Importfest 2014 The Movie! Not really

This is just another Machine Zealots 'field trip'. A couple of months ago, we posted on the details of going to this car show. Not much to say in addition to what you see in the video. There was lots of loud music, people taking photographs, and beautiful cars.
One of the highlights to this show was getting some of the free gifts available. Another interesting bit was the test drive of the Scion FR-S. We lined up for a really long time to drive the car. 'Why not just test drive at a dealership' you ask? Well, I never had the time, nor the extreme eagerness to do so. I test drove the car because I was curious, but mainly for the gifts that were given to anyone who participated in the test drive. (It was worth it.)
The FR-S isn't bad to drive. However, I won't be selling my STI anytime soon for an FR-S though...

Season 4 Airing on Christmas

Have a Merry Christmas, and happy holidays!

Ironmen Show & Shine, and some other stuff

It's been a couple of hectic weeks, but I finally have some time to update you guys again. Puyang and I went to a Show & Shine car show on June 7, 2014. It was held at our local Church, and it was a fantastic day of cars, food, and fun. I took this opportunity to volunteer as a photographer and shot an episode while I was at it, which I will be editing soon. Before I show you guys the photos, I'll just briefly update you guys on some Machine Zealot's news.

If you guys follow us on Facebook, I've mentioned that we have four episodes currently in the making. Puyang is a good help when I need an extra hand around the car, or shooting some videos, but I am usually the only person editing the episodes; this is why I can not finish all four videos at the same time. We have all the necessary shots to complete an entire episode, but I still need to trim, colorize, and treat the footage, as well as sync all necessary sounds and background music. It takes roughly thirty to forty hours to finish one episode in the editing phase, so it's a lot of work. Even though I work a full time job, and have other pursuits, I still want to make these videos. To be honest, I have a lot of fun working on cars and making videos, I just wish I had more time!

Here are some pictures from one shot of each upcoming episode:

I'm not going to reveal exactly what each episode will be about, but I think some of the pictures explain themselves very well. Either way, I seem to have some free time in the upcoming week, so I will be getting straight to the episodes. I already have another two episodes lined up for filming. Both Puyang and I are determined to use as many sunny days as possible for shooting during this season. That way, we can have content to work on during the rainy days, or even the fast approaching autumn season.

Well, that's pretty much it for updates. Below are some of our favorite cars from the Ironmen Show & Shine.

Oil Changes all around

Last weekend, Puyang and I finished shooting a brand new episode where we'll be changing the engine oil and filter on the 2012 Volkswagen Golf GTI. Puyang's GTI has already been broken in, and he'll be showcasing his stock GTI on the autocross course by the end of this year. Hopefully.

Screen shot from the GTI Engine Oil Change episode!

In any case, I had to get my oil changed as well if I wanted the car to be in tip top shape for carving the pavement at the upcoming autocross events. Since the last oil change, I had installed a brand new magnetic drain bolt on my Subaru. I took the time to take some pictures of this drain bolt for you guys to see. I think it's worth investing in!

Look at all those metal shavings caught on the magnet!

This drain bolt had gotten a tiny bit rusty. Mod time.

Painted the drain bolt with an old touch-up brush from the 2010 Camaro. It has a nice lacquer finish.

If you don't already have a magnetic drain bolt, I would highly suggest buying one for whichever car you drive. Puyang also installed a magnetic drain bolt on his GTI, but you'll get to see that in the full episode.

In the next two weeks, we'll be extremely busy. The first weekend will be spent at an import car show, and the following weekend will be our first autocross event of the season. In preparations for the upcoming car show, I have been trying to sharpen my knowledge on using the Canon EOS 5D Mk. III.

I am also expecting a 77 mm circular polarizer lens filter in the mail. Hopefully it will get here in time for the car show!

In the meantime, hope you enjoy some of the test photos I took with the DSLR.

900

Thank you guys for the continual support on Machine Zealots. We reached 900 subscribers today, and we hope to see more people join as time goes by. We appreciate when you guys comment, and like our videos, it tells us how we can improve on future episodes. Yes, I do admit some of our videos may not be as successful as others, but we are glad you guys are sticking around anyway.

Below is an image from our upcoming episode where we'll have our first official DIY video on the VW Golf GTI. Hope you guys stay tuned!

Stolen Property

Yesterday afternoon, a concerned viewer sent Machine Zealots a private message on YouTube. They warned us that our video was being ripped off and used on another channel. With the link provided, I checked it out, and as it turned out, someone was indeed stealing our videos for their own channel.

