Donnie's JAPAN ADVENTURES Thread

[alex]

I always wanted to do something like this!

[Scott]

this is the coolest thread....ever!

[Bebop]

sharpy is pretty cool

[BigGameHit]

March 20, 2010

Sup guys,

The weekend is here and I'm utilizing all the time I have off from work. This will be a common thing for anyone that is following this thread... during the week nothing is really done with the car due to my work schedule etc.


Earlier this week I picked up a new house... its pretty cool. 3 bed room 1 car garage setup. I'm single and looking for Japanese roommates at the moment .





Before I started my day, I open a package that I got the other day... It was my t-shirt in memory of late D1 driver Atsushi Kuroi. I'm sure you all knew who he was. He was known as one of the first to drift with 600+hp cars. Displayed great skill along side of Masato Kawabata of Team Toyo.





Another day at the hobby shop. Things I completed today consisted of:

-Replacing a left rear knuckle
-Repacking bearing on my right front upright
-adding subframe collars
-assisting fellow skyline fellows









Before Shots of the damage due to the bent Knuckle











Afterness






Soaking up some of the sloppyness in the rear.. Should have done this ages ago as I know from first hand experience, the addition of these in my s-13 was night and day.





Random fish eye pics





Pictures of the photographers R33 GT-R sharpie project. His girlfriend and him hand drew all of this. And are in the process of clearing it shortly.









Helped out a buddy with his Rb20 overhaul.....

[BigGameHit]

Hey man if you want to slide at Ebisu..you can do it anytime. The tracks are open daily year around. I do highly recommend Matsuri as you can slide in the G1 ( gaijin=outsiders ) event. They would be happy to have you for sure.

Andy from Power vehicles rents out drift prepped cars from street to D1 level... has various packages.. you can slide along side Team Orange in all bro.

check em out http://www.powervehicles.com/driftlife/

Yea my skyline is not the pretties on base.. but im the only skyline drifter on base... the rest... well.......... hard park for the most part.

[nick_h]

THAT SKYLINE SOUNDS TOUGH DUDE! good job that thing looks like a blast!

i wanna take a trip there so bad but wont be able to until later this year....
i wanna come over there and find an s15 and participate in a drift matsuri!!!!!! i wanna stay for like a month!!!!!! hahahahahaha i would love it!

keep it up dude!!!!!!

[BigGameHit]

finished up back half of exhaust last night...

more to come on this

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[BigGameHit]

March 14 2010

Another day at the Hobby shop... was not packed today at all



I brought more to the table than I had time to finish today... it will get done.. number one priority next is fixing my hub assembly.



One too many bumps ehhh? was beginning to leak in multiple places



Lining up to exhaust, everything flowed together with the bends I brought to the shop.





[IMG][/IMG]





Welding with a Lincoln 125 MIG. I got spoiled using gas during my last welding session some time ago.... really sucked welding without gas... chipping away sag over and over... just took longer than it should have.



To insure that I was going to get a seal, I slightly expanded one section of one pipe and collapsed the other. fit right together and made it more simpler for me to weld ... Zero leaks so mission accomplished once I got done with it.



Still working on the welding technique. I have been welding since 2006, however, only really had about 3-4 hours of time before today...Most would not want to show mediocre welds such as these..... gotta start somewhere.



Had to wrap it up after this as I was called to work.. Ill finish the rest within the next 2 days

[BigGameHit]

Sup Mr Wilkerson.

hahah time consuming hobby bro for sure. Hows everything going back im MD??

I'm loving the Mustang bro. Good luck with this coming season, Ill be tuned in.

I would also like to thank you for helping me every time that I called and or visited your shop. I always recommended your shop to buddies If I could not assist them do to my work... I hope you didn't get to many ddd jobs lol.

[BWilkerson]

hey Donnie. Long time no see. Glad to see you having a good time over there and sticking with the hobby!

[BigGameHit]

March 13 2010

Got my exhaust piping in for my new system from Mandrel Bending Solutions in MD, I used them to build the exhaust for my KA-T setup on my S13, Good service. Im going to do the back half tomorrow if all goes to plan.





Having major left rear camber issues after last track session which included a few rough ditch drops. Today I changed out my A-arm just one day after changing out my traction arm and rear upper control arm... I still have a really bad camber deal going on. I will be changing my rear hub assembly soon.. if that doesn't fix it... My sub-frame is bent for sure :/. I was going to pick up the pretty cool DriftWorks complete Hicas delete kit which many drifters rave about.




