Ignite Soul: "Fueled by passion because dollars are unavailable"

Still around, busting stuff up trying to make it cooler

2015-01-06T19:39:00.002-05:00

Reallife.com has taken over a lot, but when we aren't engineering at work we still go work on some projects.

I finished that CL350.... almost 2 years ago (There's still always things I want to change, but I don't actively work on it anymore) and it's won a couple of trophies!

Spencer took some cool photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/greenkouki/sets/72157643671688675

I have a new scary muscle bike I took up and down the Blue Ridge Parkway with Chris, Chase, and Kaden:

And I'm working on a little chopper:

Happy 2015!

man it's been a while

2013-03-14T21:43:00.003-04:00

where did i last leave off...

rad stuff with rad people, etc, etc

finally de-depowered my steering. depowered rack was fun and all, but PS still wins

made a ghetto tensioner bracket to use a KA24 PS pump and pulley on my SR

cut out my wheel wells b/c honeybadger

bought another prelude, nearly identical to my old one

general drifty radness

moved into a sweet new crib with an absurdly big garage

big rear flares to replace the busted ones

general driveway radness

extended LCAs

scaring other drivers

stackin' spares

built SR, gt2871r, and other odds-n-ends

and a lot of not caring about much.

Honda CL350 scrambler project progress

2012-11-04T11:18:00.002-05:00

Bought a cool old bike. Rode it around for a while.

Took it apart...

Shaved the unnecessary off of the frame

Made a new seat loop. More to come!

Headlight rendering by Chase. Was going for number plate with lights, but looks sorta like a camera!

cool dad is cool.

2012-10-24T23:54:00.000-04:00

i meant to post this a while back.

i recently convinced my dad to sell his AW11 and pick up an s14 for CHEAP on craigslist. its diff grenaded itself, so the owner had it up for a steal. it had an s13 blacktop swap with lots of goodies, a clean interior, and a decent-shape body. too good to pass up.

so he nabbed it and trailered it home.

within a week, we pulled a j30 LSD from the local junkyard and had the s14 back on the road, good as new!

but of course my dad is wayyyy more of a perfectionist than me, so he was on to bodywork, fixing all of the dents and dings as if they never existed

i also gave him my old set of 16x9 SHP Starion wheels, which he straightened...

...restripped...

...repolished, and repainted.

he chose to paint the s14 in Estoril Blue, a factory BMW color.

now he swings by Raleigh for a visit from time to time.

like son, like father!

tubs, step 1 of 1.

2012-10-15T23:04:00.001-04:00

no more rubbing at full lock AND i can reach the coils, knuckles, brakes, brake bleeders, etc by just popping the hood...

it's pretty sweet, not gonna lie.

i'm gonna make liners/covers soon to keep pebbles and rainwater out. but otherwise, it's staying open. easy access ftw.

now i'll hopefully have fewer rubbing issues next time i go do the sideways thing.

Nice Weather Is Nice

2012-09-15T23:39:00.001-04:00

There's just nothing like a cool sunny day.

ISB #2: 1975 Honda CB750 + ISB #4: 1972 Honda CL350 "Scrambler"

2012-09-14T16:04:00.000-04:00

Spencer and Marco's CB750 and CL350

Some of you may have noticed there have been bikes popping up lately amongst our little group. New and exciting adventures are being had, and hopefully soon our motorcycles will be as interesting as our cars.

Shrimp Broil

2012-08-20T21:27:00.001-04:00

Justin's car is sold. RIP.

Carolina Motorsports Park this weekend, gonna be crazy!

KA-Boom!

2012-07-24T09:16:00.000-04:00

Chris's losing streak with the KA engine continues. We all went to an even this past weekend, and about halfway through the day the Chris's wastegate line decided to come off. There's no telling what peak boost was, but it was enough to destroy the ringlands on all four pistons.

How the day started off

Mark and Jay stopped by to see what was wrong

Jay's dad was kind enough to tow it back home

Got it in the kitchen, our designated engine rebuild room

And there's the problem. The ringlands fell apart like this on every piston.

The block is already at the machine shop for inspection, the plan is to just hone the cylinders and order some Wiseco pistons with the same bore. Bearings are also being checked while it's at the shop, but it was built so recently they might still be fine. This brings the count up to 6 engines, hopefully #7 will last more than a few months.

Still Alive

2012-07-17T21:44:00.000-04:00

Street Dirty Session

2012-06-24T18:25:00.000-04:00

professional* driver on a closed** course. do not attempt***.

*not really.
**not really.
***unless you go hard in the paint.

Jay's Cobra Reps

2012-06-17T21:50:00.001-04:00

*sniffle* they'll be missed.

i LOVED the 16x9 starions on my s13 hatch, but 245/45/16 street tires are no longer in production. with the next reasonable size being a 225/50/16, i decided to move up to 17s instead for better (and wider! and cheaper!) tire choices.

i got a set of 17x10.5 +20 cobra deep dish wheels from wheelreplicas.com and a set of 255/40/17 federal SS-595s from ebay. i'm using 20mm bolt-on spacers up front to clear the coilovers and 7mm slip-on spacers in the rear for aesthetics.

these 255 federals are a bit taller than my previous 245 setup. up front the feddys were bottoming out in the wheel wells on every little bump, so i had to raise the front a tad for clearance. otherwise, same ol' same ol'. maybe i'll get 245/40s for the front next time around? meh, we'll see.

f: 17x10.5 +0 255/40/17
r: 17x10.5 +13 255/40/17

mini update: i beat the front wheel wells out further for more tire clearance, lowered the front down to where it was before, and filled in the tire lettering silver.

...and the obligatory instagram shot

Scales

2012-06-07T19:17:00.001-04:00

Not bad for a MKIII Supra...

Driftwater 14

2012-05-30T09:03:00.000-04:00

A bunch of use went up to Moyock NC for Driftwater 14 and had a blast, Tom O'Neil even came down from PA to drive! Everyone managed to make it back to Raleigh, Mark's SR has some minor rod knock though so his engine is out for a bottom end rebuild. Anyways, on to the pictures!

Kaden told me he secretly loves drifting, but is too scared to show it. He gripped all day. He also got to floss his new Panasport G7's.

Tom's sick whip, unfortunately no action shots as of yet :(

Mark showing how to correctly "bake 'em up."

Jay rockin' the 'Stang wheels

Marco perfecting the dirt drop ...or something

Chris showing how to properly execute the 5 factors of floss.

Drifting at the Piedmont Practice Event #2

2012-05-02T17:03:00.000-04:00

We went drifting! Piedmont Practice Event #2, WOOOOOOOO

Chris did ebrake drifty things:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAa1wRKLPlU

Jay did bumpsteer drifty things:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSiunWevNAc

Daniel did Euro drifty things:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sS3cNuEHrOU

Mark did smooooooth drifty things:

Kaden did dragster drifty things:

Justin did Type-X drifty things:

and Marco got pole position:

Fun times! We're all looking forward to Driftwater 14 later this month!

Tuning done at National Speed

2012-04-06T16:13:00.001-04:00

17x10 +20 SC wheels

2012-03-21T18:01:00.001-04:00

New shoes for the Supra! Getting the 295s mounted on them tomorrow...

Supra + 6262 + AEM EMS

2012-03-19T12:16:00.002-04:00

Blow the welds on your intake

2012-03-18T09:16:00.002-04:00

I did it...

Fixed overnight thanks to Tanner, but it was a hilarious annoyance.

LS1 and KA-T dynos!

2012-03-18T09:12:00.000-04:00

Kaden and Spencer got a couple free pulls on a dyno! Both running rich and need a re-tune, but still did alright.

Supra runs and drives again

2012-03-10T18:09:00.003-05:00

It's back! I'm so happy.

AEM harness complete

2012-02-26T00:28:00.001-05:00

pants life

2012-02-24T17:19:00.018-05:00

Jay and Spencer went out for a pre-tornado pants.

Precision 6262SP and rear subframe goodness

2012-02-10T14:21:00.003-05:00

Precision 6262SP from National Speed!

Can't wait to put this on and get the AEM wired and tuned.

Lower half recessed to utilize stock stepped washers

Upper bushings

Upper bushings designed thinner at the top to raise the subframe towards the chassis and help correct suspension arm angles

Jay's DIY s13 chuki lip (gen4 Accord), side skirts (gen3 Legacy, gen2 Outback)

2012-02-04T18:00:00.003-05:00

90-91 ACCORD FRONT LIP. go to your local junkyard, find a 4th gen pre-facelift Accord ('90 and '91), and get the front lip. mine was $10. it's too wide and doesn't extend back far enough to directly fit the chuki bumper, BUT its overall "length" (or "perimeter" if you will) is dead perfect.

to do it yo'self: simply notch the accord lip's mounting surface to allow it to curve closer to the middle and straighten out towards the wheel well. with your chuki bumper off and upside down, carefully mock up the lip and drill a few holes thru the bumper/lip for zip ties. you'll be able to zip tie it corner to corner. it lines up so well, no one will realize it isn't stock.

a little dirty, but you get the idea.

98-03 LEGACY, 00-04 OUTBACK SIDE SKIRTS. go to a local junkyard and hope/pray they have such new cars. if they somehow do, get those skirts. mine were $30 for the pair. they rule for so many reasons.

1) they look cool. they have bulges similar in style to the s14 kouki sides, except they mainly bulge out, not down.
2) the front end-cap fits the rear s13 wheel well dead on.
3) that end-cap lines the skirt up PURRRRR-FECTLY with the s13's lower body line (same line the OEM skirts follow).
4) the underside "tray" part of the skirt gets just close enough to the pinch weld to use as a mounting point, but doesn't hit/interfere.
5) the front side can be trimmed to line up with everything there too.
6) because they follow the body line so perfectly, there is no interference with the door opening/closing.
7) $30 and an afternoon of careful cutting and drilling. seriously. you can't beat that.

to do it yo'self: test fit the Legacy skirts "backwards" so to speak; right side mounts on the left, left side on the right. the [now] rear end-cap butts up perfectly on the rear wheel well, and has a hole in place for mounting. mark that spot on your s13 wheel well lip and drill it for a zip tie. for the front, mark where the skirt reaches the wheel well and cut off that extra 8 or 10 inches of overhang with a dremel. drill a couple holes in the bottom side of the skirt (it'll be obvious where exactly) and mount it (w/ zip ties, duh, but seriously they work best) to the lower mud flap mounting hole and the two fender-to-pinch-weld holes. done.

i have no front end-caps cuz i'm lazy, but you could make some pretty easily with abs/plastic/whatever and some glue/sealer.

now i need rear valences. i'll probably just use some shortened mudflaps to continue being cheap.

in closing: $40 total, looks great, can't complain, jay wins.