing to it.
The Nissan 350Z is a popular Japanese sports car. It’s rear-wheel drive and has a big enthusiast following, and here it’s just being used as their everyday car.
An “LS motor” is a Chevy V8 engine family that people love for engine swaps. It’s known for making good power and having lots of parts available.
Term
cd09
“CD09” is likely shorthand for a Nissan transmission code (often seen in swap discussions), but the exact model isn’t clear from the transcript alone. It’s mentioned in the same breath as other drivetrain options, implying they’re considering different gearbox setups.
The Nissan GT-R is a super fast Japanese sports car. The host is basically saying, “I’m used to seeing normal cars, but here there are GT-Rs everywhere.”
“Midnight purple 34” is the Nissan Skyline GT-R R34 in a very recognizable purple color. The host is amazed to see another one at the event, which shows how special and common that exact vibe is to the crowd.
2JZ is a Toyota engine that a lot of enthusiasts build for big power. It’s known for being tough and upgrade-friendly, which is why it comes up a lot in JDM car projects.
Cody Phillips is the person the host credits for tuning and helping with their car. The host says he’s been doing this for a long time and knows a lot about the setup.
A harness is the wiring that connects the car’s sensors to the tuning computer. A “MoTeC harness” means it’s built to work with MoTeC’s system so the car can be tuned properly.
A PDM is like an advanced power box for the car. A “PDM harness” is the wiring that lets the tuning computer control which accessories get power and when.
Traction control helps prevent the tires from spinning when you accelerate. It uses sensors and the car’s computer to reduce power if it detects wheel slip.
“psi” is pounds per square inch, a unit used to measure boost pressure in turbocharged or supercharged engines. “40 plus psi” indicates very high boost, which typically means the car is running an aggressive turbo setup and needs careful tuning to manage heat and engine stress.
LIVE
Hey, and welcome back to the next episode of the right-hand drive guys podcast the podcast for guys who like right-hand drives
I'm Bobby. This is Aaron. Hey, yo, and we are here today with Lupe and Alan from J-spec. What's up guys?
What's going on? Hey, how you doing?
Good man. Thank you guys for coming on. It's we saw the booth at GTR festival, right? Yeah, I think so. That's what yeah
GTR festival and we're like, okay, who are these guys and then
Ben Norris told us a little bit about you during his episode and I figured like, you know, I'm a veteran
Love cars. I know there's a lot of guys like us out there
Why not have the veterans on talk about the cars and just see what's up?
So all right, I guess a little bit can let's start we'll just start with Lupe
Can you just tell us a little bit about yourself?
You know kind of how you got in the cars what you did in the military just a little overview. Oh
Man, all right. Well, how I got in the cars. I think I've been in cars since I was a child, you know hot wheels
To making models to you know, playing video games at a young age
Getting into drifting
In the early 2000s probably in the late 90s
Before it was actually a thing in the US
Hell, yeah, born and raised in Hawaii and
The good thing about Hawaii is you have access to the Japanese culture over there a lot sooner than you do
So, you know, that makes sense especially being up here in Maine
It's like you guys got stuff like probably 10 years before us
We were probably still using CDs and you're downloading MP3's, you know
Well, I think I remember I went to this one car show
and signal auto they brought
Two Sylvia's out and that was the first time I actually saw drifting and it was like
You know, there was no racetrack in Hawaii or anything because they closed it down
So it was like this, you know this open pad this burnout pad that they were using and I was just like hooked
You know and the next thing you know
like the VIP
car scene was kind of building up at the time and drifting was building up and
You know, everyone would go to the mountains and go drift their cars and you know, I was like wow
I want to do that, you know, I want to get into more of that and then the older I got
You know, the more expensive car parts were
Getting and spending more cars. I was like, okay
I need to chill out on spending so much money on a car, you know, I need to you know, figure a life out first
And then I'll come back to this
So, you know, join the military I did my time
I
Did 10 years in the army. I ended up getting injured over there in Iraq
I you know, I was over there for 33 months in Iraq and Afghanistan
And and you know, just dealing with a lot of that but dealing with you know, seeing what other veterans are going through too
You know all the hardships that they have to deal with while deployed and returning and transitioning
Um, you know, it made me think like what can I do to keep my mind occupied?
What can I do to mentally help me?
In this transition process after I got out
Um
And what it really was was like, let me try a hobby and let me let me try a woodworking. Let me try
Model building, you know, let me try metal art. Let me try
You know, just different sounds with your hands, right? Yeah something that I keep busy
and
I had a super out before
and I sold it and I knew
Like I always wanted another one and I was like maybe it's time to get another one
So this was around 2015
26. Oh no, but I think about 2015
And so I you know, I started looking and then I found one and then I said, you know what this is it
and um from there it basically
you know the therapy process with
Working on the car really started
um
And it it grew from there. Um
Into something else something crazy. Um
I'm not going to get into that now or we can get into it later
Yeah, let's see. Yeah, let's save it. So let's get some suspense going. You got to stay listening if you want to hear
Yeah, all right. Yep. I like
Big rabbit hole
All right, and Alan, what's what's your story, man?
