Nackers

New blog and website

2010-09-09T22:42:00.005-05:00

Yo, check this shit.

BrianVrchoticky.com

This blog will self destruct in t-minus ************

Cool video bro!

2010-08-31T04:04:00.000-05:00

Thanks to R. Harrison for this radtastic video.

MDU Round 4: Gateway International

2010-08-30T16:26:00.005-05:00

Run down of the day.

Showed up at the track around 7. Got teched and straight to drivers meeting.

During the meeting Edgar asked who wanted to test the course. Nobody responded so I said I would.

Did a run that was eh... but realized that the track was way faster than I remembered from last year.

First run group. Kinda sucked mostly, but using 3rd gear managed to link the whole track a couple times. That straight section is tough. Kept getting too much angle in the first corner killing my speed to make the straight.

Second run group. Did 2 runs with some bigger grippier tires and they weren't working for me. Basically thats about it.

Third run group was for tandem. I started using 4th gear and realized the Z LOVED it! The starter had me leading cause I was faster than everyone else out there which kinda sucked for me. But after 4 or 5 runs he held up Bill Cook and what happened then was insane!

He leads first. We get to the first corner with me about a car behind. Initiate, transistion to the 2nd corner and he got a bit too much angle which caused me to get all on his ass. I threw out more angle to match, but that slowed me too much for the straight. I maned up and transistioned really wide dropping 3 tires in the grass.

I wasn't going to let that stop me. I got out of the grass with him still in my sights. Hit the sweeper and started gaining.

I ended up finishing the last corner with my rear bumper nearly touching his door. It was amazing. Fastest most retarted tandem I've ever had. Too bad it wasn't comp.

So qualifying started. My first initiation I knew the run was garbage. I went into my second run thinking, "I already got a good run down. Now go big"... I kept thinking that till I took off even though it was a complete lie. I definatly had a 0 for my first run.

So second run I just go for it. 4th gear and didn't lift till the sweeper. Apparently the judges and spectators went crazy. I don't have any idea what T2 Mike did to beat my qualifying run, but I ended up with 2nd place.

So tandem starts. My first round is with Kris Hackenson (streethookertrash.blogspot.com). His lead and he pulls off the start and keeps his lead through the run. Nothing to report except my desire to do the same to him.

My lead and he's right on my ass in the first initiation. After that, I just pulled on him. Didn't lift at all. Got to the sweeper and I looked back to see where he was, looked forward and realized decreasing radius had just started and I was running way outside since I hadn't lifted. Hit the grass and went way off into a tire barrier ending my day. The car is beat up, but otherwise perfectly fine.

So I end the season. 3 out of 4 events with 36 points. I finish MDU 2010 with 4th place and I've got my invite to goto Formula D Pro-am 2010!

Next up... FD Pro-am!

Forever young

2010-08-22T10:17:00.002-05:00

I'm horrible at updating.

I thought maybe doing video's while driving would do it... but then I don't upload them and stuff.

I guess I just have to do a better job of reminding myself.

Anyhow, Z has Tie rods finally. Why didn't I do them before? The angle is fantastic!

Video Blog #1

2010-07-23T00:08:00.004-05:00

So the video was 12min long and I chopped out the middle talking about previous events, but that info is on here anyway. Also, the phone died at the end so whatever. I'm going to try and do more of these cause since I'm driving a lot, its easy to set the phone up on the dash and talk away. One last thing, some of the audio got cut out... idk what I did but again... whatever. I guess there is a steep learning curve for Windows movie maker haha.

Enjoy... or don't.

MDU Round 3- Speedrome Bro!

2010-07-05T10:12:00.002-05:00

I'm too tired. 2 day's of drifting in the hot sun takes a toll on the body for sure.

The Z felt great on the track. I started having an issue with vapor lock and my 7th injector maybe stying open. When I shut the car off, it wouldn't restart because it had too much fuel. Luckly, I got it started and kept it running after qualification for the tandem rounds.

I qualified 2nd just behind Chicago's own Crazy Kris H.

My first tandem round I lead. I feel like I was doing well, but going into the final 2 corners I had a bit too much speed and had to scrub to keep from spinning, then powered up to finish the run.

Following, I was doing well. I was staying near the lead car when he put out some crazy angle. It phased me and I thought he was going to spin so I put mine out as far as I could to scrub speed but just went a hair too far and dead spun giving him the win.

Qualified 2nd
Finished 7th

Gateway will be round 4 and I can not wait. Last year Gateway was my first event and the Z was stock. It got me 8th place qualifier but I didn't have enough power, no handbrake, and honestly not enough experience to do any better. I hope this is no the case this time around. Z should do very well here.

MDU Round 2- Oriley Raceway Park

2010-05-10T11:50:00.005-05:00

Huge thanks to THM and ProjectX for all the support.

I qualified 3rd with a 29/30 and there was a 2 way tie for 1st with 30/30

First Tandem round was all me.

Second tandem I had the advantage after leading Austin Barron. When following, I was faster then him and got too close and had to correct which leaded to one more time.

I lead again and had the advantage after he spun. When following, I tried to give more room, but I made a mistake and spun. One more time again.

At this point, my tires were getting greasy. They asked if I needed tires, but I had no other tires to use so I had to deal with it. First run Austin had the advantage. After trying to do some crazy shit and even using his car as my clipping point getting way inside of him and nearly passing him, he took the win.

Immediatly following those 3 consecutive rounds, I had to drive for 3rd/4th. The tires were still too hot and driving against Bill Cook who was one of the 1st place qualifiers. He had the advantage in the first run with me following and I slowed way down in my lead run trying not to spin. He took the win.

I was a great event! The ProjectX/THMotorsports Z was great all day. Now I need more tires.

Thanks to Johnny C. for the photos.

http://begoodphotography.smugmug.com/Automotive/drift-2/drift/MG6290/862271452_BpPmw-X2.jpg

http://begoodphotography.smugmug.com/Automotive/drift-2/drift/MG7474/862277077_koQ4v-X3.jpg

http://begoodphotography.smugmug.com/Automotive/drift-2/drift/MG6401/862272632_FFkxz-O.jpg

KABOOM!

2010-04-18T20:49:00.002-05:00

I bought a S14 2 weeks ago and decided to make it a street/daily driver. Well, the Z is at Project X and I got roped into going to Midwest Drift Union's first event.

I spent all week installing coilovers, handbrake, welding the diff, wheels, brakes, maintence, etc. just to have the diff explode in Ohio.

Car got towed to Indy and is chillin with the MDU guys. I'm going Friday to pick it up and see the damage. I'm going to take lots of photos of it to see where I fucked up.

I wish I had the Z.

Some assembly required...

2010-03-21T20:55:00.002-05:00

So for helping Project X paint some 350z headlights, I was given a set of 2006 headlights. This is great cause at ClubFR private day I managed to break the front knuckle again and the wheel contacted the headlight and now my HID doesn't work. So for the past few months I've been driving with my brights on cause I couldn't afford to buy a new one.

Too bad the headlights I got needed to be put together and are actually missing a trim piece. So I'm still driving with the brights on, but it'll be cool... one day.

The season is just around the corner and my turbo kit is still in the shop sitting in a box covered in dust. My CJ Motorsports fuel return system just came in and now I have to order a UpREV in the next week or two. Hopefully I can convince THMotorsports to get a deal with them so I can get a better price than $700. But its something that has to be done.

I'm also looking into getting new aero and painting the car. Then hopefully a set of wheels if cash funds are there.

I hope this season is 10x cooler than last.

2010-01-31T18:24:00.001-06:00

Memories of the MKIII kind

South Florida hates Risky Devil

2010-01-08T23:30:00.000-06:00

http://www.sfldrifters.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54984

Well, some of them do anyway.

HAHAHA, "everyone outside the east coast is boring". This is rad.

... winter

2009-12-20T20:53:00.003-06:00

Yea, winter sucks, but whatever.

