We are happy to announce that we will be holding the Mt. Baker Import Run this year! This is the fourth year that we have organized this event and it gets bigger and better every year. We had over 100 cars in attendance last year and our goal this year is to have over 150 cars cruise to the top of Mt. Baker.

When:
Sunday, July 28th 2013
Pre-Meet – Sunset Square (Cost Cutter parking lot)
1275 E. Sunset Drive
Bellingham, WA 98226
Meet at 9:00 AM – Leave at 10:00 AM

$5 Northwest Forest Recreation Day Pass Required

If you attend this event and plan on hanging out with us at the top, you will need to purchase a Northwest Forest Recreation Day Pass. They can be purchased online or at any REI store. They are also available on site, but you will have to stop to buy one on the way. The cost is $5 and will also allow you access to Artist Point if it's open. If you do not purchase a pass, you risk getting a ticket from the Park Rangers. By purchasing this pass, you are supporting the National Forest and the upkeep of the restrooms and area we use for the event.

ImportMeet.com will be providing FREE hot dogs and drinks/water to everyone in attendance. We will also be having a raffle for ImportMeet.com gear and sponsor prizes.

This has and always will be a free event, but every year many people ask us how they can help contribute to the event. While we are not allowed to accept money within the park itself, this year we will be accepting donations prior to the event. This money will go towards paying for the food/drinks and other costs that are incurred. This is totally optional and all donations provided will go towards improving the event.

Who's invited?
All makes and models of cars are welcome, but the primary focus will be on imports. You do not have to be a member of the site to be present.

You are NOT invited if you plan on driving like an idiot. You will be asked to leave and will not be welcome at future events if you do not follow the rules listed below:

No revving, racing and/or burnouts
No speeding
No littering
NO PASSING (due to the large number of cars that will be present)

Facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/events/559165480800717/559166274133971

What's the plan?
We will be meeting at the Sunset Square Cost Cutter parking lot in Bellingham at 9:00am (address is posted above). A driver's meeting is scheduled for 9:45am where we plan on going over our rules for the cruise up the mountain. Once we leave, it takes a little over an hour to reach the top of Mt. Baker. At the top, a BBQ will be setup and food and drinks will be provided. ImportMeet.com will also have a dedicated photographer that will take pictures of individual cars as they leave the meet at the top. These will be posted in a special gallery after the event on the ImportMeet.com Facebook page.

Take a look at the album from last year.

If you want to see event coverage of past years, check out last year and two years ago.

Video from last year by Adam Ruiz:

What's the route?

View Directions to WA-542 W/Mt Baker Hwy in a larger map

Sponsors

Please email info@importmeet.com if you are interested in sponsoring this event.

Note: if you do not get approval prior to the meet, you will not be welcome to promote your business at this meet.

We’re excited to introduce Katie Smith as the next competitor in our Import Meet Street Car Competition. The IMSCC is an event that will compare 10 import cars in multiple categories (drag racing, autocross, dyno, car show, etc.) in August 2013.

A new competitor will be announced each week leading up to the competition so be sure to check back next week.

If you’re reading this article, there’s a good chance that one of your favorite toys growing up was a Hot Wheels car. Katie Smith was no different. From an early age she knew that she wanted to build a car of her own someday.

Text by Matt Haugness. Photos by Ryan Cutuli. Video by Ryan Kam (RK Films).

When Katie was finally old enough to drive, she became involved in the local offroading community. This was when she met her husband, Ryan Smith. After modifying her first vehicle to the point that it was no longer practical as a daily driver, she decided that it was time for something different. Ryan encouraged her to look for her dream car, a Subaru WRX wagon, rather than settle for a car that she would grow tired of.

Taking his advice, she purchased this clean 2004 Subaru WRX in 2007. It wasn’t until 2008, after joining multiple Subaru forums that she started to modify the car and bring it out to local events.

Her first modification was simple–a full 3” turbo back exhaust system that she received as a birthday gift from Ryan. Of all of the mods on the car, Katie says that it’s still her favorite.

“It’s the one mod that started my passion for modifying and everything else came after. Plus, the car wouldn’t have its name without it. Shortly after installing the exhaust my best friend’s car crazy son started referring to it as Rumble Wagon. The name stuck and I’ve been calling it that ever since.”

With the exception of the tune, the clear bra, and the alignment, Katie and Ryan have installed all of the modifications themselves.

“Ryan was there to help with every part of the build. If he didn’t know how to do something, he would research how to do it and we would tackle it together,” Katie explains.

Anyone familiar with Subarus knows that red WRX wagons are somewhat rare. To make the car stand out even more, Katie installed a front bumper, lip, fenders and liners from a sedan. During this conversion she also replaced the stock hood scoop with one from a STi to improve the already aggressive look. To finish off the front of the car, she added STi splitters and JDM multi-coat fog lights.

For engine mods, Katie decided to upgrade to a VF39 turbocharger, cold air intake and turbo inlet pipe. She also added a STi top mount intercooler and 565cc injectors. Once these and the other supporting fuel system mods were added, the car was Pro Tuned by Dom at Maxwell Power Services using the previously installed Cobb Accessport V2.

The car has been lowered on a set of BC Racing BR coilovers using an Umbrella Auto Design Variable Ride Height (VRH) system with Swift springs. The VRH system is essentially a hybrid of an air ride and coilover suspension. An air-powered piston on top of each spring compresses it to raise the car and releases it to lower it. This setup allows her to slam the car at a show and then drive it home at a reasonable height–all without sacrificing performance.

 “If I had to describe my car with one word it would be “versatile”. It really is the best of both worlds. It’s a show winner but can still hang on the track,” Katie says.

