With Tobias’ looks taken care of for the most part [there’s always stuff I hope to do some day (aero, new paint, bigger wheels, etc.)] it was time to take suspension more seriously. I had been doing a little research and talking to Bryan about what Tobias needed versus what we wanted. The steering wheel started shaking really bad as I was getting on the freeway everyday and I tried getting my wheels rebalanced to no avail so Bryan figured it was a suspension issue so it became more of a priority. As I was saving up for Tobias stuff, Christmas rolled around and put a small dent in my budget. Thankfully, Bryan came through with a series of Tobias themed Christmas presents!
My present consisted of super angle knuckle kit from DriftKnuckles.com and tie rods from Parts Shop Max and tie rod ends.
And lucky for me, I got free install by Bryan because he loves me and I love Tobias.
Here’s a few shots of the finished install.
I swear to you these pictures do not do justice to the angle I have when I flip a bitch out on the street! It’s the best thing ever! I can pull into any parking space or parallel park anywhere! Thanks to my love Bryan Rogers for making my other love Tobias even better!
Here is a pic of my other two loves, my fellow kitties:
The only thing missing to complete Tobias’ look was wheels! So thankfully, Bryan was able to lend me some wheels since I was pretty broke after buying all the little stuff he needed initially.
There are 15 inch BBS RS. 15s are small but they fit pretty well considering he is stock body. I think he looks really nice! Definitely a thousand times better than the day we brought him home!
Here’s a picture of the progress so far, before and after!
I have lots to update on the s14 project!
First of all, I named the car Tobias as in Fünke so from now on he will probably be known in this blog as Tobias. Second, we had to get the car to the shop in Ontario so Bryan attempted to drive him the 40ish miles from our place in LA. On the bright side he made it about halfway with water spewing out constantly until he finally gave up.
So finally, they arrive at the shop and get to work. I have Bryan and Animal Auto including Andrew, Nolan, and Koji to thank for the speedy turn around on the blown motor. Thankfully, they had a motor available and it only took them a weekend to pull the bad motor and get the new motor running again. They replaced all the consumable items like hoses and liquids.
Here’s a pic of the new motor going in.
And here is a pic of the new running, driving Tobias.
Later, Andrew took the motor apart to see what was what. Here’s what he found.
In my never ending quest to be cool, I made an impulse decision to buy an S14. For those of my readers who aren’t constantly preoccupied by the drift scene, that’s a 1995 Nissan 240sx. I have wanted a 14 for quite some time now. Bryan and I were sitting around talking about how we really need to start saving money and that’s when I found it: A clean looking 14 for sale on craigslist for a seemingly low price.
That set us off on yet another one of our adventures. We went to meet the guy at 12. We arrived at 11:50 and I texted him. No answer. We also walk around and do not see the car. At 12 I called. No answer. I saw at 12:04 he has read the original text. Still no response. That pissed me off. We hypothesized that maybe he is coming on his lunch hour to meet us and he’s driving up. I started to get mad and start blowing his phone up with 5-6 calls in a row. At 12:30 we drive off to Vons to cool off and possibly grab a drink. I texted him saying that if he isn’t coming he’d better let me know. As we pull in the parking lot I finally received a text saying he was on his way. So we headed back to the apartment building and again do not see the car. Finally, this kid walks up from across the street and starts looking around. This must be him. (WTF?!) Then he tells us we have to J-Walk back across the street. Then down the block, turned down another street then down another street. (WTF?! WTF?!) FINALLY, we saw the car! Then Bryan gets to work. We started it and took it on an amazing test drive complete with strange suspension noises. But it does seem to be running strong despite the oil that seems to be spilled all over the engine bay. Bryan also found some other things going on with it that weren’t in the ad. Cha$CHing! (The check engine light was on and he goes yeah it’s been on since I got it. Seriously?!)
So after haggling with the guy for a few minutes we gave him $550 under asking price and left with 2 new subwoofers.
We made it as far as the freeway. I followed Bryan onto the freeway and off onto the nearest exit. As soon as the car got hot it was done. Yes, he had a huge coolant leak and possibly a blown head gasket. We sat on the side of the road for a while so Bryan could decide if it was fixable or if we could limp it home. Ultimately the hole in the coolant hose was too big. So we had to call a tow truck and get him towed home. But all in all, a successful day!
Here is with older brother, Datsun 510.
Here is the car picture from the Craigslist ad.
One of my co-workers is 7 months pregnant and planning to go on maternity leave in the next few weeks. Another co-worker and I planned to throw her a baby shower/acknowledgement. You know when you plan stuff at work there are some people who never want to participate? Yeah most of my co-workers are like that. Doesn’t it make anyone else feel nice to do nice things for other people? Man….
Anyway, I have been considering going to pastry school or at least taking a few classes. I don’t think I’ll ever be a full time professional baker or anything but if baking is a hobby I could take pride in then that would be great! So I am baking some cupcakes. I chose red velvet because she is having a baby girl and I thought it would look awesome with pink icing. Surprisingly, I didn’t own a cupcake pan so I bought one of those and some pink food coloring. Here’s the pics of the process:
The batter.
Before baking. I used a measuring cup that my mother in law have me for my birthday!
After baking. (Notice my fellow kitties on my oven mit?! Thanks, mom!)
I definitely got too excited and forgot to take pics of the icing in process. This was my first attempt at piping icing and I used the tip and bag that I got from my mother in law for my birthday. I think they turned out ok for my first try!
Final product! Baby shower galore!
And how did they taste? They tasted pretty good! The cake box mix I used wasn’t great so I’ll definitely go the scratch route next time. The icing tasted good but I will definitely use more cream cheese in the future. All in all, I might be a baker!
Thanks for reading and commenting!
-Fellow Kitty
Maybe not.
So I have been wanting to start an herb garden for a while. I did some research and bought this cool self-watering planter that hangs on the railing from amazon.com. I figure I’m changing my life but it doesn’t change the fact that I know I would be very lazy at watering. Anywho, next I had to decide what herbs to plant. I had a bunch of suggestions but of all of them there was only one I knew I would actually use – basil. So now it’s a basil garden.
First attempt. I couldn’t find any basil plants in January (go figure! lol) so I bought seeds. I waited 8 weeks with vigilant weekly watering which resulted in NOTHING! I guess it was too cold or not sunny enough or whatever. FAIL number one.
Second attempt. I went to a nursery and found little basil plants! The next day when I wanted to plant them it starts raining on me. WTF Los Angeles! Anyway I guess the roots did not take. FAIL number two.
Third attempt looked like this about 20 days ago. Lush, green, ALIVE.
Now two of those plants are brown and dead and the third is on it’s way out.
Guess I’m not a gardener. At least I have these awesome cat figures in my planter box.
As I come up on my twenty-seventh year of life, I am taking this time to reflect. I look back and see…. not much. I feel like I’ve been pretty mediocre my whole life; not athletic or artsy or especially good at school. Well, that is about to change. It just has to.
With my birthday approaching I was asked “What do you want for your birthday?” And although I could name a million things, material and otherwise, I realized that none of them would make me truly happy. The only thing that will ever make me truly happy is finding happiness in myself – knowing deep down that I am the very best that I can be and being okay with that. So that’s where this blog comes in.
I will be trying out some new hobbies and trying to find my place in this world in the process. I know I have a special talent or something to offer the world in some way. I’ll be documenting my endeavors in this blog and I hope you enjoy the ride.
But for now, I’m content with being your everyday fellow kitty.
Musings of a Fellow Kitty 