Orange Spot

Gaming vs reality

2012-01-26T23:34:00.000-08:00

I think seen this done in Battlefield 3.

Easier said than done

2012-01-24T23:32:00.000-08:00

Oceans 86 owner requested the return to service of it's power steering system. Previously, it was decommissioned and the lines looped to prevent dirt contimation in the event of possible reactivation. Now that time has finally arrived. But lucky me, it wouldn't be a typical straight forward install.

Since it's not using the standard RWD 4AG accessory setup I needed to make some concessions to make it fit. The power steering bracket is the first accessory to be installed in the Corolla GTS. It can be installed as a stand alone option, which is held on by 3 bolts. The next accessory would be the A/C system. One of the A/C mounting points sits on top of the P/S mounting holes so the A/C bracket overlaps one of the P/S mounting holes so they can work in harmony. But since i'm using a modifed AE92 4AGZE bracket to hold the alternator, I needed to make a few alterations to the bracket to make things work.

Took a section of the alternator bracket that interfered with the P/S bracket mounting holes.

Mocked up everything on the spare engine in the back and reattached the section I cutout so it over laps the the P/S bracket. Now it can bolt on just like factory. But hold on, I ain't done yet. If you haven't notice yet, the P/S bracket looks like it lost a bit of weight.

Oceans 86 has aftermarket gauges installed, so the oil pressure sensor are not the same size as the factory. Since P/S bracket will accomodate the OEM sensor, it's a no no for aftermarket stuff. But there are ways of making this work for the better.

So again some slight tweaks to this bracket was necessary to make things work.

A few minutes with the cutter and grinder, and we have a nice window for sensor to poke it's head.

Freshly painted for a day at the show, or night time cruising to the meet. . Just need to head down to the local parts store and find the right size belt for the new setup.

A strange Acura

2012-01-18T23:31:00.000-08:00

Rear drive Acura Integra with a bit of a twist. It's like WTH or WOW. I'll let you people decide.

Decreasing radius

2012-01-16T23:51:00.000-08:00

Sometimes the tighter bends can only be built by hand. Or at in my case a chop saw and welder.

Rear Suspension RX7

2012-01-12T23:36:00.000-08:00

Came across an interesting rear suspension setup on a 1st gen. Mazda RX7. Looks really cool, I may try this when I get bored.

Knock sensor

2012-01-10T23:10:00.000-08:00

Now that holiday's are over, it's about time I get back to wrenching ol' corolla. But the deep blue sea is still on the driveway, I need to start cracking before I can start my own stuff. Continuing my poking and prodding of blue's insides. I see it's a hodge podge of 4A variations to make a whole, I needed to make some corrections.

On the 4AG engine, the knock sensor position is in two different locations as shown above. Since i'm dealing with a supercharge 4AG the knock sensor should be between cylinders 3 & 4.

But in blue's case, the block doesn't match the setup. The knock sensor is placed between cylinders 2& 3. This is fine if you're using normal aspiration. But for supercharge application that's a no no. The inlet elbow to the supercharger interferes with the sensor. Though you can just call it a day and leave as is and live with the check engine light until you sell it to the next guy. In politics, it's referred to as kicking the can down the road. But for me I needed to get it fixed. It just wouldn't civilized.

Gathering the pieces to the fix. Simple enough right? A bolt that will go into the engine block. A nut with the same threads as the knock sensor.

Combine the two to make a simple adapter. Add a little paint so it looks decent.

Attach to the side of the block

Texas Holiday '11

2012-01-04T23:17:00.000-08:00

This Christmas I made a trip to visit relatives in Houston, Texas. It's been a very long time since I been to the lone star state. I have passed by here a few times, but never stopped to see how much has changed. Growing up in a military family, we moved around the country numerous times. One of our stops was Corpus Christi, Texas in the early 80's. Reagan was elected president and it was all about Cowboys football.

The family took a red eye flight (1am), which was delayed for 2 hours. Sucked I really hated waiting for the plane, but I was already tired so didn't care much. Houston would be there, even if we arrived late. They even had the welcome sign already out.

Before going to granny's place, stopped to have breakfast at this place. The long flight made me quite famished. Expecting more of a Denny's type of food establishment. It was definitely much better than expected. Their pancakes are the best. Usually I'm a waffles kind of person, but I'll make an exception, definitely recommend this place. Seeing all the sheriff and public works vehicles in the parking lot must be a sign it's very popular eatery.

One thing I notice is all the street lights hang side ways. Why is that?

For the next few days I spent my time exploring different parts of Texas with the rental car Nissan Versa.

Morning in downtown Houston. It's very empty and the clouds were hanging very low.

I wanted to visit a cemetary out of curiosity. Looking at many tombsstones, I was amazed how long these families been here. There were tombstones dating back to the early 1800's. Did my best ghost hunters impression and asked for a sign, but nothing happened. Just like in the show.

This is Minute Maid Park. If you know baseball, then you know the Houston Astros play here.

Toyota center the home of the Houston Rockets.

Also took a 3 hour trip to Corpus Christi. The last time I was here was in the early 80's. I can't remember much about the childhood in Texas.

Here's is a picture of the old house I lived in 30 years ago. My family bought this brand new after moving out of the military housing community.

Here's how it looks now. The color is slightly different and a bit worn down. But at least it's still standing. The neighborhood has definitely grown larger.

My old school which is down the street from the house. Unfortunately, it was closed for holiday. Really wanted to check out the old class room, even though I don't remember much. Don't even remember who my teacher was here, but they're probably either retired or dead by now.

Headed to downtown Corpus

Didn't know they parked the USS Lexington here. I would have loved to have taken a tour, but it was already way past noon and exploring an aircraft carrier requires the whole day. At least it does for me.

The Gulf of Mexico, I remember doing a lot of fishing and crabbing along these waters. But not today it was damn cold and the waters were choppy.

Also visited a place called Kemah

Nothing going on here that day. Since it was cold, overcast and a holiday week. But my cousins tell me that this place is usually crowded with tourists and locals.

What's trip to Houston, without a visit to the Johnson Space Center.

Houston, I have arrived

The engines of a Saturn V rocket. The same engines that sent the Apollo astronauts up towards the moon.

I enjoyed my stay in Houston, and my visit to Corpus Christi, which brought up a couple of good memories. My only regret was not eating at a Texas BBQ joint. Yeah I know we have them in California, but it's kinda like getting your salsa from New York city. Gotta go to the place that knows BBQ. But I know granny will always have a couch for me to sleep on whenever I visit again.

Dayumm

2012-01-03T23:14:00.000-08:00

Never try and beat on your girl, cause you never know what's going to happen.

The Lonely Island

2011-12-28T23:36:00.000-08:00

Hillarious music video.

New Tree

2011-12-22T23:35:00.000-08:00

I've always been lazy when it came to the christmas tree. Putting up, displaying, and taking down the tree in the span of three weeks just plain sucks. Even though it's always been a family tradition for me, since I was a little runt, it seems to have flown by me. Now I think i've found a tree that I can be proud to put up every year. Have a great holiday!

