This Turbo Hatchback Is Off Its Faceflame throwing focus

Going Retro With Nissan’s Tiny Four Seater

figaro figaro

Why Everyone’s Gone Mx5 Madroadster life

Moog’s High Speed Chase With A Busschool’s out

INSIDE ◦ How To Vinyl Wrap ◦ Buying Seats Online ◦ EXE Hillclimb Madness ◦ SEMA ◦ Best Japanese Food ◦ Irongav & Heaps More

THEREALSTORY

THEREALSTORY

The Truth Behind the MCM Drift 180SX Build

MIGHTYCARMODS MAGAZINE

ISSUEFIVE >

For Maximum Digital magazine awesomeness, be sure to set your PDF reader to 'two up' with ‘Show cover page during two-up’ selected.

(These are located in the ‘View > Page Display’ menu in Adobe Acrobat). This will mean you can see pages side by side.

It looks mad, just don't try and rip the pages out. You might hurt yourself.

2 mightycarmods magazineissue 05

180SX The Real Story

Roadster Life

Figaro! Figaro!

Out Of Focus

Heaven and Hell

\46

\54

\68

\60

\108

issue05.Features

issue05.liFestyle issue05.tech

go behind the scenes and Find out just how this Filthy nissan was purchased For just $600

this is why an mX5 will change your liFe

marty: train people...moog: no signal no service no schoolyour saycar newsgame review: Forza horizonmcm meet: melbourne styleviva las semaeXe haunted hills hill climbwtF!watch your mouthvirtual driFt pigmcm music: whitecitylightpro photo: tristan stillreal liFe: the second selFirongav: smell sense

8121617182228388486889498104116

quick car proFile: rs liberty wagondrag racing with mechanical stigmoogaru: towing the linehow to: vinyl wraphow to: replace aXles & cv jointsrisks oF buying seats onlinewhat a tool: step drill bit

17207476788092

ugly, blue and turbo? yes please. take a closer look at this amazing, tiny, turbo beast From japan

would you like Flames with that? turbo Focus madness

our man in japan steve king takes us through the best (and worst) oF japanese Food in this two part series

Andrew Hawkins

Ying Bot

Phil Lee

Nicholas Ramalho

Steve King

3mightycarmods magazineissue 05

mighty carmods

issue05.staFF

ben neal / mechanical stig

jara stojanovic / milkchicken

garth ivers

Writer

Writer

Art Direction & Design

Issue 05

Cover PhotoRoss Waldron rosswaldron.com

Advertising Enquiriesmagazine@mightycarmods.com

Mighty Car ModsPost Office Box 812Strawberry Hills NSW 2012magazine@mightycarmods.commightycarmods.com

Mighty Car Mods Magazine is published six times a year exclusively through digital distribution by Mighty Car Mods Pty Ltd. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without prior written permission is strictly prohibited. All prices correct at time of press but are subject to change.

The publisher, editors, contributors and related parties are not responsible in any way for the actions, results or consequences taken by any person, organisation or party on the basis of reading the information, stories or contributions in this publication. The advices offered within this publication are opinions only and it is recommended that consultation with a Certified Engineer is carried out before undertaking any vehicular modifications. The publisher, editors, contributors, and related parties disclaim any and all liability and responsibility to any person or party, be they a purchaser, reader, advertiser or consumer of this publication.

T h e M a g a z i n e

Ben is a self confessed Subaru nut whose garage is a revolving door for Subarus in need of some love. His 9-5 is as a trade mechanic and import parts specialist for a Sydney-based importer.

What is the most insane mod you’ve ever done? Cutting the rear section out of a Subaru Fiori to (attempt to) install a WRX engine.

Owner of the title ‘too many cars to remember’, Jara is happy to lend a helping hand to those who demand. However, don’t let her kind exterior fool you, she has no problem putting the boys in their place when it comes to Honda tuning.What is the most insane mod you’ve ever done? Converting my non-VTEC Honda Civic to VTEC while keeping the stock carburettors. Although it doesn’t sound insane, the 25hp increase says otherwise in a rather small car.

Meticulous designer, obsessive music addict & AE86 die-hard pretty much defines our one-man art department. If not at his desk buried in pixels, Garth can normally be found under the hood of his AE86 ‘hachiroku’ Trueno or through digging stacks of vinyl records. He also runs the AE86/ZN6 community, Hachiroku.com.auWhat is the most insane mod you’ve ever done? BEAMS 3S-GE engine and 6-speed gearbox swap into my AE86! It’s still ongoing!

josh neale / jmacman12

nicholas ramalho / blade888

Editor

Writer

Josh Neale is a certified Canadian, general car nut and rather opinionated but in a kind (Canadian) manner. He’s also an avid Audi and Mazda enthusiast, often seen working on either two.

What is the most insane mod you’ve ever done? Helping a mate put a 3S-GTE into a tiny AW11.

steve kingWriterSteve is a rather tall Yorkshireman who left his native England 15 years ago to visit Japan for a year or so, and ended up never going back. A self-confessed workaholic, when he’s not translating obscure technical Japanese he may be found in the dojo or steering around wild deer in his modified Golf GTI on the mountain roads of Hokkaido. What is the most insane mod you’ve ever done? Improvised a screwdriver to remove an interior panel to clog the alarm bell using sellotape.

Nick’s love of cars, driving and mechanical skills, came from his father, a Touring Car driver in the 1970s. When not tinkering with IT Tech, or instructing a Cadet Squadron in aviation, you will find him in his car or under it. On a cruise, a race track or a driveway, he’ll be having good times with mates helping out where he can and enjoying the company.What is the most insane mod you’ve ever done? Using a thin piece of LEGO to hold idle on a throttle assembly on a B21E Engine.

4 mightycarmods magazineissue05

issue05. regular columnists

marty moogmighty car mods is..

Moddius Expertus Presentusius Undercover Soccer MumMarty’s favourite shirt reads “no tofu” but despite this, he and Moog still manage to stay great friends while creating the hit show Mighty Car Mods. Since he was a teenager he’s been modifying anything that moves, and some things that don’t. He feels most at home in a spare parts shop or wreckers yard scouring for parts to put to use on the driveway and believes that a mod worth doing, is a mod worth doing yourself.What is the most insane mod you’ve ever done? Cut the roof off a 323, which caught fire a few days later...

Moog is host, and co-creator of the hit YouTube series Mighty Car Mods which started in 2008. He has owned many cars ranging from his Mini, VL Commodore and three-wheeled Camira, through to a range of S13’s, modified Golf GTI’s and his defeated JDM S15. He has filmed over 100 episodes of Mighty Car Mods in locations including USA, Japan and Hong Kong. He dislikes eggplant immensely.What is the most insane mod you’ve ever done? Glued a Pantera cassette into my stereo so my friends couldn’t change it.

geoFF thompsonwww.geoffthompson.comGeoff Thompson is recognised as one of the best self-defence instructors in the world. After a decade working on the doors of some of the roughest clubs on the planet, he is now a BAFTA winning author of 40 books, including his autobiography ‘Watch My Back’ which was adapted into a major motion film ‘Clubbed’

andrew hawkins

irongav

www.motiveDVD.comAndrew Hawkins is a veteran of the modified car scene in Australia. After studying Engineering in the Airforce he worked as a commentator for Autosalon, Full Lock and Drift Australia, as well as hosting their TV show. He worked as the producer for Ignition DVD before starting his own production company Jet Multimedia which owns the Motive DVD Series. He loves building his own cars and has a R32 GTR street car, drift car, and his well known project car JET200.

www.irongav.comDespite having a degree in industrial design, Gavin’s real interest in cars really only came after he was able to afford to buy them - never settling for anything average, this took quite a bit of time working his way up from intern slave through to feature film art department and then finally head designer of his own and other companies involved with film / video production. Decidedly biased towards anything “made in Germany” he is currently trying to find a pair of long pants that fit like his shorts you will see him in 365 days a year.

5mightycarmods magazineissue 05

issue05. contributors

ying bot

nick andrew @nick88s

robert read / beast260

Writer and Photographer for ‘Roadster Life’. Read the article on page 44.

Writer and Digital Artist for ‘Virtual Drift Pig’. Read the article on page 78.

Writer on ‘MCM Meet: Melbourne Style’ on page 22.

Born in a sewer containing toxic ooze, Ying was trained by a fierce ninja rodent. As a young adult, she turned her back on the ninja life and replaced her sword with a steering wheel. Local folklorists refer to her as a “Track Ronin” (a circuit samurai with no master). In her spare time, Ying enjoys collecting a selection of fine Japanese wheels and small underpowered vehicles.

What is the most insane mod you’ve ever done? I had Adamantium fused to my bones for it’s excellent metal conductivity. I am now able to jump start cars with my bare hands.

Nick Andrew is a Forza guru who spends his time building incredible cars virtually, including vehicles from Top Gear and the MCM Drift Pig 180SX featured in this issue. He’s also got a successful YouTube channel where he’s got crazy fans known as the AR12 Army who follow his mad videos on drifting and gaming.

What is the most insane mod you’ve ever done? Building a virtual version of the MCM drift car sent my channel insane?

Fitter and turner by trade and all around car nut, Robert is known as the Car MacGyver among the MCM Melbourne members. Has been working on cars since he was 9, from the age of 13 has owned 30+ cars and still counting ranging from a 76 Datsun 200B coupe right up to his 06 Ford XR8 Ute. In his spare time, he likes to arrange car meets and cruises for many of the MCM fans in the Melbourne area.

What is the most insane mod you’ve ever done? Making a Turbo manifold out of a stock Exhaust header for a Holden 3.8 engine.

Do you have a story for MCM Magazine?Got some crazy car stories from your end of the globe? We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with the magazine team at magazine@mightycarmods.com

6 mightycarmods magazineissue 05

Train People...

8 mightycarmods magazineissue 05

Train people worDS & iMageS : MarTy

two types of people in this world, car people…

and train people. How can that be? I hear you ask.. Because people either love and use cars, or love and use trains. Now thats not to say that they both love AND use them - it just means they may love them or they may not.

Train museums are proof of this - boffins from all over gather to gawk at the metal behemoths that started the rail revolution. And they are pretty impressive beasts. They are credited with modernising most developed countries, particularly in America, joining the east to the west. Trains basically became the most advanced form of transport once people figured out they could move more gear than with just horses and carts.

This is not an effort to delve into the psychology of those who choose to drive themselves and those who choose to be driven around on geographically limited metal rails by a bloke named ‘Jerry’ and a train guard who finds it funny to mumble incomprehensible station names into the PA microphone - this is a short review of what can go wrong when both methods of transport are utilised, in a foreign country.

Recently I visited the UK to go to Japfest; the United Kingdoms biggest Japanese Car event. Much like SEMA (See article page <<>>) I have been busily squirrelling away spare dollars in order to experience (and document) some of these events around the world while I have the time and a camera that works.

I arrived into London and booked a hire car. The daily hire prices are ridiculously cheap these days - it makes you wonder how it is they actually make money. I’d pre planned the route i’d be taking to the next biggest city so didn’t need the GPS and had travel insurance to cover any accidents with the car (a MUST!) I got “upgraded” from a Ford Focus to a Peugeot 308 - The guy at the counter was extremely friendly so I gave him an MCM lanyard and told him about the show while I was there.

The car had just been washed and was sitting out the front parked rear to kerb, I walked around, had a quick glance and it looked brand new - threw my gear in the boot and was on my way.

20 minutes later i stopped at a roadside service stop to get some dinner (or breakfast, can never tell with Jetlag!) and took a long exposure shot of the car in the carpark. It was full moon and the silver car looked great against the black background, even if it was a Peugeot… diesel!

Fast forward a few days of driving around the country side (well over 600km) and I find myself at the nearest service station to the car rental place, I fill the 3/4 empty tank up with diesel, still in awe at how little fuel the car had used for the trip - and set off to return the car to the rental company.

When I get back, the lady on check in has a look at the front of the car and says “It’s damaged”. A little bit stunned I walk around the front of the car (now very dusty from country roads) and sure enough there’s a scratch on the front bumper bar. I was completely certain I hadn’t damaged the

There are

“those who choose to be driven around on geographically limited metal rails by a bloke named ‘Jerry’ and a train guard who finds it funny to mumble

incomprehensible station names into the pa

microphone”

Damage at night... harD to see right?

9mightycarmods magazineissue 05

car myself, but there was always the possibility someone else had done it while it was parked. This still didn’t make sense as I’d rarely been into any towns and there wasn’t anything to scratch the bumper bar on. From my painting experience I can tell you it was a graze that hadn’t even made it through to the base coat, so it would have cut and polished out pretty much straight away.

The minutes were ticking down to get a connecting train and I was ushered through the process of paying close to $400 for the “damaged vehicle”. I had no choice but to sign a form outlining my side of the story and that it could be followed up later but “i would have to pay for the damage now”.

As I was discussing the damage with the branch manager she pulled up the database for that car. There was an entry for ‘scratch, lower valance’. She decided that was not the same as the bumper bar, so therefor this damage I had

caused must be new. I was told a valance is a ‘lower lip’, by the way - the 308 doesn’t have a valance, or lower lip.

I took a quick photo of the damage in case i’d need it later on.

A while later I remembered that i’d taken that long exposure photo in the car park. I opened it up on my laptop, sure enough, not 20 minutes after I’d hired the car - there was the same scratch! I was relieved that I hadn’t unknowingly caused the damage to the car - but my bank balance had still copped a hit - (a few days worth of accommodation or car hire for example) because of it.

It’s easy to get angry in this situation, and to be honest, I was. It seems quite unfair to not only be blamed for damage that you didn’t do but also to be made to pay for it straight away with no opportunity to contest it. I was glad I had travel insurance and also glad I had the photo.

Not long after getting on that train.. a ticket inspector came and asked me for my ticket. I presented my reservation documents only to be told that “No, that is not the correct kind of ticket, and No you can’t actually print off the right kind of ticket for the train you are on so you need to buy another ticket right now”.

A few hundred euro’s later (now a whole week of budget completely blown) I was allowed to remain in one of the two seats I had now paid for.

I’m writing this a few days later, and in a few days from now I’ll need to hire another car.

The lesson i’ve learned is that you actually do need to check the car with a fine tooth comb before hiring - even in a first world country on a practically new car. I’ve always given hire cars a once over but from now on I think some walk around photos might be in order. In the end the bill for my rental car almost tripled, and now i’m no longer wondering why the daily hire rate was so cheap.

an update

So for the second hire I chose a different company, based mostly on what cars were available as all the prices and conditions are very similar.

A turbo golf was offered for a really good price and after some issues with the booking system, i was given free excess coverage as part of the hire. The staff actually said to me “don’t worry too much about checking it, if you damage it its all covered anyway and won’t cost you anything”

That was quite revealing and gave me just a little insight into how rental car companies can afford to offer the cars at such a low daily rate.

“The lesson I’ve learned Is ThaT

you acTually do need To check The car wITh a fIne TooTh comb before hIrIng - even In a

fIrsT world counTry on a pracTIcally new car.”

Damage much easier to see in the Daylight...

10 mightycarmods magazineissue 05

The Moog FileS:

No Signal, No Service, No School.

No Signal, No Service, No School.

THE MOOG FILES:

12 mightycarmods magazineissue 05

The Moog FileS: no Signal, no ServiCe, no SChool. worDS: Moog

you’ve had a chance to

read previous issues of the

magazine or even caught a peek

at one of the MCM episodes

where I ramble about S13’s, you

might know I used to have an

S13 that had been destroyed by

a lightning strike which caused it

to burn down to a crisp...

After I sorted the legal issues, I

used the insurance money to

import a 180SX from Japan. It

had a full exhaust, a bar of boost,

Tein suspension, 6 speakers and

half a boot full of sub, with a type

X rear conversion. I loved the car

and it was actually the first turbo

car I’d ever been in or driven. I

picked it up from the docks still

running on Japanese fuel. It was

loud and amazing.

Anyway, this particular day was

just a normal morning on the way

to work. I’d had my three weet-

bix and patted my pet mice as I

left my apartment. It was around

8am when I pulled onto Victoria

Road so there were lots of other

cars around and a school bus in

every direction.

It was a beautiful morning. I was

heading east towards the city

on Victoria Road. I had stopped

at some traffic lights and I was

in the right lane. I was in pole

position. To my left was a car

also stopped at the lights and

to my right there was an empty

lane for vehicles to turn right.

The right lane had a green arrow

and I noticed that the arrow

turned orange and then red

just as my light went green. So

I took off and next thing I know -

BANG and the screech of metal

to my right.

I was only going 15km/hour and

was well and truly in my own

lane. It was quite confusing. I

looked out my drivers window

and saw a huge school bus,

absolutely chock full of kids.

The bus driver looked straight

at me through the glass doors.

Clearly knowing he’d just taken

out the side of my car but he

continued to take his right tun

through the intersection, while

the kids looked out windows

at me stopped in the middle

of the road. He was obviously

racing to get through the green

arrow to turn right, but he got

there too late and it had turned

red. Instead of stopping, like

any responsible human being,

he had decided to swing wide

to make it through the corner of

the red light at speed. Swinging

wide meant ripping into the side

of my car in the process. 

Unfortunately in all the confusion

and other cars beeping me I

didn’t get the bus number plate,

and without it I would have

more trouble than I needed to

make a claim. This in itself was

a massive fail on my part as

without it I was not confident I

could make a quick and easy

insurance claim. What I did get

was the bus route number (334*)

from the illuminated sign at the

back of the bus which was much

bigger than the number plate. 

I pulled over and made a quick

call to Just Car Insurance who

explained that the easiest option

would be to get the number

plate, which I didn’t have. 

iF

“My pOp Up LIgHTS

wERE jUMpIng Up and dOwn LIkE an

agITaTEd MOnkEy

bUT IT waS nO gOOd.”

13mightycarmods magazineissue 05