Japan Catch-up

Since according to our Instagram Insights data, the majority of our reader are males, let’s start with excuses, as we are all very good at them. My excuse of why I haven’t come up with any write-ups since I arrived in Japan four months ago, is, well, I guess I have to use the all time greatest reason which is: Time. I am currently in a training program from the company I work for, so I have a specific schedule to follow and right after I arrived here I went straight to language class for two months. That, and a combination of other priorities and how driven my mood was when it comes to writing. But hey, readers don’t care about this and I guess from now on I just have to stop being lazy and start writing again. So let’s take a step back to the first of February and start talking about my first impression here.

First February, the day I got to Nagoya Airport. It was almost in the middle of winter, and boy, was it was cold. I arrived there and had to catch a bus to the city where I will be spending the next two years in. Honestly, this was not the first time I have been to Japan, but this was the first time I saw the country and its automotive scene as a person who actually lives here. This is one of the first pictures that I took here.

The famous and iconic Japanese Taxi. With its automatic door and pricey fares. Did you know that since Japan will be the host of the next Olympic Games, they have new fleets with more spacious leg and head room? I’ll try to take a picture of them and post it on our Instagram Stories.

This was the bus that took me to my city (not this particular one, obviously). Unlike the buses in Indonesia, they didn’t try to cramp as many seat as possible, therefore you get lots of leg room. Seat belts are also a must here. Off we go!

It took around one and a half hours to get to my city. My stop was the IC. IC stands for Inter Chushajo, chushajo meaning: car park. Almost every city has an IC near their highway exit and they are usually used as an intercity bus stop. So you can park your car there and take the bus to another city. I waited for the team that was in charge of my training program to pick me up there. It took a while waiting there that I decided I take a picture of that little Pajero mini that we posted in our Instagram (stalk us and check it out!)

In the same place parked this Nissan Stagea. Ever seen an estate Giddeyaahh? They are most likely converted from this car.

After about twenty minutes, the team finally arrived with their Toyota Probox (they’re like the Avanza of Japan, every compay had them for operational use), we grabbed a quick lunch and they took me to my apartment where I will be spending the next two years in. On the way to my apartment, I made the first encounter with the this blue Mazda RX7 on our Instagram feed (again, stalk us!)

So they explained about my room and the apartment rules (since it was owned by the company) then I had some free time. But, since on the way here, I spotted some cool cars in the apartment’s parking lot, I decided to take a walk around the area.

Like these Subarus. One for the weekdays and the latter for the weekends?

Do you remember this Daihatsu Mira from our Instagram feed (not gonna say it again). I just love how the Mira sits and rocked the steelies, looks like a fun little car.

And don’t forget this Celica in front of a romantic sunset.

Since I was already outside I decided to walk a little further to get some fresh air. Then I came across this pile of parked cars that reminded me of my project car. We will make sure to make an update for #project5outof10. We also posted this in our Instagram feed (yeah, do it)

As I was walking, I kept checking my Google Maps to make sure I didn’t get lost, but since I was still using my Indonesian SIM card, the directions hadn’t been very accurate, so of course it took me to some small alley where I saw this GMC Vandura. I learned that because my city is located near both the mountains and the sea, people around here love to travel with a van or small RV. How cool!

So I kept walking and my map lead me to some more unfamiliar places. It was getting dark and cold, and I was trying to find some familiar landmark, I saw this Beetle. Parked outside a house just beside a small canal, I assumed it must have had an oil drip catcher under it.

Just after I took a picture of this Bug, my phone decided to die. Perfect timing! It was getting very cold. Fortunately I finally  found the way back to my apartment.

So my first impression here? Well, this might be one of the greatest opportunities of my life in terms of work and personal experience, so of course it was very exciting for me. And knowing even that I live in a small city yet I am surrounded by cool cars? I can’t complain. So it’s a combination of excitement, surprise, and getting lost just one kilometer from where I live in freezing cold weather.

Believe me, I was just scratching the surface of how cool and diverse the cars around where I live are. On the next article I will try to show you guys some other cool stuff here, and of course also from other bigger cities. So stay tuned!

Project 5 Out of 10: D-Day

It was my last day at work before the long Iedul Fitri holiday. I finished work on time, went back to my kosan, walked several meters to my favorite coffee shop, and broke my fast there. As usual I finished my flat white and Nutella croissant just past their closing time, paid my order, then walked back to my kosan. I took a quick rest, packed my stuff then went straight to the nearest train station to catch my usual night train back to my house in the other side of the city. It sounded like my any other weekend activity, but it wasn’t, why? Because of something that I did 26 hours ago.

The day before, right around 05.30pm I finished my payment to someone in Yogyakarta, 560 km away from Jakarta according to Google. A payment to the previous owner of a 1600cc green 1972 Datsun 510, that was from then on, mine. Yes, I had just purchased my dream car. Sight unseen, only based on pictures, videos and written testimony that the previous owner provided. The tow truck hauling my beloved 510 headed to Jakarta at around 06.00pm that day. This will either be the best or worst decision that I have ever made. 

