Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri 2008

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eid_ul-Fitr

To those celebrating, wishing you and your family Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri wherever you are.

GReddy F-Manage

http://www.trust-power.com/03electric/fmanage.html

They should have just made a standalone since there are so many things needs to be Manage-d.

• E-Manage
• E-Manage Ultimate
• V-Manage
• F-Manage

Maybe the next version should be called Manage-R.

Rollcage Part 3 - After 2.5 Years & New Findings

Last week i have removed my bolt-on 6-point rollcage. One of my mechanic took 1 hour to remove them which was quite easy actually. Before that i had to remove my rear seats and panels to make way for the b-pillar removal.

Before cleaning the rollcage, i removed all the original paddings which were still intact. The paddings were original brand came with the rollcage and not those air-conditioning tube paddings which are slightly rougher. Some of the paddings were slightly torn so i had to remove the rest to make it neater.

When i removed the paddings, i saw the label on the b-pillar. Fucken hell, its SAFETY21. Ha ha. I recalled my old posting and did some research again. Believe me, anything that is Japanese brand even after translation, its really hard to understand if you can find it online.

Based on the lable and based on CUSCO and SAFETY21 rollcage catalog Ver.1 supplied by Carrosser :
CC4A/CA4A Mirage
Not sunroof 3-door
REGULATION CAPACITY WINDOW 6 POINT
AVOIDS THE DASHBOARD
40mm Diameter
2mm Thickness
514 270 B20 (SAFETY21)
514 261 B (CUSCO)

The differences :
The SAFETY21 6-Point rollcage entire unit averages at about 24kg.
The CUSCO 6-Point rollcage entire unit average at about 18.5kg.

CUSCO chrome molybdenum used 33% percent lighter that a similar steel roll bar.
SAFETY21 are made in steel using cold drawn seamless carbon steel.

You can either choose CUSCO or SAFETY21. Based from the 2008 CUSCO Rollcage Catalog, they still do make SAFETY21 rollcages but no longer carry CUSCO chromoly rollcages for CC4A/CA4A. The newer version has street and race version from 6 to 15-point cages. The product numbers are all different too.

After all the new findings, Shinya Yamauchi the rally driver (late 80s and early 90s) prolly had his own rally team driving all Mitsubishi Colts and Evolutions. On the sticker stamped on the bar when i bought it, it was labeled "UNKLE - Shinya Yamauchi Rallye". They must have used lotsa SAFETY21 bars and rollcages for the whole team. I knew it was SAFETY21 just that i couldnt find any proof of marking on it until i removed the pads.

After 2.5 years and using them on my daily beater, indeed i feel scared sometimes if i happen to bump into the authorties or their frequent roadblocks (so many of them it feels like fugitives/criminals are running loose all the time in this country). They gave me lotsa sarcastic smiles, friendly warnings and also remarks about having a rollcage. They i meant the white and blue. Anything darker than blue you should eject your seat. No shit.

Maybe its due to the fact this is my only daily beater. If i had any spare car, it wouldnt be an issue at all but still like i said in my old posting, in my dreams it would only be legal.

Another thing is, it is a strict ruling that rollcages need to be stripped off for any engine downgrade/upgrade, sunroof approval and whatever shit u want to ask for approval at the JPJ.

Since its original SAFETY21 i would prolly paint it solid black again and restore it. That is why i have wrapped it nicely so i can bolt them back IF i have my spare car. If not i would prolly sell it if theres a buyer. I may not be taking high speed corners all the time, but i can feel the differences now obviously. Sigh.

For temporary, i purposely didnt Bondo the holes instead i used a strong silicone glue to cover it neatly. So far so good during heavy rain.

There are plenty of CUSCO rollcages information online. Just google it.

TRUST Japan Declares Bankruptcy?

I was just watching the GReddy 350z featured in DSport DVD last night and reading this bad news this morning is pretty unpleasent.

Bankruptcy?. Restructuring?. I hope they still continue business like other major brands that had similar fates.

If you support imitation products, big companies that do serious r&d might suffer and no new performance products for you to play. If that happens, sell your sports car, buy a family sedan and go fishing as a new hobby.

http://jdm-insider.com/Blogs/Eric/?p=1046

http://jpcnews.blogspot.com/2008/09/uh-oh-trust-declares-bankruptcy.html

and many more news online.

Symborski Shifter Kit

The Symborski Shifter Kit wasnt in my plan actually. It was an adhoc decision which turned out to be good.

I have read the story in Andrew's blog long time ago so i thought since nobody has plans to order them again, i wasnt keen to have a set for my car.

Recently i got to know another friend of mine has a spare set so i bought it off from him without hesitation eventho i have not seen or feel it in real life.

During the installation, besides the the kit, ive replaced my gear lever bush kit which were worn out.

My setup :

• C's Comrade Shoft Stroke Shifter


• Symborskit Shifter Kit


• Proton Gear Lever Bush Kit

The shifting feeling is stiffer now. I dont see much freeplay and wobbling during hard shift. Its definitely a day and night popping feeling. At least ive got no excuse for miss shifts. Ha ha.

Thank you Jack.

