From “Andrew L”:

Besides your RX-7, and 240sx, what is the next car you see yourself building, something that you won’t sell, and plan on keeping foreverrrrrrr.

Well, Andrew, I like the tacit projection in your question. I think an obvious pattern has emerged from my history. I’ve indulged in my fickle nature over the years by constantly rotating through different projects. This has helped keep my mind and my hands occupied, as I’m not usually the type to appreciate inactivity. Consequently, I have now amassed enough knowledge and experience to reach a level of deep understanding. An understanding in not only the mechanical know-how of my own skills, but also in the various processes involved as a whole, including the solicitation of the right craftsmen when outsourcing is required.

Given my current state of confidence and my propensity to want to build, the bar is set quite high for my next choice in a project. Choosing to do something simple with basic bolt-ons would be too easy and a waste of what I really want to achieve. I’ve always reveled in being unique by doing work that is truly at a greater standard and magnitude. Whatever is next, I am ready to dig even deeper.

My priority right now is to evolve my RX-7 into its final stages. While I may have said it’s “done” at some point in the recent past, truthfully, there’s still more to do. And then probably more after that. Each step, however, inches me closer to my desired vision. And at the very least – I am close.

Now, going back to the question. After busying myself with this car hobby for so long, it has shaped and altered my perspectives. Therefore, I will respond by sharing an eclectic wish list of cars, which was iteratively developed through careful consideration. The blunt fact is there are not many economically feasible cars that I truly want, which I’ve repeated frequently in the past… to the point where this statement can serve as a motif for this entire website. For something out-of-the-box, I find myself wanting choices that have starting price tags north of $180k. This probably explains why I keep finding myself in older (especially 90’s era) cars that I can tinker with and mold myself. Anyway, what I would like to build as the next step in my journey is an all-out track machine. Since a track build is typically ground-up and comprehensive, it would be the perfect medium to exploit the full potential of creativity.

These are my choices for such a project. Ideally, I would like to find a straight body roller to start with. These are all classic cars because I personally think frankensteining old with new is awesome.

• Jaguar (XKE) E-Type Coupe
• 1968 Dodge Charger
• De Tomaso Mangusta

I’ve grown to adore the E-Type and remark it as one of the most beautiful cars, if not THE most beautiful, of all time. I’ve dreamed of doing a rotisserie rebuild with inspirations from the Lightweight E-Type. I was quite surprised when I came across the Speedhunters article in September about the 2 U.K. brothers who 1JZ swapped a barn-find E-Type. Their car followed a similar path to my own aspirations and provided valuable insight on the process. A coupe E-Type would be preferable.

The Dodge Charger is another car that I found myself drawn to for inexplicable reasons. I never watched The Dukes of Hazzard and my interest in this car predates that of Fast and Furious. I seemingly found attraction without outside influence. Maybe I just like its outrageous proportions or sheer aggressiveness. My most recent idea was to build a ’68 Charger like Ken Block’s Hoonicorn ’65 Mustang.

I was intrigued to find that the new Fast 8 movie features a Charger that is extremely similar in style:

And I was a bit shocked to find that an individual in Canada is already one step ahead:

Great minds think alike. This abstraction by Khyzyl Saleem is rad as well.

I’m not sure why I have the De Tomaso Mangusta on the list. Honestly, the choice in my next project comes down to what can be found and what is most realistically attainable. Finding a Mangusta is unlikely, but it’s a super cool car. I’m not going to lie, this is the one car on the list that anchored itself into my radar via a movie. The Mangusta makes brief appearances in Kill Bill: Vol. 2 and made me wonder what the hell it was at the time.

Being from the United States, I would love to take advantage of domestic resources and leverage the relative abundance of the Charger, which is the choice that I’m leaning towards the most at the moment. But who knows, my styles and perspectives are always changing. And honestly, I’m at a point in my life where time is extremely limited and other priorities are looming. If fortune prevails, I will be able to undertake a project of this depth. Or, it may never come to fruition and I will have to take a step back from the fold. The investment of resources required is significant, so the planning is more difficult and not something I can just jump into with careless freedom.