Alternator mount make over

2011-12-21T23:24:00.000-08:00

Since deep blue is still on the premises, the owner requested the oem power steering setup to be installed. But before that could be done, I needed to redo the alternator bracket. This is how it arrived. It utilized a modified AE92 4AGZE bracket, a couple of bolts, some aluminum square tube and a stack of washers. The washers were used to adjust the tension. Now that the power steering setup will be added, the alternator will be solid mount.

Found some metal in the parts bin, so let the welding begin.

Bending the tubing was really difficult. Since I don't have a tubing bender, I used another technique to achieve the bend I needed. Made small cuts into the tube and bend until fit.

Making small adjustments and finish by welding the cuts closed.

The welds looked really ugly so I ground them down smooth. It almost looks like the tube is actually custom bent. Added shiny black paint so it won't rust.

Test mounted on the 7AG motor I have stored in the back. Nice to have a spare block mount this stuff, so I can tweak with as necessary. Definitely beats working on it in the engine bay. No more back aches.

Here is the final product installed in the car. Even though it's not pictured, the power steering lines will need to massaged to fit with the back of the alternator.

Driving station

2011-12-19T23:40:00.000-08:00

When racing in Japan, listening to KROQ is a must. For those who are clueless, KROQ is a local alternative rock station in Southern California. The home of Loveline and Almost Acoustic Christmas.

AE86 Tech #86-24: Rewire alternator

2011-12-13T23:37:00.000-08:00

For those who've done the GZE swap, that's supercharge engine in 4A talk, know that swapping the alternator to the other side is a necessity. Originally the alternator was located on the passenger side (referring to left hand drive cars). But since the supercharger (like the one posted in the above pic) is planted there, the alternator needs to move to the other side. One thing i've noticed is the way people wire their setups. The ones i've seen have always extend the exisiting wires. Which looks awfully cluttered. But there is another way, though a bit more work is involved, it's much nicer. And you know were all about nice.

Since I had the clone trooper at my disposal, one of the things it needed was a rewire of the alternator. Above we have the wires extended so it can reach the new location of the alternator. I could have probably left well enough alone, but I just found it quite annoying and needed to do some thing about it. It's extended about 3-4 feet for each wire. There are 5 wires that need to cross to the other side. Hmm that's quite a bit that isn't really necessary. So let's go fix that.

Another view of the wire extension.

First you'll need to do alot of unwrapping of the original wire harness. Starting at the alternator, make a brief stop where the harness splits towards the front of the car and into the fender.

This is where you'll need to tie these wires (the 2 white large gauge) together. The left goes towards junction block 4 (behind the right kick panel) and the other will be heading to the battery.

Soldering works best. But if your soldering iron is acting up again, just use a butt connector.

Once that mission is complete, begin removing part of the harness that's under the radiator support. This part requires unwrapping the harness (again) and remove the 3 wires (blue, black & white) that plugged into the rear of the alternator. The wires can be uncovered to where the wires split up towards the fender and engine bay fuse box.

Now you've got alot of excess wire which must be trimmed to length. Solder/butt connect the alternator connector back together. Cover it all the wires up and connect to your alternator. Now you're almost done. Don't forget to about the harness that you just unwrapped, re wrap and tuck back into it's rightful place. So it looks like it's never been touched.

Now that we have extra wire from our earlier trimming spree.

One more wire is required to connect the alternator to the battery.

Pretty simple and straight forward don't you think?? Best of all you wouldn't need all that extra wire cause everything needed in this procedure is either trimmed or reused. Gotta love saving a couple of bucks.

Death Drift Race??

2011-12-08T23:31:00.000-08:00

Lots of carnage and drivers who dont' wear helmets. My former neighbor would be proud.

Burning some oil

2011-12-06T23:29:00.000-08:00

Coming across a Mercedes diesels was always rare for me, with it's distinct sound emanating from ~~it's exhaus~~t under the hood to the distinct smell of burning diesel. I remember they were slower than molasses on a frigid winter morning. Few days ago a diesel Merc' stopped by for a visit. But it was just passing through.

A high mileage '82 Mercedes 300D turbo diesel happen to stay for a few days, before being dropped off to it's owner. After seeing one up close and personal, I seem to gain a childish fascination for them. I would definitely like to convert one to veggie oil. Who wouldn't want the smell of fries in the morning.

Even though it's at almost half a million miles, these engines are touted as being supremely reliable and able to go another half a million. That maybe the case, I wonder if the rest of the car can hold out that long?

This is a 2 owner car, but was in the same family since new. According to the previous owner, it was bought brand new with European delivery. Meaning that the new owners (his parents) flew to Germany and picked it up from the plant. Once delivery was taken the new owners toured all of Europe with the car. Killing two birds with one stone.

But before disembarking for the good 'ol U.S.A, it was fitted with a few European bits. Like these headlamps. The normal lights would be those 2 round eye on each side. This guy was into EDM (Euro Domestic Market) even before it was considered cool.

Even though this car is about to be 30 years old. Its still is slow as molasses in a frigid winter morning. But the ride itself still feels solid. There just faint noises coming from the chassis and but the ride is smooth as butter. Probably due to the diligent maintenance on the part of it's owner, but also to awesomeness from the folks at Mercedes Benz.

Street Legal

2011-11-30T23:19:00.000-08:00

While doing some fixing on the 'ol Mazda. Came across a card I got from the old street legal races at the Pomona drag strip. It's one thing to go drag on the street, or a small facility like LACR (RIP). But to race at the famous home of the NHRA Winter Nationals is something else. Driving on the same track like famous pro driver like Don Garlits, John Force, etc. It's like a surfer, riding the biggest wave of his career, or a sports fanatic playing a game at his favorite stadium. Definitely top notch . Last I heard they don't do anymore street legal events there anymore, very sad.

So now we end up with people like this.

Laying off the steroids.

2011-11-23T23:20:00.000-08:00

Since old silver bullet is +25 years old, I gotta stop treating it like it's 5 years old.

Cause tapping on the interior light to turn it on isn't a good thing.

MR drift

2011-11-22T23:16:00.000-08:00

Oh what fun the MR2 is to drive. Reminds of the ol' Lemons days. Braking deep into the turn and letting the tail slide out. Definitely scared the crap out of the other competitors around me.

2011-11-15T23:02:00.000-08:00

WRC driver Miko Hirvonnen doing test runs with his Ford Focus. Though the end was very cool. I wonder if he made it?

Gymkhana on two's

2011-11-14T23:10:00.000-08:00

Forget those Japanese drifting their pedal bikes. It's all about the frenchies stepping up in their motorcycles. Could this a Ken Block on 2 wheels? Very cool.

Dent repair

2011-11-10T23:03:00.000-08:00

Not my repairs, but fascinating. The first one was like magic.

Thought I doubt it'll work with this.

