CamryOnBronze

Yeah, I stole Teddy’s theme. Now I can actually have photos on here that aren’t all compressed horizontally and tiny- so that will be nice!

We got about 6″ of snow here over the weekend, with drifts over 1 ft. high depending on where you look. I learned that shoveling the driveway is not a lot of fun- especially when it is wet, heavy snow. A snow blower is for sure on the wish list after that experience.

I’m really geeked about getting some work done on the car, but I suppose there isn’t a rush at all. It has been about 15 degrees out or so ever since the storm came through, with wind chills well below zero, so something about laying out in the garage just doesn’t sound all that fun. The D-Max coilovers should be here soon, though, so I am pumped about that! I’m hoping to finish putting the Tomei shifter together tomorrow and get that in the car later this week- maybe on Thursday night.

I’m thinking about either getting some different wheels this winter, or getting mine professionally powder coated. The less-than-perfect paint on them has really been bugging me. I still really like the wheels and how they fit, though. I think the only thing I would ditch them for is a set of TEs, but I’m not wild about the cost. If I do get the wheels powder coated, it will be a bright silver color similar to how they are now- if not brighter.

That’s about it for now. I’m going to start pulling the front suspension for the makeover and the rest of the interior stuff to make way for the cage soon. I also decided to put my 180SX cluster in, so that will go down soon as well. I’ll post some pics as soon as goodies show up!

Happy Holidays! 🙂

I placed my order and sent payment this morning for a six point, bolt-in, dash escape Cusco roll cage from ACV mailorder out of Ohio! Special thanks to Aaron for helping me out with all of my questions and giving me a great price match! And thanks to my family for the birthday money- it’s obviously being put to good use! lol. It is being made in Japan and should arrive in 4-8 weeks. Now the long wait begins!

Nate Hassler of Modified Magazine was kind enough to send me high-res versions of the photos from my Modified feature earlier this week. I was super impressed with the work he did- thanks for the amazing photos, Nate!

Here is a link to my Flikr page with the photos.

I’d also like to thank Peter from Modified for hunting me down and featuring my car on the cover of Modified! This is honestly a dream come true for me, and something that I never imagined would actually happen to me. Very, very cool. I’ll be ordering some more copies of the issue from those guys, so if anyone out there overseas or something happens to read my blog (which I doubt, LOL) and can’t get a hold of a copy, but would like one, let me know!

The snow has started here, with more on the way this weekend. We haven’t gotten much, but this marks the end of the season for my car. I gassed it up and pulled it into the garage a couple of nights ago until the weather breaks in April. I’ll keep this updated this winter as my project continues! Thanks for reading!

Damon

My wife and I got an eight week old Siberian Husky on Tuesday night. Alicia has wanted a Husky all her life, so she is pretty stoked about it. I never had a dog growing up- just cats- so there has been a steep learning curve for me. I guess they don’t come potty trained like cats do, haha. We named him Tomei- I was just throwing out random words while playing some COD and Alicia liked it, as did I, so it stuck!

Thankfully he has been getting along with the cat so far. It’s pretty funny watching them chase each other around. I’ll keep adding pics every few weeks as he gets bigger and eventually passes the cat in size- shouldn’t take too long!

So, sadly, it is almost time for the car to roll into the garage until April. This season went way too fast. I guess getting the car completed and tuned in August will do that, haha. This year has been a huge success in my book, though- super happy with how everything has come together!

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I’ve got some things on the list for this winter. I won’t be diving in nearly as much as I did last winter, but I am hoping to make some finishing touches to the car. I’m going to try to start updating this a lot more often through the winter, so stick around!

Oh, and be sure to pick up the January 2011 issue of Modified Magazine! My car will be featured as the cover story as a part of a dual feature on Toby Broadfield’s car and mine. The issue should be on newstands in early December, so keep an eye out for it! It should be pretty awesome!

🙂

Damon

I was bored last week and decided to use some of my leftover Bride fabric to wrap my glove box and arm rest. I am pretty happy with how it all came out!

I am pretty happy with the status of the interior- and the car in general- right now. I have been driving it to work every day that I can, enjoying it before the weather turns sour. I installed my Tomei TRAX two way over the weekend and I am really happy with that addition to the car. As for the interior, I am going to toss the Kouki 180SX cluster in as soon as my S14 temp sensor arrives from NissanParts.cc. This winter, I plan to replace the speakers and head unit, install a digital climate control, and a Cusco bolt in cage. Aside from those things and possibly switching the gauges up a bit, I am happy with the interior!

I’ll update this again soon- I’ve got some very exciting things coming in the next few weeks! 🙂 Thanks for reading.

Damon

Hey guys- I know I haven’t posted here much at all recently, but I actually managed to make the top 4 in the WS Photo Contest! My friend Grant took the picture last fall- trying to make it into the finals right now!

