Sleeper Forest Caribbean Car Culture Articles - Sleeper Forest

Lets Dig in

Alexandre Haynes — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 03:21:28 +0000

All this talk about “Gap Burgers” and the like, has us all in anticipation for this car, my eyes were ready to feast on the finished product created in front of us for the last few articles. I turned my camera lens toward Project Lamb and was not disappointed.

“Gimme de gap burger nuh”

— A hungry Man

Finally, seeing this car in person, I would like to share my thoughts and feelings in this article, it’s great to know the numbers and the mechanical aspects of this car but, the majority of the experience of owning a car like this touches on the emotional side. If you haven’t read the previous articles I will drop a link here for the first “Project Lamb” Article. I have touched on the specs of this motor, suspension, and drivetrain.

Cars are utilitarian devices, and they take us from one point to the other, before cars, we used carriages and before them we used horses and if we go further back we walked. Now here’s a thought, do you think in the year 6000 BC a well-to-do caveman would show off his latest iteration of “barefoot transportation”? It seems like a dumb thing to suggest, but how is it that in this day and age, our mode of transportation means more than just travel? Society needs art and art needs society. Artists carry with them the ideas and pervading thoughts of a generation of persons and they document them in the work they do.

I love art, I love design, and I love cars. When an artist, a mechanic, and an engineer come together, it makes something special. The “Countach” was a functional art piece. It looked like it belonged more in the living room than on the road. It’s exceptionally difficult to imagine this car sitting in traffic, but in the 1980s when this car first rolled off the lot it was something that happened. Its lines differ so much from the normal round body design of a turn-of-the-millennium car we know, or the square box of an older car from a similar age. This car was built to stand out.

A kit car brings a different dynamic to the mix, and it’s a normal progression in our society. Kit cars are, dare I say it, the “TikTok” remixes of the car world. It’s more substantial though, instead of being washed away into the endless ocean of content, this stays with you, every day you look outside and it’s there.

It’s a personal iteration of the best “Countach” in a person’s opinion. There are no numbers to match, no factory paint to maintain, and no random logos on parts to subtly place for a viewer to see by “accident on purpose” to make them feel they noticed something because they are observant. This gives free rein for the taillights and the wing to be from different eras of the model. The 25th-anniversary wing looked hella cool, but the more subtle full lens of the later model Countach was way more stylish and suited the body lines better.

This car was built around having fun, as crazy as the thought of driving it is, imagine driving it fast. Yes, this art piece that should be sitting in someone’s living room, will do immense numbers, if you have the constitution for it. I am not sure if the thrill of driving it fast comes from the thought of impending doom if it’s hit, or maybe the fun is derived solely from the speed. Perhaps it’s a mixture of both, you can ride on the razor’s edge of losing years of work and experiencing this machine come to life. It bites back, it attacks you whenever you let your guard down, but mastering it feels incredible.

The first man who took the step to go from barefoot to horseback, what was his reaction to experiencing the fastest he ever went in his life? How did feel when descended from the horse and parked it outside, did he crave the freedom of riding, lying on his back unable to sleep because of pure excitement? How did he feel knowing he had the only black horse in the village and it was the fastest? He would’ve made a special bond, only he and the horse would understand, solely because of a shared experience.

He could groom this horse, and tie its hair in different patterns, historically it varied from culture to culture. We can see where this obsession could have started. From horseback to chariot, from a single horse to 2 horses, to 4 horses, and the luxury of a coach and in our age, 400+ horses at your command, to take you where you need to go. Would you be able to sleep when you parked this or would you lay on your back unable to sleep because of pure excitement?

This car hits on all the points that make something enjoyable to own, and drive. It makes me so excited and I don’t even own it. writing this article, it really built up in me that excitement all over again when I saw it for the first time. It is something incredibly special. I am sure, everyone who loves their car will feel the same way, about their car, the freedom that comes with the car, and the enjoyment you gain from using it.

Working with SDRR Hydraulic & Industrial Spares Inc. on covering this project has been amazing. I want to thank them for reaching out to us, and we encourage all our readers, to give them a call and see if they can help you with your personal projects. Until next time,

Happy Motoring!

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Are you Still Hungry?

Alexandre Haynes — Fri, 08 Sep 2023 02:43:48 +0000

Well, we are in line with an appetite and having a blast with our best friends. In our last article “Dio Mio, Is this “Gucci”?” we looked at what makes our patty worth the wait. Let’s see what crispy bun and condiments will encapsulate this freedom patty next. Are you ready to cook with me?

The next part of this meal is something we take for granted, the bread. Bread is so abundant, that we see it as something simple to make, but it’s actually a mixture of complex substances coming together. Bread is made with these main ingredients Flour, Water, Yeast (or another rising agent), and sometimes some seasoning along with patience, and elbow grease. When it’s done right the subtle flavours and texture can really make or break it. Let’s see how this bread is made.

THE FLOUR - BRAKES

The brakes of “Project Lamb” needed a full refresh, starting from the head of the system with the master cylinder. The braking system for his kit car was cannibalized from one of the more common performance cars of the period. In the 80s, that would’ve been a “fast Ford”, the Ford Sierra Cosworth. The front brakes have 4 pistons and a single piston at the rear. The master cylinder was taken from an Mk6 Escort. After being pulled apart it was rebuilt using hardware from RacingLines. Braided Stainless steel hoses from RacingLines were also used as an upgrade from the rubber hoses that were previously used. All of these are available from SDRR Hydraulic & Industrial Spares Inc. Crossing the ability to stop off the list with the new remanufactured braking system. We move on to the water in the recipe.

THE WATER - SUSPENSION

The most gains in driving pleasure can be felt through the suspension. This project was unique, it needed to sit low enough to still garner street credibility, but it also needed to survive the roads we have here in Barbados. The coilovers on the car were dead and this gave the opportunity to change the suspension of the car to something more interesting than just a static stance. The decision was made to put the car on airbags. This technology has come a long way from the early days of only allowing persons to let their car sit all the way down on its belly in the car park. It’s adaptable with the toggle of a button while driving, allowing the car to get over potholes or speed bumps, and it’s soft enough to make a comfortable ride while giving adequate driver feedback. The air compressor was added in the frunk of the car, and this is controlled either remotely or in the car itself.

PATIENCE

Having little patience will for sure ruin the bread. The wiring of the car takes time. A project looking physically finished with wheels brakes, engine, and plumbing will still be unusable if the wiring loom isn’t complete. It was time to go through the interior of the car and look at the entire chassis wiring solution of the car. This will help integrate the new systems added as well.

Elbow Grease - The body

We are almost there, Project Lamb’s transformations continue with the changes that they need. This kit included the 25th-anniversary side skirts and the rear facia, this was replaced with the standard rear fascia which was preferred. I quite like the normal look as well. The entire body needed some work apart from this change.

All the panels that needed work on them were pulled off the chassis and prepped for paint, and it was at this point a decision had to be made whether the car would remain in yellow, or be painted a color much more interesting. The previous owner painted everything on the car yellow, all the trim pieces, all the panels, all the vents, I am pretty sure someone took the paint away from him before he painted the engine yellow too.

This bun is ready for the oven, where it can be cooked to perfection. The color for project Lamb was inspired by a trustworthy pet, it’s the same colour as his coat, what a lucky dog, to be immortalised this way. He is a good boy.

Review

What a journey we have experienced from start to finish with Project Lamb. It was amazing to see where it came from and what it has become now, but let’s not say it’s finished yet. The heavy lifting for sure is done, but next week there will be more! I was finally behind the camera to capture how I felt about this amazing project ahh, am I excited to share this with you.

We raised some questions from the start of this series though, and I would like to discuss more. Is it really a Lamborghini? No, it doesn’t carry the VIN to say it’s a Countach, it doesn’t have a flat plane V12 motor, and it doesn’t smell like cocaine. well, I didn’t sniff the seats. With that established, I think it carries the spirit of what Lamborghini really wanted to do when the company was established. It shows a can-do attitude, it shows that cars don’t have to be soulless and most of all, it’s still way over the top as a kit car. Lamborghinis weren’t meant to be cars that were unattainable, in the past they were cars people leaned into because they had a love for the art, or the design, or the combination of both. I believe these kit cars are in a league of their own, they give the ability to see this design in a scenario that would be unbelievable.

Hope you enjoy your Gap burger! Until next time!

Happy Motoring!

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Dio Mio, Is this "Gucci"?

Alexandre Haynes — Sat, 12 Aug 2023 02:10:47 +0000

If you wanted to run some Italian guy that’s really into Italian-designed cars up a wall, where would you start? He would definitely feel flattered knowing that you loved the exterior design of the car so much you’d copy it, but when he looks at it internally he’s gonna lose his mind if he knew it wasn’t all spaghetti and meatballs in there. It’s not fine dining, it’s not sophisticated, like a fine Armani suit, or a Louis Vuitton bag, it is not “Gucci”.

To be honest, that’s the issue I personally have with the discussion of “PuRiTy” where we hear over the internet that some cars should not be tampered with in particular ways, and this is why I am happy to have an engaging look at “Project Lamb”. Put simply my argument goes this way, we spend the majority of our time eating normal food, and a fine dining experience isn’t something that happens every day, it’s special, reserved for once in a blue moon, if not it runs the risk of losing its aura.

On that day you have a really small meal that tastes amazing, for sure, and you wear your evening attire, and it’s an amazing occasion, photos are taken and you head back home, but let’s be honest, nothing beats the taste of a Gap Burger after you’ve had 5 beers and a few shots of rum. It’s greasy, it’s sloppy and it’s brash. All the photos are horrible and that’s the memory you keep with you forever. We all want that greasy gap burger for real. Burger Boys through and through.

How Do We Make Our Gap Burger?

- THE PATTY

“We want displacement and raw power.”

— A Bald Eagle

The sophistication of fine Italian food is seen in the construction of the Lamborghinis flat plane V12. It has been central to the design of many Lamborghinis since the Miura. It’s slow-cooked, refined, seasoned, and done to perfection. Yeah, we don’t want that around these parts, we want displacement and raw power. Throw the meat on the grill in the form of a Chevy small block, 5.7 liters of raw power stroked out to 6.2 liters and making 481 units of pure, and unadulterated democracy to its crank. It’s almost the most basic of V8s, bulletproof and consistent. Part Availability is much higher if anything ever goes wrong with it, and aftermarket support is endless. These engines were used in Racing, family cars, minivans, trucks, and boats, the basic patty. In Project Lamb, its engine was replaced with a crate engine that was ready to go. Edelbrock provided the electronics along with it, to convert it from carburation to electronic fuel injection (EFI). This was made incredibly easy with the kit, it’s a plug-and-play kit replacing the inlet manifold with provision for port injection and fuel rails and delivery along with the Electronic Control Unit (ECU).

