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Flashback/2024/NY Resolutions - EPISODE 50
Flashback/2024/NY Resolutions - EPISODE 50
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About this episode
Celebrating their 50th episode, Bobby and Aaron reflect on their journey with the podcast, sharing memorable moments from their first trip to Japan and highlights from past episodes. They discuss the excitement of live events like Import Alliance and plans for 2024, including guest appearances and a project car series. The duo also sets personal New Year resolutions related to their vehicles, emphasizing the importance of accountability and community engagement in the automotive culture.
Topics:
japan trip
import alliance
new year resolutions
guest appearances
project cars
podcast journey
automotive culture
In this episode we revisit some of the first 49 episodes, give a preview of 2024, as well as give our NY Resolutions!
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Nissan Gtr
"In our 34 GTI. And so I had purchased 34 GTR from top rank. And they had it all there, registe..."
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Nissan R34
"...orting series where we talked about importingyour R34 GTT, how you sourced it,how all the paperwork wen..."
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All right, welcome back to right hand drive guys.
I'm Bobby, this is Aaron.
- Yo, yo.
- And this is the podcast for guys who like right hand drives.
And today is the big 50.
Fitty, fitty.
I am so pumped about this.
Like, I am so pumped, 50.
Like, I didn't know how many we were gonna do.
We kind of just did it just, playing aroundjust having fun right now.
- Right, right.
- We want to do something.
- Right, why not, right?
- Yeah.
- It's kind of like a, I don't know,neither one of us could really find a podcast.
It was like it.
So he's like, why not?
- Fill it in, fill in the gap.
So here we are.
We've been filling in the gap for 50 episodes.
And we, I think we recorded our first one back in early March.
- Yep.
- And so we stuck with it.
Here we are with you.
And we're gonna kind of do a little episodeto kind of celebrate those first 49 episodes.
Just kind of have a few flashbacks.
And just elaborate on how it's gone for us.
And then maybe where it's going.
- Sounds good to me.
- Sweet.
So yeah, 49 episodes.
And we've kind of, we've tried to stick to,you know, in the same realm,but we've definitely kind of gone out a little bitas we've gone along.
And so we're just gonna share a few of our favorites.
- Yeah.
Sounds good to me.
- All right, run it.
I'll let you go first.
- Yeah, cool.
I mean, one of my most memorable momentsfrom this last year for sure would be our first trip to Japan.
- Oh, Japan, man.
- It was both our first time over.
- Oh, yeah.
- And over there for two weeks.
- Oh, yeah, two weeks.
In our 34 GTI.
- Yep.
And so I had purchased 34 GTR from top rank.
And they had it all there, registered for us to drive.
I got my international drivers license.
So did he.
- Yep.
- And yeah, it was sweet.
Everything from, of course, picking up that carthe first time, you know, seeing Japan.
- Yeah, yeah, being able to, you know,hit the spring motzery at the end of the suit.
That was, that was something we didn't even really planuntil we even got there.
- Yeah.
- Yeah, like, do we gotta do this?
And I'm like, yeah, you're kind of right.
- Yeah, we had like talked about it,but we were gonna be on the complete opposite sideof Japan and we were like, you know,and screw it, dude, let's just do it.
- We made it happen.
- Yeah, and there was a lot of driving.
- And you can, of course, go back and listento the Japan series.
And yeah, we had a blast.
We got a camper, us to share the camper for six days.
We recorded episodes from, you know, inside the camperat, you know, different PAs and whatnot.
And it was an overall blast and a ton of you guyshit us up and we're like, dude, how'd you guys do so muchand stuff like that?
- Yeah.
- Like, you're everywhere.
We were.
- I mean, I really didn't realize really how much we diduntil kind of just now when I was just talking about it.
I mean, all the driving, all the kilometers you put on,I think it was 5,000.
- 5,000, the kilometers.
- A little over a thousand at the end.
- Yeah, in two weeks, 5,000 kilometers.
That's a lot of driving.
I mean, Japan, Yadson, Island, but dude, I mean,it's when you look at it comparable to like the East Coastof the United States, it's kind of the same link.
- Yeah, it's for sure.
