For nearly an entire decade, I have maintained and written articles for Grand Mighty. I wrote on a couple of similar websites prior, even, but those have since been dissolved and the material is long forgotten. While this was all a great exercise in my commitment to a task, the time has now come to head towards a new horizon.

Although I still enjoy doing it and probably always will, writing on a website or blog is losing its luster and falling behind with the times. The reward feedback from it is relatively low. Aside from the comments that are left by readers, there is little interactivity and the reach is certainly lower. If I am going to invest the effort to document my projects, I want to do so on a medium that will provide the greatest yield and prolificness.

So to keep up with the times, I am migrating to YouTube! I just picked up all of my camera gear and filmed my first “episode” today. It is certainly a different experience than just sitting down and typing out words, but hopefully you all will find it interesting.

I will be posting on a channel called “Corner Balanced”, which is a collaboration project with my buddy Tommy.

Here is the link: http://youtube.com/c/cornerbalanced

The name might sound familiar, because it comes from the forum/community startup that I tried around this time last year, which eventually ran a brief course and was deleted.

HOWEVER – the Corner Balanced forum was resurrected and redeveloped through a different set of lenses a couple months ago, and has been kicking ever since. I have been spending much of my time on there as of late. Check it out and join if you can, it will be the best way to contact me going forward. I want to utilize it as a platform to fill in details pertaining to the videos and engage in related discussions.

http://cornerbalanced.com/

I intend for the forum to go hand-in-hand with the YouTube channel. With the RX-7 sold… I have speared off into a new direction. I will try to explain the motives and reasonings behind my choices in the upcoming videos. But to cut to the chase, I will be keeping busy with a couple new projects, namely this AE86 GTS.

And as a longer term and higher emphasis project – this Classic TurboDiesel Mercedes G-Wagen.

I thank you all for reading Grand Mighty over all these years, it really means a lot. I am scheming up plans to convert Grand Mighty into something else… so keep an eye out in the future. If you’d like to stay in tune with all of my continued shenanigans, I will see you on the Corner Balanced YouTube channel and the forums.

Cheers!

From the day I purchased it, I followed a strict standard with close adherence to details. I specifically chose one of the rarest and most sought after RX-7s to serve as an ideal foundation: A USDM, ’94, Brilliant Black, Low Miles, Low Owner Count, R2 package.

My mod list, however extensive, only tells half the story. If you kept up with this website or read through the pages, you know that this was a long journey of immense effort. One that could not be replicated again – if I were to start from scratch today.

The hindsight of thinking that I could keep a car forever parallels my misunderstanding of others who sell their sports cars to start families. I was always perplexed at why people had to sacrifice their pride and joy. Why couldn’t fun and responsibilities coexist? Well, it’s not that easy, in actuality. There is also a cruel irony to all of this. When I had more time in the past, I spent it building this car. Now that it is done, I have no time and am unable to enjoy it. Adulting is hard and catches up with everyone, and I’m not getting any younger.

That is why I have made the conscious decision to list the car for sale. If I had more means and space, then I really could have kept it forever. But due to the magnitude of expenditure in this project, it is simply beyond the scope of allowing it to sit indefinitely.

With that said, I am selling the car at an extreme discount with respect to what has been poured in. This is a great opportunity to get into the car with high value.

If you are interested, please contact me. It would be amazing if it could land in the hands of a reader and someone who has been there every step of the way with me.

I wanted to get the fix done quickly, as in by this weekend. With only 5 business days to work with, I promptly started the process and made arrangements with my usual go-tos. I contacted Ray Crowe and ordered a new Mazda lock cylinder with expedited shipping. This would get me the part by Friday. I was then able to pick up the package after work and made a trip over to the same locksmith that helped me rekey the Silvia trunk. Like before, he was able to reconfigure the tumblers to fit my existing keys.

Old on left, New on right.

Thankfully, replacing the lock cylinder is an easy affair and can be done with minimal disassembly. Soon enough, the install was complete and the fix checked off the list.

I like to stay as productive as possible because I value time preciously. I find that I can be uneasy or feel downright miserable when I am not doing something worthwhile. In the limited free time that I have, I prefer spending it on activities that are engaging. This is why I constantly seek to learn and increase my skills. Learning how to weld has been on my to-do list for ages, and I finally made it happen this weekend. I reached out to a local fabricator who had a Mig setup and brought Albert along for the party.