Once you’ve cooked your patty, you have to add the cheese, and that cheese is the EFI system, this overall system brings the engine into the 21st Century. The small block was mated to a gearbox from Renault. The UN1-16 gearbox can be found in cars like the Lotus Espirit. The shifter was a little dated though, and needed some ingenuity using some parts from the a Suzuki for the shifter assembly.

The cooling system was built around the new engine set up as well. A dual aluminum radiator set up was placed at each vent just behind the passenger doors, they were mounted up with brackets and fans attached to them. Racingline hoses replaced the old hoses and a new filler tank was added at the top of the system so it can be bled easily. These radiators are so far doing a good job keeping engine bay temps down coupled with their fans. Coolant temperature sensors would then be run to the Edelbrock ECU, where it can be managed.

With, air, spark, and fuel sorted with the engine it will run. All of this being managed with the new electronic management unit meant that the powertrain of the car would work and deliver its power to the gearbox. In our next “Project Lamb” update, we will take a look at what this Gap Burger patty would go in to make it the full package.

Aren’t you hungry?

Happy Motoring!

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Project Lamb

Alexandre Haynes — Thu, 13 Jul 2023 23:31:00 +0000

As a Bajan, I attest to the fact that if there was a really interesting car ever made in the world, there’s probably one in Barbados. This little gem in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean is home to some incredible car enthusiasts.

Does anyone remember when the screenshot of this image went viral in all the car groups in Barbados a few years ago? Everyone claimed they knew the person that made it, and a ton of discussion was started about where it came from, if it was real, and basically who had the sauce on this iconic machine. Well, along with SDRR Hydraulic & Industrial Spares Inc. Sleeper Forest was given the opportunity to serve up the much-desired sauce on this very spicy topic.

Yes, by the way, if you’re asking if it's a kit car you’d be right. No, if you think that just because it's a kit car it loses all validity and purpose of discussion, let’s get that out of the way to start. I think the fact that this is a kit means a lot more than if it was a real Countach, and at the end of this series of articles I am hoping you would feel the same way too.

The Dream

All great projects start with a dream, in fact, the brand Lamborghini started with a dream when the owner of a Ferrari was not given the dream car he wanted. So he built it himself. This is my first point of argument regarding this car being a kit car, and why that matters. Kit cars are made with similar if not the same passion as the original car it’s based on. There are many levels that are ultimately determined by budget at which to pursue replicas but at the end of the day, the joy spans from building, and driving. We have examples in California where resto-mod cars are being recreated by Singer Vehicle Design, which specializes in Porsche.

Let’s take a look at this car here though. The kit was created by a UK company called Mirage. Legend has it that it was made through very nefarious means. A Countach was rented and all the panels were copied and molds were made of them, the Countach was then returned after the deed was done. This means that the standard of replication was incredibly high. I am sure the designer of the Countach was rubbing his ears all weekend when that happened, however, this cannot be confirmed. The production of this clone was definitely different from what was standard at the point of time, where a Pontiac Fiero was used as a donor car, it was extended and random panels slapped on it, and it was shipped off as an “Umborghini Countach”

This specific kit was imported to Barbados in 1996 by Evolution Cars in Six Roads. Specializing in Moke conversions, specifically the Suzuki Maruti moke and the fiberglass-bodied mokes. They even had one that was dubbed the Limoke as it was a stretched version. This Kit utilizes Lambo OEM parts, and in definite Lambo fashion, those parts came from other car companies. As you can see…. A Lamborghini is a kit car itself, assembled in Italy. Indicators and headlights from Fiat, locks from Mercedes, you get the idea. Knowing this goes a long way when building or repairing the kit. When the Kit was fully assembled it was presented to its first owner, he would drive it once or twice and then it sat. He sadly took ill and passed away eventually. The car was in storage for many years until it was found again, and the opportunity to restore it came up.

The powerplant of this kit car used an American 350 cubit small block V8. It was carbureted. This was mated to a Renault UN15 gearbox, something you would find in a Lotus Espirit, another rear-mid-engined car. After its maiden voyage with new ownership, it was clear this car was going to need some work and lots of it. It was definitely no Lamborghini. The suspension was shagged! And with windows that don’t go down more than a crack air-conditioning was imperative. The small block V8 left much to be desired to feel like a supercar, shifting gears felt like stirring soup and with those ultra-wide tires, steering was going to need some kind of mechanical assistance.

These fundamental points needed to be addressed if this car had any hope of being anything enjoyable to drive. Now that we have introduced you to “Project Lamb”, we will finally go in-depth, on how this project was reimagined, into someone’s dream car. The next article is coming soon, so stay tuned! Happy Motoring!

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What gets you passionate?

Rashad Holligan — Thu, 01 Apr 2021 03:13:54 +0000

What are you passionate about?

If you’re anything like me, the answer has always (and I mean ALWAYS) been cars. From as young as I can remember, I have been surrounded by petrol sipping chunks of metal on wheels, including the persons who celebrate them and come together collectively to share whatever they have to offer in the ecosystem we know as automotive culture.

The immersion that I have experienced since I was an infant is documented. Growing up in the late ’90s and early 2000’s surrounded by a wine-red Toyota GT turbo Starlet and later, a Toyota AE111 Levin BZ-R while going to shows and Motorsport events sparked my love for the whole automotive culture.

PS - if anyone from Barbados Rally Club or any other organisers are reading this, we need that Lower Brighton to Greens St. George stage again please and thank you.

Me at 3 years old

In fact, I grew up in Brighton St. George where the rally stage was just a stones throw away. I remember Paul Bourne’s Subaru Impreza WRC with the iconic Plus and Banks beer liveries, his rival Roger Skeete in his blue and yellow Havoline Peugeot and Ford Escort, “Electric Micey” Trevor Manning and my favourite of all, Josh Read in his then Automotive Art livery Toyota KPseries Starlet. There was just something about the way he drove so perfectly in control while on the limit that made him an absolute hero in my eyes and one day I would love to be able to have a conversation with him.

I have a deep love for rallying and many visceral experiences in my life step from these events. I can think about Kris Meeke’s first rally in Barbados with the WRC Corolla where he made a handbrake turn look extremely easy! This same turn gave everyone else, including Paul Bourne, a challenge to get through.

(Todds-Woodland) to the track and Mark Maloney’s fire breathing Mazda RX3 with the Guinness livery (still the best sounding car I’ve ever heard), Bizzy with the Silver Bullet and Roger Mayers with his ex rally Ford Focus that seemed invincibly and unfairly fast.

When I wasn’t at events, I was riding around with my old man in his GT Starlet. I would always grin uncontrollably whenever he did pulls. For a good part of my childhood, I loved the attention that a red 2 door hatchback would draw every morning when I was dropped off at school, always drawing a crowd of gleeful admirers.

me at 4,5 maybe?

I remember my first ever heartbreak! For many it is their first relationship, but for me it was when he sold that car. Thankfully, shortly after, I got to fall in love with a new toy- the AE111 BZR. My favourite thing about this car was the way it sounded and the way it threw me back in my seat. Absolute machine. When I wasn’t riding around or at the track or in the elements at rally, I was daydreaming about or drawing cars ( my mother still jokes about it to this day).

the Sheriff and I in 2013/2014 maybe?

Another thing I got into was capturing memories when I was much younger. Looking back, what was then just a casual young enthusiast getting a few quick photos with cars was really just a precursor to what would later become something I would take much further in content creation. Along the way, I got to meet a few of my heroes including “The Sheriff” Roger Skeete, as well as former Suzuki SX4 WRC driver Toni Gardemeister and GT3 driver Niki Lanik. In the meanwhile, I would be filling the storage on my BlackBerry phones and later iPhones with many car photos and videos. I would even take photos whenever I travel, especially on long road trips.

Race Of Champions or Top Gear. I can’t remember which but the MP4-12C and the very beautiful Ferrari Enzo

Audi Sport Quattro S1 replica at rally a few years back

photo of Mark Maloney’s Mazda RX3 in the Rockstar Energy livery taken on a BlackBerry 8320

my first attempt at photo editing

Everything came full circle! I grew up drawing cars but besides art, I always had an interest in mechanical engineering. I studied auto mechanics at the SJPP and recently I found a new way to express myself through my art and to combine the three things I love; photography, cars and engineering. After school I had a few jobs including ‘Island Safari’ and ‘Sun Tours’. I worked at the airport from December 2016 and during that time, I took advantage of the opportunities that were open to me. Some of those opportunities include learning and working on aircraft ground support equipment and when no one was looking, getting a few shots with the planes. I always had an interest in fighter jets but during that time I really grew to appreciate commercial flights as well.

me in one of the four turbines in an Airbus A340

Airbus A321 tail of a jet Blue flight

I worked at the airport until 2020 when the pandemic forced me out of work. During the time home, I began to take content creation more seriously and increased the quantity and more importantly for me, the quality of my art. I used this extra free time to let my creativity reign by learning how to use photoshop, taking inspiration from my favorite creators and most importantly- spending hours doing exactly what I want to do to share with the world and whether that means I have a style or I totally missed, I’m okay with the outcome because I know that I got to contribute my art to the community.

So, I told you what I get passionate about. Now I think it’s time that I tell you who I am. Some of you may know my Instagram handle, ‘@Holli.Art’. For those of you who don’t, I go by Shad Holli and I’m here to say that I’m now part of the Sleeper Forest family. I’m a content creator who puts an artistic twist on photos, videos and renders and very soon 3D modelling. Everything seems to be coming full circle, one day hopefully I’ll be designing parts for you all to enjoy but until then, I hope you enjoy the written content. Ciao!

my instagram my instagram my portfolio my portfolio

Jaguar F-Pace S rendered as a rally car

Consistency

Maurice Chapman — Tue, 02 Mar 2021 14:20:00 +0000

Since the last update the GC8 WRX has been through A LOT, project cars are a true test of patience, will power and financial wizardry.

In my last article, I mentioned the next step for the car would be getting some work done on the engine, and I did. It was way worse than anyone expected. The valve stem seals were worn and that's the reason the engine would smoke on cold starts.

