johna's automotive blog

Samurai Stormers

2026-05-25T12:00:00+10:00

This article is from MOTOR Magazine (Australia), January 1996 issue.

Like road warriros froma sci-fi film some Japanese car enthusiasts play a very tough game. Motor's man with a taste for the unusual, Bill Thomas, went along for a very scary ride.

Story by BILL THOMAS. Photography by ANDY TIPPING.

It's 2:30am on the Wangan Kampachi, the Tokyo to Yokahama bayside tollway. The night air is cool, clear and quiet. Cars drift by at a peaceful, and law abiding 100km/h, tyres roaring their occupants home to unknown destinations, headlights cutting a swathe through the reclaimed coastal land linking Japan's two largest cities. An impossible mass of towers form s a 50 kilometre-long backdrop to the scene, a distant wall of neon-injected highrise straight from Ridley Scott's Blade Runner.

The tollway is six lanes wide here, and dead straight. It's as straight as Japan's finest road engineers could build - smooth, flat, well lit and very, very straight for three long kilometres.

To the north, a gentle curve skirts Haneda Airport and cuts under Tokyo bay through two wide tunnels. At the southern end of the straight is a giant spiralling interchange in front of a bridge running toward Yokohama. On either side of each carriageway is a cement wall.

It's 2:35am. Unhurried cars are passing by in their endless flow when suddenly all Hell breaks loose. Without warning - only a brief, deep roar, like static on Stan's television set - a dark shape emerges from the Haneda tunnel and rips past on the inside lane at incredible speed, three times that of the other traffic, engine screaming a piercing shriek only two metres from the wall. Bang! It's a streamlined, shark-nosed car and it's gone in an instant, leaving a cyclonic blast of turbulence in its wake.

Before there's a chance to draw breath, or assess the car's speed - most have never seen anything travelling that fast, not even on a race circuit - the senses come under ferocious attack again, as another missile roars past, then another, then another, then another. One in this lane, one in that, weaving and dicing, tearing the traffic to shreads, 30 speeders flash by in all, with a UFO-like velocity so rapid it fools the eye.

Shocked commuters can only brake, the assault is so unexpected. Hopeless red lights blink like the eyes of frightened rabbits as the innocent cars are tossed around in the turbulence. They've been torn apart by the Mid Night Club ... exposed to speeding in its purest form, speeding more urgent than any in the world ... and they won't forget it in a hurry. On this straight stretch the racers reach 320km/h, every weekend.

Think of Tokyo and you think of social conformity, of long lines of commuters standing patiently at tube stations, marching to their neat desks in well-dressed lines and marching home to their tiny flats 12 hours later. The work ethic is strong in Japanese people.
Conformity and calm sensible order are necessary evils, ingrained into the culture: there are 16 million residents in the Tokyo/Yokohama/Kawasaki urban mass, making it the world's largest single unbroken sprawl of population in an area the size of Sydney, and if the residents didn't co-operate the place would explode. Crime is virtually unknown here. It's the Japanese way.

So where does a roaring, flame-spitting gaggle of supercars engaged in an insane deathrace on the public highway fit into the picture? How does a group of otherwise normal Japanese gentlemen justify accelerating rapidly to 320km/h with lightning-fast gearshifts and steely gazes of implacable concentration, holding their right feet hard down with scant regard for their own or anyone else's safety, let alone the law?

Well, they're enthusiasts. just like you. Perhaps more, 'active', shall we say, in their expression of that enthusiasm, more 'hard core' in their love of motoring. This is a very Japanese thing, rooted in history and culture - they play by strict rules, and they play for keeps. Fully understanding the Mid Night Club isn't easy for foreigners.

Mid Night (their spelling) is japan's oldest and most famous street racing club, founded in 1982. It has developed over the years into a well-organised group with a clearly defined and rigid code of honour, rank and privilege.

This is not a bunch of hooligans out for a late night rave. This is a serious and very private underworld gathering of Japanese professionals who have a deep understanding of cars, and love nothing more than driving them to the limit. Younger men have copied the idea, but these rival gangs don't usually last long. None have Mid Night's speed or reputation, and none can seriously challenge its supremacy.

There are 30 members, and the entry requirements eliminate most of the 16 million residents of Tokyo. Firstly, you need a car capable of at least 280km/h, preferably 300km/h, to gain full honour. Reaching that sort of speed requires serious equipment and a substantial bank balance, not only to buy the car, but to modify it and keep it maintained in spotless order (if you're in the Mid Night, your car should look perfect).