Even though Katie just started tracking the car at local autocross events, the cage has been in the car since last year. The decision to put a cage in started with Ryan’s desire to showcase his abilities as a fabricator. Ryan had experience fabricating tube frame chassis for buggies and knew that he was capable of building a custom cage for the car.

He built the cage to meet Katie’s needs but made sure to design it so that it would be easy to modify in the future to meet NASA racing requirements. To finish off the race spec interior, Katie installed Recaro SRD seats with custom British Racing Green Willans 4 point harnesses.

For track days, Katie runs a set of gold 17×8” Enkei RPF1 wheels with 245/40R17 Dunlop Direzza ZII tires (not shown) and this is what she plans on running for the IMSCC. She recently replaced the stock brakes with a StopTech big brake kit that includes two piece slotted rotors that measure 332mm in the front and 328mm in the rear.

Katie’s future plans for the car are to continue to make it even more trackworthy with suspension and engine upgrades. She also wants to improve the interior for the show season that is about to start.

When asked why she thinks she will do well in the IMSCC, Katie responded with:

“My car is extremely well-rounded. I've been meticulous in the whole build and tried to balance everything while keeping the car clean and classy. This should help me for the show, fabrication and build portion. In my novice year in autocross I've been kicking butt so I think I'll have a little bit of an edge there as well. I love being competitive, so while the car may be outclassed by some of the others, I'll put my all into the competition and have a great time.”

Katie would like to thank the following people for helping her build Rumble Wagon:

Ryan Smith (her husband) – for being the biggest support and wealth of knowledge on the build, not to mention teaching her everything as they went
Dom (Maxwell Power Services) – for the great tune on the car
IAG Performance (Sponsor) – for being her first and only sponsor of the car and for always taking care of her as a customer

Check out Katie’s page on Facebook dedicated to the car: Rumble Wagon Facebook Page

Modifications:

Exterior:
OEM sedan front bumper, fenders, and liners
OEM STi splitters
OEM STi hood scoop
JDM multi-coat fog lights
Front lip
Full front-end clear bra by Guardline
Painted OEM side skirts
Roof-rail deletes
Rally Armor UR mud flaps
Blacked out & cleared headlights w/6000k HIDs
Hella Supertones painted gold
Rear windshield wiper delete
Debadged trunk
IAG billet washer fluid cap
IAG billet brake fluid cap
IAG billet radiator reservoir cap
IAG billet oil cap
IAG radiator stays
Prosport hood dampers
Beatrush pulley cover and radiator cooling panel
Mishimoto carbon fiber radiator cap

Interior:
3/4 Cage – 1.5” .095w Tube with 1.75” .120w main hoop – Clear UV protection film
Recaro SRD seats
Speedware Motorsports seat brackets
Willans 4 point harnesses in custom British Racing Green
Pioneer touch screen iPod/DVD Player
Polk speakers & Rockford Fosgate subwoofer
Black suede headliner and custom dyed rear carpeting
Dynamat lined trunk, hatch & quarter panels
Red JDM hazard button
STi Ti shift knob

Performance:
Cobb AP v2 – Maxwell Power – Pro Tune by Dom
VF39 Turbo – Ceramic coated hot-side w/Cobb heat shield
Turbo inlet
Cold air intake
Powder coated red intake manifold
IAG Billet TGV delete w/8mm phenolic spacers
08 STi TMIC w/IAT sensor relocate
Perrin Y-Pipe
Perrin boost controllers
565cc fuel injectors
Walbro fuel pump
Ceramic coated exhaust manifold
Perrin up-pipe (ceramic coated – catless)
Helix downpipe (ceramic coated – catless)
Blitz Nur-Spec 3″ exhaust – catless
NGK BKR7EIX Iridium plugs – one step cooler
Mishimoto red silicone radiator hoses
IAG fuel rails
Optima Redtop battery w/SPT battery tie down

Suspension/Brakes/Wheels/Tires:
Gold 17×8 +45 Enkei RPF1 (not pictured but will be running for the IMSCC)
225/40R17 Dunlop Direzza ZII tires
BC Racing BR Coilovers with Variable Ride Height system by Umbrella Auto Design
Swift springs
STi lower control arms
Whiteline control arm bushings
Whiteline steering bushings
Cusco front strut bar
AD Motorsports 25mm front sway bar
Whiteline 25mm rear sway bar
StopTech Big Brake kit w/ 332mm front and 328mm rear zinc plated slotted rotors
Steel-braided brake lines with Motul RBF600 Fluid
Kartboy front endlinks
Kartboy rear endlinks
ARP extended studs

Special Thanks to Our IMSCC Sponsor:

If your company is interested in sponsoring the IMSCC, please email info@importmeet.com for more information.

On August 10th, 2013 we will be holding an import meet at Speedware Motorsports in Redmond, WA. This event is a spectator portion of the IMSCC and will be FREE for everyone to attend. All of the cars in the competition will be on display inside of their facility where they will be judged for Fabrication/Build Quality by Speedware Motorsports. They will also be judged by NWMotiv for the car show aspect of the IMSCC.

In addition to seeing all 10 IMSCC competitors, the final 12 Speed Doll calendar girls will also be present at the event. Speedware's 2014 calendar will be launched and available at the meet.

It is important that everyone follows the rules for this meet. As with all of our events, all makes and models of cars are welcome to attend.

Rules:
No excessive revving
No burnouts/racing
No littering

We will also be holding a FREE raffle with great prizes. To enter the raffle, RSVP for the meet below.

Where:
Speedware Motorsports
9042 Willows Rd NE
Redmond, WA 98052

Time:
5pm – 9pm

Food and drink vendors will be at the meet and will be announced closer to the event.

Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/461436320602450/

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On May 5, 2013, the Mid Atlantic MEGA MEET organization killed it with their 2013 season opener. Held at AiNET’s CyberNAP Data Center in Glen Burnie, Maryland, car enthusiasts filled the spacious 1,500-spot parking lot with ease.

The event was free to the public. The crowd was diverse and families were seen everywhere, some shuttling their children around in cambered wagons and some getting shuttled by their dogs.

DJ Sean Falco was on the decks all day setting a proper atmosphere, and Pho Wheels and KaftaMania kept everyone’s appetites satisfied with their delicious food. There were 12 sponsors/vendors at this event, no judged categories this time, though.

Sponsors/Vendors:

Tuner Evolution
Custom Functionz
Hill’s Garage
DC Rollergirls
ModMeets
AAM Competition
Nu Conceptz
East Coast Custom Trendz
Speed Happens
HighMaintenance
Moore than Stickers
Carlisle Performance & Style

Hill’s Garage brought their Dyno Dynamics 450d 2wd single retard dyno. Attendants got 2 pulls with AFR reading and a printout for a measly $60.  Mischief.tv was there filming the party.

The Mid Atlantic MEGA MEET is a non-profit organization that has been organizing car meets through collaboration with the Virginia Department of Transportation since 2005. By hosting charity shows the MAMM has donated over $51,000 to various organizations including American Red Cross, Boys & Girls Club, and Toys for Tots to name a few.  In 2010 they officially partnered up with the creators of the Mischief DVD movie series with intent to continue promoting the “The Extremist Automotive Lifestyle”.

The meet went on until 5 p.m. and retained a full parking lot up until the end. Anyone who left leading up to that time executed exit burnouts/power slides which gave the crowd some excitement.

Mid Atlantic MEGA MEET have a great thing going on, and I definitely look forward to their next event that will be held later in the summer.

We’re happy to introduce Johnny as the first competitor in our Import Meet Street Car Competition. The IMSCC is an event that will compare 10 import cars in multiple categories (drag racing, autocross, dyno, car show, etc.) in August 2013.

A new competitor will be announced each week leading up to the competition so be sure to check back next week.

Johnny has a thing for Skylines. Attending high school in Okinawa, Japan and being stationed there during his time with the US Air Force turned Johnny into a self-proclaimed Skyline freak. Having been involved in the import car scene for over 35 years, Johnny has built a wide variety of other Japanese cars (mostly Fairlady Nissans). It wasn’t until he reached the later years in life that he was able to afford a Skyline. He picked up an R33 in December 2011 and then this R34 in July of 2012. Not soon after buying it did Johnny gave it the nickname The Blue Dragon. This name came from his high school days in Japan where the school mascot was a dragon.

Text by Matt Haugness. Photos by Matt Haugness and Ryan Cutuli. Video by Ryan Kam (RK Films).

Ever since purchasing the R34 Skyline, he’s been steadily improving it one modification at a time. Things haven’t always been easy with the car. One week after buying the car, Johnny brought the car to the Pacific Northwest Supra Nationals in Washington State. The event combined a car show, a drag racing night, and a dyno day. While most of the cars there were Supras, Johnny knew quite a few of the owners and figured the event would a good place to test out his new car.

He completed the drag racing portion of the event without issue. The next day, on the way to the dyno, the cooling fan came in contact with the fan shroud which exploded all over the engine bay. A piece of the shroud knifed the draining the water out of it. He didn’t notice it at first since the needle on the engine temp gauge was stuck at the last reading. They arrived at the shop with the dyno and parked outside. When it was their turn, they pulled it onto the rollers and did one pull. This ended up being the one and only dyno pull with the original engine. In a spectacular fashion, the number 2 piston ended up going through the oil pan. Luckily, they had trailered the car from their home in Idaho and were still able to attend the car show before heading back.

While most people would have been discouraged by this incident (especially after only owning the car for a week) Johnny didn’t let it get him down. He contacted his good friends Nate Migneault and Kevin Shannahan and they started the long process of rebuilding the engine. He decided to go all out and buy a fully built RB26DETT long block from Raw Brokerage out of Florida. Along with the new engine, he picked up a Raw Brokerage intake manifold and 90mm throttle body.

For the turbo setup, he decided to go with a Precision 6466 dual ball bearing turbo attached to a Full-Race top mount exhaust manifold. He knew that he wanted to run E85 so he outfitted the upgraded Tomei fuel rail with Injector Dynamics 2000cc injectors. To deliver the fuel from the tank to the engine, he upgraded the fuel system to three Bosch 044 fuel pumps (one in the tank).

The intercooler and piping was also upgraded to a completely custom setup. Revtech Motorworks out of Idaho built it using a 4” Turbonetics core with 3.5” charge pipes and 4” upper intercooler piping. He’s also running a custom 4” turbo back exhaust developed by the same shop.

The stock brakes have been upgraded to a full StopTech setup including calipers and 2 piece slotted rotors front and rear. In addition to the upgraded brakes, the car also has a set of JW coilovers and a CUSCO front strut tower brace.

The R34 is equipped with 18” Volk Racing CE28N wheels wrapped in 285/35R18 Nitto NT555II tires. Johnny actually purchased the current set of tires to compete in the IMSCC. Being drag radials, they should allow him to perform very well in the drag racing portion while still complying with the 100 treadwear requirement.