- Like, I mean, you get all those different climates tooand like, that's just like a lot of drivingto hit all these spots, whether it be down in Osakaor, you know.
- Yeah, up at Ebisu.
Yeah, now it was definitely a blast.
And yeah, I liked being able to record from the camperand just kind of like keep everything going.
That was definitely sweet.
- Yeah, it was a good time.
- So a good one for me was when I got to goto import Alliance, unfortunately, Aaron didn't get to go,but one of the good ones for me was being able to go there,record live while the event was going on.
You know, really get to hear the stories of some of these guysthat, you know, we've known for quite a whileand didn't even necessarily realize everythingthat they had going on or whatnot.
So, and then just being there, you know,there's thousands and thousands of people at this event,you know, the Nashville Summer eventand having that vibe is like electricwhen there's that many people that all love the same thingand, you know, meeting all the different attendanceand whatnot, that was definitely one of the highlights for me.
- Well, yeah, I mean, dude, that whole little episode seriesabout import Alliance and the interviews from there.
I mean, that's also on my list and I didn't even get to go,but there was one of those thingswhere kind of just brought me back to back in the daywhen like-- - Oh, for sure.
- You know, 10, 15 years ago or so,when it all started with us.
Like, that was the meat that we all went to in the summertimebecause that was just the thing we did.
So, not all of us drifted out of the spring meet upthe up-prily parkway, but I mean--- It was fall, maybe, whatever it was, dude.
But yeah, now that's definitely a blastand we'll talk more later about some more stuffthat we'll be doing with import Alliance and everybody over there.
So, I guess I kind of took your next one.
- Yeah, yeah, I mean, but it's all good.
I got one more.
The whole importing series where we talked about importingyour R34 GTT, how you sourced it,how all the paperwork went, did the whole deep dive--- Into importing your car on your own,whether within buying it from a dealer.
- Yeah, financing insurance, right, everything.
Yeah, so that is a good point if you're listeningand you have in browser prior episodes, definitely dig inbecause there's some stuff in there that,I mean, you'll absolutely take away, you know?
- For sure.
- Especially, if you--It doesn't have to be a Nissan or a Skylinethat you're importing.
The info we gave out applies to any import.
- Right, any import.
- Yeah.
- I mean, in any car in Japan, really.
- Yeah.
- If you're looking for a car in Japan,this is kind of the way to go.
- Yeah, for sure.
Yeah, I agree.
So, we got a really good feedback in responsewhen it came to those like knowledge-based episodes,you know, which is definitely something we want to provide.
We absolutely don't want to provide false knowledgeand that's why we try not to go into anythingthat we don't personally either understandor have experienced because--- Right, right.
- You know, at that point, there's a lot of speculationand confusion and we want to give out real knowledge.
So, we have some plans coming up that we'll discuss laterthat hopefully through experienceshould give us some more knowledgethat we can put out and hopefully guide some more peopleinto their next car.
- Yeah, yeah.
So, I had one last one. I really enjoyed the MotorX episode.
- Oh, yeah.
- Especially hearing about MotorX and bits and piecesand then doing the research and, you know,kind of fully understanding this situationfor the most part.
I don't think anyone fully understands why hero did what he didand, you know, how this led to, you know,Sean Morris wanting to leave and, you know,all of these different little tidbits,but yeah, I did enjoy kind of the investigative partof that episode and then again, knowing what happenedto those cars, like what--- Right, right.
- You know, so, yeah, the MotorX episode was definitely--- That was definitely a good one.
And that's one of those just classic storiesthat's gonna be told time and time againin this industry, I feel like, because it was one of those thingswhere I don't know, they kind of had the keyin the golden ticket where they had the privilegeto bring these cars in and do this thing and then--- Yeah, to totally took advantage of it and--- Among other things, right?
Among a lot of other things, but taking advantageof the system and what they were givenand kind of ruining it for everyone in the long run.
- They blew it.
- Yeah, until the 25 year-old lotwill go over for these cars pretty much.
- Yeah, which is where we're at now.
And in a few days of this recording,it's, you know, December 29th, like--- Yeah.
- It's about to be like game time.
- Right, right.
- Yeah, 99.