The most popular mount is the Nissan Skyline GTR. Other makes include twin-turbo Mazda RX-7s, Nissan 300ZXs, Toyota Supras, various Ferraris and, perhaps held in the highest esteem of all, Porsches. All are heavily modified, as you might imagine.

So once you've bought your machine, and shelled out the purchase price again to tweak it, you must have the ability and willingness to drive your precious hunk of metal as its maker intended - flat out.

Not solo, but in a dicing pack, bumper to bumper, jockeying for position and cutting up traffic at immense speed, late at night. Few sports car owners will risk their lives and their licenses in such a fashion even once, let alone religiously at 2:30am every Sunday, and fewer still have the driving ability to cope.

Finally, and most importantly, you must win the respect of other Mid Night members as a driver and as a human being. It's not just about being able to out race your fellow driver. Believe it or not, it's about having a sensible, respectful, intelligent attitude.

You must understand the way of the club and what is required of you, then spend a number of years racing hard before you qualify for the coveted "Car Speciall" (their spelling) silver sticker. You have a lot of fun, yes, but there is an undercurrent of serious spirit involved. When you're a metre away from another guys bumper at 3 00km/h , trust is important.

MOTOR's contact and our guide for this Japanese adventure is the club's general manager and boss - we'll call him 'Mr T'. He's in his early 30s, mild-mannered, intelligent and polite. He works for a large, well-known Japanese company as a top-flight executive, and he works bloody hard. Contacting him at home between 6am and 11 pm was virtually impossible most days - 80 hour weeks are not uncommon. He conforms with the best of them.

We met in the lobby of the Intercontinental Hotel in Yokohama on Saturday evening, an hour or so before the "race". Unfortunately, it was raining, which usually means that no cars gather at all. Most have their windscreen wipers removed because, er, they don't race in the rain, but this night was special because MOTOR was there. There will be cars to photograph, Mr T assures us, most definitely.

So why the street racing?

"It is the white-out, " Mr T says, pressing his temple with an index finger and speaking in soft broken English. "We work very hard in Japan, pressure is high, we get white-out. That is part of the reason for Mid Night ... the white-out."

So it's a kind of stress relief, to offset the effects of working so hard?

"Yes. That is part of it, definitely. Not all, just part, but perhaps the most important part. The Mid Night and the beautiful cars are a distraction. We are professional people, lawyers, bankers, executives - and you must understand ... cars are our passion."

Passion. It's a word that comes up frequently in any discussion with a Mid Night member. Passion, spirit, honour, courtesy, respect. The sort of virtues that wouldn't have been out of place hundreds of years ago, when Samurai ruled Japan. The Mid Night do see themselves as modern-day Samurai to a certain extent, but laugh at any direct comparison. They prefer to make jokes about John Travolta and Saturday Night Fever.

Mr T drives a 510kW Nissan Skyline GTR, which he was proud to tell us had recently exceeded 310km/h at a speed bowl test conducted by Japanese car tuning mag, Option. The top speed was precisely 312km/h, in fact. Most of the Mid Night cars were measured this way, by laser, so all know the terminal velocity of their machines to within 0.5 per cent. Mr T says that they often travel faster on the street, depending on air temperature and general conditions.

"Top speed is not everything. We strive for high performance in every area. We race around tight corners, entering and exiting the tollway, and there are high-g 250km/h sweepers, so suspension must be well set-up. Most important is brakes. When you are travelling at 300," he opens his arms wide and grins, "it takes a long way to slow, like a tanker. We do brakes first!"

Racing is everything. Not against other gangs, but against each other. A brief meeting sets out the route, and the race starts in an easy gaggle, a free, random acceleration away from the gates of the tollway in no particular order. Sometimes they race until dawn.

What of the law?

"It is too dangerous for the police to chase us. How can they do it? They have tried a few things, but it is very difficult to stop a car travelling at 300km/h, without killing someone. Remember, we have been doing this for 13 years." He leans forward and lowers his voice. "I think that the people high up in the authorities, the really. intelligent people, understand our club. They let us go, because they see it as the best way."

Several Mid Night racers have been arrested in the past, but it's a rare occurrence. Obviously they take precautions, like checking the routes, hiding number plates from speed cameras and meeting in secret places every week, but the police have never mounted a dedicated campaign against them, and are largely unseen. In any Western nation, the government would call out the forces of law and order and crush such an activity in an instant: it's simply a measure of the different cultures involved.

