Project Updates 2024 - EP. 60

In this episode we run through the projects currently loaded up in Blunt Garage. We also discuss a bit of the future of the podcast and planned events! Please make sure to follow us @RHDGUYS and check out the merch http://RHDGUYS.COM

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Welcome to the right hand drive guys podcast the show for guys who like our hand drives as always I'm Bobby This is Aaron. Yeah, yo make sure to follow us on the socials at rhd gus DMS with the questions and check out the merch on rhd gus.com enjoy episode 60 All right and Episode 60 what are we doing? Do talking about talking about everything in here talking about the shop doing a little a little blunt garage Update what's going on behind us if you're watching on YouTube and Just kind of go through the cars talk about what we're doing with them. Maybe Discuss a little bit about what we're gonna be doing on the podcast, but yeah, just a general update episode Tell you cool. So I guess I have a few garage projects. So I'll start And then and then you can throw yours in and we can kind of alternate. Yeah, let's get it So of course I got the 33 GTR which is directly behind us in This has been yeah like a work in progress for years so to speak we were just talking about the other day about how When I first got the car compared to today, it's definitely like night and day so to speak Yeah, it's way better. Yeah, it was just kind of Rough around the edges was obviously driven so to speak in Japan and had clearly sat around maybe for a little bit and So you know over the time between sending it to a shop and then what we've done here Yeah, we've really transformed it and and I just kind of keep tweaking Little odds and ends because at this point, you know, that's all I can do Yeah, you know take it. Yeah, the refinement right? Yeah, yeah, for sure so What what's kind of what's going on with it? I just threw down on some Nismo carbon fiber pillar garnishes nice that was something I didn't have and I kind of had held off on them because I just didn't know how they were gonna look I wasn't sure if it was like a sticker if it was like a replacement if it was a cover, you know, so Anyways, when we were just in Japan My pillars on the 34 GTR are kind of like they were just a little faded and stuff right just a little you know so When we were at Nismo, I picked up the ones for that and I I could see the quality I could see what they were and so when I got back I immediately ordered those because those like All right, yeah, these are these are good acts and peace. Yeah, yeah, and dude. Yeah, just say I mean whenever we got back from that Trips from Japan like it came off that rack You know it was on there for a while. Oh, yeah, dude it came off and I was like wow Now yeah, yeah, did you clean the wheels dude? You got it all like shiny. I'm like, oh, okay? As it moved in months it gets back from Japan Motivated you a little bit. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, the the gym motivation dude. Yeah, I mean it really is a thing right? I mean you spend the time over there and you see everybody you know pride with their cars and whatnot and Of course, it's kind of easy sometimes during the winter here. Yeah to kind of let the car go to the way side Right because I mean can't drive it. So it's like, you know, so yeah, no, I immediately came back did that and then I also ordered the Nismo carbon fiber mirror cover because you had gotten me that one originally For Christmas like two years ago for the 33 but Something something happened, right? Yeah, so on trust kykaku is it where I got it from right yeah and you go and you look at the mirror covers and It says something like you know, it's for the early model 33 late model 34. Yeah, or early model 34 some like that. Yeah and Long story short, it's like backwards like you have to order the one for the 32 for the 33 Yeah, and then the one for the 33 for the 34 Right exactly. Yeah, it was super confusing. So he gets me this and yeah, I got it for the 33 because it said you know Early model 33. Yes, like okay. That's it. That's what you got right? I was like got it Yeah, yeah, and they didn't fit no it didn't fit at all so We're like, okay, well, this is obviously for the 34. I brought it to Japan with me. Right. I fitted it on there It looks awesome. It's it dresses up the OEM mirror. Yeah, and so I come home and I immediately order one and I'm like Go on trust kykaku do the same exact thing he did It's listed wrong. I buy it for my car, but it's listed wrong and it ends up being the one for the late model 33 and I'm like I just did the same thing as man did So then I had to order another one because you're not returning shipping something to Japan from trust kykaku So I order another one from a different place and if you're looking for one I got it on eBay right now, so But yeah for the 33 I mean for the most part that's it. I mean, I I'm not like done You know, I still have some other stuff to do for it. You