In the meantime, I’m finding myself content with the RX-7 and want to focus on delivering its final form. As for the 240sx, I would like to keep it around as a beater. It’s cheap, an overall good car, and, well… I already bought it. “Street” flavored projects have dominated my portfolio thus far and I want to avoid repeating what I already know. My RX-7 serves as my total accumulation in that category and is the closing comment to that chapter. IF I somehow have the capacity to take on another street project, my eyes are set on a Guards Red Porsche 964 C2 with metal (NON-riveted) Turbo flares, like this. Back in 2011 when I made that post, I looked seriously at C2 964s but unfortunately lacked the position to pull the trigger on one. I wish I could have, because we are now all aware of the proliferation of air-cooled 911 values.

Anyway, thank you Andrew for sending in your question and I hope this long-winded post answers it.

I’d like to consider myself as an amateur audiophile. I appreciate the benefits of higher quality sound. The difference that can be obtained from a good pair of cans (or any audio equipment, for that matter) is blatantly noticeable. In this regard, I often wonder why most people are willing to tolerate subpar offerings.

Replacing the Grados wasn’t easy, they performed so well I heavily contemplated buying another pair. In the end, curiosity got the best of me and I strayed over to the Sennheiser brand and picked up the HD 558s. I wasn’t ready to spend big money on headphones, so I only needed something that was “good enough”. I see this as a stepping stone, until I’m willing to drop on a pair of Grado RS-1s or similar.

My choice with the HD 558s was a specific one.

These headphones can be obtained for under $150, so they’re reasonably priced for the quality they deliver. Furthermore, they share the exact same driver as the HD 598s, which are the next level up and cost almost 50% more. Sennheiser, with all their cunning and trickery, added density foam to the housings of the 558s. This is enough to differentiate the sound quality between the 558 and 598. Obviously, if the only difference between the 2 headphones were trivial aesthetic touches and a leather headband, the majority of buyers would not warrant buying the more expensive 598s. Manufacturing identical drivers and segmenting the product lines with a simple “detuning” makes sense from a cost and business perspective.

For me, being the careful buyer that I am (AKA a cheapass), the choice was clear. Immediately upon receiving the headphones, I opened them up and removed the foam attached to the housings. It took only minutes to do. After pulling off the ear cups and unscrewing the driver from the housing, the foam is exposed and can be peeled off.

Removing the foam yields you sound quality that is very similar to the 598s and boosts the midrange. My first time listening impression with the 558s is that they are brighter and also more neutral in comparison to the Grados. They are also WAY more comfortable to wear, although the notorious Sennheiser plastic construction feels cheap. I’m still in the process of getting used to the Sennheisers and I plan to burn-in for 100 hours before casting further judgment.

From the very beginning when the idea to buy another RX-7 popped into my mind almost exactly a year ago, I acknowledged what I would be getting myself into. I was equipped with enough experience, having gone through multiple projects and builds in the past, to know that this would be a similar process. Just on an even grander scale. I knew that this RX-7 would be my most ambitious undertaking to date, and had to accept all the sacrifices that followed. I think the underlying reason why I would even willingly desire such a lofty goal stems from a determination to push. It was this same determination that ultimately saw me through the project and up to this point today.

The amount of work I invested into this car was compressed into a relatively short time span of less than a year. This meant that throughout its duration, I would have to constantly think about the car or work on it. There was no such thing as a break, and there certainly wasn’t time to do much else on top of my day job and school work. Life wasn’t easy, but I was cognizant of the challenge I subjected myself to. I looked at the situation as if I was tackling a very large and intricate puzzle.

In addition to the labor and time involved, the near psychotic levels of money spending made the whole endeavor monumentally exhausting. Not only did I have to buy a low-mileage RX-7 to start, it didn’t even end up accounting for half of the equation. I remember maxing out my credit card repeatedly over the course of the previous Winter. At the minimum, I received 4-5 packages in the mail on a weekly basis for months whilst undergoing the single turbo work.

So what’s next for me is to take a step back and enjoy some fresh air – away from all the oil-filled chemicals in the garage, away from the long nights of toiling work, and away from the financially burdening habit of buying parts. My vision for the car is finally realized to an extent that I can be satisfied with. I have conquered a seemingly insurmountable task, to prove that it can be done with tact and perseverance. I know there’s only enough will and strength in me to have one go-around at this. So now it’s time to reap the benefits and move on…

My plan is to actually focus on returning to a normal life, a life that isn’t consumed by a single thought. I’ve been quite busy lately keeping active lifestyle because my first motivation is to try and reinstate the years I know I lost from working on all these projects over the years. The amount of stress endured definitely accumulates to a significant toll.

