Nisei Coverage… or not!
Yep, that’s right! No coverage! Why? Because I managed to miss the event!! I went up to Nor Cal to take care of some important business during the week, and drive all the way home just in time for the show. Or, so I thought. After driving back home to So Cal Friday evening, driving 12 hours with construction, I was finally home by 4am! I figured, what the hell I will take a nap before driving the car 2 hours up to LA.. Well, my little nap turned into a full on passed out sleep! I woke up at 10am to my phone blowing up like crazy! Not only did I miss the show, my friends all thought I crashed or something driving up since I didn’t make it for my 9am roll-in. Sorry friends and stalkers! I blew it!
Don’t be disappointed as the fun isn’t over. Saturday is Mega Matsuri at the same location. I promise not to sleep through this one! I look forward to this event and seeing all the friends, family, and stalkers! Be there!
The countdown to Nisei….
It’s that time of year again for one of the hottest car shows of the year. When I say hot I mean the temperature! Every year I have gone out to this, my first memory of the show is how hot it is out there! I am not necessarily looking forward to all of it. I decided to keep it real and drive the CTR all the way there. No trailerdrama. LA freeways have always been interesting for me between the people hanging out of their cars with cameras to the shitty ass potholes they have going on up there on the roads, it’s quite interesting… I have a long week ahead of me. I have some travel to do this week, so I will be driving a 1000+ miles in 3 days to handle some business and be back just hours before the show Saturday. This show marks one of the last shows for me for the year as I built my pride and joy for the track, not for the car shows. I have always loved Nisei, so I decided I wanted to enter the car.. After that, there’s plenty of testing left for the car to see what is next!! Be sure to come check out the car and say hi all you friends, stalkers, and strangers!!
Priorities..Priorities..
As most of you can see it’s been a while since the last update on here. Once again, I am fired from writing blogs! I never once said I was a writer. There comes a time in everyones life when you sit there and you question what you’re doing. No matter how confidant you are in the world, you still can’t sit there and say you never question things. I myself am a very confidant person and most that know me remember me for my confidence. I have never been one to second guess anything. I have always said you can’t live your life being guarded wishing you had done something when you only live once. But, over the last month I found myself doing something I never do. I questioned what the hell I was doing. In that moment I was so frustrated I was ready to say fuck it! I was all amped up ready to post my beloved CTR up for sale and move on. I thought about everything, weighed all the odds in my life. Is it worth all the bullshit? Is it worth all the time and effort? A good friend told me to just leave it alone. lock the garage, ignore the car and pretend it isn’t there, and see how I feel. So, I did. With in a few days I was lost. I felt like this huge piece of me was ripped from my body. I was useless! So, last weekend I opened up the garage, grabbed my gas can and headed for the gas station. I grabbed me some 111, filled the car up and went for a ride. A long ride at that. I took a drive up to the track in Fontana, Calispeedway or whatever the hell they call that track these days for the Super Street FF battle. During the long bumpy ride up there I made peace with my beloved CTR. Never would I question her and everything that comes with it again. These few hours took me away from reality and made me really get a grip on things.
I spent about 2 hours up there at the track watching the dyno sessions for the FF battle, and saw some of the homies I haven’t seen in a while. It was great to get away from the real world for a bit.
I was cameraless that day, but lucklyfor my friend Mike G, he was nice enough to share his pics he took that day.
Jade is getting a new home!
Don’t worry not that kind of new home!! Jade has been laying low here for a while as we move to our new larger home. Cancelled track events have led to good things dont worry! August is packed full of events for the CTR!! Lucky for Jade her new home provides her with her own private finished garage away from the other garage and the daily drivers! The car is right at home! Stay tuned for much more in the weeks to c0me when Jade comes out of the garage yet again!
Warning!! iPhone pic ahead!
Jade is loved overseas!
I love to see how our builds here in the US are perceived overseas. It is so cool to see how something I love is appreciated overseas! Even in Malaysia! I can’t say I know anything about it over there, but I have learned they love Hondas over there! I have had an overwhelming response from overseas in many countries, but seen the most in Malaysia! Also, they have some great automotive bloggers over there! Firdaus was nice enough to ask me if he could write a piece about the build. It’s even better to see a VW enthusiest fall in love with a K series beast! Thanks again for your enjoyment of my build and for following the blog! Check out his own blog at poconggti.blogspot.com
Skunk2 Blog gets even better!