When asked why he thinks his car will do well in the IMSCC, Johnny replied:

“I built the car to be an all-around well-performing street car. With the amount of power, it should do well in the drag racing and dyno portion of the event and it can definitely hang with some of the best in the car show. We’re hoping that it will also perform well in the autocross portion with the upgraded suspension.”

Johnny would like to thank the following people for helping him build The Blue Dragon:

Nate Migneault (NAMTECH) – for building the car (every aspect, front to back)
Jake Montgomery (JM Tuning) – for his outstanding work on the tune
Kevin Shannahan (True Performance) – for the ideas of how to build the engine
Dante (son) – for finding the car in the first place and giving him the inspiration go all out on the rebuild and hold nothing back
Monica (wife) – for standing behind him, no matter what, and being supportive of the build

Modifications:

Exterior:
KnightRacer carbon fiber hood
KnightRacer carbon fiber front lip + under protection
KnightRacer side skirt extensions (Z Tune Style)
KnightRacer rear bumper Spat extensions (Z Tune Style)
KnightRacer carbon fiber rear diffuser

Interior:
Bride Cuga Japan Black driver and passenger seats
Pioneer double din touch screen DVD/GPS stereo
Polk Audio front and rear speakers
Pioneer amp and 10" shallow subwoofer

Performance:
Raw Brokerage fully built RB26DETT with Tomei Pon B Cams
Full-Race top mount divided manifold
Precision 6466 dual ball bearing turbo with 1.10 ceramic coated exhaust housing and polished compressor housing
4" turbo back exhaust custom build by Hai Tran at Revtech Motorworks
Custom front mount intercooler (Turbonetics 4” core) with 3.5" charge pipe and 4" upper intercooler pipe by Revtech Motorworks
Raw Brokerage short runner intake manifold with 90mm throttle body
Twin TiAL 38mm MVS wastegates
Tomei fuel rail
ID 2000 fuel injectors
Triple Bosh 044 fuel pumps and custom built fuel system including surge tank developed by True Performance
AEM EMS tuned by Jake Montgomery (JMtuning, of Nampa, Idaho)
1 piece aluminum driveshaft by The Driveshaft Shop

Suspension/Brakes/Wheels/Tires:
18” Volk Racing CE28N wheels w/ Nitto NT555II Extreme 285/35ZR18 100 Y B
Full StopTech brake package including calipers (front and rear)
StopTech slotted rotors (front and rear)
CUSCO carbon fiber strut tower brace
JW coilovers

Special Thanks to Our IMSCC Sponsor:

If your company is interested in sponsoring this event, please email info@importmeet.com for more information.

Our friends at Speedware Motorsports are looking for women involved in the automotive scene to be a part of their Speedware Motorsports Speed Doll 2014 Calendar Contest. If you are interested or know someone who might be, make sure to share the contest with them. You can also join the Facebook page for the contest to stay up to date on the event.

What they are looking for: 
Any woman that is into the scene. Entries can be a 65 y/o Grandmother with a Harley or a girl that just got into the VW scene. As long as they own what they ride/drive, they are eligible.

Requirements:
•Must be a Doll that is into her OWN car, truck, motorcycle, shifter kart, helicopter, airplane, Ruckus, etc. (Please no girlfriends with boyfriend’s car)
•Must be local to the PNW (unless willing to travel for photo shoot 2nd week of July)
•18 y/o or older

Interested in entering the contest? Take a look at their application on this page.

Be prepared to submit:
•A photo of yourself with your vehicle (keep it PG)
•A biography about how you got into the automotive scene

Submissions will close on May 30th and voting will begin on June 1st.

Join their Facebook event for more info on prizes when they are announced.

[Source: The Speed Crüe – Speedware Motorsports]

Building a Volvo S40 is no easy task. This is why they aren’t seen very often within the tuning community. Parts are hard to come by so it takes someone willing to embrace the challenge to build one.

Kyle Pike has been building import cars since the age of 17. While training to be a mechanic after high school, the first car he built was a turbocharged LS Acura Integra. His primary goal for the car was for it to be a weekend track warrior. Throughout the entire build he couldn’t get over the desire to go against the grain and do things differently. This was difficult to do with such a common chassis. Kyle decided to look for a new platform.

 “I generally lean towards trying to be original in my builds. I knew I didn’t want another car that was commonly built,” Kyle explains. Once the decision was made to move on, he parted out the Integra and began saving money for his next project.

Not long after graduating college, Kyle started working as an automotive technician at a Volvo dealership. After driving various models of Volvos nearly every day, he started to appreciate their quality. He already knew that the P1 chassis (S40) was a solid choice because of its track record with other cars like the Mazda 3 and the European model of the Focus ST/RS (which uses the same T5 engine). Shortly after beginning his search, Kyle found a clean 2006 Volvo S40.

Initially, Kyle wanted to build another track monster. “I had already picked out a Garrett GT35R for a turbo upgrade and the supporting mods to go with it,” Kyle says. “At the time, my neighbor Eric was going to help me create an ECU harness that would allow me to run a standalone and tune the car. I knew that the turbo 5 cylinder was known to support crazy power numbers on the stock internals and I wanted to be a pioneer with the platform.”

As you can probably guess, the aftermarket isn’t huge for modified Volvos. Kyle decided to take advantage of this lack of competition by developing a front mount intercooler with his friend Eric Urness. At the time they were one of only 4 intercoolers available on the market and most of the others retailed for over $1000. Their intercooler was cheaper and higher quality than most of the competition which allowed them to sell quite a few.