This was the first time I played with a Mig welder, but it is incredibly straightforward and I can see how its peak can be reached relatively quickly with practice. It is literally something you can pick up and run with.

We spent a few hours mostly cutting up a steel pipe and welding it back, repeatedly.

Mig welding was good to try out and start with, but what I really want to learn is Tig, which has a far higher learning curve. Will need to add that onto the ever expanding agenda.

But at the end of the day, it just wasn’t a car worth holding on to and I didn’t have any motivation to invest further work into it, past what I already did. I have a stockpile of parts that never made it onto the car. My original argument and reasoning behind the purchase was to be frugal and save money. Sure, it was a relatively cheap car… but the dividends obtained from its low cost of entrance only pays out when a.) you don’t mod the car and b.) you intend on keeping the car long term. My folly was that I broke both of those rules. When the logic supporting my justification of driving around a 26 year old Nissan collapsed, a new course of thought needed to take its place.

The S13 was also symbolic of the last bastion of my youth. I grasp dearly to the ideology of staying young and choosing to daily drive this car was a final act of rebellion against an unwavering and unconditional foe – time. You can only try for so long before it starts to become artificial and forced. So yes, I have accepted the fact that it is now time to move on and embrace the more mature choices of an adult.

Don’t get me wrong, the S13 was a fun experience and I got to clutch kick it hundreds of times, especially during all of the rainy days we had this Winter. The ambition was to attend drift events with it and enhance my overall driving skill by becoming familiar with oversteer situations, but let’s be honest, that was never going to happen. Events are too far in between and too far away for my convenience. Unfortunately, I have to prioritize other needs in my life and don’t have the luxury to sacrifice a whole day to swing my car around in a parking lot. I also can’t risk drifting around on the street all of the time because, well, I’m not 18 anymore. I will simply have to add to my drifting experience by more organic and supplemental ways. Amazingly enough, I did seriously daily drive the S13 over these past months. Since I bought the car back in August, I raked up around 6,500 miles. That’s more than double what I have put on the RX-7 in the nearly 5 years of its ownership. The S13 stayed reliable and was trouble free the entire time, which was impressive. I won’t lie, driving a smelly, loud, lowered car with stiff coilovers and a bucket seat every day was getting tiring because the reward of enduring the harshness wasn’t really that high. It took a couple months to sell the car.

Although the effort of climbing into the tight squeeze of the Bride Zeta II was tiresome, I do miss this seat. I imported it from Japan and tricked it out with all of the add-ons… seat back cover, headrest pad, and side bolster protectors.

I have owned an overabundance of cars that would categorized as old and junk by the average, non car enthusiast. From a myriad of Miatas to a ’91 Previa van with a 5-speed manual to a $700 Saab 900. I need to put those days behind me. I too agree that I do not have the time for an “old” car that needs maintaining and modifications to be acceptably “nice”. There is only enough time to focus on the best or what I really want. In the meantime, I have an RX-7 that needs finishing.

I landed midday on Friday and was picked up by the seller at LAX. We shortly arrived at his house where I got my first, in-person look at the car. Its presentation and condition was as expected – an overall clean 240SX with a few minor rough edges that can be cleaned up in time. I think it is important to understand the differences in standards when it comes to these cars, especially the S13s… the vast majority of them, due to their price and prolific adoption with the tuner crowd, are in states of haggardness and deterioration. Finding an example that is generally tidy, well-sorted, and with a low owner count (it is not uncommon for these cars to go through 10+ owners) is truly difficult.

While on paper this car was close to being turnkey, is it ever realistic to expect a pre-modded car to need nothing? Tastes and directions vary. I’ve already spotted numerous areas where I did not approve of the previous owner’s judgment and execution, so I will be changing those weak points accordingly, in addition to general minuses:

• The first thing that needs to be cleaned up is the interior. The Rice Factor is currently high and I hope to tone it down.
  • The 3 oversized 60mm Defi gauges haphazardly bolted in front of the cluster not only block the view to the tach, but look cluttered.
    • I will probably only keep the Defi Boost gauge and relocate it to underneath the cluster surround in a less conspicuous location.
  • The Grip Royal steering wheel needs to go. Enough said. The NRG hub and quick release are not my preference, but they are decent enough to stay.
  • The Cusco cage has pool noodle like blue padding zip tied all over.
  • Carpet also needs to be cleaned up.
• Speaking of zip ties, the previous owner relied on an abundance of them in various places, which I plan on replacing with actual fasteners…
• The B&M short shifter sucks. I’m convinced I would prefer the stock throw in this car. The B&M is so notchy and tight feeling.
• Need to play with hood alignment a little more.
• The tint is fading and bubbling.
• The front windshield is cracked, which is a bummer because it’s the original Nissan piece and has the small display box for the HUD.
• The biggest culprit is the engine bay’s wiring. The previous owner modified and reused the factory harness and it frankly is bad. The car drives fine, although a tune is also on the list, but I don’t want to trust the wiring for too long. A Wiring Specialties harness is definitely in order.

