G Fo12ce: New Member From So.Cal, Intro & Previous Cars
 

Warning: long, read when bored lol. I wrote it when I was...

Alright, so finally getting around to this. I used the site to gather info before purchasing my car and contributed along the way. The site has a lot of great info and members and I'm glad to be a part. I decided to pitch in and become a premium member. I haven't taken pics of the car as of yet so I'll try to add those soon. I'll throw in a few pics of previous cars though.

I live in Southern California, South Orange County, Mission Viejo to be exact. I'm a big hockey fan. And no, I'm not a Ducks fan :roflpuke2:. I've been following the NHL since before they existed and am an L.A. Kings fan! In fact my brother and I always say, our favorite team is the Kings and our second favorite team is who ever is playing the Ducks lol. Despite my age (mid 30's) I've been know to nerd out on the occasional video game. What can I say, I'm from the video game era. I do play some PS3 and some World of Warcraft (unless there is impending wife aggro). My gut suggests like most people I like to have good food, especially with family and freinds. Of course, I'm also a big car enthusiast.

In fact, I used to work in the aftermarket/high-peformance industry for about 10 years. For the last 5 years though I have worked for the County I live in and it has nothing to do with cars. I worked for Stillen where I did Customer Service, Technical Support Liaison between R&D/Service and the customer then finally Purchasing. I also helped out Mainstream Productions (Import Showoff) for a short time. I went on to work for HKS for about 4 years where I did Sales and Tech Support and continued to judge a few Import Showoff's here and there before I stopped. Then finally I worked for Sparco mainly handling the tuning and racing lines of product. I really enjoyed myself and am thankful for the knowledge and experiences I had while in those positions. I've been out of the scene as an insider for a while but I still have a passion for cars and will be participating here on the forums and at what ever events my work schedule will allow.

On the last couple cars I've had I was able to get some nice upgrades relatively fast. What I would do is sell the car and use the equity to put down or buy then next car. Then the parts I had I would sell separate and use the money as my fun fund for wheels and suspension or whatever. This time around I had to use my equity and fun money to put down on the Nismo Z I bought in order to get the payment where I needed it. So this car will be a much slower built up :( I sort of promised my wife I'd chillax for a bit too.

So here are the cars I've owned, I'll try to be breif. My very first car was a Nissan:

NO PICS:

-It was an '87 Sentra. What can I say, my parents bought it for me. Through part time jobs I was able to put some cheap Enkei wheels on it, Suspension Technique springs, Tokiko shocks, a cat back exhaust, fog lights and a stereo system.

-I then had a '93 Sentra SE-R. It had Ground Control suspension, Work wheels, full exhaust, intake, stereo system and Jim Wolf tune. This car became a sitter when I pulled the engine to do a Pulsar GTI-R swap (SR20DET) before I had it all ready to go. I sold it years later unfinished. Lessons learned...

-Toyota Corolla GTS (AE86 notch back) Only had cat back and intake. The Hachi-Roku was a fun car, and all before I knew of Takumi (Initial D Fans will get it :driving:)

PICS NOW:

-'92 240SX S13 Coupe. It was one of the few cars in the early days of the swap that had a successful SR conversion. Done by a group of enthusiasts, one of which was well off and had a shop to support his love of cars called V-SPEC. Couple guys you may know from there were Ricky Chu (Super Steet and Wayne from Phase2Motortrend (awesome GTR now, so jealous). This car looked like a sleeper but had many HKS bolt-ons. The swap was featured in Super Street, article by Brent Romans HERE

I'm the only non-asian guy there:
http://image.automotive.com/f/howto/...mage_large.jpg
Before I put the HKS suspension on (the SR is so much ligher that the KA the front is high after the swap!)
http://image.automotive.com/f/howto/..._Side_View.jpg
http://image.automotive.com/f/howto/...ew_SR20DET.jpg
More pics on the link above.

