DaiOni

see if you can find it... http://www.c-west.co.jp/aero/bnr34/index.asp

blackr - never said it wasn't, in fact I said it's either a type b or c. what I was saying was that the spirit-r (the type a, to be precise) is simply an RZ rx7 (of which 175 were made in that particular production run), with a few aesthetic add-ons - so it's not so much 'rarity' that's a factor (though 1500 is a relatively small run), but the fact that it's a 'last of the line' version. Given that an RS (which has most of the RZ goodies) is lineball in terms of performance - it's probably the better buy (unless you are cashed up and don't care). HOWEVER, there is the question of resale - and who knows if people in the future will care about the spirit-r/rz or not (though in the short term, it would reap benefits). to the OP - another 2c - for version VI - stick to the higher spec models: the spirit-r, RZ, RS, R and bathurst r* - they are worth the extra cash (and, trust me, have more than the 280ps advertised. The auto versions and base spec are 265ps). * bathurst r, for all other versions, is a bargain basement spec - but they changed that for the version VI

there are three versions of the spirit-r: type a, b, and c. The b and c are four-seaters, the a is the pick of the bunch - not because it has two seats (I personally prefer the four seaters), but because those seats are kevlar/carbon backed recaros. the type c is an auto - and therefore should be avoided like the plague (it misses out on a few of the other good fruits too - including the bilsteins). the car pictured above appears to be either a type b or c. the spirit-r is a tarted up version of the (much rarer) RZ rx7. The RS is not a limited edition.

there are very very few cars that deliver more 'bang for buck' than an FD - evo is not one of them. Conversely, there aren't many cars that require as much care and research (in terms of modification), either. In japan, you're looking at 3.5-4 million yen for a spirit-r: so you aren't going to get one for A$40k-ish My advice: look for a version VI RS (late 2000-02) - as the majority of the spirit-r differences are aesthetic.

osaka auto messe - feb 10-12 (the 10th may be a press-only day - not sure on that)

yuck! still no snow in inner-city kobe! woo-hoo (my old apartment currently has 60-80cm of snow piled outside...) I was in osaka on thursday night (to see the weezer concert - which was awesome), and saw my first snow of the season - just a light sprinkle.

all the biggest workshops offload the mass production to sweatshops - that's just the way it is (with all industry) HKS do a lot of their stuff out of thailand - pretty sure they don't write that on the box though there are only two important considerations 1. R&D - a safe bet in most cases 2. quality control

I don't do coilovers because the weigh to much. Freight would be A$500+

the limits for japan post are listed on their english website (I provided this link on a thread earlier this week - and it is easily google-able). Show that to your bidder - seats should fit under their guidelines. Most of us who provide parts don't do anything that can't be shipped via EMS - because your bidder is correct, it's a pain in the arse.

have you tried autobacs? if they can't do it, they'll have a sub-contractor or contact that will sort you out. Possibly not the cheapest route though. of course, the japanese way would be to turf it and get a new one, lol.

you already answered that question: "I am not really into modding... maybe just an exhaust" He's kidding about the 1mill. Well... I guess it's a question of semantics. What is "living comfortably"? I have no complaints, but that's all relative to life experience. For some, living on my wage might be uncomfortable... I certainly don't have a bnr34! I guess that's a complaint.

I'd guess the grey cream is sesame and egg whites. Also contains soy milk. pass on that one... nissan showrooms tend to be 'red stage' or 'blue stage' - it could be defined by what cars each group carries - but to be honest, I've never cared enough to find out

and, fwiw, my last shaken was my own FD - this april, and that was 11man base + 1man to replace a leaking diff seal. if your friend paid 30man, then the overwhelming majority of that was for defective items/required repairs. That's what happens when you own a shit heap, or don't maintain your car properly.

that's base price for white plate

"500,000 for a rough one from about 89 or 90" - I don't think there is any vagueness there. Check out the links section for car classifieds if you don't believe that. dude, I've sold cars here (liason for a dealership), and I've owned 4. I've also shaken'ed (one 'k' btw) cars - kei and white plate, for myself, and arranged and priced it for friends (I've done a kei for 70,000, including repairs). Base price from a dealership is usually around the 10man price (actually for some, 11 now - as they added another tax for older cars).

as long as you're not stacked up like a packhorse - you'll do okay. And make sure your bags are under the weight limit. They care more about overweight bags than a total that is over the limit. Whether or not the plane is full is another thing - so I guess time of year becomes a factor. http://www.post.japanpost.jp/english/fee/index.html there are special rates for books too - but make sure you only have books/printed matter (they DO check)

oh - and push hard for that job for your wife. Decent non-teaching jobs for non-japanese speaking people* are few and far between. * assuming she doesn't speak japanese.