- Like some of these people that were on the listto do MotorX, MotorX shuts down,they have their dreams crushed.
Some of these people have 34s over therethat have been sitting in storage for 10 years.
- I can't imagine.
- Like 10 years, some people have had stuff sittingin storage, just think about that.
- Getting built.
- Yeah, getting built, which is why--- You have any security shops.
- Yeah.
- And then you'll see them in the States,pop up every now and again, I guess.
- Yeah.
- And you're like, how did this car built by,whoever, Madori Sebi or whoever it is?
Like, how did that even make it here?
Well, no, that dude's probably had it in Japanfor the past 10 years.
- Right, exactly.
- In storage and getting it tunedand like everything's a great deal.
- Yeah, getting ready.
- Yeah, that would be sweet.
- If you had the cash.
- Right, imagine 10 years ago, if you could do that.
- Yeah, you bought the car for 68 or $52,000.
- Decent deal.
- Yeah.
So yeah, MotorX, that was a dope episode.
If you haven't heard that one, for sure,listen to it, familiarize yourself with the story.
Do something your own investigation,make your own determination.
So, right hand drive guys, happy 50th episode, dude.
- Yeah, happy 50th.
- Heck yeah, dude.
- That's the episode.
That's what we're doing.
- Thank you.
- Yeah, hell yeah.
But damn, I hit this thing a little too hard,I think it's freaking out.
And so what's next, right?
Like, you know, we did a lot of stuffin those 50 episodes.
- Yeah.
- And what could be next?
Like, what are you, what are we doing next, dude?
Just 24?
- Yeah.
- I mean, it's just more, you know,kind of the same stuff, you know, more live events,you know, trying to get out thereand trying to be in person more, trying to just cover more,more of the culture, I guess you could say.
- Yeah, more of the culture agreed 100%meeting more of you guys,forming more relationships.
Like, when I was in Japan the last timemeet the guys from Colorado,they listened to the podcast,"Shadow Colorado Boys."
- Yeah.
- Much appreciated.
And meeting more of you guys, right?
And so, but also learning more about the cultureand experiencing it more ourselves, right?
And so that then we're more suited to present this.
And so, we're going to Tokyo, Auto Salon.
- Yep.
- We're going and--- We're going.
- We're going to be there.
- How many days is it now?
- Ah.
- Like not a lot.
- Not many.
- Not many.
- Less than two weeks away.
- Yes, less than two weeks will be there.
Not only will we be there,we will be recording live and dropping the episodewithin minutes at Tokyo Auto Salon.
So you guys can literally be there with us.
- Yeah, I'm talking about some hot cars or--- Yeah, exactly.
Do whatever.
We're going to see, yeah.
We're definitely pumped about that.
And so we'll be there.
We're also doing a track day at Fujithat we're going to check out.
And we'll talk about this type of stuff on the next episode.
But that's one of the live events.
And then we're returning to import alliance for sure.
- Gotta do that.
- Yeah, I got to last year, I felt it out.
And it's a go for sure.
Like it's a vibe.
It's like, I felt like I was almost on a highfor a few days after that,with just the way that it was.
And being around people at any event like this,like you take that energy,you get fueled up with that energy.
And it's like the dopest thing.
- It's a positive thing.
And then you're like, damn,I'm not going to like get to do something like that againfor like a long time.
- Yeah, yeah.
- And so it's like, but you definitely enjoy it while you can.
So love import alliance will be down there again,recording live from there.
And so yeah, that's exciting.
- Yeah, that's a good thing.
- I'm pumped for it.
- And so another great thing for 2024that I know that we're both excited about.
And so are some of these guys that we've gottenwith on this.
I know so over listening in shout out to them,but we're going to have guests.
- Yep.
- We're going to finally incorporate other people into thisand start getting their stories and their feedbackand taking that energy and knowledge from themand sharing it with you.
- Yeah, 100%.
That sounds like a good time.
- Yeah, so we'll do a little teaser.
We'll tell them a few people.
- Who we got on the list?
- Yeah, you go first.
- Let's see, the homie Albo.
The homie Albo, that's one.
- Shout out Albo.
- Dude, Albo is a good one.
- Yeah.
