Super GT 2013

This year is my 3rd time attending the Super GT race in Malaysia. This year there is no Big Car Gathering event because the focus was on Super Bikes instead. So, I did not receive any free tickets this year like the past 2 years. In addition to my accident I did not want to go to the event without my Celica. However, my uncle scored 2 free tickets and asked me to go with my cousin brother. The difference with this year's carnival is the gallery of classical american car which does not interest me at all. So I went around scanning for JDM beauties. Sadly, I did not find much this year which was disappointing. I remember last year Toyota launched the Toyota 86 during the Super GT and this year Subaru launched its twin the Subaru BRZ. I spotted several chrome sticker covered cars like the movie HOST but also some cool European car such as the McLaren MP4, Lotus Evora and a nicely upgraded Audi R8.

Since I have watched the last 2 years' races, the Super GT did not have any charms on me and every year I missed the drifting event just outside the main entrance. This year I spent a lot of time in the drift area and spotted some JDM beauties. Since it is the drift event, majority of the cars here are rear wheel cars such as Mazda MX-5, Mazda RX-8, Toyota MR2, Toyota MR-S, Nissan 350z and Nissan S15. I also caught some of the drifting moments especially the 2 Toyota MR-S I spotted and also the Nissan 350z driven by Malaysia's own Drift Queen, Leona Chin. My most valuable find this year should be the exclusive Mazda RX-7 FD3S with the rare widebody Veilside Fortune bodykit which made a great appearance in the Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift movie. The photos below are from the drifting event.

Better Than Thought

After 3 weeks, I finally got the chance to visit my Celica in the workshop. Finally I got a closer look at what is the damage. First off with the good news. The only damage to the front in the front bumper (plus fog lights). The radiator and ATF cooler which are the parts just behind the front bumper are unharmed meaning that the engine is safe. Moving to the driver side, the fender and wheel are could be seen damaged from the photo in the previous post. The damage includes broken brake rotor, broken rims and broken lower arm. I am so happy that my rare TRD anti roll bar is unharmed. The coilover might be bent and calipers need to be checked. At the rear, the rear bumper is gone, rear skirt melted by exhaust tip, exhaust tip dented and one rear lights smashed. Below are some photos of damaged parts.

In total, the front bumper with fog lights, right fender, right front rim and tire, one headlight, one brake rotor, one rear light, one rim and rear bumper are confirmed gone cases which needs replacements. Small parts like lower arm assembly, right door, right side skirt and exhaust tip remains unknown at the moment. Brake caliper and coilover needs to be checked. The problem is to locate some of this either rare facelift parts or hard to retrieve parts for the Celica. The front facelift light with build in H.I.D. is as rare as a gem and the suspension is long obsolete. I would not even know what to do with the rims because rims come in a set of 4 and I broke only one. The nut remover is also missing. So, the good news is the damage were not as serious as I thought but locating these parts is not an easy task. I provided the workshop with some leads I have for sourcing these parts.

Could Be The End

A catastrophe has struck not only me but my beloved Celica. I met with an accident a few days ago. The accident was caused by my action of braking by emergency. It caused the wheel to lock and coupled with wet, slippery road, my car spun. It hit a metal divider on the right and cross three lanes on the highway and hit the metal divider on the left and finally I maneuvered the high speed spinning car into a clear area hitting a third divider. The car stopped and all electric current was gone. I tried to open the door but it was damaged but I managed to get out. I could see the front bumper far away, the right fender smashed and I felt a horror chill. I was more worried about the well-being of my car. I heard people saying the lower arm broke and because of the spinning the rear was damaged too. I knew in my heart that the damage would be huge but I hope for the best as I notice the hood is not dented.

There are many things that is going in my head currently. Number 1 would be the sadness and guilt I feel about crashing the Celica. Number 2 is my concern with the insurance people. There are cases where original parts are replaced with fakes or parts claim do not match the car. For instance, a different bumper or different lights. I am driving a facelift Celica where parts are not easily found. So, usually pre-facelift parts are used and the age of the car could be an excuse to why parts could not be found. Finally, I am worry about the handling of the car after it is fixed and the rare parts that I mod on my Celica. It is well known that once a car is involved in an accident at the suspension area, the handling will never be the same as it was. Celica is off production for quite some time and parts especially modification parts are hard to be found. I doubt I will get back what it was before.