#26

2011-11-09T23:55:00.000-08:00

Image via WikipediaI over the weekend I watched Zatoichi the Blind swordsman the last in the series of movies which began in 1962. I've pretty much seen all the films and always been a fan. This was number 26 in which Shintaru Katsu played the blind hero Zatoichi for the last time. It really didn't have a feel like his earlier movies, maybe it was the music. It sound like it should have been in a blackploitation film or something. But like many of the films good ol' Ichi san fights for the weak and kills the bad guys. Though it's much more bloodier than before. Unlike previous films, never really seen a drop of blood in the earlier movies. I guess it's the sign of times, being filmed in 1989, blood in movies was becoming more commonplace. But if you like Zatoichi movies you can catch them on hulu.com.

JT is that you?

2011-11-08T23:42:00.000-08:00

Many summers ago, I built a car that was a striking copy of this one. It was a good car and dead on reliable. Competing in local events for a few years with out a hint of issue and doing well I might add. But unlike this one, it got sold a few times and finally ended up racing in China. So what is this doppelganger doing over here? The owner is having quite a bit of issues with the setup so requested a bit of insight of what maybe wrong with it. Travelling 300 miles so I could tell him it was crap. Well not the latter, I would never do such things. So like a doctor to it's patient, it'll be under my watchful eye to correct the wrongs that have been done to it.

The Varietta

2011-11-02T23:34:00.000-07:00

I'm a big fan of Knight Rider. The music seems fitting for the video.

Old Yellow

2011-11-01T23:18:00.000-07:00

The 'ol RX3 rarely sees the light of day ever since i've been tweaking on the Corolla. Lately, I've been on downward spiral with the corolla, haven't driven it and rarely work on it. It feels like writers block or something (aka lazy). I think now is the perfect time to get something fixed that's been messed up since I took delivery of Old Yellow.

When I first got this car, in the mid 90's, the driver side window regulator has always been dodgy. I had to improvise the window, with a bent coat hanger, since it didn't stay up. Since these cars are really rare parts are either hard to come by or just uber expensive.

But I was lucky when I found a Mazda 808 (piston version of the RX3) at the yard a few months back.

The bushings off the old sliders were completely disintegrated.

After a few minutes of wrestling the old one out and installing the junkyard part. I finally, after many years, have a window that stays up on it's own and

no more coat hanger.

Trucks on twos

2011-10-26T23:07:00.000-07:00

I digging the in ~~car~~ truck view.

A new purpose

2011-10-25T23:04:00.000-07:00

If you've got that job, that just requires something that's not in your arsenal of weapons, and you're short on cash to buy it from that Snap on guy. The only alternative is to modify an existing tool to suit ones purpose. This little gem was used to get those pesky bosch type fuel injection plugs. The ones with the wire clips, they're such a pain. A couple swipes with the grinder and we have a special tool. Now it's used quite a bit on other odd jobs. Definitely worth the sacrifice.

This is what was before it went under the grinder.

Chumps

2011-10-19T23:44:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, I swung by California Speedway, in the always beautiful town of Fontana. Actually, I was invited by former neighbors/ Lemons teammates, Mark and Noemi. They were racing a piece of crap in the Chump Car series. But I think their real mission was to torture me, by watching them race, since I haven't my R compounds haven't had any contact with tarmac for quite some time.

It was their first time in this particular series, and it was actually Noemi's first time racing wheel to wheel seat time. Usually, she's in the background crewing for the team or coming out to open track days in her 240SX.

The weapon for today's battle, is a former SCCA showroom stock car Dodge Neon, that's long been retired from pro racing. Finding a new lease on life in the Lemons and Chump Car series.

The Chump car series is different Lemons, even though they still use the same crappy cars. For one thing, the limit the amount of cars that are allowed to drive. I think there was 30 cars signed up for the weekend, compared to the 80+ cars in Lemons.

But they still have a good number of interesting cars. Like this Kawasaki ZX14 powered MR2. It definitely sounds amazing when you hear it revving while pulling out of the pits.

Unfortunately, it was plagued with problems for most of the day.

Another rule in Chump car was the drivers are allowed a maximum 2 hours of driving. So keeping time very important. When I drove the lemons event a few years back in the summer, I drove much longer than 2 hours and that was really tough.

Even a team from the council from the city of Bell represented themselves, showing that taxpayers money is being put to good use.

If you're familiar with the Discovery channel's show Deadliest Catch, then you can relate to the them of the Datsun 280Z.

But if you're not into driving crappy cars, Chump does offer an option. Bring your spec race car and your team, without any penalty from associated with the $500 rule then and join the Exception Class. Sounds like a good time to get good seat time.

So if you're a bit more serious in crap car racing, then the Chump Car series may be for you, for more information visit their site.

The rest of the photos are here.

Super wagon

2011-10-18T23:34:00.000-07:00

2 rotors, 1 blower, 8 throttle bodies all stuffed in a Mazda RX4 wagon. A recipe concocted in the land down under.

And if you wanna see it run.

The Moon & Jupiter

2011-10-14T20:51:00.001-07:00

Image by orange_advan via Flickr

The Moon & Jupiter
Originally uploaded by orange_advan

Jupiter showing itself last night. So I took it's photo. It's the little spec on the right.

That's big

2011-10-13T23:02:00.000-07:00

At first I thought maybe it was a Michael Bay short film. Or possibly some an old video of a bosozoku gang. But it looks like it's just a bunch of European hooligans.

AE86 Tech #86-23: What about studs?

2011-10-11T23:34:00.000-07:00

Every now and then cars show up with something wrong, simply cause the previous person who worked on the car didn't read directions or had a dyslexic moment. Like reversed head gasket install, or crossing ignition wires. Maybe I'm just becoming a grumpy old man who doesn't like screwing with another person's screw up. But when it comes to the installation of cylinder head studs. Should be an open and shut case right? Maybe most engines yes. Fortunately, 4AG needs a wee bit more attention to detail when installing.

When installing these on your soon to be wicked 4AG, trimming of the distributor shaft is required for clearance. Or you'll end up like this poor chap. The owner had actually forced the distributor back into place. When it takes alot of force to install, it's recommended you stop and check to be sure everything is o.k. It was ran like that too. I had to pry the distributor back out. Luckily it didn't bend the shaft, or break the distributor housing for that matter. What used to be a cylinderical tip has now become tapered. Seeing that the engine was also a fresh rebuild, I really hope his engine isn't compromised with the bits of metal that's now floating in the oil.

By examining the this screwed up tip. You can get an idea of how much material to remove to accommodate the head stud.

And just because the distributor doesn't fit due to the head stud, one should not replace it with the OEM head bolt. I knew a guy who did such a thing. So he had a 9 heads and 1 head bolt. Big time fail, at least it's only going to be a hard parker, so no problems there.

But if you're like me, then don't bother with that stuff. Some may disagree, but it's your money. Many engines that came my way used the OEM parts and have proven themselves worthy. And their owners were definitely not hard parkers, some engines getting a good flogging on a monthly basis. Seriously, the only way i'd justify the use of such parts, is if you're 10k+ rpm Formula Atlantic race engine or a 300hp+ 4AG. But if you're looking to score points at the show, then just list it on the spec sheet. It's not like they can tell what's inside anyways. And while your adding the studs, might as well put in Tomei stroker crank, HKS rods, etc.

