I just happened to be looking at Thai used car sites for some missing pieces to the Crown, and I happened upon one of the riciest piece of riceriffic gohan I’ve ever seen (can you say bad aero kit?). It’s apparently a Crown one year older than mine, which puts it in an earlier series. You’d never be able to tell, though, except maybe from the rear – there’s hardly anything original left on the whole car:
There’s actually a few good things about this car. First of all, the 1JZ(?) stuffed in the engine bay looks hawt. Second, although I didn’t include it, there’s also a photo on the site showing a sunroof, which I assume wasn’t a Toyota factory option in 1970. Third, I like the idea that this car can seemingly be operated with a serious lack of pedals.
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Come to think of it, there’s another great thing about this car: The price. It’s selling for 220,000 baht, which at today’s exchange rate is 6,437.46 US. The owner must have put about five times that into matching red parts alone. Dammit, if only I’d had this car in high school – I could have been the king of Little Saigon!
Category: Cars
Rain no come
We did everything in our powers to make the rain come today: Washed both cars, watered the garden and lawn, and even washed the old motorbike. It never came, though. Usually just washing one car this time of year is enough to make it rain on the spot. We stop trying to keep the cars clean during this 2 or 3 month period, because it’s impossible to keep it that way for more than a day, usually.
Oh well, Max had fun all day and is sleeping now.
The Kuj is back
Total damage: 9,400 Baht (about $300 US)
An unwelcome expense but much much better than losing my car. Plus the aircon compressor was replaced and a new fan installed so the cooler works better than even some new cars I’ve been in. And the compressor is now tuned to the engine so it no longer stalls when the RPM suddenly dips like it did before.
Close call (the Kuj, the Kuj, the Kuj is on fire)
Just as I left for work in the Kuj today, not even half a kilometer from my house and still inside our neighborhood, the air conditioner (under dash box unit) cut out and black smoke started pouring out from the dash. I stopped the car and cut the engine, but smoke continued to pour out and I could hear either the sound of something shorting out or the sound of plastic burning from the cable bundles under the steering column that are encapsulated by the dash. Then, through the hole where the original ignition was mounted (it’s now on the steering column like a modern car), I saw flames.
All I could think about was how much it was going to suck watching my car burn… There was nobody around, and no cars were passing by… I couldn’t put out the fire with the water I had in the car because I couldn’t get it directed under the dash…. I could call Nam to bring the big fire extinguisher from the house, but it would take a couple minutes and this fire wasn’t waiting for anybody…
Then I remembered I had a small fire extinguisher in the trunk. I got it out, popped the cap (it’s a little spray can type thing), pushed the spout into the aforementioned ignition hole and pushed down on the top. There was violent hissing as the fire was extinguished, and white steam started appearing with the black smoke. Within thirty seconds of directed bursts from the extinguisher, the fire was out, but there was still something shorting out so I got a ratchet set from the trunk, remembered the nut on the battery terminal as a #10 metric, and successfully pulled the positive battery cable.
The rest of the story is kind of anticlimactic… Nam went to call a mechanic, who came and identified the shorted wire and tied it off. The car was no worse for the wear appearance wise, and still drivable, so I took it to my pal Ot’s sound shop to fix everything (rewiring the lot, replacing broken air con parts/possibly replacing the compressor, replacing a broken brake light switch, isolating the problem air con wiring from the rest of the cable bundles). It should be ready tomorrow, after he determines whether he can make a new part for the old compressor (no spares to be had) or just replace it. I’m just happy nothing really bad happened and that I still have a fucking awesome ride.
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THE MORAL OF THIS STORY IS: BE PREPARED! AND ONLY YOU CAN PREVENT FOREST FIRES!
Nah seriously, that fire extinguisher saved my ass today, and it was an impulse purchase six months ago. I’ll carry one in every car I own for the rest of my life.
Spark Plug Art
After having the baby, I ran out of money to complete my list of thing to do with the Kujira Crown. Since I reverted to stock tires I alleviated bottoming out problems and can hence wait on any suspension upgrades. She needs to be stripped and repainted, though, before the rust gets too bad. I don’t think of it as overly humid here (compared to Japan or even Bangkok), but paint started flaking off as I used the Kuj every day and rust started appearing in those places as well as under the paint in some spots.
Additional victims to the humidity were my plugs. Behold:
I can’t even believe the car was still running – I noticed sputtering on the low end and suspected the plugs since they were the only consumables I hadn’t changed – but there was no indication that they had degraded this much. This car is a witch. And now she runs so smoothly…
A Day of Rarities
Nam and I ran a bunch of errands today and saw three very rare things:
- At the body shop: A Kujira Crown almost just like mine, but in much better condition (original everything: 4 cylinder engine, chrome trim [sob], automatic shifter on steering column indicating the car’s original purpose as a taxi in Japan [moving the shifter from the center allowed another passenger to sit there], etc.) restoration-wise. I say almost because I think mine was the deluxe version with a straight six 2600cc engine and optional (front seat only, non-retractable) seat belts. In particular, this old timer had Crown badges and some other details I had never seen before, but were probably originally on mine as well. Basically, he owns the prettier car (in dark blue). I took a look in the engine compartment and under the car a bit, though, and mine is better maintained as far as non-visual areas (plus I have an RB20 silvertop under the hood and matching 5-speed tranny, so I figure mine is a better match for me). I asked him if he would ever consider selling his. He said he’s owned it for thirty years so he’d only sell it to somebody who would take care of it… He wants twice as much as I paid for mine, but the guy who sold it to me basically sold it for the price of the engine (also because he wanted someone to take care of it). I can’t buy it anytime soon, but I know where the old guy lives just in case…
- On a backroad shortcut to the highway between Kalasin and Sarakham: kwai puak, also know as kwai don in the Isan dialect; this means a pink water buffalo. I thought I’d seen one in the distance last year, but it looked more tan-colored than pink. Well I can tell you now, seeing one from behind, it looked like a cow-sized pig – bright pink!. It was awesome! The hair around its face was stubbly and it moved along just like any other water buffalo on the right side of the road, walking and chewing on grass. Actually this guy’s friend was walking on the left side of the road, and he was supposed to be the third thing on this list but since he’s basically the same thing, he doesn’t get his own number.
So I wished I’d had my camera twice today, but I stopped carrying it along in the car a long time ago (it’s a heavy DSLR). Plus, we just sold Nam’s pocket camera to a friend, so maybe we need to buy phones with better cameras or something.
Kings get bored.
The Death Of D1 – The Rise And Fall
My bootleg drifting vids will one day be worth millions (of Zimbabwe dollars?).
Sporting Goods Knockoff Fever: Mitzuka & Balldings
Is this the highest form of flattery for Mizuno and Rawlings?
“Balldings” is officially the best knockoff name, ever. Better than a genuine BOLEX watch, better than PenesamiG, better than MICKEY MUSOE. What was that last one, you ask?
The person wearing this thought it was wholly unremarkable.
Thai rice and the future of illegal street racing
Note the front and rear damage. Rice is rarely as fitting as this.
I believe this is known as a self-fulfilling prophecy; the only thing that would have made it better is if it was being towed.
Baby Infrastructure
Behold what needs to be crammed into our A33 on the way back from a 2 day trip (admittedly, the front seat floorspace is crammed with rice from Nam’s relatives’ fields in Surin).
