Dragon's Flight

After his maiden trip to the track last weekend, Leng was still doubtful of his Dragon70's abilities and stance, so we tested it out on the local touge!
Ewe Jin, in his pristine Kancil L200, called up just in time to catch the Dragon on his way up. After a short session and a couple of discussions later, a few flaws were identified and will be rectified over the weekend.

Watch out world, catch the Dragon's flight soon!

Dragon70 and Leaning Wheels

The Dragon70 was kickin' up a sandstorm upon its completion and a carefree use of tires were warranted to dramatize the driving experience! A change was imminent and Leng felt it right to just bling up the old lady a bit so he got a couple of 17s and slapped them on.

Check out how it looks sitting right outside RPM Autoworks. The fronts will be going 17 too once the spacers are completed.

The massive rears are just impeccable when driving. The grip from Continental's Sportcontact was just immense and unless one kicks the clutch mid-corner, it's near impossible to throw the rear before you slide the fronts off course.

I then took a peep at my own set of whels and realized how nice camber looks when viewed at any angle!
I run massive camber on all my wheels to avoid uneven tire wear. The low speed and super twisty Penang touge commands this if your tires are to survive any longer than 3 months! Even with lots of normal driving and the occasional cruises uphill, these Kumho Solus tires are my fav set so far, and I've tried lots of tires (believe me you).

At least my last set of Kumho Solus lasted close to a year before it shone clean like a Kojak convention. These are my second set and things still look deeply threaded and with very even wear. I love my camber!

Dragon 70 - Genesis

Its been quite a while since I was missing from the automotive scene and I thought I'd just drop by RPM Autoworks yesterday for a little update. Seeing the Dragon70 coming along sooo well just excites me and driving it will be, undoubtedly, a thrilling experience for the RWD noob. Lots of time had been spent waiting for custom built parts and foundry work, fabrication of parts and chassis work. The entire interior has been spruced up (note: black dashboard), ground down, and painted up. Wiring is complete and all that's left is the exhaust manifold which is expected to arrive by this weekend.

The Dragon70's Genesis is to be the spiritual successor and mechanical superior to my Pooh Project. I can't wait to see and hear it roar to life! *overwhelming excitement* Dragon70's old heart. We shall miss you for all the on-throttle maneouvres we've had. Also in the shop is another member of the Northern Touge family getting a new heart. It will also be Forced Inducted!
I should write up an article soon on Northern Touge and its force inducted members. I suspect most have gone past this route for gaining power. Most enthusiasts would tell ya nothing beats the high revving shrill and thrill of an NA all-motor, but one cannot deny the efficiency of the forced induction system.

The RSM sold earlier was also being installed (I guess I came at the right day), with instruction manual available and complete harness.

It was a cinch and installation and testing only took below an hour.

The meter was alive, well and took to inputs with great vigil.

Oh, it was a great evening to see all this going on. I retired home to some well deserved rest and relaxation.

Triniti - A union of 3

A clutch is the connector of 3 components. The engine's output shaft, the clutch assembly itself and the flywheel which is directly connected to the gearbox input shaft.

As Chun had found that the Dragon70's friction plate is worn, he'd found a unit of Triniti 6 puck to replace the OEM Exedy unit (sample seen in pic). The Triniti 6 puck looks awesome but somehow, I feel the lack of absorbers (the little springs situated around the centre) will make the engagement slightly rough and jerky, albeit a whole lot more direct in feel.

Excellent buy and cheers on the great build, Leng. Hope to see the Dragon70 roaring soon!

Friday's Frivolities - 2 Gen.'s of 'Rollas

The Dragon70's engine is being serviced and refreshed with new parts whilst Chun is measuring up the engine mounts, moving the engine as far back as possible for better weight distribution.
The T50 gearbox had also arrived and we found a worn clutch and immediately placed an order for a racing unit to be shipped immediately. The clutch will be arriving on Monday when installation work will resume.

The interior has been cleared and cleaned by Leng himself and will go through re-wiring very soon.

As I had mentioned previously about having another FI in the Northern Touge family. Here's Chea's pristine AE92 of the supercharged variety. We have sourced for its twin-pot (also from the AE92) brake pads and this beauty will be getting a new set of stoppers really soon.

Ahh... The memories... I love this model. Light (in comparison with my ride), tough and simply a pleasure to drive. Over a decade old and not a single creak or squeak going over rough surfaces. I had that scoop on my EE90 too, but mine was a dummy :P

The engine bay is cramped and fully stock except for the air filter...

And a Jasma approved extractor. Sweet!

After changing to Eagle F1's all round, I had the privilege of driving this Supercharged lightweight (I drive a Perdana, so sue me!) at the uphill touge (reminisce).

Believe you me, this baby handles beautifully with a fondness to oversteer and the copious amounts of torque, with the aid of the SC, pulling it along. You can just control the balance with the throttle and a little left foot braking.

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.

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?