Friday night with son…
Took my boy out for a ride cuz he’s been sick and stuck in the crib all week.
Hoodrat Things…
5 years ago when my SC was still purple a young cat named Ezekiel met me at a meet and asked to shoot my car. Life got in the way and the car went down for repairs and paint. FF to this past spring, the exact day Dru and Milton shot the Ten video I ran into him again.
He again asked to shoot the car and said if I drifted in the video it would be free. Again I delayed him due to the oil leak at the turbos and a misfire. FF 3 months later I fixed the leak and misfire and DM’d him. It turns out he was moving to TX at the start of the month and we had one chance to film.
Sat morning we would meet at Cars and Coffee then go from there. I woke up to rain but decided to go anyway because I had been sick and in the house all weekend. The SC has no wipers so I took my M3. Dru happened to go as well and brought some friends, one of whom, Tamarcus, worked in Indy and NASCAR. I totally forgot about the shoot until I saw a missed call from Ezekiel.
We picked a location and everyone went over. It just so happened that between them they had two drones, a gimble, a 360 cam, and two go pros. We also had walkie talkies and enough cars to block traffic.
We didn’t have much time and I was still sick so we set up, changed tires (the ones on the SSRs tend to debead) and I warmed up in some random neighborhood.
Then we used the walkies to get the green light to run.
This was my first time sliding the SC this extensively since I did all the upgrades. Previously US Air 2021 was the last drift day. I did a few round abouts 3 months ago but the timing was off. The car felt amazing. I ran some old macho muchos that were on my 36 my last drift day at Spirit instead of Kendas because I wasn’t ready to full commit especially on the street. In retrospect I wish I ran Kendas so I could have gotten more agressive and a bit closer to the curbs. But the sway bars, solid subframe and diff bishings, electric PS, and all the other upgrades felt amazing. I can’t wait for a full track day.
We tried to do some parking lot stuff but the PS locked up with some air.
I’ll need to rebleed it and double check for leaks. But the car stayed cool and felt very quick.
I got a call from Ezekiel Sunday night. His truck broke down on the way out of town to Texas. So Monday morning I drove to pick him up and take him to the junkyard to pull a part and get him on his way. He’s 24 and moving across the country on his own because he feels life has been a bit too easy for him and he wants to challenge himself. Picking him up and running him around to get his truck gave us time to talk and get to know each other. I have a lot of respect for him and I know he’s going to do well. Such a kind and genuine guy.
His media is called Flushed Films:
https://www.instagram.com/flushedfilms?igsh=MWFjYm1lbG80aHhrcQ==
https://youtube.com/@flushedfilms3469?si=e5rkOWofm7de_SHu
Gauges…
After replacing the plugs and dropping the gap I’m still getting what seems like a misfire, but I’m starting to suspect is boost/ fuel cut. So I dusted off my old gauges to try and figure it out. When I first went 1j I promises myself I would leave it stock and in an effort to do so I’ve kept gauges out of the car.
The last time these gauges were powered on they were in my RB25 S14 14 years ago.
Luckily I had a brand new sensor and just needed a few feet of vac lines. In my haste to sell the car I cut the wires and didn’t have the needed connector so I just soldered the wires.
The ATI pod was for the 14 specifically so I had to cut it to fit.
Everything plugged in.
The idle is pig rich. Once it stops raining I’ll take it for a drive and see where boost is and the AF at WOT. Boost cut I think is at 15psi so if it gets near there I’ll know that’s the issue.
Disaster…
I finally got the car ready for the Bottle Rockets event. I loaded the car on the trailer careful not to damage the aero or the wheels. The SSRs have valve stems near the outside of the lips that are easy to snag and replacements are expensive. I also loaded the truck with wheels, tires, and tools. The plan was to leave from work Thursday and stay in Charlotte by a freind then continue to Atlanta.
After getting the car strapped down I cranked each strap one more time. On the last strap I heard a loud hiss. My heart sank and I instantly knew what it was.
I had taken care to put the strap in front of the stem. How it snagged it was beyond me.
