okay so its not exactly brand new.  last year at the end of may i ordered rays wheels volk racing te37 16″.  I purchased them through Upgrade Motoring and in the process met a really cool guy named Glenn Kowta.  It would begin an almost year long email exchange! The size, model, fitment and color of the wheels made them a special order straight from rays in japan.  true jdm i guess.  they said it would take about 3 months for them to come in but i felt they were worth the wait.  3 months later and they’re still not in!  they offered me a different model of volk racing white wheels but i declined and said I would continue to wait for my te37’s to arrive.  It would turn out that, they had accidentally placed the order for the other wheels (the ones they offered while i was still waiting for the te37’s).  It would then become another 3 month wait.  A total of 6 months pass by and Glenn informs me “your wheels are here!” with numerous emails and phone exchanges.. it still took me a bit of time to get them as I was soo busy at work, i kept not having the time to arrange shipping.  finally out of the kindness of Glenn’s big heart, he shipped them to me for free because he felt bad about the initial mixup and long wait.  They sat in my living room through most of February.. and March.. and April..  I finally took them to joel’s around May and they continued to sit until… June 10, 2006.

Thanks to the generosity of both joel and gene of jasper performance i was able to get a set of maxxis ma-z1 victra’s. here are some interesting facts about my wheels:

Material is 6061 aircraft grade aluminum. This material is hot forged. 1st forging process is done with pressure of 5,000 kilograms per square centimeter. 2nd forging process is a slow process with 3,500 kilograms per square centimeter. The lip is also forged to 3,500 kilograms per square centimeter. This allows the wheel to have less material than other wheels, but have more strength and durability. The excess material is machined off (to tolerance of 1/100 of a millimeter). Powder coating and clear coating is done by a special proprietary process to ensure long lasting quality and durability.

each wheel is 11.2 lbs each.  for those of you unaware.. that translates into “really fucking light” which further translates into less unsprung weight and that is most definitely a good thing. the car feels lighter and a lot more responsive. yay.

the exterior transformation of my car is still yet to take place. i ordered Volk Racing TE37 16″ White from Upgrade Motoring. Thanks to Glenn of Upgrade Motoring for all his help and time, these guys are pretty cool and I recommend them if you’re looking for Rays wheels at a great price.

Because of the size/color/lug count, the wheel is not held in stock locally and had to be special ordered from the motherland. It should be about 30 more days before they get here! I haven’t picked a final tire to go with it just yet but Glenn gave me a list of what he recommends. I still haven’t decided between a brembo big brake kit 16″ (they’re the only ppl who offer 16″ big brake kit upgrades), or just painting my calipers red and upgrading my pads and lines and rotors independently.

Thankfully, my JDM ITR optional side skirts and rear valances have arrived and are in good shape.

** this is not my car, im merely showing a shot of what the side skirts look like on my car

** this is not my car, im merely showing a shot of what the rear valances look like on my car

I am still waiting to hear back from Password JDM regarding my JDM ITR front end conversion w/HID. The last time I spoke to them they informed me the cargo was being held at the ports by custom and they have no definite ETA but to keep checking back.

I still need to get a new wing and side mirrors as my driver side mirror was molested and horrifically tackled to the floor by a homeless bicyclist. In the meantime I need to start finding out which shops I want to get estimates from. I’m probably going to be without my car from about 3 weeks to a month . I will be having the front end conversion body work done, shaved doors, swapping of my stock to itr wing, adding side and rear skirts, installing new functional side mirrors, then a beautiful paint job in championship white! yes thats right, honda’s very own racing white! weeeee!

This will pretty much be the last of my exterior changes to the cars. the interior changes i am going to be implemented are changing to a short shifter with JDM ITR shift boot and shift knob (still debating if i wanna spend 200 on an authentic titanium oem knob, or 30 for an aluminum replica or go with a different brand). i am still debating between JDM ITR Recaro red seats or just purchasing new aftermarket sparco seats. I am also still deciding which pedals I want to go with. Possibly two-tone coloring the interior with red suede as well…

This year is pretty much going to end with just cosmetic and suspension changes. Next year i’ll start with engine drive power mods. I’m sure my “plans” will change as they keep doing from month to month. See you on the streets and tracks!

When I first bought my car, I had every intention of working on it. Not so much hands on, but making it the fun project car it was meant to be. Unfortunately I had just never gotten around to it. It was always “ill do it next month”. Joel was doing the same thing. We both needed to fix some things about our car but neither of us got around to it. We were both in this love-hate relationship with our cars.

Every time I looked at my car, I was always filled with as much inspiration as I was disappointment. I could see all the things I loved about it, all the things I wanted to spoil her with, then I remembered all the things about her that made me want to kick her. I was a bad owner. I wasn’t treating her right, and in the end all the things about her that made me dislike her were things I needed to fix.

Get the ball rolling right? So I have. With the help of Bryan, Ive been able to start the upgrades and investments into my car. Investments? Yes. Not because it increases its dollar value, but because it makes me like it all over again. Its an investment of my own self interest and self gratification. Ive slowly begun to re-ignite the love affair with my car.