-After realizing I could get something cooler with the build up/money I had planned in my mind for the 240 I got this Supra (featured in the Apr '03 issue of Super Street Maganzine (I'll link the article later):

[IMG]http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/f...ontQuarter.jpg[/IMG]
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/f...earQuarter.jpg
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/f...esCarOldr5.jpg
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/f...TailLights.jpg
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/f...GaugePanel.jpg
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/f...FrontWheel.jpg
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/f...sCarEngine.jpg
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/f...yno_1600hp.jpg
To make a long story short this car had all the HKS upgrades and then some lol. This is the only car I regret selling but I was starting a new chapter in my life getting married and buying a house and I thought it was the best thing at the time. I made a killing on it though and it paved the way for future cars/upgrades.

-Next up was an '03 G35 Coupe. It had a Brembo upgrade, Volk LE37T's. HKS Suspension and Exh, a JWT intake, and Gialla Corsa Grill:

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/f...rontquart2.jpg
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/f...e/DSC01345.jpg
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/f...e/DSC01347.jpg
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/f...e/DSC01342.jpg
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/f...e/DSC01343.jpg
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/f...e/DSC01344.jpg
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/f...owerTiExh2.jpg

After the G I got an IX EVO MR. Mostly HKS Bolt-ons, wheels and suspension:

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/f...o/IMG_3035.jpg
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/f...o/IMG_3029.jpg
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/f...o/IMG_3033.jpg

-Lastly before the new Z I had an E46 M3 SMG. Again a few bolt-ons, suspesion, wheels and some exterior accessories:

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/f...3/IMG_3202.jpg
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/f...3/IMG_3126.jpg
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/f...3/IMG_3130.jpg
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/f...3/IMG_3133.jpg

I'm going to try and wash the Z this weekend and get some pics up in the new owner section. I got a 2010 PW Nismo and I'm very happy with it. I promised the wife I'd keep it for longer than the last car so I should be around a while lol! I hoped you enjoyed the read. :tiphat:

congrat man and welcome to the forum I'm sure with your expertise you'll have a lot to add to the forum.

Thanks!

SUPRA.......

http://www.threadbombing.com/data/me...big_tongue.gif

:iagree: :hello:

Domo Arigato Gozaimasu!

^ has a nice supercharged 350Z.

LOL nice signature image, you're a nerd :supergay:

See you at work.

supra...DO WANT.

and your avatar makes me confused everytime :rofl2:

I know who your talking about. lol DUDE!

The Supra was a great car, again the only one I really miss. Had crazy reliability power on the stock engine, looked great, handled good, had a small back seat, and best of all the targa top was lot's of fun to take off.

I had some pretty rare parts on it too like that HKS Kansai carbon strut brace, the front lip from the high speed ring HKS Supra, real TRD hood and lots of other custom stuff.

Dig the Supra, thought about getting one for quite some time now but I know I would spend a mint on it so I've backed off.

If I was to list all the cars I've owned in the last 10 years I'd need my own site. I think I'm over 25 by now. I just lose interest before you know it but I'm really digging this car so far. Payment is low so I dont notice it, it's only in the shop when I put it there and not because of some stupid issue and most important...the mod parts are reasonable compared to exotics.

Looking forward to shooting the sh#$ in Cerritos if I don't have to fly out of the Country, hopefully I'll know soon.

Thanks for the read...something to do when the wife passed out.

Nice cars. Love the Supra. A guy at work has a black Turbo, looks a lot like yours. Me want.

nice cars. :tup:

I would love to see your S13. And oh man that Supra looks straight up money! :tup:
I'm surprised that you haven't owned a S2000 in the past.

The S13 was featured on a swap article in 2000 or 2001 maybe? In a black and white Super Street article. It was like a genral step by step. It was pretty much stock on the outside except the exhaust. It was a real sleeper. If I can find the article at home I'll get it scanned. I actually had a stock S14 as well and was amassing parts for the RB25DET I had but that project didn't make it either. I couldn't afford to have that project and another car at the same time so had to give it up. Would have been cool though.

Funny thing is I was looking at AP2 S2k's but decided on the Z route instead.

Thanks for all the nice comments guys! :tiphat:

very nice collection you went through there!

Man, I'm so jealous. What the hell do you do for a living to have the opportunity to own and hook up all these beautiful cars???