The change in pace lately has been great, but I know one thing is for certain… albeit I’m at the end of one “hobby,” I’ll have to pick something else up to fill the gap. Otherwise, I’ll end up feeling bored and dull. Definitely no more cars though, I’ve been down that road for far too long now.

http://www.reelhouse.org/mos/urbanoutlaw/urbanoutlaw

I’ve always believed that having a passion is extremely important in life. It can be a focused hobby that is taken to an elevated level. Achieving mastery is an implied goal, and that’s why you should find one thing that you can really connect with and stick to it. My passion lies with cars, and more specifically, my RX-7. I even tried to run from it – to give up and move on… but I always knew I couldn’t escape because life would feel so much more devoid otherwise. Whether or not other people are able to fully grasp and appreciate what I do is not important. Being able to obsess over something really is a blessing in disguise. Although consuming at times, it adds a new dimension and forces me to stay motivated and driven.

Life without passion is lived in black and white.

EDIT: Okay, I’m not going to embed anymore Youtube videos of this, because every single one is getting removed within a week. Intuitive Googling should net you results, and I do recommend seeing it.

I’m not a typical sports fan by any means, because I am not captivated by watching men in tights hit a ball with a wooden stick… but I’ll save that for another opinionated discussion. MotoGP is something I can get behind. Motorcycle racing will always be at the pinnacle of athleticism for me. The amount of risk involved and skills required are unrivaled by any other “sport”. There is also a level of intrigue behind the premier class riders and machines. Unfortunately, the past 2 seasons of MotoGP have been rather tumultuous and stale, so I didn’t follow them closely. A key trait MotoGP had was its close battles and lots of passing, hopefully this magic will be brought back in future seasons – although it will be challenging with one of the top riders (if not THE top rider) now retiring.

In my opinion, Stoner seemed to always have been an underdog in the sport. It wasn’t until he blitzed through his 2011 Championship that the masses started to really take notice and appreciate. His spotlight was never quite as glamorous, but the talent that was displayed in his career is unquestionable. In the end he left behind a grand career at the peak of his height. After watching the documentary, I can’t help but feel a bit envious. I can only wonder what it must feel like to excel at something and compete on a world stage.

Which shift knob do you prefer: the OEM RX-8 5-speed shift knob on the left, or the FEED stainless steel on the right? Both are counter-weighted and equally nice in their own ways, with the OEM choice offering the more sedate option.

I would love to hear what you think, leave a comment in this post!

I’m willing to bet this spoiler causes at least a 1MPG deficit from its drag. Styles these days are nutty.

I think it’s always important to take a step back from your writings and check yourself, before you hit that Publish button. It is all too easy now to have ambitions of being grander than what is necessary, or is actually warranted.

Blogs are actually not the worst of culprits, because they typically require people to put in more effort than simply typing up gibberish and hitting enter, like on Facebook. I’d say social media at large is highly prone to this, but the likes of Facebook and Twitter are mostly cesspools of infantile nonsense that they are not worthy of being compared to blogs. For example, I caught this on one of my feeds, author name withheld (hopefully he doesn’t read this site, then again who actually does):

Yolo is important. But it is even more important to realize that your actions and character reflect your upbringing. As for minorities, like myself, our duty is to be ambassadors for our race and culture whether we like it or not. #stayclassy

I feel like this is trying a little bit too hard. I don’t have a problem with the first part of the quote, but I’m not feeling the whole minority-pride deal.

Essentially, all this philosophical speak stem from the process of people growing up and maturing. Otherwise it comes from older, surly know-it-alls. Preferably, I’d like to see myself as now being in the latter category (it would be about time I be, anyway).

Not to be a hypocrite, I’d like to personally acknowledge that I myself am guilty of everything I’m saying here. Who knows how many times I’ve contradicted and flip-flopped between my ideas on cars – what I thought was right and what I thought wasn’t. With every experience comes a different outlook, and sometimes that outlook cycles back (Déjà vu). Regardless, I’m still glad I wrote down all the things I’ve said, because it brings relativity. And in the end, the last or current perspective you have is what really counts. Plus, you can’t really know until you say it and then do it.

Looking back on my numerous past projects motivated me to write this post in the first place, so ultimately, this is just a disclaimer to myself. Writing out opinions and thoughts is the best, and most fundamental, part of a blog for me. After over 2 years of maintaining this website and recently turning 23, my goal now is to hopefully hit my postulations with more accuracy and truth.