Petrol Head

In addition to blogging and sourcing content for S12Silvia.com, I am have been preparing for taking High Performance Driving lessons, so there will be information on that in the future.  And as always working on my Nissan S12.  Just last month (February issue), Modified Magazine ran a feature on my car that I had been waiting nine months for.  I was thrilled and it was far better than the S3 feature (S3 blog site).  Sorry Jonathan, love S3 but Modified was my primary goal.  I was not aware that S3 was going to feature me in their magazine last year, which is great, but is bittersweet for I feel that by talking to Jonathan that Modified was a bit out of luck.  If I had realized this, I would have definitely asked to have waited until the first quarter magazine in S3 that would have been printed after the Modified feature.  In the end, it is my fault for not realizing this, although, the Modified feature is by far the better of the two, so if you had to make a decision, go with Modified's article.  The article will soon be made available for download in PDF on S12Silvia.com's blog covering Project S12/26.  For now, the article is available from Modified's website.  I want to thank Peter (editor of Modified), David (author of my feature), and Josh (photographer) for the whole experience was great and each one was top notch.  I would love to work with them again.... A possibility since I have already worked with Peter twice and David was aware of my S12.  I cannot say much more in praise of the three.

When first discussing a possible feature with a few editors, the editor of SuperStreet, Jon, was keen on running my car.  He ran Henry's S12 in the June 2010 issue of SuperStreet and would make a great complimentary feature.  However, since Peter from Modified had told me he would cover my car, Jon bowed out and said that since both magazines are owned by the same parent company, that he would be unable to run a feature on it.  Despite that, in the March 2011 issue of SuperStreet they covered the Japanese Classic Car Show I attended last September in SoCal.  As my shop owner said, looks like I did make it into SuperStreet after all.In addition to my S12, fellow S12 enthusiasts Andrew's (white coupe in picture) and Henry's (on page not shown) S12s made it in as well.

As in customary for my daily routine, I warm up either car for at least seven minutes.  It really isnt the best when being in a hurry or late for work but considering my daily is Wankel-powered RX-7 and my 'toy'/back-up car is twin-turboed, it is necessary that both warm up.  So, what is there for me to do during those minutes, usually freezing in the car as it warms up in this cold state of Washington where there is a distinct lack of warm sunlight: read.  I am slowly getting into the habit of reading again.  For years before college and fancying a social life, I used to read non-stop... almost to a detriment in some ways.  Well unlike then when I read novels, my choice of reading material is automobile related.  Surprise surprise.  What may be surprising is that with the large variety of material I have to choose from, I am reading a British magazine.  EVO, as it is called, is to date the best magazine I probably have ever read and the first one I have ever read cover to cover.  The content is excellent not because of its flavour but because it is in-depth and informative in it's explanation and break down of the cars and the reviews that follow.  Yes, a subscription is must and I will have mine soon.  For now, I just pick it up at the local Borders.  I highly recommend it.  I only have a few issues but am looking to obtain a lot more in the future.

Audere est Facere

A couple of months back I got an email from a friend of mine whom I haven't heard from in a couple of years.  Jonathan Wooley, editor of S3 magazine, hit me up after hearing that I had finished my latest swap in my S12 - an RB26DETT.  After exchanging a couple of emails he was committed to putting me into the latest issue of S3 that was to come out within a couple of months.  Come mid-October he gave me a call and we talked on the phone for quite a bit.  It started out with him getting an idea of my build and how best he could write and me sending him information.  It ended with me helping him with random advice and discussing other S12s that may fit his needs for future features.  Giving me the information needed, I uploaded the image files to his hard drive and sent him an email with the information he was looking for.  Interestingly now that I think back, the other cars on the hard drive were the ones that are currently in the latest volume of S3 (vol. 19).  I was indeed a late addition but thankful that he was willing to do add me as a last minute addition on such short notice and with him leaving for Hawaii not a day after he called me.  It was also a couple of days before I left for SoCal to assist Nikolay Konstantinov and his efforts at Formula D: Irwindale.  Great fun that was as well.

The following are scans of feature.  Also included in the magazine are: coverage of Import Alliance, an RB26 E30, a 500hp Civic, and an SR20 Datsun 620.  Well worth the mag.  If interested, I have a few spare copies and can be reached at: il.draconis.li@gmail.com or head over to S3 and pick up a copy there at: Current S3 issue, Vol. 19 (Dec. 2010)

Catch Up of August Happenings

So it's been quite a while since I last updated posted.  A lot has gone on since then and I'll be attempting to catch up in chronological order.

