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The Do's & Don'ts Of Modifying Your JDM Car - EP.152
The Do's & Don'ts Of Modifying Your JDM Car - EP.152
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About this episode
Exploring the do's and don'ts of modifying JDM cars, Bobby and Aaron share their insights on best practices and common pitfalls. They discuss sourcing parts, the importance of running catalytic converters, and the benefits of ceramic coating. The duo emphasizes the significance of involving friends in the build process and sticking to a budget. They also cover safety equipment, the importance of quality parts, and the dangers of using fake components. With a mix of humor and personal anecdotes, this episode provides valuable guidance for anyone looking to modify their JDM vehicle responsibly.
Topics:
sourcing parts
catalytic converters
ceramic coating
safety equipment
quality parts
budgeting
involving friends
over-modifying
registration issues
tire selection
In Episode 152 of the Right Hand Drive Guys Podcast, we dive deep into the world of JDM modifications—the smart moves, the common mistakes, and everything in between. Whether you’re thinking about your first upgrade or planning a full-on build, we break down the essentials:
- Do’s: smart mods that enhance performance, reliability, and value.
- Don’ts: the shortcuts, bad parts, and common pitfalls that can ruin your car (and your wallet).
- Real-world examples from our own builds and from the community.
- How to balance personal style with preserving the heritage of your JDM classic.
From Skylines to Supras, Civics to Silvias—this episode is packed with tips every enthusiast needs before turning a wrench. If you’ve ever wondered what’s worth it and what’s not, Episode 152 has you covered.
Find us on Facebook groups - RHDGUYS-JDMBOYS
Socials - @RHDGUYS
Merch - http://RHDGUYS.COM
Want a discount on Nissan parts?
Use code "RHDGUYS" at
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Hey, and welcome back to the next episode of the Right Hand Drive Guys podcast.
The podcast for guys who like right hand drives.
I'm Bobby.
This is Aaron.
Yeah, yeah.
And welcome back to the show.
And this week is episode 152.
Yes, it is.
152.
We are just steadily climbing the ladder towards 200 episodes.
And, you know, we had some guests lined up, but we decided, hey, like, let's do,
let's do just us and let's go ahead and just run through the do's and don'ts of modifying
a JDM car.
Yes, absolutely, because we each got opinions on stuff we should do and don't.
You should do an absolutely not do to your JDM cars.
Yep.
You know, we're just going to share our opinions, right?
Yeah.
And they may not be things that you would like necessarily think, right?
They may not be so obvious, so to speak.
So we didn't really share our list with each other.
So we're not really sure.
Hopefully there's no doops, but we're going to do each five do's, five don'ts on episode
152.
Heck yeah.
Why don't you we'll start with do's.
Let's start with the positive and, you know, I'll be a gentleman and let you start.
Okay.
So my first do is whenever you're building a JDM car.
Obviously do use by to source parts to source used parts that are still good.
Good price, legit JDM brands probably discontinued, probably maybe even discontinued.
But if you're looking to build a period correct JDM car, absolutely hop on by which is if
you don't know what by is it's a proxy service for Yahoo auctions Japan.
So it basically they're just a middleman that will basically buy the thing from Yahoo auctions.
It ships to their warehouse and then they ship it to you.
So it's one of those things where it's kind of scary sounding at first.
You're like, holy shit, I might get taken here.
You might because well, one thing they don't tell you shipping prices up front, which
you know, shipping from Japan to America.
Yeah, that $30 bumper might turn into a $2500 ordeal after shipping and they don't tell you
that beforehand.
So it's an after thing.
Yes.
I mean, I used by for a lot of things when SR swapping my car this past winter.
I mean, probably the biggest thing that I bought was probably a radiator and, you
know, I got it for like three yen or something like that.
It was super cheap.
It's a gritty radiator.
So it's like legit.
That shipping on it was 150 bucks, I think.
So when it was all said and done and with fees and everything, it was like 160 bucks landed.
That's still way cheaper.
Yeah, that's way cheaper, but that was pre tariff.
That was also pre tariff.
There are some new things going on with the tariffs, but I think if it's below a
certain dollar amount, it's not that big of a deal.
I think that just changed.
That just changed as well.
Yeah.
That just changed and it's a whole thing and you should go do your research on this yourself,
but what I can say is they want.
So now that it's under that amount, I had a piece, a replacement piece coming for the
lowering kit for the Yukon because the rods were too short.
From Canada, $55 tariff.
And it was a replacement piece.
I didn't pay a dollar for it.
They put the value at $37 and they want $55 to deliver it.
That's insane.
I know.
I was like, dude, looks like the Yukon stand right where it is because I'm not paying $55
for a piece of threaded rod.
I'll go cut some and I'll be good.
Crazy.
Yeah.
Things are changing there, but.
Yeah.
Keep your eye on it.
If it does go back, it's an awesome tool to use to source parts.
I mean, it still is with what you're saying.
If you paid $160 landed, that's maybe $200 landed or something today, right?
So like it's still not horrible, but still a little bit of a roll of the dice.