Skunk2 has made the blog even more interesting! Check out the new blog roll they have going! Not only do you have the official Skunk2 blog, but you get to see things on a little more more personal level. Now joining the blog roll you have:
Skunk Blog!
Stunna Ben’s Urban Assult blog!
WTF?! blog! > this is very funny but beware NWS boys!
Dave’s blog!
Compass 360R race blog!
The Doctor’s blog!
Quite the fun lineup! Be sure to make this one of your daily faves! http://cms.skunk2.com/c/35/Blogroll/
Everyone needs a brake once and a while, even Jade.
Spocom marks the last event for us recently. The past few months have been one big roller coaster as it is with any build! Deadlines, and everything that comes with that. Weekend after weekend has been dedicated to the car. It is time for a break! I am human just as you all are, and I need some rest and time off! The month of July will bring a few track days, another trip back to the dyno, and hopefully a new long awaited intake manifold! Until then Jade is taking a brake resting comfortably with her friends.
WARNING: iPhone photos below!
Spocom. Spocom.
Last weekend was one long weekend. After bringing the car out to Eibach, and Spocom lately I have realized shows and all the drama with the prep are almost as much work as going to the track!! I have always been a track oriented enthusiast over the years, and never really given 2 shits about the shows. But, damn they really do take up a lot of time and effort. Mad props to the show car guys that stick to it, a lot of work for a short amount of time spent actually at the show!! It was pretty funny to see a bunch of chicks bent over my car for pictures too!
Thanks to Source Interlink (Honda Tuning) for having my car at the booth.
Oh and the pre-party on Pine was pretty bad I must say. Maybe next year will be better as this was the first time they did the whole pre-party and cars out on Pine. This is all I have of the supposed “pre-party”, hella cops and crazy bums!! Haha! Until next time…..
Spocom 2009
Spocom is quickly coming up here in less then a week. This is definitely one of the fun shows to check out no matter what your taste in cars may be. Every year just gets better and better!!
Be sure to stop by the Honda Tuning Magazine booth this year and check out the CTR and support your favorite automotive magazine!
Skunk2 has a blog too!
Yep, thats right. In case you haven’t heard about it or seen it yet Skunk 2 now has a blog! http://cms.skunk2.com/id/183/BLOGROLL-SKUNK2/
The CTR and its full story will be up soon on the Skunk2 blog I hear! Be sure to stay tuned and keep peepin this blog as it’s a good one!!
More to come!!
Ready, set, go!
After the Eibach meet, my good friend Ben Howard made his way down to San Diego to shoot Jade. Mr. Stunna Ben had made his way here from the East Coast for the annual Eibach meet, but made some time out of his crazy ass schedule to shoot the car before he went back home. Ben is one of the few friends that really understands me, and it shows through his shoot. BIG thanks again to Ben and his friend Jonathan that was super sick the whole time but stuck it out the whole time!! Check out more for Ben at benhowardphoto.com! He has also started a blog recently as well stunnaben.wordpress.com/ Also, check out newstands now for the July issue of Import Tuner for some of Ben’s work too!
Here is some of the great things to come here soon!
Eibach Aftermath
Wow! I am officially fired from writing blogs! It has been way too long since the last update! The past month has been one for the records! I realized that I balance ALOT! I manage to juggle my full blown career, my family, my children, and my passion daily! Man I can sit and tell you it is easy, but I’d be lying. This past month I have laughed, I have cried, I have smiled. To many finishing their build is an accomplishment in itself, but managing to finish it on top of the many extenuating circumstances in my life is not only a accomplishment, but a miracle! I can not tell the friends, family, and colleagues how much I appreciate them through out this all. Thank You all!
This is not even close to the end. This is just the beginning! I have never once in my life given up on anything no matter what the case may be. I am a fighter, and I always will be. I have never let anyone or anything get in my way. I can be on my last limb and still be here fighting for what I love. I have 110% support in my life from my family and many friends in all and any aspects of my life.