- Dude's the man, like.
- Great time is a guy with him.
- Yeah, yes.
And when I recently went,I get to spend some more time with him and he missed you.
But we went ropes, course, tree climbing, zip liningand it was an experience to say the least.
I don't think neither me or Albo really realizedlike how to land with the zip line.
My daughter perfect, like perfect landing.
Like me and him like dragging our backsand our butts across these wood chips.
Yeah, but so he's a blast and it will be excitingto get him on there all the way from Japanand we'll coordinate that so it works out for our schedules.
But we're also gonna hit up Don Napier,who is the man behind import alliancethat we talk about so much.
- Yoji.
- Yeah, he is and he's a really great guywith a lot of insight that I feel like he can share,especially when it comes to what it really takesto coordinate an event that takes over speedways.
100% dude has been in it for a long time.
And he is a wealth of knowledgeand this is real 100%.
- And he'll share it.
So I'm excited for that one as well.
- Yeah, I'm excited for him as well.
And so we got Ryan Zamalin,who is the author of the Cult of GTR.
- Nice.
- And so he obviously, again,another one of these guys who's a wealth of knowledgeand a ton of experience.
And if you haven't read the book,definitely read the book because that will make youmore familiar with what he talks aboutwhen he comes on the podcast.
- Right, right, right.
- And so these are just a few of the guys.
We also got Brian Chanish from Top Rankand he's gonna really be able to give us some more insighton importing.
And maybe some stories on how things have maybe goneor I over the years.
And stuff like that.
- And the hero.
- Yeah, and I know he's been doing a lot of racing.
And so yeah, he's a good one.
I know we got Trevor Kizzo from Kizzo lined up as well.
Some more different insight,the Japan side insight on importing a car.
So I really feel like having these guys on the podcastis gonna like pump it up.
- Yeah, I feel like it is too.
- Just in the sense of even just knowledge period.
- Right, right.
And just hearing the stories I gotta tell.
Because that's always the fun part for me.
- I love stories.
- Story time.
- Yeah, I love stories for real.
And so yeah, we're gonna start lining these guys upand we're trying to figure out our format.
And once we do, we'll start releasing these puppiesand hopefully you guys level.
- Yeah, hopefully you do.
- And so last thing that we'll share with you for 2024,we're gonna try to get on at least one project car.
Well, we're gonna try to do a series about it.
I mean, if you're watching on YouTube,of course you can see behind us,there's vehicles, there's projects,but we definitely wanna do like a right hand drive guy,specific project car that we can take you throughthe process that.
- Yeah, yeah, it'd be a good time.
And we have NSR20, DET, Adam and S14, just.
- Oh, the one Ted got us.
- Yeah. - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- We're the engines Ted.
- We're the engines.
- Couple SR20s full of premium.
- Yeah, they will.
So we got one of them.
And so we're--- Am I putting it in the Tigra?
- We might, we might.
There's one right here.
- Oh, whoa.
- There's one right here.
- No, I'm just kidding.
But yeah, we do have an SR.
We do wanna put it in something.
Tommy F.Y. I was just selling the best shell
that we could have ever asked for.
- Yeah. - For super cheap.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
- A few, like there's been a few things pop up where it's like,and that'd be perfect.
- Yeah. - But it's just,
it's not the cars at the time or whatever it is.
- But whatever. - But it lines up,
but I feel like the future, yeah.
- Come to the spring, I'm sure we'll find something.
- Yeah, and then maybe it'll be an odditywho knows something different that you wouldn't expect.
- Who knows?
- It can be fun too.
We'll just try to make sure it's right hand drive for sure.
- Yeah. - Gotta have that.
- So yeah, project car, look forward to that.
And so, of course, we're coming to the end of the year.
That's the whole point I'm talking about 2024.
And the end of the year is always one of those timeswhere it's like, dang, this year went by so fast, right?
But then it's like, oh, sweet.
And new year is coming.
Like new year, baby.
- It doesn't stop.
- New year, new me, baby, yeah, yeah.
So in the spirit of new years, even all that,we wanted it to kind of share our new year resolutionswhen it comes to either buying a car,putting parts on a car.
- Yeah, yeah.