4 weekends later

2011-10-05T23:46:00.000-07:00

Finally completed the W58 install. I know as I get older, things tend to slow down, but that was ridiculous. 4 freaking weeks to do?! But then I've just being super lazy lately. It came down to finishing the hand made bracket. I should have been last weekend but was side tracked. So It ended being half done.
It's the home stretch. Just needed to finish the other 2 legs and it'll be ready to go.

Tacked the 3rd leg in the bracket and then removed it from the car. Finally I don't have to repetitively keep in and out from under the car,grinding the tube and checking for fit.

Once I got the last tube fitted, finished it off with some trimming and welding.

Added little baby gussets, cute don't you think? I hope they work.

Removed excess paint and rust that was all over the bracket. Getting ready for a nice coat of paint. Wish I could keep this way nice and shiny, then who's ever going to see it.

I planned to paint it zinc, but I didn't have any. So black will be the order of the day.

It either looks like a spider or a crab that is missing 2 legs.

Finally it's in the car and functioning. I hope it'll up to the task of all the mayhem that I'll be throwing at it.

Nearing the finish line, time to add oil and install of the shift lever.

But it's not complete with out the JDM shift handle. Yes this shift knob was from Japan. I can probably say I'll probably be the only who will such a rare piece of Japan. Now time to sign up for an event so I can try this beast out.

A water spot

2011-10-04T00:03:00.000-07:00

Every now and then the news reports of people getting apparitions of Jesus or the Virgin Mary, but I guess if you're a Star Wars fan, you get Admiral Ackbar.

three 5 six

2011-10-03T23:24:00.000-07:00

THREE | FIVE | SIX from Stephen Brooks on Vimeo.
I really want a Porsche.

Blind Fury: The American Zatoichi

2011-09-29T23:04:00.000-07:00

Got a chance to watch tje movie Blind Fury. Since it's like an americanized version of the uber cool Zatoichi movies, I needed to sit down and watch. Can't say I really liked it much. The story wasn't worth mentioning fight scenes were o.k. But may i'm just too biased because i'm too much of a fan of Zatoichi. But if it's on t.v and you got time i'd say watch cause you never know if you'll like it.

Like a bad sequel of the sequel

2011-09-28T23:22:00.000-07:00

This has been going at a real snails pace. Cars been up on jacks for 3 weeks now and I still have not finished. Being a nitpick really doesn't help here either. But since i decided to re-envision the transmission mount, it's taking another weekend of thinking and sketches.

Never was really sure how I wanted to do it, I tried to search the net for some positive ideas, but I went on my own on how i wanted to assemble.

Last weekend I just barely started on redoing the base.

Did some chopping and grinding of some tubes.

Cut up bits of metal to round out the rest. And patiently tack the bits together. Sounds like I should be on a cooking show making some ridiculous entree.

This is pretty much all that was accomplished for the weekend. Pretty lame, usually I get stuff done much quicker. What kind of irked me also, was the base started looking similar to the previous one in design. I think why did I even bother trying to reinvent it.

But the project was cut short. Every now and then I get a call from people who's car seems to be kicking their butt, so my expertise is required. So I lent a hand in tackling this little project. Some blood was spilled (mine), but in the end victory was mine.

Next weekend this long term project should some to a close. I hope.

The Soldiers

2011-09-22T23:12:00.000-07:00

Always organized and ready for the next job.

Gettin the shaft

2011-09-21T23:08:00.000-07:00

Last epsisode, I was left hanging with the incorrect drive shaft. So I tried searching the net, for some leads on a driveshaft. But it seems no one had one for sale. So I headed out to the yard to try my luck. I guess I was pretty lucky that weekend. Not only did I find the car, early 80's Toyota Celica, it was ready for removal. Didn't have to go under and get dirty. I should have played the lottery. But I was content with the acquisition of the driveshaft.

Here's a comparison of the driveshafts i've acquired so far. Top is from 83 Toyota Celica, middle is what I received and have no idea of it's application. The last one is from my Corolla.

Celica center bearing. Doesn't not fit AE86 chassis

Had to swap center bearings, since the mounting brackets are different between celica and corolla. Luckily it wasn't rusted and came off very with a slight tap from a mallet.

Now it was time to tackle the mounting bracket for this beast. First I chopped up the crossmember that was installed on the W transmission. Added some material to box it all together. Wasn't great looking but I'm sure it'll do job.

Mounted up everything to see how it's going to look.

I began looking at different angles to see how the rest will shape up.

After staring at it for quite some time, i've decided I really didn't like it. So I'm going to try a different route.

Close call

2011-09-16T23:46:00.000-07:00

But no cigar....

The W-58 project starts

2011-09-14T23:56:00.000-07:00

Since completing the ball joint replacement, I feel like I'm on a roll. It got me motivated to work on the french lilac special. And that fact I've been really neglecting it for quite sometime. Both in terms of driving and maintenance. One thing I've been wanting to do is upgrade the transmission. So out goes the semi-pathetic T-50 and in goes the it's larger cousin, the W-58.

W-58 on left, T-50 on right.

I was (still am) hesitant to switch to the W transmission, since it's heavier than the T-50. About 20 lbs. more according to the trusty bathroom scale (70lbs vs. 90lbs). But having something more reliable, when bangin' the gears and clutch, on the track outweighs the need.

ACT on left, ORC on right

With the larger transmission, I decided to go ahead and use a sexier clutch setup. Previously I used an ACT HD pressure plate, with a street disc. For me, this was one of key components in having a transmission last with aggressive driving. Since it didn't 'shock' the driveline as much, I didn't break many transmissions. Hence saved alot of money. Kind of like when I switched to Geico. j/k.

Since installation and removal is done complete solo, removal was straight forward, since I done this many times before. But installation proved to be a bit more difficult. I found that the extra 20 lbs to be difficult to bench press especially under the tight confines of the car. One of these days i'll get a real lift for the garage.

Ahh yes, very close to completion. But why does it the shifter look like it is off to one side.?? It's due to the Filipino designed bell housing. Designing housings and San Miguel beer do not mix very well. But it's o.k. since the car is left hand drive, the tilt to the left will bring the shifter closer to the driver.

But this only the first part of the project. I still need to design and build a transmission crossmember to complete the mounting. It's just strapped into place for now. Also need to find the correct drive shaft, since the one I received is on the short side.

Tired Joints

2011-09-07T23:07:00.000-07:00

As old red gets old, things are bound to get loose. So it's no surprise that the ball joints have finally decided to let go. Actually they've been gone for a few months i've just been putting it off for a while. I was hoping to get the shop to do the work, cause i'm too lazy to lift a wrench. But such is not the case, since they were busy all day. So i'm had to spend my labor day doing the job myself. Well if you want something done, gotta do it yourself. At least I know it'll done right. And if I screw up it's all me. Damn, I need someone too blame if something goes wrong.

In order to be successful I needed to remove the lower control arm. Didn't have a ball joint press which would have cut the necessity of removing the lower control arm.