dig at the tower bar as well. Oh, yeah How could you forget how could I forget because I don't ever pop the hood? It's battery that I'm always struggling with is in the trunk So yeah, no, I did get the SS active Titanium strut tower bar to match the 34 GTRs SS active strut tower bar, so Very nice piece. Yeah, I did remove an old school top secret strut bar. Yeah, but that's not for sale so Yeah, so that's yeah exactly yeah, so that's pretty much I mean the 33 I'm just gonna try to put some mileage on it this year and just drive it easy and take it easy and then Next winters when everything's gonna go down I can feel it nice. Yeah, so what's up? What's up with you in the 32? This thing man Not not too much. I have been going through and trying to make improvements on Pretty much the engine management side of things cars had EC master stand alone since I've had it and it's been tuned I don't know who tuned it how they tuned it Billy Yeah cars never had a wide band cars also never had an intake air temp sensor which If you know what that does you know that that's probably a not not a good idea to run a car long term like that so anyway, I bought those sensors and I've been going through the process of wiring those into the ECU and That's no wiring Yeah, everybody knows that's listening to this right now is like oh dude, I hate wiring right and I mean I try to go into a positively every time Of course, you know, I try to keep it positive. Oh, it's not that bad. It's just wires. You got a diagram like you got a Multimeter like you know what's going on like it's not it can't be that hard but Yeah, that's what you tell yourself The truth and then you know the main issue ahead was with the wide band. That's the one I started with and Yeah, I got it all wired up Turned it on let the car run. I'm waiting for it to start reading. It just never does Yep, you know the feeling right here. So then I'm like all right. Well, what's going on here? So I immediately starts searching online and just going through the steps and going through what everyone Says to check pretty much and Basically what it boils down to is everyone saying you know take it apart Check everything and put it back together Yeah, they all take apart and put back to right right and I was so confident myself whenever I was installing it that you know I'd taped everything up nice had it all back in I was like it was final you were driving that pig right right exactly so I had to you know just Take it all out on tape everything that I just taped up which just kind of annoying and Yeah, took it apart couldn't really find anything wrong put it back together Start of the car up it worked of course it is I'm just like All right, whatever it works now. I don't know why it didn't before but it does now and I'm I'll just take that for what it is So what are you gonna do to is there anything you got to do to get that thing like To work with the ECU No, I mean there's it's like a To calibrate it I guess you just you know insert what kind of sensor it is and it has it right in there in the menu because only one type is Compatible I see so it has it right there in the menu or it has like a custom as well, but Didn't my dad bother doing that so just clicking that and then doing like a calibration and Put in the number there and it was it was done nice what the wiring was you know correct or had all the ghost out of it I guess yeah Yeah, I mean yeah, why right? It's just just one of those things but so What like what else so you've been working on getting your sensors installed you get any Those are for the ECU not gauges or anything right right and then also I've been going through and trying to install some defi gauges I got nice I got and It's an oil pressure and water temp nice so Yeah, I've been installing those sensors getting all that into place and Trying to figure out where I'm gonna put this huge box that comes with all the defi gauges. Oh, yeah They all linked controller. Yeah, yeah, I'm like what do I even do with it? This is my first set of gauges that I've had or that are like the EL you know the Sensors yeah, so all the ones I've had before are mechanical and those just obviously Yeah, I pick up way easier or not easier, but just less involved a little more simple. Yeah, yeah, you could yeah Exactly you don't have a control box for it. So trying to figure out where to put that and Yeah, and that'll be pretty much it for that part and then You know eventually Trying to get get a hold of someone to tune it. Yeah, it would be nice and like just You'll road tune. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, I'm trying to get someone to do it remotely I guess yeah, but I got a few people in mind just having it really reached out and right I wanted to get everything solid and everything hooked up to correctly and know that it's gonna be reliable before I reach out Yeah, you don't want to jump the gun and waste somebody's time and then when you are finally ready You hit them up and then they're like yeah, okay, dude like I've heard this right, you know like We'll I'll believe it when I see it, but it's hard because you are like let's just say excited and like you know You're gonna need them You're just excited you're hitting them up and then it ends up. Oh shoot. I have to order this That's back order dang now it's three months later. Yeah, I think so you know, so exactly so yeah It's it's sometimes worth waiting and maybe just having a little bit of dead time where you do got away for the tuner or something But right you're not wasting his time. So that's probably the most important right enemy realistically It probably won't be till spring anyway just because of how the weather is around here and I don't really point on You know trailer grade anywhere right to have it done so Yeah, just Taken my time on that Making sure it's all correct and then I also I had pre-ordered a seat from thrash racing whoa like Last year sometime I believe so I got an email the other day that that will be coming wow So I'll have a new driver seat and I'll move the Recall confetti I have to the passenger wow so major upgrades major upgrade. Yeah, yeah, that's dope Yeah, no, so the will the seat seat belt still work? It will and I'll probably just keep it for simplicity because I mean I don't really have a harness bar or anything right now. Yeah, so I don't want to put it harnesses without doing that Yeah, so I'll just keep this dog seat belt, but have a fixed bucket. It's that's dope. Yeah, thrash reason Exactly so everything else engine wise wheels breaks everything's kind of Where you where you want it. Yeah, I mean pretty much. I mean engine wise. I probably should do a catch can and Realistically, I need to rebuild the rear differential, but Those are all things I can do you know When when the time comes. Yeah, I'm not not hurry to do either of those. Yeah I bet yeah So that's cool. I mean, it's always nice to not have like the Situation where maybe your car wouldn't be ready to drive Because you put a lot of miles on your car. So if you get to in depth with something all of a sudden it's June Right, right. You know two to three weeks left and you're like Dipping into up here in Maine where we live. Yeah, you enjoy every minute of that season because it is short Yeah, it is short. So yeah, we try to get out there as much as we can That doesn't mean the roads are gonna be clean like we have to wait for a lot to really be out there But so this guy really puts the miles on once he can for sure Yeah, and last year I kind of made the mistake of why I guess I won a mistake, but Just a little later in the season I guess it was late spring early summer. I Was doing the front knuckle kid and the control arms and all that yeah, and ended up needing wheel bearings That's how it goes. Yeah, so the car was down for you know almost a month Just for that and that was like you know start of the season or you know pretty much prime time so Yeah, I'm trying not to make that mistake again this year trying to keep it Keep it rolling, you know even with what I'm doing. I'm trying to make it where it's still driving walk It's still started still driving around. Yeah, yeah, yeah, because again, you don't want to miss it. We it's so short here So okay, I mean yeah, I got too many cars to be honest that I really No, there's no such thing I know but we were just talking about how many more we could fit in yeah I know I know putting in another little four-poster, you know getting some more hide up there But so I do get this FL5 up behind us I Mean I I would like to do an upgraded front mile in like some T-37s Yeah, I mean the car is like Already sweet for what it is being like tuned and whatnot, you know maybe Intake or something like that would be cool, but otherwise like I don't feel like going You know the upgraded turbo row even though it's drop-in right getting the tuning like you're talking about it's kind of a challenge up here Because we don't just have these tuners left and right that to choose from We have to generally travel out of state if we want in person tuning We're probably going down to Massachusetts maybe new Hampshire wherever something like that Connecticut Yeah, so we're really kind of limited, but we do what we can with what we got and so Yeah, I mean I don't want to mess with all that on the FL5. Yeah, since it is like the four door I kind of enjoy it more taking my girls out and around, you know because I'm not trying to have them trample through the 33 Or any of those cars, you know, so it's a great family car I Also got that db8 Integrity bar back there in 96 bag Also a four door also a four door which is cool. That's why I always loved him I've loved the db8 so over the DC to you know, you know, a coupe the whole time. Yeah, and but I had originally purchased it got a pretty decent deal on it Got it decided. Yeah, we're like, and maybe this isn't the the keeper, you know what I mean? I don't really love silver anyways, but Seeing it in person. I was like, yeah, maybe we just clean this