PROGRESS!

I've been doing some shit. Been busy but here's an update to catch you guys up.



Changed the oil on the S2K. Runs a bit better now but I still need new plugs and filters. Those coming soon!





FC1 is now rolling on a set of new TE37s! I kind of got tired of the old look on TC3s so I decided to switch it up. I got a solid deal on these, V$1,900 for a set of slightly used 4 18x8.5 +30s with 90% tread life 225/45/18 Michelin Pilot Sport 4s at Craft Suzuka!





S14 has no updates because it's a reliable car! I just keep driving it haha, good vibes and a smile on my face every time I take it out.





And now the main attraction,

Project Ichigo Update!

I had the front bumper off, then I dismantled the intercooler piping as well as the FMIC per se, and I took the ded turbski off. Why so soon? You probably already know why!



We got the GOODS. I then unboxed the Tomei package and test fitted my new V$1,580 potato I bought off of Tomei HQ! Inside the Nismo box I have a 4.1L/min Nismo Fuel Pump for 45,000 yen (V$450) shipped and a Nismo Fuel Pressure Regulator for 13,000 yen (V$130) shipped, all from Nengun. BUT, those Nismo parts will be on in the next update. Stay tuned!

ＴＯＭＥＩ　ＡＲＭＳ　Ｍ８２７０！

Finances:

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V$80,414.91 + V$2,820 (3x Paycheck at V$940/week) + V$3,300 (Accounting Audit Services Payment Received) - V$1,900 - V$1,580 - V$450 - V$130 = V$82,474.91

LET'S GET THIS BREAD (OR POTATO)

First of all, before I continue on my S15 chronicles, CHECK OUT NIATROSS' THREAD RIGHT NOW! He (finally) has coverage of our New Years Party at WestKyo! Special guests include Rifky (Shez) in a DC5, Yuan (BigSmoke) in a CE9A, Marc (Macaron_moon) in a CZ4A, among others!! GO PEEP

NOW, following an EPIC hangout with Yuan (BigSmoke) and Muzahid (Niatross) (Check out BigSmoke's RP RIGHT NOW IF YOU HAVEN'T YET AND READ UP ON OUR CRUISE!), I got jealous of Niatross' E46 and decided it was time for the S15 to come back.

After work I dropped by the favorite Sushi Bar and grabbed some food to go.



Then I drove STRAIGHT to WestKyo to finish the job. "PROJECT ICHIGO WILL RUN TODAY," I said to myself.



I finally unboxed my Nismo goods and fitted them to the car with no problems, I also relocated the battery back to the hood, makes doing the wiring less of a chore. Fuel Pump in, Fuel Pressure Regulator in, Injectors in. I had Macaron_moon fab me up a new charge pipe to fit my intercooler, as well as a new flange to install my intake pipe with the MAF. But I ordered a brand new BOSCH JECS Z32 MAF from eBay, and it should arrive tomorrow, just in time for the tune.

After everything was completed, I checked to see if the engine was ready. Then I topped up with some Royal Purple Engine Oil (10W40). And it was time to start it up, for the first time in a while (2 months I believe).

START...


.....START...



..........START...



...............START...



....................START...

COME ON JUST START THE FUCK UP ALREADY

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IT'S FINALLY RUNNING AGAIN YASSSSS



Checked if everything was in order for the last time, then I shut the doors. It was time to take it out for a spin.



BOIIII IT'S MAKING BOOST AGAIN!! I'm at wastegate pressure right now though, disabled the boost controller for now because we don't want a another turbo problem smh. Boost gauge is giving me a reading of 0.6-7 bar. Not bad at all!



But the car feels like a new animal. DIFFERENT. Response is MUCH better, I can notice the lag, not a lot but it's definitely there. But boy oh boy when it comes on boost WOOOOOOOOOOWEEEEEEEEEEE. Now I gotta get the Z33 MAF on the car, and then tune time. WITH DYNO FIGURES. Stay tuned!

WE BOOLIN OUT HERE

Finances:

---

V$82,474.91

DEATH AWAITS.

STAY TUNED.

Finances:

---

V$82,474.91

THAT'S HOW MAFIA WORKS

Hey everyone! Thank you guys for sympathizing with me. It's a very tough time (A nigga going through a lot rn ngl), and you guys are what get me to wake up in the morning, it's that support that keeps the fire in me burning. I know nothing's gonna happen if I just lay in bed, skipping work all because of a mistake I did at 3AM one night, something shitty, something very unbecoming of a lawyer. And I've already started on righting my wrongs.

One of those wrongs is finally getting my S15 tuned. Or at least, trying to.



So I went ALL the way to Tochigi Prefecture in an untuned S15, with my Z32 MAF in the back seat, in hopes of getting my S15 up to PEAK PERFORMANCE.

When I arrived, the boys at Koguchi Power accommodated me very well. Within a few minutes I was on queue to dyno.



The only problem was, well, I was too low.



So I had to take my front bumper off to get it up the ramp.



After that point we strapped it up and checked everything for leaks and discrepancies. No problems, so the tuner plugged his computer into the ECU, and started messing with the GReddy PROfec E-01 Boost Controller I had on the car. It turns out, a puny boost controller was not enough to counter the intense AFRs the car was throwing, even less when the Z32 Mass Air Flow Sensor was installed. So they stuck a special programmable chip into the ECU board, and went on with their business.

Soon enough, the car was SCREAMING, and it certainly sounded like some serious power was being made. But like life itself, things don't always go as planned, and over here that's no exception.



See that smoke? That's from the clutch slipping. The stock SR20DET S15 clutch could only take 270 wheel before giving out, hence the smoke. Sadly, because of this, I wasn't able to realize the full capabilities of the turbo and the engine.