Side by side channel comparison. Identical episodes, uploaded on different dates, and obviously the video is of our creation.

I was sort of shocked, nothing like this has happened to us before. I would say I'm somewhat flattered, because they might have seen some value for them to steal it. However, we aren't going to allow others to upload our videos without prior communication, and granted permission from us.

At this time, we have already filed a copyright claim with YouTube, and they will proceed with the investigation. In the meantime, we don't know if there are any other videos out there that were stolen from us.

If you ever find any of our videos, or even segments of our videos on other channels, please contact us. We would greatly appreciate your help and support.

Thank you!

Old Pedal, Dead Pedal

When I first bought this 2006 Subaru Impreza WRX STI, I was definitely happy with it. I mean, it's an STI! More importantly, it's my STI. When I talk about the STI, I hardly ever bring up the negatives, it's always the positives that stick out. However, when I first took the seat of the car, I had noticed right away that the dead pedal was this cheap plastic looking slab. I couldn't let that go.
Enter the Autospeed Dead Pedal.
It's quite expensive for something so small, around $40, but it was worth it to me. If you are thinking of upgrading your dead pedal, I would stay away from eBay ones. The eBay ones I've seen do not have raised rubber grips, but instead have painted black holes. To each their own, but that still isn't good enough for me.
I think you guys have seen enough of my videos, read enough of my blog posts to know that I'm meticulous in many aspects. So can you blame me for wanting this dead pedal? I mean take a good look at the STI's after the Hawkeyes, from 2008+, they have a HUGE dead pedal that matches the rest of the pedals. It would turn out, even Subaru felt that it was necessary to upgrade it!
So what to you guys think? Am I a bit crazy for spending money on this upgrade? Or would you yourself do the same?
Since the installation, I have driven the car for several months, and the dead pedal shows no signs of deterioration so far. I would definitely recommend this product, and I give this product a solid 9/10.

The Line Up

While the winter season is slowly transitioning into spring, we are also getting into gear to create more episodes. Puyang and I have some ideas for the upcoming episodes, but Season 3 is not completely set in stone: Budget, mods, schedules, hardware upgrades, and episode ideas are just some of the things we are constantly dealing with. Machine Zealots will begin to upload new episodes this coming week. We have preview screen shots of the first three episodes.

Season 3 Episode 1 - An STI car wash

Season 3 Episode 2 - MZ Trip to Taiwan 2013

Season 3 Episode 3 - 2012 AutoX compilation

It may seem like we are starting off slow, but this is how we always start our seasons. Hopefully it will pick up soon! With the support of you guys, we are sure this season will be a great one!

Season 3 Promo

We are back for another year of content. This is just a small video trailer for the new season, hopefully you guys are able to tell that our quality is improving year by year. With better music, and access to some new cameras, we are hoping to create better content for you this year.
We have some ideas in mind for this new season, but like last season, sometimes our plans don't always work out. Hang in there guys, even we don't know how this season will turn out, but we will surely try our best.

Another Year, Another Beginning

700 Subscribers and growing. Thanks!

We made it through another year together, so happy 2013 guys and gals! Let's all make the best of the time we have. Puyang and I are back from our trip to Taiwan, and although we didn't attend any car shows this year, we still shot a lot of videos. It may be slightly different from what you are used to watching, but hopefully you guys will enjoy it regardless.

I'll be spending the next couple of days getting a Season 3 Promo out for you guys, and new videos that follow. There might not be a regular schedule for a while though, as we are still adjusting to the jet lag and life situations. Thank you for your patience!

In the meantime, check out this awesome taxi we saw in Taiwan!

Hold on to your hats

Sometimes it's hard to keep track of our lives, and our accomplishments. Photos, trophies, and other keepsakes seem to be one of the ways we can remember great stories and experiences we have had in the past. For Machine Zealots, hats seemed to be one of the ways that we kept track of some past accomplishments.

The top two hats were earned back when Machine Zealots was working on Project Spades V6.

The three bottom hats were earned since Project Impulse started.

Stillen sent me their hat and t-shirt back when I helped them promote their new 2010 Camaro V6 polyurethane splitter. Hurst Shifters sent me their hat and t-shirt back when I helped install and review their paddle shifter kit. Rally Armor sent me their hat and t-shirt when I installed and reviewed the Rally Armor mudflaps on the STI. Tireland's hat was one of the prizes for getting first place at the Corvette autocross event.

