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for May, 2010.
By Eric
Before I leave tomorrow I thought I would throw up a couple of shots of what has been keeping me busy here lately at JDM Legends. As some of you may know JDM Legends is affiliated with Cobb Tuning and I have had the pleasure of serving as the lead mechanic on the R35 GT-R and also prepping the 370Z for the Redline Time Attack series. We have decided to step our game up a bit with the Z for the next round. First up is better tires, we were previously running on 19″ Volk ME’s with some pretty mild Advan street rubber. We decided to make the change to some Hankoook Ventus RS-3’s and because there isn’t much in the way of good 19″ rubber we had to downsize to some 18″ (9.5″F-10.5″R) EnkeiNTo3’s. Not usually the biggest NTo3 fan but this looks pretty good.
Unfortunately I can’t keep it that low due to the enthusiast class minimum 3.5″ ground clearance. Bummer. We have also had to do some spring changes to the prototype AST coilovers, and some heat management. We had an oil cooler on previously but decided some ducting was necessary to increase the efficiency.
To help keep the driver a bit more planted in the seat I also installed a Kevlar Recaro out of our old JDM R35 which required some custom brackets and relocating the fire extinguisher as well. I get to drive 1400 miles in this tiny thing….. yippie!!!!
We had also noticed the factory 370Z’s limited slip differential wasn’t really limiting any slip if you know what I mean 
We had OS Giken send us a new unit which we had to rearrange the discs in to be a little more street tire friendly before installation.
Next up is a cooler to preserve our new diff due to the fact that the Z’s differentials are notorious for overheating due to a serious lack of airflow. I decided to use the non-functional rear foglight as vent to expel the hot air. It was either that or a flashing LED F1 style rainlight and this seemed a bit more important
Shots of the ducting…
Here is the pump and plumbing, If you plan on using this on a street car take note that this thing is seriously loud, even with a 1/2″ piece of rubber in between it and the chassis.
In and out of the diff….
Finishing up the corner balancing.
Now I am just waiting on Fed Ex to get me another axle flange to use in the OS Giken unit ( you have to use 2 right side ones) and then we shake it down on the 650 mile drive down to Fontana. I hope I put everything together right 
wish us luck!!! Next week it’s back to classic JDM business I swear!
By Eric
I’m not sure if I’ve ever talked about this before, but one of the benefits of purchasing a vehicle through us here at JDM Legends is that we provide the opportunity to bring in stock replacement or aftermarket parts for our clients. We realize that we are dealing with older cars with sometimes hard to find parts, and we want to make sure our customers have the ability to be able to get what they need whether it be as simple as a window crank, or as exotic as a titanium header for your S20. With this last container we brought in some parts from Rubber Soul for a customer of ours that had purchased a C10 Skyline from us and wanted some parts. They came with this catalog that had a couple of cool pics I thought I would share.
They have a pretty nice collection of some works-style Hakosukas that are definitely worth checking out…..
Mark my words, one day JDM Legends will have a track ready Hakosuka. And also in this dream, we sponsor a vintage-only time attack class with Redline where all track worthy J-tin come to prove their worth….. one day I have also found last night while looking over this catalog with my 2 year old son that I could teach him his primary colors and school him on a few of the most important vehicles to ever come out of Japan at the same time!
So there you go, print them out, and make some flash cards and bring your kids up proper like
By Eric
After working my way through a mountain of shipping , exportation, importation, legalization, and blah blah blah documents I am pleased to say that we have added a couple of new members to the JDM Legends family. We picked up a pretty clean 73 TA27 Celica, and another 71 Hakosuka. I just got them yesterday so I haven’t had much of a chance to go over them too thoroughly yet but so far I like what I see. We don’t just give them a wash and resell them here, I have to go through our 130 point checklist and make sure everything is up to par. And if it isn’t we will repair, or replace whatever needs to be to make sure our customers are receiving exactly what they expect from us.
There they are fresh out of the container, I haven’t even washed them yet. If you may be interested in either of these fine classics, shoot me an e mail, or give me a call so I can put you on top of the list. It looks like my busy job, just got a bit busier. Time to get crackin!!