So my dues and don'ts are a little different.
So my first do is, you know, search for the best deals instead of, which kind of
relates to yours, but instead of getting all hot to trot, because let's be real, right?
For some guys, this is very exciting, right?
And it is for all of us.
So I'm sure at some point or another, but it's very exciting to be looking for the
parts for your JDM car.
You almost get this weird high from it.
Yeah, absolutely.
It's really weird.
So, and what some guys will do, and so this is what my do is, is look for the best deal
instead of just jumping on the first one you find.
Because a lot of times it's easy to take that excitement and allow it to, you know,
kind of control your decisions.
When if you lower the excitement level and raise the patience level, you could
have saved X amount of money on looking for the best deal instead of taking the
first one that comes to you.
Absolutely.
And if you do find the best deal, that leaves you money left over for the next
part, right?
Yeah, absolutely.
So, yeah, in my opinion, like, and I know some people are like, duh, but I think
it would probably surprise some of our listeners how many people click the
first button.
Yeah.
They immediately click the first button, but they get taken for an extra
potentially 25%, you know, just because they didn't look around.
So, and use what he said, use buy you, because that's where you are
going to find, if you're looking for something that is not available in the
U.S., that is probably where you're going to find the best deal.
So, be patient, find the best deals and your wallet will thank you.
Heck yeah.
I can agree that.
What do you got for number two?
Number two.
So this was, this is a thing that I've recently, well, I guess in the
past year have like started thinking differently about.
And it's running cats on your car.
Wow.
Okay.
So what's up in Washington today?
So seriously, like after our conversation with Doug and Eric, I was like
a hundred percent.
Okay.
Yeah.
Why am I not running a catalytic converter on my car?
And whenever I was doing the swap, absolutely.
I sourced a cat and it bolted right up.
It hasn't robbed me any performance.
What do you mean, dude?
Of course it has.
Come on.
It takes away a little bit of the sound, but I mean, that's not
that big of a deal to me.
But I mean, dude, it's not that big of a deal to run a cat.
Like they are a little bit more expensive, but they last a long time
unless you have a terrible tune or you're just, I don't know,
bottoming out on it, running over speed bumps or something.
But they, they last a long time.
They don't restrict anything because if you look at a cat, it
actually expands out right bigger than three inch and then back down to three
inches at the flanges.
So that area means, you know, it still flows, even though you can't see
through it, like it still flows just as much as a straight pipe.
And do you know, do you know why a test pipe, they're called test
pipes?
Because to test the cat.
Right.
Because clogging cats was, you know, an issue.
You put on the test pipe, if it fixes your issue, well, the cat's
the problem.
Yeah.
Get a new cat.
But then people just started using them for, yeah, people just started
using, which is like, cool, I guess.
But another thing that I've noticed is that I don't smell like exhaust
whenever I get out of my car.
Like you know that, I don't know, that smell, like it's that just like
carbon and fuel and whatever it is, whatever it is.
I used to smell that on myself getting out of my car every single
time.
But now, anytime I go for a drive, whether it be 30 minutes or,
you know, hours long, I can get out of my car and I don't
smell like a freaking exhaust.
Yeah.
And I mean, when you're parked, you're not letting all of those, like gases
and whatnot that, you know, the cat converts, you're not letting those
seep into your car when you're parked idling, you know, like it is,
it is a thing.
And yeah, for sure, Doug's kind of speech on it, so to speak, was for
me, I was like, oh, OK, like, you know, of course, since we were young,
it was like the cat was the enemy.
Yeah, yeah, it was a restriction, dude.
Yeah, it was that whole thing.
So now that, you know, Doug educated us and you kind of realize, like,
yeah, wow, like, I guess that's true, you know, unless you're a full
out drag car that is going, you know, for sixes or whatever.
Yeah, absolutely.
Like, why would you not do that?
And if you're driving it on the road, that's what you're supposed to
have, you know.
So, yeah, I agree there, too.
Full competition cars, they get they get a pass because that's different.
It's it's different.
But it's not driven on a road.
Like, yeah, of course, three car.
Absolutely. Get a cat.
And the cat that I got was actually I bought it from in Juku and it's
a bolt on cat from, I think a Magnaflow, but they weld on the flanges,
three inch flanges and it bolts right up right where it should.
So if you're in the States and you're looking for a cat hit up in
Juku, they have them pretty sure in stock.
And I was surprised, like, because I think it's something that they get,
they weld the flanges on and then they ship it out to you.
So it's a good, good deal.
Yeah, that is cool.
It's a good service to offer.
Um, okay.
So mine, my number two.
And so most of, most of mine, my dues are like by the end of your build, right?
Like, so the way that I'm looking at this is that you are, you are in
the middle of a build or you're doing a build, right?
Or you've done a build.
You know, it's like my dues are not necessarily for like the beginning
of a project car, so to speak, you know, like this is the whole thing.
So what I think my number two do is, is in my opinion, do get the car ceramic
coated and why is because when, you know, you put all this love into the
car, you put all of this time, effort, all of these things, right?
And you want to love, you want to enjoy driving the car.
