Shit!!! FrankenBenz is getting temperamental again... Notice something wrong with it today... Normal driving she's behaving rather nicely... But when I tried to ask more from her, she started to protest... Don't know what is wrong with her but it seems like it can't rev pass 4000rpm on third gear... I tried pedal to the metal on 1st and 2nd gear and everything seems fine... 

When cruising normally and stepping on the gas then I encountered this problem... When it kicked down to 3rd gear, the rev stayed at 4000rpm and it just won't go pass it... If I kept my foot down, it cut off the fuel just like hitting boost cut!!! And worst still I heard bells ringing and I can't pinpoint the location...  I can see that the fuel consumption is getting from bad to worse these few days!!! I'm thinking about 'ECU' problem which is something quite normal for '1JZ-GTE' engine especially from 'JZZ30 Soarer' which happens to be the donor for my 'FrankenBenz' heart!!! Might be spark plug as well as the time for changing is just around the corner... Hopefully nothing serious... Damn she's been behaving very nicely nowadays and shit happened!!! 

Previously I've changed my passenger side aircond lourve and now is time for the middle one to go... I managed to source a used unit that is in great condition and decided to take the plunged (as it was not really cheap!!!)...

As you can see, most of the inner fins are all broken and I can't adjust the air flow from left to right... If I'm driving alone, this is not really an issue but if there are a few passengers on board, I will have trouble to please all of them as the air flow is all on me and I can't do anything about it...

The old aircond lourve basically disintegrated the moment I took it out!!! Well not surprising as 'FrankenBenz' is already 23 years old!!! In fact, I find it astonishing that it managed to stay in such  condition after all these years... This is indeed an over-engineered car in my opinion!!!

To be continue...

My previous 'Drag and Drift' aluminium radiator lasted only nine months before succumbing to it's death!!! I've tried reviving it a few times but still it gave up on me... I got no choice but to change it (as I need to constantly add water and it left me stranded on a few occasion!!!)... After Googling around, I found out that aluminium radiator is getting ridiculously cheap!!! Obviously these are replica but still usable... In fact I think the built quality is on par with the previous one which cost twice as much!!!

Nicer looking radiator cap as well and it can withstand to 1.3 bar!!! Does it really work at 1.3 bar that I cannot guarantee... But 1.3 bar is better compare to a measly 0.9 bar from my previous aluminium radiator!!!

Embossed 'Greddy' logo that looks really nice...

Still using 'Mitsubishi Evo III' radiator as I don't want the hassle of refabricating all the mounting point...

Don't really know what causes the leak... I suspect the air-cond condenser hitting the radiator hence causing it to leak... Is better to change it as I don't really wish to get stranded again just because my radiator leaks!!!

So how is the replica radiator doing???  I've been using it for a few months now and I must admit, it is damn good if you ask me... Don't really expect it to last as the price is really dirt cheap... Two BIG thumbs up for me!!!

To be continue...

Here's part 2 of my exhaust modification on 'FrankenBenz'!!! Like I said previously, I don't intend to make my exhaust loud as this is my daily ride... So what I'm doing is make it freer flowing but minus the noise!!! So how am I going to do that??? Easy just use back the original 'Merc' muffler which is extremely quiet but very restrictive!!! 

 Original 'Merc' muffler... What I'm planning to do here is beautify it... Very ordinary looking I must say...

How to beautify it??? Simple just cut off the twin outlet and custom it with an exhaust tip that I like... As simple as that... But by doing this, I don't get any benefit of gaining power nor torque... Just to make it a tad nicer when looking at the backside of my 'FrankenBenz'!!! At least it look more powerful with the exhaust tip on!!! Haha...

Aligning the exhaust tip... I chose this design because it was being used by 'AMG' on their 'W124' car as well... I wanted to get the 'AMG' version but too bad I can't get it... Most 'AMG' model sold here came with an oval tip instead of rectangular!!!

 One up and the next is ready to go...

I asked them to spray the piping black so that it look original... Wanna make it as original as possible...

Ta-dah... Finish and I'm loving it... Sound level is near perfection but too bad the exhaust system is still way too restrictive!!!

To be continue...

Another blog post on how I got stranded!!! This time round, I'm more fortunate as my relatives is following me on another car... Coincidently, there's a petrol station just beside me so I just put my car in neutral and guide my car to the petrol station... So I just park my car there and hop on my relatives car and off we go shopping!!! Haha...

Since it was a Sunday, I got limited choice on where to buy the radiator hose... Only those in shopping centre were available but I'm not in luck as most of them don't really carry radiator hose... I bought a normal PVC hose and thinking of fitting it in temporary so that I can drive my car back instead of leaving it there... But the more I think about it, I decided to do otherwise as the PVC hose are not designed for high temperature and also pressure...

Got no choice but to left my 'FrankenBenz' overnight there!!! I was so worried that I might not see my car the very next day!!! But thankfully, there it was right where I parked it!!! Phew...

  This is the condition of the original radiator hose... It virtually exploded!!!

Got this the very next day from a reputable shop... Beware though as there are a lot of fake 'Samco' hose around... If you got yours for less than RM200, then for sure those are counterfeit as original one cost way more!!! As I'm using 'Mitsubishi Evo 3' radiator, I got the 'Samco' hose for the same model as well as there is a section that can be cut and fit onto my car nicely... Thinking of getting the black colour one but too bad they don't carry other colours other than the normal blue one... Don't really wanna bling up the engine compartment as I'm trying my best to make it look as stock as possible...

Fit in nicely!!! As for the remaining 'Samco' hose, I ask my workshop to modified and replaced the old bottom radiator hose of mine as I scare this incident might happen again in the near future!!! 

To be continue...

One of the most effective modification to free up lots of horsepower (especially turbocharged car) is by simply changing to a freer flow exhaust system... If you're driving a naturally aspirated car, you really need to choose your exhaust setup wisely... As for turbocharged car, changing exhaust is as easy as 'ABC'... Normally people will tell you to go with the biggest diameter allow for your engine and the less resistant the better (meaning straight all the way without any resonator)... 

At first I'm planning to go 3" all the way but decided to go against it after much consideration... Now I'm running 2.5" only as noise is my biggest enemy... I like to set it up as quiet as possible as this is my daily drive and I need to ferry my customers occasionally... So I've got no choice but to opt for silent exhaust...

The normal 'Merc' exhaust system was way to restrictive... After changing the piping all the way, I felt my car got a bit more power especially at higher RPM...

One way to solve the noise issue is to use back the original 'Merc' muffler... With this on, you can barely hear anything!!!... Okay, the noise have gone up a notch with the new piping but still very much habitable... Most people will think that I'm running on stock eventhough my exhaust is straight flow all the way (good thing about turbocharged car as the turbo helps to muffled out a lot of noise!!!)... With the original muffler on, I'm very sure I've lost some power but this is a trade off that I must accept!!! Currently I'm really happy with this setup and I don't plan to do anything to the muffler for the time being... 

To be continue...