Snowboarding 2011 Wrap Up

So sorry for the lack of updates!  I'll explain in a later entry but for now, it's time to catch up.  Despite winter's final attempts here to stick around, the hills have sadly closed up for the season.  I still might take a trip out west to Mammoth to ride one last time, but we'll see what my schedule allows.

However, just because it's winter doesn't mean my camera equipment stays put away.  I've been snowboarding for 11-years and go riding whenever I get the chance.  Here's a link to a couple of photo sessions from only a couple days of riding plus a video shot by my friend.

Gallery:  Snowboarding 2011 by Kaien

Video 1
Video 2

That's a Wrap!

Well, I can't exactly remember how long it's been since I've been able to say that a project has been, "finished."  Then again, is a project ever really finished?  Surely there are things one can change for the next season, or areas that can be improved on from before after looking at the "finished" piece, but I think I can say that my 2000 Lexus LS400 is finally done.  I say that mainly because I don't know how much longer I will have it, and also because any changes that I had planned for 2011 have been cancelled due to other projects and other changes in life.  Still, the short, but sweet journey with the LS has been a fun one, and I think I did a good job with it in the short time I had in building it.  I think it came down to minimum effort, maximum results.

I picked the car up in early July after selling my 2003 Ford F250 diesel since I wasn't towing around my cars anymore, plus I was looking at getting another car and getting a big, luxury sedan.  Thanks to my friends on the west coast, and sites like Stance Nation, Stanceworks, and Hellaflush, I was exposed to the VIP scene and liked what I was seeing, which lead me to looking for a big, Japanese, luxo-cruiser.  I had always like the Lexus LS400 and LS430, and found this nice example in Chicago, IL.  It was a platinum edition with 78k original miles.  I picked it up for a good price and almost immediately I was on the phone with Guillermo over at GPR Auto ordering the necessary parts to get the car sitting right.

The nice thing about having a few cars is that you generally have some parts laying around that can be used on new projects.  In my case, I had a set of 19" multi-piece Enkei Phalenx wheels from on of my other cars.  They measure in at 19x8.5 +35 front, and 19x10 +40 rear, so while not too terribly aggressive, they still sat well on the LS and filled up the wheel wells nicely.  To get the car sitting nicely over the 19s, GPR Auto sent me over a Tanabe suspension.  After installing it, the car didn't sit as low as I wanted, so off they came, and me and a friend did a little modification to the springs to get them to sit the car a little lower.  Hey, sometimes a little ingenuity comes in handy.

With the rolling stock taken care of and the suspension dialed in, it was time to focus in on some other areas of the car, which in reality, nothing else really needed attention.  Apart from an exterior detail, and the addition of some accessories, it remains stock.  The factory audio system got a slight upgrade in the form of a JL Audio amp and single, 8" JL Audio sub where the factory sub once resided.  The factory, plush leather interior didn't need much sprucing up, the factory wood-grain adding that perfect touch of class.

The car's big debut was at the September Cars & Cafe event here in Minneapolis where the cars simple appearance and low-down stance turned more than a few heads in an event filled with exotics.  Not too many people up this way are familiar with the stance movement so the car got looks for it's wide wheels with stretched tires on a big, luxury sedan.  I hit up as many meets and local get-togethers as I could and the car had an overwhelmingly positive response.  Overall, I'm very happy with the response and the impact the car created with how little I put into it, and the short time that I had the car out.  Right now, the car is sitting dumped on the stock 16s wrapped in winter tires as I wait to decide what to do with the car.  It's a great car and is still in very nice condition, but this was one of those projects destined to be short lived.  My tastes and interests change and I'm courting a few new possibilities for the LS's replacement.  Only time will tell, but for now, that's a wrap.

I would like to say thanks to all my friends who helped in this build, Guillermo over at GPR Auto for the parts, all the guys on the Low N' Slow crew, and the i'mSTANCED crew.

Slide Dog Millionaire

Let's face it.  In today's world, some people take things way too seriously, and the automotive scene is no different.  Everyone should be in it for the love of the scene and enjoying the journey one takes with a car.  Sadly, there are some who just make things unbearable.  Whether they are voicing their disapproval over someone's car, or someone being too hard on him or herself for a poor performance, it's easy to take the fun out of the culture which is something that needs to be avoided to keep everything going.  Drifting is one aspect of the automotive culture that has this problem.  What started out as a fun, grassroots type sport has now exploded into the mainstream and international fame.  The competition is fierce and the competitors no less.  You have to be at the top of your game to stay up top, but does that mean the sport can't be fun anymore?  Surely not.