And for me, ceramic coating or PPF, even these type of things are a game changer
because I am now spending less time scrubbing the car.
I'm now spending less time scrubbing the wheels, like whatever it is,
right?
Like it's making post driving more enjoyable because it's less taxing.
Yeah, if that makes sense.
Yeah.
So I think that when you're all done your build and you're ready to get
that thing out on the road, get it ceramic coated first because you're,
you're going to just not deal with nearly as much when it comes to the cleaning.
I agree with that.
I mean, even in my case, I hate washing my car, but I love driving it.
Right.
So I'll take it on plenty of drives without cleaning it and the bugs,
the dirt, all that gets built up on it.
But do with the ceramic code is it sprays right off.
Yeah, it's sweet.
It's kind of crazy.
So yeah, definitely do that.
Yeah, I agree.
All right.
So my next do is I think you should use your car how you would like when
you do a build and you get this dream car, use it exactly how you would
want to use it, whether it be daily driving it, going to get groceries,
taking it to the track, beating it up, drifting, whatever the case,
letting it sit in the garage.
Can you please not like, dude, like, wow, dude, guys like you, dude,
fucking dude, guys like you, they literally will leave out.
It's like, dude, do what you want with your car, bro.
But I'm not going to list the thing you want to do with your car,
which is not do anything at all with it.
No, no, that was coming up.
That was the final one.
You know, you took the words out of my mouth, bro.
Come on, you know, I'm real protective about you.
Drivers want to talk to us sitters like this.
You know what I'm saying?
If you get enjoyment out of looking at it in the garage, absolutely.
Do that.
Yeah, absolutely.
Absolutely do that.
Shout out to my garage queens.
Exactly.
And but shout out to all the people that beat them up to.
Yeah, if you if you spend the money on this car and it's
it's your bucket list item and you want to do these things,
freaking do them.
Yeah, do.
Don't be afraid to do it because that can always you can always replace
windshields and respray from bumpers and hoods.
And, you know, hey, you only live once, dude.
Hey, part of it, right?
Part of the enjoyment.
Yeah, for sure.
To each their own on that type of thing.
And, you know, my next do is kind of related.
You know, my next do is involve your friends, right?
Like involve your friends in modifying your JDM car.
Involve your friends in the whole process, right?
Because like doing these things on your own, like, yeah, cool pride,
but doing it with other people, your friends and having their hands in it
becomes like a community pride project, right?
Like now the dude that helped you install this part or figure this out
or weld this now has pride within the car, right?
And that's a it's a separate bonding opportunity for you in whether
it's your friend, somebody you hired really, like whatever it is.
But the as long as these hands are going into the car,
that's just more people with pride in it, you know?
And so I think involving your friends in your build,
you know, really just strengthens your bond with them anyways.
And a lot of times like your friends have different experiences
and knowledge that can help compliment the build and maybe
something you didn't think of.
So for sure, involve the homies, even if they're just standing around
talking shit, it's still cool.
Yeah, that's always a good time, dude.
The garage hangs.
Yeah, the garage hangs.
Definitely a plus.
Now, what are you on number four?
I'm on number four.
And my number four is after you import your car, get a standalone
and a tune, absolutely do that.
Yeah, that's a good call.
It's not, you know, it's not the early 2000s anymore.
There's plenty of options for, you know, a standalone ECU and a tune.
And they're kind of somewhat affordable compared to what they used to be.
And the reason I say this is because I mean, with technology
nowadays, you can get a much more efficient running car just by, you know,
throwing an ECU and a tune at it.
And the drivability will be just as good.
I mean, everything's there and you can diagnose problems easier.
Just a bunch of things like that.
So get a standalone, get a tune and yeah, enjoy your car a little more.
And on that note, if you're looking for a standalone, you can visit
Haltech and they will provide you with the correct ECU to help you get
that awesome tune out of your car.
And now featuring the Nexus plug-in for the Skyline platform.
Anyways, shout out to Haltech that yeah, that's a good one.
I agree.
And that's what, you know, if you talk to any of these guys,
animal auto HD works, you know, any of these guys are going to tell
you absolutely get that standalone because in simply just for the fuel difference.
Yeah.
What that stock ECU is made for this fuel, we have like subpar fuel.
Correct.
Just that standalone alone is going to make it so that you are much better
situated for America, so to speak.
Yes, I agree with that.
You don't think of that like this ECU in Japan that came
from there was probably tuned for 95, you know, and now you come closer to 98.
98.
So now you come over here, you can get 93 people have been showing pictures in 94.
Yes, but yeah, like, you know, it's like, OK, cool, but it's still not 98.
So if you get, yes, it's a, yeah, they're they're affordable,
but it's a big expense when you just spent all this money to get the car here.
But it should absolutely be your first thing just to protect
your investment, even especially if your engine's modified
or you're turning up the boost because that's where things can get weird.
Like me personally, if I ever turn up the boost on my car,
I still run a stock ECU stock sensors, all that.
I pour an octane booster just to put it there and just give a little more protection.
Makes sense.