So for now, I have to rely on a semi-dyno tune, coupled with a road tune. Don't worry, once I get everything set, it'll be back on the dyno before you know it. At this point I need a fully programmable ECU (looking for a PowerFC unit so if anyone has leads let me know!) to get the car tuned accurately.

But yeah this will do fine for now. I paid the tuning fee (10,000 yen (V$100)) and then went off to give it a shakedown of my own.



YES THIS WILL DO VERY FINE IN THE MEANTIME.



I already feel the BUMP in power and force. There's an obvious increase just from that chip tune! Getting the rear A048s to break traction is a BREEZE now.



Slides GOOD.

Now while I was sliding the car around, flooring it and getting a feel for everything, I found to have been experiencing some rubbing issues within the fender liners and the arches. Too many Gs this time that the suspension actually reaches that level of compression already I'm guessing.

At that point, it was either change tires, or raise the height. You probably already know that I love my LOW. So I went and proceeded with the former.

Back over at WestKyo, I took the R34 stockies off to get them fitted with some new thinner, narrower rubber that'll clear the wells. But at that point I remembered that I still had some Advan TC3s awaiting a car to be on, these were off my FC1 Civic, and that was pretty low and cleared the wells, these have stretched tires so rubbing shouldn't be an issue. The R34s will be going back on when I feel like it, I'm switching it up a bit with this setup.

I thought I could make do with putting the wheels on without the spacers off the R34 stockies, but apparently not, at least, not with style.



That epic offset game though. So I took the wheels off again and re-added the spacers. This time, I managed to nail the look.









This look is growing on me FAST. I honestly think I'm getting increasingly close to the NOB Vertex T&E S15 that Yuan (BigSmoke) brought up a while back.

Oh yeah I forgot to add. I bought 2 cars, sight unseen on the internet. Phonexius is shipping the cars to Japan right now as we speak! V$4,500 from Bosnia!

The car itself? It's a secret, for now.

Finances:

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V$78,474.91 - V$100 - V$0.91 (Burger King Whopper Jr.) + V$940 (Weekly Paycheck x1) - V$4,500 = V$74,814

DAMAGE CONTROL!

First thing's first. I had the S14 towed to a shop with a lift the other day. Yesterday morning I dropped by on the way to work to assess the damage.











Here's what the master mechanic and I have gathered so far:
- Front left tie rod bent -
- Steering rack bent -
- Front left control arm snapped -
- Rear inner wall breached and crumpled -
- Rear underchassis area crumpled -
- Rear right shock tower crumpled -
- Rear right upper control arm bent -
- Rear right lower control arm missing -
- Rear right coilover blown and dead -
- Rear left lower control arm destroyed -
- Exhaust hanger, exhaust system crumpled -
- Spare tire area unrecognizable -
- Trunk mounts unsalvagable -
- Trunk shell damaged and unsalvageble -
- Front left wiring harness torn -
- Rear light harness missing -
- Rear subframe pushed forward 4cm -
- Transmission oil pan cracked -
- Engine oil pan smashed -
- Side mount intercooler crumpled -
- Fuel pump not priming/not functional -
- Rear right toe arm bent -
- Rear right knuckle crumpled -
- Rear right brake disc warped -
- Rear right caliper damaged and bent -
- Rear right wheel bent (inner barrel) -
- Front left side of engine bay slightly out of alignment -
- Hopes and dreams fucked -
- Life has no meaning -
- End my suffering -
- Fixable, but will take some time -

So yeah, it's pretty much FUCKED. But I'm not ready to let this car go. I fucking disgraced it, and it's my job to correct my mistake. I have to do this car justice no matter what, I'm sure it's what Muzahid (Niatross) and Koro-san would've wanted. Speaking of which, I broke the news to him and he was over-the-moon FURIOUS at what happened. He's glad I'm okay but called me all sorts of shitty things, and to be honest, I can't blame him. But now the pressure to rebuild this thing is even higher now, and rebuild this thing I'll definitely do. Just you wait.

In other news

I test fitted the Gram Lights 57Cs on the S2K, not too shabby me thinks. Offset may be a tad low which is causing the poke but that should be sorted out with some camber. Might actually put em on the car when it's low and deserving. In its current form it drives FANTASTIC though. I can never get enough of that 9K RPM SCREAMMMMM. I'd never give my car up for an AP2 tbh, more so when I've got a damn Type V.

In other news x2

I took the S15 apart again. Yes I know what you're gonna say, I'm making my own life harder, I'm playing myself blah blah, hear me out. I'm getting my internals forged and balanced so that I can take FULL advantage of that turbo, all that money wasted on an engine with unused potential would surely be a dumb thing to do anyway right? So yeah.





OH yeah I got a new clutch on the way from Up Garage at their Higashimurayama branch in Tokyo. I found their listing for an Ogura Racing Enhanced Metal Single Clutch ORC - 409D - 02N5 for 71,900 yen (V$719). Should be coming in soon.





AAAAAAAND the engine is out! Next step is to take it apart and get the components machined or replaced. More on that soon!

Oh and another thing, this is the last time you'll see the S15 rolling (or sitting) on TC3s, because I just sold them to Dominik (NightRunner) yesterday night for V$1,350. Check out his cool JZA80 build! He just got some sick new Ridox Aero from it, inspired by Soju's current aero setup. Ngl I really want a Supra and an R34 now, been seing a lot of them around the forums lately. But eh, we'll see what the future holds. (Maybe I alraedy bought one, OR MAYBE I ALREADY HAVE A JZA80 AND A BNR34 HIDDEN SOMEWHERE H I H E)

Finances:

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V$74,814 - V$719 + V$1,350 + V$3,400 (Ongoing Court Hearing, Plantiff Attorney Services Payment Received) = V$78,845