My R33 has an electrical hicas system. I pulled the fuse on it after day one and had it aligned. The bushings at the end still present a issue as they have give. The Driftworks kit takes them out of the equation.


After trolling the Junkyards the win of Nissan's simplicity was evident yet again. I will be possibly switching to a Non Hicas sub-frame from a S14 or NA R33... Honestly will cost less than the Driftworks kit and yield the same results with the addition of a couple more aftermarket parts.




Oh Yea here is that KA-T S13 I mentioned...... I miss it alot actually.


Summit Point Drift Nirvana








Blew the clutch on my very last drift event stateside at Old Dominion Speedway in Manasses VA and replaced it on the spot hahahh.

For those that are may be wondering what the "240 EM " stands for.... I also like grip just as much as drift. I give autocross much credit for giving me more car control than I once though I had. I was an active member of the Washington DC SCCA region. The pictures above took place one day after completing an Auto-x events.

I was very pleased with my low level KA-T setup as it was the most reliable my car had been since ownership. It was the first time that I realized spending money the first time on quality parts in important locations mattered.

[BigGameHit]

Sand blasted and sanded the Freddy Intake manifold, Also going to polish the compressor housing of the turbo. Going to polish both soon enough.



Re-routed and cleaned up my data-logging equipment. I have logged while drifting. This mount is very stable and can be taken out of the car with one flip of a switch.



Some random "only in Japan" photo of me inside of a 7 11/Wawa type store called Lawson's. They are all over Japan almost every couple feet it seems. I'm standing in the Porn section... yes... you can buy a soda, chips and the latest smut mags/dvds lol.



Tracks In Japan

Hello

More and more people are getting active in motorsports which is a great thing to me and justifies the money you spend on the car. It also ultimately proves your cars worth and test/improve your skill as a driver.

Using the interweb, I posted this to let people know whats available to them in Japan should they visit. Just mouse over and click on the Tracks name for more info. The best method of translation is yahoo or google.




Motorland Speedway





In my area we have Motorland Speedway. Our track is relatively new to the area and gets popular each year. I would like to say GaijinDrift.com is responsible for any buzz that is generated in the states about this track.

From this point on is a list of Tracks from the Northern most parts of Japan to the South ( excluding MSP )




Northern

Tokachi Speedway
New Chitose Motorland
Hokkaido Speed Park
Shiraoi Carland
Sportsland Sugo
Sendai Hi-land
SS Park
Ebisu
Link ( actual name )


Central

Nikko
Gunma Cycle Sports Center
Central Circuit
Twin Ring Motegi
Kanetsu Sportsland
Okegawa Sportsland
Honjo
Tsukuba
Minami Chiba
Mobara Twin
Fuji Speedway
Nihonkai Maze
Owara
Sportsland Yamanashi
YZ-Circuit
Autoland-Tsukude
Ina
Motorland Mikawa

Southern

Suzuka Twin
Motorland Suzuka
Meihan Sportsland
Bihoku Highland
Nakayama
Motorworld Sportsland
Tokushima Kartland
Sportsland Tamada
Hadashi Tengoku
Setonaikai
ASAN (racist)
Mobility Omuta
Hiroshima-Circuit
Autopolis
DEC Sekia Hills


(list subject to change)


Sources:

http://www.Google.com
http://www.TrackPedia.com
http://www.7tune.com/complete-list-o...trackscircuits



Geographically here are some of the more popular places. just for reference.

[BigGameHit]

Hey Slapshot, what were you wearing?? We had so much access that day man.. was awesome to be able to cut infront of 1000s of people lol.

hhahaha Liz actually has a hole in the back of her neck. she feel out the window at Ebisu.. I need to fix her.


As far as the turbo, I just got my Gas Mig Welder in the other day. I have to locate tanks. Im waiting on my 3in Mandrel piping to come in the mail at the moment. Today I will place an order for my couplers and misc parts. Once everything rolls in It will be a weekend affair to get everything on.

More Pictures to come!!!

edit: Video added

[cfrost]

hopefully his girlfriend doesn't find it

I wouldn't want it to rubber the wrong way

[alex]

man that snow racing looks fun

anybody else notice anything..... odd..... about this picture?

odd, what do you mean? drifting is "blowing up" over there...