Deployed to Afghanistan build and beyond
 

Hi all, so I finally decided to do a car journal online. Usually I just put all of my stuff into a log book but this sounds more interesting.
Purchased: August 2012 in Jacksonville, NC
Received military orders from Henderson Hall HQMC, Arlington, VA to Camp Pendleton, CA.
Current Mileage 11,936
Gas Milage: Depends on how close I get the pedal through the floor board.
Received another set of orders to Afghanistan...YAY!! Another deployment.
Anyway, I live in Aliso Viejo and commute to Pendleton each day on the 5. It's a pretty nice drive. Seen a couple of other FR-S/BR-Z members that I waved to on my daily commutes. I drove over to the Camp Pendleton Branch of West Coast Customs and literally seconds after stepping out of my car I had the WCC team on me saying that they needed an FR-S as a show car. I brushed them off kinda just because I like purpose build track cars and explained that to them. They made some phone calls and the next thing I knew I was handing them the keys to my car. I gave them a stern warning though that if I came back from deployment and was looking at some pimp my ride crap I would probably destroy the car in front of them and make sure to get it all on camera.....yes I have gone to anger management....still learning:) The following pics were taken of my car with my amazing HTC evo Shift (note to self....the camera sucks) and also from the pics that my friend shot one evening 3 months ago when they were closed. BTW I have no idea what it looks like right now but I will put a list of all the things they wanted to do to it on the bottom of this post. Hope you enjoy.
Current Location of car: West Coast Customs
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...20up/ZN6_1.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...20up/ZN6_2.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...20up/ZN6_3.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...20up/ZN6_4.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...20up/ZN6_5.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...20up/ZN6_6.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...20up/ZN6_7.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...20up/ZN6_8.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...20up/ZN6_9.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...0up/ZN6_10.jpg

Here are the renderings they gave me. Final product will not be the same but will be similar.
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...6_CONCEPT1.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...6_CONCEPT2.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...6_CONCEPT3.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...6_CONCEPT4.jpg

Here are the pics that my friend took. NIGHT OPS!!!!!!!
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...ZN6_11RIMS.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p.../ZN6_RIMS1.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p.../ZN6_RIMS2.jpg

List of my Mods:.................um a mirror that I had in my old 96 FD3S Efini.

List of what they said they would do:
- 18 inch wheels - 18x10.5j or 9j
- Full custom wide body
- Greddy or Blitz Turbo Kit
- Greddy or Blitz Boost Controller
- Full Coil over suspension
- Sway bar kit
- Full exhaust
- Greddy E-manage
- Under bracing
- Front and rear diffuser
- Wilwood Brakes
- Custom Roll cage and rear cabin brace. Told them if they do this I still need to be able to get my son and one of his friends in the back seat.
- Bride Seats
- Greddy or Blitz Gauges

They were pretty vague on what they were actually going to do so I am interested to see the final product. Oh and the car will stay black. I will keep yall posted as I receive more pictures.

Other than that Afghanistan Sucks and I can't wait to get home. Deuces!

WTF!!!! Why did you get a green Balloon with your car? I didnt get one! That's so unfair, you guys in the US always get the good stuff from your dealers:-(

however, looking forward to see the final pictures of your car, rendering do look nice, hope you will not end up having any LCD screens under the car or something ;-) Big fan of the roof wing! What are you paying for the modifications? Or is it all sponsored?

Yeah, The green balloon was thrown in. Adds roughly 5hp to the windshield. The Stevenson added.050000 grams to the weight so I had to heat up that sucker and pull it off. It is a sponsored build which is why they didn't know who to go with for the turbo and electronics. I am also praying that there aren't some hidden huge tv screens/Dj equipment. Already talked to them though and the reason why they did all of that was because MTV paid for them to do builds like that. They were telling me that they actually hated doing that type of stuff which is why they are mainly doing purpose built cars now.