So all right.
My last do is and like it's no way this isn't this is number four.
Isn't it?
Yeah, it might do it.
I'm sorry.
All right.
Number four.
So and this one is like, I guess, my opinion and a lot of guys are like,
oh, screw that, you know, but in my opinion, create and stick to a budget.
Modifying these cars.
So OK, right.
Here's my point.
Come on.
We're, you know, unless you're listening to this and and you're like Ainsley
Metsmaker and you're 15 and like, you know, whatever, right, that's different.
But if we're we're all adults, right?
So and you kind of did it.
Maybe you didn't stick to it, but you kind of like part of this part of the
bill, part of the fun, make it part of the challenge is sitting down,
laying out everything that you need, you know, I'm sure which I'm sure
you did everything that you think you're going to need, even though
you end up needing more.
Got it.
Yeah.
But and then like try to stick to that, dude, try to stick to that budget
because when you overspend on maybe some things you didn't need to even.
It creates less for what you realize you do need in the future.
You know what I mean?
And so I feel like part of the fun challenge of the build out should be
creating the car mentally and then on paper and figuring out what
that's going to cost you with a plus minus 10%, whatever, right?
And then trying to actually stick to that.
And that goes back with, you know, my number one, which is find the best prices.
So like, yes, maybe it takes you an extra 90 days because you had to
paw through all of these for sale things and actually find the
good deal and stick to the budget.
But in the end, you can say what 98% of us cannot say.
I stuck to my budget.
I stuck to my budget.
You know, so that I think, you know, if you can create and stick to a budget
in the end, like you just that feeling of kind of, you know, accomplishment
is going to be much bigger because you didn't end up maxing out a third credit
card, only two.
Yeah, yeah, for sure.
But if you don't make a budget, absolutely do not go afterwards
and add up the receipts.
Yeah, yeah, don't do that.
Do not do that.
You'll be pretty disappointed.
Yeah, you're going to be, you're going to be pretty upset.
Yeah, for sure.
All right.
Number five, the last do last one.
Get correct spec wheels for your setup.
That's it.
Get the correct spec wheels for your setup.
Do not buy the 17 by seven plus 50 offset.
It just to run a three inch spacer.
Don't do that.
Right.
It looks tacky.
It's not it's not it's not.
It's not the move.
It's not the move, you know, like I get it, you know, if you have spares,
if you're drifting or whatever, and you need to put some on the back,
they were a little cheaper and you might have to have a spacer to get a fit.
Right.
That's cool.
But by the correct spec from the beginning, you know, like sit down
and really look for the correct spec.
Yes, GTR spec wheels are going to be more expensive, like sometimes double
even triple the cost for the good spec than it is the weak spec.
But have some pride in the build, you know.
Yeah.
Yeah, for sure.
Don't keep out on that.
That's that's considered cutting a corner.
I think so.
And it just, I don't know.
I feel like I don't know.
People are a little too lax on that.
They were just like, oh, I'll just throw a three inch spacer on there.
We'll be good.
It's an easy fix.
That's not it.
Yeah.
No.
And it's really the spacer is a weak link.
Like you don't want to be doing that.
Yeah, at all.
So, okay, I agree with that, you know, like do the right spec wheels.
Do the right get the right spec.
Everything really.
And, you know, so to close it out is prefer quality.
That is too easy in 2025 to go with mediocracy instead of preferring quality.
Right.
Like, and this is again, just my opinion.
Like I would, I would rather wait six months for something quality than get
something in six days that's sub par, but it got me, it got here sooner.
So now my impatience has been satisfied.
Right.
You know, I would rather prefer quality, you know, when, um, like I think we
were just watching it, that Jimmy Oaks video last night and it was some part.
I can't remember.
I think it was a gasket or something.
Right.
Yeah.
And a dude told him it was tome.
Yeah.
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
It was a head gasket.
Yeah.
Head gasket.
They told him it was a tome.
Yeah.
He assumed Japan because he assumes quality, right?
And then he gets it in there.
Oh no, that was a tome USA.
What do you know?
That was his weak link.
Yeah.
And that's what you could, you know, and even though he preferred quality,
the person that he was working with or whatever did not.
And so therefore that stung him, you know what I mean?
So it's like, you know, prefer quality.
And a lot of times like, hey, dude, shit happens with quality parts too.
It's not, they're not immune to it just because they're, they're quality.
But chant A, you have that pride and B, yes, less risk.
So in my opinion, prefer quality when you're spending your money like this.
100%.
Okay.
Here we go.
First don't, first don't.
First don't.
All right.
Don't run black wheels.
What the frick do you mean?
All right.
LMGT-4s get the pass, but they're the only ones.
Not because you got them, but like it's kind of.
Dude, Rekha's, Rekha's, Rekha's dude.
What are you talking about?
I can't, but they're just black.
Like the reason the LMGT-4s get the pass is because of the engraving
and the little bit of contrast you got there.
Okay.
That's the only wheel that gets the pass.
Black wheel that gets the pass, but otherwise, dude, they just disappear.
They just disappear.