The rod in the third cylinder was discoloured and extra toasty. The bearings were worn and pitted and there were oil leaks everywhere, I have no idea how this thing didn't blow up, maybe it was Subaru reliability? Now that the engine was rebuilt with new seals and bearings it runs like new.

My goal with this car has always been to get it back to stock form and keep it reliable and fun. I think I've achieved that, but I've wanted to have some fun with it. When I got the car back I decided to give drag racing a try. It's fun and challenging on its own but I'm more interested in something a little more technical and better suited to my car. Plus, I'm scared of blowing up my 5-speed during a 6k rpm launch.

What I've always been the most interested in was Autocross, we've covered a few autocross events and it's always been fun, the competition is friendly and healthy, it's a good group of people. So back in 2019, I decided to compete. I was a complete novice to this motorsport, I've never really pushed the car so I didn't know its limits. It was exciting. To this day (2021) I've done 9 events or 1 and 1/2 seasons. For my first event, I replaced the brake pads and just sent it, crappy tires and all. It was fun but the car was everywhere a N/A Toyota starlet with coil-overs beat me by two seconds, granted he is a good driver, but I knew my car could do better, even in stock form.

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

In an effort to make the car more suitable for the second event, I got new tires 205/45/16s just road tires. Competition tires weren't in the budget yet but maybe further down the line I'll get a set. I've also gotten a Cusco front and rear strut brace, which has really helped with the handling. The front of the car feels much stiffer now.

The more events I entered, the more I realized that the drivers skill is more important than the mods. Granted, good tires are probably the best mod you can make for this event but they're useless if you can't drive. Our autocross group held a training session recently and I let two of the previous champions drive my car and it felt completely different, I didn't know it could perform like that. I've decided to focus more on improving my driving skills rather than mod my car. All in all, the car performs amazingly, there's a lot of body roll because the suspension is still stock and my bushings are as old as time, but I'll get to that. I really need to become a better driver for now.

I’m looking forward to seeing what my mostly stock WRX can do.

I’m not that great, I was just more consistent than the other rookies.

More to come - Keep Motoring Along

It's 2....3 years now? How deep in am I?

Alexandre Haynes — Wed, 06 Jan 2021 01:36:31 +0000

A younger me wanted a project car, and I happened upon a Ford Escort Mk4. What younger Alex didn’t know, was the headache, frustration, infuriation and immense displeasure fixing a rusty car can be in Barbados. He also didn’t know the immense satisfaction that could be acquired through accomplishment. Whether the satisfaction outweighs the frustration remains to be seen.

A New Hope

The only two articles that I wrote regarding my project car were written with elation. Seeing all that progress happening made me so happy. Unfortunately, my joy was short-lived. The interpersonal relationship between myself and the company that was supposed to be doing the welding and rush repair broke down. Frankly, I’m annoyed with myself for not vetting the business sufficiently. If I had done enough then my car wouldn’t have been left in worse condition than how it was originally. Even now, thinking about how my dream was collapsing still gives me stabs of headache and makes me wonder if my holding on stemmed from hope or from bitterness. Needless to say, my blue Escort MK4 is dead. After brushing the last bits of dirt over the coffin of my dreams, “A New Hope” arose.

Maybe I was being looked after, but a really good friend of mine sent me a message with a picture randomly one afternoon, it was an image of a for sale post on Facebook Marketplace. The picture was of a car on sale and so, of course, the remnants of my lost dream tugged at my heartstrings. Even though I already had a project car, who would’ve known just a week later I would be in need of an entire car for my project? I studied the image and said to myself “get it together!”. So, I took a minute to recompose myself and made a deal with the former owner to make the car my own. It was a late model Escort 1989 and it had definitely seen better days. However, the project was back on and I was back in the game. I was building an escort again and I would learn from the mistakes of the past. I needed to learn from my mistakes and take better steps to make sure things are done the way they needed to be done.

Radio Silence

When the curtain of silence is drawn over a project, sometimes persons may believe that it went quietly into the dark. Alas, that was not the case with this dream! I did realise though, that some things that are so close to the heart are better left out of other peoples ears. Ahead of me was a very difficult journey that needed to be restarted, it even took a whole year before I was able to get the ball properly rolling again. I did my research and then I sent the car off as the engine of my dreams, first to be prepped and then to be repaired. Thankfully, my research paid off and this company handled my fragile dream with the utmost care, taking great interest to do the bodywork the way I wanted it done. I will admit and sometimes I grew quite impatient but like most good things, it took some time. My patience and perseverance paid off and my project felt a little bit heavier and looked a little more colourful.

The car was in dire shape to say the least. Lots of work would have to go into it if it was to go into working condition. I was able to source the replacement panels for the battery tray and a few other parts of the car from on the island. My first attempt, the blue Escort, came to good use and served as the donor car, arming with a variety of parts that helped me push the work onto the car itself. There were also some unexpected events that slowed the progress but the bodywork was able to be completed in about a year of hard work and patience.

My first Mod.

After getting all the welding and repair work done, it was time to change my mindset. These were now uncharted waters and I was no sailor. I was already feeling overwhelmed and confused so I decided to enlist the help of the island’s Escort specialist, Freddie Mapp. There’s nothing he doesn’t know about these retro Fords, he helped me a lot.

The first item on the agenda was test fitting some Sierra 2wd 4pot callipers to the car, with the new rotors. This was a lot easier said than done because the brakes were incredibly worn out. Surface rust and solid rubber seals seized pistons and fused fittings all needed to be deconstructed. I took my time, put in some elbow grease and things slowly started progressing. The second thing to be done was offering up the part and machining the pointing points so everything fit where it’s supposed to be. Feel free to check out the progress photos in the gallery below, the images are in no specific order but it gives you an idea of the before and after quality.

Major Steps

The images in this article span a number of years. Literally around a year and a half to about 2 years counting from the first image of the car. I had underestimated the length of time it would take for this project to take off. During the waiting periods I was still writing articles on other cars and still doing photography but my fledgeling car was still in the back of my mind.

Right now with a global pandemic overrunning the earth, and countries initiating lockdowns and curfews it is really perhaps the perfect time to spend time at home and work on your car. Maurice was in training for about two years at our island’s polytechnic institution. You would never believe what he was learning to do! Bodywork. So choosing him to do the paint job was a no brainer.

It could be of no surprise to any of you readers that being able to work on my car on my own truly made my year. Having the rust removed, leaving the body shop and then having my friend and partner doing a spectacular job with the paint work. These all contributed to my elation with this project so far. I feel so appreciative to my friends and all the people that I have met while working on this project.

So after a rollercoaster two-year journey, my car is finally home. I guess it’s time to change gears and move on to the next aspect of the project. I will keep you posted, until then, happy motoring!

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I don't even have a competitive bone in my body

Alexandre Haynes — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 04:22:09 +0000

We caught up with Jason Downey and Kristina Pinto after Sol Rally Barbados, for a chat. We learned more about them, what inspires them, and drove them to tak...

We caught up with Jason Downey and Kristina Pinto after Sol Rally Barbados, for a chat. We learned more about them, what inspires them, and drove them to take part in the 2020 rally. Find out about the spills and thrills and the unique opportunities had when persons pursue their passions with the spirit of persistence.

Enjoy the Image Gallery Below!

Photos By: Alexandre Haynes & Jody Forte

So until next time! Happy Motoring!

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This Canary's magic may surprise you.

Alexandre Haynes — Sun, 10 May 2020 20:52:50 +0000

I think Rally has a lot of expectations behind it. There’s so much footage of purpose-built cars tearing up gravel, tarmac, and even ice stages around the world. Ridiculous anti-lag systems and fire all over their business end. Needless to say, this is why so many of us really love Rally as a discipline. Lets be honest, even if it was just a fad, we have all wanted to be a rally driver, in the hot seat of a car doing 160 kmph with only a twitch of the steering wheel separating you from a tree or post and shaving 0.223 seconds in a stage. What though, does it take to be a Rally driver? To have a car that’s competitive? To have that crucial ability to change adverse circumstances into learning experiences and character-building opportunities?

Meet Pierre Clarke. During the day he’s an employee of S.D.R.R Hydraulic & Industrial Spares Inc. (SDRR) here in Barbados, but on his off-time, he moonlights as a Rally Driver. He’s been doing pretty well too. We have covered one of SDRR’s cars already, a K-swapped Honda Fit. In their garage though, there was another project coming together, Pierre’s EK 4 Honda Civic. Despite the annual Rally Barbados season not coming off as planned because of the COVID-19 Pandemic of 2020, I am pretty glad I was still able to have a first-hand experience with the car being prepped and put together along with SDRR.

Pierre started rallying back in 2013, so he’s about 7 years into his rally career at this time of writing, and he really has had his share of trials. He’s experienced crashes, rollovers, and had to deal with the injuries that come with these. None of these have deterred him from pressing on. A serious crash can really damage your confidence as a driver, I’m sure many persons who would’ve spent some time putting together a rally car out of pocket, only to ram it into a telephone pole, trying to shave off half a second would rather just give up. Not Pierre, he pressed on, showing admirable tenacity about his craft.

There’s no magic behind a competitive car

Time for some hard truths! Magic doesn’t make your car fast, but when you build it correctly putting time and effort into it, there’s definitely a magic that results from the car. An important factor in building a car correctly is having a proper workspace. What I really love about SDRR is the way they have taken a passion for working with the passions of their staff. The passion of Motorsport. They have allowed this car to be built on-site, and they have offered assistance for major hydraulic oriented parts and spares needed to make the build happen.

Pierre has experienced the bittersweet challenge of building a second a rally car. He decided to start with a good base. He acquired his EK 4 out of the UK, where the team at Racinglines oversaw the preparation of the car, so it would meet the safety requirements for a rally. Class requirements limit the number of engine options available for the car. Pierre competed in a class that’s similar internationally as Clubman last year, but now the car is in Modified 1 (M1) class. This means he has to keep the car, drive-train wise, pretty close to what it would’ve been built with from the factory but he’s allowed some slight modifications. The Honda EK series, saw it’s halo engine with the EK 9’s Type R variant, which used the B16 motor.

This B16 despite being a halo engine doesn’t mean it can do without modification. In fact, this is really Pierre’s first time using an engine that has been modified, it’s only smaller mods that help with the flow of the head. He’s replaced the factory throttle body with a Skunk 2 throttle body, and he port matched the manifold so it opened up to the head more. He also dropped in some larger cams in the head as well, this pushed the power band of the engine more to the top end where it would usually sit during a stage.