Nitpicking and projecting aside, this coupe should serve as a great jumping off point with much of the hard work already complete.

Once all of the paperwork was finished and I had the keys in my hand, I took my first drive in the car straight to a local muffler shop called Mike’s Performance Exhaust & Radiators, a few miles down the road. I actually looked up and called this shop the day prior to plan it out.

The D-Max exhaust’s fitment needed to be modified. The tips were too recessed and also sat high and touched the bumper. I told the shop to extend the pipe further and redo the hangers accordingly to make the exhaust sit level and flush with the bumper.

Once I handed the car off to them, I walked outside and down the block to find some food. I ended up at Jack in the Box because I had no idea where I was and the only other nearby choices included a hole-in-the-wall taqueria and a questionable China Express place.

By the time I finished my chicken burger and walked back, the exhaust work was already done! I was amazed at how quick and effective they were. The whole job only cost $60, too. Can’t beat that.

Here you can see the section of stainless piping they welded on to extend the tips outward. It was far too sunken in originally.

Flush, level, and with the correct amount of gap.

Next, I hopped in and drove over to Long Beach to meet up with a buddy that lived there.

It has been a couple of years since I last sat behind the wheel of small displacement, turbo car, and I was really vibing with the SR20 during this drive. It was oddly nostalgic to hear the the turbo noises again.

After Long Beach, I drove into Orange County where I stayed at another friend’s place in Irvine for the remainder of the weekend. This is where the car stayed parked until it was time to go home. As usual, I spent most of my time exploring the area and fulfilling my ravenous eating habits.

The highlight of the trip was mobbing around in this Lotus Exige and cruising down PCH into Huntington Beach with the F430 Scuderia.

I came across the Sung Kang FuguZ again, even though I saw it a week ago during Wekfest. The hype around this car is excessive and almost unwarranted, in my honest opinion. It’s a nice, clean build but nothing extraordinary or groundbreaking for how much spotlight and attention it receives. Which is a LOT. I couldn’t even get a good look at the car without being in the way of some photographer trying to catalog it.

Once the weekend was over, I embarked on the grueling 600 miles trip up north. The worst part was getting out of LA, past Glendale, and being stuck in the traffic. Due to the fact that I bought the car without wheels, the seller threw on a random set of 16″ Borbets with undersized tires. This severely limited my cruising speed so I had to chug along at a snail pace of 65-70mph for the entire drive.

While in the Central Valley around the midway point, I decided to take a small detour and go into Bakersfield and grab a tri tip sandwich from the Firestone’s there. The entire central area of California is so dead feeling and smoggy due to all the agriculture…

Bakersfield in particular felt extremely stale and debilitating. The whole place was like an oven with locked-in heat and brown haze everywhere. Maybe it’s because I just experienced the amenities and upbeat nature of Orange Country, but I could never call a place like Bakersfield home. I grabbed the sandwich and got moving.

Just before midnight, I arrived back in San Jose. I’m never a fan of long drives and this car admittedly isn’t too pleasant for distance driving, but it carried me home without issue.

It has been quite a while since I last travelled anywhere further than California, so this was a lengthy but appreciated escape. Like the days when I used to travel for an old internship job more frequently, I am making this post in a photo blog style. For nostalgia, check out my old posts from when I went to Cordoba, Argentina. I also kept up with the photoblog first through the Corner Balanced forum.

Arriving at the airport.

I stayed at the Delano for this trip and its suite rooms are almost as big as my actual condo in San Jose…

View from the window.

My buddy James and his girlfriend Jennifer were also in town so I met up with them on the first night. We kicked things off right with a cigar. I’m not a smoker by any means, but figured why not. I puffed on this for a couple minutes before giving up.

Dinner at Mon Ami Gabi in the Paris. I ordered the Escargot just to finally try it and I thought it was whatever. Oddly enough, the snails tasted as I expected them to. They have the texture of clams, but firmer.

