LUMBERZACK

Thanks dudes! There's so many ideas in my head of things like this I want to do, but I just got to get over the money hurdle. Haha. I've got time though, so this stuff will continue. Honestly, they're always quite a bitch, but my best advice is removing the bolt and screws that hold the lock actuator and get it out of the way and use a 1/4" ratchet with a 6" extension and a swivel head for the socket is the best bet at getting to the bolt for the handle. The little plastic retainer clips for the rods are always a pain too. lol. small but strong fingers is the recipe. Thanks dude! If you're in Cali, let me know what they are charging for this work, because in AZ, it's $$$$

Thanks guys! @Urrik most people associate with El Chapo or some Mexican drug cartel, but I’ll accept your creativity lol.

@battleaxe This 100%. Yes, seeing that first shot of base will totally reignite the motivation, I promise. If you’re getting bad results, just focus on spraying sealer on one part that is quick and easy to fix until your settings are solid. For instance, a door. Don’t practice on the most complex canvas with all those curves. Also when you said 30psi, I immediately thought your pressure is too high. Especially with something as diluted as sealer. Try 20psi. You’ll get it.

JEEZE that's cool.

All this gold got my creative juices flowing. My car has become pretty flashy with all the chrome and gold accents. It reminded me of the lowriders I would see with my father in-law. He was always into the lowrider scene and we would go to lowrider shows and I would see champagne Impalas with gold bumpers and accents and it really sparked an idea. So I got to work. I dug up my OEM painted door handles and started stripping the paint. So I got them to a pretty decent mirror polish using sandpaper, a dremel with scotchbrite wheels, and polishing wheels with jeweler's rouge. Next I hit up a homie that has been modifying lowriders since the 80's to work his magic. To further accentuate the roses, he then engraved diamond cut around the edges of the handles and roughed up the surface surrounding the roses. Seeing them in person in this condition made me want to stop right here as they looked so killer, but these door handles are made of pot metal which would rust, tarnish, etc. Also they would require regular polishing which would wear away at the finish over time, so plating was the necessary next step. I fought myself back and forth deciding whether to chrome plate my handles of gold plate them. Chrome would've been a safe decision since I already knew it would flow with the rest of my car and the chrome accents, but I was reluctant since having chrome would just mean I'd be right back where I was prior and they would easily be overlooked. However with gold, it is not something you commonly see and the vibrancy would automatically pull the attention of someone walking by ultimately capturing them into discovering the engraving. Also what cartel wouldn't gold plate their custom engraved desert eagle? I said fuck it. Copper plating first. I'm aware this type is not everyone's cup of tea, but the artwork and detail is hard not to appreciate. I was very nervous going with gold since it could really break the look of the car, but honestly, I'm very surprised with how well it works. Obviously a little more gold accent would help, but gold can get gaudy and tacky fast. I'll leave it as is for a while. I hope you guys like it. Criticism is always welcome and expected, but come correct. lol

Since I've never really had a wheel with cool center caps, I splurged and bought these. My assumption was that the gold caps would kinda compliment the gold logos on my car, but the color ended up being a bit more yellow than expected. So then to compliment the center caps, I decided to change the body molding trim to gold as well. Gold trim is a vanishing option, so getting my hands on some was a little bit of a hunt. Many of these companies are only producing chrome and black trim, so I bought a lot extra.

So to kick off this next update, lets talk about wheels. Running the R33's was cool as a beginner drifter, since I got them for a steal and they are good spec and look okay for an OEM wheel. With that said, my car did not look aggressive and I was never truly happy with the look. I bought the Rays Gramlights 57CR as a possible step up from the R33's. Even though I think they looked better, it still didn't hit right with me. I then came to realize, a lot of it had to do with my ride height, tire size, wheel diameter, and wheel color. I was then on the hunt for some 18's. That's when my friend and I were eating sushi when he said he had the WMB XT7's I ended up buying and installing. I fell in love with the way my car looks with these wheels. It is a great alternative to pricey 3pc wheels that never quite look aggressive enough on stock body imo. I always hated seeing pictures of my car at drift events with mismatched wheels, so I definitely wanted to find another set of XT7's in WMB. I assumed it wouldn't be too difficult since they were in production for ~10 years before being disco'd. I was oblivious to the gaining rarity, popularity and price of these wheels when I bought them. Now that I have them and searching for another set I realized what I'm in for. COVID has really dried up the market on all levels. People are just not selling as much stuff as they were. This paints the false picture of "these parts don't exist anymore, therefore the prices must rise." I think the stuff still exists, but Japanese people just aren't selling right now. Either way, prices are through the roof and finding these wheels in my spec was starting to seem like an impossible feat. I started considering buying the XT7's in any color and getting them chromed once I had them. I also considered buying Advan Model 5's, Advan T6's, Work XC8's, or any monoblock in chrome, but that really didn't help my search at all. This shit just wasn't on the market. Thankfully one of my IG followers hit me up about a set of WMB XT7's being sold by a wheel page based out of Russia in THE SAME SPEC. I instantly moved on them. I was nervous about shipping due to COVID since I know dudes that have had packages from Russia held up since COVID started back in March-April. Thankfully these wheels got to my house in 8 days! Packaged beautifully. Kind of a weird name, but I totally recommend "SlamBangWheels" on Instagram. Great packaging, fast shipping, great condition. My expectations were succeeded and now my car will always have matching wheels. I sold all of my 17's, so now it's just 18" XT7's for me.