So they are finally done and here is the end result....A combination of my old cars!!!
96 FD3S Efini
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...ku1/fd3s_4.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...ku1/fd3s_3.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...ku1/fd3s_2.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...ku1/fd3s_1.jpg

96 Toyota Celsior
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...1/DSC_0099.jpg

And my old baby. 92 BNR32 GTR Tommy Kaira edition Serial number 76 that has been through more transformations than Frankenstein.
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...6/IMG_9737.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...6/IMG_9747.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...6/IMG_9751.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...6/IMG_9755.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...6/IMG_9756.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...6/IMG_9764.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...6/IMG_9773.jpg
And the transformation
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...6/DSC_0087.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...6/DSC_0088.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...6/DSC_0089.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...6/DSC_0090.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...6/DSC_0091.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...6/DSC_0092.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...6/DSC_0093.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...6/DSC_0094.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...6/DSC_0095.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...6/DSC_0096.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...6/DSC_0098.jpg

Hope you liked my other cars. I had a couple few more such as a 2010 MS3 which I traded in for the FR-S and also a fairlady Z TT but now that I look back on it the car was hideous. And the award for the most ugliest car in my collection THIS FAIRLADY Z.
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...fairladyz1.jpg
Clothes worn in this photo, Diesel jacket, Armani exchange T, Boss jeans and NewRock boots...at least something has to look good in that photo, minus my hair. Freaking moto.

Y plateo choo baka yo... Sugoii jenai lol

LOL, namba pleto roku roku roku wa junsei. Gomenasai, dakedou Karuma wa segoi desho?

You had all those awesome JDM cars and didn't get an actual 86? What gives? :D

I'm in here to see what they end up doing with your car....and WOW the JDM goodness :drool:

Good stuff. Wish more orders would drop in my lap... separating so might go work oil rigs for a bit and save.

Never really wanted the original 86. I drove an ITB'd 86 on our usual mountain pass only because my friend wanted to drive my GTR that night but I never really felt comfortable with it. I think I was just too used to the power and the traction of my GTR at the time. Plus my suspension was tuned better for the mountains so I felt that it handled better for my style of driving. I never got into drift too much. I just enjoyed the mountain passes and the circuit in Okayama.

Sono bango ha kakkoi desu yo! Kuruma mo! Anata ha Kaihetai desuka?

Arigatou. Kaihetai desu.

Oh, no I meant the Toyota 86 (ZN6), not the AE86.

I moved away from Japan 4 years ago but still have a place in Yokohama. Spent 12 wonderful long years there. If I was still there I would have the FT-86 instead of my FR-S. The only thing I miss really is my tuning shop there. The guy was a genius with suspension and amazing at tuning for the type of driving you do. He would always ask you what you weighed in kilograms and then take the car on the mountains. After two days of driving the piss out of your car he would tune the suspension to perfection per your weight. He has never failed me in any of my cars. My GTR actually turned and didn't feel like complete poo in the tight corners. Granted I honestly hated my GTRssss(owned 4). They are too heavy in my opinion. My FD on the other hand was my dream car and it handled like a champ in the mountains. I aint even gonna try to drive like I did in Japan here in California. I like my no ticket driving record. Ortega highway looks kinda nice. Passed a Mustang GT and an STI in my wifes Prius C coming home one night. They kept speeding on the straights and would go like turtle slow through the corners. I caught up pretty quickly to them, backed off a bit, timed the next corner and gunned my Wifes little electric hybrid beast (maybe gunned isn't the right word) Lets use uh..wait still thinking....GOT IT!!!!.........and yabba dabba dooood my wifes little electric hybrid gas saver past them in mid corner. After the next two corners they were gone and I didn't see another vehicle in sight. Wonderful drive though.

Funny guy!

Hi all. Here is a little update on my car. WCC went with some other parts. What I can see from the pictures They installed Megan Racing coilovers, a Takeda intake, and no idea what the exhaust is but it sounds sweet...to me at least. Guess they wanted to black out the tail lights also. Looks pretty nice. I haven't see the front of the car yet.

Here is a video of the exhaust.
[ame]http://youtu.be/duYOUIq9yN8[/ame]

http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...taillights.jpg

http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...S/sideshot.jpg

http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...528_111100.jpg

http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...528_111053.jpg

http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...528_110955.jpg

http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...528_110947.jpg

Why would WCC buy Megan Racing and XXR's? Dafuq.

lol, wondering the same. I understand that better parts are more expensive but it's whatever. I plan on having this car until it completely dies so it still has a ton of life left plus the body style reminds me of how nice the RX-7 still is. As long as the chasis doesn't split in half it will be fine. Parts can always be changed and swapped out in the future.

Basically going to keep my hopes up and not lower my excitement to see the finished product. Granted I don't even know who XXR or Megan racing is but who knows. They might have decent products. The XXR's in their 18" 9.5J trim weigh 21 pounds each which is the same as everyone of Gram lights products. I would have went Volk because they make an 18" wheel that is only 15 lbs each but that is just my way of wanting less weight. That is for the future. I have no idea about the XXR strength also so I guess we will see later when I get back how they handle on the track with rigidity and flex. As for the Megan Racing coil overs they are 32 way adjustable but that is pretty much all I know. They do have some applications on some other drift cars. I want to see how they do on the circuit. Spring rate seems right if you go to their webpage. The dampening is easily adjustable. Just gotta find my happy setting depending on the track I go to. Takeda is a good intake but the amount of RPMs you have to hit in order to see a gain is 6530+. Takeda does not increase lower RPM hp or torque which is what is sorely needed in the FR-S per reviews. I think there were like one or two intakes on the market today that actually increase low end hp and torque. As for the exhaust I honestly have no idea who makes it. Trying to get the Marine that has been taking the pictures for me over there to look at the exhaust again. I am willing to bet it is also Megan Racing just because WCC works out combo deal with manufacturers for a better price. All I know it that it sounds good and I like the stance. The blacked out tail lights give it a nice touch also. Not that I really care about cosmetics but it is a nice touch. No one sees any hidden TV's in any of the pictures right? lol.

And that is the most important part! :-)
About XXR, maybe have a look into this thread.
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18661
Plenty of happy customers, and as you said, they are quiet light for the price. From the pictures it looks like its the 8.25X17 or / 18, so it will be something around 19lbs.

For the other parts, cant say anything about them, however, again, you do not seem to have any TV's on the car yet, so its not that bad at all :-)

New update all. Still stuck in Afghanistan but my spy cought these pics and dipped.
http://i1193.photobucket.com/albums/...704_191827.jpg
http://i1193.photobucket.com/albums/...704_191810.jpg

I am diggin the gold.

nice i like the gold as well...

That is the aFe Takeda exhaust.

http://afepower.com/shop/details_new...tno=49-46010-P

Really excited. I fly into California today. So happy to be out of Afghanistan. Can
t wait to see my car. My wife and son too but mostly my car........wait said that backwards......anyway. Ortega Highway here I come.

Welcome back, and slow your roll, there Takumi san!

Hope you enjoyed the good ole' 'stan. I know I did, LOL.


I bet you're dying of anticipation! I'd be freaking out.

Here are the updated pictures. Most of yall have already seen it at the 86 Fest, 5Axis and Tuesday night Irvine meets. Reppin my boy Raf.
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...1/IMAG0296.jpg
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...1/IMAG0297.jpg
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...1/IMAG0293.jpg
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...1/IMAG0290.jpg
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...1/IMAG0292.jpg
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...1/IMAG0291.jpg
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...1/IMAG0294.jpg
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...1/IMAG0295.jpg
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...rscomplete.jpg
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...scomplete3.jpg
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...scomplete2.jpg

I also had an idea. Thinking about making my own wide body kit based off of the RX-7(FD3S) wide body kits just due to the seamless styling. I dislike the rocket bunny one due to the rivets and the way it is cut/design of it. I think we can come up with some decent designs when looking at the FD as a reference. Let me know what yall think?