Like people steal them because they're so freaking awesome.
Or what do you mean?
No, dude, I, they just, they, they don't pop.
You know what I mean?
Like there's no contrast there.
They, it's already like a shadowed part of the car and then you make it black
and then it all just kind of blends together.
My personal opinion.
Well, so it's got to be like white and flashy.
Not white, but like literally any other color than black, like silver,
gunmetal, but like white on a yellow car, dude, black wheels.
Like, I don't know.
I just like on a black car, black wheels, of course not.
But like, I don't know.
I mean, it's, it's very, I don't know.
It's hard to pull off for, for me personally, my opinion, my opinionated opinion.
The black wheels, they're, they're very hard to pull off
and it's got to be a very specific car and set up other than LMGT fours.
Like I said, they get a little, they got a little contrast with the Nismo logo,
but other than that, man, for a dude that used to be all screamo and
wear all black, like you're pretty, you're pretty much a hypocrite, dude.
All right, dude, no black wheels.
Just say it, don't do it, just don't do it.
There's, there's how many colors?
Rainbow, I don't know.
Black's not even in the rainbow.
OK, dude, let's, all right, we'll move on from that one.
All right, my number one don't is don't use fake parts.
OK, so back to the Jimmy thing.
Jimmy thought he was using a real part, ended up using a fake part,
fake part, bit him in the ass.
So like, and again, this is for your.
You know, whatever, right?
Your bucket list, dream car, dream build, like we're not talking
about the daily driver, civic sedan that that you're using.
Yeah, sure, dude, like if you want to modify your daily driver,
civic sedan, sure, use a few fake parts who gives a shit.
Like put that Mishimoto radiator on, right?
Who cares, right?
Like on my fit, I got some circuit hero fuck whatever, right?
But I don't care because, like, I just didn't like the stock stock wheels.
And I wasn't buying real SW 388.
What color are they?
They're goddamn black.
You're absolutely right.
Like 100 percent.
And they disappear on me all the time.
I can't find them.
I don't know what the frig they are.
But like, yeah, dude, they're they're black.
But listen, they're fake.
That's OK because it's not my project dream build car.
You didn't put spoon stickers on them.
No, I didn't.
No, no, no, I saved those.
I got them, but I didn't put them on.
But OK, so don't use fake parts on on the the build that you consider your
dream, right?
It's just not worth it.
Wait the extra six months till you can afford the real ones.
Correct.
Yeah, don't don't put the Brahms seats in there.
Yeah, don't put the Brahms in there.
All right.
My next don't is don't expect stock reliability out of a modified engine.
Wow. Don't do it.
Like if you if you get a car, it's had cams put in it and, you know,
it's got a different turbo, the boost turned up weird rom tune.
You're not like you'd be silly to expect that thing to start every single time.
And you'd never kind of silly to think that that that engine's
going to last hundreds of thousands of miles like stock examples do.
Yeah, like that whole letting the magic out, I think that's a real thing.
And, you know, whenever people start swapping parts and, you know,
doing head gaskets and maybe not having a machine shop involved in assembling
things and making sure specs are where they need to be.
That's where I feel like a lot of unreliability comes from.
Yeah, I can see that.
Like with SRs back in the day, that's like what everyone did.
They always did cams, a head gasket, like right off the rib.
And then, you know, it blow up 5,000 miles later and they're like, oh, what happened?
Well, you let the magic out.
Right. Yeah.
Don't let the magic.
People say that often, right?
Like if you want it to be reliable, keep the magic in there
because that's exactly what it is.
Yeah. I mean, and if you if you do want to modify it, I mean, go do the
full extent of it, you know, take it to the machine shop, have them assemble
it, have them balance it, have them do, you know, everything to it.
So it potentially does have that stock reliability.
Or at least close.
At least close.
Close as you can be.
But just throwing parts at it and expecting it to work the same way.
Not going to happen.
All right.
My number two, don't overextend yourself, right?
Which is a, it's a classic, it's a classic thing in this
industry in our culture, especially just automotive culture period.
Yeah.
We get so excited to do these builds that we end up overextending ourselves.
And the enjoyment of the build is overshadowed by however, whether you
got too many credit cards out, whether you spent your savings, whether
you're old lady's piss, because you spent your vacation fund, whatever it is,
right? You start, you start with and that's where the budget
thing comes in too, is that when you know when to stop, you got to know when to stop
because it's too easy to just keep going.
And then all of a sudden, like the car is reminding you of the debt, right?
And now it's a negative instead of a positive where if you had just
stopped that $6,000 sooner, it wouldn't be that case.
So in my opinion, don't overextend yourself on these builds because
that's what they are.
They're just builds at the end of the day.
And like your financial success shouldn't be drowned by a car.
Right.
And yeah, I mean, don't dig yourself a hole.
Right.
Like because it's hard to get out.
Yeah.
I mean, we've all seen it happen before.
Like your buddy, he's got this crazy build in his head, tears down
his car completely, strips it all out, and it basically becomes a part
out within a few months because, you know, he can't get it together.
