Ya Would If Ya Could

As I'd promised, further updates are in order after the month long slow down in my blogging. Without further ado, I'll kick off our list of activities that you know ya would if ya could!

Leng got us a sweet deal to celebrate in a VIP room at a friend's joint. The place was huge with awesome facilities. Everyone was hyped up for the celebration... But who's that in the background?
Being the ever dedicated mech and workaholic, Fer was using the free internet access to search out some tech specs whilst we partied outside.

Kai Xing was having a ball on stage along with our dancer for the night...

Mr. Daniel "the horny" Civic!Cake cutting is always warranted no matter the location, and being the dedicated people us Northern Touge kakis are, we even included our sponsors list in this pic.

Leng was our silvertongue for the night... This dude could belt it out all night and still keep his voice! Kudos buddy!

During the CNY holidays, Soon had already opened shop to kit an Innova as his initial customer depsite the festivities.

Beautiful job done... Note the red crackers still on the ground as part of the Chinese festive tradition.

A spoiler was later added to complete the look.

Soon was still doing final checks on fit and finish as we were closing up. Diligence ultimate!

On the fourth day a bunch of us decided to have an auspicious touge + makan2 trip in the afternoon. As usual, we met up at Relau Shell, whom graciously allowed us to park and pose for some pics.

We then pushed off for the first stop at the peak of Jln Tun Sardon where we met up with an old friend from Balik Pulau (Blue KE70) and to get some refreshments and "jeruk" (pickled fruits).

We then traversed Balik Pulau and on to Teluk Bahang, through all the beautiful scenery and ending up at the Tropical Fruit Farm for some ice kacang and rojak. Plus, the scene there was awesome and the atmosphere serene.

After a refreshingly relaxed pit stop, the gang continued downward to the Teluk Bahang dam for a photo op.

It was a bright and sunny day out so I thought WTH, why not take a silhouette pic with all the beaut water and scenery surrounding us.

We ended the trip with Daniel (Civic), Soon (Wira GSR), Ewejin (Satria GSR), and Kenny (Wira 4G91) going for a cooling dip in the beach just down the road. Leng (KE70) and Pin (Wira 4G91) traversing back through the Balik Pulau way, and Fer, Joven (Wira GSR), and myself going for a light dinner before leaving for home.

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An awesome end to an awesome Chinese New Year. I'm now back in the office... So happy working all! Cheers!

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!

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?

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!

Leng's new 70

As VictorGR left after dinner, I had a call from Ah Leng right about then about his KE70 that he'd just sent over to Fer for a Weber install and tuning. Leng had requested me to test drive, we were finishing up Soon's car, and it was getting late so I agreed to do the drive early the next morning.

This morning, Leng called up bright and early for the test drive and as I'd promised him, I dragged myself out of bed and we blasted up the touge to Balik Pulau and the Weber was performing beautifully. Crisp and sharp throttle response with much smoother torque across the RPM band. Fer is quite the authority on Webers here in Penang.
The Weber looks fantastic although the base looks a little rough, we'll be looking into that later on as Leng wanted to get it up and running in quite a hurry.

Our midway stop on the way back after having a light breakfast at Balik Pulau. The air there is just refreshingly crisp and clean.

Rear three quarter view of Leng's pristine KE70 which he bought as is.

Good job on the purchase and great decision to install the carbs.