MC's Garage

Woohoo!

Yoooo long time no see! How you been man?!

Welcome back!

Hey dudes!

@Cougar it’s been far too long man. I’ve been good, life is busy! How about yourself?

@TRK thanks dude! Good to be back

Maybe a lil Spooky reunion should happen at some point?

I’m definitely game for catching some doors like the old days!

Cougar wrote:

I’m definitely game for catching some doors like the old days!

Hell yeah dude. I have a tip on a car that I might try and pick up before the end of the week, maybe this weekend you can show me around since I still feel a lil new to town, if you're interested?

Sounds good to me man! Let me know when and where and I’ll come pick you up!

It's been far too long, boys and girls! Life has gotten in the way of a lot of things, but I am happy to say that I'm currently in the UK! I got here not too long ago and got a place of living set up. Next was, obviously, a car...

I have been known to have a certain affinity towards a group of cars that came out of Japan in the 90s. With a bit of research, I came across a small dealership in Edinburgh that has imported some JDM cars to the UK in the past. I would've biked there, but the weather was so horrible, I had to call a taxi!

When I got there, I was greeted with quite a sight:



The dealership clearly deals with Japanese cars of many eras. There were some really cool vehicles there, but most either weren't my style, or out of my price range. There was, however, one car that was hiding in the corner that caught my attention.

In the corner was an old Nissan Silvia S13. My soft spot for S13s goes back many, many years. The one on the lot wasn't particularly the most impressive one I have seen, but I was still drawn to it for some reason. I talked with the dealership's owner, and he let me take it for a quick drive.

I took it just outside of Edinburgh on some roads by the water to see what it was like. While there were some odd things about how it drove, it was extremely balanced and fun to drive: the main reasons why I love s13s.

I pulled off the road to take a closer look at it. This is where some interesting things became known.



Some of the body panels (namely the bumpers) didn't exactly fit right. There were also a few chips, dents, and scratches in choice places around the body. The roof and hood paint was fairly faded, and there were some small rust spots on the rear quarterpanels



On the car, there are two stickers that shed a bit more light to this Silvia's past life:



The Nismo sticker makes it known the previous owner was one to go on "spirited" drives, but the other one was was grabbed my attention. A small, yellow Garage Thrash Racing sticker. Upon further inspection, the damage started to hint at a certain type of driving, one that I am very keen to. A quick look at the suspension proved that the springs had been replaced for some Swift springs. I started thinking about that odd feeling I had while driving, could it be a LSD? I couldn't check that without tearing the rear end out, but I was really curious to know.

By the time I was done looking over the car, it was getting dark, so I took the car back to the dealership, just before they closed for the day.



I asked the dealer about a price. I was shocked the hear that the car had been sitting for a while, dismissed for it's beat up body and rust. We were able to come to an agreement, and I was now the happy owner of this little car. As I was leaving, the dealership owner stopped me. He told me that some stuff came with the car that they took out and replaced with stock parts to try and sell the car. He went in back, and came out with an old, beat up Thrash Racing Seat and an old Nardi steering wheel. The JDM nerd in me was freaking out! After jamming the seat into the back seats and throwing the wheel in the trunk, I head home to my apartment, where I took one last snap of the car before going inside.



Can't wait to see what this car and the future holds.

Hell yeah man! Love PS13’s, excited to see this thing evolve!

Cougar wrote:

Hell yeah man! Love PS13’s, excited to see this thing evolve!

It might sound weird, but PS13s are actually my favorite car of all time. Something about them...

Hey Michael, to celebrate you coming back to us I'll let you use my MkII for coming week's Time Trial.
I've already set my time, so you can come pick up the Golf any time if you're interested.
We could all use some help making a bit of change!

Give me a call and I'll make sure it's fueled up and ready to go.

Tune and paint are in my storefront.

TRKninetyone wrote:

Hey Michael, to celebrate you coming back to us I'll let you use my MkII for coming week's Time Trial.
I've already set my time, so you can come pick up the Golf any time if you're interested.
We could all use some help making a bit of change!

Give me a call and I'll make sure it's fueled up and ready to go.

Tune and paint are in my storefront.

