Whilst I have a spare few days I’m going to do a little update. The past two and a half weeks have been amazing to say the least. As I mentioned before, I came to Japan with 5 of my good friends which has lead us from Tokyo, up into northern Japan and all the way down to Osaka. We’ve approximately driven 2,000km’s in 2 weeks. With all my friends now home or on their way back to Australia lets look back on the past few weeks. In the Tokyo and northern parts of Japan we got to see Daikoku PA meetups, Street drifting in Tokyo, a few meetings at Nikko Circuit, Spring Matsuri at Ebisu, Drift Muscle at Sports Land Sugo, Fuji Speedway track sprints and drifting and everything else in between. During our time up north we decided to leave the Drift Muscle competition a few hours early to check out some of the disaster zones from last years earthquake / tsunami that swept through Sendai and the Fukushima prefecture, needless to say it was very upsetting to see the affected areas. Once we left Tokyo to head to Osaka things have become a lot more relaxing, however we have still managed to keep the car craze going. Myself and Nick have spent a few days exploring the Kansai area including Up Garage’s, car yards and even a few workshops. One of the highlights of being in Kansai was this past weekend which we spent in Nagoya, about 2 hours north of Osaka. We spent the Saturday looking around Up Garage’s and even a truck store. From there we checked into central Nagoya before finding some action out near the docks which lead us to next to no sleep before a full day at YZ Circuit for MSC, however it was all worthwhile. With 4 nights remaining in Osaka I’m catching up on uploading photos and most importantly backing them up. I will also be exploring Shinsaibashi and heading to a little drift day on Thursday before getting ready for a huge weekend at Central Circuit for the Hellaflush meeting Mark and the team have put on. I hope you’re enjoying the updates and look forward to writing and posting much more. Casey x

I thought I’d post up a shot of my little Corolla. The car hasn’t received too much love lately as I’m currently saving for other things. None of the less it will get a makeover when I return home.

Defected – 26.2.12. Last night I got defected but got off pretty lucky, time to order some new parts and make the car a whole lot groovier! x

Last night was the local JDMST meet which happened to be around 700 cars heading out to Queensland Raceway. Unfortunately I didn’t get many shots out there as the lighting was quite dark however Robo managed to snap a few from the back of the E7 of Morgan’s Zenki.

It was the third or fourth time taking my car for a drive and I’m happy we got to change the coil yesterday afternoon which helped us get to QR without breaking down so now the car runs nice and smoothly. PS: These ones are taken with an iPhone so please excuse the quality.

I have to say it was pretty awesome rolling alongside Morgan, so much respect to this lad, this car is truly one of the stand out streeters in the country.

Still plenty of things to be done to the car but for now it’s time to enjoy it just a little. Be sure to check out Morgan’s blog @ UPSIDE x

So after 6 and a half years of shooting cars through a viewfinder of a camera, I finally purchased my first RWD car — a Toyota KE70 which was made in the early 80’s.  The car is dead standard running the 4KC 1.3L with a 5 speed gearbox. I picked it up just over 1 week ago for $600 as is. The amount of rust is very minimal which is a great start. I immediately fell in love with the car as soon as I saw it was the colour it was, sure, for some it’s probably not very appealing but it’s actually quite rare to see KE70’s in this particular colour.

The interior is as clean as the exterior. For a car that was made almost 3 decades ago I was so surprised to see one in this condition. The dash is a lovely beige colour with only 1 little crack in the dash. It also came with a Toyota ball shift knob which I’ve never seen before and will definitely be replacing my skeleton shifter from Japan. Every component works, even the analog clock in the cluster.

Over the week of owning the car I’ve picked up some spare parts to freshen things up a little bit. We managed to track down and pull out some rear EA Falcon which happened to be King springs so they should be a kilogram or two heavier. Other parts such as spark plugs, drive belt, oil and fuel filter, rear taillights, radiator, oil and coolant should help the little 4KC run a little smoother. The car hasn’t been driven on the road for about 6-12 months so I’m really looking forward to stretching its legs once I get a RWC and registration.

So, here is what I wanted to show you mostly. Last night my mate Robo brought around his 14 x 7 +0 (UEO Spec) TE37s to test fit on my car. Sure, most KE70’s these days run old school dished SSRs, quad headlight and lips but I want to style mine away from the crowd. I think these wheels suit the car so perfectly, 7J +0 is so ideal for standard guards. Note: these two photos are photochopped, the car still has standard suspension, I just wanted to see what they would look like once we lower the car. It’s always good to play on the computer to see what you want before you spend the money.

Here is one final shot a little closer. I think this will be around the height I will run the car, just in line with the top of the tyre. Personally, I think the colour of my car can pull of any sort of wheel. We’ve also tried Watanabes, TOM’S Igetas and Hayashi Streets but I think these work wonders. After a while I will be looking to change from the standard KE70 lights to DX front and rear. For now I want to concentrate on suspension and getting this little girl on the road.