I have an old school Greddy bar that needed some help. I hit it with the polisher and attempted to paint the recessed logo red.

Unfortunately the stamp wasn’t deep enough so I measured and vectorized the logo. I was out of red vinyl so I tried it in orange.

Gave it a second shot and also took the time to cut a 1j logo. I think it will need to be two tone like original. Maybe black and purple.

Second times a charm. I sanded and started to paint the mounts to match the spark cover.

My homies Jonny, George, and I planned to do a TOD trip. We were supposed to go a few years back but I couldn’t make it.  So this spring we planned early. I had already taken the bike and M3 so I wanted to give the G35 a try. But it had lost drive a month before the trip.

After pulling the trans I noticed the splines on my output shaft looked damaged. Then I saw the splines on the disk we gone.  How this happened I was unsure.

Then I noticed the pilot bearing. It looks like I damaged it installing the transmission during the last clutch job which lead to the disk being damaged.

I ordered an ACT disk and a new OEM pilot bearing. Got everything installed and drove the car for the week before the trip.

George and Jonny drove down in G’s new Miata and spent the night. The next day we drove to Greensboro and met up with Dru, my homie from college.

After 5 Hours we made it to Fontana village. There were some great cars at the resort.

We unpacked and hit the Dragon for our first laps.

Unfortunately we didn’t get any footage of the driving which was amazing. The G35 blew a pressure switch on the high pressure ps line so we piled in Dru’s Subaru to go get the part. His axle was sounding like it was going to break with all the excessive weight so G and Jonny waited at the Kill Boy lodge till we got back.

We were able to get the part in and fixed in time for some night runs… which we have no footage of.

The next day we had a surprisingly good meal and hit the mountain for day 2.

On our way out my PS went out yet again. The top of the new pressure switch I bought from Autozone had blown out.  Luckily I had kept the old switch which just had a torn o-ring. So I pulled the o-ring off new switch and put it on the old switch and reinstalled it. Bought fluid from the gas station and all was well.

From there we cruised to Asheville and got some succulent Chinese food. Dru and I parted ways with Jonny and G as they made their way back North.

One of my favorite trips ever. The G35 really surprised me. It had no trouble keeping up with anyone in our group and just about abutting else on the mountain.

I tried to be a monoblock non stretched tire guy so BMW cats would stop hating but I could not.

Went back to dumbo wheels and lowered the car a smidgeon.

…then took the car and my wife to the Tail of The Dragon for our Anniversary.

Fin.

I sold the GSXR and bought an 848. Meet Shelly Anne. I repainted the scuffed plastics and cut some white decals.

Black Dudes Drift got together for the first annual Juneteenth drift event.

Simba was good enough to host us at a track I have wanted to drive forever. Homies from Arizona, Cali, Ohio, NC, and other places were going to meet up and drive a 2 day Club FR event. The list was long in the beginning but as always people flaked.

I was set to meet up with my good friend Ryan whose birthday track day allowed me to first test my 328i. Sadly it was smushed and would not be available for the trip. The track was probably best suited for that car and not my boat of an SC.

I had sold off my old aero but had not fitted the new aero yet and did not want to destroy it before getting the car painted. So I found some old spare aero and cobbled together a somewhat ok looking car for the trip. I had not driven the SC in almost a year. I didn’t even change the oil.

I loaded up and headed to meet up with Ryan.

About 2 hours to the boarder at 5am, and another 14 from there.

We were the last to arrive as we had to stop in Milwaukee to pick up our media guys.

We had a good sized house to ourselves not far off the lake.

After unloading we decided to go to the store and get groceries. Just about everyone took turns cooking. We did not eat out once during the weekend.

Friday night we cruised the town and went go karting.

The locals were super friendly and some even came out to the even the next day.

Saturday was day 1 of 2. We loaded up one truck with all our tools and spares instead of trailering everything to the track. The SC gave me a hard time starting and did not want to stay running. But eventually we all made it to the famous US Air.

I didn’t take any photos as we had our media guys shooting video and photos. Hopefully we can see that soon. The SC was losing power and blowing intercooler couplers all day. Joe had a slight wreck, Ryan had no ebrake and lost some aero,and Jamar lost power steering. It got to the point where I could not even break traction on the front course. I should have spent the night working on it but Saturday night we had another cookout. Good vibes, great conversation, laughs and food distracted me.

Sunday we loaded up for day 2. No matter what I tried the SC would not run. So I went in the truck to watch everyone and just talk with the local folks.

We loaded up for one more night at the house. I had to go buy a winch to get the car back on the trailer. Cooked our final meal and went to sleep. We gave our final daps and left early morning.

Ryan and I headed south.

I had purchased spares for the trip but received the wrong sizes. So I stopped and picked up some spares. Its a good thing too…

A local caught us speeding through Chicago.

When I finally made it home I discovered the fuel pump ECU had gone bad. Very annoyed that I didnt get to drive hard at the track for such a stupid reason. But I will be back.

Here’s a preview of the footage from our media guys.

I let my pile of wreckage sit on the trailer for weeks. I wasn’t devastated but I was upset that I only had one event after finishing it to enjoy. I hadn’t even washed it. Speaking to the owner of Spirit he saw that I had entered way too early right in a dip that gripped the car up and shot me straight at the wall. He had stopped me earlier telling me that the car looked to be way too gripped up on the Kendas. It had so much grip the front was pushing despite them being RS-RR’s. He suggested going up in air pressure. I decided to drive around it since I had spent so much time working on the car that day. I just wanted to drive. Big mistake. The spot I hit I was told was hit a number of times by other drivers which is why folks are told not to manji the straight. I was entering but since it was so early and aggressive I might as well have been manjiing.

