Midnight Mechanics

2011-11-12T01:15:00.001+10:00

WE HAVE MOVED

Hey guys, Just incase you missed out, all Midnight Mechanics related stuff will be featured on Excitement! Car Magazine. Be sure to watch daily for awesome drift team content as well as automotive content from all over the place!

www.excitementcarmagazine.com

2011-10-07T17:50:00.003+10:00

HERE IT IS GUYS!!!
This is what I have been working on for the past few months.
My Brand New Magazine: EXCITEMENT! Car Magazine
http://www.excitementcarmagazine.com/

Tomorrow is the official Launch date, but I am very excited to be releasing it to you guys now. It's taken a lot of effort to get the content I have so far and be sure to check every day for DAILY CONTENT!

You can check us out on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Excitement-Car-Magazine/171972799538596?ref=ts
As well as Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/ExciteCarMag

Keep watching guys and be sure to check out for all my coverage of the QR 24hr drift Matsuri!!

2011-10-06T10:16:00.001+10:00

2 MORE DAYS GUYS!!!

I will be finally releasing my new project that I have been working on for the last few months!

2011-10-05T09:02:00.002+10:00

3 more days guys!

Here's a quick teaser:

2011-10-04T12:15:00.002+10:00

4 days to go guys!

2011-10-03T15:19:00.001+10:00

Good news

Something very interesting will be coming in 5 Days!

And no it's not the Queensland Raceway Matsuri ;)

Will be keeping you guys posted

2011-09-26T15:30:00.001+10:00

Good god I LOVE film

2011-09-26T14:19:00.000+10:00

I went to the Japanese Classic Show and Shine yesterday and shot the entire day in film, so here's a photo of Zak D's SR20 Volvo from Streetkarnage. In about two weeks (hopefully) I will be releasing my new project, I know some of you have seen it, but for now just keep it hush and you will all hear about it soon! <3

More Hill Run Photos

2011-09-08T10:44:00.001+10:00

My new site is slowly coming together and will hopefully be ready for release very soon. You'll be seeing a bit of repetition of what I am posting on here as I still will be bringing you all things cool about us Midnight Mechanics but there will be much more cooler content as well! I know a few of you guys have found it already but I will be sure to let you all know when it's completely ready.

For now, here's a few more shots for you guys from the drive the other night.

Hill run with the crew

2011-09-05T19:14:00.002+10:00

Went for a hill run last night and got some photos while I still have the 5D on me. More later! :)

RETRO AUTO

2011-09-03T12:02:00.001+10:00

Thanks to a buddy of mine, Anthony Bryant, I got the heads up that Performance Imports magazine has a new sub-magazine called Retro Auto. It looks to be a great read especially with cars such as the Hakosuka, a boso Ta22 and a rad S30z sporting the pages.

It just so happens that they chose to feature my corolla in it too so I thought I would share those pages with you guys.

HPI has shown the same feature before, but I won't be complaining as that alone was a dream come true for me.

It seems they have revamped the photos in this magazine to give it more of a grungy retro feeling.

Having only read the lead article on the GC10 and flipped through a couple of pages, I cannot wait to read though through the whole thing. I have much awaited more old school Japanese related magazines to come out so I'm excited to see more issues of this!

Time for a drive

2011-08-28T19:33:00.002+10:00

Update

2011-08-27T17:47:00.000+10:00

Hey guys, just trying to keep a flow of stuff for you all to look at while I'm busy with building this new magazine.
If anyone is an experienced photographer and is interested in being a contributor, send me through an email to grant@grantscottphotography.com and show me what you got.

I'm very eager to get as much drift and Japanese content nationally and especially internationally.

As always, hang tight guys, I promise the wait will be worth it :)

- Grant

2011-08-11T21:30:00.000+10:00

Hey Guys,

A quick update.

I have just a bit of an update on what I have been working on this week. I have been flat out preparing for last weekend where I took the trip down to Sydney to shoot the World Time Attack Challenge. Despite having a full uni week first thing Monday morning after my Sunday night flight back, I have been slowly culling down the 2 something thousand photos I took over the weekend.

I'm looking forward to finally releasing this Magazine so I can show all you guys what I have been up to

For now, Here's a snap of the Cyber Evo piloted by Tarzan Yamada resting in the pits.

And the Pan Speed FD RX-7 driven by Sasaki-san

Film

2011-07-26T16:03:00.000+10:00

Damn it I love film! I have had dotted patches of experience with it across my life but really not as much as I would like. I got my first roll of film from my EOS 1 developed yesterday and I couldn't be happier.

Here's just a taste of the deliciousness that is film: a BMW 5 series I snapped in Shinsaibashi, Osaka. For more amazing film shots you'll just have to wait until I release my new magazine I have been building.

I've Been Busy

2011-07-23T10:47:00.000+10:00

Hey guys,

Not many posts lately as I have been very busy building my new online magazine.

I won't shed too many details yet but I am putting a lot of hours into it in a hope it will become one of the more quality automotive publications out there.

I can assure you that when the time comes for me to release the new magazine you will hear of it!

You can expect content from drift events, car meets, car features and of course quality coverage of all stuff related to Midnight Mechanics.

I am also heading down to Superlap in the next two weeks for content for the magazine.

For now, here is just a tease of what I have been up to in the last few days.

MotorFIX Represents!

2011-07-12T21:51:00.000+10:00

I've been trying to keep as much content going as I can for lately, but I have been pretty slack lately because I'm working on something really big for the Midnight Mechanics site. Hopefully I will be able to show all you guys in the next couple of days :)

I found a new video of the 1uz powered MotorFIX ke70 on Nozomu's Facebook wall the other day. To my delight I also spotted this!

Jason's Fresh 4AGTE

2011-07-10T18:49:00.001+10:00

Those of you who have been reading for a while will know that Jason has been busy having his 4agze motor professionally rebuilt. Jason previously had a SC14 supercharger and W box lined up for this, however half way through the build he had a change of heart and decided it was time to turbo this sucker.

Having received the motor back yesterday, it has now been treated with bigport cams, a brand new T28 on a steam pipe manifold and is waiting on a custom inlet manifold running a larger throttle body and 550cc injectors. To tie it all together the motor will be run with an Adaptronic ECU and coil over plug ingnition.

The builder of the motor, Marky, has gone absolutely nuts with the restoration of it. There has not been a single part of the engine that has not been polished, replaced or improved in some way. Every single bolt has been replaced with new alan key bolts and every plastic bit has been painted. Even the alternator and crank angle sensor has been polished. A great example of Marky's attention to detail is the front harmonic balancer; here you can see the cover he created using a lathe to cover up the main bolt on the crankshaft.

Jason lives about 35 minutes away from me now so I don't get to catch up with him as much as I would like. Seeing as I was down there today I took the opportunity to get some photos of his R31 hack he bought recently.

This thing has been the perfect drift toy. It came with a full set of coilovers for $1500 and it was immediately ready to slide. Having had a go of it last track day I thoroughly approve!

We also decided that Jason's photo for this site is not scandalous enough.

Jayrad's S14

2011-07-09T19:54:00.001+10:00

So today Jayrad got his new blacktop to go back into the S14. The previous one had decided it no longer liked having useable rings and thus became unusable. There are some pretty good plans for this new motor, seeing as money had to be spent it would seem that Jayrad decided to go big.

The s14 was already pretty damn cool on the outside running 18x10 Work XD9's and an Instant Gentleman front bar. However the motor was previously a pretty standard S14 blacktop with a T28.

The new motor is now running 265/264 cams, GK Tech rocker arm stoppers, GK Tech stainless turbo manifold, Kando Dynamics TD05-20g turbo, Apexi Power FC, Tomei 740cc injectors, Tomei Sump, and a custom clutch from Direct Clutch. On top of this, to take care of cooling Jayrad has added a Greddy oil filter relocator and a Koyo triple core radiator.

Sounds like it's going to be one hell of a motor!

A lot of people say that stainless turbo manifolds are useless and they always crack welds, and with good reason. You are always far better to own a new steam pipe manifold than a cheap eBay item or a very old manifold bought off Yahoo auctions. But for the prices that GK Tech sells these brand new stainless manifolds you can't argue that it's worth giving it a go. The quality of these is quite amazing.

This is the TD05 that is going onto the motor. Jason actually runs one of these on his 4agte and although it's a little laggy for a 1.6 it should be awesome on an SR build of this quality.

After a lot of dicking around during the afternoon we finally got Jayrad's motor in. Having had this motor out for the past two months, and at the time of removal it being his daily, it being back in the engine bay is something of a victory for Jayrad.

Victory pose! Plenty more on Jayrad's S14 soon guys!

Hill Run at Dusk

2011-07-08T10:27:00.000+10:00

Since arriving back from Japan I have been very eager to blow the cobwebs off the Corolla and go for a proper drive.

Yesterday afternoon a group of friends and I went for a late afternoon hill run up an area called Beechmont here on the Gold Coast. I would not claim it to be the most amazing collection of corners around but it does have some fun parts.