Yeah - you'd have no problem living 'excessively' and saving *some* money with that income. If you can bring the capital to make the car purchase immediately - then you'll definitely be doing okay. income tax: you can get a tax exemption, and pay canadian taxes. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not - it's certainly better off for me to pay japanese taxes. IIRC, of the half dozen canadians I've met and become friends with here, they've all paid japanese taxes (I could be wrong though - so check into it if you haven't already). All the americans I know pay american tax. I'll give you my old (government) wage break-up, as my new one is a bit harder to understand (I don't pay into a pension, my wife's employer pays my health insurance, etc - it gets confusing): gross wage: 320,000 net wage: 265,000 deductions were income tax, compulsory health insurance and pension. Pension deduction was 22,000yen p/month. Sorry, I can't remember what proportion was tax and what was insurance. The pension can be claimed back when you leave Japan (but only for a maximum of three years worth). I hope that helps.

photoshop

if it's just an issue of getting the gear to the airport - then send it ahead via black cat. You can get away with excess baggage most of the time (I've never been pinged for it). Probably worth the risk.

post office - do a search for 'japan post', they have an english page with all the costs and methods of shippings

ooh, fair bit of bad advice in there... (no offence) R33 GTR, for a worthwhile example, will start at the 1.5million mark - but I would suggest a budget of around 2million. An R34 GTR - *start* at 4million (though high km examples, still in fair condition, are closer to 3million). A high spec, later version, can easily go over the 6mill mark. The old 32 GTRs can be bought for next to nothing - 500,000 for a rough one from about 89 or 90. An immaculate later version, with low kms, will almost certainly exceed R33 prices. I'd be budgeting 1mill for one of the earliest versions, in worthwhile condition - but be prepared to fork out a fair bit in running/repair costs. Either pay more, or buy an R33 or better. Insurance depends on a variety of factors - but I would budget at 20,000 a month for a third party coverage. Living expenses: I live in the kansai region - which is not quite as expensive as tokyo (but basically comparative). A have a very nice apartment (by japanese standards) and pay 100,000 per month. I'd say you could get something nice enough for that price range in a commutable distance from central tokyo. If you want something in, say the shinjuku area, be prepared to pay more for a lot less. A car park in an outer area is probably going to start at the 20,000 a month mark - but could quite easily be double that. Running expenses - I paid 9500 yen for 65l of high octane fuel this week. Shaken for a GTR will probably be around the 100,000 mark - it's due every 2 years (you can buy a car with anywhere between 0-25months left). Car tax is probably going to be 40,000 every year (not positive on that - but that's what I paid out in the country). If you wanted to do a lot of long distance driving on the weekends - highway tolls may be your biggest expense. Wages - as a couple, I think we have a *net* wage of 700,000 a month - and live very comfortably on that (eat out more often than not, have lots of toys, travel a lot, run a performance car, modify it, never save any money...). 400,000 in tokyo? do-able, but it'll take a bit of sacrifice if you want to have a car - and you won't save a cent (IMO), and you'll probably have to be less selective about the kind of apartment you want (unless you are used to living in a dirty shoebox). On the upside, it'll be easy for her to get some sort of teaching wage (unless she has some other skills - but that's the general way of things) - which should bump you up into the 'easy living' range. Put it this way - there are a lot of people surviving in tokyo on corporate teaching wages (average around 250,000 gross) - so 400,000 can definitely be done, even for a couple. anyway, that's my 2c

1. start in color (duh!) 2. use the marquee tool to select the entire image 3. copy the entire image 4. convert to greyscale 5. convert back to rgb (or whatever you are working in) 6. paste your copied image on top (as it's the size of the canvas - it will be perfectly placed) 4. select whatever you want from the color layer - polygonal lasso is probably the easiest to start with 5. select menu > inverse (selects everything else) 6. delete 7. if you want to have multiple separate things in color then you can either shift>select, or (and I suggest you do it this way) make an extra duplicate layer when you start it's easy peezy