Friday, February 27, 2009

Breakfast! My fav meal.

Seeing as how I'm changing my lifestyle with consumption of healthier foods and attempting to get more workout time logged in. I just wanna share a simple breakfast I love and it's so simple to make (I sound like those cook show chefs)

I started off by lightly toasting the bread (so it doesn't get soggy from the vegs) then placed tomatoes and yellow onions (which are not as spicy and sweeter than the red variety), spread liberally atop the toast.
Then a layer of cucumber and a generous load of lettuce topped off with black pepper for that extra zing. Black pepper is used coz its less spicy then the white, but much more flavorful.
After that, any dressing will be nice and since I'm quite the mustard lover, I'd put on quite a lot of yellow mustard to add some extra taste. I only had yellow mustard at that time, if only Dijon was available. *slurp*
And to add a whole lotta vitamins, some protein and potassium, I made a bowl of oats with non-phosphorus raisins and slices of banana.
As I was about done with my meal, mom turned out a pan of oven baked garlic slices for later. Naturally, being the experimental kind, I 'napped a few to accompany my last bite. Surprisingly, the taste of the baked garlic went superbly with the garden vegs in my sandwich. I guess I just found a new ingredient for the next round :)
This is my usual breakfast if I wake up early (as you can see its dark in the pics) and have a little time for the simple preparations listed above.

Dragon70 updated.

Continuation from the Alchemical Abomination (Dragon70) post. I visited RPM Autoworks in the evening yeterday and work was already underway! Dang! Ah Chun is seriously fast at transplants!
However, due to owner's discretion. All updates will only show progress until completion or consent.

Another FI in NT

The Northern Touge community is inducting yet another FI (forced induction) member into our midst. This time in the form of a Toyota!
Here's the first mod that's going to be done at RPM Autoworks this weekend. So we got it all washed down and painted up nice and "purty" whilst we wait for the brake pads to arrive.
Everyone's kinda going FI... I wonder if I should?

Check back for updates ;)

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Alchemical Abomination

Since we were experimenting with chemicals already (degreasing solvent), we decided to clean it right through and test out more chemicals on the Dragon70 (Leng = dragon in Hokkien). We sprayed a layer of rubberized undercoat for heat and sound insulation plus the fact that it provides a great compound for paint to adhere to. The emulsion was already a flat black tone out of the can, but it looks dull and... well... rubbery. So we added a coat of Flat Black paint to complement.
Beautifully coated with a pressurized spray device conventionally known as a spray can :P
After which, the interior is then stripped out leaving only the bare metal structure to reveal all its grit and grime. Since its already evening and the sun's going down, we leave it for another day (will be going to continue after work today).
Now is that a peek at a monster tacho I see on the lower left? Hmm... I wonder what's going in?

Mercedes W110 - For Sale

As I'd mentioned in the Rebuilt, Restored, Retro post, these are snapshots of the awesome Mercedes Benz W110 that is up for sale.
Fintails reminiscient of circa-early 60's era. That's right babe, twin tailpipes yo!
Beautifully chromed original Merc rims shod in Goodyear tires.
For some innate reason, I just can't get enough of the fintails! It's so immaculately taken care of that you can even see a reflection of the ScAv-meister squatting to take this shot.
The amount of detailed work and care only a loving owner could pour over this lady. And yes, that's an NS100 sized battery under the hood.
Restored interior in all its glory. Check out the horn mechanism and meter panel design. Classic!
The speedometer is a mechanically raised opaque plate whilst other instruments are conventional analog dials masked to look vertical. But heck, if it was I was in the 60's and had this baby, I would've been the "macha", the big boss, the bull's balls (or whatever you call it).
Thin rimmed steering wheel and bench-styled seats. How quaint is that?
Sadly, as you can see from the glimmer on its' paint, it was a super hot day and we were just too lazy to shift the old lady out. So here's a pic of the frontage through a fence.
p.s. The paint alone costs RM 7,000.00~!!!

This blood red ride of nostalgic reminiscience is yours for a cool RM 100,000.00. You read right, 5 zeros yo!

Hahaha... I'm quite hooked on the "yo!" crappy terminology.

Rebuilt, Restored... Retro!

I was cruising with Leng this past Tuesday, and as we passed by a friend's father's car lot (he runs a used car dealership). He waved us over to check out his pristine Volvo 1800S Coupe (with only 39,407 units sold worldwide*). This dude (seen in first pic) is well into his seventies and still passionate about his cars. Now that's what I call a petrolhead and whom I'd like to purchase a car from!