On the Exhaust side, the same treatment of port matching was used; this helped the exhaust gasses escape at a higher rate. What this means is that the engine will breathe better and be far more responsive to throttle positions. Besides this, the engine is still pretty much a standard Type R B16 motor.

The oil pan was baffled, to prevent oil starvation during cornering. This by far is one of the most important modifications you can do to a race-oriented engine. Especially a front-wheel-drive car. Oil starvation is probably at the top of the list of things that kill an engine in a build. Keeping engine temperatures down is also important as well because the engine is mildly tuned, a standard double cored half size radiator and an oil cooler will do the trick for the coolant, and this Setrab oil cooler works for keeping the oil temperatures down in the car.

Showing an image of his modified oil pan

Sure, this is a standard B16 with a few mods for flow, it’s nothing over the top, but it’s reliable, it has never stopped running and it’s putting its power down to the road. In a rally, this is by far more important than an engine at its limit thats unreliable and finicky. The engine of a car doesn’t make the car entirely, it’s what the engine is teamed up with that’s important. The chassis, and the suspension.

AN old block

A drivers’ Car

I’ve mentioned building a second rally car as a bittersweet experience. This refers to the gains and losses incurred when it comes to what a team would’ve spent on development for the previous car and what goes into the new car. Pierre would’ve spent a few years developing the car as a package which made it competitive for him at that point in time. The team would lose that research when going into a new chassis. On the other hand, a new platform brings with it, new possibilities. This can change for the better what you may be able to accomplish in a season, and so far, despite some hardships last season they are confident the car’s weak points are now covered.

It’s a spartan interior. Just the essentials are displayed on the dash, it’s funny, but he doesn’t use a speedometer, no time to check how fast you’re going when you’re going fast, it’s ironic. The tachometer and the shift light is very prominent, as well as water temp, and oil pressure. The car still uses the standard gearshift, it feels “notchy” enough and it communicates well with the driver.

Ah yes, the pedal box was completely changed to this Tilton kit, which gives great feedback when it comes to braking, the brakes are now fully manual, and it takes some getting used to, really have to press the brakes like a madman. This is a huge modification to the character of the car. We take it for granted how easy our vacuum-assisted brakes are, but having the tactile feel of your calipers on the rotors can really be intuitive when it comes to gauging needed stopping power for a rally stage. When a driver climbs this learning curve, it’ll be difficult to go back to the more humane way of braking.

The team has invested man-hours making this car a driver’s car. Rally is a sport, where drivers gain one up on their competition through corners, and driver confidence. Class restrictions, call for limitations in power, so gains are made where the car makes contact to the road. This is why trust in your machine is so essential to making a car competitive.

With added suspension modifications a car will corner at higher speed. This in turn changes the fluid dynamics of the car’s factory fuel system. A car starving for fuel, won’t be competitive, this fuel system was built entirely in-house at SDRR, with a surge tank which keeps fuel under pressure, this negates side to side movement, and gives the car a constant fuel supply in any situation.

A rally Car takes more than just a driver

When it comes to Rally legends, we talk about the names of the drivers, sometimes the name of the co-driver is lost in the fanfare so imagine what happens to that engineer who found the issue in a gearbox at the service stop, or the engineer who patched together a fix so the car could go on to win. We forget that it’s not the driver that makes the team great but it’s the results of the chemistry of a group that comes together with a specific goal in mind.

They are some persons on the team though, who weren’t physically there while I was shooting this article, but I could see the results of the work they put into the car. The core team at SDRR and Pierre’s co-workers really do share that same passion and love for Motorsport. Birds of a feather really do flock together and it’s exciting to see what results with when the opportunity arises.

At the outset, I asked 3 questions. What does it take to be a Rally driver? What does it take to have a car that’s competitive? What does it take to have that crucial ability to change adverse circumstances into learning experiences and character-building opportunities? From what I found it, I think I can answer those 3 questions, firstly it takes tenacity and perseverance. Secondly, there’s no magic behind a competitive car, take your time and do your research, build it to the specifications you need and drive the car so you can make more realistic decisions about what changes need to be made. Lastly, how can you take adverse circumstances and turn them into character building opportunities? Facing your weak points, working on them and having a reliable team, that bolsters confidence when looking into the unknown.

Finishing up the shoot and interview with Pierre and the team, we left off with the car basically reassembled and starting. A video of the car will be posted so you can take a look and hear what it sounds like for yourself. Pierre was waiting for his exhaust manifold to come back from the fabricator. This won’t be the last we will hear from them. Once the car is up and running, look out for another update on this Canary. I was really happy for the chance to work with SDRR to make this content!

Meet Pierre Clarke. He's an employee of S.D.R.R Hydraulics & Industrial Spares Inc. (SDRR) here in Barbados during the day, but on his off-time, he moonlight...

So until next time! Happy Motoring!

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Passion or Project?

Kashaya Reid — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 00:12:07 +0000

What do you hope to gain from this? Why are you spending so much time/money on this? Is this really worth all the effort?

“It’s what non-car people don’t get. They see all cars as just ton and a half, two tons of wires, glass, metal and, rubber. That’s all they see. People like you or I know, we have an unshakable belief that cars are living entities. You can develop a relationship with a car. And that’s just what non-car people don’t get.
”

— Jeremy Clarkson

What gets you excited? What gets your heart racing and maybe even a cheeky embarrassing smile on your face. What guides your mind towards certain times of the day or perhaps certain days of the week? Think about it for a second! Please don’t say NETFLIX! Of course, passion can take you into film and television, but i want us to go a bit deeper than watching a sociopathic hottie stalk and kill people to be with the one he loves. Okay, wait… we are talking about passion and we have to agree that Netflix has got some guys with killer PASSION!

Anyway, back to reality, we’re here thinking about what makes us stir. Some people define passion as unmistakeable and excessive. If you have it, everyone will see it. It is a such a strong emotion towards something that it cannot simply be contained. It can be art, education, spirituality, sports or anything of the sort. For most readers here, your passion lies within the four wheels in your garage, understandably so.

As car enthusiasts, some of you readers might be asked the same questions posted at the outset. And as most of you would recall, it isn’t always easy to answer such questions, especially to someone who doesn’t share your passion towards cars and their culture. So I guess that’s what it really comes down to; PASSION. The question arises, then, is passion something you are born with or something that develops within you.

“Passion : Intense, driving, or overmastering feeling or conviction”

— Merriam-Webster Dictionary

I would like to think that I am a passionate person. Let me rephrase, I am a passionate person. I love to express it and see it being expressed in as many different ways as I possibly can, open to any new avenues that make themselves available to me. A fish that swims in all oceans, so to speak. I love love love the arts; music, dance, movies. I learned languages because language is also another way to express passion, why would I want to enjoy passion in only English when Spanish tingles my ear and French gets my heart burning. Books are another thing I am passionate about, escape to Victorian England or in a land that only exists in the imagination, what a beautiful way to express passion.

“I was brought up in a car family, my dad loved cars and I was taught the art of making an Austin 7 operate.”

— Nick Mason (Musician)

But even I can admit that this wasn’t always the case, so does that mean that my passions have been developed? Were they born or bred? I was born into a household that had shelves upon shelves of DVDs, different genres, different time periods, all beautiful. So being exposed to such, I was able to develop a love for them, so did my siblings who grew up in the same household. So in my opinion, BRED - 1 BORN - 0, easy enough! However, I do have this appetite for learning languages, which none of my family members seem to share. I studied them in school for years, I even visited different countries to immerse myself in these languages simply because I had this innate and inexplicable love for them. Looking at it this way, it can be concluded that this wasn’t developed per se; does that mean that I was born with it? Perhaps. So based on this level footing of my passions as it stands in my life, one can be born with these desires or inclinations towards certain things, or it can be taught or developed by one’s surroundings. Fair enough.

Another interesting factor to note is that passions are sometimes developed by being within a certain surrounding environment. Perhaps you like to play basketball and there is a basketball court right opposite an entertainment race track. The heavy vroom of the cars might startle you at first and then you realise you’re becoming more and more interested in analysing each one. Was it the iconic Subaru? Or perhaps someone with a worked up Mitsubishi Lancer. You start to develop a slight passion for car culture just by physically being in a surrounding area. So even though things you’re passionate about may be nearby other things you become interested in, they may also overlap. Let me give you an example.

Intro: “Kashaya King”, new adition to thE ‘Sleeper forest’ team

Passion in Travel

“Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.”

— Oprah Winfrey

In the past, my brain would never linger on anything about cars besides perhaps their colour. But once I dust off some cobwebs in the long term memory file, I remember. I remember, a young girl who acted like a tom boy that played video games for entire summers and knew the names of every car in ‘Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2’ and ‘Gran Turismo 3’ for Playstation 2. It’s amazing that in my preteen years I seemingly had a passion for video games and fast cars. I remember the Supras and the Corvettes, outrunning the unrealistically fast police chasing me in the games. Even sometimes playing as the cops, or splitting the screen and playing against my cousin or sisters (yes sisters, not brothers). I remember choosing the exact car as my cousin because i didn’t know the difference and then being able to rattle off the slight variations in cars as the summer went along. I remember messing up the driving test in Gran Turismo right at the end and mistakenly pulling down the entire playstation because the remote was physically connected back in those days. Oh wow, I just got one of those cheeky embarrassing smiles simply thinking about the good times I had on those car games. I definitely can’t forget the short gameplay in ‘007 Nightfire’ on that beautiful grey Aston Martin, it was one of my favourite levels.

Now that i can take a breather from me fan-girling my own memories, I can relate that maybe I do have a slight passion for cars, untapped in recent years, but it’s there. What a relief!

SIDE STORY

This colour is appropriately called “porsche speed yellow”.

A Proper English Summer Car Ride: This is a brief story of the beautiful Porsche

I have a friend in the middle of England that I visited in the middle of 2018. I was visiting this part of the country for only the weekend and spent some time admiring this car from the window. At this time my friend, who we’ll call ‘T’ was actively driving the shimmering black one and I was just drawn to it and so of course I had to ask some questions.

Both of these belong to the same englishman

Apparently he that buys a new car ever so often and fixes it up for resale! Marvelous right? Buy a beautiful, fast luxury car, fix it up and make a profit, all the while being able to enjoy the beauty and the speed in the meantime. Sounds like a fool proof plan to me.

