Shin Kaeru 神カエル-My build(-ish?) thread

[Ihatecars]

How's is going Mazda Roadster? I'm a little new to the whole build thread thing. So I guess I'll start off by telling everybody a little bit about myself. Well, here it goes.

I'm Nic and I own a 1991 British Racing Green Mazda Miata. I've really enjoyed both anime and videogames for almost all of my life.(I blame Pokemon) Once I grew a little older I found a show called Initial D which introduced me to cars and drifting. I quickly found a passion for older Japanese cars and began my hunt for a Ae86 Corolla. Sadly after nearly a year of searching for an example of a not destroyed 86 I lost hope and decided to call a quits to my dream of delivering tofu.


This was the best condition 86 I found through my search. Too bad it was in a shopping mall parking lot.

This is when I stumbled onto a 1987 Mazda Rx-7 literally sitting on the side of the street I lived on. It ends up that a guy I lived near had it in storage for years and decided to take it out because needed some extra cash. Sweet! I bought it that day for $1500!







The Rx-7 was a first for a lot of things for me. First car I wrenched on, first second car, and first manual transmission. Since I was so new to everything with this car I did a lot of research into taking care of the 13b sitting under the hood of my new Mazda. I ended up only doing a bunch of maintenance for a while. Both because I was a little nervous about my ability to drive the car and funds to fix anything I broke. After I felt the car was in good shape mechanically and I was skilled enough to drive stick I ordered a few parts. I got Mazdatrix short shifter, Koni shocks, Eibach springs, Greddy boost gauge, and a Racing Bear turbo-back exhaust. I got really into the drift scene and I then decided I'd build the Rx-7 to be a street/drift car. I stripped the trunk to make room for a roll cage, and reduce weight. Next on my list was a set of wheels and front mount intercooler. I was soon on my way to a car I could be really proud of.

But sadly that's when reality hit, and I lost my job. I no longer had the ability to own two cars so I made the decision to sell my Rx-7 so I that could make "ends meet" until I could find a new job. Shortly after I departed with my beloved Rx-7 I found a new job but wasn't able to work enough to pay the loan on my car and go to school at the same time. I then decided to search for something I could buy cash, use as a daily, and have some fun with.







After a little bit of searching(and watching drift videos) I decided to get a Nissan 240sx. I found somebody to sell my daily to and hit Craigslist immediately. I found a super clean 1995 240Sx that was for sale. I quickly bought the car and I absolutely everything about it. I felt like a total badass in it, but for some reason everybody wanted to race or at least ask if I drifted. Another problem I had with the 240sx was that it was automatic. I didn't let any of that stuff get to me. I quickly decided to start saving to do a transmission swap. I didn't do too much saving though. The car had a lot of problems that kept coming up. After about 6 months of using the car as a daily I decided to sell it to try and find something that I wouldn't have to worry about leaving me stranded so often. I was heartbroken to sell my 240sx, but I felt I didn't have much of an option.



I decided I was a little tired of the negative attention from people thinking I was some sort of hooligan and that I needed something more reliably and fuel efficient. I then went looking for something like a Toyota Yaris or Honda Fit to get me to work and school. After a lot of researching I decided I wanted to get a Mazda2. Both because of the love for Mazda I acquired from my Rx-7 and the sheer fun the car was to drive(even though it was fwd) I felt the car was right for me. I ended up joining a Mazda2 forum to get an idea of what I was getting into and really began to fall for the little hatchback. I became really excited about the potential to take a Mazda2 to an Autocross event or to a track day.



All though while doing research into the Mazda2 before buying I found myself looking into nb Miatas. I grew to really love the nb Miata, but I'd convinced myself that my only option was to get a Mazda2.(for some reason) On the day I arranged to purchase my Mazda2 my mom spotted a very nice 99 Emerald Mica for sale on Craigslist with low milage at a great price. She then proceeded to convince me to give the car a look before I took the dive into the Mazda2. Thank God I did, because I loved everything about it. I told the guy I'd buy it the following day because my bank was already closed. The next morning I attempted to contact the seller, but he didn't answer any of my calls or text messages. That evening he finally called me only to tell me that he sold the Miata that morning because he didn't feel I was "serious." Needless to say I was upset but I didn't let it get to me too much. I decided to pass on the Mazda2 and search for a Miata. A day or two later while on Craigslist I came across a 91 British Racing Green with 44k miles and an oem hardtop. Up until that point I hadn't even considered getting anything nearly that old after the troubles my 240sx had given me. I felt that I couldn't pass up that type of mileage and a matching hardtop. I was still sceptical of the situation, but after mentioning to my family that it was a 91 British Racing Green they said I had to at least check it out being that I was born in 91 and Green is my favorite color. They even offered to drive me the hour and a half long trip to check out the car.



I was stunned when I saw the little green roadster sitting in the owner's driveway. It was clear that it had been taken care of. The paint was very shiny and apart from a few dents and dings the body was perfect. Under the hood was a little dirty, but nothing too scary. I then found out the guy selling the Miata was the original owner and that he rarely ever drove the car because of medical conditions. After years of it sitting in a garage 90% of the time he decided that it was time to pass his Miata on to a new owner to enjoy. I was very confident with the Miata, but when the owner offered to take it to a Mazda dealer and have them check the car out for me before he sold it(at his expense) I couldn't pass up the deal. That day we I dropped the car off at the Mazda dealer to hear that day just what I expected. Everything this the vehicle was perfect. Compression was perfect, no leaks, cold a/c, and the list goes on. The head mechanic said that he owned two na Miatas himself and would love to add the soon-to-be-mine 91 Brg to his collection.

I really wanted to name the Miata, but nothing really stuck for me. But on one of the first nights I had my car while it was sitting in front of me in my driveway I noticed how my Miata looked like a frog with its mouth open. Both because of the green color and the round bulging eye-like headlights. It then dawned on me what to name my car. Kaeru(カエル) means frog in Japanese, but I wanted something a little more impressive. Shin(神) means powerful or god-like in Japanese so I tacked it to the front of Kaeru. My Roadster was then names Shin Kaeru. I feel it has a bit of a nice ring to it. A little otaku, but not over the top.

For reference on the frog similarities I provided a few examples.

Example:1


Example:2


I bet you can't tell which one is a frog and which is my car.

Welps, I guess this wraps up the intro to my Build(-ish?) thread. Sorry about how long this was, btw. I thought because of the inevitable lack of content this thread will have I'll stuff the beginning with as much content as possible.

Please excuse my terrible grammar and punctuation. I am by no means a writer, so I could only imagine that that was a slightly crappy read. I'll try and hone my writing skills as this thread progresses.
Also I've never been a big photo taker and neither is anybody I know. So along with writing better I'm going to try and take on the task of learning to take quality photos.
I really enjoy the build threads with nice photography so I'll try and provide my very own nice photography. Wish me luck~

Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed my story.