I graduated high school 98 didn't really know shit about cars without a cuss, right? That's cool. All right
Yeah, yeah, yeah do your thing. So like yeah like 98 didn't know what I was going to do with life
And I was like, you know, I'm not going to college. I'm not going to waste parents money
So I just haven't joined the air force
And then okay, I hear that. Yeah. So the way we went, you know, and 18 years old just young dumb and whatever
did my first appointment at 19 and then uh
Came back had a bunch of cash and I was like, I need to buy something cool
So I just bought like a 91 Nissan maxima. That's what started it
Coolest kid in town, man. I was like it was a little it was like a 91 maxima sc five speed
It was red and I like I remember going to El Paso Texas
I was patient at home in Air Force Base that went down there to like was a Fort Bliss, I think
And like down that street was like all these like rem shops and I was like I want some a rally
17 inch chrome
You know, it's like the point of money. I was like
Boom back there on the table for like
$2,500 for a set of chrome wheels or tires and I was like, I literally left with like left my stocks there
Going up now. I'm like
But I was like 19 and they give it
And then I was like, I thought I was you know, King Dingling on just
Stock ass hide the Boston Springs on it
Went to the hobby shop and the old man at the hobby shops like always there were old retiree, right?
It's like, yeah, man, you got to take this off
Just the drop springs and everything it probably took like two days and now now like it'll take me an hour
You know, drop a car and I'm like
So
There's like the car world, you know to cars and stuff and then
Then I was like, okay
I wanted like, you know back in fast and furious and before actually before fast spirits came out like
It's like I wanted like a Honda Accord. I don't know why I thought they're the coolest cars and stuff
So yeah had a Honda Accord and I can I think it was 2000 with the Altezza tail lights
You know, I couldn't
Right, you know, like weapon arc or others. It was the worst fucking ride known to man. I
And I like the headlights and like they would blow all the time
I had like the stupid uh, the remember like the arrow speed from like import 200 magazine arrow speed bomb speed exhaust
I was like, oh hell yeah fucking fart cannon on there. I thought
I was like, oh, it's like hello fast. Now. My god. What a fucking ricer I was, you know, but you know, we're 1920s
But whatever
So I'm rocking around that and then I got orders to Germany
Now they kind of opened the gates to like, oh
This is what real cars are speeding station overseas and I was like, wow these little
These little opals put down 500 horsepower and I was like, what the fuck is that?
You know, these Volkswagen's and everything you're going ham
And then uh, I stepped my game up got like an tech or gsr
Like a 96 and I was like, okay, and that's like the jdm bug hit and I was like
You know, that's back when hana tech was jamming the whole nine and everything was
higher back in the day
They're like the old rev hard the t3 turbo kit that everyone had on a on a gsr
You know, you can we lose fucking, you know ac
I don't give a fuck about ac, but now I'm like, dude, that's stupid. Why would I never want ac, you know
So
You know, like it's just forever to do it
All my all my videos like my my pictures were like, I don't know if you guys remember like we taught did racing on that
Fucking and like photobucket and all that an image station. So I did like a whole ride up on hana tech
And then from there, I just really took off
Did I got we taught it?
Yeah
That's like tampage. So that was you is what you're saying. Yes. I was definitely started for sure. Yeah
Was your what was it? No, was that your like user name?
So on hana tech my username was jdm green tag 1980. I think is what it was
Something like that. All right. Yeah. Yeah. So now I was man. I was slang
So I was making a shit ton of cash
I would go to the uh, like the the junkyards in germany
And and here in europe, we like we'll pay a shit ton for european parts
And in europe, yeah shit ton for us spec parts. So I'll buy all heads on ebay for like 40 50 bucks
Shift to my house in germany and I'll buy the type r tail lights. So those are 300 bucks
And then I will take their all the ps
I'll just flip and stuff like my entire interior for like my integr I got all type r interior from like
From that from the the headliner all the way down to the carpet was like 500 bucks at the time
Recaro's everything the whole dash. I mean I would go there and pull it all out
And I was like, oh that's cool. And they're like, oh, well, I want your stuff too. And I'm like
You can have my shitty s usdm seats go for it, bro
In europe like their cars with like it's all like edm
It's the same as jdm
But like their gauge cost was once I 260 kilometers or something like that versus like the 180
So I was getting these bed clusters
Older steam wheels and slinging the shit out of them like and that when I was on base
The guys at a post office are like, yo, you can't be like shipping all this shit across, you know across the seats. I'm like
They're like, do you get a chill? Yeah, and there's the recaro factory, right?
So recaro factory is like 15 minutes from ramstein
I'll go to recaro factory. I want these seats. I was like, how much like 300 bucks for a pair
I was like, holy shit in the u.s. They're selling for
You know
Yeah, yeah, they keep like four of them, dude
So I buy four sets of seats, you know, have them already boxed up and just straight ship them
So I was making a kill of doing that. That's what's fun in my project and stuff. So yeah
And they kind of just spiraled from there and then e-sons after that. So yeah
Oh
That was a 2c1 which is the vehicle ops
by trade
And then in 2006 I got I watched 2004 I got the tinker air force base welcome city
Went to a combat school here in 2006
And then I became a combat instructor right afterwards. And so I was doing that for
till 2013
And then moved to florida and that's where everything
Took off from there. It was like once I got to florida in 2013. So yeah
So yep
All right
They had like the thing like if you were like at 15 years or more you can retire early
I don't like the whole operation shit. I was like, yep, sign me up. You know what I mean?
So
I walked right back 15 and oh, yeah. Yeah. I was like 16 years two months 21 days. I don't know why
Oh, yeah
And I walked right back into a contracting job on base
Doing q-wave old shop, which is crazy as shit. You know what I mean? So yeah, that is crazy. Yeah
Good for you, dude. That's what you're nervous to brother. You know what I mean? Like what'd you do in it?
Oh, you're a
Thought I turned a guy. That's right. Okay. Cool. You feel that tiller. Yeah
So what what I want to know though is like what is
What is jspec? Like now we know who you guys are
But like, you know, we we see the tents the window banners we see all that right
We see the cars, you know, what is it though?