How many of the Mid Night Club have been killed in races?

"None. No Mid Night has died. We have accidents and injuries - I was in hospital for five weeks once - but no deaths, no."

What about other people?

"Last year there was a terrible accident. A story was published in a big magazine about us, it was the first big publicity we had, and people from all over Tokyo came to watch. The Wangan straight was full of parked cars, all the way along. We came through. Then people thought it was over and pulled onto the road, but a rival gang had come from another city and was following behind, trying to challenge us." He punches his hand. "Bang. There were 20 cars smashed in the accident. There was a big fire. Seven people died."

Surely, when innocent people are killed, it's time to give the racing up, to finish it for good? I pressed Mr T on this point, but he didn't understand. It was as if the thought had never occurred to him.

He said that if people die as a result of the race, it is their fate. I felt that my 'Western' way of thinking was letting me down here. The Mid Night Club doesn't seek publicity, and doesn't seek challenges. For them, the accident was none of their concern. They race each other and are always prepared to be arrested for what they do, and that's that.

Two hours later, the garage in Yokohama burbled into life. One after the other, magnificent gleaming machines began arriving on the forecourt, all singing the music of raw horsepower. There was the deep six howl of the Skylines, the harsh rasp of the rotary RX-7s, the purposeful throb of the Porsches, the hiss and sneeze of turbo wastegates everywhere. Then, audible from the end of the road, a single Ferrari arrived, its high-pitched V8 wail standing my neck hairs on end.

There isn't a gathering of cars like this anywhere in the world - certainly not for this purpose. Spotless engine bays glittered like jewellery, full of polished aluminium, anodised fittings, braided hoses and big, big turbochargers. The mild mannered drivers smiled and laughingly answered my questions as best they could. The Mid Night group gathered for a briefing, and Mr T announced the formation for the tracking photography, based on club rank. Then, the pack of nine cars headed out onto the tollway.

With the 4wd camera car leading the way, nine Mid Night cars behind, and a little Nissan station wagon trailing in the distance (with me in it, trying to keep up), the convoy was a formidable sight. As we passed through the Haneda tunnels, flash guns exploding, the pack suddenly decided to accelerate away and disappear. When I heard the sound of those nine engines reverberating off the concrete walls at full cry, and remembered that they passed through here at 300km/h on a good night, I finally understood the true meaning of the Mid Night Club.

Thanks to: Mr T for all your kind help, patience and hospitality, and all the Mid Night Team: you know who you are.

Burning Japanese

2026-05-25T12:00:00+10:00

This article is from MOTOR Magazine (Australia), January 1997 issue.

Yes, that is a rego plate. Meet the hottest set of road wheels in the land of the Rising Sun.

Story by PETER LYON. Photography by PAUL DEBOIS.

This is a street-legal Reynard F3000 ... on Japanese roads. And I thought Mel Gibson was slightly twisted in Mad Max! I mean, c'mon. I've heard of road-going McLarens, but a street-legal Reynard F3000?

News that a bright yellow streak had been menacing motorists in central Japan was too much to ignore, so I packed my thrill pills and a pinch of curiosity and trundled off down to Nagoya for the day. In a place that's only a stone's throw from Toyota City, your body soon hankers for a quick fix to deaden the boredom of colourless Corollas and sexless Starlets.
I didn't have to wait long for the adrenalin additive to kick in. Just as I was about to lose consciousness watching for the beast to appear in amongst the myriad of melancholy metal, it materialised at the crosswalk in front of my hotel, engine roaring and tyres
smoking. Any four-wheeler stopping at a crosswalk is not normally news worthy, but when that car is a real F3000, and the driver has to wait for a kid and his dog to clear the white stripes, things take on whole new meanings. You begin to think anything's possible.

Four years back Go Ishikawa, the driver with a mission, latched onto the idea of picking up a complete, race-hardened Reynard F3000 and modifying it for road use in Japan. Many a young car nut has dreamed of such lunacy, but Go made it happen. He may be 200 grand lighter for the trouble, but he challenged the realm of sanity in one of the world's most orderly societies, and won.

Some say the Germans don't have a sense of humour. Well, until I met Go, I thought the Japanese were a pretty sombre bunch too. Geez, this guy smiles when he says, "I think this is probably the most impractical car in the world, but it was worth every Yen".