Your New Car
 

I'm with Schrute: The Supra is gorgeous. Really, all your cars look fine. Will be curious to hear how the Z stacks up, in your opinion, after you've lived in it a while. I bought a 6-speed manual, Liquid Titanium 2010 one week ago. (Haven't posted pics yet; been very busy, had a recent death in the family, and so on.)

BTW, I live in San Luis Obispo area and have family in Palos Verdes, San Pedro, and in the Anaheim area. Perhaps we can get together some time when I'm down there visiting.

Good luck with the car.:hello:

You had an amazing car collection!
Damn and you never riced them, great job!
:D

First thank you guys for the nice comments!

I certainly don't make high roller money lol. The cars up to the Supra I did like everyone else over time and saving money. The Supra is probably the only one I really miss but I sold it at a hot time. After Fast and the Furious the car became more mainstream and people began to see the potential of those cars. Since I worked in the Industry the employee discount and hook-ups on parts didn't hurt either ;). I sold that car for a pretty good profit and was able to keep some of that money rolling on the subsequent cars to buy them and fix them up some.

I miss the Supra. It had ballz, looked hot and was fun to drive with the targa top off.

Compared to my last car (M3) the Z feels really good and I'm really liking it. I'm afraid though that my fun money I was able to roll from car to car finally died when I bought this car. Instead of buying some cool upgrades like wheels ect I used to to get the payment where I wanted it by putting it as a down. However I don't feel as much in a hurry since to me the NISMO package is pretty satifying. Don't get me wrong, I'm still going to mod it lol but it's going to be a longer process this time. Hopefully you guys are still around to see how it turns out!

Check out the local forums. There are a few monthly meets that I linked from other sources that have had some good turn outs here:
O.C. & L.A Central Meet
O.C. G/Z Meet
I'm sure there are other meets in the Socal Forums too. I've been to most of them, maybe I'll catch you at the next one.

Thanks again!

I happened to find the old DIY article from Super Street for my 240SX SR20 swap. It's updated on the original post. Gotta love that internet/Google. I linked the artcle and copied over a few pics :tup:

Great cars and cant wait to see what you do to the Nismo..

Soon I'm going to start a journal thread. It's long over due. Mostly I just have exhaust and some smaller accessories but you have to start somewhere right? Keeping my promise to my wife I wouldn't go nuts on it for a while :rolleyes:

very nice cars. A great selection.

:)

Gabe is my idol.

Sick history man, I is jealous.

Nice cars!I really like the evo since I own one before :tup:

wow that was a great read....You have done all your cars so right...every car looked so clean...keep it up man

nice collection of cars, I'm betting that you will like your Nismo 370z for awhile...I hope to run into you if I drive near the area!

Damn Beautiful collection as stated before. As a former S13 owner, I have to give you credit on fixing up a coupe as supposed to the oh so famous fastback. Oh yea, the supra=buttsecks :leghump:

Thanks, I enjoyed them all. In hind site the Supra and the Hachi Roku are the only regrets. I wish I still had those. Loved em all though.

EVO;s have sooo much potential. Seem to be mopping up the time attacks.

I'm going to try but as I said unfortunately this build will be slower. However, I'm really loving the Z and I plan on keeping it a while so I have plenty of time for the mods. Soon I plan to start a journal thread and I'll cover some of the smaller stuff I've done so far.

I am and I will. Upland is a little far from S. OC but if you see me come say hello. A bunch of us go to the Cerritos meet in the Socal section maybe you can make it out. I'm going back to a shift that will allow me to start coming again. Maybe see ya there.

LOL. That's another one I wouldn't mind having again. S chassis is a great car. I always loved the Silvia. I had both actually but never did anything with the fastback. Had and RB25 on a stand for a while but ended up selling all of it + the car before it got started. I had an S14 too as a daily driver but again I sold it before fixing in up and got the EVO.

Thank you all I appreciate the nice words.

yeah im lovin my 40th...every time i get a new car i feel like i have to mod it right away, one thing after another....i think that kinda takes away from the experence...so im going to take it slower...ill be checking in on you alot haha