Funny you should say that. I'm actually at the event now... I'm kinda treating it as a shakedown of the S13. If I'm able to make it back out, If I make it back out I'll give you a call about the Golf. After taking a few laps, it's safe to say that golf is FAST

Haha yes, been tweaking it for a while now, just got a brand new VR6 sitting pretty.
I've been going round the festival challenging other racers and so far it's proven me very well.

Hey just quick, I think someone tried to PM me, but my inbox was full. I just cleared all my messages so if you were trying to contact me, plz send your PM again. Thanks!

Hey everyone. Thought I'd share what I'm up to. I've had a busy few weeks around, but it's been awesome. Getting really acquainted with the S13. Here's a quick recap of what's gone on.

As much as I love living in the city, it gets hard to work on cars when all you have is your small apartment's parking space. I've been on the hunt for a garage spot to work on the car. I don't need a full on shop, but a place to store some tools and parts. I had been checking online for garages for rent near me, and I found one a bit south of where I live.



It's by no means a perfect setup, but the price was right. It's nice to finally have a place to freely work on my car and rev it to my hearts content without bothering all my neighbors.

Just as I got most of the stuff I needed moved in, I got word online that there were some time attack events happening nearby, one of which was a C class event. I was interested in this, because the S13 falls squarely into this class as of now. I am by no means a time attack driver, and the S13 will probably not be set up for it, but I figured it would be a good opportunity to give the car a proper shakedown to see what was good and what wasn't.

A few old friends had reached out and gifted me a really nice set of Ohlins coilovers as a welcome gift to town. They aren't what I usually run (I usually go for a more drift oriented setup) but these would be perfect for the time attack driving I was going to be doing. I grabbed these and stopped by the tire shop to grab a set of slightly stickier Yokohamas so the car would be a bit more competitive for the event. After a night of getting everything set up to the best of my abilities, I set off for the event just as the sun was rising.



The event was held at the Greendale Club Circuit. I ended up really enjoying this track, it has a nice mix of sections with lots of fun technical bits. I really learned a lot about how the car handled. I was one of the only cars competing that was RWD... most of the other cars were FWD. It was really interesting seeing how each driver took different lines and styles in their approach. I ended up running really closely with a few people time-wise, which really pushed me to drive it harder! I ended up finishing second place, which was a nice surprise. An added bonus was the shop credit they gave me, which came in handy in making some of the next purchases...

The event taught me two things about my car: 1 is that I absolutely love how it drives. It has a really nice balance that I find many cars don't have. The other is that it looks kind of dumb compared to the cool cars I saw at the event. The biggest offender? the stock wheels and weak stance. I like my cars to perform, but they have to look cool doing it! I got online and ordered some fresh rims and some spacers using some of my winnings from the event and some of my paycheck from work. I used that shop credit to grab an even stickier set of Yokohama Advans (some ad80Rs this time ) and some wheels spacers to adjust the stance. I swung by Garage K with my rims and tires, and TRK helped me mount everything up. I brought them out the garage, and voila!



The car looks a million times better. I went for a set of Volk TE37s, because lets face it, they work on anything. The car needs an alignment badly, and I may have gotten a bit ahead of myself... the rims are really wide and the new setup rubs really bad, especially in the corners. I had to run some serious camber in the front just to actually fit the rims. I tried to roll the fenders a bit, but the crappy metal on the fenders and the rust wasn't having it. looks like some overfenders might be in my future, which is to be expected for me I would imagine!

Everything is ever so slowly coming along...

Having major FM4 feels reading this!!

Cougar wrote:

Having major FM4 feels reading this!!

its all i know!

Wanna quick share where I'm at with my PS13.

I've been real busy lately with both my real job, and setting up my new shop in town, Circuit Produce! I'm super excited about bringing some cool and interesting parts and liveries to the area, so I've been devoting a lot of time to that. This means I don't get as much time to work on the PS13.

I have, however, been able to get a little bit of work done. Circuit Produce is an Origin Labo dealer, and Origin has always had a place in my heart. When I decided I would be needing some overfenders, it was an easy decision. I went for some 30mm overs, just so I could squeeze the slightly larger wheel setup in. I had just enough time this week to cut the rear quarterpanels and fit the the overfenders.



I also ordered some 20mm double vent front fenders from Origin. As of now, we only have the single vent fenders in stock from Origin in a variety of cars, but I may start stocking the double vents soon.



