Update 30 November 2009, Almost There Guys..

Went to Jakarta last weekend and took same snaps on The Dog's latest progress. By the looks of it, i am guessing it won't be long now til they finish the bodywork. Perhaps next month i'll get to see the finishing stage. Will be bringing the stuff i bought so they can fit them also. It'll be a busy weekend next time i am back to Jakarta since i have to look for the workshop for my engine swap and find a towing company to bring The Dog to the engine workshop.

For now, feast your eyes on this..
I took my Axis OG Oldskool rim to the shop and tried fitting it. It sure looks sweet! Here's from another angle..
That's how an 8 incher with +28 offset looks on a Charmant. It's already 1-2 cm further out than the fender! But sadly..
Can you see it? No? Ok how about this..
Fuk mi! The inner lip is hitting the strut.. *sigh*.. Will have to put a spacer there to allow a perfect fit. 15mm spacer should be enough.. So that's another 1.5 cm to add to the already wide stance. It'll look sweet paired with stretched tires! Well i guess i won't be using these wheels to drift.. I dunno, the thought of drifting on wheel spacers just scares me.. What do you think?

As for the bodywork, the primary coats are applied and they've already painted some inner parts like the door hinges etc. The panels' surfaces are now smooth and ready for the Deep Black paint..
So that concludes our session for today... What's that? More? Uummm.. okay.. here you go..
LOL.. That's my girl there.. It was a very quiet weekend, not much on my agenda for The Dog so just after she accompanied me to the workshop, we went for some sushi. It was her first time.. and she hates it. LOL..
I, on the contrary, love it very much! Hey there's bound to be some difference between us, right? I guess i have to enjoy raw fish by myself then..

A Shed of Light.. Brand New Work Equip 03!

Look what i got today..
A set of brand new Work Equip 03 measuring 15x8! Granted they're replicas but the price on the real ones would make them unjustifiable for me to buy.. and that's if i can get my hands on them! Look at the lips on these babies.. 3-inches deep yo!

These are actually made by a company called Axis and this particular model is called OG Oldskool. More info on them can be read here. Axis is US-based company and though the wheels are actually Taiwan-made but i am sure an American company would still keep a good eye on the quality of products bearing its name.. Gimme a break will you?! Just let me cheer myself up and redeem my sins of buying a replica! Here's what it says on the box.
Getting these wheels is really helpful on deciding the direction of this project. You may know from my previous posts that i haven't even decided on what color i want for The Dog. Well now i know what i want! Don't laugh okay, but this is how The Dog would hopefully end up once this project finishes..
Look Ma! Same (looking) wheels! Unoriginal idea, i know.. I am just making another late Ryoji Takada's D1 Street Legal Charmant replica.. I don't care. By doing this i am also saving myself some money by painting my Charmant the original solid black and not having to report any color changes to our DOT. As a matter of fact, just a few minutes ago, i called the workshop and told them to paint my car with Spies Hecker's Super Deep Black. Phew!

Now, what should i do to my old wheels? Keep 'em or sell 'em?

Feisal's Green Charmant

Feisal Baskara joined Daihatsu Charmant Community mailing list not so long ago. We chatted and talked on the phone sharing stuff about our lovely rides. There's always a story behind every Charmant and the same goes to Feisal's. He sent me pics of his ride and the story of how he got it and got attached.

Previously, Feisal never owned a car for long period of time. He bought them only for Ramadan holidays and sold them afterward since he hasn't owned a garage yet. Last year he bought an '87 Mitsubishi Lancer and used it for only 1.5 months before reselling it.

His Charmant was bought on the 7th day of Ramadan this year from his uncle. Knowing his cousin was looking for a car, the uncle offered his Charmant, considering that it was rarely used and it would be better if it's on the hands of someone who will take care of it.

Feisal almost lost this beauty when he put it on the classifieds after Eid holiday but luckily he thought that the offers were still too low for him to let go of it.. The highest offer he got was IDR 13 millions or around USD1,300. Hey that's almost twice the money i paid for The Dog! Finally, he learned that Charmants are just too good of a car and decided to keep it! Sweet!
As like all Charmant owners, Feisal is still hunting for some missing parts.. Most significant parts missing are the headlamps and grill. The current ones are from a Toyota Kijang van as you can see below.
See the headlamps? Those are the type of headlamps Wahyu is using on his custom headlamps. Apart from those parts, i'd say his Charmant looks nice and fresh. Definitely green Charmers are rare so i'd say the paint itself is a keeper.
Good luck on your hunt bro! Whatever you do, keep this rare beauty around..

Charmant Rallycar

Found this on ae86irl Charmant/KE70 forum. More Rally Charmant pics can be downloaded here or on the URL shown on the watermarks.
Enjoy!

Shopped Charmants by Dereck Sealey

My kind friend Dereck done me a big favor by helping me alter few Charmant pics. I believe this is Yohann's Charmer.. So big thanks to both you guys.. Now you have more options besides this and this.
Me and Dereck like the blue one. Guess we both just like blue so much.
Next Dereck add black bonnets.. The white one looks just like Stanley's!Last is what Dereck called an AE86-style paint.
That last one was my request for Dereck based on an R31 Skyline picture i found on the net. Forgot where i got it so if you own it and having problems with me putting it below, do tell me. I was curious if the same paint work on a Charmant would look as good as it is on the Skyline. Honestly, thanks to Dereck i can now say, it does not! LOL..
If you ask me, R31 is the best looking Skyline, well besides the Ken & Marry, that is. I really like the classic box style body. *sigh* i can only dream of owning a Skyline one day.. For now, it's just me and The Dog, i guess!

Update 31 October 2009

Body fillers started to be applied..