Back to the Rays

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your patience in reading my blog. It must be quite painful to read all about the things I do to Nickie because it seems I keep going around in circles. Well, this posting is not going to be any different. Before you start calling me names, I thought it is better I clarify, explain and reinforce the logic of the mods I do. Let's take this swopping from the OZ 18" back to the Rays 17" as an example. As much as I love the OZ rims, they are beginning to give me problems because of its size. The tyres rub against the coilovers when going over humps and we have this irritating knocking sound. Besides the sound, there is a possibility that the coilovers could be damaged from the knocking.

The OZ are 18" x 8J; which means spacers are necessary to prevent the rim from rubbing on the coilovers. It also means that camber adjustment is limited as too much negative camber means the tyres will also rub against the coilovers. This is applicable if you have a camber kit installed because in original form, the front camber of the Swift cannot be adjusted. That leaves me with 3 options; adjust the camber every time it runs off, remove the camber kit or replace the OZ with the Rays. I chose option 3 for simplicity and practical reasons. Having to replace 4 wheels is easier than having to remove the camber kit and most importantly, I can change the wheels myself. Obviously, the camber is misaligned and alignment would have to be done after I put back the Rays. Regarding the point about spacers, I would certainly not recommend having them on the car because it reduces the length of the securing bolt. Which essentially means the wheels cannot be tightened as much as you would want it to be. Although the chances of the wheels dropping out is highly remote, why would you want to take the risk?

I certainly hope I have clarified my actions. It all bothers on time and situation. Pictures will be posted once the replacement is done. Thank you for reading.

Additions, Deletions, Replacements

Here's another round of cosmetic changes. Decided the side moldings on the door needs to be taken off. This is the second time I have put it on and taken it off. There's really nothing wrong with it. It gives protection from people who might put a dent on the door. I've been wanting to take it off but could never find a reason to do so until the plastics started to peel off from the double-sided tape. It was easy to remove 3 out of the 4 pieces. The last one was horrendous to take off because it was stuck on using 3M double-sided tape. It was baked onto the car and took me almost 4 hours to remove it with lighter fluid, wax, polish, WD40 and anything I could lay my hands on. Good thing patience prevailed and I did not make any scratches. I swear, from now on, unless my life depends on it, no more 3M double-sided tape on anything that might come off later. The side moldings actually makes the door panels look smaller since it divides it into 2 halves. Anyway, they are put into storage again and if anyone wants to buy it, I would sell it.

Added the Monster rear lip add-on. It makes the rear end looks a little lower and makes the car appear more balanced when seen from the side. It was sprayed the same color as the side skirts to maintain the color flow and coupled with the front carbon fiber splitters.

The clear tail lamps have been replaced by the stock ones because the authorities consider all after-market parts as illegal. Can you beat that? Now you know why every other car looks like the other one in Singapore.

The exhaust tips have also been changed to Spoon look-alike. They are screwed onto the exhaust pipes. The authorities deemed my previous exhaust as illegal because the tips were welded on. As you know, the stock tips are screwed on the exhaust pipes. Apparently, any cut and weld marks on any part of the exhaust system constitutes an illegal modification. Can you beat that? You buy an expensive car but the authorities decides what you can and cannot do.

I am not sure this will be the final look. The grill is starting to bother me and I am thinking of putting back the stock grill. Most guys I meet like the grill because it's different and gives the car character. I even have a special logo attached! Anyway, it will stay for now until it's time to go.

More Lips and Wing Tips Pics

Enjoy the pictures taken during the day.

Lips and Wing Tips

I admit I've never been a fan of carbon fibre. That was the main reason I did not install the Kansai front lips because it only comes in carbon fibre. I wanted it to be in FRP so that I can spray it red in order to obtain a singular colour on the front end. But alas, things are not meant to be when a good friend offers you 2 Kansai carbon fibre front lips at an unbelievable price. As you can see, they look incredible. It gives the front end a more aggressive look and not only that, it provides some down force also.

See the wing tips? They have been changed to carbon fibre ones but notice that the design is no longer the Kansai-type. The same friend gave me those wing tips to match the carbon fibre front lips. These wing tips are meant for the GT spoiler. So, the holes are not aligned and the wing tips don't actually fit the stock holes. Well, with some ingenuity and a drill, yours truly converted it to match the spoiler. So, it's no longer a Kansai spoiler, neither is it a GT spoiler but it's a Nickie spoiler. The size of the wing tips are much bigger than the Kansai ones. I've just realised that doing 'big' things on Nickie makes 'big' differences.

Next on the list? The rear bumper needs to be lowered and a project is being hatched while we speak. Check back in a couple of weeks and see for yourself. Enjoy the grown-up Nickie pictures.

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.

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.

Indycator Gear Knob

It's not a spelling error. That's the name of the indicator gear knob that was installed last week. It's not really necessary to have a gear knob that tells you which gear you are in. But, this was bought as a favour for a very good friend who wanted me to help him advertise this new product. Anyway, it's quite a cool toy and it does come in useful at times when you really cannot remember which gear you are in.