So being suddenly interested in cars and wanting to at least get one ride in it before travelling back to London, T took me on a ‘what should have been longer' than it was’ journey to get a smell of fresh air from the front seat of a luxury car. I took a fast ride in this in the middle of the summer 2018 and I regret nothing. I must say, I was never very interested in going fast before but that ride was thrilling, ‘Ford V Ferarri’ level of awesome. It was chilly outside and we were on the way to get fish and chips, I kid you not, sounds quite cliché but we were really on our way to buy fish and chips in middle of England.

I still remember the looks on peoples faces when we parked on the side of the road and got out to enter this tiny shop on the roadside. If envy had a facial expression then I’ve seen it. It’s not hard to imagine why so many people would see that car and wish it could be them jumping out.Unfortunately, I don’t have any fancy inside information on these cars but maybe I can write a full story of them in a later article. To think that I’m not a real car person but I was able to recognise and enjoy the beauty of this car and the story of it’s owner. This beautiful memory is printed onto my brain as bright as the sun shining off of the polished coats of this Porshe and I LOVE IT.

“It is obvious that we can no more explain a passion to a person who has never experienced it than we can explain light to the blind.”

— T. S. Eliot

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BACK TO THE MAIN EVENT.

Books in Spanish

Some might be wondering up till now, why am I writing about random passions on a blog space for car enthusiasts. But the truth is, and I admit this with a heavy heart, I’m writing on a car blog with limited information on modern car culture. As you would have seen from this article, I know nothing beyond what a normal young adult woman would know. But this whole idea of passion being born or bred makes me wonder. It makes me think about the possibility of being a real “car enthusiast” in the future, from the streets of whatever the street was called in PS2 games to the streets of whatever street you’re reading this from.

Thinking of all this is a bit overwhelming but I remember the words of a famous German philosopher named Friedrich Nietzsche who said “Without music life would be a mistake”. Do you agree? Perhaps not, this isn’t a blog about music no doubt, but still passion is passion. Wherever yours is, whether you have found it or yet searching, life really is a mistake without it. Even though, car culture may never overwrite the place in my heart where listening to a perfectly synchronised Orchestra playing Beethovan is, I do believe there is space in my heart for overlapping and equally intriguing passions.

So welcome to my thoughts. By the end of the year I think we will all know from my writing on this space whether the “Caribbean car culture” has become my passion or if it will remain a well balanced project. Maybe it comes as something of a meeting in the middle, a passion project, if you will. Something I do in my spare time, even perhaps making time for it, in order to obtain some benefits, or some elusive expression of passion. So i guess we shall see.

Learn more about Passion Learn more about Passion

So you want to wash your car?

Alexandre Haynes — Mon, 13 Jan 2020 01:19:15 +0000

For the second time around, Automotive Art is offering its “Gearbox” limited edition package. Who is it targeting? Is this something you would want as a car enthusiast? Did it exceed expectations? I’ll try my best to answer these questions in this article.

Detailing your car the right way, with the right products, has become a serious talking point in the car community abroad and it has trickled down to our community here in Barbados as well. Dealing with streaking, paint swirls and of course because of our location in the Atlantic Ocean we are dealing with the unique issue of Saharan dust. Here enters Automotive Art with car care being top of their list so of course they would want to help you maintain your ride.

The Basics

Sitting at the bottom of the Gearbox, we have “The Works” from Surf City Garage. There are: (1) Wash and Wax car cleaner (2) Dash-away interior cleaner for your interior surfaces (3) Glass cleaner and (4) Wax detailer. Contained within these 4 bottles, is the ability to give your car a mini detailing session of your own. The wash and wax will protect the exterior of the car, and the detailer will tidy up those hard to reach places you may have to go over after your rinse.

I think it’s quite clear what glass cleaner does, and so we’re moving right along! Dash cleaner would allow you to wipe up and clean your dashboard and other interior plastics and leather textures, refreshing them to an almost factory state. Of course all of this depends on how bad you let it slip, I hope you’ve been keeping a tidy ship.

Personally I’ve used Surf City’s cleaning products before and it’s always exceeded my expectations. The wash and wax foam up quite decently, although I do find myself using a bit more than stipulated, might just be me. As for the other products they do what they are supposed to, they clean up the glass and the inside of your car quite well. An added bonus is the scent they leave behind, its pretty sweet, if i do say so myself!

After you’ve washed the car down on the outside, its time to stop dirty droplets from drying onto your precious car. For drying your car off, there is a chamois provided within the package and a microfiber cloth for cleaning your glass and more delicate parts of your cars interior. It would’ve been nice though, if the Gearbox came with a rinsing sponge with a microfiber exterior so you wouldn’t have to look for one separately. But overall they give you a well-rounded package for cleaning and drying the exterior and for any sprucing up that needs to be done on the inside.

More than Basic

These gift coupons were included: (1) A free headlight polish (2) 50% off a wheel alignment and (3) 10% off 4 quarts of Valvoline. Sometimes these are things you want to buy but just never get around to it. Automotive Art makes it just all too easy for you, just pop in and there you have it!

Styling

Alright, so you’ve stepped out the million-degree sun, and you want to roll out to meet up with your boys at the “hot boi” spot. Your car is rinsed and waxed all in one, check! Your dash and interior are clean, check! What’s missing? Your car doesn’t smell like apples, what are you going to do? Don’t worry Automotive Art has you covered. I got an apple-scented air freshener. Of course, whether or not the air freshener smells like apples, is up to your nose but i’m sure we will all agree the scent is quite pleasing.

This Automotive Art limited edition snapback is also included, apparently, they are only available if you get a gearbox so DON’T MISS OUT! It sports a blacked-out automotive art logo and a vibrant underside, it’s an interesting understated look.

When it comes to personalizing your car with stickers, there’s an endless array of stickers out there. I believe a few of these stickers were just added as a cross-section of options for your ride or maybe inside of the workshop.

Automotive Art is the official dealer for FALKEN TIRES here in Barbados, and they have been running a long and a well executed marketing strategy resulting in these tires on your cars. I thought this scale model of a FALKEN TIRE liveried truck was pretty cool as a keeper for sure.

In my opinion overall the 2020 “Gearbox” was good, it covered the basics, and that is the most important part. It also gave an idea to an average consumer looking to get into some simple car care what it would entail. The limited edition items did give some incentive to collect one as well, if you’re a big fan of the brand, then you would want to represent those you support. I thought maybe the Gearbox could’ve included a wash sponge to go along with the rinse and wax and maybe 2 air fresheners so you can do more than one full clean up and touch up. The coupons are a great incentive to reach out to an Automotive Art store though, and in-store consumers will definitely stock up on more supplies while their car is being serviced. I’m looking out for the next one, to see how things could change or even improve. This is Alex and I’m signing off for now, happy motoring everyone!

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This Corn fed Evo isn't lacking in Power

Alexandre Haynes — Wed, 10 Jul 2019 03:45:28 +0000

This month, I wanted to make an effort to find more project cars, I am dubbing it “Project Car Awareness”. I am looking for those that were being built for a while, and really deserve to be followed up to find out what’s been going on with them. I reached out to “EVOSOCIETY” here in Barbados and they put me on the trail of this interesting EVO 8. If you have an interesting project, send Sleeper Forest a message in our form down below! We look forward to hearing from you.

Being Vegan is the latest dietary trend these days. Recently here in Barbados, we have been hyper alerted to things that damage the environment as well. Being Eco-friendly is all the rage. So it goes without saying that you should put your project car on a diet, a vegan diet. This Corn fed EVO 8 isn’t lacking in power on it’s healthy diet of corn juice.

Kyle and Jabarry

I met up with Jabarry “Prince” (in blue), and Kyle (in red) to talk about Jabarry’s project. He’s been working on it for the better part of 2 years now, and it’s been a long process of building to get the car to where it’s at now. He’s part of a local racing team here called “PK RACING” and he’s been building the car to specialize in Drag Racing.

The Workshop

Jabarry has built a space to work on the car at home, and his machine finds its way home and on jack stands when it’s time to start working on it. When I came by he was doing some work on the factory inlet manifold, he was exchanging it for a PRO Series intake, housing a larger throttle body, and a more free flowing design.

The first thing I like to do is really take in a workshop, it’s such a great place to photograph contrasts of textures. Shiny chrome tools covered in oil, and what would’ve been clean toolboxes, covered in dust from use. It tells the story of a home project, taking time after work and a few hours on weekends to squeeze that time with your machine.

factory inlet

Friends are a large aspect of home projects, as well. Jabarry has been part of PK Racing for a long time, and other than it being a racing team, it’s really a group of friends who really love cars. They would have grown up together, and eventually wanted to make their own mark on Barbadian car culture. His friends know, when they see the light on, he’s working and they’ll pass by and see how he’s doing.

Kyle helps offer up the new manifold.

the 4g63

Why are EVOs so good? Obviously,because their engines have the correct orientation, that’s why. Fight me in the comments section. Mitsubishi has built one of the most legendary engines. This is a fact. Over the years, they have been working on different ways they could really deliver the most this platform has to offer to the surface it’s used on. On paper this engine sounds pretty mundane. It’s a 4 cylinder turbo, with a 2 Liter capacity.

What’s amazing about it, is that it gets the job done. Jabarry has rebuilt the motor in this EVO, exchanging many of the internal factory parts for forged aftermarket parts. EVOs really come alive when you throw copious amounts of boost at them. They just take it all and throws the power out at you.

Highly boosted engines are not ideal when using pump gas. This is why, having a healthy diet is important to this build. This engine is making upwards of 38 psi of boost, and this is made possible by good old corn juice.

Ethanol is an organic fuel. It can be obtained from cane, corn and other plants. What we know as race fuel, is derived from corn. Ethanol allows an engine to run far more advanced timing than gasoline. Its overall energy density being lower than gasoline means you will have to flow a lot more fuel into the engine, this means changing the fuel pump, injectors and the regulators.

Using ethanol though, really improves the performance of your engine, its cooler, has a much higher octane than gasoline and burns much cleaner. Downside to ethanol means, he will have to refill almost every pass on the drag strip, but it grows on trees right?

Looking Ahead

This project has been setting some crazy times on our 8th mile at Bushy Park Raceway, it’s well into the six second range. Building the engine is definitely important when it comes to a drag car, but some time can be shaved off using some better suspension, and coil overs are definitely planned for the near future with this car.

