Bye purple wonder

When I first picked up Barney in late 2003, he told me that if I ever decide to sell, let him have first dibs.  I looked at him and said I'm not in the market of buying and selling, I got it so I could enjoy it.  The only time i'd ever get rid of it would be a castastrophic event.  I guess barney's time has come.   No it didn't go up in a blaze of glory, but go out as true warrior it did.  An event few weeks back compromised the frame bad enough that I decided it wasn't worth fixing.

All things anime

 Anime expo 2014 turning 2d characters into 3d.

Bumped in to Fujiwara Takumi's car

Stayed for Kill la Kill's Matoi Ryuko

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White ranger

Now that red lion has landed in Las Vegas,  it's time for the next headache.  It's been about over 10 years since a 1st gen 4Runner laid foot at the orange grove.  I thought I'd never see another here again.  But as luck would have it, one has appeared at my door step.  Another incomplete project that needs rescuing.  At least it's keeping me busy.

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Try Natural

One thing i've never done on a personal level is a try an individual throttle body equipped motor.  I've built this type of setup for a bunch of other people and always enjoyed the music it makes.  So I think it's about time to do one for myself. 

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Farewell Red Lion

It's been about a year since Red Lion showed up on my door step.  Incomplete and needing little bit of TLC.  But now the work is complete and the owner is now ready for it's return.  It'll be missed, but now this gives me some space for another project.

Dash cam in asia

In Russia, they record accidents and meteors.  But in Asia, they record people trying to get a payday.

Regulators

I don't normally work on Porsche s, but when I do, I make them pay a lot.

From zero to demon

About a year ago I was in search of some camber plates for Yellow Lion.  To find a bolt on set is pretty rare and not too many aftermarket sources are available, even china doesn't make some.  Fortunately, Ground Control up in northern california still has some support for this old rotary beast.

Always an adventure

Defend freedom and get some lunch too.  A cool recruiting video.  Go Navy!

Toyota MR2 hybrid

I'm not much into drag racing, but when I do, it will be in a Honda engine stuffed into a Toyota MR2.  Just won't take it to TORC.

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Rules of the road

If you don't follow them, bad things happen.

Working with fiberglass (again)

 A couple years ago a side skit demolished at a local event battle. Me being cheap tried to fix it rather than throw it away.  This was the end result.  Not so pretty, but not too shabby for a rookie.  Now I want to try my hand a fiberglass work again and make it right this time.

Star Wars day

Have a great 4th.

Dirt Bug

A Volkswagon bug was the first car I learned how to drive a manual.  Later I owned a off road truck.  I think it's about time I give one of these a try.

AE86 Nights 2014

 

 Its a wonderful place, full of old Corollas with a sprinkle of riced tricked out cars old and new. It's a place where old corolla owners catch up and reminisce on the good ol' days.  While the next generation of corolla owners listen stories of old geezers.  If you're a corolla owner or even a corolla aficionado, this a meet that should be attended at least once.    
 

Suzuki drift

The Suzuki Jimny is not known for it's drifting prowess.  But add snow into the equation, and it becomes a completely different beast.

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Recycle broke wheels

I normally don't try and break wheels, but since it's cheap stuff from across the pond, worry about.  But what to do with them if they do break.  Usually throw in the thrash or sell for scrap.  At least for the now, I've found some uses around the garage.

Fd long beach

 

It's about 6a.m. on a Friday morning.  Just hopped off the train in Long Beach Ca. It's cold, and i'm hungry.  Jumped over the fence into the Formula d pit area (not a good thing).  Searching for Taka's pit spot. What the hell was I thinking?

Being chased in China

No chance of running away from the cops in China

Taka and Dyno

Swung by to pick up a part from Taka to finish a build.  Stuck around to see him dyno his 2AZ monster. 

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V8 Volvo Supercar

It didn't take first but they do keep the good fight

Cressidas

It's similar to a RWD Corolla so suspension is pretty easy to setup, at least the front is easy. I don't really fiddle with these cars myself.  But old corolla owners who know me will swing by with their latest toy to get some stuff like this done.

Maiden voyage

Red eye, has finally taken it's first steps.  Revived with a transplant much better than previous.  It's almost ready to venture out into the real world.  But it wasn't without it's hiccups.

A good investment

No matter what they do, the Volvo wagon just keeps on going.

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Red Velvet's axle

The next phase in the Red Velvet project is the installation of a 6.7 axle, same axle that's equipped in the Corolla GTS.  We could have stuck with the original, but the owner will be taking it out to a couple of autocross events.  Being he's a local champion, I'm sure he'll do well.

Samurai Spirit

The little Suzuki that did

Corollas in Finland

In Finland they like AE86 coupe and like driving them in dirt and snow.

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AE86 Tech #86-30: Camber plates

 I've had Cusco camber plate in the purple delight for quite a long time.  I've never really thought of servicing them, since, I've never seen anyone else talk about them.  A while back I did notice that the little pillow ball that attached the shock absorber was loose.  So I thought it was about time for a rebuild.

Drift death race

They're just plain mad

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Long time Red Velvet

 It's been a while since I last updated the little Toyota Starlet aka Red Velvet.  But with the holidays and work, I just didn't have much time.  But recently I just received a boat load of time.  What better way to spend it.

Bad cap

 The problem with the 4AG is the different variations they come from the factory.  Even though the parts are swappable, owners need to be aware of the replacements and check what version the part came from. 

A car came in running a tad crappy.  Upon inspection, I find the center terminal is worn out.  The 4AGE was of the RWD variety, but was equipped with a distributor from an MR2.  What cause the above problem, was the rotor installed in the distributor was for RWD cars.  The rotor for the MR2 is shorter.  The mismatch of the cap and rotor created a big gap in the center terminal and rotor.  So you end up with a lot electrical arcing, which resulted in a bad running car and money in my pocket.  That's why always match up the old parts with the new parts to make sure they're correct.

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The trekking through America

One day I'll do the same but with the Silver Surfer.

Crude alignments

 Found some scrap metal, a welder, and some paint.

Now I do alignments on the drive way.  No more paying the man

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Racing for old cars

Someday barney will be old enough to race vintage.

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Online buying

*Just another rant* Even though there's tons of info the net for even a child to build a corolla, it just amazes me that they're still people doing rookie mistakes.  This axle was bought online by a customer and sent to me for inspection.  Just like many used parts on the net, it was advertised in great shape.  First thing I notice was this flange.  It should be completely flat. What I suspect is the amateurs installed this non lsd into a lsd rear end.  If you do your net research you would know that the axle needs to be cut down for it to fit properly, or the bearing will protrude slight.  Here the previous owner not know what they were doing, forced the flange over the bearing protrusion and pretty much bent up the flange.  If they ran the car like that, there is a possibility they also damaged the LSD.  Hmm buyer beware when that thing comes up for sale it's in' great shape'.

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Indoor drift

Finally some decided to replace the toy cars and use real cars

Small details

Most chaps who like to build their cars for JDM specifications, always go for the big things like bumpers, lights, etc.  Easily noticeable and gets big points at the show.  For me it's the small details, like these battery brackets for example.  The lower one is for U.S.A. cars and the one above is for Japan cars.  One thing I do like about using the Japan bracket, is that it fits on the smaller and lighter Honda battery quite nicely.  That reminds me, I need to clean it up.  Negative points.

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