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Me & B in Import Racer Magazine?!

Friday, March 21st, 2003

9,445 miles. Its been a happy week. I’m done with finals and I’m on my spring break. More importantly, my kouki aero is painted! I picked up a new factory rear bumper as well and took it all to get painted at PJ’s. Me & my boys stayed up all night trying to figure out wtf was wrong with my rear bumper…basically, before I had my car, it was hit really bad in the rear passenger quarter panel and was repaired MickeyMouseStyle, so naturally, my support is bent, my rear sub-frame and inner trunk has some welding, and well, now that I have a new bumper that is not repaired, it doesn’t line up!!! The bumper is on now, but it doesn’t line up yet. We’re going to work on it tomorrow, I’m going to put on a new support, so hopefully it will solve my rear bumper drama.

I’m sure you’re wondering what about the kouki bumper.  I’m going to put it on tomorrow after I fix my rear bumper drama. Me & BensonLove are going to be featured in Import Racer magazine, they’re doing a lil’ 2-page article on our cars, so I’m scrambling to get everything fixed before then. Benson is even trying to put in another SR in his car cuz his old one is dying, omg he’s had that engine for 4 years! I’m excited about the photo shoot for the mag, its this Sunday. I’ve got to wash my engine bay,wax my car, detail the interior, change my cracked dash, and polish my rims.   Guess I’ve got a full day of work ahead of me.

As for the other thangthangs coming up…3/31 private drift event (i’ll be driving), 4/6 RSR drift event (i’ll be staffing), late april…new Brid seats and full interior.  Brace yourself!

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I go drifting, finally.

Friday, November 29th, 2002

5,971 miles. Happy Turkey Day. The 180SXxy has been running cherry.

Just got back from a private drift event at Camarillo Airport (11/16).   This was one of my first drift events and boy did I have fun ;). I went on the Skid Pad a few times, trying to do doughnuts (or as we say ‘Krispy Kremes’) with my one-legger (no-LSD) diff.  The concrete (or they call it “tarmac”)  was really messed up and slippery, so I was able to break it loose just by tapping my brakes. Very Very Fun! I ran the cone drift course about 10 times hahaha.

Spinning out my car numerous times was very entertaining. I was breaking my car loose again, with only my brakes. So I learned braking drift there and had soooo much fun killing my tires!!!

A few days before the event I changed my oil at Cartune.My muffler system needed tightening too, omg. I really don’t like 2-piece muffler systems, the screws are tightened all the way and I’m still leaking air. WTF. I miss my Apex, this 5Zigen one sounds really cute, but isn’t that air tight. Also, the whole month of October I was driving around and heard clanking noises everytime I’d hit a bump on the front driver-side. We finally figured it out and that big bolt on the upper pilo-ball mount was soo loose. Imagine if that had popped off? Pretty scary stuff.

Anyways, all of December I will be on my Christmas Break. What I plan to do with the 180SXxy? Install my Viscous LSD (yes, finally), change my oil again, install my Greddy Downpipe, and install my dummy cat.Yes, I’ve had my LSD sitting around since June, but my baby wanted me to learn how to appreciate it before install it. I plan to have my viscous on for a while and see how I like it and how good it will do me at the next few drift events. Ben baby says viscous & clutch-type are like night & day (clutch-type being better). So, if I get really good (which I hope) then I plan to get a KAAZ 2-way LSD. Anyone want to sponsor a girl drifter? Sheeeez.

I got laid off a few weeks ago, but I’ve found a few new job, so again I’m working, but not getting paid enough! In January there’s a drift event, I’ll be at that one, hopefully testing out my viscous LSD. Hope you all had a fun Turkey Day, wish me luck!!

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DUH.

Wednesday, June 5th, 2002

Came home from work today, I tightened the battery terminals and the 180SXxy fired up. DUH!  That’s like tech 101. 