Of course, before Go got his hands on it, this lean machine was one of the hot contenders in Japan's F3000 Championship, the series where the likes of Eddie Irvine and Ralph Schumacher learned how to steer. Propelled by a Mugen-Honda 3.0-litre V8 pumping out 395 kW, the 550 kg car can rocket its pilot to 300 clicks in the time it takes Carl Lewis to cover the 100.

Now, Go wanted to leave the car as close to original specs as possible. But before he could do that, he had to satisfy the boys in blue down at the police pits. On the track, the Reynard's carbon fibre monocoque body must be strong enough to absorb minor slips, like hitting concrete walls and the roll hoop has to withstand two tons of pressure.

But to the grease monkeys at the government inspection garage who earn their way prodding and dissecting Corollas for a living, that racing stuff meant zippo. Go had to throw three other bodies at speed against a wall to prove his car's impact absorption strength before he got the green light.

The next hurdle was emissions, of the noise and exhaust variety. To pull his vehicle within legal limits he had to conduct a triple bypass. Out came the raunchy racing V8 and in went a more sedate Nissan 3.0-litre V6 generating around 170 kW. His car may now have eight silencers on it, but the explosion of the engine's well-tuned resonance bouncing off the walls of his garage was pure heaven.

Go may love to tinker, but as far as the rest of the car goes, it's almost untouched. "I raised the body about three centimetres, but the five-speed sequential gearbox and triple-plate racing clutch are the same," he says. Mind you, he's had to stick on the number plates, indicators and brake lights that every man and his dog must wear to get the ultimate thumbs-up. Did pick up one minor technicality, though. Perhaps something the pit bosses missed in the final check. The tyres are F3000 wets and clearly state on the side walls, "For Racing Use Only - Not For Highway Use". But we'll let that one go.

Easy-going Go is surprised more people haven't done this before. "But I think that although Japan has an amazing car industry, it has no car culture. Nobody does what they want with cars here because they're being told what to build by the industry." Go himself is no industry, person. No way. He earns his crust by customising cars, making Minis more mini and has no hesitation in chopping off tops and ripping the guts out of
Rollers or Testarossas to please rich soft-top fanatics with his brand of cosmetic surgery.

"I'm a little un-Japanese in a way ... I never apprenticed with anyone, just taught myself about cars," explains the self-styled mechanic/designer. In fact, that's the very reason he decided to build the street-legal Reynard. "I'm only 27, very young for a garage owner, and in the world of Japanese business, age is everything. The young generally aren't trusted, so I've done this Reynard partly to show what I can do." There must be easier and less expensive ways of getting noticed.

Right, I've seen what you can do mate. Now, how about a quick spin? He twiddled his thumbs, looked up at the sky, then down at his feet, and mumbled something like "that clutch isn't easy and it's pretty tight in there, you know".

He wasn't kidding. I'm lucky I've been staying away from that rich red meat and sticking to a diet of fish and rice, or I'd never have parked my behind in that seat. Getting my legs into the tight footwell was my second major triumph. Go has repositioned the pedals to suit his own driving, and although I could get to all three, it was like dancing the Macarena on a 10 yen coin down there.

Now, what did Go say again? "Revs up to 3000, foot off the clutch and, oops, sheeee-it! You've gotta get that triple plate clutch meeting just right or you're jumpin' all over the damn place. I mean, the gear is either engaged or it's not. You have to be able to find the hairline friction point, keep the revs hovering around 3000, and put one and two together. And I thought the Skyline GT-R clutch was heavy. This mother has a similar tension to pumping around 50 kg on the leg machine at the gym. Try that 100 times a day. Eventually it all came together and I was hurtling down the mountain road heading to infinity and beyond (thanks Buzz - Ed).

The yellow demon may only have a Nissan V6 in it, but the car still goes like the clappers. Weighing only a third of a standard sedan, but with the same power, Go said his bullet covers the quarter mile in just on 11 seconds and shoots from zero to 100 in under five. "But I've only ever timed it once. You know, I've never really given it stick. There's nowhere to do it," he reckons. Fibber. The car may be quick but it stops even quicker. In the same way that the clutch is either engaged or not, the brakes are either gripping or they're not. When they do grip you'd better hope that four-point Sabelt does its job, because our man hasn't touched the brakes.

