Living the Roadster Life

[Reggie]

My not-so-secret, ‘Dirty Little Secret’: Part one

A passionate Toyota Altezza owner discovers that the process of letting go of the things we love can often result in receiving more than expected in return …








By Wikipedia’s definition, a dilemma (Greek δί-λημμα “double proposition”) is a problem offering at least two solutions or possibilities, of which none are practically acceptable. One in this position has been traditionally described as “being on the horns of a dilemma”, neither horn being comfortable, “between Scylla and Charybdis”; or “being between a rock and a hard place”, since either objects or metaphorical choices are rough.

For this “Dirty Little Secret”, the dilemma was an opportunity presenting itself with no practical solution seemingly available to take advantage of this opportunity. This opportunity? Owning a part of Roadster history. Australian Roadster history, at least …

A few years ago, fellow enthusiast and friend, Kevin (known as Babalouie or Babs for short), decided to rebuild his White 1993 NA8 Roadster Clubman after having put it through its paces both as a track and a drift car. After a full rebuild, the NA8 eventually made its way interstate to another meticulous enthusiast and friend, Lachy (short for Lachlan) , where he continued the good work that Babs had started, taking the development of the car’s true JDM style even further. He also gave the car a new name after the potent Japanese spirit – SAKE.

At the beginning of 2010, Lachy came to a fork in the road and decided it was time to part with SAKE. Like most of us reading would know, this is a very hard decision to be made for any enthusiast who has ever put blood, sweat and tears into a project. But as the saying goes, “If you love something, be prepared to set it free”.


I approached Lachy the moment he hinted he was considering selling SAKE. Like a vulture to a dying bison, I had to ask the price. I asked without thinking of any of the dilemmas I would encounter if I were to successfully purchase SAKE.

Dilemma: After a month of toying with the idea, Lachy was forced (by himself) to advertise SAKE. Plenty of discussions followed between me, Babs and a few other friends about SAKE. A lot of people were interested in the car. This made me think hard and I worried that the opportunity to purchase was fading the more I pondered my decision. Questions that raced around my head were money, storage space, what to do with my current IS200 project car (The Banana), and WHY.



Money: The first time I had asked Lachy how much, I had paid off the credit card bills, and was slowly building up some savings. But a month after, quarterly mortgage payments and other bills from a spending spree on The Banana made those savings go into the red.

Storage Space: I already had two cars taking up my apartment’s allocated garage spots. I had promised a good friend (and Roadster Life contributor) that he could store his Roadster in my spare car spot for the 12 months. Adding SAKE would mean I either had to sell a car, or forfeit my promise.

My Lexus IS200 (The Banana): Those who knew me all responded the same way as soon as I announced I wanted to buy the NA8 - “Are you selling the Banana?” , “You can’t sell the Banana, you love it so much”.

WHY: The questions I kept asking in my head were, “Why do you want an MX5?”, “Why do you want a car older than the one I have now?”, “Why SAKE? Why this particular Roadster? Why not another MX5 in a more stock condition that would not only be cheaper but also something I could modify to my own tastes?”.

All these questions ran round and round in my head with the Benny Hill theme music playing in the background, until I couldn’t take it anymore …

I decided to start negotiating with Lachy. I laid out my situation and intent to purchase the Clubman openly and honestly to Lachy and eventually we negotiated a deal that saw the current SSR Mk2 wheels and Bride driver’s seat not included. After a few emails, we finally arrived at a price we were both happy with. While the negotiation was happening I also had to negotiate with myself; How the hell was I going to fund this?

The answer came from a fishing trip with my parents.

From that day of fishing I have changed my mindset on things we love — that letting go often means letting in another.