From Andrew's Blog: http://thespfiles.blogspot.com/2006/04/symborski-transmission-shifter-base.html

DSM Shifter Kit Website : http://www.infobottle.com/

Mothers - MAG & ALUMINIUM POLISH - DIY II

I have used the heatshield for just few months but the stains on it was really shitty. It must have been from the engine degreaser that caused it.

I polished the heatshield for 2 rounds and im done already. One thing about aluminium surface, they are really prone and sensitive to sratch marks. You have to handle them gently that is if you want it to be spotless.

In my case, it was more of a functional purpose than bling-bling. I dont mind the scratches.

I cant imagine having an electric buffer. He he.

Mothers - MAG & ALUMINIUM POLISH - DIY

Like i promised, after the MeGuiar's DIY head/rear lamps restoration project i wanted to try using Mothers polish since i have heard good feedback about their products online and offline.

MeGuiar's products seems to be everyones favourite choice these days, but knowing myself i really like to try these hardcore oldschool brand polish.

Before buying them, i told Hizam that im going to try Mothers - Mag & Aluminium to compare with his MeGuiar's NXT All Metal Polish. The difference was RM15.00 between the brands. Cheaper price for Mothers, good for low budget lab rat like me.

I had to remove the stickers on my box to make sure i get an even polish all around.

It was my mistake not to snap my dull aluminium battery relocation box. Below are the photos after 2 smooth rounds of polishing. Bear in mind again, im using my hands to polish them and i did not forced/pushed using my brute Bruce Lee strength to make the difference.

The results was satisfactory. I could actually see my face on the box.I purposely put the polish tub on the box so you can see the reflection.

After almost 2 years, my battery relocation box still shines.

Mothers Website : http://www.mothers.com/

MeGuiar's Website : http://www.meguiars.com/

Rear Lamp Swap

Last week i have swapped my current rear lamps to my spare rear lamps which i bought and restored not long ago. I bought 8 new bulbs for both lamps.

The swap was straight forward. The only thing i had to do was to clean the body area which probably had not been cleaned before since god knows when. It was really dirty to be honest.

This was part of the build-up project. I have completed the rear side of the car, now left the front portion of the car.

Latest Toda Racing Header Type-2 For B-Series

The version 2 Toda exhaust manifold for the B16 and B18 engines include a 4-2-1 design for superior exhaust flow enabling high performance NA engines.

Version 2 Features
- Removal of racing look (springs as shown in the picture)
- Additional reinforcement plate

Features
- Bench test developed 4-2-1 tapered design for superior flow
B18C: 45mm -> 50mm -> Taper -> 60mm
B16B: 45mm -> 48mm -> Taper -> 60mm
- Racing style function, both primary and secondary junctions include optimised angles
- Highest accuracy machined flanges
- Superior welding using lightweight stainless steel

In Japanese : http://www.toda-racing.co.jp/jp/product/ex_mani/b18-1.html

Sandakan Drag War - 31st August 2008 (SABAH)

I was keen to know the results for the latest Sandakan Drag. The thing is, one of my friends participated both turbocharged and natural aspirated categories but did not manage to snap some photos at the time of the event.

According to him, somebody was incharged to release the VCD/DVD copy soon. So i'll just wait then and get a copy for myself.

Below are some of the pix i found on the net. I believe there are more photos around somewhere. Try googling them.

The thing that made me smiled when one of the Hondas in the photos used to be my car last time. Ha ha.

Meor's Visit To Hybrid Garage

I dont have to guess anymore where Meor is heading on his B-series modification. I bet he is eager to throw away kilos of octopus wires under his hood. His visit to Hybrid Garage last week was to make some enquiries on wireless engine bay and ITBs setup for his B-series engine.

As usual, as a friend, he likes to disturb my focused mind with his photos from his trips. Photos were engine bays of Honda Civic EK 2-door and 4-door models done by Hybrid Garage.

Hybrid Garage : http://www.hybridgarage.net

Azmin's Mitsubishi Evolution VII

It was the 1st day of the holy fasting month. Myself and Azmin took the opportunity to end this postpone-many-times special photoshoot. Our tongues were just hanging few inches from the ground trying to forget the killing thirst during the very humid, cloudy and yet maybe-anytime-going-to-rain weather.

Ive know Azmin from Hizam not for so long. He is a very nice humble guy. Didnt know he had a Honda before this Evolution 7 (If not i can ask him to plant a k-series, ha ha). Azmin is a very busy guy i must say. With the wedding bells just around the corner, i reckoned i was lucky to catch him at the right time.

He has a complete Chargespeed aerokit. Chargespeed carbon hood. Chargespeed Carbon bucket seats. A HKS Kansai Spoiler on top of the carbon boot. On top of the Chargespeed stuffs, he is a TRUST fanatic. I can actually count how many TRUST parts he has in the car.

Under the hood, he has a few TOMEI goodies to keep him going everyday to work. Behind the hideous and aggressive Advan RS rims are his massive Project-U rotors and calipers. I think the list of parts on this car are too long to mention. He he.

Hopefully we'll see more mods in the future.

Thank you for your time, keep it up!

(10 minutes after we left, a massive rain storm came like buckets of water)