Lunch X2..

Fridays are typically "Good (LUNCH) Fridays" at work. Ray's cafe's huge prime rib plate lunches were the call. After that, hooked up with some friends that didn't have such a huge lunch, and got sushi at Mitch's. Stuffed, but HAPPY..!

Bits of progress..

First off, I keep forgetting to bring my digital cam with me. My phone pics suck. The Corolla got some updates -- SilkRoad front coilovers, Battle Version RCA and suspension rods, Craftz 6kg  rear springs, and the TRD rear shocks that Brandon H. previously had on the car.. The SilkRoad coilover setup wasn't able to achieve the right ride height, and had to be modified. They welded a threaded sleeve to a factory spindle to accept their threaded body cartridge. There was interference btw. the stock spindle and the cartridge, so I cut the spindle and sleeve down for clearance, and had the sleeve re-welded. Stuck in my old Sparco Corsa seat with FG rails. Next up: japaneezu bumpers and some rust repair..

Corolla!

Thinking back, some of the best times of my life were at Hawaii Raceway Park... I had a Corolla GT-S coupe in '04, until I stuffed my door into Justin's bumper and fender at 'off camber' turn. My right A-pillar was busted, and at the top of the door was a two-inch gap that wouldn't close. I'd tape over it if it rained.. When my S13 was complete, I didn't have room for both cars, and had to sell the GT-S. I've missed it ever since..

Jump to 2008, Justin's friend Brandon was parting ways with one of his cars, a dark blue GT-S hatchback. I couldn't pass it up. The body is stock, with the usual set of rust holes, though it runs good. Gonna add suspension stuff, wheels, mess with the fenders and go through the running gear. Here are a couple of pics of the car in progress.. Widened steelies, suspension mocked up. Got the steelies powdercoated at Mekala Powdercoating in Campbell Industrial Park. I'm happy with the way they came out.

Apologies for the crappy cell phone cam images in the dark.. 

The '90s..!

Recently, somebody started a group called "Hyper Sports Racing" on Facebook. This past week, I've been trippin' out on all the pics that everyone's been uploading. Here are just a few from those posts.. The original Hyper Sports Racing showroom at 969 Cooke Street, Honolulu.. Wayne's yellow supercharged Mustang, Travis's supercharged '89 GT, an early article of Len's blue Civic with nitrous, Chad's nitrous GS-R Integra, and my old red Civic.. The last pic is of Mike and Travis from back in '96 or '97.. Enjoy!!

Cary came through for a bit..

Cary came through for a bit. Got to meet up with him, Stieler, Mark, Crazy Greg and a bunch of other dudes last week. It's wild how everyone's "all grown up," yet have stayed true to who they are. Cary is OG Hyper Sports from '94, and after a decade doing some secret computer engineering, he's back in the car industry.. He's calling for a Hyper Sports reunion in July '09..

R+ was back in town..

The elusive R+ was back in town from NYC for a bit.. Met up with R+, Ryan, Alex and Keef at Mai Tai Bar.. It was good catching up on old times and seeing how things are taking shape..!

"Hawaii is such a special land, a paradise like no other... Sunny days & warm starry nights... with crystal-clear Pacific blue waters..." quoted from some cheeseball touristy site. Yah right. Philly V. just posted the SF weather forecast, thought I'd do the same for Honolulu. It's (relatively) cold, and not what you'd expect of a 'paradise like no other...'