*from roadsterlife.net

[Reggie]

My not-so-secret, ‘Dirty Little Secret’: Part two



After agreeing on a price for the Roadster with Lachy, my parents and I (over the course of a weekend fishing trip) then negotiated for me to purchase their family soft roader for a very reasonable price (free). They wanted to downsize and this arrangement allowed them to do so while keeping the X-Trail close by to carry the fishing gear. It seemed as if everything was falling into place, almost too easily. However, as some of you who know me would attest, I naturally made things somewhat harder for myself…

As SAKE was such a well known car, I wanted to keep my purchase of it a secret in order to surprise my group of friends. Of course trying to drive home a car that you’ve just purchased without any wheels interstate is a little hard to keep a secret. I consulted a close group and we planned a road trip weekend, buying new wheels and bringing them with us, and driving the new car home. As a nice surprise, a recently ordered (and rather significant) shirt from Import Bible arrived at my office - the car that is printed on the shirt is SAKE. It’s really her.

New Dilemma: Shoes for SAKE
Upon deciding to pursue this car, I had already made the decision to change the wheels on the car to something of my own taste. During my negotiation with the seller I suggested deducting the cost of the wheels from the purchase price as I had something else in mind. As a stop gap, I was going to borrow a set of ultra-rare JDM wheels that a friend was importing. These wheels would be arriving in Melbourne and all I would have to do is pick them up on route to picking up SAKE. It was the perfect plan… until I found out they came with bald tyres… and were still sitting in a container ship somewhere between Japan and Australia.

After further discussion with the friends in the loop, the “Dirty Little Secret” party if you may, the option to buy a set of Enkei 14x7 +19 RPF1 seemed like the best solution. They were apparently in stock, and while shipping from the US would most likely arrive in time, I had the feeling that they wouldn’t and the problem of having no wheels when we collected SAKE would still exist.

So, the final and most sensible option was to borrow a friend’s stock NA8 wheels in the interim, put some new tyres on them for the drive back and then swap the new tyres over when the Enkei’s arrived.

So now that the wheel Dilemma was solved, our next dilemma was, “Who wants to go for a roadtrip?”

Originally we were a party of 5 (how appropriate!) however we only had one car organised to get us there. The issue with this being that if we took the IS, we couldn’t use the back seat on the way home due to the amount of spare parts that were being sold with the car. This meant that one passenger had no seat for the return journey. So then there were four.

[— Agent☣Orange —]

I nominate this thread for Intro of the Year.






P.S. If you're still posting, I'll delete mine so it doesn't interrupt your flow.

[Reggie]

I nominate this thread for Intro of the Year.






P.S. If you're still posting, I'll delete mine so it doesn't interrupt your flow.

Cheers mate, there will be more but I'll release it a bit at a time so feel free to post. Thanks once again.

[Benbrg]

Epic. I like where this is going.. and I spot wats.

[Reggie]

Epic. I like where this is going.. and I spot wats.

Original owner had magnesium wats on them...until they cracked...which I been told normal O.o

[Reggie]

My not-so-secret, ‘Dirty Little Secret’: Part three

With the collection date fast approaching, 48hrs prior to departure some really good news came through: A message from Brian Goodwin of Goodwin Racing USA advising that multiple packages were arriving.

Confession:I did something naughty and I have to fess up. While pondering my wheels dilemma, I toyed around with sending Brian an email to see if I could order the limited-custom-order 14x7+19 RPF1s and asked if I could use his Paypal system to purchase rather than the temperamental-for-Australian-credit-cards online shopping cart through his website. Sadly, Brian advised me that he didn’t have any in stock for immediate delivery. I was disappointed, especially considering the online store did show these wheels as being available.

After discovering that the website store would accept an Amex card, my arrogance got the better of me, so I decided to try and order the wheels. A few days of thumb twiddling and then seeing my amex bill deduct the amount later than week made me think that the order had gone through. Which was a problem.

Being impatient, I had also been looking through yahoo.jp for wheels as a backup plan if the RPF1s weren’t available. As fate would have it, a set of 14x6.5 +14 Watanabes came up. Compulsive buying mentality kicked in, I won the auction and before I knew what I had done a second set of wheels were on their way to me.



With a lack of wheels clearly no longer a problem, we set off to Melbourne in my parent’s X-Trail. The plan was to leave at 2.00am to make Melbourne by the early afternoon. Three friends (Matt, Karl and Will) were to join me and help share the driving, with a fourth (Nath) flying down the following day to meet us and be a fresh driver for the return home.