Project X moved into the new shop finally.

www.teamprojectx.com/brian

I got a giant wing on the Z.

THMotorsports decided they wanted to sponsor me. Thats dope. www.thmotorsports.com

Ginash from JDM Chicago is working with a good friend of his at www.bodykits.org to get me some sweet aero. I know the name is funky, but urathane ings replica would be sweet so long the price is right.

I've been removing a turbonetics turbo kit from my friends g35 sedan. This will be the new power adder the Z needs to be competitive next season.

I'm hoping www.kprace.com steering kit will end up on the car before the first event. This will make my life so much more fun.

Z is sitting under a bunch of snow out in the parking lot of my apartment complex. It's quite sad. I haven't seen the lip or sideskirts in a long time. The wing cannot be hidden however.

Thats pretty much it. Workin and trying to save money to hit 2010 hard. My mind is going nuts so I hope it gets here soon.

Driftin' Away by Michael G. Marre

2009-11-07T15:12:00.002-06:00

This is a short story my father put together from the last drift event we attended.

My twenty-five year old step-son is a drifter. No, no, don't misunderstand me. He is a solid citizen, a gainfully employed taxpayer, sober, reliable and engaged to be married. He just prefers driving his car sideways!

I'll try to explain. Drifting is a sport in which the participants drive their cars over a designated circuit in a series of (theoretically) controlled slides. Points are awarded by judges for style and for demonstrated competence. The drivers are allowed practice on the circuit, then they have to drive, each in turn, to demonstrate their mastery of that circuit and, of course, of the car. Finally, eight (usually) drivers are selected as qualifiers for head-to-head contests, called tandem runs, to determine the eventual winner.

Late last year, my step-son bought a Nissan 350z from a gentleman who had already used it for such shenanigans out West. This gave my lad the advantage of obtaining a car with roll-cage already fitted (drift competitions include a rule which states 'no helmet, no roll-cage, no service'). Since then, the car has had some other modifications - it has been lowered even further than the previous owner's set-up (the lad's own work), been fitted with a new hood (more of the lad's own workd), and, courtesy of a sponsor, has been fitted with a revised cooling-system. So equipped, he embarked upon his first season of competitive drifting. Yes, he has found sponsors, which reduces the costs - but still leaves some, as you shall see.

Recently, we set out for Shawano, WI, a couple of hundred miles away, where there was held a drift meet, with the entries limited to those who had scored a sufficient number of points in the 2009 season. As the 350z is the lad's only vehicle, he drove that with Miss Garmin (my GPS device) as navigator. My wife was out of town, so I took her 4-wheel-drive station wagon - oops, pardon me, her SUV- paced with tires, wheels, and tools. My pick-up truck has an open bed which carries the risk that the contents my magically disappear during overnight stops, so its use was only briefly considered before the decision was made to use the wagon - uh, darn it, I'm supposed to call it the SUV.

Following the lad was no problem; drifters generally drive cautiously and within the speed-limits to avoid tickets (expensive, especially when you have a drift car to support), license suspension (even more expensive when you have no other practical way to get to work), or, horror of horrors, the impounding of the car, which not only supersedes the other problems, but renders moot the whole point of the exercise. So, the journey was fairly uneventful... well, there was this Corvette, you see. It swept down an on-ramp to find itself next to the lowered, decal-bedecked 350z, with the aero kit which the lad had fitted beneath the front bumper and the side rocker panels only a day or two earlier. As I had already commented that the car was so low that he could not possibly clamber over the paint-strips to change lanes, it was a wonder that anything could be fitted under anything! As things are, railroad-crossings must be negotiated at three MPH, with hazard lights flashing, to avoid serious damage to the nether regions or the car - and the driver. Anyway, the Corvette cruised along next to the Nissan, obviously licking its chops. When the lad refused to take the bait, the Corvette stormed off in illegally rapid disgust;. Even from my seat in a different car (sorry, SUV), I could feel the lad's right foot twitch, but he manfully held himself- and the car- in check. When I later complimented him on his restraint, he ruefully admitted that the Corvette would have blown off his doors in a straight line. "But," he added, reassuringly, "wait 'til I fit the twin turbos!" I was not reassured.

And so we arrived in Shawano, unscratched, undented, and unticketed.

The next morning, we drove to the venue, the USAir Raceway. This offers a choice of circuits )it really is an impressive complex), which , for drifters, varies from fairly basic to insanely difficult (or so it appeared to me, but what do I know?). Also the complex was intended for Go-Karts. Now, these have grown up considerably since my day (many decades ago- I'm an old man), when we drove primitive frames without such fripperies as gearboxes, suspensions, bodywork, or real performance, but, even so, there is still a difference in scale. Clearly, this would cause problems. Clearly, I was the only one who was worried.

As usual at these meets, the cars were... ah... unusual. Some, with more fortunate, or some solvent drivers, were trailered in; others, like the lad's, were driven. The day was bright and sunny - but bitterly cold, unlike a previous meet at the same venue, four weeks earlier, when the temperature had been in the eighties. In fact, it was so hot at that meet that a brand new Hyundai Genesis had done an imitation of a drummer for 'Spinal Tap.' [For those unfamiliar with the movie "This is Spinal Tap", I'll explain that a running gag is that each drummer in turn succumbs to the terrible fate of spontaneous combustion.] Nevertheless, at the meet in question, in spite of the cold, one Mazda Miata went shamelessly topless, baring her roll-cage and interior for everyone to see. A Nissan 240sx, meanwhile, removed his hood, brazenly revealing all, the automotive equivalent of 'flashing', I suppose. My eye was caught by a Mazda RX7 - in the dim and distant past, I owned one, but the one I'd had was steel and glass, not fiberglass, and mine had had an interior, and lights. Mine also had a rotary engine - not many drifters use these, preferring to replace them with something which produces enough torque to more easily break loose the rear wheels. American power sources are favored; indeed, I can recall one Toyota Corolla eyeing another and sighing enviously "I could'a had a V*!"

None of these cars bears much resemblance to its appearance in its first infant days in a showroom somewhere, trying to entice someone to buy a car for gentle daily use - ha!

Practice went fairly well, although excursions to visit scenery and sandbags made redundant the lad's hard work on his aero kit. Par of the rear bumper also decided that it did not wish to participate, and the second time it went on strike, it was discarded - at least, the left half; the right half was quite enjoying itself and remained along for the rides. I must stress that the lad was far from the only one subject to these indignities. I overheard Driver A commenting to driver B that driver C had slid off the track - again. Driver B replied "he's a gardener." Driver A - "I didn't know that." Driver B "well, he's been cutting grass all day!"

The lad qualified second. In the first leg of his first 'head-to-head or 'tandem' run, he did well, but the second leg was marred by a misjudgment, and his day's competition was over. But not the driving. Once the contest is over and the winner is selected, the track is reopened and driving resumes. Alas, the lad communed with Nature, some firmly frozen Nature - while I wasn't looking, the nerve of him - with enough force that the left front wheel was driven up hard enough and far enough to fracture a vital component of the front suspension and to pop the left headlight out of its seating! The car was now undriveable. Nature 1, Technology 0.

A mad scramble ensued to try and obtain a trailer to carry home the wounded 350z. A chance materialized, and I returned to the motel. As the arrangements for the lad's ride home included his driving the car which would be displaced from its trailer by the 340z, a BMW M3 lacking a heater - and lacking a driver's side window - I gave him my fur-lined coat to use. Northern Wisconsin nights in the fall can be very cold: in this instance, well below freezing, and our destination was Norther Illinois which is only slightly less cold (the word 'warmer' would be misleading).

Happy that transport had been arranged and unaware of subsequent events, I returned to the hotel, slept well and went home the next morning, guided by Miss Garmin and carrying the tires, wheels and tools - and sundry pieces of bodywork - in the wagon, ah, SUV, believing the lad and his car to be already back in Illinois.