Here are some of the kits I like minus the front bumper on the white one.
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...-rx7-typea.jpg
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/...mage-thumb.jpg

So I put in a customer complains to West coast customs about the work that was done to my car. Those that are looking at the picture plus know what I went through know that the rear wheels are the wrong offset and that I have a problem with not being able to use my suspension the way it was supposed to be used. I am currently riding with my suspension maxed out in hardness so that I do not bottom out and hit my fenders. Unfortunately I still do and it scars the hell out of me knowing I would drop straight to the rim because they stretched a 225 on a 10j wheel. I also got pulled over twice already and was cited (given a warning) about my blacked out tail and they had me pop my hood citing me for my illegal Takeda Intake. West coast customs on Pendleton shut down 3 weeks ago so I actually had to contact the head quarters. They shut down due to unsatisfied customers, too many customer complaints and a lot had to do with The base charging them a 25% commission. I found out that the guy who worked on my car either quit and opened his own shop or was fired. I will find out what WCC is going to do to fix the work done to my car. Oh and supposedly they scrapped all my stock parts so I am working on getting those back also. Who scraps wheels and new tires? Bet $10 they sold them. Oh well. No matter what I will be compensated.

Ok so after 4 months of fighting with West coast customs they finally replaced my rear wheels with the correct offset. Wheels pictured are the XXR530's 18x8.25 +35 which fit perfectly and allow me to now use my suspension. The screwed up part was that when they first put on the old wheels I was noticing that I was bottoming out constantly both in the front and the rear. Now I don't bottom out. Reason for that was based off of me telling them that they screwed up my suspension from the get go. The preset wasn't set correctly so that was adjusted. They also tightened up the nut on top of the suspension to 60lbs torque like it should have been in the first place. Basically my suspension was under free travel with no settings which cause my to destroy my tires and rims which they replaced also.

Now on to the rest of the garbage. When the idiots were replacing my tires they broke my tire pressure sensor. Instead of replacing it they decided to hook me up with an awesome custom electrical taped sensor to the inside of my wheel. The only reason why I found that out was because they sent me to America's tire to get my tires balanced. Great timing because West Coast Customs took their tire balancing machine to sema. If that had not been the case I would have been riding around with a broken tire sensor which I heard in the tire. Overall I would recommend everyone stay away from WCC. Garbage experience overall.
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMAG07611.jpg
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMAG07621.jpg
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMAG07631.jpg

See below for my awesome custome tire sensor yo!! WEST COAST CUSTOMS!!!!!!! YEAH!
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMAG07671.jpg

And the even worse news. So I have this wall of boxes with a cooler on the top in my small garage. Two nights ago that wall decided to fall. Luckily the hood of my car caught anything from breaking....the bad part was that everything in those boxes and cooler were metal and plastic so nothing would break anyway. Now I got 3 dents and a ton of scratches on the hood. YAY!!! I told the wife and she basically gave me the green light to get a carbon fiber hood so everything worked out. (Note to self: Need to crack my rotors and burn off my break pads and somehow destroy my calipers.)
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMAG07831.jpg
http://i1198.photobucket.com/albums/.../IMAG07811.jpg

Hi all, so I have a quick question. One of my friends living in Hiroshima has the stock T28 Turbine from his S-14 that he is shipping to me for free. How hard would it be to use this turbo on the FR-S. I would just need the measurments for the exhaust side for the custom manifold right? Plus obviously everything else, computer, proper cooling, piping etc. Granted on a stock S-14 the turbo can handle up to 15psi safely and makes up to 260 RWHP but I am wondering how much it would make on the FR-S?

Dang, dude. Sounds like you almost got screwed by Ray Charles Suspension!