The car had served its purpose. I crashed it and not the SC which I had driven at the previous spirit events. Those K-Rails are what pushed me to find a car that I would not regret crashing.

Now I had a choice to make. I just spent a lot of time and energy making a cage for the car. I could buy a new shell and cut it out or try to fix the smashed shell. It was kind of special since it was an M sport. I loved the color combo, and I had zero desire to put that amount of work in again any time soon.

Some local friends suggested a guy who they had used for frame damage previously. So I contacted him and sent detailed photos for assessment. He was confident it could be fixed as long as the center of the car was straight. The roll cage made the odds pretty good that would be the case. He estimated no more than $2,500 for the job. I was 100% ok with that. So I took the car back to my homies shop to get it rolling. I collected some super cheap parts in case I was going to end up not following through and got the car rolling. New wheels, new front coils, new steering rack, knuckles.

The only devastating part of the damage was my equips. I have owned these wheels longer than any car. They were boofed. Original lips and barrels. It took months to find someone willing to attempt to fix them. Most people laughing at what I wanted to do.

I had a Juneteenth event up in Wisconsin (I will make a separate post about that) that I needed to get to immediately so I pulled the SC out and drove to Wisconsin to forget about the 28 for a while.

When I returned I got the news the passenger cell of the car was straight and that I should pick up the car and pull the engine and return it for the actual work.

When I went to pick up the car the vibe was 100% different. The frame guy was giving me everything he could to discourage me from fixing the car. I had explained to him before that I JUST finished building the cage and had no desire to build another or cut it out and put into another vehicle. I just had a son and I had less time than money. When I pressed him he confirmed it was still fixable but he was about to move to a new house, he had other projects, it was going to take a long time etc. but it was fixable. So I told him I would take the car home, pull the motor and bring it back. He informed me that he spent more time on the car than he was going to charge me, at least $400 worth.

When I went to load the car up he informed me that the engine block had broken when he attempted to pull the frame. The engine block is the hardest part of an entire car and the mounts were broken so this made zero sense. Underneath the car was a massive oil puddle. He pulled the dipstick and sure enough there was no oil in the car. I asked him how he knew it was the block and not the oil pan which is aluminum. He told me he saw it leaking from the block after a pull. Immediately I figured this was the reason for the 180 in his confidence in fixing the car. He reminded me that he had more hours into the car than he was charging me, at least $700 worth. I decided to get out of there before the figure went over $1000.

I paid him the $300 for the frame time and took the car home. Frustrated at my wasted time and money. As I backed the trailer into its space I saw the passenger side over fender had blown off. I determined in my mind I was scrapping the car at that very moment. That was the final straw. I was not ordering another kit from overseas especially now when covid had slowed delivery globally. But when I got out I saw something that was a sign to not give up…

I had driven 2 hours at 90mph and the tire and strap saved the entire car. It sat on the trailer untouched for another 4 or 5 months. I didn’t even move the over fender.

During this time I checked various outlets for cheap cars. 300ZX, E36, S14, anything to switch to. But prices had gotten out of control. I also was able to pick up my wheels after they were most expertly repaired by Ehrlich Wheels. I paid a pretty good amount but the wheels were saved. Thanks to those guys again and jog off to everyone that said it couldn’t be done. I intended on putting the wheels back on the M3 fresh from paint. But when I put the car on the ground I instantly and inexplicably hated it.

So I put the Sparcos back on and sold the wheels to a homie who will take good care of them. He has dope style and drives real fancy.

At this point I started searching for another frame shop. Of the ones that responded, none were willing to take on the job. Finally I found a shop less than 10 min from me on Google that looked promising. An old school body guy from Detroit. So I emailed photos and his response was “We have fixed worse.” So I took the car for him to assess. It was bad but he was confident they could fix it. He warned me it would not be cheap. But at $50 an hour I was hopeful. He said they would need to find another car to take a front clip off of as well as measurements. So I stopped by the local junkyard and found a junked vert. The body shop planned to send their guys to the yard to cut off the front end that weekend. Sunday night browsing marketplace I found a deal that was like the older days. A complete 97 328i in MANUAL. Blown headgasket, asking price very reasonable. I just so happened to be off work the next day. So I messaged the seller and arranged to go get the car. Monday morning I pulled the 99 off the trailer and into my garage in the rain. I had just pulled the engine out which made it slightly easier. The rain however did not.

So my son and I drove 2 hours north to the Richmond area. Ironically where I had crashed the 99. I didn’t even negotiate the price. Paid, and loaded up the car for the drive home.

The frame guy from earlier saw the IG photos of the new car and messaged me telling me he was glad I went the route of re-shelling as it would have been too much work and too expensive. about 5 or 6 months of silence, and this was the first time he messaged me. I informed him I bought the car to cut up to fix the silver one and he stopped responding.

This purchase was perfect. Every bracket, clip, body piece, pump, line, I had put into my shopping carts pre-emptively I deleted. Not only could I use the body parts, the transmission that had been damaged in the crash would be usable. The PS pump, AC pump had also taken damage and I would have all of that for the sum of the car. MAJOR BOOST. The only things I would need to purchase would be the headers I planned to upgrade to, stiffer motor mounts, and glass headlights. I would be able to sell off the rest of the parts that I would not use and scrap the rest for whatever I could get. I would also have a spare engine to build for boost if I so chose. But first, I put everything up for sale. Both cars as a package deal. This was my last out before I went head first into the project.

Zero bites. So I took that as a sign and dived into pulling the engine.

This brings things current. I dropped both cars off at the body shop. I’m praying this is a good and straight forward experience because God knows that I have had too many bad shop experiences.