Sunday, March 29, 2009

Old Shoes with New Clothes






Decided to re-install the OZ Superleggera 18" rims back on Nickie. They were nicely re-sprayed before being put into storage since September 2008. Figured it is time to give Nickie a new look as some aspects of the car's exterior has changed. As I was changing the rims, I realised how light these rims are compared to the 17" Rays 57. Anyway, the rims are gonna stay on Nickie for awhile since they are kinda nice and the Rays 57 can take a break. The next thing that needs to be done is to re-install the after-market headers. I miss those things the most. The Sunline centre-pipe will have to come off and replaced with the stock mid-pipe or else the boys in blue will nab me for sure. The Exedy racing clutch will also be re-installed since I think I might have blew the clutch after the last track day at Sepang. Bought over a second-hand Hot Inazma Pocket from a fellow forum guy for my motorbike but decided to try it on Nickie first. Wow...that is an amazing product. The lag in 2nd gear seems to have disappeared and my senses tells me that the car is definitely much more livelier. Where there used to be some hesitation during idle, all these seem to have gone away. There are people who sneered at such products doubting their effectiveness. For me, I listen to what they have to say but no matter what, the decision is mine to make. If it works, good for me but if it doesn't, then I just ditch it. Hopefully someone will buy it over but not without feedback from me. Enjoy the new pics although they are not well taken because it was turning quite dark.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Nickie's New Nose






A forum member made this grill as a trial to see if there were enough takers for him to make a group purchase. Sadly, no one took up the offer. Seeing the chance that since this is a one-off thing, I bought over the prototype from him. I think the stock front grill looks nice but somehow, I preferred a smaller grill. There were some options to consider eg. Scrit or B-crews but those are common and expensive. I got this cheap since he had no use for it anymore. Got it sprayed red instead of black because I really wanted to make it look different. The result is rather satisfying. I will put back the chrome (but matted) S insignia on the vertical. Let's see how long this look will last before I make another change.