The sexy rear butt full of lines and aero addendum, but not of the fibreglass variety. Note the fuel-filler cap!
It's long sweeping lines, chrome livery, beautifully sculpted shoulders and clamshell bonnet denotes its sports heritage of that era.
Frameless doors with rubber seals all still intact!
Beautifully redone interior with all gauges replaced and despite its slightly worn steering wheel, everything else is wrapped in alcantara AND it still has a fully functional air conditioning system!
It's simply an honor just to meet such an automotive enthusiast which even after half a century, still has the drive and determination to rebuild and restore such classics. Viewing it will only be half the story, imagine driving this mechanical belle. It starts with just one crank!
He has another Austin 1100 in the works, as well as a Chevrolet with carriage wheels (26" bling yo!) in the paintshop, a Mercedes W136 in restoration with spare parts from Germany already flown in, a 1941 Mercedes convertible that's fully restored and resting at home, and yet another Mercedes W110 that's for sale (more on this later).
Cheers on the fantastic work done, Unc. Keep up the good work and have fun in your mechanical, and maniacal restorations!
*Adapted from Wikipedia*

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Leng's Vivid Ventures of Voracious Intent! KE70 kommen!

Ah Leng was super hardworking yesterday washing his engine bay at RPM Autoworks around tea time (excuse the obscenity). He's into the chemical cleaner business by the way, so we were testing a new mixture as well (which worked excellent on the gooey black gunk on the crossmember).

Check out the "rippling muscles" (I had him sign the release forms... Honest!) But hold it... There's something wrong in this pic...
Seems like somethings amiss... A closer look you say?
The engine had been removed and undercarriage modifications are underway for something a little bigger and then some!

You ain't getting the news that easy. Check back for more updates soon! :P

Till then.. Cheers!

Monday, February 23, 2009

What if???

With the Evolution X now on the market, I'd decided to make a simple search on what it can do and what's been done by personalities all over the world. I came across this video and immediately thought, "What if...???"

With "Polizia" written all over... I'm guessing these belong to the Italian Police.
With the recent purchase of RMPD - Royal Malaysian Police Dept. (PDRM), and the announcement that they'd held specialized drivers' training for the officers whom will be at the helm. I just thought to myself, what if they drove like this???


After viewing, a conclusion came to mind... I'd wanna be them!!! Frieking awesome innit? Being able to drive high-powered AWDs all day, chasing baddies and getting trained to do it! PDRM rawks... (I can't imagine saying this under any other circumstances)

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Double trouble!

"Double, double, toil and trouble. Fire burn and cauldron bubble." Something's brewing at the RPM stronghold.

And as the coven consecrates before the cross quarters, we shall see rise of this benevolent yet banish behemoth!


OK ok... Enough with the dark witch-talk. We've a new project in hand and it's gonna get done soon. So here's the teaser :P


*Disclaimer: Further updates will be up to the owners' discretion*

*Update: Engine had been cranked and started. Watch our world!*

Up for Grabs~!!! - Updated

I've recently got a few items that are up for grabs.

A pristine Apex'i RSM is yours for the price of RM400.00

And another classic carb for the enthusiast in mind. A Weber DCNF 40 complete with mounting plate for Toyota's K-series engine (as seen on Leng's Corolla), and an original K&N filter element (can be replaced) and housing.

This item will be going for the price of RM500.00 - SOLD!

HKS early model turbo timer going for RM120.00 - SOLD!

I can be contacted on my direct-"Snappy"-line at 012-4077575

Cheers fellas!

Monday, February 16, 2009

Twisting forces and its impedance!

Upon retrieving his car from our panel workshop, Soon had since converted his frontage to resemble that of the current Lancer Evolution. With great gaping bumpers, comes great wide washboard intercoolers. Once everything had been installed and my warranted test drive, we'd come to a conclusion that his car was now lacking response. Fer got to tuning and, DANG!, Soon's now boosting from low down the RPM range right up till redline... Wait for it... Lag free! The response was just unbelievable, point-squeeze-shoot! This GSR is rockin'~!

As uncle Spidey mentioned, with great power, comes great responsibility, which in this case is manifested by a huge metal plate and a chunk of casted iron!

It was a boring Sunday as usual, and I was just hanging out at home whilst the guys visited 99 in BM where they met Tan and Chean (from Team Chean Exhaust). Everyone bought a little something and returned in the evening, which was when I got an SMS, calling me to RPM.

A comparison of what's coming off, versus what's going on in a minute! Note the huge difference in size. In automotive, every millimetre counts a lot! And these brakes were approximately an inch bigger, which equates to 25.4mm. And that says a lot like no other!
Even the calipers were huge-rer. Note the extra reinforcement (ribs) on the caliper body and of course, the extra piston.
The one that's coming off.
The one up and running! (or stopping, more like it)
Soon was "ponna" gay (I mean happy la macha) to be working on his own stoppers.
We were, as usual, JKR-ing whilst Soon was sweating bullets whilst swapping discs. Once he was done with the install, I couldn't help but jump on the photo-op. These babies look huge, peeking out from behind the OZ replicas.
With a sweaty brow, and equally wet shirt, Soon was a hungry man (he missed dinner). So we dismissed to Fantasi for some drinks, chat (where I was going nuts for some sort, any sort of well balanced and linear forced induction), and eventually left for home.
What's customary after every upgrade, I wonder??? Hmm... 5 letters, starts with a "T" and ends with an "E". Let me help ya out, T_G_E~!! Hahaha... Check back here for its performance review :P

Of hood vents and aerodynamic addendum!

