Back at it again with the in-car

Just some crappy driving from Final Bout: Special Stage Central this past July. The car is feeling good, but certainly need some more seat time to feel better pushing it harder.

Garage Vary ND5RC

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Garage Vary’s car for TAS this year was a nice surprise, among all of the overdone wide kits that were so prevalent. I absolutely love the hood and the front fenders.

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Moving to the rear of the car is where I start to lose the warm and fuzzy feeling, but it might just be the Work Seekers that just ruin it for me. Sorry, just have never been a fan of this style wheel on a sports car.  The rear bumper with the openings don’t flow well with any of the lines on the rear of the car, but here too, I’ve never been a fan of vents behind the rear wheel arch. Surprisingly, I really like the wing.

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Just say no to useless dual exhausts.

AE86 Project: Part 1

In summer of 2014 it had been over 4 years since being in Japan, and somehow, I had survived without a car for fun the entire time. Taking part in Final Bout in the late summer of 2014 as a judge really gave me the bug – and I was determined that in 2015 I would not just watch, but jump in and drive. The feeling of standing on the sidelines in 2014 was something I did not want to repeat. In late fall of 2014 I began to realize, I needed some sort of project in my life, not just a turn-key car. After much thought, going between another Roadster or maybe a simple s-chassis, I decided to build a Corolla. Not the cheapest or easiest route by any means, but it was something I had wanted to do for many years. I had been looking for the right chassis for a few months, and finally decided on a SR-5 chassis located a few hours from Chicago. It had been stripped down and painted but with all the parts in boxes, even GT-S parts for the conversion. I originally decided against it for a time, but after finalizing the direction for the drive-train of the car, found it to be the best option. Once thing that I knew from the start; the car would need to remain in Chicago and be built there, while I was stranded in Honolulu some 4,000 miles away.

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One of the things that I am always thankful for, is our amazing community in Chicago and the Midwest. With a few phone calls and texts, long-time friends Proceed agreed to run and pick up the car and as many of the related parts they could fit in the car.

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It was a cold, snowy day in central Illinois – and there were some challenges not planned for in getting it home, but they made it happen and I am so very grateful and thankful. This is why I love drifting; everyone is out to help and keep the spirit alive.

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Prior to the pickup of the car, my longtime friends and go-to shop TF-Works had agreed to take this project on. Without being able to wrench on the car myself, there was no other place I would rather have doing the work on this project. So after a few weeks of storage with the Proceed gents while awaiting a slot to open up at the shop, I was able to have the car moved and the real work began….

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And we are back live…

Thanks to some very good friends this place is back up and running. At this point, I am sure not many read or visit blogs much, however, plan on updating if for nothing else than myself. In the coming days/weeks I’m planing on going through the build of my Corolla over the last year. And yes, my heart is still with Mazda and the Roadster – I still dream of my NB everyday and am delighted with that Mazda has done with the ND chassis. I think the future for the car is bright, and I hope to pick one up myself shortly. But for my recent history, all efforts were focused on the Corolla, something I have always wanted – it was time to make it happen. It was a long but short 8 month process, but very happy with the result:

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Ueo Spec – Doriten Volume 6

Just more notes to myself:

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UeoEngineRoom2 UeoEngineRoom

UeoFrontAshi UeoRearAshi

UeoRear UeoFront UeoCabin

UeoNikko2 UeoNikko UeoExteriorKING

 

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Want level of NC is increasing per minute…

must try and resist for ND!

Note to self:

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2016 ND Chassis MX-5

So, the wait was long. Dig as I could Mazda did an AMAZING job of keeping this car under wraps until the official unveil last week. The more I look, the more I like….and have a feeling I’ll be placing an order when I can. More than the modern looks and interior (finally!), the lower weight and balance should be amazing. Mid-ship FR? Yes please. 2200lbs? Yes please. At first I was a bit unsure on how I felt…however this render from Jon had me hooked on the potential of this car’s looks…lets just hope when they announce the power plant we are still in the game….

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Now onto the Mazda released shots:ND_Side ND_Rear ND_Interior ND_Front ND_Chassis

Random Roadster #32

Murakami-san’s nice little NA. Normally not into cars like this, but it all comes together well. Trying to ignore the wheels though…

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Murakami Rear

Random Roadster #31

That Voltex. Those fenders. That clue.

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