Anyway we finally got the car up to the autoshop - but not before Miguel called and said he was joining us (on his way back from Chiba)! Just as well, because we certainly would have been completely lost without him.
While waiting for Miguel to arrive, Alex and I hauled the rollcage up in the back of his wagon, and then I started unwrapping as Alex went to meet Miguel at the front gate. I had also purchased some anti-rust paint, which I used to spray paint the plates which would end up on the outside of the car.
When the boys arrived, we taped the rollcage together to see how it would look:
Pretty good! Duly encouraged, the guys proceeded to rip out most of the inside of back side of the car - I helped by being tool boy, clean up boy, drink boy... and this is how it looked when we were done.
We then set about trying to see if the rollcage would even fit...while we were pleasantly pleased with the solidity and mass of the Autopower rollcage, it certainly wasn't finished like Japanese ones... but no matter, we got to work:
I had to meet Sumi-san with the Prelude to take it to Techno Pro Spirit at 1545... so we were rushing. When we started seeing if the pieces would fit, it was already about 1430...would we finish in about an hour?
Well we didn't bolt it in, nor were we able to get the foam on the bars (it hadn't arrived at Alex's yet...) but we did get it in! Thanks to duct tape and tension, the cage fit quite nicely...
It was now 1610! So we rushed back to get to the front gate, where Sumi-san had been waiting for us patiently.
And we were off to Techno Pro Spirit!
We barely made it to them before they closed! Traffic was not good to us. But the guys at TPS were - Kumakura-san remarked that the Prelude's H22A was a great engine, but that unfortunately parts were hard to come by... he has an acquaintance at another shop who used to race one, apparently. He also asked about our tires - RE-01Rs, and the Dunlop Star Specs! Great choices both - he commented that the Star Specs would probably last for the entire race - except not to use them new as the blocks were prone to getting chucked off when new! So I guess we'd better get them on ASAP and do some driving!
Oh, and why were we at TPS? To get the timing belt changed! Thanks gentlemen for helping us!
http://www.tp-spirit.co.jp/
Next week - once we get the car back, finish the rollcage!
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