Thank You to everyone who has sent me pictures from the Eibach meet! I was so busy running around I didnt even bring a camera!
Here are a few of the many many pictures of the meet:
Thanks to the tunerzine for the shots!
Many people who dont really know me couldn’t quite figure out who I was at Eibach, so I posted a pic Stunna Ben had taken. Haha! Any dood that was standing around with me and my car automatically became the “owner” of my car to the spectators haha! Here ya go!
After the meet we got a small shoot in for some sponsor shots. Joey was nice enough to have his friend Chris take some shots for me in.
Thanks to Joey for these pics. Check all of them out on stickydiljoe.com
The little shoot in the back of Eibach marked the end of the day at 6pm for me. I then made the hot drive back to San Diego in the CTR. That was one hot drive!
Here is a iphone shot of the drive home. Warning iPhone pictures suck!!
One event down, many more to go!
You can never own too many shoes…
Being a woman never helps a shoe habit. Unlike most women I’m not talking about heels either!
Thanks to Justin at Buddy Club!
Some little goodies too!
Got my Work wheels back from North County Powder Coating, added fresh new stickers from Work!!
Almost time for Eibach! I will see everyone soon!
Numbers, numbers, numbers!
Well, well, well! After a very long week, and some minor hick up’s with some much needed parts for the car we pulled it off! Friday dyno day was up in the air until the very last minute! Of all days to make the almost 100 mile trek to Church Automotive Testing, we chose a Friday evening right at rush hour! We finally made our way to Chruch at about 7:45! By about 11:30 we were done! I think we were all a bit surprised with the numbers! I am very patiently awaiting the new Skunk2 intake manifold which is rumored to be available towards the end of May! Then we are headed back to the dyno again!
I was so excited that I managed to leave the camera at home, so WARNING iPhone photos suck!!!
End result: 263hp/181lbft!
Thanks again to Church Automotive Testing in Wilmington CA ( Southern California/LA area)
I’m in Love….
It’s like they say, when you fall in love you can’t think straight, can’t eat, can’t sleep. I drove Jade for the first time since dropping in her new heart on Saturday, and I fell in love all over again! Don’t get me wrong, the second I layed eyes on my CTR years ago I was in love then. But, it’s like falling in love all over again now that she has a new heart!
The next step in this lovefest is tuning the car at Church next week, and getting my mystery seats in the car! My wheels are rumored to be done today too!
I started to sticker her up this week for the fast approaching Eibach Meet! Counting the days!!
Rocking the Chronicles sticker! stickydiljoe.com- Thanks Joey!!
Always have to Rep where I came from! My homies all helped make me who I am today! RIP Abe 3.31.07
Just another money $hot for today…
Nothing will stop me, it’s not over!
That’s right. Everything may be done, but it’s just the beginning. It is the beginning of a great schedule of events! The annual Eibach meet is coming up really quick! I am actually looking forward to coming out with the car! Last year I choose to skip it and go to the track instead. But, after a lot of time and effort with the build, I am excited to come out this year. This will be Jade’s first appearance for the year at the meet!
Finally, after a quick trip up to Skunk2 today, for the first time I got to hear her turn over today! Man does Jade sound scary! And, I mean in a good way! I was a Mother in tears today! It was like the birth of another child! I am so excited to go get her tuned soon, and get to finally drive her!
I have spent the past few days alone with Jade giving her some much needed TLC! Years of time on the road and a long journey to the US had really taken its toll on her exterior. I did a full clay bar, wax, and total scrub down from head to toe! She is a beauty!
An emotional day for Jade+Jade.
Today was a day that was long awaited! Jade had her heart comfortably transplanted in her chest. I can’t exactly describe the feelings I had today. Jade means a lot to me. No matter what life has swung at me, she’s always been my shoulder to cry on, my stress release, my everything. The moment we met we were inseparable! I’m not sure what we would do if we were ever apart! I give my heart to her, and it’s in the form of a K.
Hasport EKK2 mounts are RHD friendly!!