After owning the Volvo for less than a year, a great deal on an Acura NSX popped up locally. An NSX had been Kyle’s dream car for years and he knew he had to have it. This killed his initial plan of upgrading the turbo and installing other performance mods on the Volvo. Unfortunately, the NSX only stayed around for a few months. “My wife hated the car and the cost to restore it to the condition I wanted was too high,” he says. Once the NSX was sold, Kyle continued to modify the Volvo but decided to keep it mild and focus on cosmetic modifications only.

He continued to build the car differently from nearly every other Volvo he saw on the internet. “Members in the Volvo forums were shocked when I told them that I found a set of Advan wheels in our 5×108 bolt pattern and that I was planning on running them,” Kyle says. “I like to think that I have somewhat paved the way for others to think outside the norm in the Volvo tuning community.”

Even though Kyle considered rocking the Advans at one point, he opted to get a set of 18” Fikse FM10’s instead. He had always been a fan of Fikse Forged wheels and when a friend had a set for sale he jumped on them.

The car has been lowered on H&R SP Coilovers. Even though he could go lower, he decided to keep it at a reasonable height since the car still functions as a daily driver for his wife.

Kyle’s next car will most likely be a BMW E46 M3. At this point, he has no plans to sell the Volvo. “It’s been the best car I’ve ever owned and it still deserves that turbo upgrade someday,” Kyle says.

“I’d like to thank my wife for letting me purchase more sets of wheels for my car than she has shoes and Eric Urness for helping me design the intercooler that we sold together.”

He also wants to give a big shout out to the community of Swedespeed. “I have never been part of such a cool forum and it’s truly like a family over there.”

Modification List:

Engine/Transmission
ForceFed Motorsports FMIC (designed by Kyle)
HKS Black edition BOV
BSR intake elbow
Wastegate adjustment mod

Exterior
Elevate front bumper
Dubstop badge less grille
Dynamic trim side skirts and rear valence
Smoked tail lights and matching mirror lights
Retrofit Source E46 projector bi-xenon retrofit

Interior
Volvo Sport steering wheel
SNABB short shifter
Omori boost gauge
Factory premium audio package w/ 10" infinity subwoofer

Suspension/Wheels/Brakes
Fikse FM10 18×8 +36mm w/ Pirelli P-Zero tires
H&R SP Coilovers
Eibach rear camber arms
Heico front big brake kit
Porterfield pads
Stainless lines
Eurosport Tuning front strut tower brace

One of my favorite events last year was NissanFest. It was the event that replaced Northwest Nissans’ annual Golden Gardens meet after it grew to the point that it was no longer manageable. This year, NWN took things to another level by adding autocross and expanding even further on their current activities.

Text by Matt Haugness. Photos by Ellie Marie, Nick Poirier, TK Akiyama, Ryan Cutuli, and Sam Fu.

NWN Nissan Fest 2013 from Takuya TK Akiyama on Vimeo.

Our media crew was on track for most of the drifting portion of the event. It was a wet the entire morning and the track conditions made things difficult for drivers who were still relearning their cars after the long winter. By mid-afternoon the track dried up which made things even more interesting.

The Showcase, presented by NWMotiv, had an awesome selection of cars this year. It was great to see them sell out on their spots in the show the week of the event. I saw significantly more Nissan/Infiniti/Datsun cars in the show this year which I’m sure will please some of the purists that have a problem with other makes of cars at the event.

Awards for the Showcase were as follows:

Best Nissan – John Pennell | Nissan Skyline GTR
Best 240SX – Gwapo Nguyen | Nissan 240SX
Best Non-Nissan – Brandon Olson | Acura NSX
NWMotiv Choice – John Bradley | Nissan 300ZX
Fan Favorite – Daniellie Martin | Nissan 240SX

Northwest Nissans uses the drifting portion of NissanFest to determine their sponsored drivers. This year, Rob Primo took the Formula Drift sponsorship and Ian Fournier won the Pro-Am sponsorship. They both earned their sponsorships and everyone at IM looks forward to seeing them compete this year.

12►

Round 1 of Evergreen Drift’s series was held on April 20, 2013 at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Washington. For those new to the drifting scene this year, Evergreen Drift is host to the local Formula Drift Pro-Am competition as well as the local Grassroots competition.

Thanks to efforts of the track staff, Evergreen Drift has been able to host more open drift events during the offseason than normal. With this extra seat time, drivers have been able to obtain the practice needed to do well in their respective competitions.

This was the first actual competition of the year and many veteran drivers spent much of the winter rebuilding and tweaking their cars. The only seat time that some had was on the wet open drift days leading up to the event.  This meant that once the track dried up, it was significantly different experience.

Competitors in both the Grassroots and Pro-Am showed just how committed they were to the local drift scene by sticking it out throughout the changes in weather and delays. Although it was a long day, it was a great way to kick off drifting in the NW.

Grassroots:

1. Tyler Twisty Archuleta
2. Aaron Mossman
3. Danny Ziegler

Pro-Am:

1. Kory Keezer
2. Michael Tweak Klingele
3. Cameron Moore

It’s finally car show season on the east coast! Spring has finally arrived and events are popping up on calendars just like the flowers on the trees. This past Sunday, Nu Conceptz had their seasonal show at Velocity 5—an upscale sports bar in Centreville, Virginia. Their events typically don’t cater to any one scene in particular. They invited anyone in the DMV area to come kick it with fellow like-minded enthusiasts.

They only had a month to promote their event and the turnout couldn’t have been better. This isn’t an exaggeration as there weren’t any spaces left after only an hour into the event. The entry fee into the show was $5 and with it the entries were given access to four sponsors, three vendors, numerous photographers, and the company of other gearheads. There were a total of eight judged categories. A company named Dyno-on-the-go, out of North Carolina, brought a mobile dyno for anyone feeling spontaneous.