Go ahead loopy
Okay
Jspec it's not just a car group or a car club. I mean, I wouldn't even say it's a car club. It's more of a culture
um
You know, we me and alan, you know, we've seen we've been in car clubs
You know, we've been probably in some good car clubs and some really bad car clubs
And I'm sure you know how they can be run and you know the drama that comes with them at a younger age
All the dumb stuff that comes with all that and you know, we realize that
In today's society, there's a lack of
You know a car culture
Where enthusiasts are getting together and and I feel like that
Or we feel like that there was you know, something missing there that was not
Really connecting people and I said I bet
You know, there's other people like us that enjoy cars
but want to get together
and not deal with any kind of drama but enjoy the cars
and
you know, we can
Go to car shows. We can go cruise. race.
You know go to different events
and not only enjoy our cars, but enjoy other people's cars and
You know, everyone can enjoy it
But not have the drama
That comes with the car club at all
um
So we decided, you know, I think we should come up with something
So it was alan's idea to to bring up the word j-spec because you know, Japanese
Cars and that that's what we were really into. Yeah
We don't just like Japanese cars like coming from enthusiasts, you know, we like all types of cars
um, but obviously our favorite is, you know, JDM cars
And so we wanted to to make something that would bring people together, especially veterans
um
Because you know, I think it'd be important
And alan, you know, I'm pretty sure he's not the same exact thing
You know, it would be pretty cool to join something to where everyone has a like-minded idea
And they enjoy and they love their car, but they also like other people's cars too, you know
um
And that's what j-spec really is
um, it's to bring other people with like-minded
Uh likes together, um
But obviously
We don't just let anybody in, you know, you're young kids. We don't let them in
Um, right. Yeah, they can do their own thing
Usually, you know, if you're an adult and you're mature enough
And you're mature enough to do anything stupid, you know, um
burning out revving your motor
Uh any kind of takeover stuff like we don't
entertain any of that like we're just
If if any of those people have any kind of like history of that we don't even like consider it
Um, because obviously everyone posts everything on social media so we could see anything
All right
So we don't just have to be a veteran like you can be a civilian
So like we got like a lot of you know, like, you know veterans civilians or whatnot
Uh, and it's just kind of like the majority like so where we are like well where I was used to be
So like you got harbor field eggland air force base Pensacola
NES animal city
It just happened to be a lot of guys come from overseas
From like okinawa, japan, yakota, missau and all those other bases and they would come to florida with their cars
So we had a small niche of like just
Cars within the 15 mile radius and it just happens to come across like
Everyone who had the you know, the jdm cars or whatever cars and all that stuff just happen to be veterans
And it's really just blew up from there. You know, it's kind of like oh, shit your military too. All right, cool
Let's we got we got like mine of mines, you know, and it really just took off from there
But I do got to give a plug because
like I came up with a name, but
if you guys
How old are you guys?
I'm 40. So you guys remember 30
Back in the day in the early like
Late 90s 2000 was jspec.com you guys after you guys I was like conatech and all that stuff
So I got to give a plug jesse
And all those guys jdm me and all those dudes because those guys were heavy hitters
And houston and dallas area where they were like it was like a jspec.com
It was like a big form like conatech and
And all the other you know all the other forms we used to you know cruise on back today
And so when I when I made like jspec nights like we went through the doubt a thousand different names
We didn't know what we were going to call it it came up like it was like a facebook
Like a messenger group were like, what are we going to call this thing? It was like jdm
Ex-jdm northwest jdm emerald or whatever exotics and all kinds of crazy as shit like what's just called jspec nights and I was like
Okay, that'll that'll work and then when I kind of blew up I had it
I called up jesse. I was like, hey, man, like this is kind of what we're doing here
I don't want to you know jack the name or whatever the hell and she's like dad
He's like no you guys run with it because I see what you guys are doing, you know, so that's I want to give a plug
That you know, we didn't jack some people's shit, you know, like but like it's so like what's cool is like a GTR
He's in Dallas, Texas, and they're still going hard
So like I'm like, oh man, I come over the booth hang out because I haven't seen him since like
Shit man 2006 2007 is part of last time I saw him because he's
Damn on a tech meter. It's a long time Dallas and all that stuff, you know, so I guess as we get older, you know
Websites die and they revive and all these things and stuff like that
And so yeah, that's that's kind of like where the name kind of came from
I just want to put that out there and just so like, you know, because you know
And like those guys still go hard
I think they still have a jspec.com website
And they have like, you know some stuff here and there
And the jspec project came from I went to like a wounded warrior project event
and I was I was like man like
That's what we are because you know like a lot of us a majority like jspec dudes like 90 90 percent of us are probably like
Military guys. I was like, that's what we are like. We're like the wounded warrior project, but it's a jspec project of just like
Yeah, that's we just hang out kick it and like
Shit goes wrong your heads. I like so loopy, you know, like he came up the whole thing of like boost therapy
Like that that's his niche. That's his shit. You know, I don't know where he came up with it
But he did and so I'll just put in the chat of like, you know, we got his shits on the people in the chat
I'm like, hey, let's go for a ride boost therapy session. No questions asked
If I got shit going on in my head or someone else has something going on their head or whatever it is
It's still called cruise. So you can get 30 motherfuckers just go right around
a bunch of gtr skylines fucking
Supra and in texas or whatever you want. You name it. So I was there
I'm just cruising around town just to you know, clear our head like
Lubey said at best
There's nothing better than like a sound of a fucking turbo of just spooling up and just blowing the fuck off, you know
I mean and like that like
My therapy, you know what I mean?
Like like when I was going through my shit my own, you know
We all got ptsd from where the fuck and I was down in dumps
And like loopy like I was like really down and loopy like go just take a ride
Let's go cruise the super I was like, man, I don't want to get the fuck out of the house
He's like, fuck you. I'm picking your ass up. We're going cruise
And I was like, what?