I took the helm for the first three hours. From there Will took over the drive until breakfast at around 8.00am. After devouring a few McMuffins we were off until a well deserved coffee break at Holbrook, where you will find the “Best Coffee in Hume”.

Matt took the last and final stretch to Melbourne. By 12:30, we were in the northern suburbs of Melbourne taking out some cash at a teller machine, but not for the purchase of a car. This road trip was also an opportunity for Matt to pick up an HKS exhaust for his NC roadster, so a slight detour for parts retrieval was undertaken before completing the main objective of the trip: to pick up Sake, an immaculate NA8 clubman roadster.

Upon viewing the car, it was clear that the journey was well worth it. Sake was 10000% better than I had anticipated, and had to pinch myself. Tiredness and hunger went away as I did a quick test drive of the car with its owner, Lachy. My first impression of the car was a good one, but the second one not so - It was when I tried to manoeuvre SAKE along a driveway when I realise that no power steering is hard work at slow speed and resulted in a scrape to the Garage Vary front lip.

Forgetting this slight mishap, the deal was closed, papers signed, money exchanged and the X-Trail was loaded with the spare parts that were also part of the sale. At this time we were joined by Nath and our mazda parts-pusher and Melbourne friend, Dan, to assist us celebrating the occasion – a late lunch in Lygon Street and dinner at Garage Cafe - an eatery focused on the car owner where you can park your car in the venue and eat next to them.



By 10.00pm I was almost ready to sleep standing up, so the five of us retreat to the hotel for another early start. 5.00am would come too soon but driving Sake home would more than compensate a second sleepless night …

[Reggie]

My not-so-secret, ‘Dirty Little Secret’: Part four





Alarm set to 5:00am, intended departure 6:00am...I quickly took a shower and headed straight to the cars knowing that the crew needs plenty of rest. A quick SMS to let them know where I am was suffice – next to the “The Car formerly known as SAKE”.


Finally got some alone time with her - took some quick snaps and checked the engine bay. Afterwards, I made my way to the Xtrail to do some housekeeping by cleaning out the empty wrappers and bottles we have consumed the previous day.


Slowly, the crew emerged out of their slumber one by one. By 6:30 the Xtrail is packed again, red gloves on, and RAW by Import Bible shirt uniform on, we were ready to hit the road.


Matt’s Stint: - Melbourne to Winton


Having not ridden shotgun the night before during our celebration, Matt was honoured with the first drive back to Sydney. Matt guides her out of the bunker, and this time clearing the pavement by a whisker.





After a few blips, we were on our initial quick pits stop for fuel and drinks before we can commence the extraction back to Sydney.


While going through all the speed traps Melbourne could offer, Matt and I notice that our speedo is faster compared to what is shown in the GPS. We eventually found out that due to the 4.3 diff and as a quirk of NA8s, the speedo is 10kph faster than reality. No wonder we were getting overtaken by Sunday drivers and big rigs.


Just outside of Melbourne we were greeted by an awesome sight, Sunrise in the distance, rolling hills on the right, a valley on the left, the city behind and clean clear winding freeway beyond us.


As I describe the perfect setting encompass us to Matt, his response was “Reg, this is Roadster Life”.





Realising this, we decided to do our first photo shoot opportunity. We found ourselves in a nice straight road perpendicular to the freeway – enough to be out of the peering eyes of highway men.





After the slight detour, we strapped ourselves back and blitz our way to Winton Raceway.


This is the first time for all of us at Winton so plenty of happy snaps like tourist and the mandatory RAW uniform poses.





Karl’s Stint: - Winton to Holbrook


Karl took the reign as we leave Winton, but I doubt he enjoyed the drive as the EDFC decided to chuck a tantrum and decide to reset all setting to ZERO, yes ZERO ergo FULL STIFF. Because of his recent trip to Doctors and Nurses, it was not a pleasant ride, good thing though it was a short trip to Holbrook.