Walking around the Cosmopolitan and the city center area.

I also hit up my buddy Jon who I knew moved to Las Vegas about a year ago and was able to coerce him into loaning me a set of wheels… Thanks for the Golf! Even though this thing had a severe idling problem when hot started, it was worthwhile to have a car to get around in.

Drove out to Hoover Dam and checked that off the bucket list.

I soon grew tired of the food around the hotel, so I did my best to load up on Sushi whenever I could.

Checked out Old Las Vegas and Fremont Street. Tried to do the zip line that runs across there but it was all booked.

Ate at Bouchon in the Venetian. This was probably my favorite meal of the trip. The plate below is a seared Sea Bream (similar to sea bass).

Crème Brûlée for dessert.

Went to the driving range at Top Golf near MGM Grand.

I heard the Ramen in Las Vegas was supposedly great, so I tried Monta Ramen in the Chinatown area, which surprisingly contained continuous, sprawling Asian plazas. We don’t even have plazas that vast in the Bay Area – BUT, we are spoiled with numerous choices for excellent Ramen. The Tonkatsu I had at Monta was decent: the broth was on the creamier side, I’m not really a fan of thin noodles, and the soft-boiled egg was cold and overcooked. When it comes to Ramen, I still prefer the offerings we have here in the Bay.

Ate Mediterranean food and went to a Hookah bar late one night. I was mainly accompanying a coworker who was a major Hookah aficionado. Like the cigar, I gave it a couple puffs before getting bored. I’ll stick to my completely sober lifestyle.

Actually doing some work. My job was to attend a convention and staff a Demo booth during the event. I was also involved with the Network operations and setup for the event.

Went to a Maroon 5 concert and pushed my way up to the front on the ground floor. Pissed off quite a few people but it was worth it.

Went to a shooting range and shot a fully automatic Uzi, MP5, M4, and AK-47. Check out my Instagram for a video of the AK-47.

Got a ride in a Military Humvee through town. My RX-7 may be on the loud and stiff side, but it’s a Cadillac in comparison to this thing. The tunnel right next to my legs quickly turned into an oven from the engine.

Last dinner of the trip was at Bacchanal Buffet in Caesar’s Palace.

Vegas, you were fun, and I want to visit again, but it’s good to be home. The first thing I did when I got back to my condo was take a shower, because I sorely missed its ample water flow and pressure! Ah, the simple luxuries in life.

Let’s put it this way, I’ve known the guy for almost 10 years now and this is the first time both of our cars have been on a proper drive together.

Momentous, indeed. As they say, better late than never. And what better to do a drive than on the best roads the Bay Area has to offer. We’re not blessed with a plethora of choices, but the ones on the other side of the bay towards the coast are truly high caliber. At the intersection of many of these great twisties is Alice’s restaurant. It’s like the mecca for Sunday canyon carvers. I myself never made a drive out to Alice’s after all these years, although I did ride by it during my motorcycling days.

Immediately after pulling in, I get curious onlookers asking me about what’s under the hood. 9/10 times this is the first thing people ask about now.

After stopping in briefly, George and I continued along 84 through La Honda and out to a small stretch of Highway 1 (Pacific Coast Highway) where we stopped to take in the views.

After PCH, we turned left onto Pescadero Creek Road, through the town of Pescadero, and then back onto 84. We went on this drive a bit late in the morning and the weekend traffic definitely put a damper on the experience, like being stuck behind this camper trailer for a good amount of time.

Eventually the traffic in front of us turned off and we were lucky enough to be granted a clear, extended section of 84 to drive on. This portion of 84 happened to be the best road out of them all, full of flowly, smooth corners. Pescadero was slightly too tight and bumpy. PCH was super scenic but is just a straight highway. We basically drove on a large loop that took us out to the coast and then back around to Alice’s…

…where we stopped to go in and grab lunch.

Solid drive and definitely something I want to continue to repeat. Even though I was short shifting and staying low in the RPM range because there simply was not enough road for the power, the car was great fun to toss around and performed flawlessly.

My parent’s place is right around the corner from a large regional park, which offers an extremely ideal and convenient location for walks or hikes.