I later discovered that such was not the case. The car's supposed ride had evaporated with the daylight. The lad contacted AAA, but was informed that his car was 'too low'(no, I did not DARE to say "I told you so"; I'm old but neither that cruel nor that stupid). Price negotiations foundered, and the lad eventually got a ride home from a crew that calls themselves 'Risky Devil', but had to leave the 350z in Shawano, whence it was retrieved the next day - at a price of $450! The Bank of Dad was tapped for financing. The lad then informed me that he should have the new suspension piece (no the first time he's replaced that particular component) in a day or two, and should be able to fit it in time for the next event, which is the next week-end! And I thought the season was over! Meanwhile, he's appropriated my pick-up MY PICK-UP - a man's most meaningful and treasured possession : I know that because all the Country and Western songs say so. And I've only had it a lousy eleven years. It's almost brand-new.

As soon as his mother comes back from her trip, we'll have to discuss the matter of a trailer for the pick-up, which I never expect to be permitted to use again. The sacrifices a man must make for his kids!

Moral: Mothers, don't let your sons grow up to be drifters.

Swapped!!!

2009-09-16T21:08:00.003-05:00

http://swappedhq.com/index.php

Edgar at Drift Indy is doing big things. Check out the new store and help support! New products will be added all the time and the site just opened so check back every day and buy lots of stuff. Do it now before a puppy gets kicked.

*no puppies will be harmed*

DD28

2009-09-13T15:37:00.005-05:00

The event was cool. I was low on tires so I didn't drive as much as I should have. It's ok though.

www.nackers.picturepush.com

Drift Indy Round 4: Converse Airport

2009-08-30T16:56:00.003-05:00

This event was so rad! The fastest entry I saw was 72mph which was weak, but enough to get me 4th place in qualification.

The tandem rounds started and I had to drive aginst Kyle in his 4.5L V8 swapped Corolla. The first round I led and hit the sweeper with a bit too much enthusiasim and spun. The second round I was running him really close, but the 0 in the first round sealed the deal.

It was a blast and I had sooo much fun!

TLC makes it all good

2009-08-25T20:22:00.003-05:00

So the Z got some much needed attention. After installing the Mishimoto radiator, hoses, and oil cooler supplied from Mishimoto, the Z got an oil change, 2* timing advance, custom windshield washer fluid reservoir, removed rear hatch wiper, air bags disabled, and the VDC got completely unplugged.

Not a bad few hours.

Huge thanks to Larry, Eli, and Jeff at Project X Customs for doing all the work. Hope that pizza was good fella's!

Sponsors!!!

2009-08-11T20:58:00.002-05:00

Crashing the Z was the best thing to ever happen!

In the past month I've gone from self sponsorship to 3 sponsors!

-J&R Auto Care Center

-Project X Customs

-Mishimoto

I need to crash more often... wait... NO!

On the road again...

2009-08-09T17:47:00.002-05:00

The Z is going again!

I'm so excited... and I just can't hide it...

I'm about to lose control and I think I like it... WOOOOO!!!

So yeah. After it was all said and done the parts that broke/bent:

FL Knuckle

RL Camber arm

RL Traction arm

The front left knuckle was replaced with a factory unit. The rear camber arms were replaced with SPL Pro camber arms. The traction (and while I was at it) toe arm's were replaced with Megan Racing parts.

Total was $650 then another $130 for an alignment with 1 year free alignments.

Next is driving the car then I have a few plans:

New paint/aero

New stickers

New wheels

POOOOOOWWWWWWAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!

I can't wait to get out to the next event.

Drift Lessons 1

2009-08-01T02:21:00.006-05:00

So I've been looking around on the 350z forums and have been talking to some people about starting drifting. I like to think I've got a pretty good idea how to go about this without trying to look cool, or give advice to beginner drivers that can get them tied up in hairy situations. I'm just going to kinda jot down some of these thoughts and answers to recent questions I've been asked or seen around.

****All of these are my beliefs that have been found from my own experiences and conversations. Think what you will. Most of my responses, comments, and guides are geared towards people similar to me who are looking to get somewhere in drifting rather than a weekend hobby or just look cool. And in no way am I claiming to have all the answers. "I've got no idea what I'm talking about. I'm only here for suggestion."****

"I want to start drifting."

Congratulations! You and probably 85% of import car fans have said or thought this. For some people it may be as easy as spending $10,000 on a S-chassis, motorset, suspension parts, etc and going out there flexing your wallet to show how awesome you are. For most everyone else, its much more difficult.

And some of you may notice that straight away I go with the 240 and its a simple explanation. The S13 (89-94) 240sx is ideal for a beginner driver. But for people who don't like things simple, let me explain.

First thing is first. Most beginner drivers aren't going to step into their first event and get 1st place. I would almost be willing to say that nobody ever will. Even in their first season, they will probably be spending most of the time upgrading the car and buying tires.

What I normally hear is "Everybody drives a 240sx and I just want to be different".

I understand that you want to have your individuality. Seriously, I do. But think of it as a stepping stone to bigger and better things. Get yourself in a chassis that has been proven over and over and over and over and over... and has brand new aftermarket parts that are sold everywhere, and has aftermarket parts being sold used everywhere. Not to mention that using a different chassis can have serious downsides at the track. If your having issue's with the cars characteristics, its less likely that anyone will be able to truly help you. If you talk to a good drifter in a 240, he would be able to tell you what the problem is in his sleep. Also in the case of a failure or malfunction... your not going to be able to talk to the guy next to you and get the parts you need to get the car back on the track... or in some cases just to get the car home.

Also you have to remember all RWD cars are not the same. Sure, the have rear wheel drive so you spin the rear tires and countersteer to drift. But some cars have short wheelbase, narrow stance, awkward weight balance, horrible suspension design, limited aftermarket support, or just really low power.

Then there is the case of the age of the vehicle. Sure the S13's are getting pretty old, but since they are so widely used, most of them that are in good shape have been maintained. You get into other chassis like a FC not only do you run into a lot more daily driver's, but you get the added bonus of a dodgy engine that doesn't like to cooperate and can be a nightmare to work on.

But with that said, just getting yourself into a clean s-chassis can be a pain. Either spending too much on a decent running car, or spending a couple hundred dollars on a bare shell. Either way, it will cost some money but the work involved can be decreased by just spending some extra cash to get a good running car. I've just recently been looking at prices of S13's and here is a little rundown of what you can expect to pay:

Good condition rolling chassis: Bare bones. Usually no interior, motor, trans, diff. Body and frame are in good/decent shape.

*Price* $200-$900

Rusty car: Pretty basic. High milage chassis/motorset. KA motorset (sohc or dohc doesn't make difference). General places of interest are rockers, rear quarters, inside front fenders, strut tower top/bottom, frame rails all or starting to rust. Everything could be repairable but would take time and money.

*Price* $1,000-$2,000

Decent 240: This is pretty much what I consider the "butter zone" for a beginner's drift car. Good KA. Pretty much ding/rust free. Generally has a few minor modifications (exhaust, intake, shift knobs, aero, cheap wheels, coilovers, welded diff)

*Price* $2,000-$3,500

Mid-range 240: Generally a really clean car. Body and frame are straight. It's a weird spot because these cars can vary so much. Either they have a really nice suspension setup, wheels, aero, and KA... they have some sort of motorswap or KA turbo setup with not much else done... they have some sort of motorswap project that isn't running and has some basic mods... or its a real project that has top of the line parts, cage, but missing motorsets or full suspension arms... its just a weird spot for these cars.

*Price*$3,500-$5,000

Good/great: Body/frame good. Generally have SR20DET motorset, but varies from KA-T all the way to LS-7 with anything in between. Suspension parts, wheels, aero, cage, diff, brakes... pretty much anything goes. This is where your buying finished or nearly finished products.