He’s been running the factory diffs, and driveshafts on the car, and according to some, they say he’s on borrowed time with this aspect of the car due the change in power the car is making, but he’s willing to run them until something happens, then he’ll know he's really surpassed what the car is capable of.

This car is an ongoing project. I’m excited to see what else happens with it. I really appreciate the welcome from PK Racing, and allowing me to take a look at this pretty unique build.

Until next time, Happy Motoring, and don’t forget to eat your greens.

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It's called OEM+ right?

Alexandre Haynes — Thu, 07 Feb 2019 23:00:00 +0000

What does driving mean to you? If you can’t answer that question you probably don’t belong here. As an enthusiast, we can answer that question, but we know it’s a trick because there’s no single answer to it. Each of us can only say what we feel when it comes to the solution of that question. Some may want their car to be on steroids, nursing a bottle of nitrous-oxide and more juiced up than the Russian Olympic Team, and others love a car that breaks everyday, (I swear that’s not what FORD stands for). At the end of the day, we all need a hit, because driving is our passion.

Duane’s Honda back in 2018

Consuming this hit; now, this is where the passion starts, some of us are like addicts, and just like in a world of addictions, there’s the high functioning addicts, those who make it into an art-form. The real connoisseurs, make it sure it’s the purest, the cleanest and of course make sure it doesn’t interfere with other aspects of your life. Work Hard, Play Hard. Duane’s EG hatch, is his passion. He’s a real connoisseur. It’s been a little while since we left off with his project car. It’s driving now and I had the pleasure of heading out for a shoot with him. This is his rendition of Honda’s EG hatch. He’s built his Honda around what he loves to do, and that’s drive.

cruising on the roads 2019

Duane’s has still been dialing this car in, it takes a while because its a process, but so far he has had no regrets with the build. Project cars are never really finished to be honest. His car is a weekend warrior, it usually sits in the garage, till the weather is good, and the mood is right, when you can drive and just escape the stress of the week, or simply to enjoy the hard work put into building the car.

A JDM purist.

Honda maybe the most iconic Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) brands on the planet. This is something we’ve definitely covered before though, usually when it comes to Honda, it’s a whole subculture behind those who modify them. Calling out of Osaka prefecture in Japan, the Honda community there has been seen as the home of JDM car culture, and especially Honda’s subculture birthplace. It may be shocking but, most of the JDM culture we see today, is really a bastardized version of what this influence really meant.

Duane’s car screams 90’s JDM overtures. His RPF1s aren’t cambered out of usefulness, and his modest Osaka JDM rear wing politely fixes the OEM solution. These rims are extremely light, it helps save weight, and obviously, fitment is everything when it comes to filing the wheel arch, these are quite pleasing. The wider tire definitely gives way more grip.

The inside is where the magic happens though. He’s very carefully, kept the interior pristine, its the OEM Honda EG hatch set up, just sporting a few gauges and a MOMO wheel. His AEM wide-band looks like it came out of Honda factory like that. I love the way everything really feels like a 90’s era project. His car was actually an automatic before the swap, but he’s kept the standard dash cluster for now, with the idea of switching it to the cluster from an S2000. In my opinion small things like that, makes the car a bit more interesting, it tells it’s story really.

a view from the office

A basic set up is far more driver oriented.

Duane’s Honda, is by no means a Russian Olympian, it’s not juiced up, but it offers a particular driving experience that was craved for back in the era of the 90’s. He’s swapped the factory D series for in favor of the Integra Type R’s B18C. Technically, this makes his EG Hatch a Type R Honda? I’m probably starting a huge fire by saying that. Swapping the Engine was really easy, but he took on the extra task, of adding air conditioning to the car, and in Barbados, it really is worth it. A few weeks of planning and fabrication and adaptation of some pipes and hoses and he was was well on his way to luxury. The B18C in this car, makes around 180hp, which means he gets about 150 hp to the wheels. It’s a modest amount, but it does the job on this ultra light chassis. It’s really around the perfect performance to weight for a fun B road killer.

Cooled by mishimoto

B roads in Barbados

Where would you say is the perfect road in Barbados? Our roads usually spark debate, but don’t forget that we have some of the best tarmac rally stages in the Caribbean. When we talk about B Roads though, we mean those that are out of the way, not really connected to the highways, somewhere in the back country.

Barbados may have one of the most dense road networks in the world. On the upside of this, it means some roads maybe grow into obsolescence not by choice but simple pragmatism. Leaving them pretty lonely and pretty important for a weekend warrior. So instead of taking that left, you usually take when you know the road, how about you take the right and find out where that road leads you, because some of the best roads maybe sitting under your nose.

A good weekend bash, coming to an end, it’s always a good time to check in on the family, and see how they are faring, because we know the week is ahead, it’s a shame weekends don’t last forever. Maybe the fact we don’t always have the chance to drive for the sake of it, makes the ritual a lot more mystic.

RESPONSIBILITIES

I’m extremely pumped to have had the chance to shoot this JDM gem. It’s a new year with Sleeper Forest, and there’s so much to look forward to this year! New opportunities and new projects always bring new and exciting content to the website.

This is Alex and I’m signing off for now, happy motoring everyone!

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This Toyota Starlet EP82 is going to be the death of me

Byron Morris — Sun, 04 Nov 2018 01:58:56 +0000

A car manufactured the same year I was born, a car I had always loved and now a car I own, this Toyota Starlet EP82 is going to be the death of me. It's either going to work me to death or I'm going to get my head chopped off for all the money I’m going to throw at it over the years; one way or another, this love child is here to stay.

Every project needs to start somewhere, and bodywork was definitely on the top of the list along with suspension (more on that in another update), especially when you have a couple mini rust craters on the roof. I neglected it for a while but when an angel and a devil is on the same shoulder whispering in my ear, it was time to get it into bodywork and paint. the angel was there to save me from the pain of water leaking from the roof from progressive rusting and the devil telling me go full baller on the paint.

Well a little about me before we get deep into the article, most of the car scene would knows me as Vizionz ’93 Photography, but my name is Byron. I've been a car head for as long as I could remember and that love manifested into me falling into automotive photography. My plan for this build has probably been done time and time again but with every evolution of this 4 stage project, it's going to be a daily driver with autocross and time attack (hopefully it stirs at bushy park again) mode during the weekends!

So off to my cousin, Chillie Clarke, to get everything done in quick time. This isn't the first time I've seen him work but definitely the first time I've seen him working on a car; and trust the attention to detail is second to none. A cigarette in the mouth, sanding block and a bucket of water to wet sand the body with, he was already in his give when I got there on the day and nothing would stop him.

Touching the sanded primer/ filler spots around the car all I can feel is nothing but an extremely smooth surface, smoother than the previous paint on the car even; definitely took me for a loop! The rear right of the car that never lined up with the trunk is now aligned. The rust spots on the car that I always cringed at whenever they were in my sight, I can't remember which side had which spot, and did I say already it was buttery smooth. The only thing reminder of the car I know I first bought is the door handle I broke on the right passenger door.

It was time for another layer of primer; a cigarette and a steady hand is all it takes as the scent of the primer permeates the garage. Walking around the car one last time, I pay attention to all the spots I know that would’ve never been noticed till he did his work.

A spot of guide coat would bring an end to the day, just to pick up the sanding block and another cigarette again the next day. Till the next update, I'm just going to let you know now, it's going to be a bit sexier…

Gallery

Making a K20 Fit

Maurice Chapman — Sat, 27 Oct 2018 17:08:56 +0000

Companies are teams of people working together. Good Companies are made of good teams, this is why building a good team is always stressed upon when striving for excellence. A few companies may pay for their workers to go to the beach together, or play a sport together, but SDRR Hydraulics and Industrial Spares Inc is a little different. Instead of going to the beach, or playing a sport, they decided to build a car. This is a company retreat I can get behind.

JabarI works at sdrr barbados

SDRR HYDRAULICS AND INDUSTRIAL SPARES INC.

SDRR was founded in 1999, they specialize in the the repair and made to order assembly of hydraulic and air hoses, metal lines and control cables for agricultural, construction, marine, automotive and industrial applications. They also provide spare parts, lubricants, accessories and industrial supplies from industry leading brands such as Aeroquip, Deutz, Tamco Tools, Permatex, Wix and Phillips 66 Lubricants. They were also known for project car they had in the works, for a while now, they were posting progress images for a few years on social media while it was being built. When the guys at SDRR told SF to come down to take a look at their project car, we were naturally super excited.

An unlikely FIt

This Honda Fit wasn’t their initial idea. In fact, they were learning towards something German, but a Honda as a project car was tossed around as an idea in the office for a while and it eventually stuck. This chassis was one of the younger ones they found and it carried the RS badge from factory, which meant it was a 7 speed automatic 1.5 L Ecobox. This didn’t matter though, as they had plans to make this all change.

Now you must be asking yourself “but Maurice it’s just a Honda Fit,how is that special?” well besides the monocoque chassis which makes it very light weight and rigid. The Honda fit, is a biological descendant of the Honda Civic. This is gives it some measure of credence to it’s family occupation, that of being a track day bully.

Engineering a Race Car

Building a race car, actually starts with tearing said car apart and preparing it from the ground up. SDRR did not hold anything back when they were building this car. The chassis of the car wasn’t perfect when they started though, it suffered from front end damage when it was bought. That was fixed.

Looking into the cockpit of the car we can see the changes made which makes the car very track day oriented. Everything is now displayed on a Racepak cluster which covered the OEM cluster, the only thing it’s used for now is the fuel gauge. Making it super easy to track rpms and road speed and other miscellaneous things which are now easy to keep track of.

Bucket Seats and a detachable racing wheel were also added to, as well as a racing harness. these are super essential for safety of any occupant in the car. These seats were imported along with other important bits needed to make this car what is.

K-tuned Shifter

For the shifter, it was replaced by a K Tuned Race Shifter, ensuring gears aren’t missed, which can lead to lost time on the track and the easy to reach hand brake is right next to the shifter, for those really really, sharp corners should they show up. A swirl pot tank, was also added to the fuel tank this ensures there’s always positive pressure for fuel when taking high G corners.

Swirl pot and battery in the back

And, of course the part that ultimately stops the family from stepping into the rear of the car. The roll-cage, which was actually fabricated here on the island was installed. The battery of the car was moved to the middle of the chassis making some space in the engine bay, but it also helped to change the weight balance of the car. The Honda Fit actually has a really odd layout. It’s fuel tank sits in the center of the chassis, so the weight of a full tank of gas, the weight of the engine, and the driver all sits somewhere in the middle of the car.