Had dinner with my Cartune Boy Eddy and the love of my lyfe Benson. I drove them, my first drive around town. :). It was nice, I wasn’t used to her yet at all, but give me a month and I’ll be kickin ass left and right. I stayed at Benson’s house again and I plan to drive home home tomorrow.

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the car goes home and breaks.

Tuesday, June 4th, 2002

Well, I got a new job today! Now I can spend more time down here at home with Kris, my car, and Benson Love. After my interview for my new job I bounced over to Cartune. Life sucks without a car, but being bussed around by SileightyMania is a real treat ;). That sucker had to take me to work, take me to my interview, pick up my daughter, and take me to Cartune hahhahaa. That’s love 🙂

I went to check on my car.  We put the Blitz FATT turbo timer in and mounted my cute Blitz boost gauge in a cute pod. Everyone is calling me ricey for having a pod, but I like it. I drove my baby around, boy what a difference some minor adjustments did. Last time I drove her (on June 2nd) she felt so fragile and unpredictable, but I was driving her around the parking lot and she warmed up to me. I didn’t expect it, but today they said I could drive home! I jumped back into the 180SXxy and tried to turn around by making a 3-point turn and my clutch pedal jammed. FUCK. Master clutch cylinder? I popped my hood and there was barely any fluid in there, I swear that sucker was full on Sunday. We checked out the hard clutch lines along the firewall and they were leaking. Aaron and Benson love tightened the lines for me, they were just not tightened good enough. Then they saw coolant leaking from the heater hose going into the firewall.

Drama, it was almost 12am and I had Kris, I bounced home with Benson’s car and put Kris to bed.

Benson did come home an hour later with my car! When he pulled into the garage the car totally turned the fuck off and didn’t want to start again. All the power was cut. I didn’t worry, it sounded like either a batter prob or they wired the turbo timer funny. We went to sleep and I didn’t care about that problem, cuz the 180SXxy was home.

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new SR…new problems

Monday, June 3rd, 2002

Another lonely day without the 180SXxy. I had to unfuckingfortunately work all damn day. I missed Kristy all weekend too, Benson got Kris and brought us to his place. He went to Cartune to check my car out and work on it a lil’ bit. They were changing my oilpan gasket. Also, they got my BOV flange welded ;), and found some vac lines that weren’t connected, and some wires that were loose. They test drove the car again today and said that it was running way better, and boosting strong, stronger than sileightymania’s  (of course!).

 They’re going to bleed the brakes and the clutch tomorrow. Then hopefully I can go test her out again and maybe drive more than just around the parking lot. All I know is that she’s very fragile right now and I just have to fine tune everything. I need some time to get to know her again as well. I have to figure out how the hell to work on an SR too! I’m going to study the vac line diagram, cuz those suckers always give problems. Wish the 180SXxy the best of health!

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Its alive.

Sunday, June 2nd, 2002

Wiring day! Dr. Hutchingson & Dr. SileightyMania were the attending doctors. We got a late start, around lunchtime. What a pretty beauty, the SR looked like my car came with it in there.

I dug through the box of goodies I salvaged off my clip and found some airhorns and threw them on my car.  Now people better get the hell out of my way!

We changed my coolant reservoir, and finally the doctors were both there, ready to wire. While they wired, I changed my gauge cluster, yes again! I put in the one from my clip…so now I can actually keep track of the total kilometers that are on my engine. Also, I busted a scavenger hunt to find this really cute fog light switch that 180SX’s come with. Also, I had blow off valve drama, I forgot that I needed to weld the flange onto the pipe for my Greddy Type-S, so I borrowed some old ass HKS one from the shop. Also, during the wiring, Jason (the sweety mechanic) finished changing my brake pedal. Hours and hours went by. I swear it was like waiting in a waiting room for someone to get out of surgery.