*Price*$5,000-XXXXX

So now I hope you went with the "decent 240". I say this because I feel that for a beginner its the best "bang for your buck". You get yourself into a car you can instantly drive and begin to learn. Now you have to remember though. You will have to replace things. Parts will fail, break, wear or whatever. When they do if you have the money, replace them with aftermarket parts as needed. "If it ain't broke don't fix it." That's sorta where I stand on that.

Now get yourself out to events. It's not right for me to say go find your nearest empty parking lot and start sliding. You know, pulling the handbrake and doing doughnuts. Then moving on to real drifting. That just isn't the right thing to say. There are consequences for those types of actions and depending on your local laws, could mean a fine from $500 to $3,000, getting your car impounded, or even losing your license.

So now you've run a few events and your really getting the hang of the car as it sits. Now what do you do to make it better? That's easy...

Driver position/Diff: Buying a bucket seat, steering wheel, harness bar/harnesses, shift knob. This may be far from your mind but I'm telling you, driver comfort is everything. If your tall, get yourself a low seat and seat rail. If your legs are really long get a deep dish steering wheel. Get a spacer to go with it if you have to. Just get your ass planted to that car and put everything where you want it.

Then get a rear differential. Most people automatically think you have to spend $900 on a 2-way diff, but in my eyes, that is just stupid. Most 2-way's I've seen in drifting are adjustable. And being that they are adjustable 2 ways (Acceleration and deceleration) most just set them at max lock for both. This being the case, both wheels spin the exact same speed all the time. And with this logic, take your stock open diff to a shop and have them weld it and you have, basically, the exact same thing. Now if your daily driving the car and your worried about safety of a welded or 2-way, you would be much happier with a 1.5 way diff. This locks on acceleration, but opens up when decelerating so the outside wheel can spin faster so you don't understeer like the case of a welded. I tend to stay away from the VLSD (Viscous Limited Slip Differential) only because in drifting you are really putting a beating on the diff and when a VLSD heats up, it tends to go open (only spinning one wheel). There are ways to help this though. Rebuilding the diff with new clutch disks, replacing the fluid with new, proper VLSD gear oil, and using shimms to give less "play" in the diff making it lock harder. It all really depends on your situation and available funds.

Suspension/wheels tires: Coilovers and tie rods then a proper alignment. Quality coilovers such as Stance are cheap for what they are and give you a wide range of adjustability to get the car suited to your driving style. Adding tie rods (inner and outer) like Tein's give you more steering angle (with the spacer that comes with them) and you can adjust front toe which can get rid of understeer and help with the turning of the car. If you have extra cash for camber arms they are a good thing to have with coilovers. When you lower the car you get the benefit of a lower center of gravity which translates into more stability but also means your camber is getting tweaked. Most coilovers come with pillow ball camber plates for the front, but in the rear getting a quality set of RUCA's (Rear Upper Control Arm's) will get those rear tires where you want them. In the case of a stock power 240, giving the rear some camber will defiantly help with tire spin, but too much can make the car harder to control. Rear tires at this point can still be whatever you can find for cheap, but having some grippy, low profile tires in the front will help with control.

Motor: Adding a turbo/supercharger to your KA or doing any number of swaps. Once your satisfied with the driver position and the handling, your probably about this point a bit underpowered for some sections of tracks. Of course if your like Dustin D. in the essentially stock S14 you just drive the car harder to compensate. But even watching him in all his aggressiveness... he really just needs more power.

Always remember these two things:

You don't have to build your car then drift it. Adding parts at your own pace is a good way to go because driving the car in near stock form is beneficial because you really learn how to control the car.

You don't have to conquer the course on your first try. Take it easy. You have all day to get it right. Driving out of control will get you nowhere. And crashing is a good way to scare yourself away from driving to your full potential. Drive within your means and progress at your own pace. Don't let anyone force you into doing otherwise whether it be by trash talking, laughing or otherwise. Most of the people that do these sort of things aren't real drivers and either don't understand or don't care to understand what drifting is really about. I've driven within my means and progressed at my own pace. In my 7 years of driving I had my first (what I like to call) "major crash" 3 weeks ago at H.I.N Formula D pro-am Qualifier where I hit the wall (you can read about it on my blog). I only say major because it was the first time I couldn't drive my car home. Not bad in my opinion.

I hope that this helps someone out there somewhere with their quest. If you have any questions on anything I've said, feel free to add a comment or send me a e-mail (nackerssilvia@aol.com) and I would be more than happy to help. I'll be adding more posts like this in the future.

Safe drifting!

Long time no drive... untill today...

2009-08-01T01:22:00.002-05:00

So for the past weeks since H.I.N the car has been sitting by itself in a desolate storage facility in the middle of absolutly nowhere.

Today I got it out of there, onto a flatbed (thanks AAA), and to an alignment shop where they adjusted the toe issue in the rear best they could and sent me on my way... for now.

I got home and called Scott (aka Eric W.) at Touge Factory and since the SPL Midlinks are $600 bucks, had him order Megan Racing Radius arms, and rear lower arms.

As soon as they get in I'm installing them the best I can, and taking it back for a true 4 wheel alignment. Hopefully all goes well this time around...

"Your in a Z. That wall will move."

2009-07-12T18:47:00.002-05:00

H.I.N Nightshift was yesterday. I was hoping to qualify to get to the Formula D pro-am to attempt for my FD license, but unfortunatly druing practice I tagged the wall and broke some suspension parts.

Before that, I had been running super close to the wall. I even spun once and stopped so close that a staff member reached out and I gave him 5.

The track was so-so. I would get into 3rd before the initiation point, swing back to the right along the wall clipping point, follow it around to a decreasing radius where I needed 2nd, swing it back to the left along the straight section where I needed 3rd to carry to the finaly clipping point into the finish.

I was trying a few different things, 2nd gear full, 3rd gear full, 3rd to 2nd... but untimatly I needed 3rd, 2nd, 3rd and I didn't get a chance to try and find my 2nd shift point from 3rd to 2nd.

So the car needs a spindle-knuckle (defined by Nissan) and a rear lower control arm. The body work on the rear quarter got dinged, but its not really bad at all.

So my mother has been talking to me about maybe getting a different car for drifting, but IDK. There really are only 3 cars I can think of that I would want to drive other than the Z:

1. 240sx (s13 or s14)- Cheap, easy to drift. Feel sloppy with old bushings. Parts are easy to find, but everyone has them and I'm kinda sick of owning them.

2. AE86 (hatch)- Cheap to buy. Harder to find parts. Again, feels sloppy with old ass bushing. Not a whole lot of people use them, but they are underpowered. An engine swap could fix that. Look awesome with aero on 16" meshies.

3. RX-7 (FC3S)- Sorta cheap to buy depending on condition and trim level. Fairly easy to find parts. Once more, its old so bushings are shot. There are slightly more people driving these compared to the corolla. The rotary motor is shit so a swap would be in order. 350 chevy motor goes in pretty easy and swap kits are everywhere. They look sick as shit slammed with aero.

So thats where I'm kinda sitting. I'm thinking that the Z is gonna do for a while longer, but I'm not ruling out the idea of selling and moving to a different, cheaper chassis for a drift only car and buy a daily driver subaru wagon or something.

Random Chicago drive

2009-06-12T12:47:00.003-05:00

Cory and I changed the diff in his girlfriends coupe last night from open to a Z32 VLSD. Afterwards, we drove around Rockford for a bit when Cory asked if I wanted to go to Chicago. Sure, why not.

We get out to the city at around midnight and just cruise around. We stopped at a few locations to shoot some pictures. (visit my picturepush under the folder "Cars")

Cruising through Lower Wacker Dr. we got into a bit of a race with a VW Corrado. The SR20DET powered 240 coupe had no problem leaving him behind.

After finally finding our way out of Wacker Dr. we ended up at Navy Peir with a white SRT-4 behind us. After dinking around back and forth we jumped onto 90W to go home with the Neon in follow. After clearing a curve the Neon put it down. Cory being slightly late to do the same ended up pulling away with ease. We got a big thumbs up as the Neon sped off into the night.