up really really nice and then Flipping on to somebody that can appreciate the car and maybe that's where they're at with it. You know what I mean I I personally would rather have something, you know the champ white 97 spec, right, you know, so oh, yeah, I mean still cool to have it come through We put a new valve cover on it did some maintenance Cleaned it up super nice. There's a set of SSRs on it that we're all like grubby and stuff like yeah, dude They're meant. Yeah, they're there's not even a curb rash on them at all. So they're new stickers on them, dude They're awesome. Yeah, so Yeah, I mean that'll come up for sale pretty soon I got to clear some of these out and and maybe get some new stuff in there We still got the S14 Yeah, that we got a great deal on and we got it and it's meant if you haven't been on the Instagram Check it out if you have then you've seen us doing some doni balones in it. Oh, yeah, dude. She rips. Yeah, it really does Like that you that took me back Instantly just a fill that SR power. Yeah, I don't know dude It just starts spinning tire immediately and whips you and yeah, it's it's a very well set up car It is and so I'm really struggling on do I keep it do I send it off If I'm gonna be doing something to try to skid in like I don't feel like that's necessarily it, you know, especially where I'm not Experience maybe that would be good for you where you have experience, but like for me I need something a little more low low volume low low, you know, so Yeah, but I don't know so maybe that'll come up for sale. We're gonna raffle it, but that shit's played out and we didn't it's It's not gonna work out We're not doing that, but if you do listen this podcast and you do have the means of purchase it I would hook you up on the price because we did talk about raffling it So if you were interested in the S14 and you do got some cash hit me up and we could talk about it Yeah, but otherwise I'm gonna keep skidding in the driveway Yeah, you will and so Yeah, and so basically that's it for these cars here Of course I got the 34 in Japan, but I'm not I'm not doing nothing to that besides fixing everything that we messed up on the track day The MFD we got a weird electrical issue Brakes weren't squealing as much so that was good. Yeah, those are those are broken in and And then the motor was making a little kind of a weird noise, but They're checking it out. They'll check it out. Whatever. Yeah, it's a good hands. Yeah, yeah, absolutely They have treated me really good. So if you're watching YouTube you'll notice behind us There's this like blue thing out out in front of Aaron's car and So I'll try not to ramble on and get too crazy, but we have a buddy named Nick Barney and he owns a few car dealerships including a Mazda dealership Yeah, and You know, we always get our vehicles from him and he was is our age range and was always into these type of cars as well and so Being that their family owns a Mazda dealership when he graduated high school in 2004 What was the hottest car Mazda just put out Dude the RX a the RX a dude the RX a and so Nick bought an RX a and It's really hard, you know if you think about the RX a and like It's introduction to the market and you know trying to be the predecessor to the FDR Seven. Yeah, those are some big shoes and they They couldn't they couldn't fill it they they couldn't I mean sales numbers would tell you that you know and everything right Is it a bad car? I don't think it's like a bad car. I just think It's not it's not like an up day upgrade so to speak. It's a completely different. It's a different thing. Yeah, I mean Yeah, I mean it has those half doors on the back like yeah, it's a four door Yeah, it's kind of crazy to think that I believe they stopped making the RX 7 and what 2001 Yeah, maybe you two but that's an 04 that's only three years That's so true that's To think that in that short period of a time they went from the RX FDR X7 Yeah, to the RX 8 Yeah, I would be pissed too. Yeah, so but if you own a dealership and that's the hottest car Your dad's gonna be like this is what you're getting. Yeah, I thought they were cool Yeah, me too a buddy of mine had one, you know besides Nick and we ripped around in it and it was sweet six feet like love it, right? So You know Nick being like a tuner type guy. He started modifying it and You know he turboed it and he gave it You know Mazda speed body kit and he had it tuned on special Mazda ECU stuff, you know Mazda stuff, right? Mazda rotary stuff. Yeah, and then he threw some 19 inch T37s on it Yeah, with the BFG KDW's you know those aggressive tires And the thing is men in a sense, you know, it was cool and they ran good then Tastily modified. Yeah, but to get to that point He went through like multiple shops and one of the shops kept it for like well over a year and Boy, come and didn't get the job done and gave him back a car that you know, he's he's blowing stuff immediately and So he finally he found a reputable one. It's like Maz sport or Maz Sport