Spring is here, and for much of the world it’s time to take your JNC out of storage, finish up your winter project, or go for the year’s first drive.
What’s your springtime JNC ritual?
Well, if you live in SoCal, the answer is simple: act like it’s any other day of the year. In fact, you soon start digging up our window shades and searching for shaded parking because the California sun that The Rivieras sang so fondly of gives us 90 degree days in March and quickly makes JNC interiors crumblier than corn flakes.
What say you, dear reader? As always, the most entertaining comment by next Monday will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “When is it okay to stance?”
Stance is apparently a very controversial topic these days. We had some arguments for it, many more against it, and a few more in opposition to the mere usage of “stance” as a verb. However, the most insightful comment came from 16-year-old Shakozoku, who clarified:
Stance = No
I definitely hate the use of “hella slammed yo” stance style on old JNCs because that whole scene is just played out and very idiotic. The style, here in America, atleast, pays no respects to the Japanese car scene but mostly to having “swag” or whatever.
Shakotan = Yes
I think that Bosozoku/Shakotan style can be applied to any old Japanese car, because it’s period correct and it’s just rad looking.
I think no American type stance style should be applied to a J-tin car because it’s just trashy. There’s a big difference between Shakotan and stance style.
Omedetou, your comment has earned you a set of decals from the JNC Shop!
Drive, drive, drive!
I just spent all winter with freezing hands and busted knuckles getting the girl ready for the road. Time to enjoy the fruits of my labor!
My ritual is to jack the car up, dive under it, and start working. There’s always work to do, but it has to wait, because my garage is cold, and my lower limit is 50 degrees (F).
Well for me, it is all of the above. Not having a winter this year here in the Eastern Sierra, things happened year round. The winter Leone did not even come out to play save a single time. So pretty much this year it is.
Get the SVX out and prep for driving 200 miles every Thursday. So minor service, bolt the tires and wheels on (We store them off the cars during Summer/Winter) a wash and clay bar.
The winter Leone goes back into storage after a normal service and a wash.
The Legacy gets a wash, clay bar, and perhaps that suspension upgrade and continues to be driven Tues, Fri, Sat as long as it is not wet.
The summer BRAT continues it’s rebuild this spring and summer, hopefully to come out and play by 2017.
The lifted Leone continues it’s build this spring, to hopefully be done before summer.
The Leone sisters? Well one of them is in Texas on a mission of mercy at the moment. My Grandmother is slowly getting weaker at the nice old age of 91. So my mother asked to borrow anything fast that could get her back and forth between CA and TX for the next.. Until grams passes. Of course I could not say no. The nice thing is, mom is representing in a clean third gen Leone with a early build date of 11/84. EJ swap and the lot. Stock looking of course.
But once that one comes back, mothers third gen Leone (11/85 build date) should be assembled and ready to go back and forth. It is out of paint and waiting for a color sand and buff before final assembly.
So as one can see, there is no rest for the wicked this year.
Taking sand paper and touch up paint and covering all of the new spots of rust in my paint chips…
…Would I still be able to contribute if I moved to Hawaii? lol
Only if you let me crash on your couch.
Building another scale model JNC since I don’t have a second parking spot and any JNC would get destroyed over the winter up here (which also makes painting models difficult).
That being said, the new Hasegawa sanitora is really nice and I’m divided between gettin’ ‘er done or cutting the kit up to make a shortbed. Or maybe a phantom “King Cab” with the 2-door sedan doors instead of extra windows…
In QLD, Australia we don’t have a springtime. We have 9 months of summer, maybe 1 month of autumn(fall), 3 or 4 weeks of winter and then that spring you speak of lasts all of about a month before back to summer. I know those of you in true winter countries or proper 4 season regions will think that sounds great, but I guess you always want what you don’t have. In answer to what is my springtime ritual, no different to the other 3 seasons. Keep my JNC clean and use it whenever I can!
Thank you so much for picking my comment, the stickers will look great on my Corolla hardtop!
Kind of a noob here, but how I can send you guys my address for the stickers?
Arigato!
they should send you an email to your adress that you provided. it should be from the JNC shop.
Ok thanks!
Hmm, well I don’t want to sound impatient or anything because i’m not, but I still haven’t got an email yet…
Hi, please check your spam folder!
spring ritual? you mean DRIVE DRIVE DRIVE!!!
I never stop working on my cars, and do all the major work over winter so when spring time comes i can tune my carbs, do all of those final adjustments, make sure every bulb shines, fine tune the engine to idle smoothly and respond, then nothing else but drive it. there is no better ritual for me than to drive my car that has been sitting in my garage for months enduring the cold and then experiencing the fruits of my labor and making it last as long as i can, by mostly finding any excuse to run into town and drive my Z.
My Grandparents from my Mothers side died during the Spring. Grandma managed to hold up a few years after Grandpa passed on. Both are interred in a graveyard that overlooks the farmlands where they once farmed (well, “overlooks” being subjective, given the graves face towards the south and not directly to the west; Buddhist Protocol I guess). The view from this particular graveyard/church is beautiful on a clear sunny day.
My AE86 SR5 is a bit of an anemic little thing, but it can still manage to get up the mountain and to the mountainside graveyard. One day out of the Springtime, I go and clean up the grave, Wash and scrub it down, offer flowers, moment of prayer. I walk over to a nearby ledge, sit down, and take out a meal to eat and look at the view.
This is where my Grandparents are interred: https://goo.gl/maps/Wx7aR
Think of it as a way to relax, and for my AE86 to have an “epic journey” of sorts for at least once a year.