He's like, no, this is a good buddy right there. Yeah. So I was like, all right boost therapy
That's what's up like we even made shirts about boost therapy, you know
So like so like just cruising your homie just talking about whatever shit
Like, you know, you're like shit happens down range and you've got to deal with it, you know what I mean? So
I don't know. I kind of went off a little tangent. Yeah. Oh, yeah. No, no, you're good
I like I like where it went because it really kind of tied it together, right because
You know, that's what I thought was really
Interesting about it was that
You know guys like you said, you know, you got whatever's bothering you, right?
You got like-minded people that you don't even got to really say a word to you guys just jump in the car
And you all know what the mission is, right? So it's like it is one of those things and and this is you guys are really the first group of
Guys, I've seen veterans do this like with other stuff
But with cars like JDM cars, you guys are definitely the first guys that I've seen that have kind of adapted this into like
Yeah, therapy sessions, right? Definitely. Yes. Yeah, they're exactly right and I think like
Um, since you're a veteran, you can kind of understand, you know, the health services
Offered to veterans sometimes the best or yeah veterans don't have access to what they really need
and
trying to find
an outlet
to release that
type of emotion
You know a boost therapy
Is something that helps you but gives you that type of therapy that you would need
um
just to blow off all that steam and um
You know, that's that's really what it is. Um
And especially, you know, the guys who are having a hard day or like
You know, they just really need that time. Um, and that's what it really is
um, and it's super important and um
You know, it's just another form of therapy. Um, just like, you know, working on your car
um
Going to events
And racing your car. Uh, it's just all turned into a therapeutical
Uh thing for veterans as well. Um
And I think that's what really
You know is on top of the cake or or the cream of the cake is that? Um
And that's what is the main purpose of it
I think what I found is like
Like when you find like one veteran or whatever and I hit it's I hate even hate claim
I'm like a veteran like it's ah, so cliche
Like when I talk to people I'm like, oh, you serve to da
We tell them our story and like, oh, that's so fucking badass. You know, like
I'll go around and meet people and stuff like so like andrew from gdr fest as a veteran and I'll
You know, I was like, that's badass
And so and I was like, is that why you do that is great of this car?
We like I saw like we bonded like, you know, like that's cool
You know, like like a whole new family spec for like
And even he was like he's like what I like about you guys
You guys are all veteran dudes and all stuff and I was like and I really hate that cliche because like he comes with a bag
Stick many times, you know, but like
But you know, like whether you serve or you you deploy you deploy where the hell you still you still embrace the suck with the
Recipes, you know, I mean we still got
And like one cool thing is like, you know, like loopy hit on the v on the va stuff
So like I'm a big proponent like a if you what's your percentage that like
All right, well you did this you got all these diplomas on your belt. Why are you at 10 percent?
Let's figure it out
So like well like hey like I helped a buddy like
Push his ass like keep calling a va set your plummet stuff get those va plummets because
We didn't come to the military fucked up like but we left fucked up, you know, a little majority of us did
You know, whether it's your mind or your soul or whatever the hell it may be so
But we push like not just like cars up like real life shit like all right
Let's let's figure your way to get you know, get you help get you get you your mental health awareness
Or get you to meds or get you all these things that you need
So that's like a lot of things we've helped push as well, you know what I mean, so
So you're continuing the brotherhood for the most part all day long. Yeah, we take some later, you know, so yeah
Yeah, that's legit. So I know like you said at the beginning
Alan just departed
Northwest, Florida
In are you Lupe still in are you in that area or were you?
I did it about three years ago. I've been in north utah
For now, um, but I plan on moving back to texas
Uh, and the next couple years, um, hopefully I can talk to the city. I've been trying so we'll see
I
Moved out here, um, utah is definitely different, you know different car culture out here. There's a lot of youtubers out here
Uh, there's a lot of really rich people with some, you know, very very nice cars
You know, Pagani's s40s
Carrera
Day some really nice cars, you know, kona's eggs
Um, you know the cars and coffees that they have here, you know
They have some crazy cars here and I'm like, I see, you know, the the tech money
And the millionaires and the billionaires there. They're here. Um
But you know, where does the jdm seen it? It's it's different because I see that it's not
It's not together like florida
Um
And I'm like, wow, you know, this scene could actually use like a jdm scene
um
But since you know, I'll be moving soon. I'm not gonna invest my time here yet
Uh into something like that. Um, I'd rather invest it back in texas. Um
But this culture here is totally different for sure from florida
And in the roads the roads here are pretty rough, you know, and there's a lot of off-roading
Here like a tons of off-roading, which is crazy. It's really cool to see, you know, rock crawlers
um, the razors
uh
The bahaa trucks a lot of the trucks that go down to moab
um
And there's just a huge off-road car culture here
And then you have bonneville, which is about two hours from all about two and a half hours from my house
And then when I go down that way to wind over you see the rocket cars you see
um
The classic cars that are built up for land speed, uh racing
um
It's just that's like a whole nother, you know area
Uh of people racing cars and it's just I really like that because you get to see
What people come up with and their designs of aro
in what you know what
What types of tires they're using, you know, what types of uh
Power are they running and why did they decide to do what you know and you know the ideas and the engineering behind those cars too
um
But that yeah, like you said being like a a car guy, right like all of that stuff
I mean, it's not even a car guy. It's like a it's an enthusiast of
Motor sports and cars and you know the whole thing, right? So you can appreciate the razors you can appreciate the salt flats guys
You can appreciate, you know all that stuff because it's not, you know, just a love for the jdm cars
You know, that's just the focus, right?
