CRABCAKES & FOOTBALL - PART II

I remember the day that Big Bill picked up his Kouki.  A drive out towards Winchester, VA, pretty much passing Summit Point along the way, with Nick's truck and hatch-less-trailer was a pretty strange feeling.  However, we all drove back to the shop a happy bunch as Bill was the new owner of Cobalt Green Pearl 240SX with a plethora of JDM knick-knacks.

I got a bit of a sneak-preview a few weeks ago when Nick sent me a teaser photo of the Kouki with some white paint on it.  But getting to see it in person was a whole different story.  The green paint that Bill's car had previously was amazing, and actually in pretty immaculate condition - but when you're rolling with the 'pack, white is right.

After spending the day under my Z to install the Tomei Mid Pipe, and discovering that my downstream oxygen sensors had been nearly ripped from their bungs & dealing with that whole mess - Nick and I decided it would be a nice, quiet opportunity to pull all the cars outside and get some nice snaps while we washed them up for Saturday's event.

Nick pointed out that this was also the first time that these cars were out together, each one having a full matching set of wheels.  His hatch on white TE37, my Z on CR Kai (of course), and Bill's S14 on Euroline SL.

Nick and his dad have made some tasteful additions and modifications to the Kouki since picking it up.  The first thing was swapping the seats for some black Bride reclineables.  Since this thing gets driven back and forth over the Chesapeake, comfort is key.  They also changed out the Gramlights wheels that the car came with for a set of WORK Eurolines, and it totally changed the look.  Additionally, Bill promptly had Nick help him track down a wood grain Nardi to swap in place of the black perforated leather one that existed.

Speaking of wood grain Nardi wheels, this dramatic shot shows-off the one in Nick's hatch.

Remember what I was saying in the previous post about the sunlight during June mornings in Maryland?  Well it works for sunsets too.  The light was hitting the Wolfpack cars just so, that we both had to step back and just appreciate the view.  It's time for me to take care of that roof on the Z and make it match the rest of the cars!

America Runs on Dunkin.

The Kouki is so clean - The black roof makes the car so streamline, the white paint is smooth, and the Z33 Brembo brakes peeking out from behind the shiny, dished 5 spoke wheels add just enough pop of color to the chassis.

Nissan sandwich!  I love this shot of the 3 cars.  'Nuff said.

Back to mismatched wheels - I swapped out the MHG CR Kai for a new [to me] pair of WHT CR Kiwami up front when I replaced my brake pads on Friday.  Speaking of Friday, I was having the worst trouble getting a fresh set of tires mounted to the rear pair that afternoon.  First of all my tires seemed to not be showing up when they were supposed to, then the magical UPS tracking system said that the business was closed during attempted delivery, when we most certainly were standing out front all day long.  When I decided to run out for a minute to grab a coffee, I happened to spot a smaller UPS truck and figured I'd flag him down just to see if he could find out what was up with my tires.  When I told him I was waiting for a pair of tires to arrive, he responded with the address where they were supposed to be going to. . .and he then proceeded to tell me he had them in the back of his truck.  My jaw dropped.  How in the hell did I by chance catch the one UPS driver that had my tires on his vehicle?  He gladly let me snag the pair and stuff them in my Z, and I drove back to the shop before we adventured to try and get them mounted.  One stop over to a local buddy's shop where I was told we should be able to get them mounted. . . well long story short, an entire can of Gunk-Out, a bit of gasoline, some tow-straps, and a propane torch later, the bead of the tires refused to seat.  My last resort was to bring the tires out to Shenandoah with me, half mounted to the WORK's, and pray the best that the tire machine worker at the track would be able to get the bead seated.  Sure enough, with the help of ol' wily Dylan, the fresh rubber was ready to go so I threw on the Chrome CR Kiwami in the rear to drift on for the day.

Teaser for the final, Part III. . .

武士道 - B U S H I D O!