August 14th, 2010

Well the first thing that happened in August of note was the Nissan of Olympia's Nissan & Mitsubishi Meet, on the 14th.  Put on by Russell Moore, manager of Internet sales at Olympia of Nissan, and sponsored in part, amongst others, by S12Silvia.com.  The turn out was much larger than expected and a total success.  As part of my job as the representative of S12Silvia.com, I assisted after the meet where it was possible, donated a replica S12 Silvia bonnet badge, and donated a set lanyards to those who dropped by. The lanyards were the first out of the three batches to go, which was a good sign.  The bonnet badge was won by a customer of U.P. Garage of all the people.  He knew Randy, the tech. whom I've worked on for years on my S12, and was willing to trade the S12 bonnet badge for some random S13 parts that Randy had.  In the end, it worked out great for the both of them.  I walked away with a Nismo SR thermostat, which I can trade for an RB thermostat, and a Nismo key fob.  Afterwards, I went out with U.P. Garage to the nearby Red Robin where the shop and all those associated do their traditional after event meal.  Driving home was an event as I followed Randy and Doug.  Doug knew that the freeway would be packed, so he took many back roads that were quite fun to drive though, seeing that much of it was through windy roads int he forests.

August 22nd, 2010

A week later on August 22nd I attended the Infiniti of Fife car show/meet.  The showing was a bit poor, mostly due to the weather since it appeared that rain was virtually imminent.  Thankfully, it did not rain at all.  Despite the eighteen cars that showed and a plethora of trophies... something like nine total, it was pretty biased.  I was not aware of the extent until after when I got back to U.P. Garage.  There was a guy by the name of Jason, whom I had heard about before, in attendance.  He brought out his show S13 that the only time it was ever seen was at show.  I knew of the car for it was swapped years ago by Dave&Cody.  Dave and Cody had lost their business years ago for attempting to import too much and unregulated to US laws and such.  Those were very much back in the Pit Stop days... four years ago.  Anyway, Jason had been featured in a magazine, which turns out that he carries it in his S13's glove box at all times.  Jason's presentation was pretty dang good and of a higher caliber of mine.  I knew he would win, which he did take home three trophies.

I figured I would win Best Engine Mods, but it went to a Z32 that only had bolt-ons and supposedly an engine rebuild.  However, some people knew of the owner of the Z32 and filled me in that the engine wasnt as high caliber as it seemed to be by the owner's embellishment.  Looking at the engine bay, it looked stock with some matching couplers and such.  Other than that, the engine bay was not even detailed or looked like anything was really done of any seriousness.  I was awarded Honourable Mention for I owned an S12 and the judges appreciated the fact that the chassis existed still.  They made a point that they were not expecting an additional prize, therefore no trophy, but I was awarded a pair of Nismo number plate frames.  I am thankful for them and appreciative that my car was recognized in some manner.

Now to explain a little on the bias judging. The judges by way were those who were employed by Infiniti of Fife, and the head judge was Shae.  From what I was told, the year before, Doug had annoyed those from Infiniti with his line of cars and took home a fair amount of the trophies with his shop's car.  In the past year, Doug changed his supplier from Infiniti of Fife to Nissan of Olympia partially due to the price and also due to the availability of parts in stock.  The parts department of Infiniti made it clear to Doug that they were not happy with the turn of events.  To make matters worse, Shae used to work at Nissan of Olympia.  When Russell Moore was hired at Nissan of Olympia, he moved parts like no one's business; stock that was supposedly unable to be moved while Shae was in charge.  Seeing that Russell was doing a better job put Shae on edge.  Shortly after, Shae left Nissan of Olympia and was hired at Infiniti of Fife.  Since then, Shae has not been on good terms with Olympia nor Russell while constantly complaining to Russell to raise his prices to match Infiniti's.  In addition, he has made several attempts in obtaining Doug's business back and while I was at the show, Shae went out of his way to tell me all about the RB parts that were available and told me to contact him if I ever needed anything.  Well knowing the position of the Infiniti dealership, I had two strikes against me: one for having U.P. Garage decals over my car and another for sporting Nissanparts.cc decals as well - Nissan of Olympia's parts website ran by Russell.