10 1/2 hours later at 10:30pm, the wires were connected, the pedals were in, the fluids were in, and and all the lines were secured, the moment of truth (as Reggie said) came to. “Who wants to start it?” No one raised their hand, hahahha. I made Jason start it. 5,4,3,2,1 it started on the first crank. I was so happy! IT’s ALIVE! We made sure there was enough coolant, the thermostat opened and we added more and more coolant. It was time to test drive. Jason test drove it around the parking lot first. Then it was my turn…the 180SXxy sounded like a monster, OMG, it felt so foreign to me. The clutch pedal was odd and so were the brakes.  The clutch caught at the top and the brakes were hard as a rock. I was not happy about that. The shitty old HKS BOV was non-adjustable, it was making my car konk the hell out.

I drove around the parking lot, scared as hell. I didn’t want to bone out, I just drove nice . I got up to 30-40mph and shift to second, I felt and clutch grab, very nice ;). The motor only has 30,000 miles, so the clutch shoud be good! I didn’t try to boost it, I want to drive it easy for a week. When I got back I told the boys about the pedals and we examined everything again. Some vac hoses weren’t connected and some brake lines weren’t on good. The oil pan started to leak too, just a little bit. The gasket got messed up during shipping my clip (this is to be expected).

We adjusted my TPS sensor, advanced my timing, tightened clamps, secured hoses and tried to drive her again, but she kept conkin out. Oh my gut…it was 12pm and I just wanted to go home and sleep. You can’t expect everything to be A-OK on your 1st test drive after a swap. I was concerned, but not worried. Our diagnosis of the situation: bleed the master slave cylinder, bleed the brake system, check all vac lines and clamps, change the oil pan gasket, put my BOV on, and check it out then. I went home lonely, I really missed my car. But, I better not rush things, or they won’t get done right. I just want to bring her home soon.

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Engine swap day.

Saturday, June 1st, 2002

Yes, today was the day. I got to Cartune around 12pm. I brought the 180SXxy in, thinking I could watch the surgery…but the Cartune boys kicked me out and told me to go eat some lunch and relax and don’t worry about it. I was nervous and my tummy was aching, so I just said, “I trust you boys!” After I had a 2 hour lunch, I made a run to Pep Boys and got some radiator hoses, cute oil, new fuel filter, and some hose clamps. I dropped the parts off at Cartune and there was the 180SXxy, heartless, hanging over a pool of sludge, radiator fluid, and dirty oil, wow my old engine was dirty hahhahahaa. The ol’ KA was out and she was awaiting her new heart. What a sight! I saw that and thought, OMG what am I doing to my poor car! It finally hit me, this is way major. Hahhaa. I left the shop to get my mind off the whole drama, went down to Torrance and chilled down there all day. They called me around 5pm to tell me the SR was in and that it was ready to be wired. SileightyMania love took me up to touge that night to make me feel better. It worked, some ricer with a brand new bimmer smashed into the wall, what an ass. But anyways…I should be happy about my swap, but I’m kinda nervous and worried that something might go wrong. I trust my Cartune boys, so we’ll check it out first thing in the morning!

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On the cusp of a swap and so not ready.

Saturday, May 25th, 2002

Day 51, yes, I’m writing to tell you the date has been set! Saturday, June 1st is my swap. I have encountered numerous problems, i.e., money, parts, politics, etc. A few things I’m trippin about. . .
#1 My ACT clutch is out of stock, everywhere
#2 I don’t have enough money to buy everything (who does?)
#3 I don’t have a boost gauge
#4 I don’t have the pedals or master clutch cylinder yet (this swap is also an automatic-to-manual tranny swap!)
#5 I don’t have a shift knob

Hahahhaa I’m a drama mama. On top of that I haven’t bought any hoses or belts. I’m going to work like a busy bee, make that money, and get all these problems fixed and bought by next Saturday. There is an AutoX the following weekend (June 8th), if the 180SXxy is in running order, then I’m bringin her to test out my new power & suspension. California Speedway here I come. I was just thinking…I’m NOT the only girl with an SR, but at least I’m going to use it on the track. Other girls get an SR for import showoff or just to have; I bought my SR for all those reasons AND for the purpose of racing.  It makes me mad when guys tell me “you’re not the only girl with an SR,” but hellllooo I have a way better reason than they do to have one.