My good friend Ross came along in his WRX. Being a rally driver he certainly knows how to steer a car so I always love trying to keep up with him on the hills.

The base of Beechmont has a few cool corners to tear through but there are pockets of residential areas that you really need to go slow through. The best part is when you get to the top of the mountain and there is nothing be straight sweepers where you can really open the taps!

Nathan also brought his 1200 along with some mates in other rad looking old school cars.

As said, Beechmont may not be the most amazing hill run around but it certainly has some great views!

Midnight Mechanic's Adventure to Meet MotorFIX

2011-07-06T14:10:00.003+10:00

Anyone who has any interest in drifting and E model corollas will have heard of MotorFIX.

For the last 6 years of building my Corolla, MotorFIX has been a constant and ever increasing inspiration for myself. I have always been in awe of every car that has had this workshop's name associated with it. Whether it be a rusty corolla wagon or immaculate sedan that has been built by this crew.

Recently I was in Japan for a holiday and on the 18th of June I was incredibly privileged to attend an Event at YZ Circuit in Gifu that was held by Nozomu Sakai, the owner of MotorFIX. Having accommodation in Osaka approximately 180k's away meant that the day was by no means going to be a short one but it was well worth it to meet these guys. Not only to watch them drive, but also to have had several passenger rides in Nozomu's new 1uz ke70!

Before I start with the pictures and the story I would like to extend my extreme appreciation to both Shane Bingham and Ewan Paterson of K-Tours for making it possible for me to get to this event. Especially to Ewan for driving us up on the day!

Onward to photos!

For both my girlfriend Emily and I the day started at about 4.30am... Typical drift morning wake up time.

We had to get up to take the local train from Namba to Shin-Osaka station so we could catch the Shinkansen to Nagoya where we would meet Ewan at 8am.

The countryside in Japan is just amazing, I can't get enough of watching the rice patty fields as we fly by on the Shinkansen. Which is a good thing because there were plenty of them!

Ewan picked us up from Nagoya station in his newly acquired JZX90 chaser. Actually knowing a few people with 90 and 100's in Australia I knew how much more comfy the 2.5 hour trip (which was only 40 kilometers!) was going to be in something like this. Unfortunately for us and especially Ewan, we got pulled up by the local police in Gifu due to the car being too low, too loud and the dealer plates not being fixed to the bumper. Standard stuff, but the police were quite nice to us so it wasn't too long before we got on our way again.

Finally arriving at YZ Circuit we quickly caught up with the MotorFIX guys. Nozomu is an amazing driver and is far too humble about everything. I had been having talks with him on facebook about meeting up in Japan prior to this date so he had an idea that I would be coming to this event. Even though we had a bit of a language barrier on the day I really enjoyed discussing as much as I could with him about each others corollas. I also made sure to bring up plenty of Midnight Mechanics stickers for him as well as a Zoom magazine with my car featured in it.

As I walked around the paddock to have a look at some of the cars I found it impossible to decide what to look at first. There were so many amazing cars here!

This Ae70 had the typical beater approach that you see with a lot of the cars. Just look at the camber on the front wheels!

Inside it was running a silvertop 20v 4age. So many people have headaches about the dizzy on these previously fwd motors, I would say this guy has found the most appropriate solution!

I had to keep pinching myself every time I turned around to see the line up of these three cars. Until this year I would never have dreamt I would see these in person. I've always been a big fan of MotorFIX for their rusty cars, but when the maroon sedan was built I fell in love. So much time and effort has been put into this to create a seamless corolla and to top it off they put a Beams 3sge with ITB's in it!

Unfortunately though, neither the maroon or beige wagon were driving on the day.

I remember when they first built this car they ran 15" Watanabe's, however they have now changed to 14" Work Equipe 03's. Perfect choice!

Of course, until recently the maroon car had been the cleanest corolla MotorFIX had built.

Anyone that has been keeping their eye on all things MotorFIX will know about the latest creation - A 1uz-Fe powered 2 door ke70.

The 1uz motor has made its way into a few E series chassis corollas in the drift scene across, but its still not a common conversion. Understandably it would not be a very easy conversion either considering it is 3 times the capacity of the original factory motor.

It certainly does wonders for the power to weight, and having gone for several rides in it during the day I can assure you it does not run out of puff.

See for yourself here.

I have also been a huge fan of the wagon since it was build. I love their idea of using a sedan chassis and welding a wagon on top of it. A perfect solution to get rid of those nasty leaf springs!

Of course in true MotorFIX style the car has been salvaged from the junk yard and no regard for the quality of the panel work has been given.

It's probably a good thing too because as some of you may know they have already put it on its roof.

To my disbelief (and joy!) they just belted it out and got it back on track.

I love the idea of having an absolute hack of a car running quite possibly one of the most sought after 4age conversions from a 20v Ae101 Levin, and a very clean one at that!

Incredibly, in a huge contrast to the outside, the inside of the car has been made immaculate. The engine bay is painted a tidy primer grey, where the inside of the car has been completely caged up and sprayed white.

I also spotted some full length 4-link in the back of the car, I would say that's pretty out of place for a wagon wouldn't you?

Aside from the MotorFIX cars, this has to be my favorite car on the day. An AA63 carina. These things come with a 16v 4age as standard, and I would have to say it was easily the loudest car on the day! Probably even louder than my corolla... So I don't know how he managed that.

This 86 with a BRIDE livery was incredible to look at. I would say it for every single car I saw on this day, but if this turned up to a track day in QLD it would attract A LOT of attention!

Even with no bumpers on this car looked stunning!

R31 House is just around the corner from YZ circuit, so this car was in attendance. After spotting the Australian flag on this I was very interested to find out that this car was built specifically for a drift event in New South Wales! The car was brought over by Shibata-san of R31 House with the help of Powerplay Imports.

Don't believe me? Check this out. Looks a bit like Australia to me.

I have to say I'm ashamed to admit this is before my time, I was just finishing school when all this was happening. I do know that 2004 & 2005 were pretty good years for drifting in Australia.. It would be great to see more cars of this quality being brought over for events again, but I just don't think it will happen.

As you can see the car looks just as amazing as it did 7 years ago! Anyone that owns an active drift car will know how much of a remarkable feat this is.

Being such a wet day there were a lot of spills on the track. Yz is a great little course. There isn't much run off but who needs it anyway! If a course is as good as this I'm happy with a block wall and someone to pickup your taillights once you've left the corner.

I kept watching in awe the entire day as Nozomu powered this beast through the wet corners. Every time I went for a lap with him he kept telling me "Kowai!" Meaning scary. I suppose 190kw in something that weighs about 900kg would be quite scary, but I'm used to Josh Young's old 1uz 86 so I just kept telling him how much I enjoyed it.

Of course this being the first track day for this car, they were still testing it out. While in the car I had my feet buried in wiring and at the same time I was looking at the dash and watching the digital air/fuel readout bouncing around and quite often hitting lean. The car has also been overheating quite a bit, but I hear Josh has a solution for them.

I had a soft spot for this Gx71 Cresta on the day because I actually used to own a Mx73 Cressida. Essentially they are the same car but they are so different it will make your head spin.

My car came with a 5m-ge, where the cars over here come with a 1g-ge. I wouldn't say by much, but it's an improvement!

The front looks exactly the same, however the Australian model only has one orange indicator.

The rear however is completely different to the typical Australian Cressida.

This beige 86 coupe was incredibly tidy. It actually looks very similar to one I have seen quite regularly on Speedhunters, but with different wheels and panels I would doubt it is the same car.

Every one of the drivers at this event were good friends of MotorFIX. Nozomu is apparently an old student of a technical college that most of these people are studying at. This event was just a fun track day to bring everyone together.

I found the engine bay of this car very interesting to see how differently 4agze conversions are done in Japan. Obviously the heat is not as bad for Japan's summer. With a setup like this in Australia you would get a lot of heat soak in that top mounted intercooler.

I also had Nozomu ask me why I run 4agze in Australia. Ewan and I had to explain how much wider and larger the tracks in Australia are. Obviously YZ is quite larger than the go kart courses we have been using as of late, but for the actual fun tracks like Queensland Raceway a standard N/A 16v just does not suffice even with the most slippery setup.

This FC was just gorgeous. There is no other way to explain it. It is quite simply the most perfect Series 5 I have ever seen.

It was also very cool to not see it sit in the paddock all day like I am so used to seeing with cars of this perfection.

This Crown was very calm at the start of the day and the driver didn't push it too hard. Throughout the day though it got more speed and more angle which made me start to wonder what was powering it.

A vvti 1jz-gte will certainly do the job!

As said though this Carina was probably my favorite to watch on the entire day. Such a tidy looking car!

The first corners at YZ circuit have got to be one of the most awesome collection of corners I have ever seen. You build as much speed as you can along the straight, give a yank of the steering along with a quick clutch kick into the first corner, flick it back the opposite direction at full throttle and then flick it back again in order to link it through these two corners.

The tandems that we being had between the Carina and Nozomu's ke70 were amazing! Especailly when they linked these two corners and sprayed up all the water that was building at the edge of the track!

There was also some amazing tandems between these Ae86's. I would happily own any of these three!