I texted my freind that I was no longer coming. After sitting and thinking I decided to push through. I’ve met adversity a lot before and I always persevered. I had spent weeks fixing this oil leak and getting the car ready and this was a great opportunity to drive with some folks I hadn’t seen in a while and at a new track. So the next morning I pulled the wheel off, put it in the G35, and took it and the new stem to a tire shop. I asked them to make sure they got the broken piece out the wheel because it would throw the balance off.
They called around lunch so I decided to take it home and install. On the way the lip fell off the G35 and was destroyed by oncoming traffic.
L.
I installed the tire then headed back to work. I ran into traffic and missed my afternoon meeting.
After work I went home. I had ordered replacement lug nuts and decided to leave after they were delivered. They were supposed to come the day before but were delayed. Once they showed up I tried to install them but they immediately started stripping. They were the wrong color and length anyways so I decided to return them and head on my way.
On the road the truck was shaking like crazy. So I picked a spot just outside Charlotte to stop and get my tires balanced. When I pulled up I noticed the tire on he SC was flat again. So I disconnected the trailer and got the truck on the lift and also took the tire off the SC. It turns out the other shop installed the valve stem incorrectly. Instead of sandwiching the lip with the rubber pieces the did metal to metal.
The guys finished the tire and were rolling it back to the car when they felt something inside. The other shop did not remove the broken piece. They put it on the balance machine and it was way out. So they took the tire off again to get the piece out and then had to rebalance. The truck was finished by then as well so I decided to go get them some Redbulls as a thanks.
As I pulled out the shop the 4WD ABS lights came on and the throttle stopped working despite the engine still running. I was in the middle of the road blocking traffic. I turned the truck off then on. Same problem. I said a panicked prayer and tried the same procedure again. It worked. I decided to go home.
I was devastated. All that work for nothing. Drove 2 hours just to get tired balanced. Wack.
The next day I went to unload and as I was putting the ramps on I heard a loud pop and hiss. At first I thought it was another tire. But then I saw a cloud of mist under my truck.
The strut I replaced late last year had leaked internally into the airbag. The pressure burst the bag and was leaking all the fluid in the ground. Thank God I had come back home. I would have been stranded because he 33s were too wide to clear the rear quarters and would have gotten cut.
So I unloaded the car and went to see F1.
The next day I took it to cars and coffee and bought some rare HKS and Nismo stuff to console myself.
A few from Cars and Coffee…
No more leaks!
No more exhaust or oil leaks.
Drove the car to and from work and the leaks are gone.
The new plugs also helped the top end misfire but there’s still some hesitation.
Yah is good…
I woke up this morning to my lady complaining and arguing. The more I tried to diffuse it the worse it got so I just focused on what I had to do today. My son had been asking me to take him to daycare in the SC for months. After working on the oil leak all weekend I needed to test it and make sure it was finnally good. So this morning I pulled it out to take on the commute. Getting it out the garage and the driveway is an entire production. As I pulled onto the highway I felt a little shimmy in the back. So I took it slow. Something felt off so I pulled over and looked under the car thinking an arm had come loose. I even shook the rear wheels to see if there was play. The right rear had slight play but not much.
So I got back in to limp the car home. Then I heard clinking of bolts falling out the car and things got very loose. I pulled over slowly and got out again. All 5 lugs were gone.
I called my neighbor but he sent me to voicemail. My mother in law was visiting so I called her to drive my truck and pick us up.
I stayed on the phone directing her to us but she kept speaking over my directions and she drove past us 4x. It took over an hour for her to reach us.
I drove my son to daycare then went home to get spare lugs and a jack then went back to the car.
I drove ahead of her leadimg her back to the house. As I was driving panic hit me as I realized I left my phone on the roof. I pulled over and thank Yah it was still there. We got home and as I stepped out the car my shoe split.
As I took this picture I saw that my new silver bracelet was missing…
My dreas clothes were soaked with sweat and I was hours late for work and I was already way behind.
I’m grateful nothing broke and the car wasn’t damaged. Had the wheel come off at speed it would have been a disaster. Yah kept me and my son safe and Im grateful.
Earl leak…
Finishing the lines on the SC. Hardest job I’ve done because of no space. This would be hard to do even with the motor out.
Once I got all the lines in I was still getting leaks. I kept tightening everything but the leaks persisted. They were hard to trace because they only show in boost.
All Friday evening, all day Sat and still no success. I wanted to make Nappy Boy Throttle Rockets on the 4th but it wasn’t looking good.