Right and and that's like it's kind of different here because it's like I don't see
A huge jdm group, you know, I see jdm cars here, you know, they have some skylines
um
You know, they have supras. They they have uh art sevens nsx is I mean they have everything here
um
They actually have a coffee shop that opened up here that you know
They're open twice a week and they like they serve until midnight and you know, they just like to have jdm cars there
And it's I haven't been there yet. I want to go. Um, I think it's really cool and it's a good idea
You know, you can just stop by for a coffee and you can show off your car and
They have a couple cars in the in the coffee shop and you know, that sounds actually really cool. Yeah
I'm sure it's different and it's neat
And I and I take it in and I'm like, wow, this is really cool. I had the opportunity to see this. Um
But yeah, and then obviously the Texas car scene is totally different than this car scene and then then florida car scene
So, you know, obviously the car scene is going to be different wherever you go
But it's very interesting in utah. That's for sure
Yeah
Um, so do you currently have a car?
Lupe
Oh, yes, I I still have that same car that I was telling you about from, you know, 2016 that I bought 2015
um
It's still in the garage. Um right now i'm working on it. Um
But yeah, it's it's
I've probably gone through five builds in seven years
Um, I I believe the motor very humble
I want to say this is probably one of the hardest-hitting fucking supers that I've ever seen in my life
Straight up guys looking to say his instagram shit. You'll see like
Don't love don't let him fool you this dude. This is bad ass like everything's
He used to be all billet now. It's all polished. It's it's to the point that this man
That's how stupid it is. So yeah
Because I was like, you won't do it and he's like fuck you. I'm gonna do it
You know
So like like like, you know, like like john like john mcdonough like
Very humble person, you know, like but I don't let him fool you that car is fucking bad ass after r32 gtr
Is just fucking insane like that build is fire. So
Oh, yeah, for sure. Yeah, definitely. So i'll be the creator for that dude, man
Like lupe's car is fire, you know, so that thing's dope
Uh, and so I see you got an s2k in the background there
So here this is this is my little shit box. That's my s14
I got the lmgd for them boxes. So this like I just since we just moved here
I put those wheels on here and then I have like the q 50
Is like just like my little daily driver cruiser and the wife's actually cleaning the the 350z right now as a matter of fact
She's like I just pulled out the garage
Uh, like this first time we drove in like four or five months and I had a 78 dots and I just sold
To put down money for the positive for the house with bond shock here in
Oklahoma
So I sold like when we sell the house in florida, i'm going i'm different by another 78c. So that's
I like I like old kush the 78z. Yeah
I'm pretty excited about that thing. So it'd be bad ass. I got like s r20 sitting here an ls motor just sitting here
You could do six
Somewhere over there cd09 over there. It's just my garage is in shambles. We literally moved here like two weeks ago
Like big dutch or fuck. So yeah, we're freaking out enough space though. Yeah, like
If you don't want to hear a funny ass story
I had no idea I was going to get this fucking house
So
I went to like my wife texted me like a zealobus thing. She goes I like this house. I'm like, okay, cool
Whatever the fuck right I go to work. I work and that's how I work in the ball where I don't have
Whatever the fuck
So I get off a four o'clock
And my buddy calls me up. I was like, yo, bro. What are you doing? I was like, what the fuck are you doing?
He's like, well, I'm out of house. Like, what do you mean? You're out of house?
He's like, I'm looking at a house for you guys. I'm like, what do you mean?
You're looking at a house for us. He's like your wife called me said
Why don't we do like the video chat because she saw a house on zillow. She wants me to fucking do a video
I'm like, what the fuck? So like
Out of nowhere, I'm like, I guess we're buying a fucking house, bro
So that's that's the story of how we got this shit and she still
Like it has a 30 by 40 shop. So I was like
All right, cool. I'll take that shit, you know, so that's that's
That's cool, whatever the fuck
I'm like, fuck it. Whatever. Well, boo. Happy wife. Happy life, right? You know, so but I mean, I love it
It's like
Almost two men of acres out here in a country and shit. It's like 15 minutes from base
And everyone does like 90 on the highway
Yeah
Everybody does 90 on the highway. There is no fucking 93. My car is tuned on 93
So at the gas pumps here, it's all 91
Except for like a spot like 30 miles away as 93. I paid 479 a gallon for it
But I just found out today from another guy that
Like 15 minutes from the house. There's 93 at a fucking car wash. So you get your car wash and they can
For 93 for 499 a gallon
And I'm in Florida
We can 93 so the 93 is like 91 of the pumps. So I'm over here like
Motherfuck like this is retarded. Yeah, you know, like this will make no sense
So I guess I have to get like 85 because everywhere 85 of the pumps here, which is crazy because in florida
It's not like that like you got to get our yeah, they dipped in barrels and
It's fucking Matt same with me. Yeah, it's crazy like so here in oklahoma in texas like
85 all day long. So all right, I got like at all the pumps. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm like in a race box or whatever like
Hey, man, I need like a 85 senior soon. So
That's pretty cool. So
Oh, uh, so like
You guys are
Are separate have been for a little bit now. So how does that work for like your relationship?
And then are you guys
Like hosting these things individually? Is it more of like an internet-based thing now? Like what is the deal?
That's a good one. Oh, man. Uh, you want me to hit that one?
I think we could cherry uh
Lupe was the first to leave out of the crew right so like I've done Lupe
Boxes 15 probably 16 some shit
And so when he left I was like, oh, that sucks for dbu
Then the whole time he's like man. Yeah, he's like I'm a lone wolf. So now that I'm here for two weeks
I'm like this fucking sucks because like my crew of homies is gone, right?
You know, so
But I like I like uh, there's like 10 like within jspec. There's like 10 og's
And there was like 40 50 60 70 fucking dudes like within the crew like the car crew
Or whatever you want to call it
Did we all just show to get our new together and then you have like the whole basement page
So like Javier, Toronto, who's a who runs a fast tv
Speedzone, florida and all that stuff. So
He's him
Jay schisei with a he's got a 35 a 33 gtr
and a supra
And john mcdonald are all running the show over there and they got rafael with a marked for
Like 13 1400 horsepower like all these badass cars still in florida. Yeah, so they're holding it down for the rest of us
I see we have a big like so we I'm already booked for gtr fast
We're gonna be the same spot where we are for the past two years
So
Hopefully lupe brings us super down for gtr fast
I'll bring whatever. Yeah, I got with me
That's whatever's running, you know, and then all the guys
You know, but
Being away
How fun the drive is that for you guys? It's four hours for like for florida. Yeah from florida shit
12 hours drive but with tonic trailer you doing 65
You know once you get like
It's for the birds man
That's the worst fucking highway like louisiana sucks for highways straight up like that's like the fucking shit ever man
It's horrible. So
yeah
I feel that
um
So now like so will you can try to connect uh allen with veterans out there and do some like like
You you have to move on you have to go on right like how do you do that?
So that's the biggest
Million dollar fucking question everyone asked me because like, you know, like I will never say I started jay spick
But I kind of like brought it to life, right?
So everyone's like what's gonna happen now?
Like the mission would go on like it's like when you pcs
Like when you leave they're still gonna do the same shit wherever wherever you're at. Yeah, so true
So out here, I don't I keep telling my wife like I just want to chill out
But you know, I've been a car guy for 20 plus fucking years. So it's never that's not gonna happen
So like I've been kind of plugged into like I guess the jdm dudes here
But it's different like I'm like, hey man, let's go cruise. I'm like, oh, I think I kind of like crickets
Where I can see if let's go cruise one post
And a and a chat or a page or whatever it is and you got 30 dudes down for the cause over here. It's like
Uh, maybe I'm like, well the fuck this sucks. So
I'm like the top dog like
Fuck it kind of sucks, you know, I mean like all right, whatever I'm the new guy here. So I'll take it slow
It's still like
I run a random people that I met because I was stationed here before like years ago
So I meet some old old school heads and stuff and everything and stuff. It's just it's different like
I went to a car meet this past tuesday. It's called and uh
It's got even david put put it on. It's like impires for our import strike back
So I rolled out there and I'm in a q-50. That ain't shit, man. It's just as you know, folks
Lowered nothing fancy about it
But like I roll over there and like, oh, that's cool
And like like three cars rolled in as a a mark 4 supra a gtr
And an evo and everyone's fucking going. Oh my god, blah blah blah and my mind. I'm like
Fuck that's regular ass traffic back home. You know what I mean? Like
And I'm like that's crazy like I've the fact that I feel that way it's mind blown
It's like the first time I went to gtr fest
I was like fuck another 34 like absolutely the first day was dope in the second day. I'm like
Oh my god, another one. Like I never thought I would get to that point
Another fucking midnight purple 34. What the fuck? You know what I mean?
Like it's crazy the fact that we even think that way at this time's like that for sure. You know what I mean?
Like and I will tell the guys I'm like
Real don't like they don't realize what the fuck they have. I'm like what we built over there in north northwest florida anyways was like
It doesn't happen anywhere. You know what I mean? Like in another loop they can attest it like
It's like whether it's military or veterans or where to fuck civilians, whatever
That the small circle of cars that we have
Is fucking like I've never seen it anywhere else like I like in navar florida
there may be
20 or 30 fucking gtrs
in a small little town of like
Hint out
You know what I mean? Like and then you have like nsx has come along and fucking rx7 is down the street like
My neighbor has like, you know fucking 800 horsepower outies and like
And a mark for super a block away like another super another block away. It's like it's so great
And you're sitting there like how the fuck in this little ass town all these badass cars
And then and then against the tide back to like that's kind of how jay spake literally kicked off because me and leaper were sitting
They're like
We would go to cars to cop like all these badass cars are sitting here like
Where the fuck these guys come from?
So we started with me like one me like fit me cars in like 2021
and next you know like
Another month later like 30 cars and then the 40 cars next you know like 100 cars of like badass stadium
shit, I'm like
Fucking insane like always they come out of woodworks and what and I brought out people you would never see like
I would never like my buddy paul. I never would have known paul with r34 gtr
The midnight purple one from uh, it was a top secret car that was in fast furious
I never would have met him if we didn't establish jay speck, right?