Now all I can do is wait for the insurance claim procedures and get the car fixed. Every day I just imagine how the car would be and it is messing with my head. I really want to know what is the current condition of my Celica, what will be done to fix my Celica and the parts that will be used. The most important thing is to use original parts whether is new or used. I did have a friend whose Celica crashed and he manipulated the insurance personnel and changed the transmission from automatic to manual. Of course being the motor-head like I am, I want to do the same but it is illegal and I am not going to stoop so low. In the end, I am really guilty and sorry about wrecking my beloved Celica and I hope for a great recovery.

Lambo-Celica

The question here is what does a Lamborghini Aventador and a Toyota Celica have in common ? Well besides only having 2 doors and a low roof line, it seems the similarity ends there. However, both are dream cars for different variety of people and in Malaysia there is a guy bold enough to dream for both. He is the first in the country to combine these 2 lovely sports car into one visually. His creation, the Lambo-Celica. Firstly, what sets the Aventador away from other Lamborghinis is the front bumper that has a sharp nose and huge air intakes on both side of the bumper. This are the main parts that this owner have focus on and captured into the Celica design. The headlights are not the original design but it has a combination of LED and HID that is similar to the Aventador. It keeps its JDM style with the Invader hood and original Celica hood spoiler. No doubt from the front it seems a small sized Lamborghini is riding through the streets.

When you see the front, it is natural that people wound expect the rear to look very close to the Aventador. I have to admit while waiting for him to tease us with the rear when it was still in the process was a bit difficult especially when imagining how the Aventador's design can merge with the Celica's rear. When it was done, the rear certainly is not the Aventador but instead a very fierce JDM look. The rear bumper is not a 100% custom design compared to the front and is actually based on the Bomex rear available for the Celica as this was the previous bumper that the owner used. The owner had his previous bumper widened for the wide body effect and added vents to give it the fierce looks and changed the tail lights. That is why you can still see the shape of a Celica. Since the body is now much wider, a larger spoiler is needed. Although the front is going after the Italian Lamborghini look, it is still a JDM car so the GT wing design is used.The wing is custom made because it is simply too wide.

On the side view,the wide body effect can be seen clearly. The huge vent on the rear fender area is huge and the door can be seen inverted in and the side skirt is a custom from the Varis design for Mitsubishi Evolutions. I remember a few years ago when a US vendor sold Ferrari F430 replica kits for the Celica and it look exactly the same as a F430 on the outside and the interior has been replicated to look as close to the original as possible. However, in this case instead of making it look like the Aventador, the interior of the Celica gets a 2 tone makeover and leather wrapped seats. The cluster meter is not exactly a JDM spec with its mph indicator. It looks great but it does not tell the speed well because I believe it is just a face change (not confirmed) but it is ok because the speed can be told by the Pivot Speed Meter just in front of the cluster. As you can see from below there are 2 extra gauges on the A pillar.

The final outcome of the Lambo-Celica is definitely a love-hate relationship. Some might hate it as the Celica design is no longer pure but some might praise his effort and passion and love that sharp Aventador nose. I for one love the effort, time and money he throws in to get the one of a kind look that he wanted for his lovely ride. At the end of the day, it is only important that he thinks it is the best car in the world. I salute him for his bravery. Custom Bodykit = big bucks, Lamborghini looks with the convenience of a Celica = awesome but the smile on the owner's face when people head turns looking at your car = PRICELESS !!

Repairing Fiberglass Parts

When I got my hood, it was in a bad condition. From the surface only the paint job looks bad but actually from the bottom, it is really bad. There are some spots that the frame is detached from the hood and cracks from the frame as seen below. Normally with this kind of damage, the usual people would just throw this out and buy a new one. However, in this case I would not think of buying it if it is not worth something. The great thing about fiberglass is it could be shaped into anything which is a favorite with custom body parts makers. Another characteristic is when hit, it will crack or break and it is repairable. That is why I bought the hood and now it is restored. 

Bad Condition When Purchased 

Now fiberglass looks like shreds of fiber or thread and some even prepare it in a small square patch ready for use. The repair process is just aligning the parts and putting the fiber on top of area needed to repair. Apply glue to make it wet and stick together and while doing this, the shape needed is shaped. The process is repeated until it is strong enough. Leave it to dry or heated by blower and it will look like new. Below are some photos of the process and how fiberglass looks like.

