Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Refills


Even though it doesn't rain very often in Southern California, the wipers do need to get replaced.  When they're disintegrating and falling off the wiper is usually when I go get them replaced. So I swing by the local parts store to get some wiper refills, and nothing was stocked.  After going through a few stores I come up empty handed.  It seems the auto parts stores have decided to drop the wiper blade refills and now only sell he whole wiper.  Sure I could just update the wipers to newer wipers. But like the JDM fanatics who like their JDM parts.  I like my OEM parts and strive to keep the car's originality intact.

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Tuesday, February 7, 2012

FWD rotary



Even though it's got the heart of a wanker Wankel.  He still drives it like a Honda.
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Thursday, February 2, 2012

New generation of hydrualics



Giving a new definition of face down, ass up.  Is it really necessary?

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Monday, January 30, 2012

Fairest of them all.

These valve covers are the prettiest ones I have ever seen. 
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Thursday, January 26, 2012

Gaming vs reality



I think seen this done in Battlefield 3.

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Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Easier said than done

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.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

A strange Acura



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

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Monday, January 16, 2012

Decreasing radius


Sometimes the tighter bends can only be built by hand.  Or at in my case a chop saw and welder.
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Thursday, January 12, 2012

Rear Suspension RX7



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

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Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Knock sensor

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.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Texas Holiday '11

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.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Dayumm



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

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Wednesday, December 28, 2011

The Lonely Island



Hillarious music video.




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Thursday, December 22, 2011

New Tree

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!
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Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Alternator mount make over




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.

Monday, December 19, 2011

Driving station



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.


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Tuesday, December 13, 2011

AE86 Tech #86-24: Rewire alternator

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.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Death Drift Race??



Lots of carnage and drivers who dont' wear helmets.  My former neighbor would be proud.
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Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Burning some oil

Coming across a Mercedes diesels was always rare for me, with it's distinct sound emanating from it's exhaust 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. 

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Street Legal

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.
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Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Laying off the steroids.

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.
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Tuesday, November 22, 2011

MR drift



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.
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Tuesday, November 15, 2011




WRC driver Miko Hirvonnen doing test runs with his Ford Focus.  Though the end was very cool.  I wonder if he made it?
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Monday, November 14, 2011

Gymkhana on two's



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.
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Thursday, November 10, 2011

Dent repair



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

Thought I doubt it'll work with this.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

#26

Japanese theatrical release posterImage 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.
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Tuesday, November 8, 2011

JT is that you?


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.
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Wednesday, November 2, 2011

The Varietta



I'm a big fan of Knight Rider. The music seems fitting for the video.
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Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Old Yellow

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.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Trucks on twos

I digging the in car truck view.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

A new purpose

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.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Chumps

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.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Super wagon



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.


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Friday, October 14, 2011

The Moon & Jupiter


The Moon & JupiterImage 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.
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Thursday, October 13, 2011

That's big

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.

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Tuesday, October 11, 2011

AE86 Tech #86-23: What about studs?

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.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

4 weekends later




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. 

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

A water spot

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.
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Monday, October 3, 2011

three 5 six


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