right? Yeah, yeah, I'm on sport. Yeah, so anyways Long story short as he kind of gets older and you know gets married has two kids Right the car falls to the way side right and it sits in a warehouse and it just sits there and sits there Moves to a different warehouse or like this old body shop under his dealership sits there sits there Finally and calls me up and he's like dude. I just need you to get this thing out of my face and I'm like All right, I don't know what that means and I'm not even sure what you're talking about your face But you know, and he's talking about the the RX 8 and so I was like, you know dude. Yeah, I guess we're bringing over this shop. We can clean it up Figure out kind of what to do with it and because he is every single stock party as two spares at the wheels He has you know everything he kept pretty good can and door mirrors on it's got you know it and he did it right and it's like Nice, but it's all old kind of right. It's all period correct. Oh for sure because it was all done then and then sad That's 20 years ago. Yeah literally so Me and Scott carbon fiber hood carbon fiber trunk carbon fiber air ducts like all kinds of cool little bits You know like he knew what he was doing, but now he's kind of just ready to like let somebody else deal with it So yeah, we're not sure what we're gonna do with it He's like dude engine swap it sell it stock sell it how it is cleaned up Whatever just give me my cut and like hmm. This could be a fun Fun thing or you could at least be something to keep us busy. Yeah, I know what I'm saying right So yeah, I mean that's kind of that's kind of what's going on in the garage Well, I'm sure we'll post some pictures of the Sarac's anime It's not right hand drive, but since he's a nice guy and a good for 30-37s It has yeah that in in the seats with the Takata harnesses that are expired by 14 years That's the reason why I said yes that was it right there. I saw that expiration date and I said dude absolutely Dude yes, yeah So yeah, maybe we'll try to get that thing to do some donies Yeah, I think it do some brat brat Donnie. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, cuz it sounds cool But it smells really cool - yeah, I think he's got some pre-mix and he's got some probably you know those Rotary dudes in there a little truck smells like a weed ear. Yeah, yeah, yeah sounds like But yeah, I mean so that's what that's what's going on That's that's the deal in the Blunt garage For this part of 2024. We're gonna try to keep it moving. Yeah, I'm moving So as far as the podcast I Mean obviously we just got back from Japan no no real trips Plan until the later half of the year We go what are you gonna say? Are you gonna say something? Are you sure? So we're we're gonna Go down to IA, you know last year I went Aaron didn't get to go we had a whole year to make sure that he could go this year and we think that we've accomplished it Yes, yes, so And again if you don't know like IA what's IA or why do these dudes so hard on for IA? Well go back and listen to you know those last IA episodes and you'll just find out that It's a part of like what brought us up in the car world. So yeah, it's the nostalgia Yeah, for sure and just the whole vibe and the even the venue down to the venue, you know, yeah Oh for sure. It's a whole thing and so you know, we were there in 08 no 9 and other years and announced 2023 and 24 and and we're back there so we'll have a booth again. We'll be Recording live from the event and we also plan to have At least two of the cars out of the garage down at the event so We're pretty pumped for that We also we're trying to organize our own very small event we're Looking at different venues for location right now. We're inquiring just trying to see how Car friendly they're gonna be and see if we're gonna be able to use them. So we have a ton of people that do ask us about this Yeah, especially locally here in Maine and so Yeah, we're gonna be trying to hold something this year and then if we can get a feel for it and it works out Next year we'll go ham. We'll go hard on it to make sure it's a really good event But yeah, we'll go ham. We'll go ham. We'll go ham. Yeah, so And then otherwise of course we got some more guests coming up trying to keep you know everybody in touch with just the culture period you know and kind of bounce back and forth between different types of guests and I'm pretty pretty excited about that. So Yeah, I mean I think we I'm pumped. Yeah, we got some good stuff coming up. It's just time right time is like the hardest thing Of course we all know that you can't buy it and it's the hardest thing to get back. So Yeah, I mean we're gonna we're gonna do our best. Yeah, we're gonna do our best but Today we just busted out episode 60 There it is. Yeah, and we appreciate you listening in the support as always it means a lot to us two guys just Falling the dream doing their thing. Yeah, yeah, all right So for the for the big 60 I'm Bobby. This is Aaron. See ya. Peace Peace.[Music]