The photo below show the same area that was broken. As you can see it might not be fully restored or look smooth but it is like almost new. There are some area that are no longer attached to the hood and the use of glue solves that. So, if you have a part that is made of fiberglass and it is broken, do not worry as it can be fixed.

Carbon Hood Part 2

Today I had 2 tasks regarding my hood. The first is to install the hood pin. Well the part that goes on the hood is already attached and ready from the day I bought the hood. This hood pin design is rarely found on hoods because it requires a big space and many are reluctant to cut their expensive hood for the big hole seen below to fit this lock. This design looks much better than the alternative so I am happy with it especially since it comes with the hood. Now many will ask why is it necessary to install this hood pin is because the hood is too light and would open if driven at high speed. I did not drive too fast before this fearing it would lift on its own and I look forward to testing the power when I have the time. To install the pin, holes had to be drilled but the most time consuming thing is to adjust it so it locks properly and is not too tight and tear the hood. Also, on one side the pin is too near the radiator hose and it had to be shorten.

Hood Lock

Lock from Below

Hood Pin

Installed

The second task is to adjust the height of the hood by using the stock hood rubbers shown below. Now the hood is lower on the left side. It needs these rubbers to lift the hood up but the stock rubbers are too big and the fiber frame is too thick. So, a replacement rubber is used instead. The hood is raised but just by a little and nothing could be done. This is common because no carbon fiber or fiberglass product that is hand-made will be 100% fitting because of the material. I pay a lot attention on details and this really frustrates me but nothing much could be done. I just have to accept it as it is. As for the stock rubbers, I will keep as I am keeping my stock hood just in case one day i would de-mod and sell the car.

Stock Hood Rubbers

Drilling through thick Fiberglass

Rubber from other Source

Even as one day has passed after getting the hood, I already have some problems or concern about this hood. First thing is the design of the hood. The scoop is too big and the the fin is removable. The scoop is too light and too big that driving fast could crack the hood which already happened. The fin area, I am worried the water may leak in is it is not screwed tightly. The person who installed the hood pin says the quality does not reflect japanese product. The second thing is the fitment and paint. Since it is fiber, the surface when painted has a strange cloud like pattern under the sun and many had to be done to make it fit. Even with a lot of effort it still is just 90% fitting. Finally, the last part is when I open my hood to see my white engine cover with a black spot. I soon realized that the screw on the scoop area is hitting the engine cover. So, I have to change the screw to save my engine cover.

Crack at Scoop Area

The Screw on Hood (top) effect on Engine Cover (bottom)

Carbon Hood Part 1

I remember buying the half carbon fiber vented hood on 16th March and I left it in the hands of my mechanic. The good thing is I realized the design is a favorite, the C-ONE Ver.2 hood and it is half carbon. I asked him to find a shop to repair the hood and get it painted since the place where I bought the hood is near my mechanic's place and I did not want to transport it too much. However, after 34 days at the workshop with no news, I decided not to wait anymore and start looking for contacts to get it done. I got a recommendation from my friend of a shop that could fix the broken structure of the hood. I sent the hood for repair and it took 5 days. I was disappointed with the service as the hood was not completely fixed. The structure was not totally strong and still flimsy. I took the hood anyway because I did not want to leave it there anymore.

Transporting the Hood

After collecting the hood, I went to a painter that my another friend highly recommended where the workmanship is good and is cheap. That place already painted 2 other Celicas so I was sure of the workmanship. I negotiated for some time regarding the price because my budget was very tight. At the end, I got a sweet deal for a 2 tone paint job (body color for hood and grey for vents) and matt black for the bottom part. It took quite some time for the hood to be painted (6 days) because the first color was off, the paint cracked due to the soft structure and polishing. I had to go visit several time just to check the progress. Finally, it is done I had it installed today.

Getting Polish

Lightweight Hood that Bends, Matt Black on the bottom

Below are the stages of the changes done to my hood. When finally installed, I was concerned about the difference in color as there is no 100% similarity in a paint job. I was also concerned about the effect of weight on my car because the hood is really really light. When I first drive with it, I felt my steering wheel lighter and accelerates better but before I could try anything, I noticed that the hood is moving. At only 80 kph, the hood starts to move because of the lightweight and the super big intake bulge. Plus, my hood pin is not installed yet. So, tomorrow I have to get the hood aligned and the hood pin installed and then I can finally try the reduce weight effect on my car's performance.

Stock Hood

Without Hood

When Fitting

Without Vents

Completion