“It handles extremely well, despite its suspension layout is very basic.”

— Jabari

Although the Fit wasn’t originally going to be their first choice when looking for a car to build. I’m sure they’re glad they did.

The engine

So, I know you clicked, because you saw K20, and nothing gets a JDM fan, or a Honda lover going as much as that one letter followed by 2 numbers. Creative builders have been finding ways to utilize this engine in as many ways as possible, from standard Honda to Honda swaps, to really weird Toyota and Nissan swaps.

The belly of the beast

Inside this Honda Fit, sits a 2.0L K20 engine, from a DC5 Integra Type R. Although this is a Honda to Honda swap though, it is rare swap to do so rare in fact, most parts were fabricated so it could work. Although the swap has been done before there aren’t many direct bolt on parts for this swap. The engine harness was built by Rywire. All of the braided brake lines, fuel lines, oil cooler lines and clutch lines were done by SDRR.

Just enough room

Although it’s stock the engine really hauls this car along, Type-R engines are amazing. The car weighs in at around 1085kgs (2392lbs) and with an engine making 214 whp its moves. The engine is managed by a Hondata ECU and was tuned by Fabian Tudor here in Barbados.

How Fit is it?

The car was built for the track and it has been doing well around our local track Bushy Park in both track days and Drag racing events. The car has done about 1:15 around the track and has done 8.9 seconds in the 1/8th of a mile at Drag racing events.

The biggest accomplishment is being able to finish this project. We all know how project cars go, a lot of them are never completed but after 4 years of work this one is up and running. K-swapped Honda Fit.

We love builds like these, putting a more powerful engine into a light chassis, conceptually simple but still complex. It’s always nice to see people getting together through their love of cars and getting things done. It’s a beautiful thing really.

Hatch Not Hot - Lucian Streets

Alexandre Haynes — Wed, 10 Oct 2018 05:40:47 +0000

An Article from our friends over at Lucian Streets in St. Lucia!

Although a popular phrase, the words ‘cheap’ and ‘cheerful’ really go together well about as often as fast and Prius. But on occasion, they do come together in a smiles for miles package, which is what we have here. No, not the fast Prius, the other bit. When you’re asked to think about a Toyota built sports car from the 90s, more than likely the Supra would spring to mind almost as quickly as it accelerates. But what if you’re told to think of something a little smaller? Celica, Levin? How about the Starlet? The Toyota Starlet Glanza V was the entry to the Toyota sports car brotherhood, but by no means is it to be taken for granted. With a punchy engine, go-kart like handling and so little weight that you have to pin it down when you park, the Starlet Glanza V is a potent little pocket rocket.

Starting out life as an economical hatchback, Toyota capitalised on the Starlet’s small size and decided to crank it up from mild to wild. Changes were made to the suspension in order to stiffen it up and improve handling, and under the hood Toyota added a turbocharger to the 4E-FE engine in order for it to produce 131HP fed to the front wheels through a close ratio 5 speed transmission. In OEM specifications the Glanza V wouldn’t have much of an issue keeping up with its larger brothers on tight and windy roads but as with almost every car in existence there was still something to be had. Some pent up potential left for one to discover for themselves.

Valence’s obsidian little fighter began its life in his hands as most Starlets do these days. Battered, faded and in need of love. Tired from years of abuse and changed owners. Not too long after purchasing it Valence breathed new life into the Starlet with a fresh paint job, front lip and many performance goodies. The car’s already impressive handling characteristics were improved on with polyurethane bushing and coilovers, and the car was given a decent amount of more go-go through an aftermarket ECU and TD04 turbocharger pumping air through a larger front mounted intercooler to help keep things, well…cool.

With the larger turbocharger, the 1300cc engine has to reach further up into its revs to get the turbo spinning fast enough to develop positive boost pressures but when it does, the little hatch hurls you towards the horizon at an alarmingly quick rate. And then when you get to the end of the horizon and need to go around a corner, it sticks to the pavement with tenacious grip and minimal body roll, seeming to avoid the laws of physics like a disease. In a world dominated by big ticket star cars, sometimes we need to take a step back and appreciate the light, lower power fun machines. The sort of cars that cost next to nothing to maintain and modify, the sort that one can actually drive to its full potential with more enjoyment than concentration. Small car’s not hot.

When you're asked to think about a Toyota built sports car from the 90s, more than likely the Supra would spring to mind almost as quickly as it accelerates. But what if you're told to think of something a little smaller? Celica, Levin? How about the Starlet?

Q&A

What got you into the car scene?

A couple years ago I was looking at buying my first vehicle and my friend thought it would be a good idea to buy a car that his friend was selling. Turns out it was a turbocharged Starlet, and that’s what really got me started.

It’s been said that you’re the go to guy for Starlets on the island. Is this where it started?

Yeah, that’s where it started. It started with me knowing little to nothing about cars and then buying this car. Then came engine failure. I gave it to who I thought was a competent mechanic to rebuild the engine which only lasted another two weeks after it was repaired. From that moment on I decided if it was to be done right, I’d have to do it myself. I took some time to research, browsed the web, talked to people and gathered my information. I built a 1500 block myself to replace the 1300. From then on I always worked on my own cars, and have worked on just about every Starlet on island, except for a few.

Do you favour small cars, or is it just Starlets?

I like small cars, I find they are easier to work on. I find the larger vehicles require a lot more effort, and I do everything myself usually without help. I can work on the smaller vehicles in my spare time. I like cars generally – sports cars – but because I do the work myself I prefer smaller vehicles.

What’s your level of enthusiasm in the scene?

I’d say casual enthusiast. Over the years you live and you learn. I look at things differently, especially with this car. When I got it I said I built 3 of them for myself prior so I want to do everything right with this one. I’m not a hardcore racer; I don’t think I have the time or the budget for that. I’m more causal.

What’s the story behind getting this vehicle?

How did it get from where it was to where it is? Getting this one in particular is a very funny story. I noticed it a couple of times on the road a couple years after I sold my last one. I decided if I had to get one I wanted a stock one with no accident history and that’s why I wanted this one. I was hunting it down but could never get it. I got to know the car was owned my someone in the fire service so I spoke to an EMT I knew, and it turned out that the owner of the car was her boyfriend. Initially the owner said his car is not for sale and wasn’t budging. About a month later I was back on the hunt for a car, looking at the GT Advance but the night before I decided to contact this guy again and he said he had just put a for sale sign on the car so I snatched it up.

How much work have you done on it?

When I got the car it was in rough shape, visually and suspension wise. It’s had a full respray and suspension overhaul. The stock struts and TRD lowering springs were replaced with McMaster coilovers, every bushing is either Powerflex or Super Street and more. And that’s just the beginning. A completely new engine is going in. It’s a work in progress.

Would you recommend a Starlet to someone?

I would, because one of the things I always say to my friends in the car scene is that when they take parts off of their car to go faster, I just take them to go faster. A lot of the parts that are stock for other cars, are modifications for these cars such as a Subaru’s TD04 turbo. For someone who’s just starting and on a budget I would definitely recommend one of these cars to them.

Go Check out Lucian Streets for more content like this!

You just gotta know how to build it.

Alexandre Haynes — Thu, 04 Oct 2018 15:30:59 +0000

Kevin's KE70 Corolla

Kevin got his hands on this Corolla back in 2005, and it took him a year to get it together, using some parts from a previously owned Daihatsu Charmant. The car was already a race car, driven by Ian Griffith “the Undertaker” at our local bushy park circuit. He used a 3TC engine, which was an old Toyota sport engine, it was 1.8L 8v and push-rod and heavily modified. It did the job he needed at the time to compete in a few international events at the track. Between 2008-2009 he was able to nab a few podium finishes with 2nd in his group and 3rd overall for the Championship. He also went on to push the car harder racing overseas in Guyana, at their track in South Dakota.

Kevin recounts his racing days.

Unfortunately though, he was met with Mechanical problems in Guyana, and he wasn’t able to do as well as he would’ve liked. The overall experience though was amazing, the hospitality of the people there were fully appreciated. As a result of this though, development of the engine and car began in 2010, where they were making the conversion from carburetors to fuel injection and aftermarket management. That transformation took some time though, and the the racing team took some down time for the next season in-order to iron out mechanical gremlins who showed their faces again in the engine.

A new Heart

With persistent issues with the older 3TC engine. The decision was made to change the entire engine of the car, for something more modern and more reliable. This car being an AE86, the logical weapon of choice would be the the 4AGE. Kevin found a donor 4AGZE for the chassis. Toyota’s 4AGZE engine, is a supercharged variant of their common 4AGE platform. It was used in their sports models, cars like the MR2 and a few later model Toyota Levins and Truenos. Stock, the 4AGZE made somewhere north of 160hp, that’s a pretty decent amount for a street car in Toyota’s opinion at least. This though, isn’t a street car.

Further engine development continued, first on the ECU, where they finally settled in on the Megasquirt 3 custom board, but on the power figure of the car as well. The supercharger was not enough, and he added a turbo charger to the mix. Usually on 4AGZE engines, the supercharger would be exchanged for the Turbocharger, but this wasn’t the case there. Instead, a 4AGZTE was built, a twin charged engine.

Obviously, the first debate that comes to mind is airflow restriction. Many factors come into play though when we think about this, for example, we have to look at the size of the turbo, or the size of the supercharger, they are quite dependent on each other to find the perfect ratio of airflow into the motor. Using the factory Roots Supercharger though, it would seem it’s been quite happy with the current turbo charger on the engine.

“I believe over a certain power, maybe the supercharger can become a restriction, by then you’ll need a bigger supercharger. I haven’t had any data to prove it’s restricted at this point though”

— Kevin

We got the breakdown on the engine from Kevin, and surprisingly it was really simple. This is the key to reliability. The engine had a simple rebuild done, all stock internals and stock supercharger. All the bolts were replaced with ARP steel studs. He’s added a T3/T4 Turbocharger to it, and aftermarket management, which brings everything together. This former 160hp 4AGZE, now makes north of 300hp.

After killing a few gearboxes, the car now has a racing box from G-Force Transmissions and a differential surprisingly from a Toyota Hilux with a 4.5 final drive ratio. The racing box uses an upgraded slave cylinder setup. Aftermarket clutch and flywheel setup are also used, from Quartermasters and Tilton.