Its amazing what 2 small “upgrades” do to the car. New Suspension and New Exhaust.

RS*R ExMag Exhaust
I have replaced my Greddy Evo with the RS*R ExMag Exhaust. While the Greddy is a popular choice, it was always just an interim choice for me. I needed to get rid of the mexican rice exhaust that plagued my car when i first bought it and the Greddy was a cheap and quick solution. While it was significantly quieter and a better performer, it still left a lot to be desired.

My new exhaust is not only extremely and amazingly quiet, the sound she does emit is very appealing. I can actually hear my engine and my vtec. It also just has a very pleasant hum to it. It looks great on the car as well. It fits perfectly with my GS-R rear bumper. It also has noticeable performance gains. Well worth every penny.

TEIN Super Street Damper
My existing suspension was shot. My shocks and struts were dead and the skunk2 coilovers that were in place just weren’t cutting it. Swapping out my suspension had always been an initial change I had intended on doing but like all else, it just never happened. I have upgraded to the TEIN ss coilovers and they are fucking amazing.

My car handles amazingly well. Even with stock front strut bar. The TEIN SS Coilovers offer me 16 levels of damping force, and ride height adjustable springs. I had intended on getting the EDFC, but I think i will hold off for now.

Bryan has recommended a few strut bar and sway/tie bar kits. That along with new wheels is next. I will be converting to a 5 lug wheel so we’ll see what I get next!

cold doesn’t even describe Wednesday morning. it was fucking freezing. now i remember why i hate waking up so early. it is just too miserably cold. I suppose it didn’t help that i went to sleep at 6:15 and woke up at 7:00.

We finally arrived at the Superior Court Harbor Justice Center (orange county, newport/costa mesa/irvine) at 8am on the nose. The traffic line wasn’t too long, after about 10 minutes, i showed them my ticket and was given a sheet with my rights and told where to go. There were about 60 ppl waiting to get in. I thought i was going to be there all morning.

the small court room sat about 60 people. some lady with the sheriffs office sat up and gave us the rundown of our “5 Choices”. They were as follows:

1. Guilty
2. Not Guilty
3. Traffic School
4. Extension
5. No Contest

After listening to her, i looked over at joel and asked him what he thinks i’m supposed to do. my ticket situation was complicated, and while i was obviously guilty for 2 parts of it i was definitely going to choose not guilty for the third.

after going back and forth and deciding what i should say, joel just looked at me and said “they need a 6th option for you. a little guilty”. Good Morning your honor, i plead a little guilty!

I have a single ticket for the following 3 violations:

• Driving without Registration – Infraction – Guilty
• Driving without Insurance – Infraction – Guilty
• Driving with a suspended license – misdemeanor – Not Guilty

I had cleared up my registration. I finally paid for my title transfer (1100.00) and paid for my late registration (445.00), so while i was guilty, i am able to fix this and pay a small 10.00 fix-it penalty fee. Insurance on the other hand I wont be able to get until I get my license back.

After spending a few days with call redirections between the DMV, Superior Court LA – Culver City, and a collections service called GC Collections, I finally figured out my license suspension issue and what i need to do to fix it.

Basically the DMV has me listed as a suspended license for a FTA (failure to appear in court) violation for a “no front plate” violation. They informed me I needed to call the court house to resolve this. After calling the court house, they said the records didn’t show any “no front plate” violation and to call the DMV again. I call the DMV again, and they inform me once again.. it is indeed the no front plate issue and to call the courts.. again.

I call the courts.. AGAIN. After transferring about 3 times, i finally talk to someone who VERIFIES the FTA for no front plate. It was marked as PAID but there was a scheduled court appearance. Why? I don’t know. I asked them why i wasn’t made aware of the court appointment when i physically went in to pay the no front plate violation MONTHS ago, and he merely replied with “well, the system said you were assigned the court date, so you were informed.” I told him I wasn’t and he had no answer for me. He said my only choice was then to come into the court house and schedule a hearing with a judge.

When I told the gentleman this is what I wanted to do, he informed me that i wouldn’t receive a court date for another month, and during this time i would be unable to get my license back. He advised me to just pay the FTA violation, pay for an abstract and get it over and done with.

Unfortunately by doing this, I have a suspended license on my record and that is a point on my record. I asked if I could “pay” the fee, pay for abstract, and also schedule a hearing with a judge to fight the claim, and he said “yes” but by paying the chances of me winning after the fact will be lower as it is an admission to guilt.

How fucked up is that. He said he knows its messed up but thats how they system works.

It is how the system works because at my hearing in OC, the judge admits the state rapes people. The state is bankrupt and uses traffic violations and the courts to basically gank you out of money. He said because of this he tries his best to lower fines.

When i was called up in front of the judge. He asked if i had registration and insurance. i said i only had registration and said i was unable to get insurance atm. He commented on my suspended license and confirmed that i was unaware and was served with notice on the spot. He basically looked at me, said he was gonna give me a break, and basically dismissed my misdemeanor and charged me for the single insurance infraction.

