ぼくがエイブルですごすときはおわってしまったけれど、ここでのすばらしいじかんと、ぼくのじんせいのいちぶとなったすばらしいせいとたちのことを、ぼくはぜったいにわすれません。これは、ぼくがエイブルでとったしゃしんです。
ぼくは、みんなのことを、ぜったいにわすれません。
どうもありがとうございました。
あいをこめて。
マットより。
Suspension Part 1
As part of JiJi's modifications he has to get faster, lower and wider. So far, I've managed to get him faster with the fitment of a custom exhaust. The next step was to make him lower. This has been about three or four months in the planning. The biggest hurtle was finding appropriate hardware to replace the original suspension with. The biggest issue was the original front struts are already very short, despite the 170mm ride height. This is because of the van's layout. The front seats are positioned directly above the front suspension and there isn't a lot of room for something smaller.
The answer came in the form of some base adjustable coilovers from an S13 180sx. For this job I called in a friend who is quite the suspension guru... that would be Shane. After a quick look and a few measurements he new what he needed, it was just a matter finding the right parts for the right price. Being a parts exporter, he was able to source the set of S13 coilovers without too much trouble, thanks mate.
Then came the time for modifying. That was to be very straight forward and mostly was except for one thing, time. We'd set a day aside for the work. I would drive for nearly 3 hours each way from my place to the workshop so that meant a long day but it was all the other stuff Shane had to do that day that made the day a stressful one. In the end we only had an afternoon to dismantle, modify, fit and align the new suspension. The job got done but there was never a dull moment. Unfortunately, the job hasn't completely finished. To have the front of the car sitting as low as the rear of the car (also modified) the front coils need to be changed with something about 50mm shorter (150mm length) and desirably no more than about 5kg/mm with an I/D of 65mm. That hasn't been an easy coil spring to find.
I'll upload more photos once we get the height and camber adjusted to a point that we're happy with it.
The answer came in the form of some base adjustable coilovers from an S13 180sx. For this job I called in a friend who is quite the suspension guru... that would be Shane. After a quick look and a few measurements he new what he needed, it was just a matter finding the right parts for the right price. Being a parts exporter, he was able to source the set of S13 coilovers without too much trouble, thanks mate.
Then came the time for modifying. That was to be very straight forward and mostly was except for one thing, time. We'd set a day aside for the work. I would drive for nearly 3 hours each way from my place to the workshop so that meant a long day but it was all the other stuff Shane had to do that day that made the day a stressful one. In the end we only had an afternoon to dismantle, modify, fit and align the new suspension. The job got done but there was never a dull moment. Unfortunately, the job hasn't completely finished. To have the front of the car sitting as low as the rear of the car (also modified) the front coils need to be changed with something about 50mm shorter (150mm length) and desirably no more than about 5kg/mm with an I/D of 65mm. That hasn't been an easy coil spring to find.
I'll upload more photos once we get the height and camber adjusted to a point that we're happy with it.
My sexy new body!
I just received my new Nikon D700 camera body! My last present to myself before leaving Japan, well apart from my Japanese toilet. It's 12.1 megapixels of full framed goodness. I won't be retiring my D200, instead I'll have two bodies to work with on shoots. The D700 will soon become my favourite to use, I think.
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