Lots of time has passed since my last post. Have many things changed? Not really.
Let's see...
During my last visit to LA for JCCS in 2007, my radiator cracked in 2 places in the middle of I-5.
Kind of like your worst nightmare. Managed to get back by constantly adding water, and finallly finding a gas station that had radiator sealant.
The pictures I posted above with the hood open in a dry desert-ish area was when that happened.
Fast forward almost a year, and the countdown clock was ticking for JCCS 2008. Time to get things done.
To start off, I shot a few emails off to friends about radiators. One friend who's in charge of Motorsports at Mazda USA told me to go with Ron Davis.
I get all the measurements, the radiator arrives the day before I leave for LA:
The problem is, they didn't weld the mounting tabs on for me....
So I made a quick and desparate run to Jerry Woods Enterprises who builds racing Porsches, and got the tabs welded. Phew!!!
So, I start thrashing. Taking out the radiator. A friend comes over with a set of Comptech headers. Sweet!! It's wrench time now.
Thanks to my friend, we got a lot done even though my back was going out on me.
Here's what the car looked like at 9:30pm, the night before I left:
Oh, forgot to say that I'm still having some vibration issues in high speeds, so I had the drive shaft out. Didn't have time to have another driveshaft built, so it had to go back in too. The car buttoned up pretty much with no hiccups and is ready to go by 12:30am.
Got to LA with no hiccups. Crashed out that night, and attended the show the following day:
It was good to see some old friends, meet online friends for the first time, or make new friends.
Also acted as one fo the judges of the show. It was hard since there were so many nice cars.
After the show, we stayed back for the 2008 JCCS DVD shoot. Then went out for a early dinner.
It was good to see old friends (both in length of friendship and actual age. LOL).
Look forward to going to the 2009 JCCS again. Not sure if I'll drive down, or figure out some way to get trailered.....
Last but not least, here are some pictures of my car photographed through the creative eyes of Scott Dukes:
http://www.dukesphotography.com/
They were used in the article of my Celica on Super Street. I think he's by far the most artistic and creative automotive photographer I've ever met.
These photos are being posted under his permission, for personal use only.