Check back for updates on these two…..
By Eric
Well, One of my favorite events of the year Toyotafest has come and gone. We were really hoping to have the RA29 done for this show but there has been a lot going on around here lately, and running the business has been a priority over some of the shop projects. Maybe we’ll have it done for JCCA , we’ll see Anyways, since we weren’t able to go I have been forced to jack everyone else’ s pics that did go and repost them here. Not everything, but just a few cars from the show that sparked some interest for me. First we’ll start off with a few TE27’s which are huge on the West Coast, to this day I still haven’t seen one on the streets of SLC .
Nice little variation of color in that lineup don’t you think? Nice little example here, I’m afraid to say I’m unfamiliar with the wheels….. but I dig ‘em.
If I haven’t said it a million times, here’s one more, I have a huge crush on TRD Toscos. Definitely in my top 3 wheel wish list.
I’ve probably posted this one before but it boggles my mind every time I see it, I believe it’s a JDM Sprinter in Moss green if my memory serves me correctly. Advan A032’s instantly add bonus points for me.
This Celica was something was new this year and definitely well put together.
Boosted 18R-G? Do it!
Let’s keep it color coordinated and go to another retina burning green KP61, I thought I heard it was another P.J. Bonafacio creation but I’m not sure. Paint quality looks the part though, and like me he prefers his bumperless as well although I still think something needs to be done with that big hole that’s left up front. Maybe he needs some ultra hot JDM Legends spec KP61 bumper fillers
A 20V 4AGE sure would be a nice replacement for my tired old 4K-C. In this rear shot you can see all the little tabs that I cut off mine after removing the rear bumper. Anyone know what flares these are? You can see the attention to detail in fitting them in recessed the body line.
And while we’re on the the P.J. topic, here is his latest and greatest Cressy creation. I think this may be one of my favorites of the show, seriously. This guy has never built a Toyota I wouldn’t trade one of my testies for.
Fresh set of Panasport G7’s, and custom flares that always look like should have been there from the factory.
There was also a healthy dose of AE86 love as always, I will always have a special place in my heart for these cars. To this day, still the funnest car I have ever owned. This one is running one of the first set of TE37 V’s I’ve seen in the states.
I’ve always thought the AE86 was the best match for the TE37 V.
Unfortunately I could buy a couple of more KP61’s for what a set of these would set me back. The F20C motor swap out of the S2000 is becoming more and more common in just about everything these days, and a purist I may not be but I still prefer my Toyotas with Toyota motors. I bet its a hoot to drive though…. possibly the best RWD normally aspirated 4 cylinder ever made in my opinion. Some one please tell Toyota to ditch the Subaru motor and one up the F20C in the new FT-86 please….
I can never get enough of this one every time I see it, perfect stance on those SSR meshes, and MKII’s
Nice panda paint scheme on this one sitting on some Works.
I always loved the JDM Kouki bumpers, here’s a nice little red one with a earlier Zenki bumper on what I believe are SSR starsharks.
And here is something I didn’t even think still existed, a stock AE86?!!?? Apparently there were a couple there surrounded by a herd of unicorns. Luckily they cleared out for this shot.
Here’s something you won’t see me usually get too excited about as I have turned into a bit of a RWD/AWD snob in my later years but this FWD Corolla has definitely earned my respect, it has a 20V as well.
We’ll finish it up with a couple later models that I feel were post worthy. I’ve haven’t ever been a big fan of the MA71 Supras but there has been a couple of nicely built ones showing up lately including this one on what looks like the new SSR Proffesor MS1’s.
And this one on the always controversial Advan SA3R , which work surprisingly well in this case.
And because I have always loved the SW20 MR2 I guess I can squeeze in this fine wide bodied specimen
And the coolest singular part at the show for me had to be this HKS manifold for the 18R-G motor, can’t be too many of these around.
That about does it, thank you to Japanese Nostalgic Car, Stance Nation, and some random guy’s photobucket for allowing me to visit Toyotafest vicariously through their pictures.