Sponsors:

• SH1FT.tv
• NoVa Subarus
• Club Elite Performance
• KU Connection

Vendors:

• HK Custom Prints & Design
• AWR Performance
• Trade Wraps

Categories:

• Best Overall (judged by KU Connection)
• Best Domestic
• Best Import (judged by Club Elite Performance)
• Best Stance (judged by Static Tuned)
• Best Subaru (judged by NoVa Subarus)
• Best Honda
• Best Euro
• Dopest Bike

Some of the noteworthy cars were a few Supras, RX-7’s, AE86’s, NSX’s, and an R34. I was surprised there weren’t any R35’s or other EF Civics aside from mine. This was my first time hanging out in Virginia in a setting like this and I was definitely impressed.

I’m a new contributor to Import Meet from the east coast and I plan on attending even more events in the near future. My goal is to give current readers a taste of the car scene on this side of the country. Stay tuned!

The first thing I did after buying the car was begin the search for someone looking to trade taillights. The ones that came with the car weren’t my favorite but I knew some people preferred them. It wasn’t long before I found a guy locally that wanted my taillights. We traded straight across and I ended up with these JDM Evo VII tails.

Project Evo VIII Coil on Plug Conversion

My next modification was a coil on plug setup. It cleans up the engine quite a bit in addition to all of the other benefits of having them. The main reasons I wanted to change to a COP system is for the added reliability of not having plug wires and better accuracy when it comes to controlling timing while tuning. It was also a cheap upgrade and looks way better. There are companies that sell high dollar kits but I just decided to make my own. My friend had an old APR front splitter with broken the mounts so he donated the carbon fiber panel that allowed me to make the plug cover.

Project Evo VIII K&N Intake Filter

When I bought the car it had an Injen intake. Here's the kicker: it had been on the car before the previous owner owned it which mean that it most likely was never cleaned. You can imagine how filthy it was. My gas mileage is already horrendous because of the lack of tuning and the dirty filter wasn’t helping.

You would think it would be easy to find a replacement filter but all I could find was a full intake kit. Finally, I stumbled upon a K&N replacement filter. You may ask "Chris, why didn't you just go to Autozone or _____parts store?" Well, it turns out the filter inlet for my intake is about 4.5" and filters of this size are somewhat hard to find locally.  When I went to order the filter, you know where the tab of "customers that bought this product also purchased blah blah blah" is? I made the mistake of checking it out and they had a special on Hallman Pro Manual Boost Controllers. I couldn't resist, so after some short consideration, I ordered both the filter and MBC.

Surprisingly, getting the filter on was quite a challenge. I actually had to take a razor and cut out some of the inlet to make it fit on the pipe.

Project Evo VIII Hallman Pro Manual Boost Controller

Next, I had to figure out where I wanted to mount the boost controller. The install was quick and I mounted it right next to the factory boost solenoid (which I thought was only appropriate).

The hardest part was actually dialing it in. I really like the design of the Hallman Pro MBC. It's pretty much idiot-proof. It's all encased in one shell and the top twists with + and – symbols. I got everything hooked up and went out to the back roads. It ripped!

With the addition of the MBC, the car now peaked and held at 1.2-1.3 BAR. This is pretty much stock boost but since I was used to lower boost tapering down this was a whole new experience for me. Needless to say, I was VERY pleased with the results. I highly recommend this product to anyone that wants a cheap and effective way to increase power and response. If you're like me (greedy and hungry for more power) stay away from electronic boost controllers. With all the flashing lights and knowing that you can just up the boost with the push of a button, it’s difficult to have self-control. IMO, get a Hallman Pro MBC, set it and then forget about it.

Up next I’m planning on installing the following modifications and taking a trip to English Racing in Camas, Washington to have it all tuned:

• FIC 1000cc injectors
• DC Sports downpipe
• O2 dump
• 60k service (Water pump, timing belt, balance shaft belt, serp belt, all fluids)
• Dual map tune (E85/Pump) with 2-step and valet
• AEM digital gauges
• Possibly 3-port MBC
• Maybe get my meth kit running for the pump gas tune

I'm shooting for over 400 WHP. I know it's kind of steep but we'll see how far we can get. Aaron (the tuner at English Racing) is very confident that we can make some good power and I'm hoping for the best. I'll be taking plenty of photos and video of the whole trip.

Previous posts about Project Evo VIII:

Introduction to the Project

[Photo sources: K&N, Hallman Boost Controller, Mellon Racing]

In the last update, I shared the cooling system and a short video showing the car running. In order to prepare for the first street tuning session, I needed to get the car roadworthy. This meant that I needed to find a way to mount the battery, finish the intake/exhaust and figure out the gauges.

LS Swap FC RX-7 – Battery Tray

Something that is always a challenge when doing a swap is finding a spot for the battery. Many LSX-swapped FC RX-7 owners end up mounting the battery inside of the car. While this was an option, I needed to make sure that the car would easily pass tech inspection and I didn’t have lot of money leftover to buy an expensive battery. I wanted to use a common off-the-shelf battery that could still be replaced at any store that sold batteries. I had heard great things about Odyssey batteries, but finding a replacement locally if they go bad can be difficult.

Before I bought a battery, I was using the battery from my Honda S2000 to start the engine. It was easy to remove from the car and the 500 CCA was enough to start the big (by comparison) L33 engine. S2000’s use a smaller than normal battery but it’s still a standard size and can be bought at just about any place that sells batteries.