Go's revised Reynard still runs on the Brembo racing variety with four-pot calipers and 13-inch discs all round. When you do hit the skids, you'd better he sure that you want to stop, because you'll decelerate from 100 to nothing in the length of a cricket pitch. It's like hitting a wall!

Once I'd got the hang of the juice and jam pedals, Go let me try a corner or two. With a lock-to-lock of only 180 degrees, the Reynard's steering is precise. Very precise. It may have a turning radius of a whopping 7.9 metres, but point it into a corner and it goes exactly where you want it to go. All that rubber on the road does make steering a chore, but there is absolutely no play in the steering whatsoever.

But more mindblowing than the steering was the actual act of cornering. I admit I went gar-gar when I recently drove the NSX type R, with rock hard suspension, but this thing redefines the term body roll. There is none. Even at 100 km/h, the car dares you to gun it more. The F3000 might not he doing much in the corners - apart from holding its line - but the driver certainly is. A nanosecond after you enter a corner, you can feel the Gs playing havoc with your torso and neck especially. You feel as if you're being thrown up and outwards, and the seatbelt is the only lifeline between your cockpit cocoon and a face full of passing pine trees. But don't get me wrong. The Reynard instills nothing but confidence in a driver, because you will always be driving it light years below its limits. Never once did I feel unsafe in it. Complete sensory overload doesn't allow you time to think about anything but keeping the car on the road.

Go was right when he said he hadn't touched the suspension. Just run over a bee's left toenail and your eyeballs bounce. And the view is just like you see on Michael Schumacher's racecam as he nudges Damon Hill from behind. I always wondered how much those guys actually saw from the cockpit. Surprisingly, front and rear visibility is excellent with the mirrors aimed just where you need them. Sometimes, you're glad they are so good, especially when you get a bemused motorist on your tail showing you a little more curiosity than you care for. Just exercise that right foot a smidgen and you're on your own again.

But I am amazed that this thing hasn't caused more accidents. If I had a yen for every time a neck swivelled to check out the rarest four-wheeler of them all, I might he able to buy Go's pride and joy.

After a couple of minutes in the seat, my respect for those F1 pilots jumped to new heights. And they spend two hours every race strapped in, like bugs in a pod. Mew As I handed back Go's helmet and wiped the sweat from my face, I thought, "Girls! Go this thing must get the women in, hey?"

"Oh yeah, sure mate" he replies. "Trouble is, there's nowhere for 'em to sit. Unless perhaps they sit behind me and straddle the engine, but then again, maybe not..."

Another early Volvo V40 T4 for sale

2026-01-10T12:00:00+10:00

Spotted for sale on carsales.com.au in South Australia, a 1998 Volvo V40 T4 with automatic transmission and only 158,000km. A$3,690.

https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/details/volvo-v40-1998/sse-ad-19924741/

Early Volvo V40 T4 on Facebook Marketplace (NSW)

2026-01-05T12:00:00+10:00

Currently on Facebook Marketplace in Orange NSW, 1998 Volvo V40 T4, manual with 200,000km. Unregistered and requires blue slip. Listed as running and driving but key needs coding and stereo missing.
https://www.facebook.com/commerce/listing/2386189508478360/

Free online car repair manuals

2025-12-10T12:00:00+10:00

Operation CHARM is a website that has free car repair manuals for many makes and models that you can view online or download and use offline.

The website's tagline is "Car repair manuals for everyone".

I found a manual for my current Ford Focus as well as one for the Porsche 944 I had decades ago.

At least some of the manuals appear to be for the US market as there was no manual for my four-cylinder Mercedes W202.

https://charm.li/

One of the greatest coincidences in motor sport

2025-11-30T12:00:00+10:00

Up to 1999 I had been watching various forms of motorsport for a decade or more and I had never seen a pit lane incident where a crew member had their head run over before.

Then in 1999, I was watching a CART racing event, the Miller Lite 225 at Milwaukee. As the cars came in to pit lane the commentator mentioned that for the first time some teams had elected to have their pit lane crew wear helmets as Bell had supplied helmets free of charge to teams for the event.

Michael Andretti's crew were wearing helmets and within moments of the commentator mentioning this, Michael Andretti stopped and had his tyres replaced and was waiting for refuelling to be completed when, through impatience, confusion or malfunction, the car started pulling away before refuelling had finished. This resulted in the "Vent Man" getting knocked over by the car and – you guessed it – having his head run over by the rear left wheel.

I think it's safe to say that without a helmet this man would have been killed.