And it's just sitting in the garage and it's just.
And now that financial burden is in pieces.
Yeah.
And now you have to liquidate it in order to try to get out of the hole.
Yeah.
Not good.
Don't do that.
So next one up for me is don't over modify your car.
Like that goes along the lines of like, don't swap out all the
bushings for solid mounts on everything.
Yeah.
Because I mean, that kind of, kind of helps you a lot more
than you think in keeping a car reliable is having bushings that
like allow things to move and flex and it doesn't put all the, all
the strain like on the drivetrain itself or whatever it might be.
And also like over modifying your car, like it makes it not as
enjoyable, like if it's a street car, for instance, and you strip
all the interior out, you chip out all the sound deadening,
you put harnesses in buckets, cage, you know, the whole race car
thing, and then you still try to drive it daily and try to enjoy it.
It's not, it doesn't work.
Right.
It's noisy.
It's loud.
It's just, it's not as fun.
And on top of that, you took out the AC and the heat.
Right.
Yeah.
So in November, when you're trying to bring your old lady and
she's pissed because it's freezing.
Yeah, for sure.
Right.
Or you try to take her anywhere at any time because it's loud.
She's annoyed.
Yeah.
It's like, oh, God, we got to take this thing again.
I mean, I don't know.
I haven't had that experience.
But then again, I haven't like over modified my car.
Right.
I can still enjoy it, still drive it.
It still has full interior, has heat, no AC, but you know.
Yeah.
As long as you can deal with that.
My Civic Type RX had no AC, no heat.
Oh yeah.
Living in Colorado.
The tough day days, right?
That was like, yeah.
That was one of those cars with solid mounts, all of that.
You know, and yeah, it was not really that fun, you know.
And I mean, I was like 23 or something or 22.
And like, of course, I thought it was shit.
Yeah.
You know, and why it's like, dude, what are we doing?
Why is this our vehicle?
Yeah.
And I'm like, God, Civic Type R, you know.
OK, so my next don't, OK.
My next don't is don't get it just to get it.
Get it because you need it.
You know, don't get it just because that's the cool thing or
that's like the newest trend, right?
Get it because you love it.
Don't get it just to get it.
You know what I mean?
It's too easy to be influenced by social media and all these
dudes posting their builds and like it's easy to think, oh, I
need that for mine.
That's getting it just to get it.
Right.
Because you didn't get it because you needed it or I've always
wanted it.
You got it because someone else had it.
Right.
And you just bought it because it's the next thing, you know.
And and for me, that's like definitely huge.
I'm not buying nothing unless it naturally organically USDA
pride got my attention and I looked into it.
You know what I mean?
Not just like, oh, you know, whatever Tommy has it.
So I need it.
Right.
No, that's not it because that's again, how you go over budget
and you spend money that you didn't need to trying to keep up
with parts you don't need.
Right.
Exactly.
Don't get it just to get it.
Good point.
Like, yeah, don't don't let other people influence your build
unless like you're truly into it.
Right.
Don't just get it because like you said, Tommy or whoever
has it, right?
That's like not the way to do it.
No, not at all.
And again, you just spend more money than you need to.
And you ended up not even needing it.
You know, it's it's just one of those things.
And then when Tommy or whoever swaps it out and has the next thing,
now you're on the last thing and you spend your money.
So yeah, it's not.
Don't get it just to get it.
Get it because you have loved it or have always wanted it, right?
You know, or you need it need to finish the build.
But what do you go?
Don't run shitty all season tires.
Don't do it.
I don't want to see Ling longs on your T 37s.
Like I don't want to see your wildfire tiger paws or whatever they
are callies.
Yeah, whatever it is.
Yeah, just I want to see firestones on your on your regas.
You know, don't like whatever.
Don't don't cheap out on tires.
Like I feel like tires are almost just importing as, you know,
it's just as an important part as the wheels as, you know,
the, you know, it goes back to the legit part of it.
Yeah, I mean, it's it's one of those wear items.
Sure, it's easy to stand place.
Yeah, but like, I don't know.
I think it adds to your build and adds to the flavor of the car.
If you, you know, actually have a decent set of ad vans or, you know,
a cool set of bridge stones.
What do you get on the rear of your car?
I'm listening.
I got shitty all season.
Listen, though, listen, hold on.
What did we do yesterday in the driveway?
Did we not just blow them right off?
Oh, my gosh.
Yeah, sure.
Did we not?
Did we not?
All right.
What's on the front?
Add Van Fleeves.
So add Van Fleeves, dude.
All right.
And, and, you know, they're accelerates on the back.
Dude, he says not what he does.
All right.
Let him be.
Accelerates are a sponsor of.
Oh, okay.
Cool.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Sweet.
Um, wow.
Okay.
Yeah.
I hear you though.
Tires are important in, in like, it may seem like, well,
what do you mean?
Rubbers rubber.
But, you know, there are, you know, you spend more on a tire.
Yeah.
You know, you spend more on an RE71R than you do a whatever,
all season firestone because of the compounds in the tire.
Right.
Like it's not rubber is not rubber.