He was the nicest judge I had ever encountered. The bailiff had told us ahead of time he was a nice guy and we will find that as everyone leaves they will all have big smiles. He was right. Most of us did.

Too bad the girl ahead of me had to go to jail for littering. Yes thats right. Littering. JAIL! She was busted for littering in 2002. She then had an FTA for her littering charge, and plead guilty and agreed to pay a 100.00 fine and serve 8 hours of littering pickup. Her 100.00 check bounced, and she never served her 8 hours. He told her “im sorry but im going to have to detain you.”.

Another bastard speeder totally got off cuz he’s in the military and told the judge he would be unable to attend traffic school of any kind cuz he was going to Iraq. The judge completely dismissed his case.

This stupid girl in front of me plead Not Guilty to an open bottle as a minor in a vehicle charge. The judge advised her it was a bad bad idea, and that IF she lost the penalty was severe. She refused the once in a lifetime only “diversion” option (going to 30 aa meetings). Guess she is saving it up for when she gets busted for possession of heroin.

Things I’ve learned through this ordeal

1. ALWAYS update your current address with the DMV, ALWAYS.
2. Whenever you pay for fines at the courthouse, have them print your record at the window so all comments are available for future reference.
3. If you’re gonna fuck off, get caught in Irvine, Judge Sheedy is the best.
4. fuck the police. and fuck no front plate violations.

-j

thursday evening, after eating some delicious kobe beef at some elitist restaurant in west la (they lock the doors and you have to knock to get in and if they don’t know you they wont let you in), courtesy of frank, i went home to el segundo to drop off rent, pay some other bills and collect some of my belongings. after i got what i needed i headed down to irvine to joel’s.

so lets discuss the current situation at hand. i was driving my car without registration. and yes im completely retarded, without insurance as well. not because i didn’t want to pay, but because i didn’t have the duckets to do so. the simple catch is, i couldn’t renew my recently expired insurance (last month) without current registration. i couldn’t register my car without paying the taxed transfer fee’s. im not blaming anyone, this is completely my fault, but i was working on getting the money to take care of anything.

so close yet so mother fucking far. i was sooo close to having the cash to take care of EVERYTHING. i was going to be able to take care of all of the money matters this month. i was going to be able to pay for title transfer, registration fees, and insurance renewal. but alas, i only have myself to blame.

yes, i was pulled over by the irvine police, literally a few feet from joel’s house. i explained my situation to the cops and after listening he was almost sympathetic. i told him how close i was to being able to pay everything off, and that my drive had been an emergency cuz i had to pay rent at my legal residence.

he decides to call in my license anyway just to double check if i had any bench warrants. turns out my license is suspended! and on file it lists that i was not notified and he then issued me a citation to officially inform me that my license was currently suspended. due to the fact that my license was suspended he couldn’t let me off the hook and had to impound my car. yay i just got issued a ticket with 2 infractions: no registration, no insurance, and 1 misdemeanor: driving with suspended license.

why was my license suspended?? good question! so today at the dmv, i show up with the issued title transfer form, pink slip, and my citation. joel has been nice enough to be my sugar daddy and cover the transfer fees that im going to pay him shortly, waiting for a lovely check to clear. 1523.00. good news, my car is finally registered until january 2006. after we got my registration and title fixed up, he issued me a one day moving permit, as my car is still underivable because of no insurance. and well i cant get insurance until my license is valid.

i asked the gentlemen at the DMV if he could look up the hold on my license. the guy who helped me was the nicest DMV person i have ever met. he was very nice and courteous and extremely helpful. he looked up the hold on my license and it turns out, im suspended because of the OLD ASS fix it front plate ticket. THAT I PAID FOR!

I took care of it because i knew there was an issue. I had gone into the culver city court offices and took care of all my tickets. done and paid for, however the court clerk did not mention i still had to go into the goddamn CHP and pay them an additional fee with a front plate. she had told me, after i paid the fine, that it was all taken care of. in fact i had my license renewed the same day.

funny thing is, joel is in a similar situation. ticketed for expired tags and no front plate. and like me, he did the same thing, paid the fine, never went into CHP and he’s FINE. theres no hold on his license, but theres is on mine!!

whitey is keeping the yellow man down!

so now i get to call the culver city courts and see wtf is going on. why my license is still all fucked up after i took care of it. and i have to make sure i take care of this because i have to go to court on the 15th in irvine to deal with the misdemeanor charges of driving while suspended and the 2 infractions of no registration and no insurance.

cant get insurance until i fix my license. cant get updated registration until i get my insurance.

all in all. i am a fucking idiot. i guess i got my well deserved ass kick from the city of irvine and los angeles. but i guess its good to know my license is suspended! fucking dicks. this is all my fault but i was sooo close to taking care of all of this! i guess the extra cost was just the tow and impound, 235.00.

anyway, lesson learned, offer to suck the cops dick immediately maybe you’ll luck out.

-j