After removing the battery 2-3 times, I noticed that the S2000 battery tray would fit nicely in the front of the FC engine bay. What I liked about the S2000 battery tray is that it was a stamped piece of sheet metal with provisions for a battery tie-down. It only required the removal of 3 bolts to do the test fit and after placing it in the FC engine bay, it was obvious that it would fit perfectly with some minor trimming.

I ended up buying a used battery tray with the stock tie down rods on eBay for about $30 and trimmed the corner to fit around the front wheel well. I used steel spacers which allowed the bottom of the battery tray to sit nicely on the frame rail. I then drilled and tapped two holes in the frame rail and used an existing hole near the front corner of the car to lock it in place.

Once the tray was mounted I found a 51R-4 battery locally for around $80 after tax. The 51R-4 has the battery poles flipped which meant that the positive terminal was further from that hood than it would have been in the normal orientation. Lastly, I installed plastic boots to cover both of the terminals. The entire solution was a little over $100 and it beat trying to use an expensive Odyssey battery and bracket.

Total weight of the 51R-4 battery: 27.4 lbs

Note: Even though the battery is only 500 CCA, it had no problem starting the engine during the winter at near-freezing temperatures.

LS Swap FC RX-7 – Intake Setup and Throttle Cable

FC RX-7’s have such a large engine bay that it makes finding a spot for the intake easy. Matt from Secondbolt Racing had some spare 3.5” aluminum tubing and silicone elbows to build an intake from. I used a 90° elbow with a ~14” long aluminum tube and positioned the intake to the passenger side. I bought a K&N RE-0950 cone filter from Summit Racing and installed it onto the end of aluminum tube. Since I’m planning on going speed density, I did not install the stock MAF but I did put the IAT sensor in the upper elbow.

The stock LS1 intake has a large hole for the EGR system that needs to be plugged. After a quick measurement, I went to the hardware store and found a rubber stopper that fit perfectly. If you want to do something similar, make sure the stopper is tapered and only slightly larger than the top of the hole. I found a stopper that measured 1.375” at the top at a local hardware store. After it was pressed in, it sealed completely and hasn’t moved after 500 miles of driving.

For the throttle cable, I used a stock F-body cable from a 98-99 Camaro (part number for reference: 12565559). The length of this cable is ideal for FC RX-7’s and after enlarging the hole on the firewall slightly, it fit perfectly.

LS Swap FC RX-7 Custom Magnaflow Dual Exhaust

Matt from Secondbolt Racing was parting out a swapped FD RX-7 and had two extra Mangaflow mufflers leftover. He decided to fashion me a custom exhaust using piping purchased from Summit Racing. Matt did a great job and it was nice to use the mufflers he had to keep the cost down.

LS Swap FC RX-7 Speedometer and Aftermarket Gauges

All FC RX-7’s came with cable driven speedometers. In order to get the stock speedometer to work with the output from the LS1 PCM, many people have been forced to use expensive converter boxes or an aftermarket speedometer.

Recently, someone discovered that Acura Integras (94-01) use an electric speedometer that is approximately the same size as the stock FC one. HP Tuners (the tuning software that I plan on using) allows the tuner to change the final drive ratio which ends up changing the speedometer output. This makes this a cheap and easy way to get a functioning speedometer while still using the stock FC cluster.

I was able to source an Integra cluster from a friend (thanks Blake!) and separated the speedometer from the rest of the cluster. I then removed the speedometer from the FC gauge cluster. The walkthrough I followed wasn’t exaggerating when they said that a large portion of the plastic structure had to be removed. I used a Dremel to make room and scissors to cut the faceplate of the Integra gauge. It’s really difficult to show exactly how much material had to be removed but I just kept removing material until it sat flush. Wires were added to the Integra speedometer and then soldered to the back circuit board.

While the Integra speedometer was out, I rolled the odometer back to zero. I wanted this to be treated as a reference for how many miles were on the car since being swapped. I noted that original cluster mileage for insurance purposes (only 114,018 miles on the chassis!).

Instead of reusing the FC cover (it was too thick) I just kept the Integra one. It isn’t orange like the rest of the gauges but this is going to be my race car so I didn’t think it was a huge deal.

Click here for the full tutorial on how to do the speedometer swap on Norotors

In addition to the speedometer, I also wanted to have oil pressure and water temperature gauges. Having used Autometer in past projects, I opted to use them in again on this project.

Oil pressure gauge: ATM-3327 from Summit Racing

Water temperature gauge: ATM-3337 from Summit Racing

I used the Autometer oil pressure and water temperature senders and installed them in the stock locations.

I bought a generic FC 2 gauge A-pillar pod and as you can see it’s held on with zip tie I plan on developing a more permanent solution soon but this is working for the time being.

In the next update, I’ll discuss my first street tuning sessions and dyno session. Thanks for reading!

Previous posts about Project LSX-7:

Update 16 – Cooling System & First Spin of the Drivetrain
Update 15 – Clutch Master Cylinder Install
Update 14 – T56 Transmission and C4 Driveshaft Install
Update 13 – First Start
Update 12 – Stage 1 Fuel System
Update 11 – Rear Subframe Modification and Bushing Install
Update 10 – S4 Turbo II Parts Car
Update 9 – L33 Modifications and Preliminary Install
Update 8 – Ronin Speedworks LSX Mount Kit
Update 7 – Improved Racing Oil Pan Baffle Install
Update 6 – Parts Engine Teardown
Update 5 – 5.3L Engine Purchase
Update 4 – The New Shop
Update 3 – Drivetrain Choices
Update 2 – Interior and Wiring
Update 1 – Engine Bay Preparation
Introduction to the Project

We anticipate that the winner of the IMSCC will select Falken Tire’s world-renowned Azenis RT615K tire as their prize.