People think like rubber is rubber, but that's not the case.
Like different compounds cost different money are, are produced differently.
Yeah.
You see what I'm saying?
So like, yeah, you're all season, like cool.
That's great for your Ford Explorer.
Right.
You know, that's awesome.
But when you're doing things like we're doing with these cars and,
and we need them to perform how they, how we need them to perform,
those compounds make a huge difference.
And dude, silly, silly take here.
But if I, if I go to a meter or show or something and I see a crazy,
you know, thousand horsepower build on a GTR and the guys running
cheap Chinese tires, I, I lose all interest because I know that he's not even using the car
because you can't with those.
Well, yeah, you can use that power with those tires.
It's impossible.
So it's just like, all right, then what are we doing here?
Then what do we, this is an internet build.
Get out of here.
This is a frigging internet build.
What you got?
Number four.
Okay.
This is an obvious one, but this is,
I think this has influenced more builds in a positive or negative manner than anything else.
Okay.
Do not listen to the naysayer.
Do not listen to the naysayer because too often guys will be on a path to build something
that they love, that they've dreamt of.
And a naysayer will come along and they will alter that path in one way or another.
Sure.
Not for every guy, right?
Like, you know, let's just say whatever you get a naysayer,
maybe you can, can tune that out or brush that off.
Right.
But not everyone can do that.
And I think that's something we got to practice a little more,
especially with the internet being so broad and so, so quick to communicate.
Like, I feel like we need to really tune out the naysayer in order to bring our
vision to the forefront of what we're trying to do with the car,
you know, because there's always going to be a guy.
Okay.
There's always going to be a guy that says black wheels disappear.
Okay.
They're going to say they disappear and you need to tune that out.
Okay.
Because your black wheels are just fine and they're going to make your car look awesome.
And so, you know, that's just one perfect example of the type of guy,
you know, that, that will just come in with this little, little bug in your ear.
Right.
Like black wheels disappear.
And now all of a sudden.
You're questioning your whole life.
Yes.
You're questioning your whole build, your whole life, everything dude.
So in my opinion, like let the naysayers waste their breath.
You stay true to your vision.
And when your vision comes out, that's your vision only in it is it was not
influenced by anyone else's words coming out of their mouth in a negative way.
And I think again, with the amount of cyber bullies and just shit talkers
behind the screen nowadays, it's too easy to get wrapped up in that type of thing.
Like, oh shit, maybe I shouldn't do this.
Well, maybe that's not going to work.
Well, maybe, well, no dude, that was your original vision and you got to stick to
it because that was, that was your build prior to anybody saying a word.
So.
Absolutely.
Tune them out, brothers.
Tune them out.
Yeah.
Build it for you, not for them.
Build it for you, not for them.
Yeah.
Don't listen to me about my black wheel theory.
Don't do it.
Yes.
Don't.
Okay.
Or do it.
Either way.
This is your last one.
Last one is don't cheap out on safety equipment or controls.
So controls being like steering wheel, anything attached to the steering wheel,
anything that helps you control the car.
Do not cheap out on.
Mm-hmm.
You know, you don't want a throttle cable made of spaghetti.
You know.
No, that old rag-o-throttle cable, you feel me?
No.
You know, like don't, don't buy knockoff steering wheels because in a crash,
that's like the one thing you're hanging on to.
And I've seen a lot of different pictures of, you know,
people buying the knockoff Nardi's and stuff and they get into a slight collision.
And dude, the steering wheel just tacos and just folds in on itself and it's just like,
you know, you end up punching the dash and the windshield and it's just a mess.
You know, same goes with harnesses.
You know, don't cheap out on harnesses or a seat belt.
You know, if you got a stock set up, like get a replacement seat belt.
Not a big deal.
Yeah. Safety is, is a big thing for sure.
And a lot of times it's overlooked because there's so much to spend money on with these cars that
like safety like, you know, but we, when I had that DBA Integra Type R and it came with a fake
Momo and you're like, Hey, dude, I think this is one of those fake momos.
And I'm like, what do you mean?
And you get in there and you sit down and you, you grab the steering wheel and you
start pushing on it and the thing is folding in and out.
Like it was kind of crazy.
It was like, dude, yes.
It was wild.
And I was like, dang, like I didn't realize that it was this bad.
You know, like that, like not only are they, they're imitating the product,
but they're minimizing the safety aspect of it to get profits, which is like,
you know, keep an eye on those things.
You know, because it is your life in this car.
So I agree.
I mean, same goes with seats, you know, knockoff seats.
They can be very dangerous wheels or how you mount your seat into the car.
Yeah.
Because like all these things work together to create, you know, a safety area for you.
You know, it holds you in there.
The seat holds you in.
You're holding the steering wheel.
You know, I mean, even like pedals and brake pedals and stuff like that.
I mean, even like the slip on covers, make sure that they're on their tight and like just
don't play around with anything that has to do with the safety of the car or your controlling
of the car.
Just be very careful when modifying any of those areas because it can turn dangerous very, very
quick.
I mean, yeah, it can.