I’ve been meaning to take the little guy out more and give him better exercise, even though he gets 2-3 walks on average a day by my parents alone. I have an idea in the works that may do just that…

Unfortunately, I got tricked into browsing cars at the local Auotmall a couple weekends ago and somehow ended up spending the entire afternoon bargaining on a 2017 Chevrolet Volt. I was able to get into a great 3-year lease deal and the fact that my work offers free EV charging made it too economically sound to pass. If I am diligent with my EV charging habits, my running costs will be completely offset by only the monthly lease.

Now, I must offer the truck up for sale. I would honestly love to keep it because it’s always convenient to have a pickup around, and I’ve done so much work on it already… but space is limited and keeping multiple cars insured and registered is an issue.

• 33×12.50 BFGoodrich All-Terain T/A KO2 tires with Procomp Wheels
• Split Bench 60/40 Reupholstered Seats
• Windows Tinted on side and back
• A/C System Completely Overhauled and Recharged
• Bilstein Sport Shocks All Around
• Trailgear Front Bumper w/ Welded Light Bar Hoop, Powdercoated Black
• Old Man Emu Front Springs with 1″ Lift
• Stock Replacement Complete Rear Leafpacks
• Toytec U-Bolts
• Toytec Brake Proportioning Valve Bracket
• Toytec Exhaust Hanger
• Toytec 1″ Lift Shackles
• Polyurethane Leafpack Bushings
• Aisin Locking Hubs
• New OEM Weatherstripping and Trim
• New OEM Wiper Arms
• New OEM Spark Plugs
• New OEM Spark Plug Wires
• New OEM Rear Tow Package
• New OEM EGR Solenoid
• Bosch Icon Window Wipers
• Bosch Premium O2 Sensor
• Replacement Starter Motor
• Optima Redtop Battery
• K&N Air Intake System (carb legal)
• Weathertech Floor Mats
• Alpine CDE-153BT Headunit
• Hybrid Audio Clarus 6.5″ Component Speakers
• Hybrid Audio Clarus 10″ Subwoofer
• MTX Thunderform Subwoofer Enclosure
• Stinger 4-AWG Wiring Kit
• ARC Audio 5-Channel Amplifier
• Gorilla Spline lugnuts

All these years, I’ve held on tightly and dearly to the romanticized ideology that all cars you drive need to be fun and engaging. I never thought this day would come, but alas, I’ve finally accepted that a daily driver can be average and plain, where qualities like comfort and economy take precedence. When you break down mundane events like commuting to work and going to the grocery store for errands, it really is “point A to point B” driving.

Driving a race car or a fancy sports car with perfect paint every day, just for the sake of being different, creates overhead and can become more burdensome than fun. I sold the M3 because I felt it was slightly too clean and the act of only sitting in stop and go traffic every day seemed wasteful. I then tried the opposite end of the spectrum and got the Tacoma, so I could feel more freedom and still have a unique drive.

To be honest, the Tacoma was great and it did adhere to the purpose I initially postulated. Regardless, here I am today, with another step deeper into the black and white world of Adulthood. Is it finally time to grow up? Have I lost my last bastion of youth and expressionism?

Update:

Aaaaaand just like that, the Tacoma has sold and is off to its new home. Farewell truck, thanks for the brief but interesting experience.

This leads to a great recipe for a Sunday afternoon of driving around the neighboring cities and disturbing the peace.

First, here are a few pictures I took with my phone.

The plan was to give the car a wash at the end of the afternoon, on the way back home. Unfortunately this meant that in all the pictures my friend took with his legitimate camera, the car was filthy. Oh well.

Since my car primarily collects dust and not dirt or grime, I’ve found that the coin operated self-wash places to be quite handy. I only use the pressure washer to soap up and rinse down. This is a great and easy way to “touchlessly” wash the car and I find it preferable to doing the whole soap-and-bucket method at home. Afterwards, I immediately drive home and into the garage, where I finish drying off with my waffle-weave towel. This leaves the exterior spotless and ready for detailing.

Here are the pictures that my friend Justin took with his newly acquired Nikon D600 and 50mm f/1.4 setup. I took the liberty to edit the rolling shots myself.

It’s too bad this shot came out blurry. I was able to salvage it decently by cloning out spots and trash on the freeway, and then downsizing the resolution.

An interesting side profile. The FD and 993 are similarly sized cars.

Lastly, a short video edit that another friend compiled with his phone during the day.

It was refreshing to experience the car lifestyle for that brief afternoon again. I’ve been so focused on other aspects of life and only dedicated time to wrenching, rather than getting out there. Hopefully there will be more opportunities like this soon with more content. After all, it is Spring.