So what about the hat in the middle?

MZ Hat: Front View.

MZ Hat: Back View.

The Machine Zealots hat was actually made by a fan of the show! He made this hat, contacted me, and gave it to me. It was a very kind gesture, and I was very happy to accept this. I'll be sure to wear it on the show or even when I go to certain events. Thanks a lot Jason!

Only time will tell what the future will bring, but I am very excited for it!

There's a storm coming

We are finally approaching the last few days of winter, and as always, this means we are all psyched to take our cars out for road trips, attend race tracks, and car meets! I'm just going to take this time to update you guys on current events, and a small forecast of what storm we, at Machine Zealots here, are brewing up.

First off, if you guys have seen the most recent episode, Subaru Engine Oil Change, you may have noticed about two minutes into the episode there seems to be something blurring the lower left hand corner of the lens. Now granted, no one has commented on it yet, but I'm sure most of you have seen it, lol. This was due to myself being clumsy and dropping the camera on the pavement, lens first. You can hardly see it on the outside, it's such a small scratch, but of course, GoPro's fantastic wide angle lens just amplifies the scratch making it into a huge blur. This episode was aired a week later than planned due to this issue, but as they say, "The show must go on."

I finished the episode, hoping that my editing skills could divert the attention away from that awful blur. If you guys had no idea of the blur, then I suppose I did a good job, but then again, I ended up telling you guys I made a mistake anyway. Oops.

Well, I admit to my fault because this has something to do with the upcoming weeks. I got a new set of lenses from GoPro for this camera, but then I got hooked on the GoPro HD Hero 2, so I'm now trying to get my hands on one, lol.

Lens replacement kit. Comes with 2 lenses, waterproof seals, screws, and a screwdriver.

Anyway, I thought to myself, while I'm waiting for the new GoPro Camera, I may as well shoot the new episodes with it. So what to do in this waiting period? Well, I remastered two episodes from my old Project Spades V6 days. I plan on airing them starting Friday, March 2nd, back to back weeks. In the show business, they would just play re-runs while they were catching up to airing schedule dates. Sadly, I can not do that for Youtube, since viewing videos online is not totally linearly based. Therefore, I am hoping these videos will keep most of you guys entertained for the next couple of weeks as I get my affairs in order.

Airing March 2nd - Caliper Painting with the G2 Caliper Paint Kit.

Airing March 9th - Camaro Engine Oil Change with Castrol Edge.

For those who have watched these episodes in the past, keep in mind that these are remastered, not just re-rendered. New background music, removed a lot of unnecessary stuff, and applied new filtering effects. For those of you who are just looking for videos on the STI, I'm afraid you will have to wait.

I've also made a new tab on the blog called "MZ Projects". Although it is under some construction, I plan to have this page feature all the cars Machine Zealots gets their hands on. You can also refer to it for upcoming modifications planned for each Project Car. I'll be expanding the page as time goes on, but as you can see, there are several things on the plate for the STI already. A couple of other people I've talked to recently want to help with the videos with their cars, but I'll tell you guys more about that when we get there. Some car club meets, and car shows are just over the horizon as well. Needless to say, this is looking to be one of our busiest years!

First post of 2012 =D

Just a little teaser trailer for you guys ;) I know I haven't seemed that active these couple of weeks, there is a reason, mostly personal life, but you wouldn't want to hear about that. Our full Taiwan Special episode will be airing in about two weeks. From here on, I forecast regular airing times. You can expect new videos every other Friday.

In other news, I have seen an increased amount of subscriptions to the Youtube Channel in the past couple of weeks, and nothing but supportive comments posted. I appreciate the on going support. Like I have said time and time again, you guys are what keeps Machine Zealots alive and kicking!

Welcome to 2012 you guys! Let's start our engines, and begin another awesome year!

A New Year, are You ready for it?

Happy New Year ladies and gentlemen! I am currently spending the New Years in Taiwan. I'll be heading back home in a couple of days, but it has been a blast here. I haven't forgotten about you guys, and I've done some substantial filming while I was here. I will be posting a special episode for you guys when I have finished editing it. Hopefully you guys will get to see how great Taiwan is, and if you guys have never been, I would highly recommend you all to spend your next vacation here.

For now, I have some pictures for you guys, so enjoy them, and see you all in the New Year!