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*click to view full image
These are my reasons :
1. It has sentimental value. No doubt my car may only be worth RM8,000.00, or at least that's how much it is insured by Tokio Marine for. This car has been with my family since it was brand new, I repeat, BRAND NEW. I will never, ever, sell this car, or at least not in the next five years. This car has gone through thick and thin with me, my ex, my family, and my entire life. We had this car since 1997 and it was the very last model of the Daihatsu Charade. It was bought at the price of a Wira back then.
2. I enjoy spending on the car. I'd rather splash my cash modifying, restoring and maintaining this car, seeing results and satisfaction as compared to paying the bank every other month seeing your hard earned cash disappearing just like that. No doubt that you may or may not enjoy the comfort of a new car by servicing your bank loan, but hey, I put my car on top priority and I want it to serve me well as much as I spend on it.
3. I learn and experience as I spend. From engine swap to suspension to spray painting, in-car-entertainment, tints, overhauling. The journey started when I got ym hands on this car as soon as I got my license. All the car was to me was just a car that looks nice and drives nice. Down the road I blew the old three cylinder engine and took the path down to converting it into a engine that is thrice as fast. It was a turbocharged engine. I learnt how a turbocharger operates, what are the variations of general turbo sizing, piping diameters that affects power curve and delivery, how to maintain a turbocharged engine, and most importantly, how to drive one.
The weight distribution of the car screwed up in the process of a heavier engine going into the car as I once remembered that the car used to handle much better with the old engine, I've yet to upgrade the suspension system though... I'm eager to.
I once thought that "as long as there is sound coming out from the radio, its enough". Sooner or later I plonked in two subwoofers and a couple of amplifiers and noticed how pleasurable can a drive be with sweet music to your ears. From there Is tarted to experiment with different speakers, headunits, and amplifiers that yield different results everytime a component is changed. I then settled down for the ultimate gadget ; a car-pc. This journey has ended for the time being. A decent alarm aka security system was also added as a precautious step to prevent any theft before this step was done.
I then started to pay attention to all the noises around the car and went into soundproofing and chassis foaming. Nuff said about this one as I had posted about Autofoam in my past blog. Results were marvellous. Certain materials of soundproofing do cut off certain noise frequencies from the driver's ears.
After five years, I had the funds to repaint the car and went for the very best. I learnt how a car is painted properly with the numbers of layers of clear and base coat, as well as body preparation and surface finishing. This took almost a month as I expected nothing less than perfect. I learn as I spend, I see results as I spend.
And currently, the car's engine is being rebuilt as the car was overheating during full boost and that the engine is consuming engine oil. I can't comment much on this yet.
Also along the journey I get a lot of parts wearing out and I get to experience how the car behaves, acts, and breaks down. Slowly, slowly and slowly I know what components are to be replaced and how is the engine being troublehsooted.
Also, not to mention that some of my bushes are made of PU and not conventional rubber ones. Stabilizer and thicker anti-roll bars were also added along this journey. Different kinds of tires and brake pads were also tested.
This journey may have sounded like it's the ending, but please guys... bear in mind that this is not even half of it. It's still a long way to go.
Till then, enjoy your ride while you can!
Elton, signing off at 9.22pm, 15th October 2011