But I do have a hydraulic press in the back, it's very convenient to remove and install the ball joints.

It sucks I always gotta scrounge around for adapters to make it work. The first one wasn't so hot.

But the next one was a success.

After about an hour of hard labor and busted knuckles old red is feeling better and much more solid. Look ma no more steering wheel shake.

Suicide by jet.

2011-08-31T23:06:00.000-07:00

These guys got lots of time on their hands to plan their deaths accordingly.

A rare pet

2011-08-29T23:34:00.000-07:00

Before Toyota, there was Toyopet. And here I am confronted with and ultra rare 2 door Crown. A late 60's model, that came from across the lake. It's a bit on the rough side, but still nice to look at. Even though the pictures suggest that it's wheels have been stolen, fear not it's just having it's brakes revived, they're over 40 years old. This would be a nice candidate for an engine swap. Some similar to an earlier project, the white ~~dragon~~ wagon.

East Meets East Coast

2011-08-27T00:12:00.000-07:00

A fox body Ford Mustang, fitted with an R32 Skyline body kit. If you're in the east coast and really, really interested, it's for sale on ebay. Better hurry it's closing soon.

The Reunion 2012

2011-08-24T23:23:00.000-07:00

Way back when I was a very enthusiastic outdoors kind of person. From going on 2 week expeditions in the backwoods while carrying every I required on my back, to climbing the highest peak in the continental United States (Mt. Whitney). But also being a gearhead, it's rare to mix both. But when traveling to Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California for the Monterey Motorsports Reunion; formerly Monterey Historics, I can actually do both.

On the way up, I spotted what looked like Honda Pilot, carrying a missle of some sort. Very strange.

Though not as hardcore like before, it's still camping. There's still wild animals and ferocious ants lurking about. The tall brush made for ticks which was fun. So we needed to move the tent later. Didn't want to find out first hand about lyme disease. But I hear it's a nasty.

But the smell of race gas and the sound of high strung 10 cyl. Formula 1 engines that make this camp trip so much more interesting.

Since we had to fit in with all these rich people. Cheese and crackers were in order. No wine cause were on a budget. BTW as weird as the cheese looks, it's delicious.

But keeping with our simple roots, we couldn't deny the fiesta bean dip. It never disappoints.

Lately, I have been having a craving for Porsche. There was no shortage of that at the reunion. But what should I get?

The classic Carrera RS. Not matter how you look at it the car, it's never boring.

Or the more refined GT3 RS. With either one, you know it'll be seeing some action at the track. But I know in the end it'll break my already broken wallet.

Here are two cars I never would have not expected here.

An old Nissan IMSA GTP race car. If you may remember these cars dominated the GT prototypes in the 90's IMSA series. Very cool to see.

Here's another Nissan prototype race car. I don't have any info on it, and I don't recall seeing it in any racing series here in America. Maybe the 24 hours of Daytona?

Here was one of it's sponsors Ueshima Coffee Co. The team must have been wired with coffee at every race back then.

Another beautiful site was the amount of wonderfully constructed headers on some of the cars.

Rare HKS

2011-08-16T23:11:00.000-07:00

Found a very rare piece of Japanese performance. Can you identify what motor it's suppose to go on?

Toyota Levin ute

2011-08-12T20:34:00.001-07:00

Toyota Levin
Originally uploaded by dave_7
A Japanese import that's been customized. Dunno if it was done in japan or in canada (that's where the pic was taken). But my guess it's a 4 dr. (AE95) with the rear chopped and customized. A 2 dr (AE92) front end panels added. I wonder if they installed the supercharged engine?

Cadillac powered Toyota

2011-08-10T23:16:00.000-07:00

Could it be possible?

Yes if you put the intake box on your 80's carbed Toyota truck

Happy 86 day.

2011-08-05T23:47:00.000-07:00

I thought this boro type stuff only happened in america. Anyways weather be on track or at a meet have a Happy 86 day.

More Hoshino

2011-08-02T23:26:00.000-07:00

Spotted a Honda Accord Wagon, sporting Hoshino Impuls. They look cool. If they washed the car it would look amazingly dapper.

While on the subject of Starlets

2011-08-01T23:00:00.000-07:00

A reason why Starlet is a wolf in sheep's clothing. Take that Godzilla! I still won't buy one.

Joji's KP61

2011-07-29T23:01:00.000-07:00

Or at least it was owned by Joji way back when. Last time I saw this car was probably around 2000. It's changed hands a few times over the years according to it's new owner. But at least it's still on the road and being driven, looking quite decent. Most times cars just seem to disappear off the face of the planet or live out a horrible life of being stripped of it's dignity.

Back in it's show car days, this was the cleanest Toyota Starlets I ever saw. This is what it looked liked. Cute don't you think?

Tekken 3d

2011-07-27T23:32:00.000-07:00

Image via WikipediaWay back when I used go to the local arcade and play Tekken. It's been a while since I played the game. But when I heard a 3D movie was coming out for a one nite showing, I knew I must watch. Have to say I wasn't disappointed. The 3D wasn't the best but not completely terrible. The storyline was o.k. but was a tad confusing if you're not up to date with the latest Tekken sequels. It had it's moments, but of course you need to wait til the last 30 minutes of the movie the to see the battle royale. But the CG itself was superb, hence why I enjoyed watching start to finish.

Fixing the EGR

2011-07-25T23:10:00.000-07:00

One of the problems, with ol' slow n dirty, was the NOx levels were on the high side. The problem may mean the egr wasn't functioning at it's fullest. 1st test was to pull vacuum on the egr valve itself. If it has a poor idle characteristics then it's functioning correctly, check. Next is to check the vacuum modulator to see if it's functioning correctly. Refering to the service manual for this one. Lastly cleaning of the EGR pipes and valve.

This ended up taking longer than expected. The EGR bolt broke and I ended up removing the exhaust manifold to remove the bad bolt. Luckily I had a spare bolt in the back, ~~accumulating~~ hoarding parts for these cars over the years is finally starting to pay off.

Hopefully all the sweat today, will pay off with a pass grade at the smog station.

Hittin' switches J style

2011-07-23T23:31:00.000-07:00

Toyota crown, in the land down under (Australia), on hydraulics. Usually these are reserved for old american iron, it's interesting to see it on a japanese car. I wonder if anyone else does stuff like this to their toyotas?

Found only one

2011-07-20T23:51:00.000-07:00

Rare Japan part from Noby Booth. Never seen another one like it. Probably never will. Looks like something from Home Depot motorsports.

It's that time again.

2011-07-18T23:43:00.000-07:00

Took the car for smog. Didn't pass the test. It's getting tougher and tougher each passing year. But I refuse to give up the car. Back to the lab and figure out what's wrong with it.

A party for J. Mac

2011-07-13T23:57:00.000-07:00

Good friend and old corolla buddy Jony M. is getting married this weekend, during the ~~carpocalypse~~ carmageddon no less. But before that happens, a must was party held in his honor to celebrate that last few days of being single before stepping up to the responsibilities of married life.

So you may think boobs and beer will be the order of the day. Not quite for a bunch gear heads, let's get on some tarmac and battle it out in Torrance. So a small private competition was held at K1 Speed, with some electric go karts. Never drove electric go karts before so it was definitely and interesting experience. Though I really was terrible at it, I must say i'm hooked on it. And must return another day whenever I need to fulfill my need for some turns and tarmac.

After some fierce competition, we were all quite spent. So Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles was in order. And it was very good, actually too good. Stuffed myself so much I started to suffer from food coma and was barely functioning. But yet there was one more to stop left.

Karaoke time, dunno why, can't sing and have no rythm. But there was sake in these little bottles to round out the day. Lots of fun after that.

A day well spent for an awesome guy. Congratulations to Jony and his soon to be wife Athena.

Adam Carolla and 3 other guys

2011-07-11T23:17:00.000-07:00

Since Adam's demise at Top Gear USA, he has gone on to host another car show, called The Car Show (that took alot of thought). I wanted to check out the show, so I attended one of the taping sessions this past weekend,to see what this has to offer. Let me tell you, don't expect Top Gear from this show. The show comes in on a different tangent and right up in your face. Very different and very raw. But then it kinda reminds me a car version of The View. But i'd rather watch this show. Leaving know no stone unturned the show let's the audience their true feelings in the automotive world. Adams potty mouth even takes a wack at the Corolla GTS. If you're a gear head or have any interest in cars and have an open mind, it's a show worth checking out. If you're thinking out side the bun, this show maybe for you. Check it out July 13th on Speed. At least they're starting to have more car related shows, instead of cooking and talent shows WTH?!

Gettin' air

2011-07-07T23:18:00.000-07:00

I think they have this at 24 hours of lemons. I think the MR2 would be great at it.

Last year

2011-07-05T23:30:00.000-07:00

Made romp down to Los Angeles Convention Center to attend the Anime Expo

Got my groove on at All Star Bash at Streets of Willow

This year I worked at the shop. Very hot, no fun.

Beat the heat.

2011-07-01T23:18:00.000-07:00

It's gonna be a hot one down in socal, gonna pick up some watermelon for later. Happy 4th of July and be safe out there.

Kombi stance

2011-06-30T23:08:00.000-07:00

Tired of the slammed stance of the JDM cars, need to be unique and try something new? The next possible trend to come from the land of the rising sun. Slammed volkwagen vans, hippie vans for those who grew up or knew of that era. But would it still be considered JDM or GDM?

Used electronics

2011-06-27T23:21:00.000-07:00

When it comes to buying used parts, people should take caution. Most of the time it's basic parts that don't really go bad. But when it comes to electronic devices, there have been times that i've installed them and they end up being junk.

Now i'm back redoing a setup for a car cause the above ecu was bad from the get go. Unfortunately, the owner is serving our country and can't get a hold of the seller of the item. It really sucks for buyer who spends hard earned cash to purchase something that ends up being an expensive paper weight.

Gymkhanna MR2

2011-06-23T23:34:00.000-07:00

I really like this mr2. Moves with quickness and finesse of a water strider. Simply a beautiful piece of work. Though the driver needs to work on his finishing move at the end.

AE86 Tech #86-22: Like Boxer engine

2011-06-21T23:10:00.000-07:00

For some of us who like to use aftermarket spark plug wires may have experienced this at one point or another. Spark plug wires slipping off the cap. The way you can tell is when it starts to sound like the distinctive boxer engine of Subaru. Unfortunately, it doesn't include the power. Zip tie the leads, before a romp on your favorite piece of tarmac, is a must. Though I wonder when the FT-86 arrives on our shores will it sound like a WRX. If it does, at least you know you can make your AE86 sound like an FT-86 by disconnecting a spark plug lead.

Dancing Tail

2011-06-17T23:04:00.000-07:00

I like these lights.

Corollas and Starlets

2011-06-16T23:08:00.000-07:00

Cramming it all under one roof.

RWD Meet

2011-06-14T23:18:00.000-07:00

I don't know who may even remember this meet, since it was small. A few years back, it was all about Honda, drag racing, and shows. A small number of rwd enthusiasts decided to make a meet dedicated to import rwd cars. It was mainly Toyotas with a sprinkle of Nissan. I found a couple pics I took at the event.

This was Non Fujita's car. Back then, obtaining japanese parts was very difficult. But him being very Japanese helps. Last I was this car, it was sitting outside the corner of a shop collecting dirt. So sad to see a clean show car end up in that sad state.

Lots of cars but I took only few pics and mainly of Corollas. Some of you may recognize, but I wonder what happen to them. Since I rarely see them anymore.

Brian U. 87 kouki coupe, a nice rare black example. He ran a motorcycle from a Yamaha R1 motorcycle. Though it didn't make it any faster. Car was even fully optioned power accessories. I was very jealous since full power option cars were rare. I believe he sold this car and moved into a Supra.

MMM hoshino, though the offset kind sucks.

I think this is Yoshie S. 85 coupe. The color is not so rare. She is a champion autox driver and can whip many on the road course. I think she still has this car.

Now a days its all about Nissan, drifting, and shows. At least somethings haven't changed.

Aiming for the top

2011-06-09T23:32:00.000-07:00

When I first got my Corolla, canyon runs were quite the norm. But then initial D began seeping into America. Then all these chinese kids started showing up and crashing. Cause the first bootleg copies were subbed in chinese. Then I left and my dream of becoming king was left on the mountain. But then I discovered track days. It's much safer.

Like a Smart car

2011-06-08T23:27:00.000-07:00

But way cooler.

For those who are curious on what it is. Daihatsu Midget II. That name would never fly in america.

OMG

2011-06-07T23:27:00.000-07:00

I always thought the most boro drift cars were in So Cal. But then Japan seems to always step up their game. I wonder who's gonna step up to plate and beat that.

This a Toyota Carina AA63. With a 4AGE turbo, with a very interesting blow off valve.

Love from Japan

2011-06-03T23:10:00.000-07:00

It's nice to have a relative from Japan. Every once in awhile, she sends the family a care package with nice goodies.

Though she never forgets her roots. mmm the mango.

Even with the disastrous events a few months back, she is still in good spirits.

Yard hopping: not again.

2011-05-31T23:48:00.000-07:00

I never really like going to the yard much, but when you need parts, it was now a must. And it seems i've been on a binge for a few weekends. So this past weekend, I stopped by the Pick a Part on Katella ave. in the city of Stanton.

Looking for the W series transmission parts needed for my swap. But low and behold, an old Mazda 808 coupe sitting here. Since this was pretty much the piston powered brother to the Mazda RX3 many parts are interchangeable. This here is 1976 model, it was in pretty bad shape on the exterior, most of the body parts are either taken or been beat up. The interior faired a little better.

Since old yella is in need of some parts I scavenged what was left.

I came away with a few parts.

Old yella will someday be back on the road.

Unfortunately, there were no W transmissions to be plundered. As usual, what's up with that??

V12 hotness

2011-05-27T23:04:00.000-07:00

It was cool until I saw this big cat on the hood. If it were me, i'd put an aztec queen on the hood. That's how you do it.

Counter steer

2011-05-26T23:03:00.000-07:00

I notice everyone in the bay knows how to countersteer.

Star Wars & bicycle drift

2011-05-25T23:35:00.000-07:00

I have no clue what the introduction is all about, but it had the Star Wars theme and had to watch it.

Junkyard hopping: Rapture edition

2011-05-24T23:19:00.000-07:00

The day after rapture, I went to the yard. Found this guy hiding from the rapture. No corollas were found, I must be in hell.

AE86 Tech #86-21: A Cheater's Roll center

2011-05-23T23:08:00.000-07:00

As I continue my quest to finish the 7.5in project. I came across a way to modify the roll center. Usually there's the weld on pieces from manufacturers like Cusco. If you race on a competitive basis, usually the sanctioning body rules disallow any changes to the suspension points of the vehicle. But what if we skirt under the radar.

First off, after cutting off the mounting bracket, I notice the design of the bracket wasn't symmetrical like I previously thought.

Flipping the mounting of the bracket and placing it beside another bracket currently mounted on the axle, you can see the mounting point of the factory is higher. A rough measurement between the 2 was roughly 20mm. The store bought Cusco piece is 30mm.

Changing the mount point is not really an easy option, since using either adding the Cusco piece or remounting the stock one does require a welder.

So the question is, should I stick with factory mounting point or change to the lower option. But as the NASCAR guys say; "It ain't cheating unless you get caught".

Silly pet tricks

2011-05-22T23:55:00.000-07:00

Can't even get the neighborhood cat to do that.

A day at the pool

2011-05-20T23:50:00.000-07:00

Reminds me of a school of fish swimming in a pool. May be an angry school of fish.

Exploring the Bay

2011-05-19T23:40:00.000-07:00

I've been up to the Bay area few times, but this is the first time I decided to stop and smell the salty fresh air. My first time in the bay was when I was in a ROTC shooting competition at the Presidio, that's so long ago. Unfortunately, we were restricted on base and couldn't get out to explore. Other recent times I've been here, was for either participating track days or watching the races. Once it was over I immediately headed home. Since I was here for a friend's wedding, I made it a point to take in the sites.

One of the things of i've always wanted to do was drive the Golden Gate Bridge. Just one of those things you can say 'Been there done that'.

Also walked the bridge, I don't think I'll do that again.

The architecture of the houses is also very unique at least since it's so different from my neck of the woods.

The Hakone Japanese garden. Nice place to visit costs only $5 to get in.

There was a photoshoot going on. Lots of sexy going on there.

The mansion at Villa Montalvo. By next year, this mansion will be 100 years old. A nice place, but it's not haunted.

I don't normally look for winding roads, but when I do it's very hard to resist. I found this nice winding road, on my way to the Hakone.

The hills are so steep here, I wonder if transmission shops make a killing with rebuilding transmissions?

One place I didn't go was Alcatraz. Maybe next time.

Visited the Apple headquarters. Them people who make the ipad, iphone, and idunnowhatelsetheydon'tmake.

Since a friend of mine worked, there he invited me to grab a bite to eat at the commissary. I had an apple, it was delightfully good. I guess cause it was organic.

It's finally nice to actually see the bay area up close and personal instead of from the freeway while going home. As usual the trip was short, but it was enough, until next we meet.

A Wedding Gift

2011-05-17T23:06:00.000-07:00

Your friend who's a Corolla guy, is getting married. What do you give the newlyweds? TRD shifter, Japanese bumpers, or maybe some new Volk TE37Vs, the new wife may not approve. Since they're Chinese and you're cheap, what's more correct than 86.00 dollars in cash. Too bad I couldn't find 1985 circulation currency. Congratulations to Andrew (86Fever) and his new wife Cynthia on their marriage.

LPG tanks

2011-05-12T23:58:00.000-07:00

Cause recycling old LPG tanks makes the world a better place.

Junkyard Hybrid

2011-05-09T23:17:00.000-07:00

Even though the Lexus SC was available with a V8 engine. Someone decided it wasn't enough and decided to drop a Ford 5.0 power plant. Is this another shop vying for Formula D glory? Obviously it failed since it's now at the yard.

Suislide Girls Drift

2011-05-03T23:39:00.000-07:00

After some wholesome break in time at the dyno. It was time really test Barney and it's cleaner emitting tune. Signed up the the Suislide Girls drift event at the balcony at Willow Springs Raceway. It's cheap, low number entries and there's girls. But they didn't have any tattoos as far i'm aware of, but they do like to drift.

Unfortunately, tune wouldn't allow it to go full boost. And since I failed to bring my laptop to diagnose the problem, I decided to cut it short since partial boost is no fun. Bummer since I was so looking forward to seeing how the car drives, it's been too long since the last event. But all wasn't lost, now that I'm regulated to being a spectator, every track was full of cars to watch and enjoy.

At Horse Thief Mile, Just Drift was having round 2 of the Top Drift competition. The paddock area was really packed with cars, looks like it'll be a interesting competition. But at least it wasn't chock full of V8's like at Long Beach.

Carlos C. makes drifting look easy. Though it could be due to the VTEC inside.

Speed ventures was having a session at Streets. A wide variety of cars at this event.

From a classic 240Z show off it's sports car status. British racing green on Japanese car, I like it.

To a rarely seen Lamborghini. Usually these cars are either parked or cruising Santa Monica. Cause it's easier for the owners to chase tail than tarmac. I'm just hatin' but if you or me had the car i'm sure we'll be like them too. Two thumbs up for the owner who got the balls to bring this bad boy out.

The POC (Porsche Owners Club) was having a good old fashion pow wow at the big track. One day I'll have one and join these guys. It'll be a black 964 turbo and i'll name it blackbird. It will shoot flames and be fearsome. Like this one

This was my favorite of the day. Who doesn't love the Gulf scheme.

The day was full of eye candy.

But to add insult to injury, after returning home, did a quick check of the tune and some how I must have tweak the map on accident and it pretty much cut my fuel before max boost. Damn one little key swipe can ruin one's day. C'est la vie

For the rest of the candy please go here.

Junkyard Concept Car

2011-05-02T23:55:00.000-07:00

Can you guess what kind of car this is? Definitely taking the Fast and Furious Route.

Bike Engine Flat Bed

2011-04-29T23:37:00.000-07:00

1100cc and in itty bitty flat bed j truck is cool

Lemon and Lime

2011-04-26T23:22:00.000-07:00

Obey your thirst with a Starlet

Happy Easter

2011-04-24T23:10:00.000-07:00

Rather than hunt for eggs or chill with the Easter Bunny. Spent part of the day at SR Motorcars. The goal was just for engine break in and tune check. Ended up spending a bit of time getting the tune reworked. I guess dirty tunes only work with dirty engines. Since this was a fresh build, with some cool parts this time around, the current engine wasn't having any of it. Thanks to Matt and the gang for spending a beautiful Sunday afternoon with the very Easter colored corolla.

when 4 is not enough.