I still can't get over the cars at this track day. I much as I am a fan of clean cars I love the deterioration that is allowed to happen to these cars. This model of Ae86 would be very desirable in Australia, however the owner has just left it to rust. Despite this though the car still looks awesome and drifts hard.

Just getting to this track day and seeing these cars in action in person is a complete dream come true for me. My love for these cars and my corolla as well has been increased so much from being here. I'm also incredibly inspired to better my car from meeting Nozomu and the rest of these guys. I serious hope to get back to this area some day and actually tandem with these guys.

Arvo Shoot

2011-07-03T22:09:00.003+10:00

I went out this arvo to get some shots of Nathan's 1200 and a shot of the S13 this afternoon. I've recently put 5mm spacers on all round and lowered the coilovers about 7mm and am very happy with the look of it.
Both this shot and the photo of Nathan's ute is HDR'd a little. Just enough to see the gorgeous colors we were seeing this afternoon as well as see what's in the shadows.

It's killing me with two blogs that I essentially put the same stuff on. I love putting everything I do with my cars on this one and every great photo I take on my photography blog - www.grantscottphotography.com.
Half the time though they end up overlapping and looking exactly the same.
I really do want to converge them somehow

MotorFIX Photos

2011-06-29T18:21:00.000+10:00

I'm slowly putting up my images that I took at the MotorFIX Sokokai and from my trip in general on www.grantscottphotography.com. I'm not putting too many of the MotorFIX ones up just yet because it is my hope to have them published somewhere... But I'll see how that pan's out.

Here's Sakai-San holding my magazine that I gave to him with my car in it.

The new 1UZ corolla, I still cannot believe I got to ride in this.

The infamous MotorFIX wagon... I love this thing.

S13

2011-06-29T18:17:00.000+10:00

I'm slowly getting happy with this car again. The fresh motor is feeling good, however I am still very timid when driving it. Obviously I still need to run in the rings, but on top of that the fuel pump decided it wants out. It whines a lot after driving the car for a while but I will replace that this week.

When I was in Japan I bought a full set of 5mm slip on spacers for the car, so I put them in yesterday and lowered it about 7mm each side. It was just on legal height before which is where I wanted to keep it, but I don't think I will get into too much trouble with it looking like this.

Ultimately I'd love to buy a set of 10-15mm bolt on's and possibly looking at getting the tear drops widened (a thousand keyboard warriors just cried in unison), just for the sake of pure subtlety. But by the time I put in the money and hours for that I might as well get some good works for it... It'll happen one day.

I'm also very happy with my cup holder I bought from Up Garage, I've been wanting one like this for a long time. Of Course having Seven Stars there is a given.

Final Japan iPhone Shots

2011-06-29T18:03:00.000+10:00

Got some final iPhone photos from my Japan trip for all you guys reading out there!

Karaage, Tomago and deep friend cheese from one of my nights in Shinjuku... Getting damn hungry looking at this right now.

My Bento box on the Shinkansen ride down from Tokyo to Osaka... Damn, still hungry...

The views of the houses are gorgeous on the train, I absolutely loved taking the Shinkansen each time.

More food, my favorite; Gyoza and Karaage.

The Hiroshima Atomic Dome. This was 600 metres below the blast when it happened in 1945.

Ok... I won't...

So many of these in Osaka.

My new official offset measurement tool.

The deer at Nara are quite polite, they bow at you.

This temple is a replica of one about twice the size that apparently fell over... This one was huge so it would have been an amazing site to see the original.

Vs-KF's are common as dirt. I spotted this in Kyoto.

Spotted this pretty in Shinsaibashi, Osaka.

Grabbed myself some magnets from Daiso.

This is the Umeda Sky Building. It was highly recommended to me to go see and I would recommend it again. Those lines going from one building to the next are escalators.

The view from the Umeda Sky Deck, looking towards Shin-Osaka.

The top of the Umeda sky deck has a fence covered in these engraved love hearts that people buy especially for the fence.

Here's one of the aforementioned escalators... Quite scary going up them!

Random BMW running BBS wheels, apparently its a requirement in Japan.

Up Garage! One of my favorite parts of my trip!

Spare Longchamp anyone?

I couldn't believe the variety of cool wheels here.

Check out those Watanabe's, 13j!!!

Good lord I'd love to have a local shop that sells stuff like this!

Imagine having a super cheap sell stuff like this, "Oh hey, I was just looking for a set of coilovers for my Ae86..." "Sure thing they're over on that shelf." ><

I should have got this, but it would have been a pain to get back to Aus. A manifold to run quad throttles on a 4age... I can guarantee it would be worth more than $100 in Aus.

Alexi holding up a $600 R35 headlight. Alexi was the sole reason I got up to Up Garage so I am very thankful for him taking us up there as well as showing us around parts of Tokyo.

I snapped up these Hayashi centre caps, there were only two but my Streets never came with them. Definitely looks cooler.

Badass sunny parked at Up Garage.

Same as this Odyssey.

Got myself a hangring too... I had one at home already but you can never have too many.

Our last day in Japan was at Tokyo disney. Here is C-3PO talking Japanese to us.

Spotted this on one of the kids car rides at Tokyo Disney... Not real though.

I had to go on this ride, even though it was for kids how could i resist.

I have to say too, if the track that these ran on was real it would be the most amazing drift track ever!

The castle at Disney, quite epic.

This took a lot of strength to not buy, would have been awesome to run at a drift day for a joke.

Our last night in Japan we went out for my girlfriend Emily's birthday. The 3 course meal we had was amazing! This was the desert.

A bit of light reading waiting for my plane. I ended up with two JDM option mags, Two G-Works, a Drift Tengoku and a VIP magazine.

My LA dodgers hat... Still love it.

Could the gate number be a coincidence? I think not...

Hayashi caps on the wheels, looks pretty cool!

MotorFIX Test Vid

2011-06-21T01:16:00.001+10:00

Thanks to Daniel Dietrich for bringing this to my attention; as soon as it gets wet on track I am riding in the passenger seat :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBHSivMyC-w&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Osaka Spending

2011-06-20T00:15:00.001+10:00

So I have had a pretty decent day of spending today... All of which I hadn't planned for.

I've been wanting to find myself a really cool iPhone cover... every cover I have had in Aus is usually see through and very crap quality so one it gets grubby really easily, and two it really doesn't go well with the white back of my iPhone.

I managed to find this Rilakkuma cover which fits perfect and looks awesome!

Here's a bit of light reading I've been doing, I picked these up in Tokyo at the Shinkansen station a few days back. Managed to find the one G-Works magazine they had hidden in the shelf's lol!

We stopped off at Shinsaibashi today to an area which has just an amazing amount of clothing stores, I've been wanting to get myself a cool flat cap for a while now but didn't wanna pay the stupid prices that are at City Beach in Australia for a cap you see everyone wearing. Japan is pretty big on baseball so that's my excuse for getting myself a kickass LA dodgers cap.

Den Den Town in Namba is just across the road from where we are staying, it's an area thats just full of stores that sell electronics and lots and lots of Anime related stuff. You will find levels of stores with cool shit you will never see in Australia. I've had mates bring back Anime characters to sit on the dash of their drift cars, so I felt it would be cool to do the same.

This is Asuka Langley from Neon Genesis Evangelion, my girlfriend is an amazing anime geek so now she has insisted that she shows me the show!

In the same store I found a car model section which I spent a large amount of time trying to find cool shit. I managed to find these cool little matchbox sized car models of old school greats!
I got myself a gx61...

... and a GC110. Freaking cool!

I'm something of a geek for car models, particularly Fujimi brand ones. Back in Australia I've built a few 86's and a Soarer... I think I've still got a Trueno hatch to build and an s13 which is the same model and color as my one in real life.

In this store I found a shelf full of these Fujimi models, but luckily there was nothing too much of interest that I wouldn't have been able to find in Australia with some hard searching...

The thing I decided I really wanted to find over here were Fujimi and Aoshima brand wheels that you buy to go with these models. I've bought one set before off a forum and thought it was the coolest thing ever, but you would NEVER find them in Australia.

Unfortunately for my wallet, I found this shop called JOSHIN.

Probably very similar to a Toy'R'us... This 6 level shop (each level about the size of an average convenience store) had the whole second level filled with toy cars, trains and planes... and the entire third floor dedicated to TAMIYA.

On the second floor though I found all of my Fujimi models, pretty much everyone one of which seemed rare as all hell... I was lucky to get out with only buying three of them.

They also had Aoshima and Tamiya models on the other side, this one would have been pretty damn cool to buy.

They had half a wall full of my wheels that I was after... Knowing how hard it is to get these back home I told myself to buy as many as I wanted... I got 7 LOL. At roughly $5 each it was a steal.

I managed to escape with only buying this much, but all up I paid about 12,500 Yen.

I bought myself an Aoshima Vertex S13 and Gc10 Bosozoku Skyline, a Fujimi Gx61 MarkII, a set of Fujimi R33 wheels for my fujimi S13 back home, Star Formula, Longchamps, Hayashi Streets (YES!) and Aoshima sets of SSR MKIII's, Focus Racing and Equipe 01's.

After prying myself from JOSHIN, I managed to spot this rad looking S15. Buddy Club P1's all round and very tidy!

My wallet is having a tough time in Japan, Emily and I have realised that with the amount of stuff we are buying we are going to need another suitcase to travel home with. We ducked into a shop quickly where I found the whole wall to have second hand film SLRs.

Having been wanting to get myself a Canon Film SLR for quite a while I couldn't help but look closely at them. They ranged from old and new and from base models all the way up to EOS 1's and 5's.

Long story short... I am now the proud owner of a Canon EOS 1 Film SLR LOL!

Oh and did I mention it only cost me 10,000 Yen?!

Every one of my lenses will fit in so this camera is perfect for me... I'm giddy with excitement, I seriously cannot wait to chuck a roll in there and get started!

Also... I finally have a full frame SLR! Get lost 40D!!!

Well that's it for my day in Japan... I don't wanna know how much I ended up spending, but I'm very happy with it all. I'm sure there's going to be more spent, especially if I visit an Up Garage.. Oh God.. That's going to hit my wallet hard lol.

Later!

MotorFIX 1uz ke70 In Car! June 18th 2011

2011-06-19T10:18:00.003+10:00

So you will probably have read from my previous post that I visited YZ circuit yesterday to meet Nozomu Sakai and the rest of MotorFIX. They are very friendly people, and amazingly humble! They really don't think they are that famous. That said, they have pretty much been my idle's since about 2005.

I was very privileged to get to go for two runs in the recently built 1uz corolla, which was at its very first track day for testing. So it means A LOT to me that I am one of the first people to passenger in this car.

My god this was probably the most amazing day of my life!

MotorFIX at YZ circuit - June 18th

2011-06-19T01:12:00.001+10:00

So I'm sitting here in my hotel room in Osaka and I'm getting very sleepy, but I honestly cannot wait to blog this...

Anyone who has any interest in drifting and ke model corollas will have heard of MotorFIX.

Today I can die a happy man, having spent the majority of my day at YZ circuit hanging with Sakai-san and all of the MotorFIX boys. Not only was I watching them drive, but also being privileged to passenger runs in Nozomu's recently built 1uz ke70.

Let me tell you, Nozomu is an AMAZING driver. I feel extra special as well because this is the very first track day of the v8 monster!!

Onward to some quick iPhone photos, I took a butload of shots with my SLR so I will do a full cover of the day, but I will have to edit them when I am back in Aus.

Firstly, I have to thoroughly thank Ewan Paterson of K-Tours for picking both myself and my girlfriend Emily up from Nagoya train station and driving us all the way out to YZ Circuit. This would not have happened without his help, so thank you very much mate!

We actually had a spot of bother on the way up to the track with the police, obviously driving a loud, low JZX90 Chaser doesn't favour with the local authorities. That said, it wasn't long before we were on our way again.

A quick stop over at a convenience store to get some food and drinks to have at the track.

Yz Circuit!!

I can't express how much of a dream come true it was to see all these cars in person!

I absolutely loved this 86!

Just a couple of spare wheels and tires, I'm sure I know of people in Aus that would do just about anything to get their grubby mits on these.

Unfortunately the Immaculate Maroon ke70 and the rusty beige wagon weren't being driven today as it was a test day for the 1uz ke70

Alexi Smith was very kind to help me find some dickies overalls in Osaka, so I looked the part at YZ today!

The track was filled with friends of MotorFIX, so lots of cool 86's and other cars

This R31 from R31 House was tearing it up, apparently it was built in Australia??

I couldn't pinch myself enough to realise I was just casually hanging out all day just next to these two cars!!

This Carina was awesome, I have some good photos of him and Sakai tandeming.

What better way to finish off your day of drifting that taking the Shinkansen back to Shin-Osaka

Proper photos and a few vids soon guys!!

Greetings From Japan

2011-06-17T02:50:00.000+10:00

Hey guys, here's some quick photos.
It's 1.30am and I'm sitting here in Tokyo infront of my girlfriends laptop.

I've had an awesome night tonight hanging with my girlfriend Emily, as well as meeting up with Alexi Smith from Noriyaro for some beer and ramen.

Just thought you guys would like to see some very quick photos, nothing much but something none the less.
all iPhone quality but I fixed them up a little in CS5

Generic sunset photo out of the plane...

Shibuya Hachiko crossing... Pretty rad place

Tomorrow is going to go one of two ways for me, I desperately want to make it down to Nagoya to stay overnight so some friends can drive me up to Yz circuit on Saturday where I will meet the motorfix guys.
There also might be some street involved...
Unfortunately this goes really against the grain as we already have pre-paid accommodation in Osaka for tomorrow night... So I'm going to have to see... Once in a lifetime deal so I reckon just do it... $100 bucks or so isnt much to split with... so we'll see

catchyas again soon

3 more days and I'll be in...

2011-06-12T21:13:00.001+10:00

JAPAN!

Can't wait!

Especially because I'll be meeting these guys!

JDMST - Calamvale

2011-06-07T12:50:00.000+10:00

I went for a bit of a drive up to Calamvale last night for the JDM Style Tuning meet up there.

Lots of cool cars up there, but nothing that really screamed... Pretty dissapointing.

Here's my photos from the night but I got about 3 shots in before I felt like every other poor sucker floating around taking photos for blogs etc..

There was a good mixture of cars around, but like I said nothing really stood out too much.

I took an incredibly blurry photo of the corolla just for the sake of posting it up lol.

This has to be my favorite car of the night, if I were to say anything stood out for me it was this R31.

Z's were plentyful... but I'm pretty sure they come out factory with those Varrstoen wheels now lol.

Generic S15 #30... Don't get me wrong, every s15 there looked awesome, but being so many with such similar bits makes things very repetitive.

Case in point, that said this was probably my favorite S15 of the night.

And this probably made my night, I actually used to own this... Never thought I'd see it again.

It never looked that good when I owned it but it's seen better days.

SR Progress

2011-06-03T19:30:00.001+10:00

Got it back, took a bit more than 5 days but fresh as none the less.
Brand new rings, bearings, oil pump and rockers, on top of a linish to clean things up.

Should feel like brand new.

I also added some extra insurance for when the motor is in and running again.

While I was at it I got a matching boost gauge to get rid of the autobahn special I've had all this time.

Track Day

2011-05-19T18:06:00.001+10:00

Here's a few photos from the track day today.

Jase took his new R31 hack out, I had a steer and it's so awesome! Best 1500 bucks ever

Just came with a set of coilovers and several rust holes.

Jase was kind enough to beach my car in the gravel as far as he could...

Famous last words - 'I got this!'

Quite possibly the hottest S15 I've ever seen... This photo does it zero justice.

My car stalled after a spin and wouldn't start again (starter motor) so I was stuck here in the rain for about 10 mins just waiting for someone to crash into me....

The main husk of this came off half way through the dipper, I continued skidding through corner 4&5, popped it on 5 and continued through corner 6 lol

Track Day Prep

2011-05-18T20:15:00.000+10:00

So I've pretty much just got back from uni, its dark and I still have my car to prep for tomorrows Queensland Raceway morning session... Oil Change, tools, tires, helmets... that old chestnut.

You might think with all this talk of rebuilding my daily that blew up this week that i might not have the money to be doing this tomorrow, and you'd be right.
But I'm doing it anyway :)

That said, I'm going to be broke as a motherfucker... And the rebuild bill that's most likely going to amount to around $1,500 is going to hit my funds for Japan HARD. Which is in less than a month by the way.
So a QR day probably isn't the most intelligent idea financially, but I haven't skidded in ages and I have been looking forward to this one for a long time now.

I also know i have promised photos from the QR day i went to watch a couple of weeks back, but on top of being lazy I am also quite flat out.
Just to give you an idea of what I am up to these days:

Full time Uni course
Two jobs
Photography Work + Any photography I do on the side... (backlogged about a couple of months lol)
Track car
Blown up daily (Nissan)
Saving+Planning for Japan
MM Blog http://midnightmechanics.blogspot.com/
My photography blog http://www.grantscottphotography.com/
Uni Photo essay Blog on my Friend Aaron http://photoimaging-grantscott.blogspot.com/
Uni News photography blog http://newsphotography2.wordpress.com/ (password protected but you get the idea)
Uni Publication http://theargus.net.au/
Social Life (not much of it)

Anyway, I cannot wait untill tomorrow, i will be skidding with Jason in his newly aquired Hack R31 which i will have to get some photos of very soon also.

All set

2011-05-16T10:53:00.001+10:00

Everything is apart and categorized across my garage floor lol.
My god I love working on engines sooooo much more when they are out of a car.

Seems like alot less when its on the motor hey.

All set as of yesterday arvo, I'm taking it up to Nizzpro as soon as I'm out of uni. Cross your fingers for me that it's a simple rebuild...

Nissan

2011-05-15T11:32:00.001+10:00

Engine is out, still plenty to do...
Gonna have it bare today with the head and block still together and take it to Nizzpro tomorrow.

Datsuns

2011-05-14T11:45:00.001+10:00

Gotta love em...
The motor in mine is tired as and I've always known it.

Anyway this week the oil pump decided to let go and that it wants a rebuild... This is in the last few weeks of my uni semester and only a month before I leave for Japan.

Thanks Nissan...

I'm pulling the motor out today and I'm gonna take it to someone to rebuild it. Id love to do it myself but I just don't have the time... Plus being my daily I just want it to work.

QR Practise Day

2011-05-02T19:16:00.000+10:00

It's not often I will get excited for going up to watch a practice day at Queensland Raceway... It gets really frustrating to go up to a track and watch when you haven't brought your own car, but today we just had such an awesome time.

The two Jasons and I got up to the track for a lazy day of sitting around on our arses drinking and laughing at cars hitting the dirt.
I had such an awesome time and went for a couple of runs with some people i know, as well as some people i met on the day. Particularly one special sort of Ke70.

But more on that later as i have heaps of pics, but for now, just a picture of the three of us up there today.

Hill Run

2011-04-24T00:15:00.001+10:00

So I haven't driven my car since I ran it into the wall and I've been getting the itch hard.
Today I finally had the time to use a mates Mig at his workshop to fix my seat mount. I was originally gonna create a new one but this became a real mission and I realised I could use the old broken one. So I bent that one back and welded it up properly and now it's sweet as.

Went for a hill run tonight and it was awesome. Drove with a mate in his 1200 ute, an 86 and a guy I recently met with an n/a 4a ke.

Such an awesome night!!

- Blogged from my iphone

My Two Favorites

2011-04-23T17:46:00.000+10:00

They are buckets but i love them

Tail lights all fixed

2011-04-22T18:30:00.000+10:00

So i put my final tail light in yesterday afternoon. One of the pair that arrived from Kay's parts had a huge crack in it, but he was quite amazing about it and sent a new one that day. It arrived incredibly quick so I am very impressed with the service...

Still no work on the rear quarter apart from the occasional hammering... i think im just going to skid it for a bit and fix it when i can be bothered.

Oh they are so clean and clear!

New Front Lights In

2011-04-15T16:32:00.001+10:00

So i spent the small hours of daylight i had after work yesterday putting the new front light surrounds on the corolla.
As you would have seen in previous pics, i got a brand new grill, surrounds for both sides, new parkers (which i have always been missing one untill now) and brand new indicators for the fenders.

Here's how it looked before. These pics really don't show much of the difference, but you can see the old surrounds and grill are just dotted with stone chips after having been repainted twice by myself. The passanger side parker has always been missing, and the indicators are faded and scratched...

With the new lights in;

This pic really isnt that great, you would be amazed at how dark this photo really is (I love my camera on f/1.4 and 1600ISO lol). You get the idea though, it certainly has cleaned it up a bit.

So hopefully i don't run the front of it into something next time lol

New lights!

2011-04-11T22:29:00.001+10:00

Finally turned up, so cool to now have new lights all round and a new grill.
Unfortunately the LH taillight turned up with a big crack in it, thankfully it's not the one I needed to replace and the guy has happily said he'll send me a new one :)

Mounted up my new light this arvo while I had like 5 mins of daylight left lol

Also on a random side note, I bought myself an ASUS 24" monitor today. Ohhhh it is so amazing, I love it so much!

- Blogged from my iphone

Jayrad's SR

2011-04-02T18:02:00.000+10:00

It blew up, how predictable.
Went and helped him pull the motor out today along with Guy Wuoti who was a huge help with the car

Paint

2011-03-30T14:32:00.000+10:00

So you've built your rig up and now its time for some kickass paint to seal the deal.
The brilliant painter of my car, Lee, has just opened up a new shop in Molendinar called Jackal Smash.
Do yourself a favor and give him a call because honest to god this guy knows his shit.

If you know what my car looked like before it was prepped and painted by him, you'll know he's the real deal!

Crisis or Opportunity?

2011-03-29T16:58:00.001+10:00

When it comes to cars, I can't stand spending money to just end up where I was before. I always like to see every crisis as an opportunity for some form of improvement.
A good friend, Davey Clarke, sent me a link today to a guy that sells brand new ke70 bits at incredibly cheap prices.

Seeing as I'm in need of new taillights due to my recent, uh... body modifications, I have splashed out and bought brand new tail lights, side indicators, quad light surrounds with parkers and matching grill.

Can't wait to have it here, it's definitely gonna freshen up the look of the car!!

- Blogged from my iphone

Damage Documatation

2011-03-28T17:26:00.000+10:00

So in my own sick twisted way i decided it would be a good idea to take some photos of the damage, seeing as i only have iphone pics at the moment.

I gotta say i found it quite funny that Fink told me yesterday that while we were tandeming he could see my bucket seat through my tailight lol.

I must admit it looks fairly tough like this, i'll be fixing it when i can. But for now ill just get a tailight and fix my bumper.

Its pretty solid damage, but its all cosmetic. The boot still opens and closes perfectly lol WIN!

This is whats left of my bumper bracket... Ive been giving these a bad rap, theyre pretty inferior and never lined up properly. But im starting to think if these didnt snap then maybe my bumper might have.

This is also whats left of my seat rail, that bit is ment to be straight lol. It didnt break on the crash, but id say it took the main hit when i did. It took about 5 more runs before i started lifting up in my seat.

Lol and yes i did try ziptie it down to get just a little more runs in.

So for now i have my bride out and sitting in my room till i fix the rail.

My light got hit hard in the crash, it pretty much exploded lol

Thankfully my bumper corner didn't blow up, which i would have expected it to... I think all the same im going to reinforce the inside of all four of these.

Hmmm... So yer..

2011-03-28T00:24:00.001+10:00

My perfect car isn't so perfect anymore lol

Still kept sliding after though.
It's about time I got some proper damage anyway. I'll have to get my hands on a mig and a compressor I think :)

All set for tomorrow

2011-03-26T23:23:00.001+10:00

Quite a relaxing day today, but I cleaned up the corolla, checked it over mechanically and packed it up for tomorrow.

I also went over to Jayrad's tonight who's been struggling with a rogue dump pipe, a violently scrubbing guard and a hangover. He should be all set to trade paint with me tomorrow afternoon.

Can't wait to try out the QR short track tomorrow!

Prep for Sunday

2011-03-26T00:39:00.001+10:00

So I'm done for the night now with the corolla. It's been on stands for half the week seeing as I have been lucky enough to have some garage space and I've had little time to work on it.

I've also been fairly rushed as I'm planning to do a track day on Sunday.

The brakes have been lacking lately considering I only have vented disks and nothing else. Probably doesn't help that the pads are completely flogged.

So I've forked out for some high temp pads and some race brake fluid. Hopefully now it should pull up fairly quick. I'm also planning to get some slotted disk but at $240 a pair I might see how these go first.

I also bought some 55 profile tires as apposed to the normal 185/60 14's for some of my skid rims to try them out. I'm planning to run these all round soon so I can lower the car more and make the car handle better.

You can see the difference in fitment on the front and rear. Hayashis are 60's and the hurricanes are 55

Definitely looking forward to fitment similar to this!

Oh also I finally got my wing back, I'm gonna try fit it up some time

Midnight Mechanic'ing

2011-03-25T22:31:00.001+10:00

Not quite, but it's 10.30pm... Perfect time to be changing brake pads I'd say.

I have a track day on Sunday, and I've been running out of time this week. So I've been working on the car today in between my two jobs I work on Friday as well as now afterwards. Fun fun!

My life is complete

2011-03-21T19:10:00.000+10:00

I always love seeing photos of my car floating around the net on differently blogs or online magazines. But i have always been of the opinion that it is a much higher privilage to have your car featured in a printed magazine.
Ideas of this happening when i first bought my corolla would have been nothing more than a pipe dream that i would have scoffed at had someone even mentioned that this might come true for me one day.
That said, it has always been the pinicale for me. I have always felt if i were to get my car in a printed magazine it would truely mean i have created something great.

Today i came home from work to find a parcel for me with three copies of the same magazine inside. A magazine that just happened to have my car featured in it.

I got bored.

2011-03-20T20:46:00.001+10:00

I had some spare time to myself today so I decided to pull apart the dash in the s13. A couple of things haven't been working with the heating so I wanted to check all the wiring was hooked up correctly under there. Mostly though i just wanted to see if i could pull the dash out... Lol

Unfortunately I couldn't fix anything but I managed to clean up some things as I went.
Anyway everything is back as it should be now.

Oh it's hot..

2011-03-18T06:28:00.001+10:00

Always loved the cars from the C's Garage boys, especially their wagon.
Been going through their build blog over the last few days and it's been getting me quite inspired for both of my cars.

This

2011-03-16T19:45:00.001+10:00

Is where it's at

Shame it's not what it used to be right now, but I have hope

- Blogging on my iPhone Beeeetch

Chillout with Jason and his 80

2011-03-13T12:47:00.000+10:00

Sunday afternoons are great for a little of a relax and to just hang out with your mates.
I did exactly this with Jason last sunday (and will be doing the same today with the other Jasons).