Before we reach Holbrook, we had to pass the NSW/VICTORIA border. Karl advises me that we have successfully rescued my little pony from the crutches of ze Germans or Mexicans known to many.


In the entrance of Holbrook, Karl guided the wounded Corsair into our next destination and made a perfect landing back to the “Best Coffee along HUME” for a brunch. I quickly jump out and tried to find a way to fix the EDFC. I made a quick attempt but the brains have already been overrun by the stomach.





After consuming my mushroom, egg, and bacon toast I quickly grabbed the phone and called Kevin (the original owner of the car)


But before I can ask the question, a more important Happy Birthday medley were sang by all as today is Kev’s day. After the first hurrah my Blackberry, as always, decided to hang up. Another quick redial and we have him back online. I quickly explain the situation and was given advised to wiggle, and re-connect the cable or even find a way to open the motor mechanism but I can only do the first two as the latter require tools that we don’t have.


I decided to give up and just enjoy the rough ride as we were already burning essential daylight.


Nath’s Stint: - Holbrook to Marulan


We quickly refuelled the two and posed for some piccies at the famous Submarine in the middle of nowhere before we left Holbrook.





Nath took the next stint and didn’t find the harshness of the ride that bad till we hit a bump approaching a bridge at speed that we felt our lungs hit our breakfast and squash into our pelvis. OUCH – let’s not do that again.


So we drove cautiously and I found myself fiddling with the EDFC desperately trying to make it work. Frustration got the better off me, so I gave up and just conversed with Nath during our drive up.


We slowly got ourselves in a bind when nature called and there are still one and half hours to go till the next stop - oh the pain.


Arriving at BP Marulan, I hurriedly attended to nature while the others re-supplied the two chariots. Everyone advised me to admire the back and not to approach the front of the car as I would not like what the Mexican nature left as a parting gift. Bumper covered with bugs –from little moths to gigantic dragon flies.


Will’s Stint: - Marulan to Prestons


After a few minutes of conversing and stretching the chicken legs, Will get to take the last leg of the trip. From here, all bets are off – we are off to the races. During this leg of the trip is when Nath took some incredible shots using the settling sun as his template. Will struts “The car formerly known as SAKE” through shots after shots like a celebrity in the red carpet.





We entertainingly found ourselves back to the traffic of suburbia but closer to home. By this time, I could not careless how long to go till I get home. The journey is more fulfilling than the destination.


Final Stretch: - Prestons to Eastern Burbs.


10 minutes till my Parents house; I quickly rang my second home to prepare our arrival and have the high pressure hose on standby.


The Xtrail peels off heading north to my apartment where the crew can quickly prepare for my arrival...well sort of, but in reality Matt just wants his new Pew-Pew gauss cannon installed (aka NC exhaust mod)


As we approach my parents house, we were greeted by the Matriarch of the Familia with a big “Wow that is a nice car” while the Silent Don holding the high pressure hose ready to spray the bugs away.


As we quickly clean up the front, I advised the two that Will is the soon-to-be owner of the Banana (my yellow IS200) which was conveniently parked in my parent's garage. They congratulated Will and assured to him what he already knows – the Banana is ready for her new owner.


After the splash and dash, we were ready for road again but this time I’m in the cockpit ready for my first drive in the state of NSW. But as expected, I bogged the rear on the exit of the parents driveway like a bogged the front at exit of the Melbourne apartment.


After quick reminder from Will on how to get out of his area and back to the freeway, I quickly drop him home and jump back onto the freeway with ease. I mischievously approach the tunnel slowly, gearing myself for my first orgasmic rumble in the tunnel.


OOOhhh so sooo good but also so so juvenile – I love it!


I quickly composed myself as getting into mischief this early is will be a sign of disrespect. So I gently guided her back to normality and into the bosom of my apartment’s car park. There I found Sandra discussing to Matt her next purchase while Karl has left to drop off Nath. I quickly drove around and luckily found a Visitors Parking for her to temporarily rest while we emptied out the Xtrail and drove her back to my parent's place.