Even with a helmet he was injured, but he did not have any head injury.

His name is Ty Manseau and this has to go down as one of the greatest coincidences in motor sport.

You can see what happened on YouTube, including an interview with Ty a month after the incident.

New seats installed

2025-11-23T12:00:00+10:00

After cleaning my new seats with a carpet/upholstery cleaner and spraying them with upholstery deodoriser I fitted them to the car today.

Replacing the seats is quite easy, although I did watch a few YouTube videos first.

I replaced all but the rear backs as mine are clean and in good condition so I didn't bother.

When I have removed seats from past cars I have usually been disgusted by what I've found, but this car would have to be one of the cleanest. Okay, there was one french fry and a drink spill, but still better than most.

Vinyl-wrapping trim and repairing the centre vents on my Ford Focus LW

2025-11-22T12:00:00+10:00

I picked up a set of exactly the same seats for only A$50. My driver's seat has a hole in the fabric and I really only wanted the one seat but the new set is a bit cleaner than mine so I will swap over them all.

I also had a go at vinyl wrapping some of my interior pieces.

The first piece did not go very well and looks pretty bad. After that experience I actually watched a YouTube video on wrapping interior parts and saw all the things I did wrong.

To remove the old finish on the trim pieces I heated a small area up a lot and then I could use a plastic razor blade to scrape off the old finish. The parts of my trim where the finish had disintegrated were no longer smooth so I used 1200 grit sandpaper to flatten and then 2000 grit to smooth the plastic.

Even after the YouTube training, the second piece did not turn out much better. Maybe it looks better than it was but I'm going to look for some new interior pieces instead of wrapping any more -- wrapping is too hard for me. I can at least advise that the metallic silver trim wrap commonly available on Aliexpress is similar to the Ford colour, but will not pass for the same colour.

While the radio was out I discovered why my centre vents were not working properly. The little plastic pieces that move when the controls are turned were broken and not actually opening and closing the vents. I searched online but could not find a source of replacements so I looked at what I could do to fix this.

I ended up cutting off the little plastic pieces that clip onto the ball. I then drilled a 4 mm hole through the plastic part and amazingly this can now be pushed onto the ball and it stays there and the vents work well now. They probably don't quite turn as far as they did, but they work well.

Removing window tint from my Ford Focus

2025-11-16T12:00:00+10:00

The window tint on the rear window of my Ford Focus had bubbled and peeled and looked bad and was hard to see through.

I watched a few videos on how to remove window tint and, not having a steam machine, I opted to try the garbage bag method which involves wetting the window, applying a garbage bag and leaving th car out in the sun before peeling off the window tint.

I did try a garbage bag, but it was too small and kept blowing away, so I improvised and used cling wrap -- which stayed on well.

After an hour in the sun I peeled off the window tint but it left most of the glue on the window.

Fortunately, I found degreaser removed the glue reasonably easily, and then I switched to Windex window cleaner which did an even better job. No idea yet on whether my demister strips survived but they do look okay.

The end result was worth the effort.

I've also been making slow progress on removing the black paint from the wheels. I found that mineral turpentine applied to a rag and then squashed against the wheel with paper and left for a few hours made it easier to remove the paint with acetone. So my wheels looked like this at times:

I've done most of two wheels and the easy parts of a third wheel, so I am getting there. The car looks a lot better with silver wheels than it did with black wheels, at least in my opinion.

Aliexpress parts fitted to the Ford Focus

2025-11-15T12:00:00+10:00

I received a few of my Aliexpress orders so was able to install some new parts.

First up was a new gear knob. For A$4.61 you get a plastic knob, rather than a leather one, but it is easy to install and looks like the original one. You can see in my photo that I also need to install new silver wrap on some of my interior parts.

Next up was the A$4.92 roof trim wrap. I followed instructions online to carefully remove the trim pieces using a plastic trim removal tool and prying the trims upwards from the inside of the roof. There was plenty of mess underneath them.

I used a plastic razor blade to scrape off the black coating , which comes off fairly easily from the top, but some stayed on the edges and the rear. I then sanded the sides to feather them and sanded the bare metal to make it smoother.

I then applied the wrap, stretching it to match the curves. The wrap was 5 cm wide which was perfect and didn't require any trimming except at the ends. I bought 5 metres and that was more than enough.