I love Jason's 80, its a bit of a shame that it sits around so much but he has had some troubled times. I know when this thing starts hitting the tracks and the hills it will be incredibly badass.

Not that it isn't even when its just sitting there, check this shit out.

http://jilly-wawa.blogspot.com/

Hill Run

2011-03-13T12:42:00.000+10:00

After a long amount of trouble with his ae86 Jason has finally started driving it on the road again, so last Saturday we both went for a drive up our local mountain, Springbrook.
Unfortunately the thing has got a horrible idle and floods more fuel into the engine than bp did into the gulf of Mexico.

I managed to get myself a drive of the thing as well (dispite it dying twice on me from the overfuel) and i have to say im quite converted on turbo 4a's. Ive still got a lot i want to do with the Ze, and it was always going to be turbo eventually but now im actually quite keen for it.

Anyway, here's a hardpark photo.

Top Gear Live

2011-03-13T12:34:00.000+10:00

Ive been flat out the last week or two with being back to uni so i havent had much of a chance to get near my computer for anything other than uni work.
Friday a week ago i went up with my friend and my girlfriend to see Top Gear live.
I was very excited to see Clarkson and May in person, unfortunately Hammond wasn't there but it was still a great show anyway.

Here's some iPhone shots i took also!

Japan - Godzilla ain't got shit

2011-03-11T23:51:00.001+10:00

Well as I'm sure you have all heard, Japan has been hit with some devastating quakes and if that's not enough a giant tsunami afterwards.
I really hope everyone I know that's living there is safe and out of dangers way. I'm sure there is bound to be someone I know holidaying there as well so same goes. Be safe everyone!

I'm at uni and bored

2011-03-08T18:28:00.001+10:00

So here's a photo of a cat

Three Four

2011-03-08T15:56:00.001+10:00

Spotted this on the way to uni this morning, love the gram lights!
Dammit I love this iPhone app

Don't forget to introduce yourself on my last post if you're a regular reader! (even if you aren't!)

Roll Call! - Who's Reading?

2011-03-07T21:52:00.002+10:00

It's occurred to me today from finding my stats on blogger that more people read this than I thought. I don't get a large amount of comments on here, but I always love to hear from new people.

So with that in mind I'd LOVE to hear from as many people that read my blog as i can!

Definitely keen to hear what car you drive, where you're from, where your local mountain is, whether you have a blog... Whatever you wanna list guys!
Especially keen to see some links and pics as well :)

Spread the word, and hopefully I can hear from quite alot of new people!!

Cheers

- Grant

iPhone

2011-03-06T23:03:00.003+10:00

So I FINALLY found an app to blog through my iPhone!

Yaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy!!!! *party*

This is my first post with it so technically it's a bit of a test. Anyway here's some photos from before our hill run last night. Nick came all the way down from Brisbane and Jase brought out his 86 despite it dumping more fuel than BP while at idle.

Unfortunately as well we also had some of our mates Jayrad and Luke Fink get pulled over and fined in their s14's *sad face*

Cusco

2011-03-06T20:10:00.000+10:00

Ive had coilovers in my S13 for about a year now, Cusco in the front and Tein in the rear.
Interestingly enough, the noblet who owned them previously decided that when he wanted to paint his engine bay covering up the camber tops wouldn't be a great idea.

So for the past year ive had Cusco camber tops with cracked purple paint peeling off them. Im not sure why its taken me a year to do something about it, i think i assumed it would be far easier to do it with the tops out of the car and just didnt want to bother until then.

Anyway, this afternoon i got stuck into it with a stanly knife and got most of it off. If i ever pull the coilovers out for a short reason ill do a better job, but this is pretty good for now.

This is how they looked before

And now after cleaning them up a bit and a decent wipe down.. Still scratched as fuck but at least that beautiful Cusco blue is all you can see now.

New QR photos

2011-03-03T18:19:00.000+10:00

Thanks to a mate of mine i managed to find some more photos from the other QR morning.
Quite happy because they are the photos of me sliding with Nick that i have been looking forward to... I was hoping there was some with us in more closer proximity, but maybe there are some floating around somewhere.

If not there's always next track day!

New Member

2011-03-02T19:10:00.000+10:00

So i have some very exciting news that after much consideration, various hill runs and multiple track days we will be adding another Midnight Mechanic to our ranks.

I won't divulge too much information until everything is set in stone, however i can assure you that this person is more than worthy of the Midnight Mechanic name.

For now i shall leave it a mystery and let all you sharp minds try to work out who it is.
In the mean time, enjoy this photo of snow

Peace

Nath's Corner

2011-02-28T13:45:00.001+10:00

Yesterday afternoon i went for a drive and photo shoot with fellow old school enthusiast Nathan McKenna, who has been asking me recently for some photos of my car for his blog.
Always being up for photos and drives and with yesterday being the perfect weather i was more than happy to.

Check out his blog here:
http://static-sunny.tumblr.com/

This is Nathan's Sunny which is quite a damn cool car, and a very clean example as well. I've wanted one of these for a while now (among like a billion other cars) but they are quite hard to get... But i guess you have to expect that for anything when you like cars pre-80's

Here's Nathan getting some shots of my car, we just went for a bit of a drive around Hope island which made for quite a relaxing Sunday afternoon.

Obviously i decided to bring my camera as well and couldn't help getting a few shots of my own. I might have to return Nathan the favor of a photo shoot some day with his car, or his new project. But more on that later ;)

Also, this is the view we had at the end of the day when we were just wrapping up the shoot. God i love L glass so damn much, there is absolutely NO editing in this shot, not even cropping. I did the slightest unsharp mask and that is it!

Literature Of The Orient

2011-02-28T13:26:00.000+10:00

I absolutely love Option, Drift Tengoku, and particularly G-Works magazines, but not as much as i absolutely LOVE my girlfriend who picked all these up for me when on a trip back from Sydney without me even mentioning a thing.
I gotta say I'm pretty damn lucky to have a Girl that knows exactly what Japanese car mags i love without even asking me!

Morning Session Tandems

2011-02-25T13:58:00.000+10:00

I had such an awesome day yesterday and had some of the closest tandems with Nick that i have ever had. I'm very keen to keep driving with him as often as possible so we can get some extreme driving going!

Here's the best pic ive seen of it so far but we got much closer!

C's Garage Ke70

2011-02-19T09:00:00.000+10:00

We all know them as the boys in NZ with two (one now - Sad face) of the most, if not the, baddest S13's around. Recently it came to my attention that Adam & Joel have been working their magic in the form of a toyota.

So far its looking pretty damn cool, Twin Carb 4a, wagon, and best of all; SSR Starsharks <3

This car has inspired me to better my fitment, so maybe in the not too distant future i will be doing more low and 185/55's instead of 60's

Thanks Guys!

http://csgarage.files.wordpress.com/

Corolla spotted in Zoom!

2011-02-15T14:33:00.000+10:00

Thanks to a friend with a keen eye i found out the other day that my car had been posted in an article in Zoom!
I'm pretty sure they are the some of the photos that are going to be used in HPI in the next two months, but needless to say I'm ecstatic!

The article is basically about budget race cars and the modifications you can do, I'm extremely happy they used mine as an example of what can be done with an Ae71. Lol funnily enough it even had some ideas for budget modifications that i didn't know about

Japan

2011-02-11T22:51:00.000+10:00

Well, its official, i am going to Japan!
No plans yet, but flights are booked and so i will be spending ten days moseying about in what is quite possibly my most desired destination of the last 8 or so years.

Burleigh Beach

2011-02-07T09:58:00.000+10:00

I'm quite lucky to live where I do, most of the really nice beaches on the Gold Coast are within 10-20 minutes drive for me so keeping cool for my friends and I is never much of an issue.

It has been fairly hot of the last couple of weeks, up until then we have been getting silly amounts of rain and summer has really only just started so there has been plenty of trips to the beach.

I don't often bring my camera with me when I go to the beach, but the other day I happened to bring it along to a late afternoon trip to Burleigh beach where there are some amazing views.

The old 40D takes some good photos, but good god i want a 5D

Corolla Shoot Revisited

2011-02-02T20:34:00.000+10:00

I'm quite lucky living in the estate I live, it's not the most picturesque of places however it offers the occasional spot for a car photo shoot if you don't wish to travel too far from home.
One such place as you will have seen is where i took the photos of the silvia the other day.

I wanted to take some photos of the corolla today but quickly lost motivation after realising i had mismatched wheels and almost no fuel... After thinking for a while i realised there was a spot in which i hadn't taken photos of the car for about four years now.

Turned out to be the perfect spot, and a perfect way to show the difference between then and now of the car and of my photography skills and equipment.

2011

2006

It's a Boy!

2011-02-01T11:47:00.001+10:00

So we've been around for a couple of years now, but our Midnight Mechanics blog has only just celebrated its first year! The 30th of January last year was my first blog post for us and I'm very excited that it's been a year already!