After talking to my friend Lyron I decided to take everything apart and use RTV and high temp thread sealant. But first I had to clean the oil out the garage.
After taking the lines apart for the 5th time I discovered I had two gaskets on the fittings to the turbos.
This was likely the issue but I went ahead with the sealant and rtv.
I also found an exhaust leak in my flex pipe.
And I made some brackets for some fog lights.
I’ll let the rtv sit for 24 hours before i drive the car, but I’m confident it won’t leak now. I’m getting breaking up under WOT and higher revs so I changed plugs in hopes to fix.
Loaded…
Last night I changed an HID ballast, new wipers (gonna rain all weekend) put the license plate back on the car, and reinstalled the wheels. By the time I got the trailer out the spot it was raining super hard. I got SOAKED. I was rushing and moved the trailer without putting the car in gear or a wheel chock on the wheel. The car rolled into the winch. The whole front was bent. Once I moved the car back luckily the ABS went back to form and nothing was broken. I loaded the truck and went in about 11pm.
I’m so tired I’m not going to leave today. Gonna go home ans sleep and leave early in the A.M.
Oil leak…
The oil leak on the SC got really bad. With any windows open smoke was filling the cabin the right side of the engine bay was wet with oil. So I ordered a steel braided kit to replace the oem.
I was not looking forward to this job. Its best with the engine out or at the very least the divorce pipe out.
After Hours of fighting the old lines came out.
Massive hole shooting oil right onto the turbos and exhaust. The line broke easily.
Next was getting the new lines in.
So far no luck. Cuts all over my arms and barely any progress.
I realized I was not gonna make my drift event at this place so I started prepping the G.
Catch…
Finally installed a catch can in an effort to keep my rear bumper clean.
I need to find a nicer way to route this but the twin intake makes it difficult with the fitting facing the fitting on the valve cover.
M3…
I’ve had sloppy shifter in this car for a long time. I finally got the time and energy to try to sort it.
I also had to fix a few other small issues like a loose oil cooler, exhaust leak, missing sideskirt hardware, loose, oil change, right front suspension, and a pollen full engine bay.
I didn’t take many pictures because I was under the car trying to reach things I could barely see.
The shifter is now better but still sloppy. I need to get this pack from Garageistic.
Tired…
My relationship with tire shops is as old as my time playing with cars. I’ve slowly become more independent with modifications and repairs as my skill and tools have grown. The one thing I’ve not become independent with is mounting and balancing tires. I just have never had the space for it. The style of modification I am particular to involves tire stretching which limits the places I can go for the service. The best deals and most flexibility are at small owned shops in the hood.
On the east coast most of these shops are Latin owned, specifically Mexican or Dominican. The relationship between Black folk and Latin folk on this side of the country is interesting. For the most part we get along but in some instances there is a clear seperation, sometimes condescention boardering on bigotry. I was not aware of the latter until after years of patronizing these types of businesses.
In drifting keeping extra wheels makes your life much easier. I like wheels so I started to accumulate many. I noticed as I came back more and more with nicer and nicer things the attitude of the people got colder, Spanish was spoken more in my presence, and the prices increased. So I started to move around and use multiple shops. Sometimes when I would show up I would be ignored, or they would put other customers ahead of me, or even hold my wheels for days. I always paid cash and tipped. Was very respectful and friendly so I was unsure of what was happening.
It got so bad I started to go to friends who worked at dealerships or chains after hours, waiting til a Club Loose day to use the tire machines, or even mounting tires by hand in my living room.
Then I met a black shop owner Collins. We became friends and I used him for all my tires and even some other mechanical things I would normally do myself. Eventuality he closed his shop and moved to Ghana so I was back to square 1.
I moved down south for a job opportunity and was able to start over again. I hoped things would be more relaxed than in Philly. I quickly found the hood and my go to tire shop. But the same things started to happen again, but this time even faster. At this point I had a truck and could take the wheels to the shop and leave the car at home.
I eventually found a shop owned and run by a Japanese guy who was super friendly. He was far but he was great at not scratching wheels and had reasonable prices, and I could text him to find good times to drop off. I started taking him all my wheels. This lasted for a few years then I started to feel a shift in our interactions. I thought maybe it was his personal life or the stress of the shop. But then there was less and less eye contact and small talk. My texts started to go unanswered. I would show up for pickup and find my wheels and tires untouched, wheels stated to get damaged, and of course prices started to go up.