When I should install my LSD (found a viscous one at Cartune)? I feel a new survey comin up.  Benson love wants me to wait and learn how to drift really good with an open diff, THEN put the LSD in. I’m not sure, but I know its burning a hole in whatever  and I want to put it on already…I mean damn if you bought it already then might as well use, right?  Oh yes, I just typed the infamous “might-as-well” line.  That always comes out of your mouth when you’re building a car… 

Anyways, you don’t buy cute car parts for them to just sit there in the garage, you want to use them right away…otherwise they’ll feel wasted haha.  Right?  Maybe.  We’ll see, first thing is first, gotta get my swap on.  Wish me luck, I think I’m going to need it.

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Cusco Comp2…IN

Friday, May 24th, 2002

OMG, day 50, still waiting, what can I say, procrastinate?  Well the good news is, I finally put my Cusco Comp2s in a few days ago.  I haven’t ever had such nice suspension in my life!  Thank you Benson. . .I’m going to say it again, you know a man loves you when he buys you nice stuff for your car!

I’ve been drivin’ and road ragin’ around town, trying to feel out the settings on the Cuscos. I set it at 3 in the front and 2 in the rear, 2 & 1, 4 & 3, and so far, I like it at 4 & 3. I really like hard, tight suspension. I’ve been taking turns so hard my rear wants to come loose, never had that problem before hahhaa. I cut out some of that stupid trunk lining around the strut towers in the back so I can get to my coil-over adjustment dial, omg that was annoying. OOh, and also I got a lil’ present in the mail yesterday from Japan, bam the carbon fiber center panel cover straight from Japan, thank you again Benson love. I feel so spoiled! 

Swap drama update…JDM ricey Richard let me use his flywheel(s) so I can go get it resurfaced beforehand, I’ve tried to order some new pedals and a clutch! I’m having money problems (i wonder why!?), so I have to take things slow.n Now, my swap is planned for mid-June. I figure, if I just do everything right, as in buying all the right stuff (hoses, belts, cute parts, etc.,) then the chances of my engine being a trouble maker will be slim ~ that’s my reasoning in this drama. I know, I know, part of me just wants to go down to Cartune and have them swap it on the weekend, but things that are rushed don’t ever come out right. Don’t you agree?

Maybe I’m going to do one more AutoX before the swap! ;). See you next time, that is, when its swap time baby (maybe).

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Wait for the swap…just wait.

Monday, April 29th, 2002

Wow, day 25, still waiting for my swap! I’ve tentatively set a date for my swap: Saturday May 18th, possibly Saturday May 25th. I’m so excited. During these past few weeks I’ve been researching on what I want/need for my swap. There are still a few things I haven’t quite ironed out: my ACT clutch – which type to get, there’s a street modified and street organic, don’t ask me what the difference is cuz I still am trying to figure that out! Also, I’m trying to figure out what vac lines & hoses I should replace on the SR, change all? or change only the ones that are important i.e radiator? or change none. And there’s the issue of oil: these hotshot wannabeeh Japanese mechanics have been telling me two different things, one says Mobil1 15-50W synthetic oil is best for the SR, and the other says Lumbro Moly (this German oil) 0-40W is the best. Whatever boys, I’m going to try both I guess. I have mad road rage and I drive like an ass, so I guess I would need thicker oil??? The 1st 2 oil changes are going to be within the 1st month I have my engine anyway, so I guess initially I won’t have to worry about the oil so much. Maybe I should make an oil poll on my site hmmm…

I really want to get another job, this job I have isn’t paying the bills, especially with my cute taste in SR parts! I need a sponsor! Its expensive swapping your motor! Even if you have the hook-ups, you still need a lot of cash. I checked on my racing seats and they’re coming in June. There’s an AutoX event on June 8th, I hope to be able to test the 180SXxy there with her new heart ;).  My goal is to have the 180SXxy tailored sweet by the time the National 240SX convention shows up in late July. I hope I hope I hope ;).

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