By this time, I’m hungry and tired but so is everyone else. So I bid farewell to Sandra as she makes her way back home while Matt hurriedly prepare his NC for a quick transplant – so he thinks.


I finally made it back to the parent's place to return the Xtrail and as always, I could not resist the constant twisting of my arm to eat some food before I leave. It is funny how parents know when their kids are hungry...do we look that obvious? Like the chirps of hatchlings.


So I cheekily ate the hotdog roll knowing that the crew will be hungry when they see me.


I fell back into my elements while driving the Banana back to my apartment. The sheer comfort and solid build made me wonder why I am selling her only to be reminded when I got home – I mischievously grin the moment I saw her.


That night, after the NC transplant and my first DIY fix on the EDFC (loose connection), the crew and I , with the addition of Stefan, celebrated with a feast as we welcome “The car formerly known as Sake” back to Sydney.


That night I slept like a baby. No nightmares, only dreams; of parts, DIYs, long drives, and epic stories. It is the roadster way, the roadster life.


The END.....for now.

[drkknt05]

This made me smile and feel nice and warm... Wish you the best of luck on your journey

[oldcafe]

Awesome story, and car

[Reggie]

An old friend reunited - Babalouie's garage



took it to Babs' Garage for a reunion that turned into a DIY Raise-Em-Up-Buttercup as the car will see some track action, mountain humps and my parents evil driveway.

I booked the car for the raising-up at Indy (IS Motor Racing) but Babs and I could not resist. Bab's knew whats best as I do ask him every time I do something to her - "What would Bab's do?"



Anyways, from wheel arch to centre hub Babs' aim to get the distance around 125cm and a tad bit higher at the rear.

Once done, I took it for a drive and notice the steering has gone lighter a bit and ride is not as harsh.

Once I was back in the garage, Babs' giddily asked if he can take it for a spin - I happily gave him the keys. It will be an honour for the car to know her old master steering again.

Babs jumped into the cockpit and for awhile getting re-acquainted with the familiar environment, well I thought so until a questioning look on his face. Karl noticed it too so he reminded Babs, "THERE IS A STARTER BUTTON!!" .....then we all burst laughing for a good couple of minutes.



after his short stroll around his area, he came back and immediately grab the lightgun and fixed the high idle.

I took her for a drive after the adjustment but on the way out of the garage, she winked at everyone - her right headlight closed and open.

She didn't feel any different from the changes Babs made but I blame my short time with her.

After Babs' Garage, the ride home was great and like the new stance.



the next morning, I took her to Indy to get her leveled up as Babs mentioned that the rear is a bit too high. We found it was 10mm higher than the rest.



Once fixed, I went to Spinning Wheels (my local wheel alignment specialist) to get Stu to work his magic on her.



Stu's work made her handle like she got powersteering...woot!

I was soon off to pickup Karl on the way to the Mechanic who will do the blue slip - compliance inspection as the car came from a different State.

The drive to the Mechanic took longer than the actual inspection and filling up of the form. :laughing:

Now that the blue slip is done, the only thing left is for the new plates to arrive so I can formally make her a resident of NSW.

Once I got home, time to give her her first wash.

[WASABI]

Great story telling & photos. The passion, love and respect for have for your car comes through.

-Cheers,

Jim

P.S. Subscribed

[Reggie]

^ thanks Jim.


Wats is this wheels?

An update on my confession found in the Part three of 'Dirty Little Secret',

My not-so-secret, ‘Dirty Little Secret’: Part three
........................
Being impatient, I had also been looking through yahoo.jp for wheels as a backup plan if the RPF1s weren’t available. As fate would have it, a set of 14x6.5 +14 Watanabes came up. Compulsive buying mentality kicked in, I won the auction and before I knew what I had done a second set of wheels were on their way to me.

I eventually received the wheels that was specifically made for the car - Watanabe R8 14x6.5 +14 type B (i think)



the wheels came with Bridgestone Playaz 185/55 that is pretty thin profile for me liking and makes the car sit even lower to the ground. Oh did I mention that I installed a set of Flying Miata Butterfly brace on her - to those who are familiar with the FM Butterfly they sit lower than the car. Anywho, these combo are the ingredients for copious scrapeage.