So I started to use a Mexican owned spot about a mile from my house. However my truck was hit by a bus and I had to start driving my cars until it was fixed or replaced. I took the G35 with wheels and tires to be mounted and I saw a major shift in how I was recieved. A LOT of Spanish was spoken around me some, of which I recognized as derogatory and the price doubled. But for having to only travel a mile I was willing to suck it up.
I had taken 3 sets of brand new wheels and tires to the Japanese shop a while back and discovered instead of being balanced, a whole row of weights were just put on one spot of the wheel. The front of the SC was vibrating so bad the tires with less than 80 miles on them had about 3mm of cupping. I could not drive over 80mph.
So this weekend I drove the SC to the tire shop. Big mistake. When I pulled up the workers all stopped and stared but no one came to speak. I took the front bumper off, jacked the car up and put it on jack stands, removed the front wheels and rolled them into the tire shop. I asked only for balancing. They spoke in spanish for about 2 minutes before informing me the cost would be $20 per tire. High I thought but I agreed. I was 4th in line, but the head tech walked past everyone ahead of me to look at my wheels. He studied the back, front, tire size, read the manufacturer labels on the barrells and then rubbed his hands over the tire.
He finally stood up and said “Who tire?”
I hesitated because he knew they were mine. I had never seen anyone else with anything like this in the shop. “Mine I said. “
“These can’t be balanced.” He said barely looking at me. “Too bumpy. “
Confused I looked at the tires. They had such little cupping you could barely see or feel it. I had balanced way worse and driven the tires smooth. I tried to explain to him the tires were brand new and the previous shop had not balanced them properly, but he just got angry and walked away. I was shocked. They had put a 225 on an 11j and balanced it for me with no issue before. This was literally the easiest thing I was asking of them. But I wasn’t going to force them to take my money. Obviously they didn’t want my business. So I took my wheels, put the car back together, and left.
I had met a guy who had just gotten into drifting and was running a corperate lube and tire place, so I decided to try him. I pulled up and saw 4 black guys and one white. They all stopped working just like the Mexican cats did at the last spot. But they came out and got a closer look at the car and spoke and joked around with me. I showed them the front tires and pointed out the cupping and asked if they could balance them. The manager said “Yeah that’s no problem but we can’t get your car in the air. Its too low. I told him I would get the tires off myself. I just need them balanced.
“Oh! Then I won’t even ring you up!”
I took the bumper off again and the techs came and took them from me before I could even roll them in the shop. I asked the guys what they were drinking. Someone shouted Don Julio 1800 and everyone started laughing. I walked next door to the supermarket and bought a few cases of Corona. By the time I got back the wheels were bolted to my car.
I handed the beer to the manager, dapped him and the tech who did my wheels, and thanked everyone. We cracked a few more jokes and put my car together and left.
It seems that with other “minorities” if a black person has more than they think they should or seem to be prospering beyond themselves the relationship sours even if professional.
The car now rides smooth over 100mph.
Heart of the sunrise…
For years I’ve been wanting to make a video to one of my favorite Prog Rock songs by Yes called Heart of the Sunrise. This version of the SC I felt would be worth the video.
I ran the idea by my two homies Dru and Milton who are great with videography. I laid out he shots I planned and sent them the song to listen to and they both saw the vision. We initially spoke in December and planned for April 23.
FFWD to today and we meet up on the early morning before the sun rose and began filming.
Multiple locations and light conditions.
The raw footage looks so promising. Now comes the hard work of editing.
After we wrapped up the last shot we went to Cars and Coffee and met up with my man Ray
He was kind enough to capture stills.
There were some heat at the meet.
Dru test fitting a guys bucket.
From here we went to get food and review footage.
We were gassed. We made a preview of the longer video then split. I’ll link that on a seperate post.
Hashtag Blessed…
They aren’t the greatest slabs and they are far from perfect, but 8 year old me would be proud.
Got the tire rebeaded. There is slight damage to the bead unfortunately but its holding air. I also flipped the tires on the Equips and put them back on the G.
#joyofpoo 
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