By Eric
Just thought you should know in case you wanted to get your hand on the baddest C110 Skyline in the states! The reserve is only set at 25k which is a ridiculous deal for a virtually rust free C110 with an RB26DETT and a nice set of Watanabes, and if you have been following the blog, you know all the work we have put into this one to get it where it’s at now.
I have also made a quick video of the car that is too big to post in the blog, so check the link here. A link to the auction may be found here. If you are waiting for another Kenmeri this clean with an RB26 in it to come around you might want to think again because this is definitely the only one like it in the states. Now go get your bid on!!!
By Eric
I will try to occasionally post up some of the custom fabrication work I do here as well as the usual vintage stuff. We have a majority of the necessary tools here to do most anything so why not right? I had a customer with a pretty nasty STi that competes in some of the local track events here that is running on E85 (or E70, whatever it is we get here) and he wanted me to build him a stainless steel surgetank due to the fact that ethanol will actually corrode non anodized aluminum over time which can lead to clogged fuel filters or worse. Apparently there aren’t any SS ones on the market, (only aluminum) so he contacted us to build one for him. Due to the fact that the customer already had fuel cell bulkhead fittings that he wanted me to use we were limited to a box design, whereas the usual ideal shape is something round and tall but I think this will still work out great for him as the differences are minute.
We ended up using 18g SS for the box, and 12g SS for the base as that is where it actually mounts in the chassis. It holds just under 2 Gallons, and I know because I had to fill it up a couple of time to check for leaks. I ended up making the fuel pump mounts out of some 2″ SS piping cut in half and mounted on some stands. T-bolt clamps hold them in place.
So if there is something you may want that you can’t just buy off the shelf, give us a call and we can probably build it for you. That goes for custom exhausts, intercooler piping, airboxes, braces, bumpers, etc. You name it.
By Eric
I wanted to talk for a minute about a scenario that we had with a customer a little while ago that will help explain a little about some other aspects of what we do. The customer in question is a really cool guy I’ve gotten to know a bit through e mail we’re just going to refer to as “Q” for anonymity’s sake. Q wanted a specific car that wasn’t in our current inventory so he did a little searching around on his own and came across the car that he wanted. Let’s just say that the car was found on one of the general used car for sale sites that can contain dealer cars as well as cars being sold by personal owners. What he had to base his purchase off of was very minimal like most used car sites, a couple of general exterior shots, and a few notes in Japanese. Let me show you a basic shot of the extent of ad.
Now let me just say that this is probably one of the finest 4 door GC10’s I have ever seen (but that’s all a matter preference). Lets start with a couple of the pics.
See what I mean??!! This car makes me re-evaluate how I feel about 4 doors. The most ridiculous set of 10″ and 11″ Watanabe’s I’ve ever seen on a sedan (although let’s admit it could be a bit lower , immaculate paint, an nicely modded L28 , clean interior….. so far I’m sold. So we decided to contact the owner and get some more information and pictures before making any irrational decisions. This is where it becomes very important to make sure you are well informed about every aspect of a car before purchasing. Now I don’t want to come off like this car is poorly done by any means. There are a lot of ways to go about restoring a car. Some people would rather make the exterior look as good as possible, while skimping on the parts you can’t see, and others only want the car restored with all original parts, all metal etc. Even if it’s under the floormats. What I’m trying to get at here is that however the car was restored, I feel it’s very important that the customer is informed and knows all aspects of the car, not just a couple of pretty exterior shots. I’m not going to get into everything here, just a couple of areas I find significant. Let’s first start with the over fenders, if you’ve been keeping up with our blog I described how I feel is the proper way to do them on our Kenmeri here. There are other ways of doing it as well, this is another way.
It’s not something I would do but some people may not care, as it is all hidden under the overfender anyways. But it is still important to know how the car was restored. Here’s another shot under the door.
Random under chassis shot.
Under the drivers carpet.
Let me just say that I really appreciate the owners honesty in sending all these pictures. And this is not to say that none of this is irreparable, or impossible to fix. But it definitely paints a different picture than if you were to just see the pictures in the original ad, and just goes to show how important it is to have as much information as possible when making a purchase. so you know exactly what you are getting yourself into.