I forgot I have pics of the place with the Corolla: http://imgur.com/a/xlHB5
My springtime ritual starts with unbolting the doors of the garage/lockup where my Carina is stashed throughout wintertime.
New law in the Netherlands prohibits classic cars (between 25 and 40 years old) to drive in December, January and February. Of course I could just pay ordinary road tax and continue driving in wintertime but that would not do my classic any good.
So after unbolting the doors and securing them I first connect the lead and ground to the battery and then inspect the car for anything out of the ordinary. After that enter the car and try to turn over the engine a few times. Depending on how harsh the winter was I will either have success or need to jumpstart it using my daily driver.
After starting the car drive it outside and leave the car running for a good 5 to 10 minutes. No longer or the neighbors will come out and complain about the noise and exhaust fumes.
After that I take the car to the nearest gas station and fill the tires to the correct pressure and take it for an hour drive. This not only to ensure it really gets up to the operating temperature and all moist is blown out of the car but also for my own pleasure as I have been denied to drive my JNC for three months.
Just curious: Why do the neighbors complain about the noise and fumes? Do they not have cars, or is yours modified?
Old cars(modded or not) are A LOT more fumey(sp?) than any modern car(which most people own), and depending on proximity of the houses I can understand totally. If I lived in a housing area that had houses close by, like in big cities in England, Japan, Europe etc and I had a neighbour that did this and the stink entered my house for 10+ mins, I wouldn’t be impressed either. Same goes for noise…..I have a house diagonally behind me where a group of Drifters live(R32, S13 and S14 all lovely looking team cars with the same livery) and they start and rev their cars on the weekends while doing work on them, and while I don’t get any fumes because our houses are far enough apart, the noise does get annoying after a while, and I’m a car lover(!!). But sometimes while watching TV or trying to relax, I don’t want to hear your RB25 or SR20 rev for 10 mins 😉
I make sure I never idle my cars longer than 2-3mins before driving away slowly to further warm up(idling longer to warm up does more harm than good anyway from what I’m told)….a slow drive after a few minutes is better…..and it keeps the peace with neighbours.
My question is, why is it prohibited for 25-40 year old cars to be driven during those winter months? Too dangerous for old cars to be on the road with snow etc? But if it’s 45 years old that’s ok?
Well, if they’re a team, they should be doing this stuff in a non-residential area…
I can’t imagine one little 4-banger being enough to disturb the neighbors – at idle, anyway. Those d-bag neighbors would die in my neighborhood… Three Harley owners within an about-8-house range, and they each have their own Harley-riding friends.
As for the fumes, I can NOT believe it’d be that bad… I’ve had old cars – pre-catalytic-convertor-cars. It ain’t that bad. It’s ONE car. Sounds like they’re probably the type to complain about any little thing, including some “old piece of junk” that doesn’t measure up to THEIR “standards.” (“Standards” that would drive most normal people to want to kill themselves.) You know the type; THEY all have new BMWs, and your 5-year-old Camry is just SO blase'(sp?), that you should be ashamed to be seen in it.
Close the window on the prevailing-wind or noise side. I do; takes about 1.5 seconds for each of 4 windows.
I understand wanting to be considerate of other people, but they can bend a bit, too. The world doesn’t revolve around any one person or group.
I own 2 JNT’s and one of them I daily, so I ritualistically keep it clean in the first place, but in the spring It gets a special cleaning. I get out the vacuum and the cleaning products and go to town on all the stuff that accumulated in the nooks and cranny’s and then I wipe down all the windows and shine up the dash. after that I take her on down to the local self serve and give her a good wash and then I give her a hug after she’s dry and thank god every day that she’s mine. It sounds kinda cheesy I know but I love that truck like a daughter (yes she’s a girl and I named her Sandra) and every time I drive her she brings a smile to my face.
The ritual with my other truck is reassure her she will be fine and continue rust removal and dream of what she is gonna look like when she’s finished. she runs but the motor is on it’s last legs and needs a full rebuild and the carb is a big pain in the butt but the poor thing has been beat on it’s entire life and it needs some love and that’s what im giving her.
If your wondering what my trucks are my daily is a 1990 2 door pathfinder 5 speed(Sandra) and my project truck is a 1985 Subaru BRAT(Zelda Mae). both are my girls and I love them to death.
An initial part of the season start in spring is the Wankel meeting at the Diemelsee in Germany, taking place on Saturday before Easter. Up to 70 cars take part in a rally in the Sauerland, a hilly area with a nice countryside and narrow roads. Cars like Mazda RX-7 of every age, RX-8, Mazda RX-5, NSU spider or RO-80, but also non rotary cars from the 60s, 70s and 80s take part. Even exotics like Eunos Cosmo or Mazda Rotary Pickup take part from time to time.
The changeable weather in the Sauerland can be challenging, sometimes there are still spots of snow and most participants don’t have winter tires mounted any more. The rally is not about speed, but more like a scavenger hunt with questions about the countryside or technical challenges focused on dexterity.
The meeting is something to look forward to and a fixed point every year. For the last couple of years I took my father with me, so it became some kind of father-son-ritual. It’s great to meet some friends from the rotary car scene and to talk about the cars.
My ritual is usually sneaking the Celica out for a couple of high-speed non-insured drives on the earliest dry days of spring just to get syked up. This year there is still 2-3 feet of snow on the ground today, and my poor car never got a chance to get parked inside due to a severe winter got buried in snow before I had a chance to move it. this year’s ritual won’t change but it will definitely be 6 weeks later that normal. Usually by March 15 I at least have the car started and cleaned and ready for driving. I’ll be lucky if it moves at all by mid April, and it maked me sad.