- Modifying a car, you know, that type of thing.
So we figured we'd go through a few of theseand just see what we got in mind.
And maybe this will help us, you know,hold ourselves accountable and make surethat we do what we're saying.
- Right, right.
- So you guys better hold us accountable.
If this guy says he's gonna do something,let's make sure he does it.
- Make sure.
- Don't let him get away with this.
- Yeah, yeah, I'll go ahead and start.
I mean-- - He started up.
- For my R32, there's still a lot of work.
I've had this car for three years,about to be three years now.
- Three years.
- So only thing I really haven't touched much ofis the exterior.
- Yeah.
- So there's definitely a few thingsthat need to be addressed and the glasshas got to be pulled, get new seals put in for the ad.
Like pretty much you just need to get the ball rollingon exterior and paint.
- Exterior and paint.
You know, any repair that needs to happen for that.
Everything that comes with it pretty much.
- Are you adding anything like onto the carwhen we're talking about exterior and paint?
- I mean, to have like a roof spoilerand another like trunk wing that I want to throw on.
But nothing much really, and a hood that I've hadfor about a year now.
- Oh, nothing much, just a hood.
- Like yeah, pretty much just like a whole front endand fenders.
Well yeah, eventually it's like pretty much all the panelsexcept for the bumpers in lip.
So like, yeah.
- So there's a lot of work to be done,but what's the first step for you?
Like what gets the ball rolling as you would say?
- Gets the ball rolling.
I mean, honestly probably pulling the glass,which is like one of the things that obviously takesthe car out of commission.
And like dude, I love driving the car.
So even on these winter days,when there's no salt on the road,I'm still driving it.
- You should wrap it in there.
- You know what I mean.
So I love driving the car.
So I would hate to have the glass taken outand have some lengthy repair on like whatever it might be.
- Yeah.
- Before it gets put back in and like all squirt away.
Or you know, if the glass breaks trying to pull it out,which is like a thing with the windshields.
- Yeah.
- Don't want to run into something like that'cause then that's like,- All other things we get in a windshield.
- For a 32, oh my gosh.
- This is a damn two, it's specific.
Yeah, there are 1200 bucks.
- A guy in like, I think New York.
- Oh, that just has a bunch of them.
- Yeah, you import a bunch of glass.
- That's wild.
- But yeah, that sucks though,because it's like one of those things whereyou have to call someone else to do it.
- Yeah, you know, I'm not pulling,I'm not pulling no glass.
- Heck no, heck no.
- Hey, safe light.
(laughing)- Yeah, yeah, can you come take the risk please?
(laughing)So that's dope.
X-Tereer and paint.
That's Aaron's near resolution.
- Yeah, part of it at least.
- Part of it.
- Yeah, there's gonna be other little things herein there I'm sure about.
- Yeah, but.
- That's the big thing that I'm here to commit.
- Committing.
- Thank you.
Okay, that's all this man accountable.
- As soon as we get back from Japan.
- Okay, as soon as we get back from Japan.
So, okay, my turn.
My New York.
- What's up?
- New York Resolution for 2024will be in consideration of my R33.
GTR, VsPEC.
And my resolution is to send it to UP Garagein Washington State.
Yeah.
- Yeah, that'll be sick.
- I'm sending it because.
- What's up with it?
- Yeah.
(laughing)- Let's see.
- What's up with it, dude?
- Yeah, I mean, so I got it back from Ciccioand I mean, the car never really started right.
Like, it starts, like, takes forever to start.
- Are you saying they just need to stick to R35?
- Yeah, like, that's not where you go.
I found out, but this was also three years ago.
- Yeah.
- So.
- Honestly, I mean, the car ran all right.
Like, you know, it wasn't bad, but then, yeah, we,at some point potentially blew turbo seal on it.
Yeah, or the way the catch can was hooked up was.
- Sucking it through or vacuuming it.
- Just kind of backwards.
- Yeah.
- A bunch of things that should have been caughtby the people that put it together.
- Yeah, and so, why am I going to send itliterally coast to coast?
- Yeah.
- Just to take it to this garage.
Like, isn't there a place closer?
Well, I tried that.