Skunk 2 header looks amazing and has perfect clearance!
Skunk 2 exhaust fit is amazing and looks sexy!
Adjusted the camber for better fit of the front tires since I have chosen to run a Toyo R888
Much more to come tomorrow, plenty of work is left to be done before Tuesday’s deadline.
Follow the Yellow Brick Road..
This moment reminds me of Wizard of Oz. Haha, weird huh! Reminds me of the Tin Man off on his journey to get a real heart. Jade has her heart at last!
Off to the Yellow Brick Road…
I jacked some Wheels from a friend so I could test fit some Toyo R888 tires as they come in very limited sizes. After some minor mods to the fenders they fit like a glove! I am loving these!
Off to see the Wizard!!
With only an iPhone on me I had to snap a pic for everyone! She has her heart!
Much more to come boys and Girls!! Stay tuned!
The end is near!
The end is near, or is it? It hard to really say a build is ever over right? Once you “finish” up a build it seems there’s always something new that catches your eye, or something else that your car will really benefit from. In reality a build is never over. It’s never ending. I am one to get bored easy, and randomly change things up a bit! It also comes with being a chick. Wheels are like shoes, one pair will never do!
The motor should be in the car by Monday/Tuesday! Goal is to be tuned on Tuesday before I depart to Never Neverland!
More to come boys and girls!
BDL 70mm TB, Thanks to Nick at BDL!!
RHD JDM ITR Cross Member Thanks to Steve at HMO and Brian at Hasport!!
Once again, Big Thanks to Nick at BDL for getting me a nice fresh set of tow hooks in my favorite color! Gold!!!!!!
EK Love worldwide!
It’s always fun to see forums overseas! This one inparticular loves to read my blog! Thanks boys! I like their EK pics they currently have up! They even have an old rolling shot of my CTR! Haha!
Straight from: http://forum.hondaclub.it/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=42073&view=unread
NH-0 Crazy!
I hope you enjoyed the randomness this week about what I hate about the forums! I am sure there are a few butt hurt faces out there, but hey it’s the truth! Don’t gotta lie to kick it boys oh and girls! Shout out to Joey (stickydiljoe.com) the “Fakin’ the Funk” read was awesome! I couldn’t have said it any better!
Wow! I am getting some very interesting traffic here lately! All the way from Italy to Malaysia! Grazie! posso offrile de bere’ ? Just Kidding! I don’t really speak Italian LOL Uhh english is my language, I tried!
Well, not a big random update today just some fresh paint! There’s nothing like a freshly painted engine bay and some NH-0! NH-0 for the noobs is the paint code for the beloved championship white! It is one of my favorite colors of all times, and also one of the most knocked off colors of all with the JDM trend. I have seen some pretty bad impersonations of this color. But, this is the “real deal”.
It was really important to me to keep the paint on my car as authentic as possible. I refuse to repaint Jade! Her exterior tells a story with her few small battle wounds from her journey from Japan to America. The only items I painted are the needed ones!
The engine bay was covered in grease from an axle I busted, and the paint was stained with grime and had quite a few big gauges from the numerous swaps she’s been through in her life time. To keep the paint all looking as similar as possible, I chose a nice single stage to give the bay a nice clean coat of paint, without adding a blinggy glossy finish.
Here is Jade’s bay before paint-
I always have a spare set of hands to help out!
After some prep and a fresh coat of paint!
I also resprayed the flooring of the car to freshen it up. Yet again went with a nice single stage so it matched nicely with everything else!
I Love my Momo, good for my tiny hands!
This next week is going to be the craziest week of the entire build! Motor is going in, adding all the finishing touches to the car before its tuned at Church on the 27th! Let the real randomness begin!
10 things I Hate About Car Forums..
I am feeling kind of lazy today, pics can wait.. Figured I’d throw in some randomness for today
Since I am not a big “post whore” on the forums these days, I found a good topic.. 10 things I hate about forums-
1) Cheesy Topic names for build or picture threads… “my epic”, “Final”, “exclusive”, “Official”, “*********”, etc… Like all the *** make it so much more important!
