Convocation Photos

Heart Surgery

The heart, codenamed 4G15P

During my recent 65,000km service interval, my mechanic noticed the presence of engine oil and some carbon deposits on two of my spark plugs. The engine is consuming engine oil, he added casually, and further went on and said my 5-year old engine needed a top-overhaul!

Now you may have heard people saying their 10 or 20-year old car needed a total-overhaul, which practically includes dismantling the whole engine, fix all of the faulty components, and putting it back. What is top-overhaul then?

A top-overhaul on the other hand consists of just replacing the valve seals, head gaskets, valve cover gaskets, cleaning of the valve and reposition them. Usually, the mechanic would also replace the timing belt and have the water pump inspected. The quoted price for a top-overhaul ranges from RM500 - 2500, depending of the severity of wear and tear.

Valve seals

A friend of mine suggested to have only the valve seals replaced, because the cause of carbon depositing onto the spark plugs is usually hardened valve seals. Plus, my 4G15P is only 5 years old and had done a meagre 65,000km. Replacement of valve seals requires baring the top part of the engine block, a procedure similar to open-heart surgery but still less invasive than a top-overhaul. With that, I sent my car to my trusted mechanic for valve seal replacement today!

I stayed in the shop for a while, witnessing two valves being replaced successfully by the trusted mechanic's son (he is a suave 28-year old and constantly talking on his cellphone). As there are altogether 12 valves to be replaced, I walked to a nearby coffeeshop for a drink. Minutes later, my mechanic friend called. "Problem!", he said. His son accidentally dropped one of the valve deep into the heart chamber, rendering it irretrievable. He was supposed to engage a gear and cog the piston up to stop the valve from dropping, but apparently he was having some telephone-sex with someone! A supposedly 2-hour operation is stretched to 36-hours! What the heck, I get a top-overhaul done for the cost of valve-replacement, which is less than RM100! Am getting my car back in a few hours time!

Asian Festival Of Speed

A heavily modded Nissan Skyline GTR

My mechanic friend offered me two free tickets to Asian Festival Of Speed (AFOS '08) at Sepang when I went service my car last evening. I grabbed it without hesitation as we've nothing planned for Sunday!

Honda NSX of the GT Super Series

We saw these two fancy cars at the entrance - the Nissan Skyline GTR and Honda NSX with super wide bodies. These cars will be featured in the coming GT Super Series in June!

GT Super Series!

We reached quite early, at about 9.00 am. The place was still barren. Walking to the grandstand seems like an eternity when there's so few people around!

Grandstand area

The moment we stepped onto the staircase leading to the grandstand area, the blaring engine sound began to roar down the main straight of the Sepang circuit. That signalled the formation laps for the first race of the day - the Asian Touring Car Series (ATCS).

This race is dominated by the super-duper loud Porches, Ferraris, and Lamborghinis. There was a lone Lotus Elise too!

Two Porches battling it out

A black Ferrari

Ferrari retiring into the pit

Another Ferrari

Yet another Ferrari!

My favourite car, the Lamborghini Murcielago

It's not as fast or as loud as the froggy Porches, but it sure spells S-U-P-E-R-C-A-R!

Look how fast the Lamborghini zoom past, taken with the Hi-Speed Shutter turned off

Our "Kleenex" earplugs

Next was the ACTS 1500Max category. This category has an engine restriction of 1,500cc for all participating cars. There are strict regulations of engine and body modifications, except the cars' front bumpers and rear spoilers. These cars are not as loud as the previous category, and thus not as fast!

A 6th generation Honda Civic (without high-speed shutter)

Same car, with high-speed shutter

Satria Neo from the Proton Axle Racing Team

The same Neo, with high-speed shutter on

Another Civic

Safety car - BMW 3-Series (likely a kitted 325 Sports model)

We stayed on for the next race, the Formula V6 Asia. These cars looked and sounded like the real deal F1 cars! Fast and furious...


By the end of the race, my camera's battery is starting to go into total exhaustion. I thought I'd charged up my spare battery, but it went dead the moment I slotted it in! Damn tu-lan! The next race was equally exciting, featuring modded BMWs, Honda DC5s, the latest Civics, and a few Puntos and Mitsu Colts!

Leading the pack from pole was this white & blue BMW, driven by newbie Jack Lemvard. The sound produced by his car was almost melodious - soft whirring rocket turbine would best decribe it. I'm guessing it's the supercharger! None of the cars in the field sounded like this car. The DC5s sounded the worst! Lemvard went on to win the race, overtaken by an Integra a few times, but in the end stretched it to a few seconds of lead! Fantastic driving!

We left around noon. By then the crowd had started to get larger, more people are strolling in. We were hungry, there wasn't any foodstall there. I think I might go for the Super GT Series in June, with charged battery pack that is!

Langkawi Part 5: Waterfall & Cablecar

Telaga Tujuh Waterfall

Oriental Village - Cable Car