The final result looks good but it does not appear to be stuck down too well. I did read that wrap is meant to be applied over paint, not bare metal though. I also don't think the wrap at this price point is very good quality and I expect that, for these reasons, this is going to last about a week before it starts to peel off.

I will update this post with how well it lasts, but if they don't last long then my next plan will be to paint them.

Updates to the "Aliexpress" Ford Focus

2025-11-08T12:00:00+10:00

As my new Focus was cheap and has done somewhere around 260,000km, it's not worth spending too much money on, so I'm calling it the AliExpress car because I will be choosing cheap parts wherever possible, often from AliExpress.

So far I have ordered a new rear wiper (A$3.93) and oil cap (A$4.14), gear knob (A$4.61), touch up paint (A$3.54) and also some wrap for the strips along the roof (A$4.92) and some interior panels where the original finish is disintegrating (A$8.35).

The new wiper and oil cap have arrived and are now fitted. I also bought a "Broadway mirror" as I found the rear vision to be pretty bad (A$10.66). I like to be able to see the rear quarter windows from the centre mirror. The new mirror, which is 300mm wide, gives me visibility of the passenger side but not the driver side, which is good enough.

I also had my first problem. I attempted to reset the multimedia system settings and it froze up. I eventually turned it off but now it doesn't turn back on. UPDATED: disconnecting the battery for a little while solved this but I also discovered that my positive battery terminal and cable are corroding away to nothing.

Getting back to my project of removing the black paint from the wheels, I finally finished one wheel. Acetone works reasonably well and quickly, although it requires several passes of each area. Mineral turpentine works slowly but was useful for cleaning off the residue after using acetone, and I also was able to soak the centre caps overnight which made them much easier to restore. With help from a neighbour, I also discovered that a wool polishing buff and cutting compound made quick work of removing the paint. I did burn through the original paint in a few places and cause a few scratches.

Polishing the new Focus' headlight's and removing the paint from the wheels

2025-11-02T12:00:00+10:00

The headlights on my new Ford Focus were scratched and yellow so I planned on restoring then with the Cerakote ceramic kit I have seen good reviews for, or replacing them.

However, I found a bottle of headlight polish in my garage that I must have bought twenty years ago that I had previously tried and not had good results with. But as I had it I gave it a go.

Here is what the headlights looked like before:

Amazingly I started seeing instant results. Here is what it looked like part way through:

And here is it what it looked like at the end:

So I was really happy with the results, although I doubt it will last long as it is a polish only, and doesn't have a clear coat or anything to protect it long term. Not sure it's worth mentioning the brand as it probably isn't available any more.

Next job was to continue on with the removal of paint from the wheels. I wanted to take the wheels off to make this process easier but the wheel nuts were so tight I could not remove them by hand, and even with a long extension all I did was bend a tool. Fortunately my neighbour came to the rescue with a Dewalt impact driver which made short work of all but one, but needed the maximum setting before it could move them. The last stubborn one eventually came off too.

I had already spent a couple of hours with acetone and removed the paint only from a small part of the wheel. Now restocked with another litre of acetone, and with the wheel removed so I could work outdoors where I would hopefully breath in less of the acetone, I spent another hour or two and did all of the spokes.

I still have the inner and outer part of the wheel to do, which will probably take just as long as it is harder to access. Hopefully I can also save the badge too.

The paint is quite easy to remove on the inside of the spokes, presumably as there is not as much paint coverage there, but is difficult on the front facing parts.

I also made a discovery that mineral turpentine is great for cleaning up all the residue left behind after using acetone. That saves a lot of effort. It is also capable of removing the paint too, but works much slower than acetone. I plan to try soaking part of the wheel with mineral turpentine to see if that is more viable than using the more expensive and toxic acetone.

First work on my 2011 Ford Focus Sport

2025-11-01T12:00:00+10:00

I had some time to work on the new car, so first job was to remove the tacky aero add-ons -- the little spoilers on the front bumper, and the fins on the rear edge of the roof.

I did a little YouTube research and the use of heat and WD40 came up a few times so I went with that. Heat seemed to work the best and it didn't take long to remove the parts. Some were held on by double-sided tape which was the most difficult to remove, and the others were held on with what looked like the type of glue they used to attach things to magazines with.

I also gave the car a wash and saw it close up out on good light for the first time -- when I looked at it before buying it was dark and raining -- and discovered the paint is pretty awful. I knew it wasn't good so it wasn't a big surprise, but it is certainly worse than I expected.