After the Infiniti of Fife Show, I ended up heading to Ruston way and Point Defiance with some other mates.  Mike from U.P. Garage showed up in Doug's white R32 GTR, Manuel who came down to check things out, Raj came over from the M Meet in his red 97 M3, and Jason (previously mentioned).  Driving down the 509 bridge from the Port of Tacoma to Downtown Tacoma, I decided to see what I could get out of my car.  I took off leaving Raj in his M3 behind easy enough.  Driving along Ruston way, there were several heads turned, especially when the tuners there recognized the R32.  Due to the poor parking, we ended up hitting up Point Defiance where we settled on a parking spot near Fort Nisqually.

In the order from left to right:
Jason (S13), Mike (R32), Colin (S12), Manuel (S12), Raj (E46 M3)

NOS ForumFest 2010

Only a week after Formula D and the One of One car show and I was already hitting up yet another car show.  With the shows at a minimum this year up in Washington, I dont have the luxury of picking and choosing as I did several years ago.  Despite that, a show that actively promoted to the entire Pacific NW and was as large as it was, it would be one of the few shows to definitely go to.

The event was not just aimed at a car show competition but included drag races and a drift competition.  The venue opened at 9am and continued until 5pm.  A very long day indeed.  For those participating, 6-7am was arrival time; show cars, drift cars, and drag cars alike.  With the exception of drag racers, all entrants had to be here at such an excruciating early hour.  I for one am still surprised that I somehow made it through the day seeing that I woke up at 5:15am and arrived shortly after 6am.  The best thing car shows are known for, hurry up and wait.  So that's what I did early am in the morning when I'm never up.  Waited until a bit after 7am until anyone was admitted.  If I had known that, I would have slept in a bit longer, but at least they recognized that I was early and waiting and gave me a prime spot to park.

It was then a couple hours of the typical prepping of the car and setting up of the display.  I took with me both my framed Reader's Rides, my Guest Blog that was hosted on SpeedHunters.com, and a mirror to highlight the engineering of the engine's mounting and the mandrel-bent aluminum dual downpipes from the twin turbos.

I met up with some older and former S12 owners in addition to forum members who have ceased to be active for various reasons.  Many of them were impressed with my additional upgrades to my S12 since the last time they had seen it.  Some were keen on starting their project up again after a year or more of dormancy.  Then there were the several who never thought about owning or tinkering with an S12 who suddenly saw potential in the chassis and seriously considered giving it a go.  One such person was a Mitsubishi guy who worked at a Mitsubishi dealership and would never have thought that such an older chassis could be adapted so well with that of the such modification procedures the S13s and S14s have.

In the end, it was quite a surprise.  To date in the States, an S12 had never won a trophy or much official recognition at a car show.  There is the usual surprise at seeing the chassis at a show and being so clean and for me personally the expected "Oh my God" reaction; however, despite being a crowd teaser, when it comes to the judging, the S12 has never seem to have gotten much love.  It was last Sunday that this changed.  A first for me and a first for the S12 in the States that I am aware of in the past decade or possibly more, an S12 won.  I ended up with two trophies amazingly.  I won "Best Performance Engineering with Dyno" and "Best Sleeper Build."  The first award goes fully to U.P. Garage USA.  It was their work that engineering the final stage of my car.  I give them full credit.  I did not do anything this time with the actual mechanics of the car.

For NWMotiv's coverage and pictures, visit: ForumFest.
NWMotiv was a sponsor and the official website hosting pictures in collaboration with NOS drink.



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Project S12/26: Aesthetics

As with all projects, there comes a time when it draws to a close. At the time of fulfillment, the feeling of accomplishment and confusion coincide. It may seem odd to someone that the feeling of confusion would accompany the culmination of such a large project. The issue with a project that spans so much time, is that with the amount of effort, constant thinking, and planning that it takes, it virtually becomes a part of the individual. They have lived and breathed it to the point that it becomes a part of their daily life. Without it, a void is left.

A project that has been so paramount in my life the past four years has been my 1987 Nissan. I have had two goals with it. One of which was to fulfill the particular image that was in my head while the other was partially glimpsed and has only been accomplished recently.

 Not surprising to those who know me nor those who knew of very particular image in mind, even with my swap finished and the S12 running exceptionally, there were still a few loose ends that were to be dealt with. A couple of those details came to light in the past several weeks: S12 RS-X grill and S12 Euro spec. headlamp guards.




Since I am both MKII and have a US spec. S12, some modifications had to be done to compensate for the parts being either MKI or Euro spec. But with some effort and tinkering, both were installed.

The grill was shipped from Japan as the headlamp guards from England.