On the train ride back home that took around one and a half hour, considering all the waiting and ojek ride home, I arrived home at around 11.00pm. During the journey back home I constantly communicated with Ariq for the current location of the towing car, since the owner of the towing service was Ariq’s friend and the car was to be dropped off at Ariq’s house so that we can work on the car more easily. Right before 12 o’clock midnight Ariq told me the tow truck was entering Jakarta, and looking at the traffic maybe it would take one and a half to two hours to reach his house. So I took some rest, grabed the keys of my father’s car then drove to BSD.

Ariq’s house is not that far, about 30 minutes drive via the highway. As I was driving, my head was filled with expectations. Just a reminder, I have never seen this car before. Imagine this like if your ex finaly agreed to meet you after millions of attempts which she rejected with numerous reasons. All the uncertainties revolving in my head. Has she changed? Am I too fat for her now? Would I bore her to death if I ended up talking about cars? Is she already seeing another guy? Does she still think I’m a waste of her time? With all these thoughts in my head, before I knew it, I had come to my highway exit and not long after that I arrived at Ariq’s house.

The towing car still hadn’t arrived, so I waited. An hour later as Ariq and I were chatting, we heard the sound of a diesel truck in front of the house. It was the tow truck. We opened the gate, and there it was, a green Datsun 510 on the back of the towing car. We helped the driver to set up the ramp, gently pushed the car down in front of the house. But we still had to push the car UP to Ariq’s driveway, with a flat front tire was quite a work out. It took us several attempt but we managed to place the car where we wanted it. It was around 2am so I gave the driver a big thank you and a tip and they left. It was really late and dark, we were very tired and we can’t really inspect the car. So I decided to go back home and see the car again first thing in the morning.

The next morning I went back to Ariq’s house. It was my first time seeing this car in daylight. So how was the “date”?  Did it meet my expectations? I would say no (I am actually laughing as I’m writing this lol). I knew the car was not in the best shape, but my expectation was that at least I could start the car and take it around the block at least once. But surprise surprise! Not today pal! The owner sent me a video of the engine running but what I didn’t know is that the wiring harness wasn’t actually all connected, so the owner actually had to jump the starter motor to start the car. Oh and the car did not come with a battery. But all that aside, I reckoned she looked as beautiful as ever, but seems like she didn’t really want to meet me in the first place.

To give you all a picture about the condition, this car is currently in the classic nightmare situation of poorly done body and paint work. The previous owner told me that this car just had the body and paint worked on several years ago but he thinks the workshop didn’t do the job as he expected. I assume that this is why this the car was neglected mid work, and that explains all the missing bits and pieces and the dodgy wiring (because you know, they usually remove all the trim and wiring before body and paint work). Furthermore, there are a tons of work that needed to be done, the interior, door fitting, weather stripping, window mechanism and many more.

So the next questions would be: What’s the plan? To come up with the plan, I have yet to introduce you all with the situation, mainly about the budget and time. I am just an average Joe working in my first big company with fresh graduate salary. I can’t ask for my father to buy me an SR20 and full motorsport suspension then let a specialist set it up for me. I have to be very careful and thoughtful on how I spend my money, and do as much of the work by myself (and of course with the help of my friends) to keep up with the tight budget. So expect many learning process and trial and error in this project. As for the deadline, I could only say that I have a deadline with the reason that I may or may not explain to you all in the future. To put it simple, by the end of this year my goal is to be able to drive this 510 safely and confidently on the streets. Meaning that the drivetrain is healthy, the brakes are working, and the suspension is safe.

Now let’s talk about the plan. Our plan is to work on this car bit by bit, tackle one problem at a time. Ariq and I both have our own 9 to 5 jobs, so we could only work on this car on the weekends. Ariq could work on small things after work, but since I work in the other side of the city I could only be present on the weekends. For the car itself I have a rough picture on how I want it to be. Considering the budget and time I’m not going to restore it to original state, I will build it as to my own preference. I want it to be rough looking but delightful to drive, much like a canyon carver.

For now my priority is not on the exterior. I will keep the color and may add or remove several exterior part and may change the wheels, I want to make the car look good but not too good that it makes me afraid to drive it hard. As for the engine, we know that it runs but again we have to sort the wiring and fuel lines, but the goal for now is to make it run reliably that I could drive it anytime I want. We may have a plan for a different carburettor setup. For the interior, I intend to keep it bare and stripped, some kind of a mix of race car and street car. I might also change the steering wheel and try to find some cheap bucket seat, but I will keep the carpet to minimum and maybe make our own aluminum door trim.

  

So yeah, that’s roughly it for now. I expect there will be a lot of learning process in this project and I hope it would be informative and useful for you all. We will keep you updated with this project and share some interesting things that we encounter during this project. Not only the update, we will also try to give you some background story about his project, from why I chose this car and how I finally got my hands on this particular 510. We hope that this will encourage you all to start working on your own car and get involved in the building process. So do keep your eyes on our feed and stay tuned for updates to come!