On the trip back I ended up falling asleep. Flying through Chicago jammin out to some Turbo Negro I faintly hear a voice...

"Hey!!"

"Wake UP!!"

I slip out of my sleep while Cory is screaming at me.

Cory:

"Dude! A deer just Fucking hit us!"

Me:

"What?... *ugh* are you talking about? Like now...?"

Cory:

"Yea bro, this fucking deer just ran into the side of Jenny's car."

This is all I really remember but that's pretty much the story. When we got back to Rockford we pulled over and checked the damage. For how serious it sounded there was only 2 really small dings in the rear quarter and some hair stuck in the taillight as a memento. Really not bad for a 800lbs. object slamming into the side of your car at 70mph.

Text the masses

2009-06-05T19:04:00.008-05:00

I went to Chicago after work yesterday and got my new camera lens. It's a Sigma 70-300mm macro lens. The thing works amazing!

After getting home I received a text from Paul saying there was going to be a gathering of cars downtown near Soldier field at 10pm. Before I went, I helped Cory throw a transmission into his g/f car (S13 Coupe). That shit went pretty easy so I left his place around 8:30pm. and headed out.

I got to the Planetarium around 10pm. and there was a concert going on at the docks, so the meeting place changed. I didn't know where I was going, but I stumbled to a location across the street that I remembered from a 240 meet a few weeks prior and recognized it from photos. So I pulled in there and about 15min. later some cars started showing up.

So were hanging out with like 20 or more cars when all of a sudden everyone started going to their cars. I had no idea what was going on, but I figured I better go with. So after a short cruise through the city we pull into a grocery store parking lot. We went down the parking garage and into the shipping/receiving area where there were probably at least 50 cars already there.

We hung out for a while then about 30 of us decided to go to White Castle. After a fairly scary (and FAST!) drive down the highway, we get there and chill for a while longer. Around 2am. or so everyone started to leave so I got in my car and took the 1.5 hour drive back to Rockford. It was totally worth it though. I can't wait for the next one.

Luckily I got my new lens and I got a chance to use it. Here is what I got:

The rest of the photos can be viewed from my picturepush account on the right side of the screen.

T2 Films Serious work!

2009-05-26T22:01:00.003-05:00

ClubFR.net Drift Day 25 from Tim Tulov on Vimeo.

Awesome coverage from DD25 at Gateway International Raceway.

Chicago 240sx BBQ

2009-05-24T14:38:00.002-05:00

I went out to the ChicagoArea240sx BBQ yesterday. Saw some old friends, took some photos of some cars, and did a crazy "cruise" to Lake Shore Dr.

Photo's can be viewed by clicking my picturepush link on the right side of the screen.

Pictures!!!

2009-05-22T10:23:00.007-05:00

http://www.wreckedmagazine.com/blog/2009/05/21/grassroots-drift-day-in-the-midwest-gallery/

And just a shot that made the main page of Wrecked Magazine:

And more pictures from Danny Lo (http://www.cornerspeedphoto.com/blog/)

http://www.cornerspeedphoto.com/photography/2009/5-09_USA_International_Raceway

MWC Round 2 US Air DD26

2009-05-19T16:57:00.007-05:00

Man... that event was AWESOME!

26 drivers

7 hours of driving

Nice weather

Loads of tires

... it was the perfect day!

So it started out they said if you haven't been to the venue before you had to goto the doughnut pit to prove yourself. I was first in line at the gate but when Simba went to open it, it was locked. He told everyone to go around so now I'm last. But instead, he tells me to goto the intermediate course right off the bat. Cool.

So my first run I dominated the course minus the last corner, but it's a very tight slow turn after top of second and the fat ass Z just got away a bit.

Second run, second corner I did a little spin going just a bit too fast and the car got high centered on an apron and was sitting on its frame:

So after a truck pulled me off I cruised around the course and parked the car to check it out and since I felt bad for taking up a lot of time, getting the hell out of the way.

So after about 20 min. I went back out and dominated the course again. On my way back to the start line Keith (event photographer from Kaizo Photo) told me to goto the advanced course. AWESOME!

So over there I had a lot of troubles. The elevation changes, blind entries, off camber turns, and decreasing speed corners were a lot to deal with. Eventually though, I got it down:

So after a while of driving I started getting used to the course. Along with help from the starters (I can't remember their names), Mike Pollard, and Mike Mattalia riding with me.

The car was doing awesome all day but it was too low. I was scraping the car in a few different places on the course including the first initiation. One time going into the first corner I initiated so hard that the rear fender mud guard broke off and flew about 15ft. in the air (from what I heard).

Besides for the frame and the mud guard, the rear bumper nearly got torn off holding a gangster line by the hay bails, the front bumper has a crack in it because of bottoming out on some of the aprons, and the windshield washer reservoir got a crack in it. Nothing serious.

So qualifying started. My first run was going alright until I spun. The second run went really well and I was pretty happy with it. My final run went awesome until the final corner when I spun. Allwell, it was sufficient to get me 5th place.

So tandem started. I had to go against John Johnson (JJ). He was leading first and had been doing great all day. I was following him a little far away in sections (mostly due to the power difference) but I felt I was winning until the final corner when I spun out right before the finish. FUCK!!!

Second run I was leading. I have no idea what would have happened because I spun on the 3rd corner giving him the easy win.

I'm not that mad about losing though because this is only my 2nd event and I'm getting experience. I had never run tandem before besides with my good friend Danny. This time around I was a lot more calm and collective.

Anyway, Mike Pollard ended up getting the win with JJ in a close 2nd and Doug Artus getting 3rd.

So I ended up 5th and now overall I'm sitting in 4th place! I'm so happy!

Midwest Cup Round 2

Qualification

CODE

Mike Pollard     16
Doug Artus       15
Juan Marquez     14
Jonathan Johnson 13
Brian Vrchoticky 12
Simba Nyemba     11
Kris Hackenson   10
Dustin Doherty   9

Tandem Rounds

CODE

Mike Pollard 100
Jonathan Johnson 90
Doug Artus 81
Juan Marquez 73
Brian Vrchoticky 66
Simba Nyemba 59
Kris Hackenson 54
Dustin Doherty 48

Total Points

CODE

Mike Pollard 116
Jonathan Johnson 103
Doug Artus 96
Juan Marquez 87
Brian Vrchoticky 78
Simba Nyemba 70
Kris Hackenson 64
Dustin Doherty 57

Total Points

CODE

Mike Pollard 222
Juan Marquez 181
Simba Nyemba 141
Brian Vrchoticky 134
Jonathan Johnson 131
Brian Peter 114
Doug Artus 96
Kris Hackenson 89
Mike Ellington 82
Tyler Cox 81
Charles Litterst 65
Dustin Doherty 57
Charlie Quatmann 53
Alex Roto 46
Dan Sommer 41
Mike Omera 36
Leigh Roto 32
Daniel Dondzik 22

More photos from the event:

www.nackers.picturepush.com

www.kaizophoto.com

Handbrake install

2009-05-16T09:44:00.005-05:00

Alright, here are a few photos from the install.

First, this is the ring that I made. I took the factory shift ring off and made a duplicate out of 11ga. steel.

From there, we added 1"x3/16" flat bar's to bolt the handbrake to the shift ring, then threw in another 1" flat bar to triangulate the brackets together.

Once all that was done it was time to hook up the lines and run them. Opposed to drilling holes through he chassis we cut the factory shift ring and rubber dust boot to make room for the lines to come out. Using rubber vacuum line for protection of the lines, they come straight out of the shifter and go down along the passenger side of the transmission tunnel and under a factory plastic cover.

After coming out of the plastic cover, they tie into the factory mounting locations and run down the passenger side of the car. (This photo was before the lines got mounted under the holder bracket.

From there, the lines go up into the fender where the 350z has a factory junction block. 4 lines meet up here and was the perfect place to put the new lines. Adding 2 "T" blocks made tied everything together.