So or I meant I never would have met like mcdonald
Like when I first met john mcdonald, right? He had like just like
Basic as I'm not basic. I was like
It had a little few mods done to it on I think like working motions or some shit
And we're just cruising
And then like you already followed his story like his ac went down his build went from shit
And I was like you won't fucking do it. He's like fuck you. I will and I was like you won't do it
He did and like next you know stepping on a horsepower and that was
I don't even know what I
I've got a control, you know, so
But yeah, that is like
What do I do? go try to identify who the fuck I am now because now I'm like
I went from like doing all kinds of cool shit now. I'm over here like
This fucking kind of sucks. I tell my wife like I don't know. I don't know
It's like, you know the military you're like
Fuck what do I do now? You know what I mean? But as I felt good man at stage right now. I'm just kind of like
All right, I guess
So we kind of figured out dupe has already been through that right? He's already passed the stage of like realizing it's not the same
Yeah, he's like you look you'll fucking see you bro. You'll see them like oh my god. I fucking hate you, you know, so
Yeah, and it's just it's different, you know, but that's okay, you know, I'm not I don't expect it to be the same
But you know, if I'm gonna take my car out, you know, and go get some boost therapy
I'll take it to the mountains. I'll take it to the ski slopes. Um
And take it up the windy roads and stuff and the that's what you don't get down in florida
um, oh true, you know, I could take it down downtown salt lake and
Take it to the other super shops and meet some other super guys
Which all the super guys, you know, they're amazing here. They're all nice and uh, yeah
The owner david at 2jz motorsports and salt lake. He's he's a great person like down to earth
It's like super awesome person to work with
And he's so knowledgeable on these cars. Um, and then my tuner
My tuner, uh, he he's about 10 minutes away
Um, it's rock, you know, he's he's amazing and he probably has the fastest super in the state
Um, and he runs at texas 2k every year
um
And it's just uh, cody phillips. He's he's been in the super game probably
I would probably say since the 90s. I don't even know probably the late 90s
Um, but you know, he's a mo tech dealer. Uh, he builds mo tech harnesses and he tunes
Um, and he's pretty good resources close by. Yeah, right and so he tuned my car
Um
And he's helped me out a lot. He's taught me a lot of things that I don't know
um, because I don't know everything and but I love to learn and um,
You know, he's just a book of knowledge and uh, I really appreciate like everything he's done for me
And um, you know, I told him like hey, you know, this is what I want
You know, what's next, you know, let's do the harness. Let's do a pdm harness. Um
And then let's get traction control and then um, you know, let's let's keep going. Um
and
he's just he's just a great person and um
I can't thank, you know, those people enough that I've met here. Um with their resources
Um, but it's funny because the other people that I I work with that I market for uh, either for their products
Or for uh, their car parts, you know, they all know each other
So everybody in the super world is connected in a way that you know, like mvp motorsports, you know, they know
You know
Cody and they all work together, you know, either parts supplies or you know something and then um
I don't even know like uh
Down performance, you know, um, I I I helped them out and I work with them, you know
So it's just there's so much that that goes on with different shops
But we're all spread out, but it's it's just crazy networking and how everybody knows each other
Um, it is it's a big world, but a small world too. It's pretty pretty interesting when you start, you know connecting all that
Yeah, it really is
Yeah, and you know, uh word of mouth travels fast, you know, um either trust respect
and you know, um
How you carry yourself and how you treat other people definitely goes really far
Um, you know, because there's always someone that's watching and you know, um, that's just how it always is
but
You know being over here is definitely different and um
I still enjoy it, you know, I still enjoy the car thing. Um, I know when I roll up to either cars and coffee or
Go take out the car for cruising, you know, everyone
Will have the whole super reaction, you know, either, you know, they'll scream. Oh my god, it's super or
You know
Yeah, you know, or like they'll want to race or anything, you know, um
I have raced a couple cars here, uh, but you know, nothing nothing crazy
um, but the roads here are very, uh
Unpredictable so that kind of changes things on the street anyways
I could imagine it was a lot of potholes. There's a lot of uneven roads a lot of buckling from snow plows
Um, it's just it's a different road here. Not like florida. Anyways, florida's florida's roads are amazing
Yeah, I never had to worry. Oklahoma is horrible. Hey, it's so trash
I bought him out and I had an exhaust leak on my car already because I fucking bought him out on the road
I'm like, this is fucking garbage, man. So yeah, as soon as you get there
Yeah, I'm like
yeah, um
Guys before before we wrap it up like can you like
Like what's a good message that you would like to get other veterans that you know are maybe
You know struggling in their own way like in the sense of this is a good outlet
Hmm
Oh, that's a big one. That's that's a tough one, man
I would I would say like for those veterans who
Are are seeking are looking for that outlet
um to release um
You know that energy but they can't figure it out
um
You know, I would probably say why don't you try and you know
Try and
Tap into you know, that's a car scene and find something that you like
I agree, but not that
You know, why don't you go down the road and making something?
That's yours in your vision your way
um
And when you're doing that
And you're enjoying the process and you finish
And you get to take that car out because that's the car that you built
You know, that's what you enjoy
You'll finally have that feeling of of that freedom and that therapy and you know that you know, you did that
And it's yours. Um, and I think that
is what
You know what it's all about, but what's
What's the answer there when it comes to uh, you know veterans seeking something?
um, you know, and then if they have a friend who has you know
800 horsepower a thousand horsepower 1200 horsepower
They want to get a feel of what that feels like
They're gonna feel that adrenaline that they got when they were down range
And they're gonna be like wow
That feels familiar. I don't think that's true. Holy shit. Okay
Yeah, I never thought of this
Yeah, and if you're rolling with you know a group of 30 or 40 cars that are thousand plus horsepower and
You know racing at Texas 2k at night on the streets
That's probably the most
therapeutic thing
You can get in the closest thing you can get to going on a mission
outside of the wire knowing that
Anything can happen to your car that you built and you're running 40 plus psi
and you're there to do one thing and that's race and um
No matter what happens either you're gonna get caught by the cops
You know your car is gonna blow up
You're gonna win some races. You're gonna lose some races, but in the end that feeling is worth it
That's the boost therapy right there
Oh
Yeah, boys, I think that that was the message. I think that was the message right there
Uh
So first Lupe, where can where can the listeners find you online if they want to fall along?
They want to see the soup. They want to just you know support you
Uh, so on instagram uh trd super turbo
um, that's my main instagram and then
I have a uh polishing page without I do. Um, that's you know
Metal art so another additional therapy. Um, which you can incorporate into your car
So it'd be boost therapy
Um on instagram
Uh, you have boost therapy like the legit dag boost therapy shot
Boost therapy shine
I was like dang dude. That's a hard one to get
It's actually a clothing brand that has boost therapy
Oh, okay
Yeah, they they it's a clothing brand. I was like, oh, that's cool. Um, yeah
But yeah boost therapy. I guess in other countries means other things too, you know like medicine and stuff
Oh, okay
Alrighty, I guess that makes sense. Yeah
um
But yeah, all the all the the metal art and stuff is incorporated with the cars and a lot of jpeg members, you know
Allish and you know, I'll polish for them and stuff and you know, that's something that's also therapeutic. Um
so
You know
I think uh, there's just a lot of therapy with all this
Yeah, it's cool. It's it's a lot deeper than just one or two things, right? It's like the culmination
Oh, yeah, Alan. Sure. What about you? Where do we find you on the internet?