Looking forward to the future progress. Three builds to update is a lot of work lol.

A lot of good stuff going on in here. Mark II looks like a very clean example too.

I saw your comment about hanging your doors from the frames... Don't do that. With the door laying down, spray the inside first, then clear and let cure, then flip over and repeat. The edges will melt together so don't worry about creating a clear "shell". You get WAYYY glassier results on any part you can lay down since the clear is less likely to run. Doors especially are best to take advantage of laying horizontally. everyone loves to see doors with deep glass reflection. $1000 for base is pretty typical for a quality base with a bit of metallic. That's what I paid for my Champagne. Great progress so far. Can't wait for the final product, but don't rush it man. Just breathe. I know it's a lot of grueling and tedious work, but do it once, do it right because cutting a corner now will live forever in your paint and you'll be pissed every time, beating yourself up "why did I cut that corner". Just find serenity man. You got this.

I love it

@battleaxe I totally agree. I’ve seen cars go from a complete miss to an absolute hit, just by adjusting the ride height and literally that’s all 90% of F&F cars needed. @Urrik definitely big gay because these are Work XT7’s, not gramlights lol. I’m done with colored wheels. It hasn’t really worked on this car to be honest. I know what you mean by cookie cutter VSKFs though. They are so popular yet so disgusting. Also, I’d like to know your take on the car of her people, because if it ain’t a 4’-11” latina behind the wheel of a long ass 1998 chevy suburban with a sticker on the entire back window that says “Durango” and a smaller sticker that says, in memory of Gloria Lopez Lopez - 1974-2008, then idk what you mean. @tuner4life Thank you so much dude! I definitely think cars should be driven and driven hard is the best way to enjoy them. In the same breath it’s not enough to drive hard. You have to look cool doing it otherwise it’s boring. Like many have said, “drifting is a rolling car show.” I’ve seen kids throw down some aggressive lines consistently, but it’s not anything worth filming imo because the car looks like shit. There was a big event down here last year and there was one kid with a stockish frs with angle mods I remember commenting, “damn he’s driving hard and consistently running the wall.” Since the event, I’ve probably only seen one photo or clip of the kid’s car the entire two day event. I guess being a good driver is not enough to get spot light, people just don’t want to photograph ugly cars.

@Jason the Avalon is a BIG car, but side by side in the garage, they’re damn near the same length. The Subaru is the shortest. I think the width and height of the cars do most of the talking in this picture. It is a BIGWIN kit. So in a sense, yes it’s what the S9 series 1 kit looks like. @battleaxe agreed. I wanna see cool Cressidas come up, but damn do 90% of them suck. I feel like a pretentious hater, but there’s just not much to like. Cut corners, bad taste/style, no vision/imagination, cookie cutter. I mean I guess the same could be said about my car, I have the most overused bodykit albeit the authentic one, two tone and dummy chrome wheels, but I never built the car to change the Cressida game or do something that’s never been done. I just want a clean reliable drift car that stands out. @Urrik my fiancée is Mexican so we definitely partake in front yard fiestas lol

Thanks dudes! Yeah these cars really suck for wheel fitment on stock body. Not much room for barrel or lip lol. I’m super pumped on the outcome of the Ganador adaptation. It took quite a bit of time to shape them, but essentially now having a set of Ganadors for 1/3 the going rate. Yes definitely build a sim. I’d say I’m in $1,100 into my setup including the computer and the results and use I get out of it is worth every penny. I’ve gotten some media exposure offers and I’m still self conflicted. I want to exploit my car and my work to prove Cressidas CAN be cool, but also, I know that 90% of the audience is a bunch of mouth breathers ready to tax any affordable drift chassis. It sucks what the internet has done to JZX100’s because not long ago you could get a decent Tourer V for $7k, but now by the time I’ll be able to afford one, I’ll be paying more than what most new cars cost. Sickening. Gordo, thanks dude! Also I wouldn’t wait too long, I know you’re already one foot in the grave, ya fucking boomer. Urrik, HAHA yeah I kinda did like how easy oil changes were on my EJ with the filter facing down. My sister has the new Forester with the filter up top and I agree, the oil changes are pretty swift. But also, it’s kind of useless to have it up top because you have to jack up the car to drain the oil anyway. Lol

Random shit: I bought a house for all my toys. Engine bay is clean I bought a spin turn knob from SerialNine. Even though I had a drift knob, I like the way this one matches my interior better. I worked on getting my sim rig built. Do you recognize the seat? Check out the built in e-brake! and cup holder Does anyone on here use Assetto Corsa? It has helped my confidence and skill drifting exponentially. Especially since I can practice more technical maneuvers without fear of crashing my real car. The simulator translates very well into muscle memory that applies when drifting for real. It was a great investment. The End for Now.