So this is how the system is run:

1. Brake master cylinder

2. 2 lines out of BMC

3. 2 lines run into ABS module

4. 4 lines come out of ABS (2 front and 2 rear)

5. 2 rear lines go into a junction block in the passenger fender under the liner and 2 leave this block

6. The 2 lines going into the junction block get "Teed" together and a new line runs into the handbrake "feed"

7. Another new line runs from the handbrake back to the fender and gets "Teed" into the 2 lines that leave the junction block

That's it. It may sound hard, but its really pretty simple. The problem is bleeding the system. In order to do this, you have to disconnect the battery. It's wayyy better to use a pneumatic vacuum bleeder but and standard hand pump bleeder will work. It just takes a lot of time.

Here is my parts list

25ft. 3/16" brake line

8 3/16" brake line fittings

2 3/16" "T" blocks

Double flairing tool

DOT 3 brake fluid

(though if you can get 2 10mm "T" blocks, 4 10mm brake line fittings and 2 10mm to 3/16" adapters would make a nicer install because you wouldn't have to cut the 4 factory lines to put on 3/16" fittings)

I also had access to a welder to make the brackets and a drill press to make the holes.

Sliding?

2009-05-14T18:32:00.004-05:00

So with DD26 only 3 days away my mind has been going absolutely crazy! I've been trying to stay calm by watching video's online, but for some reason I can't stop the urge to jump in the Z and go play.

I got a call from my friend Danny and apparently we are going to be doing some driving tonight. Danny apparently in his 87 Nissan 200sx (with the VG30DE), my friend Terry in his 95 Nissan 240sx (with the SR20DET) and me in the Z. I haven't heard if anyone else was going to come out or not, but as long as they are driving, it's all good with me.

But since I'm posting I might as well let you know whats going on in the next 2 days.

Friday is going to be really busy. I have to have Stef's 09 Scion XD at the dealership by 9am for her 5,000mi. maintenance. After that hour long deal, I have to goto the Credit Union and make my car payment, shoot over to my parents house to load up the XD with wheels, probably slip into the garage for at least a few to play the drums, goto Terry's and get his low profile jack, over to Rich's house to get some lumber so I can get the car high enough to jack it up, then get back to the mall to pick Stef up by 4pm. After that, I'm just chillin as far as I know.

Saturday I'm going to be doing any last min. maintenance on the Z. Probably go over to Fanboy Motorsports and shoot the shit with big Jon. Maybe work out some details about some things we have been talking about. Then drive 4.5 hours to Shawano, WI to our hotel.

Sunday, we drive!

I don't work on Monday because I requested it off so I should have time to maybe upload some pictures (if I take any) and hopefully take in car video.

Should be fun!

Lock em' up

2009-05-10T19:28:00.004-05:00

Yesterday I started the task of installing my CNC staging brake in the Z. I took the car over to Rich's house and we tore into it.

Everything went pretty smoothly up until it was time to bleed the system. It turns out that in my car with ABS and VDC you have to remove the negative battery terminal in order to bleed the system. Also with both rear brake lines being tied into one single line not to mention the added 20 ft. of brake line and another master cylinder.

After buying a pneumatic vacuum bleeder everything went really smoothly and now at 55mph with less effort than pulling the factory handbrake the wheels lock instantly.

I took pictures of the install and bracket's we made with Rich's camera and hopefully I can get them from him soon, but for now, here is the finished product.

If and when I get the pictures from Rich I'll make another post about the install and what happened with it. Basically it took a bit over 13 hours to do. Granted we did eat twice, goof off, chat, etc. during the time period and probably 3 hours was just trying to figure out bleeding the brakes. Like I said, after we found that the negative terminal needed to be removed and using the pneumatic bleeder, it went quick as hell.

Zlammed!

2009-05-04T17:30:00.004-05:00

Sunday I installed a set of stance coilovers on the Z.

Then after about 15min trying to get the car off of the lift...

Then shortly after taking this photo, I took the car for a drive and realized I couldn't go over tiny cracks without hearing metal hit the ground. I returned to the garage and raised the front 1" and the rear 1/2". It's really nice now.

Now I need to get some camber adjustment arms and some wheel spacers then get the car aligned properly.

Next thing on the list though is my hydraulic handbrake. I'm hoping to install that this weekend.

Midwest Cup Standings from round 1

2009-04-27T18:40:00.005-05:00

Midwest Cup Round 1 at Gateway International Raceway

Qualification

CODE

Mike Pollard     16
Tyler Cox        15
Brian Peter      14
Juan Marquez     13
Simba Nyemba     12
Charles Litterst 11
Charlie Quatmann 10
Mike Ellington   9
Brian Vrchoticky 8
Alex Roto        7
Dan Sommer       6
Mike Omera       5
Leigh Roto       4
Jonathan Johnson 3
Chris Hackenson  2
Daniel Dondzik   1

Tandem Rounds

CODE

Brian Peter       100
Mike Pollard      90
Juan Marquez      81
Mike Ellington    73
Tyler Cox         66
Simba Nyemba      59
Charles Litterst  54
Brian Vrchoticky  48
Charlie Quatmann  43
Alex Roto         39
Dan Sommer        35
Mike Omera        31
Leigh Roto        28
Jonathan Johnson  25
Chris Hackenson   23
Daniel Dondzik    21

Total Points

CODE

Brian Peter       114
Mike Pollard      106
Juan Marquez      94
Mike Ellington    82
Tyler Cox         81
Simba Nyemba      71
Charles Litterst  65
Brian Vrchoticky  56
Charlie Quatmann  53
Alex Roto         46
Dan Sommer        41
Mike Omera        36
Leigh Roto        32
Jonathan Johnson  28
Chris Hackenson   25
Daniel Dondzik    22

So as it stands I'm in 8th place. Qualified 9th and ended up placing 8th at the event. Not too shabby considering that this was my 1st event with the Z and only my 2nd event period... and no, I still don't want to talk about it.

US Air is May 17th. I'm hoping to register in the next week or 2 but I just have to make sure my finances are squared away first.

Heatwave!

2009-04-24T12:07:00.004-05:00

So on Saturday at Gateway while running my qualifying laps they had me hot lapping giving the car very little time to cool off before my next run. I believe that the car got too hot and the thermostat took a shit.

So yesterday Cory gets the hookup for an oem thermostat from the dealer. I get back to his house and I start tearing the car apart. Get the old thermostat out and throw it in some boiling water and it does nothing.

Change out the thermostat, refill coolant, and 3 hours of bleeding the air out of the system its finally good to go.

I was trying to use the webcam on my computer to record a typical late night work session at Cory's, but my computer shut off halfway through and to be honest, I just finished watching it and there is a lot of dead time that I don't feel like cutting out right now and the file is too large to post on here. Whatever. I do have a photo of my handy paintwork on the engine cover.

It's weird because the paint I used was fluorescent pink then I put clear on, but I must have done that too soon cause it turned the paint reddish and added all the white. I dig it though.

Pics

2009-04-20T16:48:00.005-05:00

Keith took some awesome pics from last weekends event. Here are a few he took of me:

Me congratulating Mike for getting 2nd place after wiping the floor with my sorry ass.

2nd practice run on Saturday.

Not sure, but probably one of my other practice runs.

MWC DD25

2009-04-19T11:27:00.003-05:00

I went out to Gateway International Raceway for ClubFR's DD25. The track was soo fucking fast! I had never initiated at 65mph before but yet that was slow in comparison to others initiating at 72 MPH and FASTER!

I started off my first run on Friday with a big spin. The following runs leading up to lunch time were very similar.

After lunch I was sitting with Ryan Clemens and he was saying that there were so many people being pussy's coming into the first corner. I decided that I didn't want to be a pussy so I manned up and came hauling in at 60+ mph and nailed the entire course. From there, things just got better.