On the way to being a model show car, one has to have the visual appeal and massive performance to match. Our cars, being the "automotive paragons" (ahem!) that they are, were being kitted and suited up by Soon one fine evening.

Fer Fer was being plagued by heat, and the fact that his hood looked like crap, had so decided to get Soon to install Evo III hood vents to aid in the relieve of heat generated by the pressurised pipes and blower sitting underneath.

Soon is measuring up the cuts that had to be made.

Perfectly slicing through the steel, Soon had made two clean squares to fit in those vents. It's amazing watching how Soon handles the Makita grinder. Its like watching art flow! (I'm just getting all softy.. Blergh).
Fer Fer was instructing a few more pieces of under-hood structure be removed cleanly.
The finished product installed and bolted down. Perfect install without apparent gaps.
Fer Fer checking out Soon's handiwork whilst the rest of us were acting out how a typical JKR operation went down (1person work, 4 more stand around to watch and comment).
I, being the silly bugger that I am, got Soon to install a diffuser for the Silver Banana's rear. It looks kinda cool... In a queer, non-fitting kinda way :P
Anyways, it was a fantastic evening and everyone returned home tired, sleepy and full of fiber strands!

Initial vid with DoriX

I was bored outta my mind with the current slum in activities, and I'd overheard DoriX had gotten himself a camcorder. Now, home-made vids come to mind, and the activity I was planning does not involve strewn undergarments and slutty slots~! So I gave DoriX a call to meet up at McD and we'd just wing it from there. We chatted, more "actors" arrived, and once we had our fill, everyone was in high spirits for some canyon carving!

So up we went and just had a super fun cruise where I got to see DoriX slippin' and slidin'. I guess he's gotten used to his new settings, or its just due to the balding tires in the rear :P (He's looking for 17"s). Anyhow, I was just in the zone, where I just wanna give those shocks a thorough workout! So I overtook DoriX and proceeded to just blast my way up overtaking anyone and anything (there was even a bat!) that's in my path.

I arrived at the dam safe, sweaty and pumped (with adrenaline) to the brim. I'd not have had such a good run in quite some time. The excitement is just getting to me. I didn't have enough, (I never have!) I wanna hear some screeching tires... And DoriX was kind enough to oblige!

You can see both the vids at DoriX's blog. I'm sorry I do not have it here, I've somewhat limited access :P Enjoy~!!!

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Lee's New Donuts~!!!

After a tedious and sweaty trip up North, scrounged and scavenged (pun intended) for a perfectly new set of donuts for Lee's (of Kiong Lee Exhaust) pristine B-series EK~!
Upon return, the excited bugger immediately took to installing these reknown track oriented tires and thus warranted a test drive! The dry handling was commendable (as expected) with superb road holding at the cost of noise and wet performance.
But the wear rate was just horrible, after just one run, the corner threads had started to wear towards the sidewall. Time for some extra camber methinks~! *evil thoughts*I can't wait to test them up my favourite bit of the uphill! Oooh... ~!!! The last time I tested with partially-worn AD07's up front, and balding ones in the rear, I managed to clock 120km/h uphill before braking hard into the tight right hander leading to the dam.

I wonder how these gumballs will improve that? Or will the retard in acceleration outweigh it's cornering advantage? *Grimace* I may get faster times, but slower clocked speeds.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Birthday, Pits, and Revelry!

It is the 9th day of the Lunar Calendar and the entire team was invited over to RPM Autoworks to celebrate Ah Peow's (air-cond man) girlfriend's 21st birthday! We were all ponna excited and I was, as usual, too early :P Anyway, Chun arrived slightly after and gradually, so did the rest of the team and all invited guests.

It was a fantastic evening of festivities and revelry with much fellowship, food and drinks aplenty, and everyone just having a ball of a time!
Well, as you can see, there's not many at the dining area since we were all a "helpful bunch".... Here's what most of us were doing. We actually have 6 cooks! 4 at the pits and 2 prepping the skewers :)
Whilst a bunch of us were.. Er... "Discussing" and "planning" over some drinks and a cig. Told you we were a helpful bunch didn't I? :P
A tribute pic to all the hardworking cooks whom constantly had the pits on full burn and full capacity!
We ended the night at 1a.m. to a cheery crowd, and what seemed like never ending revelry, but here I am in the office again!
Cheers fellas, see you guys tonight... I'm sure there are lots to clean up still!