I hope you have all enjoyed the crap we have been getting up to so far and im definitely looking forward to giving you guys much more content in the coming years!

Let me know also what sort of stuff you guys want to see posted up here! Obviously we are working on trying to get as much track time and photos to share with you, but anything else you can suggest will be great!

Thanks for reading guys!!

Jasons 4agze Progress

2011-02-01T11:10:00.003+10:00

So behind the scene Jase has been making some fairly impressive progress on his car. Impressive progress despite saving as much as he can and actually buying a house in between all this car work.

About three months ago we had all planned to head up to a drift day, unfortunately Jase's Ze decided on the morning it wanted to only run on 3 cylinders this was not to happen for Jase.
The motor had been having problems before this, we were all leaning towards problems from the head upwards... Gasket, valve guides or stem seals etc... This was not to be.

Luckily Jase managed to find out about about an engine builder in tweed who knows his shit top to bottom.
After Marky, the engine Jedi as Jason puts it, pulled the motor apart it was found to have fucked bearings, rings and a scored crank. This always means a lot of fun ahead.

So the solution for the motor was to grind the crank, hone the cylinder bore, deck the block and shave the head because apparently they were both warped lol.
Seeing as the whole thing was apart they also decided to port the head, port match the inlet manifold and extractors, put in a 1mm ACL head gasket, ARP head studs, ACL rings, new bearings and of course replace all gaskets and seals plus smooth all the oil galleries.

Here's an idea of the porting that was done to the head, razor sharp!

How the block turned out, Marky has truly gone all out with this motor as you will see in further pics. No part has gone uncleaned/polished or painted.

While all this was happening in the workshop Jase decided to kick start his career as a professional painter by painting his engine bay.
With all the motor out this is how it was looking

With a solid bit of tidying up this is how looked

Meanwhile, at the Legion of Doom...
Oh wait..

The motor got treated to new sump bolts and stainless welsh plugs. By this point Marky had been going all out on the motor. Every minor detail was becoming more significant with every step. The porting on the head was still being completed at this point.

Prep for the engine bay

Painted

The final result when cleared. I'm very impressed with Jason's efforts on this, i really want to do this myself with my car. I think i want to eventually fork out for a compressor though so i can comfortably paint my metallic honey paint in there.

Here is what the motor is currently up to, we aren't joking when we say Marky has thoroughly gone way out of his way for this motor. As Jase put it, good enough is just not good enough for this guy. I honestly cannot wait to see this running, its going to be the worlds most beautiful smoothest running gze ever.

On top of all this, Jase has picked up an SC14 supercharger and will be doing a W box conversion in order to prevent those nasty T box breakages.
That's it for now, i will have some more progress and pics for you when i go help Jase put it back into the car!

S13 D&M

2011-01-29T10:58:00.001+10:00

As much as i love this car, it has well and truly been living up to its reputation of constantly breaking things.
Some things to mention i fixed this week is a giant rust hole that came from no where in the boot, and a water pump that decided it wanted to purge the majority of my coolant out of its weep well.
Also now i think i need to buy a new 02 sensor because my fuel efficiency has halved... again.

That said, I've had shit cars before and sold them off for similar reasons, but from the fun this car gives me i definitely don't want to sell it anytime soon.

As shit as it treats me, I've really come to respect how much it takes to have a reliable, comfortable daily driven 20+ year old sports car. It takes a lot of hard work, and a lot of maintenance, and sadly a lot of money.

That said, i can already see the difference in the shitbox that i bought a year ago and the car i now own.

Just things like having matching panels all the way around, a proper Japanese exhaust instead of a gay Aus one, having a complete interior etc...

I've learnt something recently, interestingly from a car related cartoon, that when building a car you can only take things one step at a time. Eliminate the weaknesses one by one, and eventually you will have the car you will desire.

The car may not look like much at this point in time, but with the income i currently have I'm very happy to call it one of the cleanest S13's I've seen around. Hopefully when i finally get some proper money to put into this car it can become one of the cleanest badass S13's around

Dark Lord of the Stig

2011-01-25T09:17:00.001+10:00

Well about a week and a half ago i finally made my decision of what helmet to buy, and i also ordered in an Iridium visor for extreme badass'ness'ess.
I finally got my new visor yesterday and i seriously cannot wait to see some photos of me rocking this in the Corolla!

Its kinda like an dark stig so i felt the title was fitting

Epic Third Gear

2011-01-23T10:40:00.001+10:00

Well the title kind of ruins the surprise, but my 4.1's are in the car and working perfectly. At Queensland Raceway i can now use third gear comfortably throughout the entire course! Before hand it used to be very high in second gear or too low in third, now it is just perfect.

I will definitely post up some pics next morning session to show how its going.

Anyway, here's some shots of my progress throughout the day last thursday when i put the new housing in.

I'm definitely not the fastest worker on cars, so i started working on this about 9.30 in the morning... Just as well because i didn't get the car back on the ground untill 9.30 at night... Fun times.

I haven't used my camera as much as i would have liked lately so here's some random shots of the car. Love my Rays wheel nuts, seemed appropriate for wheels as special as Hayashi's.

Some of my favorite stickers on the car

Few more

Old diff out (rusty shit looking one), new one set to go in (painted). Basically i had a bit of dicking around with this. I used my current diff centre and axles, but i needed the crown gear and pinion off the new housing. So i rattle gunned the crown gear off so i could put the new one on. Anyway at this stage the centre with new crown gear was in the housing and set to go in.

If you look closely at the old housing the trailing arm brackets are bent... i actually had the rose joints seize on the old housing... Made for a fun afternoon XD

9.30pm... Finally done, took it for a slap around the block and it actually lit up 4th with a little rain.... hmmmmm

And a photo of my painful but lovable nissan. Thankfully this thing has been treating me well lately, so i have been trying to make it as clean as possible.

Photos from a morning session soon!

Tig

2011-01-17T10:03:00.000+10:00

So a week or so ago, my beautiful japanese exhaust broke a hanger. The second of which that had broken off that holds the rear muffler up, the previous one having broken before i got the exhaust.
For some reason that is unknown to me they used some very cheap hollow stainless 12mm tube as hangers... and they are as brittle as glass.

Anyway, i had my hand at trying to tig again with Josh's welder, last time i couldn't use it at all.. It just wouldnt work for me. Having been so long since i last used a tig welder im pretty happy with the welds.
I also had to build myself a new hanger out of solid 12mm steel which was a steep learning experience.

Im certainly no artist when it comes to tig'ing (especially for stainless) but im pretty impressed how i went for not having tig'd for a year and a half.

4.1

2011-01-12T17:53:00.001+10:00

Well it finally stopped raining today for once, not that i want the rain to go, but it gave me some time to pull apart this 4.1 rear housing in preparation for it to go into the corolla.

It looked a bit rough and ready so after pulling it apart i gave it a rough scour with a wire brush and some degreeser.
Just got to get some time to pull the old rear end out of the corolla now and swap everything over, that said i think i have to use the centre from this housing in order to retain the 4.1... so i gotta get my hands on a mig.

Jasons 86

2011-01-04T14:48:00.000+10:00

So i hung out with Jase for a bit today. Perfect beach weather so Burleigh was the location... Almost drowned, good times.

Anyway, back at his we had a bit of a look at his car so i took some photos & some video...
Its playing up bigtime and overfueling and just generally being gay, but i cant wait to have it back out on track next to my rig...
I love this thing, even more so watching it drive... Its gonna suck when it sells.

Enjoy his turbo slut bucket (and my quality iPhone photos)

Score!

2010-12-30T10:55:00.002+10:00

So this is my new standard corolla rear end that has been sitting around my house for a week or so...
Nothing too special about right?

Wrong

For those that have no idea what im going on about, i am quite stubborn when it comes to the borg warner diffs that come standard in Corollas. Most people i know usually insist on changing to either an S series diff out of an Aus delivered ae86 or a (very costly) T series which either comes in a T-18 (drums) or a JDM ae86 (disc). The beauty of the T series is that you have the option to buy aftermarket crown gears and upgrade from the standard 3.89 to a 4.1, 4.3, 4.7... whatever

The obviously dissapointing thing with borg warners is that they do not have a removable centre and there is no aftermarket crown gears from them.
The assumption also is that corolla diff's will not last with anything greater than a standard 4age 16v.. and even this is pushing the limits.

Im happy to say my car has been through a 5 years with 16v and and my 4agze and i have only broken 1 axle in that time, that screams pretty reliable to me so i have never had the desire to change rear ends.

I have struck gold though with this diff as im sure you will understand, it turns out that all Auto corollas come with a 4.1 borg warner, which is the exact ratio i need for my car!
So i can't wait to get new everything for this, lock the diff up and chuck it in! Time for some epic third gear!

More Photos

2010-12-22T19:19:00.000+10:00

A few more shots i've found from Monday's Morning Session

Morning Session

2010-12-21T19:26:00.003+10:00

Have you ever had a track day that has just been perfect?
You wake up, the weather is perfect, large amounts of sun but not too hot...
Your car runs all day without problem, all of your friends are there to hang out with you..
So many awesome awesome cars there to watch

And you make some tires wish they were never made for road purposes

This was my day yesterday

That spare pair of Potenza's that i had lasted only about 15 minutes i think, but they certainly made the day fun!