So Saturday was the competition. I did my 4 practice runs trying to get more speed into the first corner and trying to link the LONG ass straight. Since the Judges were judging the drivers and not the cars, it wasn't a huge deduction of points to link it, but it defiantly helped. I never managed to make it.

So qualifying started. My first run I had what I like to call a "dead spin" coming out of turn to trying to link the straight. My second run I came really close to linking it, but my handbrake doesn't work so I didn't think I'd be able to make the following corner so I straighted to gain speed to finish the track. My last run I was hauling ass through the sweeper at nearly full lock and since it is decreasing radius, while I was slowing for the final corner I got myself into another dead spin.

Everyone else did their qualifying runs and by the last driver it started to rain heavily.

After a long wait with ZERO anticipation they call the drivers meeting. Everyone sits down and Ryan yell's "Brian! Do you have door bars?" Instantly my heart started pounding with a reply "Yeah!". I saw a lot of heads turn around.

So it turned out that they were picking top 8 instead of top 16 due to the lack of cars with cages and I qualified 8th!

Now I have done a lot of driving over the past 4-5 years, but this was only my 2nd track event, and my first event with the Z. The first event at DD14 I was a total mess and I would rather not talk about it.

So needless to say I have zero track experience let alone tandem experience and they put me up against the top qualifier Mike Pollard. Now the thing about Mike is he has got a RB powered S13 making loads of power and he can drive the shit out of this thing! He really had just been doing amazing all weekend.

Before the tandem I nervously asked Mike for some pointers and understandably he didn't have much to say since there was $1,000 on the line and I'm competing against him.

First run Mike leads and he took off fairly slow because of all the rain. We get into the first corner and I'm riding him pretty good, through the second I switched back just a hair too hard and had a spin. Fortunately he spun shortly after.

Second run I'm leading. I come into the first corner with lots of speed and Mike gapped me just a little. Through the second corner I already hear him coming fast. Down the long straight I straightened out, look in my mirror and Mike is filling it up and all I hear is the roar of his RB right on my ass! Go into the sweeper and he's following my line perfectly. Come into the last corner where your slowing down and I'm nearly full lock. Slowing slowly, I lift too much weight off the rear and go into a dead spin. I don't do anything except turn to Mike and start waving my hands like crazy for him not to hit me. Luckily Mike is an Awesome tandem driver and noticed with plenty of time to narrowly avoid me. Mike advanced and ended up placing 2nd to Brian Peter.

Looking back, if I would have had any idea that I could be out there for the top 8 I would have put on my 235/40/18's in hopes for some more grip. But woulda, coulda, shoulda... it was fucking AWESOME either way.

I just have to say thank you to Ryan, Clinton, Edgar, Mike, Terry, Andy, Brian, Simba, Eric, Swan, and all the other guys from Drift Indy, ClubFR, Drift STL, and everyone else that gave me pointers, support, and help during this entire event! And also I have to thank my G/F Stef for helping out and giving me pointers before my runs, and cheering me on. Happy Birthday Stef!

You can see pics from my picturepush account on the right.

TIRES!!!

2009-04-12T14:36:00.006-05:00

My friend Danny and I went out last night to get some tires.

Luckly we found 4 tires for the Z.

2- 235/50/17 Michelin's

2- 215/50/17 Eagle's

Both pairs have real good tread on them and no patches or major imperfections. Slight inner camber wear on the Eagle's. I was upset because we found a single 215/45/17 Falken but couldn't find it's significant other. It was too bad.

I also bought a set of 18x9 and 18x10 Saleen replica wheels. I got some Federal 595's 235/40/18 to mount on them from ebay for $350 shipped. I'm pretty happy about it.

So Wedensday I'm going to Kevin's (blog here) school and he's going to be mounting my 4 18" tires on the Saleen's, my 4 newly found tires on some stock 17" Z wheels, and he's got a pair of 225/45/17's for another pair of stock 17" Z wheels that he's going to let me rip up at MWC DD25 at Gateway International Raceway on April 17th and 18th. Then I also have a pair of 17" Z wheels that already have good tires on them so in total I will have 8 17" wheels to drift on and 4 18" wheels to drive around on.

I did order 6 225/45/17's from Jon at Fanboy motorsports but they haven't showed up so I have no idea whats going on with them.

But for everything thats been going on it's looking like it's going to be raining on the 17th and 18th so all these tires may be unnecessary, but at least I'll have them ready for DD26.

And a small update about the 240.

I'm trading Kevin my Tein HE coilovers for a Yamaha electronic drum kit. The car looks so horrible sitting up high like it is, but whatever. Hopefully I can get it road ready again and get rid of it.

Bye bye money!

2009-04-03T10:20:00.002-05:00

I'm in the middle of a small spending spree.

First I spent $200 on a CNC staging brake with SS line, adapters, and fittings.

In about 45min. I'm going to be leaving to spend $450 on a set of used Saleen replica wheels (18x9 +24/18x10 +22).

In the next couple days I'm going to be spending another $450 on 6 Federal 595 tires (215/45/17)

The 17th and 18th are the dates for the ClubFR drift event. MWC round 1 in Madison, IL. I got a hotel room for $130 for 2 nights.

By the middle of the month I'm going to be buying 4 more Federal's (235/40/18)

Then finally by the end of April I should be spending the final bit for a little while with a set of Stance GR+ coilovers. I'm not sure of the price, but it looks like just around $1000.

So yea, just about $2200 this month on car shit. Not to mention random bits I know I'll be buying as well (suspension links, lug nuts, fluids, etc.)

I need to get my 240 back together again too. Basically just needs a new battery, the aero re-installed, and probably lower it a bit more. Then it'll be time to clean it up nice and take pictures so I can put it up for sale. Then put more money twords the Z.

And don't worry. I have been looking for another daily driver. Probably a 89-91 civic 4 door. Idk why, but I've always liked the look of them. Probably would end up getting cheap coilovers and some gangster fitting sportmaxes and leave it at that.

First post of April!

Being lazy

2009-03-24T18:27:00.003-05:00

I don't have much to say today.

Only 2 things:

My buddy Rocco can get me Enkei RPF-1's in 18x9.5 for $250 a piece. He can also get me the G-games Barraccuda's in 19x9.5 for $100 a piece. In-motha fuckin-sane!

The other thing is my buddy Cory found a tire shop that might sell us some used tires for super cheap. Also mounting a set for $50. Not too shabby.

Dirty girl

2009-03-22T11:25:00.005-05:00

So last night my buddy Danny and I went out to do some drifting. We found a parking lot out around the area and had ton's of fun... for about 20 minutes. That is just about the time my left rear tire started stringing so it cut the night early. All well. Still had loads of fun and didn't get in any trouble.

Here are 2 pics I took from last night. Before drifting, and after.

Peek-a-boo!

2009-03-20T15:34:00.004-05:00

Cory painting his custom made powerbrace

His car is comming along pretty well. Just waiting on a few more parts to get back from sandblasting. Then it'll be about time to start putting the pieces of the puzzle back together again.

Last nights tire hunt didn't go that well. We stumbled onto 2 225/45/17's but after getting back home I found that they weren't really worth mounting cause the tread was just too far gone. Maybe I'll have better luck in the next week or two.

Tired tires?

2009-03-19T17:02:00.004-05:00

I'm going to go over to Cory's house to help with his car a bit, change my oil, and just hang out.

My other friend Terry is coming over to go with, but later tonight were going to go... acquire some tires.

Hopefully we come across some cause I'm going to be needing at least 6 17" and possibly 2 18" tires. I've contacted a guy on Zilvia who is selling a sorta rough pair of 18x9 +15 MB Weapon's in bronze. They are just going to be drift wheels once I get my real set of wheels for the Z. I'm still not sure exactly what I want, but I'm pretty sure I want to get 18x9-18x10 front and 18x10-18x12 rears and I want offsets that I have to make fit, not just bolt them on and go. Fender rolling for sure, maybe a small pull. Definatly going to be running some stretched rubber on them and some camber. And most definatly slammed.