The AZENIS RT615K is a championship-winning street tire that is extremely popular for today’s sports cars, performance compacts and sedans. With its world-spec construction and advanced compound for street and track use, RT615K confidently maintains grip as tire temperatures increase. Through its proprietary technology, the motorsports-inspired 8/32nd tread design and solid center rib provide significant traction and sustain strong grip in both wet and dry conditions.

[Source: Falken Tire]

We are happy to have the support of Falken for this event.

April 14th is the deadline to apply to compete in the IMSCC. Apply now by clicking the link below and filling out the form completely.

It all started back in 2003 during my freshman year of high school. Most of my friends were preoccupied with sports and other activities, but when I wasn’t playing in a band or playing music, I was turning wrenches. I’m from Toledo, OH and there is a shop there called Pure Tuning Performance. I was the shop errand boy which was fitting because I didn’t really care how much I got paid or even if I did get paid, I just loved being around the dyno and learning from the guys.

If you aren’t familiar with the Midwest, it is the land of the DSM. Down in Wakeman, OH you’ll see David Buschur and his arsenal of 7-9 sec DSMs/Evos. When 2003 hit and the Evo was brought stateside, Aaron at Pure Tuning Performance wanted to jump on the opportunity of tuning them before the game picked up. Two employees bought brand new MR’s around 2005. After seeing both of those cars, I knew I wanted one.

I watched both of their cars develop from street cars to track monsters. Every time our group went to the track it wasn’t long before a crowd was surrounding us. Vipers, Lotus, NSXs, Supras, Corvettes, and just about everything else were getting crushed by the Evos. This was a big deal at the time because there wasn’t a whole lot of aftermarket support for these cars. The majority of the Evos had one-off custom pieces made by either Aaron or Keith.

While I continued high school I kept my eyes on the Evo and watched them continue to dominate the track and the street. Before I know it, Buschur Racing was developing power packages with John Shepherd Racing. The Evo was now king of the DSM world.

Throughout high school I tinkered with other DSM’s (Talon, Eclipse, VR4’s) and my buddy and I built a 95 3000GT VR4 with a single GT42R setup that made some pretty awesome power. It was lagzilla and wasn’t very streetable, but a fun car nonetheless. Even still, any time we’d run into a “Buschur” Evo, the chances of winning were slim. I left for the Navy in 2006 and began my adventures around the world. Throughout my time enlisted, I tried to buy an Evo multiple times. Things always fell through on either the seller’s side, or the bank’s side.

I was about to give up hope until last June. A guy that worked with my wife had an Evo and I had been familiar with the car because I had previously done some work on it. It was a 2005 Evo VIII GSR with only 54,000 miles on the clock. He was in a pinch and was heading to Japan which meant he had to get rid of the car. I asked him how much he wanted and he told me I could just take over the loan. This was my chance! I rushed things through the bank, and finally got to take the keys.

When I bought the car, it had the following modifications:

• HKS front mount intercooler
• CBRD  aluminum radiator and fan
• HKS 272 cams and HKS cam gears
• HKS SSQV V1 BOV
• Doc Race Intake manifold
• Injen intake
• Works race spec clutch and flywheel
• Evo IX front end conversion
• Quad HID's
• JDM headlights
• JDM rear bumper
• Seibon CF hood
• Rexpeed CF front lip, side skirt add-ons, trunk lip, and vortex generators
• Ralliart side mirrors
• JDM Evo VII tails
• Rexpeed rain visors
• 18” Work CR-Kai’s
• Agency Power shorty antennae
• Tein Springs

I’ve had the car ever since and it really has been a dream come true. I will tell you that building cars and having a family is a difficult task. I have two kids and building the car is last on my list of priorities. Despite all of this, the Evo really is the perfect car for the gearhead father. It’s safe enough to take the kids to the grocery store, but fun enough to be competitive on the street. Having a wife and kids makes the build a long process, but at least I have them to enjoy the journey with me.

My current plans are:

• 60,000 mile service
• AEM digital gauges
• FIC 1000cc injectors
• FPR and rail
• 02 dump and test pipe dump
• English Racing dual map (pump/meth and E85) speed density tune
• Under hood shifter bushings

Thanks for reading. Stay tuned for more updates soon!

NissanFest 2013 is right around the corner and we wanted to come up with a fun way to find a clean Nissan or Infiniti to park next to our booth in the Showcase.

The winner of this contest will receive the following:

• Free entry into the Showcase (if you have already registered, we will reimburse your entry fee) and parking next to the ImportMeet.com tent
• Feature on ImportMeet.com
• ImportMeet.com JDM WA pullover hoodie
• ImportMeet.com sticker pack

Only owners of Nissan or Infiniti (Datsuns are eligible as well) vehicles can enter this contest. This is a completely free contest to enter.

Fill out the form below and submit a high quality photo of your car. We will decide on our favorite cars and then post all of the photos on our Facebook page to have our fans give their input. This will be a little different from past contests in that the Facebook “Likes” will only help us decide on the final car. Facebook "Likes" will not be the final determining factor on who wins.

We are no longer accepting entries to the NissanFest IM Booth Car Contest.

Don’t own a Nissan or Infiniti? You can still register to park in the Showcase:

Register for the Showcase

Not into car shows but like to autocross? Sign up for the autocross competition:

Register for the autocross portion of NissanFest

Just plan on spectating? Join the NissanFest event page:

NissanFest Facebook event