2)posting “56K no way” bla bla bla… come on it’s 2009!
3)Any typical female “enthusiasts”.. They are usually on for 2 reasons- hit on doods, and get attention .. I love their “build threads” which don’t actually consist of building anything really, usually just adding some uber JDM mirrors or wheels, waxing their 10 year old paint, or throwing some purple washers on their bay.. Glad they’re trying, nothing but love, but damn quit abusing the term “build thread” already Geez!
4) Everyone is a “photographer”! LOL at all these guys watermarking some horrible pics! Come on!
5) 2 pages of Guys dumping 10K+ into a K swap with 16+ page build threads just for it to shine at a car show, and never have the balls to track it. Yep, I just said it! Enjoy it, You built it!! You don’t have to be the track expert to enjoy it boys! I know “to each is their own” , but damn if it’s going to just sit and shine you might as well have stuck to a single cam!
6) Everyone is a Thug! Flexing their muscles over dumb ass conflicts online, but same people show up at a meet and are scared to even confront each other.
7) User signatures with the entire rainbow in them. Are we in art class boys?
8 ) Nut Swingers! (enough said, you know what i’m talking about!)
9) “Newbie”, ”From Honda-Tech”, introduction threads. Seriously, I think there’s 3 pages of these! If we need to know your life story we will ask! And your from Honda-Tech? Great! Add some more hate to the already jacked up world of forums!
10) “Fakin’ the funk” as Joey said it! Real stickers, Fake Wheels! This is one if the biggest annoyances on the forums lately! Enough of that, I think Joey is covering this topic nicely very soon! Yey for stickydiljoe.com!
Enough of my rant of randomness. Forums are beginning to be like looking at car accident. They are horrible, but you can’t help but to look and say something about it.
Oh and on one last note!
Stumbled across this on Myspace. This is awesome! I am a big Hello Kitty fan since a child, don’t get me wrong but this sticker is brilliant! Definitely rocking this on the R! The sticker says it all!!
Straight from their MySpace page:
“DON’T YOU KIDS HATE “PUSSIES”?!! for those people who don’t know who these pussies are, PUSSIES: people that talk but dont WALK. support&rock this sticker.” http://www.myspace.com/n0pussies
2 Weeks Until the real randomness begins..
It’s been a very tested past few weeks for me. Many have led themselves to believe I live the total dream here in So Cal, Cars, Money, Glamour, bla bla bla. Sure I do haha, I guess… but it really comes along with hard work. Little do you know, i’m a pretty modest girl. Just mind my own, and lay low. I have a family I support all on my own, and that always comes long before any of my car bullshit. Between birthdays, losing a loved family member, and really being tested in my very high stressed career, I am still making progress on the R! Nothing has yet to stop me and I don’t plan on ever even worrying about giving up. Cars are what keep life interesting! I set goals in all aspects of my life and keep to them. The R will finally be ready in 2 weeks! I am counting down the days like a kid in December, eagerly waiting Christmas! Santa is bringing me a K swapped CTR!
Enough of the chit chat, here’s the latest progress if you haven’t already checked it out on my “favorite” forum (NOT!!) honda-tech or on my real favorite NWP4LIFE-
Thanks again to Nick and the BDL gang for all the support! BDL TB is soon to be installed too, fresh from BDL!
New BDL Oil Cap soon to come as well!
I don’t know what needs to be said, New Skunk 2 header is dead sexy!! Thanks to Tony at Skunk 2!!
Okay…enough is enough..but man I am in Love with this piece!!
EP3 idler pulley
That is it for now boys n girls! Next stop is a little roadtrip to Vegas to renew my registration for Jade! More to come…..
When life gives you lemons, paint that shit Gold!
One of my favorite quotes! I am getting very good at painting shit gold if ya know what I mean! In love of this, I have made added some gold to my build!!
Skunk2 stage 2 cams
Fresh from the powder coating shop here in town! Pretty!
I am such a sucker for some carbon kevlar, almost as good as a new purse! Hmmm, actually maybe better!! Rbc intake manifold with 70mm BDL TB on soon along with my Skunk2 header and rbc intake manifold next update!