I also borrowed a mates helmet for the day as i'm looking at getting a full face helmet. I love seeing drivers of drift cars with very aggressive looking helmets, especially if it has a bright gold or blue visor like this one... I was so happy with this one yesterday I am definately going to get myself one! You can also see from the photos how cool it looks!

Anyway, onward with some awesome photos from the day!

Firstly,

Seasons Greetings! LOL

I can't get over how much fun i had yesterday, i am definately going to be doing many more morning sessions in the next year.

And Smookkkkkeee!!!!! Oh yes, the new pulley kit went very very well, no belt slip at all during the day. The clutch was slipping quite a bit in the morning but gripped up and kept going strong. So the corolla that probably should have broken by now stays strong :)

Pre Track Prep

2010-12-17T10:04:00.000+10:00

I havent had much to do, but ive been slowely getting my car ready for my morning session on monday... I'm getting pumped cause the last morning session i went to i broke and axle, the last qr day i went to was a comp and it rained most of the day and thats about the total times ive actually had the gze up there!

Now that im running a solid 0.8Bar i can't wait to see what the car can do (read: Break... lol)

Ive got a bunch of tires sorted for the day, seeing as its just a fun day i got a pair of really old Potenza's i had to use up... hopefully thatll last me most of the day haha.

Also, here is my christmas getup for the track day lol seeing as its on the 20th of December i thought it was fitting... Don't hate me lol

Busting out

2010-12-17T09:52:00.003+10:00

Who doesn't love a good bit of Team Burst?

FML

2010-12-15T01:28:00.001+10:00

I love a good laugh, I almost fell on the floor after seeing this

Suicide Girls

2010-12-05T10:31:00.001+10:00

Hands up if you like;

A. SLR photography
B. Polaroids
C. Hot Tatooed naked girls
D. All of the above mixed into a very awesome video

oh, me, mee!!! *Waves hand up high*

Nsfw lol

SuicideGirl Belle and Sebastian Music Video - NSFW from SuicideGirls on Vimeo.

All running again

2010-11-30T19:00:00.001+10:00

So this afternoon i went and got a 4age idler pulley from a wrecker to run as the adjustment pulley...
Turned out to be more of a pain in the arse than i thought, but i got it all sorted.

Basically you have to pull off the bracket that sleeves on the bearing and attaches to the spring, bin that..
Flip the pulley around, run enough spacers so the pulley itself doesnt touch the adjustment bit that you push it up and down on, and on top of that run a spacer inside thats big enough to fit the inside dia of the bearing as well as fits the dia of the bolt... This just prevents the pulley from running around cause its a half moon shape inside it, not an actual hole.

Anyway, its all running now

It pulls very hard now, but it only hits 0.8 Bar which is a bit short of the 1 bar (14psi) that i was told it should run.
That said i have also been told that factory ecu's dont like to run past 12 psi, and that 14psi is signing a death warrent for an SC12 so maybe its a blessing in disguise.

I know my clutch already is objecting to the idea of any more boost lol... i think im going to have a guessing game on what will break first haha

Size difference

2010-11-27T12:31:00.000+10:00

Here's a pic for you to understand the size difference of this beauty, its fairly solid and extremely well built.
Ive always been just a little skeptical about some T3 parts, but ive bought a few things from them now and im nothing but impressed.

http://www.technotoytuning.com/index2.php

And for your viewing pleasure, i put my Techno Toy Tuning sticker they sent me on my Bride. Getting a few on there now but i still need much much more!

Might have to get some more MM stickers made up so i can get trading asap

14 Psi

2010-11-27T09:39:00.001+10:00

It doesn't sound to much but in something that requires borderline insanity to drive at 0.6 bar this car is now going to be downright spastic!

I still gotta get the right belt and i think there is a few things that need to be changed to an N/A 4age part, but im about about to go try fit it up now.
Just got the hangring in there for a bit of reference, this pulley is huge!!

Time for a bit more boost

2010-11-17T15:37:00.000+10:00

Ordered myself one of these today and i can't wait till it turns up!

It isn't quite the right picture, im not sure why T3 puts this one up but its a 175mm crank pulley for a 4agze which will apparently bring me from 8 psi to 14psi.
I seriously cant wait to have this in, the car will be freaking physco... If it blows off competitive drift cars and street jzx's now whats it going to do with almost double boost?

*Excited*

Aaron's Warrior KE70

2010-11-15T11:08:00.003+10:00

Well my good mate Aaron is selling up his ke70. Which is a shame cause it's a rad little thing.
Especially considering it's currently the bearer of my old 16v 4age, which went like the clappers.

Aaron is a good friend of Hoshino, the owner of Team Geki in Japan. So on top of having some nifty little bits and pieces in the car, it's got quite a lot of Japanese drifting influence.

As well as the true heart of a Midnight Mechanic corolla.

The motor now powers through a Jap T50 and pushes the torque along through a TRD 2way inside a complete jdm Ae86 disc rear end.

So hopefully if it sells this isn't the last we will be seeing of this car. A lot of love from quite a few people I know has gone into this car. Fingers crossed it going to be seeing just as much touge!

Jason's 180sx

2010-11-14T10:22:00.000+10:00

It's good to see Jase finally got some of supercheap's finest rattle can paint to make his overs match the body of the car lol.
Its a huge improvement and although the car is still incredibly aggressive, there is a subtlety to it.

View the rest here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/grantscottphotography/sets/72157624795789562/

Boredom gets things done

2010-11-12T11:24:00.004+10:00

This badge has been sitting in my room near on two years now... it got sent to me with my bumpers, so thats how long its been there. I never bothered putting it on because its not ment for this type of grill and i could never bothered to try fit it.

Anyway, out of sheer boredom i was inspired to spend the 20 or so minutes of cutting, filing and sanding the back of it down so it slides nicely into the grill and screws in lol...

I think its meant for the other flat front corolla that was never delivered to Australia;

Being on uni holidays seems to be inspiring me to do alot, so the corolla might be seeing a few improvements over the next few months.

Shakotan s13

2010-11-11T00:55:00.003+10:00

So I got really really bored today...
I decided this would be a good idea

The Hayashi's are 14x8 -10 by the way

Looked pretty cool, but it would have to be much lower... This is how it would look if I actually wanted to put the effort in.

Fucken cool, but I think I'll stick with the plan for 17x9 +18's

LOLOL

2010-11-07T14:03:00.001+10:00

I need some of these!!!!

I'm no fan of people's cars being keyed, but damn some people really do not know how to park (or drive - end rant)

lol

J Exhaust

2010-11-05T16:25:00.000+10:00

Well, the S13 got some special treatment today. Ive been toying with the idea of getting a new exhaust for a week or so now, and finally found the right one thanks to JPP on the Gold Coast.
My original one was a very Aus spec 2 1/2" with a very bland looking cannon... uggh.. Anyway i splashed out and bought a 3" mild steel one you see below:

Here's the two of them next to each other... God knows why exhaust shops here decide to build exhausts like this, it just doesnt look right... Anyway, luckily Japan knows how to get it right.

The final product, the new exhaust tucks up really nicely and doesnt foul on anything... Super!

Also its got the gansta J lean lol

Midnight Mechanics

More Hill Run Photos

Hill run with the crew

RETRO AUTO

Time for a drive

Update

Film

I've Been Busy

MotorFIX Represents!

Jason's Fresh 4AGTE

Jayrad's S14

Hill Run at Dusk

Midnight Mechanic's Adventure to Meet MotorFIX

Arvo Shoot

MotorFIX Photos

S13

Final Japan iPhone Shots

MotorFIX Test Vid

Osaka Spending

MotorFIX 1uz ke70 In Car! June 18th 2011

MotorFIX at YZ circuit - June 18th

Greetings From Japan

3 more days and I'll be in...

JDMST - Calamvale

SR Progress

Track Day

Track Day Prep

All set

Nissan

Datsuns

QR Practise Day

Hill Run

My Two Favorites

Tail lights all fixed

New Front Lights In

New lights!

Jayrad's SR

Paint

Crisis or Opportunity?

Damage Documatation

Hmmm... So yer..

All set for tomorrow

Prep for Sunday

Midnight Mechanic'ing

My life is complete

I got bored.

Oh it's hot..

This

Chillout with Jason and his 80

Hill Run

Top Gear Live

Japan - Godzilla ain't got shit

I'm at uni and bored

Three Four

Roll Call! - Who's Reading?

iPhone

Cusco

New QR photos

*New Member*

Nath's Corner

Literature Of The Orient

Morning Session Tandems

C's Garage Ke70

Corolla spotted in Zoom!

Japan

Burleigh Beach

Corolla Shoot Revisited

It's a Boy!

Jasons 4agze Progress

S13 D&M

Dark Lord of the Stig

Epic Third Gear

Tig

4.1

Jasons 86

Score!

More Photos

Morning Session

Pre Track Prep

Busting out

New Member