Uh, my personal one would be bill dot drive dot fish because I love building cars driving cars and fishing and stuff
So, oh, yeah, yeah on instagram is bill dot drive dot fish and obviously I run the jpeg project, uh on instagram as well
You know, you know
But it was crazy. I remember when loopy started boost therapy shine
He would literally sit in his garage
Like a little no man on an island by himself and just polish and shit on turbos. So if you got
That shit is fire and like there's stuff i'm like, there's no way you're gonna get that thing out that thing is
It is is amazing. His work's phenomenal. So look he's talented. Oh, yeah, it's so everything in adventure beta is what he's done
You know, so
But okay, yeah, so check that out. Check out
Hey big pocket.com. So you get
Shirts hats hoodies all that stuff and everything. So we're gonna have things for gtr fest as well
I always forget to plug down. I don't do my ass if I didn't do it. You know what I mean, but yeah
Yeah, yeah, no you got you got to for sure. Yeah, and you know, I
You guys even have a song though. Like like that's bad ass like I saw you
I should listen to you guys you and ben been super dope everything. He's done his
Liar, bro. You know what I mean? So and john mcdonnell
That can't expect explaining enough of how badass his shit is and how much I love him as a brother
You know, I mean him and his wife and his whole family like so we live like we used to live like three miles from each other
And loopy was two miles from us past him
You know, I mean, so we were all
Small little area of just badass cars badass community like
Let's go cruise. All right. Let's meet at the steps. Go and just smash out wherever we want to go. You know, so
Wow, that sounds like a dream right having a town where like everybody has the cars that you like and wants to like actually
Do stuff dude
Yeah, sorry not to make you be like damn it. Why did I leave?
No, but uh life life moves on right? It's part of it
Yeah, I miss I miss before I just miss like
Having the resources because like I don't have like my fabricator
I don't have rob. Ernie like Ernie was like, uh, you know the crew chief for taylor hole for
Former drift cars. I don't have like the theater. I don't have like my powder car to guy
So i'm like
Starting fresh and I remember like telling loopy. Oh, that sucks for you, bro
But now i'm like i'm that guy i'm like
I don't have nothing. shit
I gotta do it all my own now like I don't have the home is to come to the house drink some beers and just
Work on the yeah put on a lift like that's what I love the most like
You know
Veteran non-veteran just all the home is coming to the house working on the car
No one charged anybody in fucking money like all these fucking assholes like no come to the house
We'll talk shit. We'll break shit blow shit up if it runs doesn't doesn't or whatever
You know send it to the moon and whatever happens from there, you know
send it to the moon
Yeah, guys, we we definitely appreciate it. We we support you 100%
Looking forward to seeing you at gtr festival this year. That would be nice in person actually meet
Shake hands do the thing. Yeah, come by
On the house, dude, look you guys up man come on out, you know
So we're gonna camp out there
So a cool plug
If you guys go to gtr fest highly recommend camping because you can get scooters
You can drink and do all the cool things and I have to leave
Do like an air bnb 30 minutes away because those roads and Dallas suck
So, yes, are they do they have the camping slots on the site yet?
So what we do is we do like the uh like the not an air bnb
Like you can actually go like rv rental.com or wherever the hell the website is
Like pick out rv and have it delivered to your campsite
And you just so we'll stay there from wednesday through how that's sweet
So we just hang out grill out
You know that not like drinking some tea does like 10 o'clock in the morning watching our run
You know down the track like that's dope
Yeah, so they go work the food down. Oh, yeah. All right send it, you know, so yeah
Looking forward to it man. Um, so all right guys. Well, we appreciate it once again
It was definitely nice talking to you guys and definitely appreciate your service 110 percent
Hey man for this episode of the right hand drive guys podcast. I'm bobby. This is Aaron out in lube. See ya. Peace
You
About this episode
Lupe and Alan from J-Spec join Right Hand Drive Guys to connect Japanese car culture with veteran community. The conversation traces how drifting and JDM obsession started—like seeing two Silvia cars at a show—and how military service and injury pushed people toward cars, woodworking, and model building. J-Spec is explained as a culture built around Japanese cars, low-drama events, and “boost therapy” stress relief. They also swap build stories, parts sourcing, and plans for GTR Fest.
In this episode of the Right Hand Drive Guys Podcast, we sit down with Alan and Lupe from the J Spek Projekt to talk about the powerful connection between military service, brotherhood, and the JDM community. What started as a shared passion for Japanese cars has grown into something much bigger—a network of veterans and enthusiasts using cars as a way to reconnect, heal, and support one another.
We hear how both Alan and Lupe found their way into the automotive world, from deployments overseas and discovering Japanese car culture to building some of the cleanest, most well-known project cars in the community. They share the story behind the J Spec Project, the idea of "Boost Therapy," and how a simple cruise with friends can be just as valuable as any formal therapy session.
The conversation also dives into the changing car scenes across the country, from Florida to Utah and Oklahoma, the friendships built through JDM culture, and why preserving the sense of community is just as important as building the cars themselves. Whether you're a veteran, an enthusiast, or both, this episode is a reminder that sometimes the best therapy is a full tank of gas, a winding road, and good people beside you.