Ok so after owning the car since August of 2012 I think I have hit an all time low with it. I haven't had any of the oh man I love this car moments except when I first bought it. Maybe it is the lack of power or the fact that I do not have the money to get more power. Even then this car has failed in comparison to my other previously owned vehicles as shown on page 1 of this thread. It could also be the problems I went through with west coast customs and how they basically gave me all crap which wouldn't have gone on the car in the first place to include throwing out all of my stock parts. Even when my wall of boxes fell onto my hood I really didn't care. It still isn't fixed. Any bugs or chips in the paint are still there from regular driving and I have even gone weeks at a time without washing the vehicle. I do keep it in the garage though that way when I do go to sell it in the next year or so I can get a decent price for it. There is just something about being on the highway, being in a decent rush and have to slow down to 55 or 60 because I don't have enough power to pass that prius and mini van that I would have easily squeezed through in another vehicle. I really hate to sound disheartened but honestly I think I should have at least waited to purchase the vehicle and kept my Mazdaspeed 3 for a little while longer. I don't even care enough to purchase stock wheels so I can replace my crap XXR's for use on another vehicle. It could also be the fact that the vehicle doesn't feel solid. There are just too many noises in the suspension and the vibrating of stock under body panels that make me proud of my purchase. So I have come to the conclusion that in 3 years time I will take another trip over to Japan to visit my mother in law and also will source another Tommy Kaira R32 GTR because I actually really miss driving that car. The interior was a ton better. The power was amazing and it came with all the upgrades needed to bring the car to 500hp plus minus of course the clutch, intercooler and radiator. It also will cost a ton less. I bought my original Tommy Kaira GTR for $7000. Add in the $2000-$4000 shipping plus the $1000 to register plus tax and I am still sitting under $13k for a superior vehicle. I might update this thread again in the future if I can find the love for the vehicle again but as it stands now I consider this car my beater.

I have a few thoughts:

You are trying to compare an entry level sports car to your previous mid to high level sports cars with much higher hp numbers. (Apples to oranges.)

I'm not trying to sway you to keep the 86, especially since you seem to have made your mind up. But if you dropped 13k in performance mods on your 86 instead of starting over with an older platform, you may find out that you really do like the 86.

Thanks for serving.




Sent from somewhere.

I spent 9 so far in mine. About as quick as a 13 GT in the straights, always did it's job all in the corners.

Thanks for supporting our nations military Airborne:)

See there lays the problem. Unfortunately my wife will not give me the homminus dominus to spend any money on the car. I got an amazing quote from STS to do an entire lag less turbo kit with all supporting mods for an amazing price but the wife still said no. With that in mind and with the driving I do here in Southern California (Highway only) I would be better off waiting 3 years. Sell the car for 10-13k and turn around and buy another 1992 Tommy Kaira edition GT-R which would be legal to bring to america at that time. Granted, like I said before 3 years is a long time so I could find the love for this car in that time frame. It just isn't looking good right now.

Ha thanks, I'm going into civilian life soon! But I find your suspension tuner interesting.

I served 9 years in the Army as a Parachute Rigger, so I always try and say something to fellow veterans and those currently serving.

I can't argue with the Tommy Kaira GT-R thing. It will be much more rarer than an FRS/BRZ. It will also be a little more in the maintenance department financially eventually as things wear and give out...but that point is invalid because: GT-R. :burnrubber:

I appreciate your service brother.

Very true on the maintenance department but if there is one thing I know, it is RB26's. I have owned 4 GT-R's and luckily my first engine was poop so I learned how to take apart the engine, find the problems and re-assemble it. Luckily I won't have to pay for labor. I would most likely switch to a Z32 MAF since the RB26s MAF is garbage an tends to break often. After that it is all preventive maintenance.

Just as I am writing this a thought occured to me. If I spent an extra 13k on my FR-S to get it to the high horse power I would like it would be like buying a vehicle for 40k which makes me lean even further to selling the FR-S in 3 years and buying my GT-R. I will definitely continue to stop by at the Irvine FR-S meets just because I like the people there and will continue to post in these forums. Anyway, thanks again for your service and of course your feed back in this thread.