Here is a link if you feel inclined to vote for me:

[url=http://wiringspecialties.com/wshara.html]http://wiringspecialties.com/wshara.html[/url]

I’m Damon in the first bracket (of course)- here is the picture I submitted:

It’s very strange, but I can’t seem to get ahead no matter how many people I get to vote for me. Oh well… hoping I can stay alive! Here are a couple current shots of the car for the hell of it- Kyle should have some new ones soon as well that I think are going to be sweet!

Thanks in advance guys, I really appreciate the support!

Damon

Scored some front 180SX seats! Rocking the passenger side with the Zeta III L at the moment…

…for now that is, haha. The car has officially been on the road for about a week and a half now without any major hiccups. My only issues so far have been squealing belts as they broke in, a screw in one of my new tires, an oil leak, and an exhaust leak after the dyno session. Aside from that, the car has been driving really well and starting right up!

Alicia was out of town last weekend, so I got to hit up a few meets and hang out with some car friends in my spare time. It was great to actually go to a meet, let alone in my 240! It still doesn’t feel real when I walk out to the car after work and start it every day- it’s so great to have it back on the road! Here are a couple shots from the weekend:

So, I picked up some Kouki 180SX Type X front seats yesterday. They are coming from an importer in California and should be here Friday or Saturday via Greyhound. As a result, my Gray S14 front seats are up for sale! For now, I am only going to use the passenger seat and keep rocking the Bride Zeta III Type L for the driver’s side. I have considered selling it, though, and using the full 180SX seat setup. I really don’t need the Bride for a street setup, and it is inconvenient at times, but it is also really cool… so I might not be able to bring myself to sell it.

Other than that, I just have a lot of cruising to do. I bought a Tomei TRAX 2-way differential from a good friend, so I will toss that in and sell the VLSD as soon as I have it. I am planning to cruise down to Toby’s BBQ in Normal, Illinois in a couple weeks, so looking forward to meeting those guys in person and hanging out! If you’re planning to be there and are looking for S14 seats, hit me up!

Damon

So- I finally have a tuning appointment scheduled with Matt at Monkey Wrench Racing for this Tuesday. Getting everything ready before then, however, is proving to be a pain in the butt, haha.

I took my hot pipe to a shop to weld the flange for the HKS SSQV3, and they ended up breaking the BOV:

So yeah… HKS confirmed that it is genuine, but they cannot repair it or replace the unit due to install error. I am working with the shop and hope that I will be compensated, but I doubt it- I am pretty bummed. Thankfully, Ken and the crew at Enjuku Racing (Thanks a lot Ant!) stepped up and are getting me a GReddy Type RZ BOV, Hot pipe with flange welded on, and recirculation fitting to my door  by Friday. I was planning to have Shane and one of his friends out tonight to help get the idle right and do some base street tuning, but that will now be pushed off until the weekend when the BOV is installed.

Assuming that goes at least somewhat well, I will still make the tuning appointment on Tuesday. Cross your fingers for me, I hope everything between now and then goes at least somewhat as planned! I’ll keep you guys posted. 🙂

Damon

After over 9 months passing since I last drove the car, I took it out again for the first time yesterday. It actually started up on Wednesday, July 14th- it took a few tries to get everything primed, but the car fired right up! It seemed to have lifter tick and some leaks at first, but the lifter noise has gone away. I started by running it for about two minutes the first night with no leaks. The next time I started it, I had a couple of leaking fuel lines, so I got those sorted out. On the next startup, I let it run for about ten minutes and realized there was a coolant leak on the line running from the turbo to the head- the one that sucks to get to.

Luckily, my friend Mike came out and gave me a hand, so we got that leak all closed up and also solved a pretty big vacuum leak. We messed with timing adjustment, but I don’t have it set perfectly to 15 degrees yet. The closer we get to the correct timing, the lower the idle gets. We messed with the IACV a bit. but I am still working the kinks out.

Despite those issues and some other things that need to be buttoned up, I did manage to do 4 laps around the neighborhood last night. It stalled a couple of times due to the low idle, but once it is rolling it drives really well! I can’t believe how stiff the Cusco engine mounts are- it is a lot different now, haha. But anyway, I also washed it for the first time in nearly a year last night- here are some pics of the (mostly) finished project!

My brother just got a 2005 Mini Cooper S JCW Edition this week- I really like it!

So yeah, that’s how it sits! Here is what’s left before I can daily it:

• Tuning at Monkey Wrench
• Have BOV flange welded/install BOV
• Adjust front ride height (remove 1 collar)
• Add screws to front lip
• Adjust/fab rear exhaust mounts
• Adjust idle to idle consistently
• Adjust camber/get an alignment

Once these things are taken care of, it should be in really good shape! Hoping to have it tuned within two weeks at the latest. I’ll keep you guys posted! Thanks again to my friends and family for all of their help through this and for putting up with me! 🙂

Damon