OMG!

2009-03-18T20:27:00.002-05:00

I just realized how much I hate the smell of sour kraut.

My g/f wanted it for supper.

The entire apartment wreaks of it.

I'm sitting out on the balcony letting the place air out.

I wish I was sleeping.

WTF?!? Finally!

2009-03-17T19:47:00.004-05:00

So Sunday morning my step father was taken to the ER. They wanted to keep him overnight to keep an eye on him. Today he finally was able to go home at 6pm. and that was because my mother decided they were leaving.

The doctor still wants him to come back in a couple days for a lumbar puncture. Hopefully everything will go well for him.

But anyway, I have a few pictures up on my picture push account. I took a few shots of the Z at this old logging complex along with some shots of the complex. I didn't really like any of them except this one.

I'm hoping that the weather improves so that I can go out and get some more pictures. As well as get my 89 240sx hatchback sold so I can get some coilovers and wheels for the Z.

WTF?!?

2009-03-16T11:09:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I got a call from my mother telling me in a panic that my step father had taken a pretty bad fall.

It turns out nobody knows exactly how it happened, but he fell and hit his leg, hand, and face on a curb knocking him out cold. So I show up to the ER and spent all day doing errands and getting things in order.

It wouldn't be so big of a deal but within the past few months he was diagnosed with cancer of the lymph nodes and type-II diabetes. So when he was hooked up to the heart monitor and they saw an irregular heart beat, they wanted to keep him overnight.

So I'm spending the rest of today doing my laundry and taking care of some things for him and my mother. It's not going to be a good week...

Title's are overrated

2009-03-14T11:08:00.005-05:00

Just a little about the past couple days.

I worked over at Cory's house on Monday and Tuesday after work. Getting up at 4am and going to bed at 10:30pm took it's toll.

Only working over there for a few hours wasn't bad. I think we were working pretty slowly since we were both tired as hell after a long day at work. We did however get a lot of things done.

-Gusseted rear sub frame in 8 points

-Gusseted front sub frame control arm mounts

-Burned out rear sub frame bushings

Then the rest of the week was pretty lazy.

Yesterday I helped my long time friend Dustin move into his new apartment. I swear to god I've never seen so many clothes. But for my trouble he bought me pizza so it's all good.

Today I'm supposed to be meeting up with the death*squad to trade my unknown red racing bucket seat with NAMS dual lock slider for a S-chassis for a PSP slim. I was looking for cash, but it's the D*squad so I can let it slide.

Afterwards I'm going to contact Linda at Century 21 to start looking at home's. Stef has been bugging me to move into a new apartment and I think it's retarded to spend all this cash on rent when we could be spending it on a home. I don't know how it's going to go, but I'll be updating.

Work, work, and more work

2009-03-07T10:34:00.003-06:00

Yesterday I went into work for some overtime because we were trying to get this huge stainless steel silencer shipped out. We ended up doing it and the customer was extremely happy.

After work I went to my friend Cory's house and started working on my rear shoes. I got the project mu pads installed pretty quickly despite the fact I hate working on drum brakes (in this case for the handbrake of the Z).

I adjusted the tension on the handbrake and took it for a drive. The pads took a second to get seated, but once they did it was amazing. They lock so good even in a straight line at 55mph.

So I got back and wanted to give the handbrake a final snug and *SNAP* the fucking stud broke and no more handbrake. Wah, wah wahhhhhhh....

Lucky for me, Cory had the welder from work so I took the center console off, cut the head off of a long bolt, covered the interior really well with shirts and whatever and welded the new stud on. It worked, but unfortunately the cable is so stretched that I have to pull the handbrake all the way up for the wheels to lock. It still works, but I'm just wondering for how long.

So I'm going to be looking into a hydraulic handbrake in the next coming months. I have been wanting to do that anyway, but I was hoping not till next season. All well.

How to build an air silencer 101

2009-03-05T19:38:00.004-06:00

First you add your support legs, side pieces, and add insulation.

Then you add your perf and nose pieces and bolt them down.

Then you add the flanges and your lift lugs and your done.

So I put this all together today and was just getting ready to weld it when my boss comes up and tells me the jerk off's that ordered this one, along with 2 others earlier today (insisting they be shipped tomorrow) cancelled the order. GAY!!!

Then after work, Cory and I went to TF again cause they sold him a short hub adapter for his g/f's 240 that wouldn't work with the quick release. So we got that taken care of and it's all good now.

Oh, and I got good news from my boss today. He asked me to come in tomorrow to work from 5am-12pm. Only a 3/4 day for us but it's overtime! Hell's yes!

Then after work tomorrow I'm going over to Cory's to do all the shit I was talking about yesterday. Then maybe later do some sliding around town to test out those new shoes.

Today was fun

2009-03-04T19:15:00.004-06:00

Another boring morning, but it got better and I had some real work.

I welded the two halves of this circle flange together and tacked on the weld nuts.

It's going to be a good day tommarow. I actually have some things to do. Then we might be working overtime on Friday, but I don't know if I wanna go or not. We'll see.

After work, my buddy Cory called and wanted to go to TF and get a hub adapter for his g/f's S13. I talked with Eric there trying to get my Z some coilovers. He is supposed to be out this way to work on his car and I'm hoping to work some deal with him to get some stance for cheap... er.

Then it'll be all about RockStar getting me some wheels from his hookup. I'm looking to see how much it would be for a set of:

Advan TC-II

Advan RG-II

Enkei RPF-1

Enkei RP03

In sizes:

18x9.5 front

18x10 to 18x10.5 rear

The site he gave me didn't list offsets so I told him to ask what the lowest offset for each wheel cause I'm sure that is the one I'm going to want. Then still have to add a spacer.

But speaking of car stuff, I'm going to be working on the Z a little bit this weekend. Nothing big, just changing the engine and maybe diff oil, and finally installing my Project Mu rear brake shoes for the handbrake. Then I'm going to have to see if I can turn the rotor's because they are pretty rough. Then maybe goto carquest and have them turn them for me.

I'll try to remember to bring my camera.

Another not so busy day...

2009-03-03T16:35:00.010-06:00

I spent the first part of my day finishing up the stitch welding on those pieces. I got a couple pics with my camera phone.

That took all of 2 hours, then I had to paint my wall. Spent like 4 or 5 hours painting the back wall white.

After that, I didn't have much to do so I ended up cleaning for what seemed to be an eternity. But that finally stopped when I had to bolt a flange together and by the time I finished, it was time to go home.

Oh, and I did manage to remember to take the Irene Rd. exit and to my surprise, it was a hell of a lot faster. So I've got my route planned.

So now, I'm just sitting around waiting for Stef to get home so we can go to the grocery store cause I've got a whole lot of nothing. Then I'll probably spend the rest of the night playing Call of Duty: World at War.

... yep

Wonderful days.

2009-03-02T16:35:00.002-06:00

So with the economy being shit right now, we've been pretty slow at work lately. I spent the first 3 hours cleaning shit around my table. It's tedious to try and stay busy.

Fortunatly, things picked up a bit later and I spent the rest of the day under my hood stich welding some 90* air ducts. 2 down, 4 more to go.

And I got some other good news that the sheer worker is cutting some more jobs so at least this week we should be ok.

Another small annoyance is the Illinois highway workers shut down the Bypass 20 exit (the exit I take to get home from work) on I-90, so I was stuck driving another 3 miles to the E. State exit. It's about a 15min. detour. They did however open an exit on Irene Rd. but I'm not sure how to get home from that exit, but I'm thinking about trying it tommarow to see if its any faster.

Pictures

2009-03-01T16:00:00.005-06:00

I recently setup a picture push account. If you would like to check it out, click the images off to the right.

I will be updating them often with new photos. Especially since it's starting to warm up.

My new blog

2009-03-01T15:40:00.000-06:00

I haven't ever done this sort of thing before, but figured I could be as cool as everyone else.

We will see how this works out.