Refresh: Project Silver Panda

Lately, I've been spending a chunk of time planning for my little Corolla. As a young guy fresh out of college, and with mountains of school debt looming above me, it's difficult to set aside money or put into money towards the little 'Rolla. But planning is free.

Back in 2007, I removed the mechanical fuel pump, cut a block off plate from some scrap steel I had laying around, and wired in a new electric fuel pump... without a fuel pressure regulator. What happened as a result? I flooded the engine and then couldn't figure out why it wouldn't start. Surprise, surprise. So my plan right now is to return to the OEM setup since the mechanical pump only pumps what it needs and faster the cam turns, the more fuel pumps: it's genius! Obviously if I heavily modify the engine, there's going to be a point where the mechanical pump won't be able to meet the needs of the engine, but I don't think I'll be reaching that point any time soon.

Currently, the little 4A-C sitting in it is not running. As a 19-year-old kid, I bought a car because I wanted to be MR. DORIFTO, and not knowing anything about cars or engines, I flooded the engine and didn't even know it. I thought I destroyed the engine.

Five years later, after having to fix nearly every mechanical mishap possible on my daily driven Acura Integra myself, such is the life of a broke college student, I am finally realizing what happened in the past and what I need to do to fix it.

It needs a battery, a new fuel pump (with new fuel), most likely new spark plugs, a few new gaskets, and finally replace the oil. And then I don't see any reason why it wouldn't start.

As soon as it's running, I can start diagnosing the knocking that is coming from the engine bay. I've heard all sorts of explanations of what it "could be," but what I know is that until I get that engine apart, I won't know for sure.

I've been doing a lot of reading of a fellow Corolla owner in New Zealand, you can check out his blog at 86life.wordpress.com.

Media Alert!: "Bridesmaids" Trailer

So my sister-in-law was visiting yesterday and in the process of showing my wife a new trailer for a movie, called Bridesmaids, I witnessed a bit of automobile.

Just like when you are driving down the street and you see that silhouette and you immediately rubber-neck to see if it was a Corolla. And it was!

Little Tail-End Action of a Coupe

Kristen Wiig of SNL Fame with the Coupe in the background

The reason they probably chose the car in the first place

It was great to see some Corolla love, even if they are presenting it as a piece of junk car owned by an uptight, loser character. 

Hachi-Life, baby.

-SlowTEC

Hachiroku "Blogosphere"

Let me begin by saying that I spend a large portion of my day looking through AE86 Forums, blogs, Corolla build logs, and applicable automotive project articles. Unfortunately, the sites that I make a point to keep up with have been getting fewer and fewer recently, and not because I am lacking in interest. They just aren't posting anything new.

I know, it may seem petty, especially since my last post on this blog was back towards August 2010 way, but I expect more from established bloggers. When I wait 17 days for a new post from KeepDriftingFun, I expect more than "Oh hey, here's a new thing you can buy from us." I don't mind them advertising, because they have to pay for the gas and time somehow, but those shameless plugs are something you throw in as an appetizer or maybe a dessert... not the main course!

I start by checking back every 10-12 hours, and after a few days I may only check once in the morning, and then after a week maybe every other day, and then bi-weekly, and soon I've forgotten about a blog completely!

Once I stopped posting here consistently, I even forget about my own blogs!

Even Hachiroku.com.au, a blog who has a mission statement describing their commitment to day-to-day posting, has yet to post anything since the end of last December.


It's a strange feeling, like all of a sudden being stranded on the Moon with no one to talk to. But I digress...



It's really made me rethink my own commitment to this blog, especially with the redesigned website, storefront, blog...front. You know. Hachi-Life could be so much more to people... originally I just planned on using it to store article links, video links, forum links... you know LINKS. Links to things I didn't want to forget or lose.

Like this link to a video of a car club in Chicago, Risky Devils, doing some street drifting around a mostly abandoned industrial district. Not that the guys in the video are particularly articulate, and even partake in what I can only call douche-baggery towards the end, it is still such a good video of guys going out and having fun. Just sliding around. And, if you are wondering what the music in the video is, the song that begins at the wreck is BBU - BB WHO!!!, and the rap song with the heavy bass-line is Dom Kennedy - Menace Beach.

BOOM! Just like that I saved a video, a car club blog, and two decent pieces of music that are definitely going to make their ways onto future driving playlists. And maybe it wasn't related to Hachiroku's exactly, but it's still cool by association. (And if you go halfway down the first blog page of Risky Devils, you'll see a sweet 20v rippin' up a track day!)

So while we may have just entered Fe-Brew-ary, I'm going to make my resolution for 2011 to post more often and more meaningfully here on Hachi-Life. I vow to finish the site, complete my product population in the store, and actually create something worth investing the time into.

Until next time,
SlowTEC