And there's plenty of guys have died through, you know, in these type of cars,
you know, whether it was safety or whatever.
But it can happen.
So the better chances you have by buying authentic and quality safety items, the better you are.
Dude, it's not a fashion thing.
Carry the fire extinguisher, dude.
Yeah, I got one.
Like why wouldn't you in a heavily or even moderately modified car?
Like you spent your wife's savings on this car.
Why would you not?
Wives are life.
Yeah, whatever.
But why would you not carry such a simple tool that could, you know, whatever, whether you
had an oil return pop off and leak and now it's created like an oil fire under the hood.
You can put that thing out.
You save the whole motor, the whole bay and you just have some charred lines as opposed to,
oh, I don't have a fire extinguisher in my modified car.
We've all seen it.
We've all seen videos of cars going up and like no one knows what to do because there's
like literally nothing they can do.
They're like pouring bottles of water on it and like Mountain Dew, whatever.
Mountain Dew, they're kicking dirt on it, throwing sand, like whatever.
But like, dude, it happens so fast that one tool could easily save your entire build,
literally.
So good, good point on that one too.
True.
So my last one, and this is kind of obvious, but we always got to say it because you got
those dudes out there that don't know no better.
Okay.
This is number five.
Don't, okay.
Don't, don't play games when it comes to registering your vehicle.
Okay.
Don't play.
Don't win swab.
Okay.
Don't, don't try to use a plate from another vehicle you have.
Don't try to, don't just don't play games with that, right?
Because you've done all this work to your JDM car.
Yeah.
Okay.
You've modified it.
Now it's time to like register it and get it out on the road.
And you're taking some side shortcut that eventually has your car impounded or potentially
crushed.
Yeah.
That's, that could be the worst.
The, you know, next to a fire with no extinguisher getting pulled over without the
proper registration.
Same thing, dude, like your car could just get towed right out of there into the
impound or in some states crushed, right?
Depending on what you're doing.
You know, so like do not play games with registration.
Even if like, because this is the worst thing about car guys like us and I get it.
We have no patients.
We want to do this shit ASAP.
We want to build this car.
We want to drive it.
We want to show it off.
We want to enjoy it.
Yeah.
But don't cut some of these corners that could end up having you either spending
a ton of bread trying to get the car back to where you should have had it in the first
place or losing the car altogether.
Like you really got to think ahead with some of these things because how is that not the
worst day of your life when you get pulled over?
They find out that you then swap the car.
Right.
And now they're impounding.
Or just simply swapping tags from another vehicle.
Right.
That is so silly.
Dude, I was so guilty of that when I was in my 20s.
Like I did not understand how big of a deal that was because it's so simple to do.
You just take the plate off one car and put it on the other and it's like you're good to
go, right?
Yeah.
Like you have the registration still, but it's just to another, like whatever.
They're not going to know that my Ford Bronco isn't a Nissan hardbody.
Right.
Like they have no clue.
Speaking from experience here, like I did that.
And dude, I got pulled over one time and they straightened me out right there on
the side of the road and let me know how big of an idiot that I was.
And I was just like, oh, I didn't realize this was that big of a deal.
Like, what do you mean, dude?
I was just like, yeah, I just got the car and I threw the plate on it for my other one.
And you know, that's the story.
And they're like, step out of the car, please.
And I'm like, what did I do?
Why don't you have your car registered?
And just starts grilling me, dude.
And I'm like.
I'm an idiot kid.
Yeah.
I'm like, are they about to tow my car?
Like, are they about to like take me to jail?
Am I going to be suspected of other crimes now?
Like all this crazy stuff, right?
Because I was just like, I just took the plate off of one car and put it on the other.
How is it this big of a deal?
Why are there six cops here?
Right?
Why is there a helicopter flying?
What the heck is going on?
Like, what did I just do?
But yes, absolutely get your cars registered.
Legitally, there's plenty of places.
Like if your town sucks, your state sucks, whatever,
there's plenty of ways to register it elsewhere.
Yeah.
Do your research online.
You can make it happen.
It's not 1995.
And yeah, you can get this done.
Just absolutely don't take a tag from one car and put it on another.
Do not do that.
You'd be better off driving around without a plate.
Yeah, literally.
Because that that's a different charge than it is to do what you were doing.
That's like borderline fraud, switching plates,
but driving without is just driving without which right.
That's just unregistered vehicle.
Not all so the.
Yeah.
Right.
So yeah, these are the do's and don'ts of modifying your JDM car.
Of course, we could have done 10 each.
You know, we could have done plenty.
But realistically, these are these are just the basics of,
you know, kind of what you do and you don't do, you know,
make it make your own decision.
But don't get mad at us when your car gets impounded
because you threw the plates on from the Bronca
or whatever you're doing.
Yeah, just don't run it at all.
If you're looking for us online, you can find us at rhdgys on YouTube,
Instagram, all of that good stuff.
And then, of course, you can look us up in our Facebook group.
Check it out in this show notes.
But for episode 152, I'm Bobby.
This is Aaron.
See ya.
Peace.
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