Meet Chris Hooker, also known as C.J the Husky, and the owner of this 240sx here.  Although young and somewhat new to the scene, his attitude is something that a lot of people can learn from.  While he strives to get better, he doesn't let that stop him from enjoying every minute he is behind the wheel of his car, whether he's driving it to a convention, or sliding it at a local drift event.  This car gets driven a lot and driven hard being that it is his drift machine/road-trip vehicle, and it's great to see Chris having such an awesome attitude towards everything.

Chris's story begins in the summer of 2008 when he picked up this 1991 240sx for the fair sum of $1,250.  The car, however, barely ran, suffering from rod-knock.  Chris said the car died after he got the car off of the trailer and into his driveway.  Not one to be discouraged, he jumped right in, getting his paws dirty, and the following week the motor was out of the car and ready to be torn down for the rebuild.  Ready for the challenge, and armed with only his willingness to learn, Chris set about reading all he could on building up his KA motor for boost.  During this time, he worked as much as he could at his job at the local grocers, and his free time was spent gathering all the information he needed to do the job himself.  After securing a small bank loan to fund the build, Chris started ordering the parts needed to build the motor.  During the winter months, the motor was sent to the machine shop for the necessary machining for over-sized pistons and having everything checked and cleaned.  Once back in his possession, Chris busted out his trusty service manual, and set about re-assembling his new KA motor.  The block has been fitted with CP pistons mounted on a set of Eagle rods with Clevite 77 bearings.  The head consists of a set of '91 DE cams and a Cometic head-gasket.  He finished the rebuild by spring of '09 and broke the motor in in NA form.

By the summer of '09, everything was broken in and running smooth.  It was at this time that Chris purchased a set of coilovers to get the car sitting right, along with a set of 16x8 +0 Sportmax wheels wrapped in 205/50/16 tires to get the stance on point.  This was how the car sat for most of 2009, and as it came to a close with Chris putting the car in the garage for the winter, he started to plan his latest makeover which would start in early 2010.  The winter months were spent reading and researching about boosting the KA motor, and collecting parts.  In March, Chris stripped the chassis down to take care of some body work and give the chassis a new coat of paint.  He decided on bright pink because...well, why the hell not!  Remember that thing called "fun"?  Well, this doggy was certainly having a blast building up his car.  With the body work and paint completed, it was time to bolt on all those turbo goodies Chris had been collecting.  Centered around a Turbonetics t3 50-trim turbo and a JGS top-mount, turbo manifold, everything was a straight-forward affair.  A Godspeed intercooler and Koyo radiator with dual Altima fans keep things cool while an Apex-i 3" down-pipe and 3" exhaust expel the fumes.  A Z32 MAF feeds the turbo with a JGS 400 waste-gate coupled with an AEM Tru-boost keep boost under control.  An EFI Specialists ECU, combined with an Apex-i NEO, AEM wide-band, Turbo XS Knock-Lite, and ISIS FPR keep fuel and timing in check, and everything running smoothly.  Lastly, an ACT 6-puck clutch and familiar welded diff get the power to both wheels and keep them spinning.  By May of 2010, the car was all done and Chris was ready to have some fun.

With the summer filled with drift events and conventions, this husky certainly enjoyed his car, built with his own two paws, to its fullest.  The two have become a regular site at the local drift events on the east coast as well as the surrounding area fur conventions.  Chris certainly had a great time building his drift machine, and even a better time using it.  Now isn't that what this hobby is all about?  Sounds a lot more appealing than dealing with drama, internet critics, and inflating egos.  Just build it, beat on it, and have a damn good time doing it.  With the car put away for the winter, Chris has a few things up his sleeve for 2011 which I can't wait  to see.  What is for certain though, is that Chris is going to have fun doing it.  So, from one husky to another, keep on it and have a blast!  You and your car are what this culture is all about.

Photos provided by:  Brenden Romus

Happy Holidays!

Have a safe and happy holiday and a splendid new year!

Update on the newly completed PS117 Corrado VR6 soon

Air & Water On Land

What happens when a group of friends get together with some camera and editing equipment with a decent eye for film?  Well, they usually end up making some videos.  With YouTube and Vimeo, it seems like anyone and everyone can "make" a video these days.  Now, some are not so bad, but then there are some that really make you stop and go, "whoa."