I tried somewhere closer.
We are, we do live in Maine.
There's not a ton of RB people around here.
I mean, yeah, like Tommy Fias down and can I get by?
I'm not taking it.
- Yeah, he doesn't do any tuning.
He, the outsources, all that.
- And so, the UP garage is absolutely the Vcam,which I have on my car.
They are the Vcam people in the US.
They've done more Vcam than anyone else.
And Sissy did my Vcam, but,by the description and looking at the maps,they're talking about the Vcam not working correctlyand not being installed correctly.
And so, they also do a great jobat refinishing the engine bay and making it look brand newand they work with me, re-manufacturing the USA too.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- You know, get these throttle bodiesand all of these different piecesand take manifolds all mint.
So, I would really like to do that.
I believe the car deserves it.
Like, it's a good car.
It did have a full respire, but like,- Still a good car. - It's still pretty good.
- Yeah.
So, yeah, I feel like that'll just kind of finish it offand with them doing the tuning in the Vcam installationand everything else, I'm confident that it will come backrunning great even if it just so happens to havelike a HKH stroke or something.
Like, it's going to run like great.
So, no, it definitely should.
But I mean, with the setup that it has,it just needs to be, yeah.
I mean, there's probably some stuffwithin the standalone that needs to be turned onor whatever for the Vcam.
- Or probably that thing just swapped outto like a halltack or something.
- Yeah, something.
- None of the GTR guys run AM.
- No, I mean, not a lot.
I don't see many people nowadays.
So, you know, whatever I'm willing to spend a littleto make sure I get that thing back, Primo,and all I have to do is start it up and enjoy it instead of.
- 'Cause you can't enjoy it when you're like always stressingabout if it's gonna start this time around.
- Yes, it's crazy.
- Dude, I was crazy.
- That's like one thing I like while driving my carbecause I know like.
- It's gonna start.
- Yeah, it's usually gonna start.
Like 99% of the time it's gonna start.
- Yeah.
- It doesn't start right away.
You just gotta, you know, give it some gas or.
- It's 90% 99% of the time my car doesn't start.
(laughing)- I mean, it's, it gotta carry around a jump pack to like,it's a setting in AM or something, but all that will be fixed'cause that's my new year resolution.
- Good.
- Even if the car doesn't get sent there until like,almost the next year as long as it gets sent therewithin this year, I think it'll qualify.
- Yeah, I think it works.
- Yeah, yeah, for sure.
- Yeah, yeah, for sure.
- Dude, yeah, I mean, I'd love to see that thing back on the road.
- Yeah, for sure.
I do enjoy driving it.
- 'Cause you do get it out.
You do drive it, you do.
- You rip it around.
- Yeah.
- But it's just one of those things where it's like.
- I'm also kinda limping it 'cause I also don't really knowyour trust.
So, yeah, that's what we're trying to do in 2024.
No plans for the '34 besides hopefully get to drive it againlike hopefully my future holds being able to re-registerand drive it because it's not even,I could still do this for another two years.
- Right.
- So, I'm hoping that my future holds driving that and taking,I mean, we took, or I took two trips to Japan in 23.
If I can, and then we're taking one already in 24.
If I could take two in 24, like that's that.
- Wait, two more?
- Sure.
(laughing)- Sure.
- Yes, please.
- Yes, absolutely.
So, yeah, I mean, hopefully, but no,I don't plan to do anything to it over there just becausemy finances aren't including modifying that right now over there.
You know, I guess stuff here.
So, we definitely appreciate you guys rocking alongwith us for 50 episodes.
- Absolutely.
- It's for sure been a blast.
It's cool to come out to Belong Garageand just record and spit some knowledge mess aroundbe silly. - Yeah.
- And we're looking forward to the next 50.
I think it's gonna be a blast.
Hopefully you guys will think so too.
- Yeah, 100%.
So, don't forget to follow us @rhd, G-U-I-S.
Hit up @blunkarage, follow us over there.
If you want to merch,if you want to see the old podcast episodes,anything like that, rhdgusa.com.
For episode the big episode 50,50.
(cheering)For episode 50, I'm Bobby.
This is Anne.
- See ya.
- Peace.
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