thanks for the feedback. :)

gotta have the car clean. even if its covered in dints, chips, scratches and scuffs; nothing makes more difference than clean. :)

not sure what im going to do about the dint in the guard, and that's if i do anything at all! it will get away with repairing (rather than replacing) as the dints arent sharp creases at all. should pull out fine, and a skim of filler if need be would hide it forever.

as for the mudflaps, they sure are there for a job. afaik, they were only standard on 'euro' (including aus-del etc) cars; and most JDM cars did come with any at all!

cant wait to get the interior done anyway. :D

coolest adub around, looking forward to seeing whats next!

^ hah. thanks. :P

some pics for this page. :)


mm.. oversaturation.

couple things from the last few days;
ordered a set of BC type RA coil-overs for the car. Only a more recent, 'cheapie' brand, but after a bit of research, im impressed. havent had them in my hands for a proper look at the quality, but i've got high hopes at this stage.
the type RA is technically the equivalent of a Tein mono-flex, being both spring height and base height adjustable, and mono-tube rather than a traditional twin-tube. its also '30-way' dampening adjustable, which i can only assume is bump/rebound together like a Tein unit.
5kg front springs, and 8kg rears. maybe a too much spring-rate for a light car? either way, will find out soon enough.
The coilovers are coming from justjap next week.. $1299 with free postage. its not all that dear, but worth the punt over a TRD/Eibach + Koni sport combo thats only fractionally cheaper, as you get F+R upper mounts in the deal, and its height adjustable. :/
we'll see...
ALSO ordered some stainless rear complete tie rods from Twosrus. only replaced the rear tie-rod ends recently, but one of the inner (hyme joint?) style bushes is nack, and is $150 from toyota. took another punt and went for the pair of complete tie rods from twosrus @ $250 posted. they look the goods, but only time will tell.
ALSO ordered the pair of seat rails to be made. coming from some company in japan.. 'low-down' position (supposedly 2-3cm lower than usual (??)). getting them air-freighted once they're made, so i get them this decade. cant.. wait... must... recaro... asafp. :)

pics up once the goodies start arriving, and there's even more i've gotta get off my arse to buy. :)

that's all for now anyway! :)

who is the company in Japan thats making the seat rails?

i have no idea.
http://page5.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/e92852161
its one of the many on yahoo auctions. like wedge engineering in the US, they must have templates to just produce rails from their catalog. it ended up being worth the punt over idealseat here in Victoria, as they need the car for 2weeks to make the rails; they have no template.

alright, wholesome update tiem.
lots of pics of lots of goodies that have arrived recently.
starting with a great big present that was on the doorstep for me.. :)

aah!






first impressions? nice! not taking whats actually INSIDE into account, the outside fit and finish is top notch. really nice welds, unnecessarily shiny paint, nice thread on the strut, good and strong bracket locations, nicely machined top-mount etc etc etc. really great.

..Also the Twosrus stainless rear toe link's:

nice to see a good quality German tie-rod end used, and overall nicely made. comes with small spacers to locate/centre the hyme joint.

..bit of a impulse buy since ive always wanted one, but a Razo (RA112) 100g black-chrome aluminium ball knob:

replaced a TRD Duracon ive had in there recently. feels very similar, but no more feeling like im shifting with a light-bulb! :P

..but moving onto other big goodies:


SSR Type-C
15x6.5 +30 all round.
forged... and a very impressive 3.9kg per rim!
i bought them second hand, but are absolutely as-new..
got the healthy RE001's swapped on from my Simmons. really was no point letting another good set of tires get old.



after getting molested by the local Jax Quick-fit, the wheels had a meeting with Mr Ray!

nicer than the tired old black-racing nuts ive run for the last few years, thats for sure!
not quite 100% on the lock-nuts to be honest. its a seven-sided nut with a small tab on one side; but i dont know what stops you using a shifter on it??

meanwhile, BAM - new brakepads:

and while i was there; well, i just couldnt help myself: (id wanted to wait until i got the suspension set up to save damaging wheels/nuts)


Today was the big-day though..
got the Struts and toe links installed, and a nice 4wheel wheel alignment done for the second time in a month or two. almost TRD specs, but cant get that much damn positive caster out of the stock strut rods!!
Unfortunately "just above the tyre, all the way 'round" seemed higher than reality. probably seems high to some people, but to me its fkn low..
have the dampening set to full soft, but the 6/8 kg spring rate combo is probably too hard for such a light little car.
ideally id raise it up 20mm or so all the way round, and go a more gentle spring rate. luckily King springs do the KPS coil-over springs - since these look to be a standard 65mm ID spring, getting replacements would be very easy, and very cost effective.
ill enjoy how it is for the time being though! almost NO body-roll is a bit of fun, and the turn in is ridiculous

a couple quick pics from this evening; i couldn't help myself. :$




and an update on the Recaro's? The rails left Japan last friday, and STILL waiting for the replacement bolsters n fabric to come from the UK.
..i think the rails are gonna goddamn get here first! blarg! :)

all for now. :)

Awesome! How about some JDM tail lights?

Mate that looks ridiculously awesome.

God damn it I miss my AW11.

As always this car is looking AWESOME. Well done mate.
What pads did you go with?

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeet! cleanest aw11 ever.