After getting them all done, I had to take it for a hard drive. I met up with some locals at a popular drift spot to see how the car handled in my favorite environment. It could probably use a bit more power, but the car felt very loose and sluggish on inputs compared to what I normally like. Still, it drove like a champ, and I was able to contend with some fairly spec'd out drift machines. Got a bit carried away a few times, might have to order some more overfenders...



(side note: it's so hard to take action shots with randoms online lol)

Overall, I am happy with how the car is coming together. I have an order coming in earlier next month with a lot more parts. Mostly suspension and drivetrain stuff, but a few go fast bits as well. Hoping to have more info on that sooner than later!

I love this car and the story you’re writing mate!

I love a good story, rare nowadays, even i don't go into this depth! xD

Cougar wrote:

I love this car and the story you’re writing mate!

ONI Synyster wrote:

I love a good story, rare nowadays, even i don't go into this depth! xD

Thanks guys! It's been fun to write like this... keeps me occupied when there isn't as much to do. Glad to hear people are actually reading it haha

It's been a busy time!

Lots been going on both with regular life and the S13. Circuit Produce recently got their Drift Days up and going, and I've been taking some time in getting things set up. I have, however, made sure that I spent some time working on my car so it is ready for the driving that I'm gonna do.

Last time I posted here I mentioned I ordered a ton of parts for the S13. When I build cars, I tend to lean heavy on suspension and drivetrain mods. I want the car to feel the absolute best it can before I try to make any power. I got online and ordered parts that I thought would really make the S13 shine. A Cusco Roll cage, Megan Racing ARBs, ORC clutch and lightweight flywheel, aluminum driveshaft, new PMU brakes showed up in a nice big crate early last week. I spent a few days at the shop getting everything in, as the first of the Drift Days events was the coming Sunday. Some stuff went in better than others (never fun fitting a roll cage). Here's a wuick pic I snapped after getting everything in. Don't mind the dirty exterior, I know it needs a bath!



I also blew up my right rear overfender at a drift event a few weeks ago, so I was on the lookout for a spare one. I didn't want to order a new set from Origin as I only needed one, and I'm thinking I may go for a different style in the not too distant future. I dug around the used parts that Circuit Produce is collecting, and found an older PS13 Origin right rear over from an old customer comp car. Full livery and all, this thing has clearly seen some serious action. It is rubbed and chipped and cracked all over, but it will do until I get the car prepped for paint, when I will have to do some fixes to it. For now it looks a bit odd, but there's a good chance I lose it at one of the upcoming events I'm signed up for!



You may also notice it's sitting on some different (dirty) wheels as well. Since It is a drift car, I tend to go through tires really quick. The more sets of wheels I have, the quicker I can change them and get back to driving. I figured I should get a few sets of drift spares..... and I also love wheels lol. I found these Gram Lights 17s for a really good price. They are actually chrome, which looks really good when they are clean.

I got all the prep done and a quick wash just in time for the first Drift Days event. I knew the turnout wasn't going to be big, because I had just announced the series a few days before. It ended up being just me, which I was actually ok with because it meant that I could treat the day as a test for both the car and the event, making sure everything goes smoothly.



The car handled awesome all day. I felt really connected with how the car was driving, and it seemed to really respond to inputs, much better than before. I still need to do some tuning with the suspension, setting up the coilovers and alignment to where it responds perfectly, but it's really getting there.



I did notice that throughout the day, the temps were creeping higher than I would like them to be at. I had to take a few more cool down laps than I would like to make sure everything was safe. I expected this would happen, as it's basically a stock red top SR20. The next thing on my list is some smaller engine and cooling mods to give the SR a lil life, but also more fun to drive.



Overall, I was really happy with the car and the first event. I love this layout at Crates, and the car suited it really well. It was also nice to have more sets of wheels so I could drive even longer. By the end of the day, I was on my second set of wheels, and the car was THRASHED. Now it reeeally needs a wash, haha. I luckily didn't crash it too hard, but I'm gonna have to grab a new set of headlights, but I think I have a set laying around Circuit Produce somewhere... Excited to do some driving with all you guys soon!

This S13 is everything I’d want one to be! Can’t wait to get the hatch up and running and bang some doors with you!