Crushed gearbox 1st gear no longer exists

Kevin’s intends to slowly build the engine up, in a way that would increase flow. Port and polish an engine head, and replace the camshafts with something more aggressive, as well as a new valve train. Changing the pistons to forged pistons and steel rods should help as he still has an interest in running more boost.

Kevin has loads of upgrades planned for this car over time. We are eager to see the changes coming to vehicle in the coming months. We are happy to work with Lucas Oils here in Barbados on this article.

Until next time! Happy Motoring!

Westcoast Kings Take Over

Alexandre Haynes — Mon, 20 Aug 2018 01:26:37 +0000

It's been a long time coming, but we finally were able to hang out with Westcoast Kings! It's really awesome to see groups start and grow and really add to the Car Culture of our small island, Barbados. Nickolai the founder of Westcoast Kings, let us in on some information about the group, how it started and where he's headed.

What do you drive?

My car is a 1996 EJ6 Honda Civic, it was bought new back in 1996 here on the island. Back then I was a lot younger, and I went with my dad when he was buying a car for my mom. He took me to Tucker, and I was able to choose the car for her back then. Eventually my mom moved on, and bought a CRV, and I was able to take this car off her hands, and the mods began.

“I’m in love with Car Culture, and I’m sad it died down a bit here, but We are trying to bring everyone together again, so we can show it off internationally.”

— Nickolai

The search for Orginality

When the car was passed on to me from my mom, it was a bit rusty, so it went to the body shop first for some work to be done on it. The car was OEM pearl green from Honda but it was a becoming a common Honda color, so I picked a random color to start with from Automotive Art and changed the color. The car was automatic so I did a manual conversion. After that came the stance. I bought D2 fully adjustable coil overs and lowered the car so far. I have plans for K-swap of the engine eventually.

Tell us a bit about westcoast kings

I really loved the movement we had in Barbados a while ago, but it slowly died down. I started my brand as a Youtube channel first then I moved on to Instagram. It really started to pick up traction though, and after going to a few car shows with some friends, persons were asking if they could join the group, and be a part of the Westcoast family. Now we are selling T-shirts, Snapbacks and stickers, so persons can identify with the group. We started an online forum as well and we organize meets that way.

Check out some of their content

Big thanks to Nickolai for giving us an chance to hang out and get to know the group, I really love when friends come together for something they all share and love, groups like this continue to keep our Car Culture alive here in Barbados.

Go Follow Westcoast Kings on Facbook, Instagram and YouTube for more of their content.

Gallery

It's still stock

Maurice Chapman — Tue, 17 Jul 2018 03:07:48 +0000

Since we last left off my Subaru GC8 WRX has been through quite a bit of what I would call...quality of life mods.

Nothing major, it's still stock. The car is pushing 19 years or so of age, it just needs some sprucing up. The first quality of life mod I did was install some GlowShift gauges I got from Chris at Redline Barbados who is, by the way, building an amazing 280Z, check out the article we posted a little while ago.

I got a Boost Gauge, an Air/Fuel wide band gauge and an oil temperature gauge, maybe I'll get one or two more but I got these to monitor the health of my car. The gauge pod I got from eBay, it didn't fit right though, so I got it sanded down a bit.

Old car problems.

Now I can maybe wrench a bit but I'm completely lost when it comes to electrical work on cars. So I gave a man a call who is probably one of the best automotive electricians on the island, Randy Brewster, he owns a little company called BossTech Auto, he does amazing work. As the car is old though while installing the gauges and the pod, the centre console piece just shattered on us. Nothing a little super glue can't fix.

Fixed.

She Lives.

While I was there I did an oil change as well, since we installed an oil filter sandwitch plate so we could get an oil temperature reading. An oil change I can do.

The next mod to the car was upgrading the cooling system. I first upgraded the cooling hoses with silicone hoses because they were old and looked like they were about to burst. I assume the radiator was that old because not long after that it actually gave out on me, so I decided to get a decent Mishimoto radiator. It dropped right in, factory fans bolted right on. I just had to bend the housing of the left fan back a bit so it wouldn't foul on the power steering belt. Good stuff.

As is my luck sometime between doing all of this my hood scoop decided to detach itself and blew away on the highway. So i found this company called RPG Carbon, they make fiberglass and carbon fibre parts for a bunch of different cars. So i ordered a new scoop from them and here's how the car sits now.

CHAPTER 2

Working on a car takes some time. It's been a while since this happened, and my parts came. A few were to just fix the problems with the car, things that broke when we worked on her putting in the cluster, the time for another oil change came around as well, and she's been running like a dream.

I started using LIQUI MOLY 10W-40 supplied by the guys at TDK Auto Supplies. Works really well with my engine and turbo charger.

Project Ford in the rear

Some external mods were needed too. JDM yellow fog lights just bring the nostalgia back from the 90's. You probably spotted the change of the indicators to the amber ones as well, really just bringing together the feel of the car.

New center console came as well, fresh from E bay, feels good to have it coming together slowly but surely. I did a small induction Mod solely for the sound, I removed the factory snorkel which up through the side fender, I am pretty satisfied with the sound it makes now when I'm driving.

The next step will be some engine work, big things to come guys. - Maurice

"Not All Heroes Wear Capes".

Alexandre Haynes — Mon, 18 Jun 2018 22:55:21 +0000

The world we live in is changing, and it looks like it may not be for the best. It's sad to say, but come one day, the internal combustion engine would've come to its end, giving way to the cars of the future. This is a welcome change though, the petrol engine in its time with us has been responsible for many of the problems we face today when it comes to climate change. Now it's our chance to save a piece of this Earth for our kids, we can really be the hero they look up to.

let's be heroes

I caught up with Jo Edgehill who works with MegaPower, the company spearheading this change here in Barbados. They are the official dealers of the Nissan Leaf and the BMW i3 and a host of other electric and hybrid cars we see here on our roads today.

When was MegaPower Founded?

It was Founded in July of 2013, so this July the company will officially be 5 years old. Having the Company hasn't been without its ups and downs though. In Barbados, our road tax laws are based on vehicle weight. This somewhat made it difficult for owners of Electric Vehicles because by nature they are heavier than normal cars, they contend with the weight of the batteries inside of them. Times are looking up though as this law is soon to change, which would put the Electric Vehicle in the same bracket as your run of the mill Toyota Corolla.

How Many Vehicles are on the road to date?

MegaPower currently has more than 250 vehicles and 10 plugin hybrids making daily commutes on the roads of our small island. Outside of Barbados though, we do work with other countries, helping with their Electric Vehicle Infrastructure. Costa Rica has recently placed an order for 20+ quick charging systems which we are glad to help with as it encourages the use of the vehicles in that country.

What's it like owning a Nissan Leaf?

The 2018 Nissan Leaf is a joy to own. It's sporty looking, its more beefed up in its shape and lines cosmetically. Nissan really hit the nail on the head when it comes to styling on the new Nissan Leaf. What really makes it a joy is the amount of room on the inside. There's no want for space in front, and in the rear, it feels like a real people carrier with leg room for days. The rear seats drop all the way down, and gives more space even for an entire bicycle! The Nissan Leaf is a testament to the fact that Electric Cars are here not only to stay but have the looks like a car for everyday use.

Its battery pack has been increased in size and can deliver an estimated range of about 240 km. This means, for the average commuter, it can last almost an entire week, before needing to be recharged. It's redesigned battery pack offers a 67% increase over its 2010 counterpart. With new it's new power output the Leaf was equipped with a tougher chassis for stability and it's heavier components have been moved more to the center of the vehicle, this is where Nissan's experience building race cars come through.

The Nissan Leaf is pretty much like owning another high-end family sedan, which is a good thing to know. A person can enjoy comfort and convenience without any compromises.

Solving the Challenges of Charging

The issues in the past which really hindered electric Cars were its batteries. I'm sure we all are becoming familiar with this common sign, a green box in the parking lot, reserved for electric cars. I hope those of you with petrol engines didn't park in them, that wouldn't be cool. Advances in technology have allowed batteries to keep a charge for a longer time, but it also helped with the ability to charge the car at a faster rate.

Charging a car is as simple as plugging in a giant phone. Plug it in using the cables in the rear, and swipe your card to start your charging process. Charging stands vary, but there are 2 quick charging stations here in Barbados, which can bring your battery up from 0 - 80% in 20 - 30 minutes. Charging an electric car is different to filling up at the gas station, for one thing, there's no gas, but also, parking your car at either a mall or other place of business allows you to charge more conveniently, your charging station is where you want to go. Normal charging can take between 8 - 9 hours at home, using a 220v plug, like a washing machine or fridge outlet.

Targeting Enthusiasts

Some brands have realized adding flair and style to an electric car can help change the image of the way it is perceived. BMW, for example, has been building it's "I" line with this in view. When I was much younger, I recalled seeing concept car molds being crafted, maybe concept cars showing up in magazines in different car shows around the world, they were always limited by technology.

“Yes! this is me, i just love the way it pops.”

— Jo

The day has finally come when all those sci-fi wallpapers of cars on your computer become reality! The BMW i3 is a pretty nifty creation, targeting persons who still love cars and style, BMW was able to cram a motor making 170 hp and 184 NM of torque from this compact EV, and it being an electric car, the torque is instant it's 0 - 100kph is within the 7-second range.

Innovation and Technology just ooze from this car though. Its interior design gives a feeling of intuition and sensibility, and it feels more like a computer with a steering wheel than a car. Similar to the Nissan Leaf, leg room isn't lacking one bit. What I really loved about this car though, where it's front opening rear doors, this allows the length of the car to be dramatically reduced making the car lighter and more efficient.

The range on the BMW is a bit less than the Nissan Leaf at 182 km, but it's charge time is also less too, a normal charge will take 5 hours. Its efficiency may be a bit less than the Nissan but it more than makes up for it in smiles per kilowatt.

Looking toward a Green Future

It's bittersweet at the moment to see the combustion engine go, but it's important to start investing in what is to come. I am overjoyed with the work that MegaPower is spearheading here in Barbados. There's no reason why our small island Barbados cannot be more eco-friendly. Electric Cars are still new to the market, but the trends show they will soon have a majority share in the market. So next time you see a charging station remember those green parking spots point the way to a greener tomorrow!

Happy Motoring - Alex

Gallery

On Friday Megapower hosted their EVlution Event at the Sir Garfield Sobers Gymnasium, here is a small Gallery, hope you enjoy!