Christmas is over...

Christmas is now over, and I got a few dollars as a gift. As always, it can go towards something big, but this time I'm thinking I might indulge in some smaller stuff that I've passed over because I've always saved for things like forged pistons, LSD's, cams, etc. After pondering, I thought I might buy a steering wheel. I've had the same one for about 5 years now, and I did purchase it used on ebay when I still lived in the bay area. Its an old Momo that came from the factory on some limited edition SAAB, and I like it because nobody really has it. Although there is that one issue of some import magazine that I found that has some guy in Texas with an AE86 that has one...and it made me feel a bit less special.

Steering wheels are one of those items that are like a signiture at the bottom of a painting. They're like a finishing touch of personalization that indicates your style, taste, and who you are. Some people might not look at it as in depth as I do, but I'm one of those people who thinks you can tell a lot about a person by their shoes. A steering wheel is a similar indicator.

The above was actually my first choice, and the steering wheel I WAS going to buy at the Tokyo Auto Salon. It was perhaps the only item I had set out to purchase since I thought we couldn't get them in the USA. A few months after I got back, I found several shops had them. Anyhow its a pretty bad-ass Orido Style steering wheel with the logo embroidered in the wheel. Manabu Orido is one of my favorite drivers of all time (Keiichi fans can suck it) and having his signiture model of steering wheel I thought would be pretty cool. That is until I saw the price tag; 37,000 yen (approx $360). Now while I'm a fan of such novelty items, spending almost $400 on a steering wheel makes me feel...well..puke-ish. Sure its baller, but $400 for a steering wheel? Not that I'm against spending cash on car products, but that much cash could go towards something far more worthwhile on my car. Needless to say, I passed on this model.

The above Momo Prototipo is another one I'm considering. It has such a classic shape and design, and its retro in its style. Its perfect for an older car like mine, and has a European flavor to it. See I'm not that large of a Nardi fan, because you see everybody and their little sister with a Nardi on their cars these days. Steve does not rock that.

There was also a team "Julius" steering wheel at the Auto Salon that I passed on, because it too was insanely expensive. Who knows maybe if I can find one here, I'll jump on it.

Or maybe I'll just take the cash and buy tires again....

How did I miss this?

Mooneyes Christmas party and drag race

Garage Life

One of the things I've taken quite a liking to since becoming an obsessed automotive fanatic are garages. When you track heavily, you don't realize it but you spend almost as much time inside your garage as you do inside your house. Some people are more organized than others and can find everything they need when they need it, but others (like myself) get excited when they find a brand new gasket they bought 2 years ago hidden in a box.

The above is a photo of Tetsuya Hibino's shop or personal garage, from Garage Sunrise. Seeing it really makes me wish I had that kind of space! In addition, this guy has an AE86 collection of parts most of us can only dream of having.



JDM hair not included.

Follow this link to view more of his garage at Noriyaro
http://noriyaro.com/?p=1140

Ouch!

Just thought I'd share some photos of my beautiful Chokets bumper, after being used for 2 years. This bumper was actually brand new when I got it, and had never been mounted on a car before. It was spray painted black, and stayed looking nice for a while. At first, I wanted to get a bumper that I ran only at drift days and open track events, but in the end what use is the bumper if its not going to get put to use?These latest "boo-boo's" were from going off the chicane at Streets of Willow at about 70 mph. Man up son!

I'm thinking of dropping it off to Rabe for some repairs and touchup. It still has life left in it yet!

I'm actually kind of proud of this thing, because while it is a relatively rare piece, I still beat the crap out of it. The bumper has rock chips from every track in southern California, as well as from Miller Motor Sports Park in Utah!

Big Weekend: DDay 4AG T/A

For the past month or so, I've been trying to get everything together for this event, since it will be the last event I do for the season. Its a nice cap off for two reasons; first and formost because many of my friends are driving, and also because it will be a timed event. The last timed event I did was at the same track, two years ago, which was the second track day I had ever attended. The track layout has slightly changed since then, and my vehicle has certainly changed, but I would at least be able to compare my two times and hope that any growth wasn't due only to the new layout and vehicle upgrades.

The preparation for the event didnt' start out as well as I had planned. The Wednesday night before the event, I decided to install my new remote oil filter relocation kit in an attempt to relocate the oil temperature probe further away from my header, in hopes that a more accuare reading would be available. This proved to be problematic, as it was raining, and one of my pre-existing hoses (which we planned to reuse) was a crimp only style -AN line. Luckily Ash came to the rescue (he's one of the only dudes I know who has -AN lines "in stock") as he says he keeps that stuff for emergencies such as mine. Thanks to Ash, we were able to finish installing the system, although there was another problem ahead.

Installing anything at night and in the rain forces you to work quickly. When you work quickly, and you're not a professional, you tend to overlook things and make mistakes. One of the mistakes I made was crossing the lines of oil flow to the filter relocation. Baisically, the oil was flowing the wrong way throught he filter. I drove it home, and noticed no oil temperature, and idle pressure was extremely high. After I spoke with Alex, he informed of what the problem might be, and sure enough he was right. Anyhow I switched the lines back the next day and the car started up fine, showed good pressure, and temp readings were actually being shown. Now I know the consaquences of what can happen when you do something stupid like this, and I hoped that the engine would still be ok. I drained the oil and checked the plug (I have a magnetic drain plug) and sure enough, there were metal deposits. This got me quite worried, but the event was that weekend so I didn't really have a choice to do anything about it.

So, now we come to the event. The first day was mostly spent by me watching my oil temps like a hawk, and listening for any odd noises in the engine. The car ran pretty flawlessly, but oil temps rose to 250F after about the first 4 or so laps per session. This continued throughout the weekend, but I kept telling myself that if water temps are fine, and if oil pressure is still fine, than high temps shouldn't matter. The second day saw more of the same troubles, but I continued on regardless.

I guess I should be happy about this event for many reasons. First and foremost, the engine was fine. I beat on it for two days straight, revving it to 8800 rpms on multiple occasions and not once did it skip a beat. Where ever that metal came from, I'm sure it wasn't good, but not enough to destroy the motor. I'm still worried, but for the time being its working. Also, while my times weren't totally impressive, it shows I've come a long way. I calculate the new configuration to be worth about 2 seconds per lap, so any time I ran could add an additional 2 seconds to compare it to my times two years ago.

2006 SOW: 1:52
2007 SOW: 1:46
2008 SOW: 1:33

Also, a stock engined Corolla beat me by 2 seconds. This is a nice kick in the butt that tells me to hold off on the turbo upgrade I had planned for this year. I think I'll stick with the ITB N/A setup for at least another year (as long as the motor lasts!) before I add power, as there's still a lot for me to learn with this setup.