2011-04-21T23:59:00.000-07:00

4 is nothing to write home about. 8 can get you through the door. 12 is so you.

For those who may doubt it moves.

Back at the shop

2011-04-19T23:46:00.000-07:00

I don't know what it is. The smell of melting solder. The cute colored wires. Or is it cause I fiddle around with other peoples cars and get paid for it.

It sucks when you get a harness that's all janky. But if it wasn't challenging then I probably won't be touching it.

AE86 Nights 4: the saga continues

2011-04-18T23:18:00.000-07:00

photo by hbomb @ club4ag

Spring is in the air and what better way to start it off with AE86 Nights meet.

Some who know me, know that I rarely go to meets. If I do it's usually a meet at the track. But last year I attended the AE86 nights meet and enjoyed checking out the cars and meeting other enthusiasts. And actually caught up with a few old cats that I haven't seen in years since all this rwd this and that blew up. I showed up late and but there were a few diehards left to meet and greet. But from what I heard it was a large showing. Made me disappointed that I didn't show up earlier, but what can you do when the tax man is expecting his papers to be shipped out by Monday

photo by hbomb @ club4ag

This time I decided to swing by earlier to catch glimpse of some of the early birds. Unfortunately, I was not equipped with a camera, with the exception of my phone, major fail on my part. It was great catching up with people and chatting up with new ones.

Unfortunately, the event was cut short because of a complaint. The parking was so packed it just overflowed so the locals had to cut it short. You may think bad of the police/security people for cutting short of a harmless meet, but back in the day, it wasn't an epic house party until the police showed up at your door. This was no exception. Definitely worthy of being an epic meet.

But for those who stopped by Karlo's corner, your evening was only the beginning..

Thanks to the AE86 nights gang for their hard work and putting up such an epic event.

photo by hbomb @ club4ag

I did steal alot of photos, so if wish it to be removed please email me. But please let me use, I beg you.

Bulgarian drift scene

2011-04-13T23:55:00.000-07:00

A place where the driver is built. The car, not so much.

Let the rumble begin.

2011-04-11T23:36:00.000-07:00

Being the motorsports spectator that I claim to be. The season of motorsports is in it's early blossom and I must head out to the smell of race gas and burning rubber. I love the rumble of the V8 with cars tidy paint jobs. But thanks to Steve C. for the ticket, I am able to fulfill my motoring passion.

Yeah Long Beach for the season opener of Formula D. It was sunny but a very chilly day, some people think since my people are more tropical I wouldn't cope. But then again, spending the early years of life in the east coast made me immune to this sort of thing and having bear fat helps too.

What's an import event without cute ladies.

I believe the last time I was here was when friend Colin F. made his debut here a few years back. I can't say i've followed drifting as much as I used to, since it moved in a direction that didn't quite tickle my fancy. Or may be it's because i'm getting' too old and enjoy it the way it used to be.

Though it was great to see friends who have moved up sucessfully in the ranks, and to catch up with the new things happening.

As the action started, I notice many cars are now piling on the extra cylinders. Didn't matter if they were foreign or domestic, quite a few were sporting V8 power. If you closed your eyes you'd think you were in a NASCAR event. In the early days the majority of powerplants consisted of 4 slugs. Now the standard is Government Motors issued 8 cylinder engines.

Hasselgren inside

Honda F20C

But there were a few dedicated 4 bangers still representing like John R. Taka A. and the Norwegian Hammer Fredric Aasbo.

Indiana represent

Even more rare are the rotaries of Kyle M. and a chap from Indiana sorry I didn't catch the name.

Usually when I go to these these events, the driving was never really impressive. Always looking more like text book runs and nobody really wanting to push the limit. That day I ate my words. This was definitely was one of the greater events I have gone to in a long time. Drivers like Matt P. and Fredric A. were putting down some fantastic runs. Showing everyone why they are Formula D drivers. Truely impressive work by these drivers. At the end of the day I was feeling satisified, well almost

The day wasn't complete without dropping by Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles. The last time I was here, the food was bad. They must have changed the recipe around, cause it was definitely much better this time around, actually it was fantastic. Unfortunately, my lifespan has been shortened by 8 months.

Now go here for the rest of the photos

Copy this

2011-04-07T23:31:00.000-07:00

As we all know, China loves to copy others. But when it came to drifting they took it a step further,

Seeing double

2011-04-06T23:40:00.000-07:00

Because one cannot live on one corolla

Another do over

2011-04-04T23:36:00.000-07:00

For some reason, I can never be satisfied with the suspension. Kinda like owners who can't seem to hold on to a car for at least 3 months, i'm already back changing my suspension. As cool as the car looked, the hella stanced look just doesn't cut it with me when I need it to perform more than to look tiite.

Thanks to Clarence for selling me a pair of housings. This time I plan to cut the housing down 20mm. The other setup was 50mm down cut. It was acutally fine when using the Koni inserts, but since then I changed to TRD short strokes. This limited the upward travel of the shock. Even when the spring was maxed to it's highest setting it still was low as the above picture . This was a no no for me since ground clearance suffers also. I had to bang out the oil pan back to shape due to tapping a couple of berms at Streets of Willow during All Star Bash.

While I was redoing the suspension, I replaced the stock steering arms with modified ones. Didn't do the psycho ones like Hibino. These retained the stock length, so that i won't have manhandle the steering. These reduce the ackerman so I should gain a little bit more angle and less drag in opposite lock. I'm not sure how these will before since my this is mainly theory and many computer generated sketches.

Since the housing will be longer than the shock, spacers will be needed. If you ever tore apart OEM Corolla shock housings, you've probably see one of these. I don't know what they call them, but one thing I do know is that they make great shock spacers.

And there's enough to make quite a few of these in different lengths. Maybe I can start selling them?

Rock stuck in my rotor. Not exactly sure how that happened. BTW cross drilled rotors suck. But can mean the difference of being a winner or first loser fo' sho'.

As with all the struts I do, always add a bit of oil to keep every cool and tidy.

Sorry no pictures of the end results since the car is now on the ugly list for impersonating a 4x4.

Temple of Doom

2011-03-29T23:53:00.000-07:00

Warning to all who enter this car?

After trying to meet with some people unsuccessfully earlier saturday morning, I swung by the shop to say hi and ask the chief on machining some parts for me. Unfortunately for me, the wagon of doom comes back to haunt me. I thought it was done and been received by it's owner. But I guess it came for some extra work.

It has changed some since I last worked on the car. But it seems to be a hit with the Toyota groupies at the shop, providing big smiles to all who ride. The dark side of the force is strong with this one. Just like myself, it's very difficult to resist the dark side. And all who join never look back.

Not really feeling the fender mirrors, but i'm just not in to that style. Even though it's from Japan, it's left hand drive and so it'll never truly domestic market. Better off getting the deal.

Though I do like the minilite wheels. It just gives off a slight european feel to it. It's definitely better than stock wheels shod with 155 tires. Might as well throw the car under a sheet of ice if you're using those.

Well I hope I don't see you again. But for some reason i'll probably haunted by it for quite some time.

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