Anyway, I ended up putting RE001 that are 185/60 (enough to limit the scapeage) on them but took me a good 7 months to do it.
But during the wait, I found these babies from RHDJapan.



I bought it without asking or researching as I thought they should just fit.

Well I FAILED on my attempt to put them centre caps on


doesn't go all the way in


no space to go through


no room for the caps

Looks like I got a set of 60mm Watanabe Caps now as coasters.

[Reggie]

My first BESPOKE part courtesy of Babalouie's Garage



During a bowling night, a friend of mine (Melvin) handed me two pieces of aluminium plates to help me make a heatshield.

The plate is around 2.5mm thick, which I've been told will be pretty thick for the purpose. For me, this is good - that means it will be over engineered.

Anyway, I managed to book a time with Babs to help me make a heatshield using the plates.

It took us a few hours to make it but well worth it.

We started by removing the strut brace and the lockstuart intake to make it easier for us to access the extractor area.

We then cut out a template from a cardboard and started outlining the shape of the heatshield using the cardboard.

Once we were happy with the shape, we masked the good side of the plate and traced the shape. Masking the good side helps prevent unnecessary scratches while man handling the plate.

At first we were pondering the safest way to cut the plate- saw or jigsaw. The jigsaw only came with a blade for cutting wood while the saw will be cumbersome when cutting through the angles. We decided to use the normal saw first as it is the safest but after the first straight line, we could not continue anymore due to its limitation.

So with Karl typing in "000", aka 911 Version in Aus, in his phone just in an event of blood lost. Babs cuts the plate using the jigsaw while I use my eyeglass and hoody for protection, . It worked like a charm; it was like cutting through butter, sort off. We were amazed that the blade didn't break on us, even though it looks like an old nanna's toothless mouth at the end of the exercise. (reminder to myself - buy Babs different types of jigsaw blades)

After cutting the outline, holes were drilled to utilise the existing bolts on the extractor.

Then using the vice table, we jigged up a few wooden blocks and clamps so we can bend the plate to our decide angles ie 1 x 30degree and 1 x 60degree angle.

After a few trial fit and bending, we got our desired shape for the heatshield. Final step is the polishing - using the Mothers Ball.





A few coats of metal polish, we got our desired result and installed the heatsheild.



Thanks for Babs and Karl for the assistance. Only missing now is the "Babs Garage Logo Plate" to be riveted onto the heatshield.

[Reggie]

FEMB DIY at BAB's Garage
*FEMB - Fire Extinguisher Mounting Bracket

I always wanted to have a safety equipment nearby when I'm driving her especially knowing that she ain't getting any younger and some leaks can make her combust.

So during one of my visit to the nearest race gear outfitter - Revolution Racegear, I got me a fire extinguisher.


The Extinguisher comes with a holder but was not enough to be fitted in area where I want the extinguisher to go.


The mounting location is pretty standard for the mx5s - mounted using the front seat bolts, but instead of having it on the driver side, I opt to install the FEMB on the passenger side.


the design...note the round bits :hugegrin:

Them round bits will add extra strength to this FEMB and also Babs Tax (no warranty) in the event I part ways with it.


here is Babs punch stamping each centre hole for easy drilling


this FEMB will be very HOLEY


next is the Jigsaw to cut the FEMB out using the correct type of saw bit this time, aluminium instead of the wooden bit we used last DIY.


Babs cleaned up the sides using the sandbelt, then I got busy with the polishing and scotchbriting


once it is all nice and shiny, time for some dimple die lovin' :blush:

Not only does the dimple die looks good and adds strength, it also reduce the weight of the FEMB.


some more polishing and scotchbriting, just the way I like it.


nice and scotched! :laughing:

The Finish Product.....FEMB by Babalouie




Another marvelous work from Bab's garage....and hopefully this item is only use on other cars other than my own.