I did do a quick light cut and polish by hand and it improved, but it doesn't look like it will ever look good like I hoped it might if I put some effort into cutting and polishing.

Next step was to see what it would take to remove the black paint from the wheels. They appear to have been simply painted over with spray paint, as I could remove some of the paint with my fingernail. Google AI suggested to start with acetone and amazingly that worked great and immediately removed the black paint which uncovered what looks like the original silver factory finish. It's going to take quite a while to do all the wheels though.

I also tried to reset the oil change due notification. I read that all I needed to do was turn the ignition on and press the accelerator and brake until the message came up that it had been reset, and this appeared to work but even after trying twice, the message keeps coming up again. Maybe I'm not doing it right, or maybe this has something to do with the fact that the instrument cluster was replaced by the previous owner.

Bought a Ford Focus LW

2025-10-30T12:00:00+10:00

I've been looking for a manual car for a few months now and settled on an LW series Ford Focus Sport as they seemed reasonably sporty, had some interesting features, and I didn't mind the way they looked.

I did plan to spend a bit more money on a car this time than I usually do and get something in good condition with low mileage so that it would last a while.

After looking at a few cars and a few failed offers I somehow ended up with an LW series one in black with high mileage. I wanted a series two as I prefer the wheels, bodykit and extra features, and I didn't want black, but the lure of a cheap car close to home somehow won me over.

I also prefer to have unmodified cars but this one has an exhaust, the wheels have been painted black, and it has a few tacky "aero" parts stuck on with double-sided tape.

Despite the mileage -- somewhere over 260,000km and unknown due to an instrument cluster change -- it actually drives well and is in reasonably good condition compared to some of the other cars I saw for sale.

First tasks are to find a stock exhaust and either replace or repaint the wheels. Removing the tacky add-ons is also a priority.

Registering an unregistered vehicle in NSW

2025-09-30T12:00:00+10:00

Here's what you need to know if registering an unregistered vehicle in NSW, whether the car was previously registered in NSW or another state.

Ensure that you have a receipt from the seller that states their full name and address, your full name and address and license number, details of the car including year, make, model and VIN number, and the sale price, date of sale and mileage at time of sale. This must be an original signed receipt. You can use download a suitable form here.

You will need to obtain an authorised unregistered vehicle inspection (blue slip) report. Only certain inspection stations are accredited to do these, so the usual place where you get an annual safety check (previously known as a pink slip) may not do blue slips. The current cost of these is $80. You can search for one here - look for the AUVIS accreditation.

You will need to buy a green slip specifically for an unregistered car, based on the VIN number. If you are planning on doing this immediately after purchasing the car note that you will need a physical copy of the green slip, even if you print it out yourself. So if you are out on the road and buy it online you will need a way to print it. If you are far from home you might be able to get it printed at a post office, newsagent or maybe you might find a kind RMS staff member that will print it for you.

Green slip prices can vary a lot, so it's worth using the government price check service to find the best price. Even if you usually find one company cheapest, it's worth checking as prices can vary based on many factors.

Once you have a blue slip and green slip you can visit Service NSW, wait in a queue, and then attempt to register the car. You will need an Application for Registration form which you can prepare in advance or obtain one and fill it out when you are there.

You will need to pay stamp duty based on the price paid or the market value. Some people illegally write down a lower amount on the receipt in an effort to save on this. The amount is $3 per $100 value.

You also need to pay the registration fee which varies based on vehicle weight and whether the vehicle is for private or business use. It ranges from $270 for under 975kg to $1,481 for 4,500kg (private use). Most small to medium cars fall into the 1,155kg to 1,504kg range ($380) or larger cars from 1,505kg to 2,504kg ($579).

Lastly, you need to pay for number plates. Even if the car still has number plates (the seller should have handed them back to the RMS) you must hand in the plates and buy new plates. This seems ridiculous and wasteful but maybe there is a reason. Standard black on yellow plates are $57 or slimline black on white plates are $165. You can also pay more and get different styles and custom plates if you wish to help out the government financially.

You can use the online calculator to work out what the total cost will be including stamp duty, registration cost and number plates.

As an example, a small hatchback I recently registered cost $1,127 all up including all of the above costs and just the basic black on yellow number plates.

• Find a safety inspection provider
• Greenslip price check service
• Application for Registration form
• Vehicle registration calculator
• Sample receipt

Prices correct as of 29 September 2025.