That was my reaction when I first ran across a video by a group called Wagenwerks.  They typically cover the European and VW/Audi scene and the videos that caught my eye were their video coverage of the H2o International show in Maryland.  The camera work and editing was just that much better than your typical, decent, YouTube video.  I watched their stuff regularly and always looked forward to new videos.

Then, they posted a teaser for a production they were launching called Air & Water On Land, or AWOL.  They planned to cover the automotive scene like a TV show, one episode at a time.  The work is amazing.  The videos are just a blast to watch and they do a fantastic job covering ALL aspects of the automotive scene today.  Check out their latest episode which covers the Stanceworks x Hellaflush 512 Project show:

AWOL Episode 128: 512 Project Show

That, my friends, is how to make a video.  If you liked what you saw, feel free to follow them on their website, AWOL TV, to see more videos and episodes.

My stance on "Stance"

I have been in the scene for what I consider to be a decent amount of time, 8 years, however I've been a car enthusiast since a little boy.  In my 8 years of being in the scene, mainly the Japanese and VW/Audi groups, I have seen a number of trends come up over the years, from the body-kitted Fast & Furious days, to the DTM/Euro look, the JDM craze, and the less-is-more Euro look, I have seen enough to know what happens to trends.  The trend that has caught the spotlight as of late is unarguably the stance and Hellalfush trend.  In the last few years, the stance scene has gained a lot of momentum and no one can stop talking about it.

Of course, there are two main groups in every trend like this; those that love it, support and embrace it, and those that absolutely hate it.  I have seen a lot of the trends over the years, but I have yet to see one that has such an adamant group of haters.  It's kind of funny at times to see how passionate these people are about being so negative about a trend that they go out of their way to say their two-cents about it.  Instead of keeping their mouths shut, they speak up about how dumb they think the whole fitment game is and how it is "unsafe" and counter-active to modifying a vehicle.  Some helpful words here:  attention, whether good or bad, is still attention.

Thing is, for all you haters out there, the stance and fitment movement is here to stay.  It's not going anywhere and is only growing stronger each day.  The fact is, with all these trends that have popped up, none have really gone anywhere.  You may say the body-kit era and JDM fads have all gone, but they really haven't, they have just evolved and changed.  Body-kits haven't gone away and neither has tuning cars in the JDM fashion.  Cars are still rocking body-kits and adding JDM touches here and there, just in a different manner now that still captures just as much attention, just in a different way.  The same thing goes for the stance movement.  It will change, most definitely, but it is never going to go away.

More and more sites and groups are popping up that support the movement with the "originators" still leading the way, sites like Hellaflush, Stanceworks, and Stance Nation setting the standards for others to follow, learn from and build upon.  More and more shows and events are being organized which are centered around stance and fitment.  The movement is only growing with more people coming to embrace it and see it as another form of tuning.  Contrary to what most naysayers believe, it's not easy to get a car sitting low with the perfect fitment.  There's a lot of suspension work and calculating wheel offsets and tire sizes.  It's far more difficult than just getting a set of coils, winding them down, bolting up a set of wheels and hoping for the best.

Now, I'm not trying to come off as some know-it-all, or some sort of "prophet" for the stance scene.  I'm just some enthusiast who is taking his experience from being in the game for a good amount of time and voicing my opinion on the movement.  I understand the scene and live within it, love it and embrace it, yet I still appreciate a car that's setup for road-racing or drag racing, and give credit where credit is due.  I guess every successful group will have its share of haters, and we all deal with it.  So, to the haters, keep on hating!  Stance and fitment aren't going anywhere!  Everyone else, keep it low and clean....

Kaien and Howlie

Well, it has been awhile since I have updated anything.  I apologize for that, but there have been a lot of big changes going on mainly centered around a new job and doing a lot of photography work.  I've also been drawn back into organizing events for a few local, automotive groups next year so I do have a lot on my plate.

What I wanted to share here though is some progress on my fursuits.  Yeah, plural, as in two, heh.  My first suit is being made by Syber at Made Fur You which should be done sometime in the month of December.  I'm very excited to see her take on my fursona.  In the interim, I met a wonderful wuffy named Kio.  We sparked it off since we both share an interest in cars to find out that he is a rather talented fursuit builder as well.  He was open for commissions so I had him make me a head.  What he turned out is amazing.  The quality and functionality are superb.  I'm eagerly awaiting my second slot to come up so he can finish the rest of the suit to accompany his head.

Visit Kio's FA here:  Kio Wolf on FA

Another big piece of news is my bf Howlie's new head was finished by Fursuiting.com, so now his fursuit is complete again.  We spent the holiday together and took some pictures together: