The Photography of Dr. Jeff Harper

My little beauty: a 2004 Toyota Hilux Tiger after its transformation to a street and strip bruiser.  Thanks especially to my friend Khun Mac at Mactec.  I couldn't have done this project at such a high standard without him and his excellent shop crew.

 

 

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FROM THE BEGINNING

Before and after: Toyota did not make a single cab, short bed Hilux Tiger in 2004.  I took the liberty to shorten the bed and narrow frame (making tire clearance in the process).

 

So, first things first, after working out the proportions in PhotoShop, I had Volcano Customs in Nonthaburi, Thailand take 11 inches out of the bed and frame (behind the cab), shorten the driveshaft,  and then make some wheel tubs for bigger tires and the (future) lowered suspension.

 

With 11 inches taken out of the wheelbase, and after mounting a set of nice used wheels I found at a bargain price, I set off on more modifications in advance of the V8 swap.

 

With the power I planned to have, I knew I would need some good stopping power. A stop at TT Racing in Bangkok turned up these new BMW M5 vented discs with their own machined hats and mounting brackets (at a "racers' discount").

 

For calipers, I chose a set of these matched massive forged aluminum alloy Audi R8 units for front and rear.

 

The next step was to drive the Tiger to the suspension shop for a complete rebuild and lowering.  All new front suspension parts and all new high performance wheel bearings front and rear. New adjustable high performance shocks all around as well.  It was starting to look good.  Now for some POWER.

 

MacTec took on the task of swapping a Lexus 4.3L V8 into a Toyota pick-up, a common occurrence in Thailand, so no big deal for them.  A set of hand fabricated stainless headers and exhaust system smoothed out the process.

 

A custom bell housing made to mate the 3UZ to the Toyota truck transmission was sourced rrom KS Racing Thailand along with the right flywheel and clutch kit.  Easy.  You can get these UZ trans adapters for most transmissions on eBay shipped worldwide from Thailand.  Very good quality.   

With the DTA80 ECU (later switched to a LINK ECU when the supercharger was added) running the unmodified 3UZ, it made some pretty good horsepower and torque (271rwhp and 295 ft. lbs. of torque).

 

 

My next chore was to drive it "as is" to the wheel alignment shop for a street/strip suspension alignment.  Ramintra Wheel and Tire does suspension alignment for a lot of race cars in Bangkok  This little test drive clip gives you an idea of the kinds of places I found myself in Bangkok during this project build. Always interesting!

 

With nearly 300hp in a somewhat light vehicle (1350k, 2975 pounds) with 4.10:1 rear gears . . . there were some traction issues.  MacTec shop built these slapper traction bars on my design which helped a lot . . . . we also removed a couple of leafs springs since I was not planning to use the truck for haulage.  This helped a too, especially with the adjustable performance shocks.  That's a 8.5", 30-spline Toyota heavy duty rear axle/diff.

 

Believe it or not, there is a Detroit TrueTrac limited slip differential available for my Toyota 8.5 (measured, but referred to as an "8.4" by Toyota), 30-spline rear end.  I needed to change the side bearings out to make it fit . . . then it dropped right in.  All other center section parts were replaced as well.

 

At this point I am pretty happy driving my little N/A V8 pick-up around.  It's quick and makes a beautiful sound.  It's fun.  But the exterior looks a mess.  Time to begin preparing it for paint and interior.  First up, a TRD front grill.

 

I had the Karn Fiberglass Shop make a nice cowl induction hood scoop . . . with the idea in mind that I might supercharge in the future.

 

I made a rear NASCAR truck-style spoiler out of aluminum plate and a removable bed cover out of plastic sheeting over an aluminum tube frame and then sent it to the paint shop . . . where a few more custom body pieces would be mounted.

 

I asked the paint/body shop to flare the rear wheel openings in case I wanted to use drag radials one day.  Amazingly, they did it the right way: pick hammering.  It's almost a lost art, but they widened the body a few inches this way and it came out great.

 

They disassembled the truck body completely and took out the front and rear glass.  They also filled in some of the roof and panel seams for a smooth look.

 

Painting done right.  The color I chose was Mazda Ceramic Metallic.

 

First panel fitting after paint.  Here you can see lower bumper faring from a Tiger 4X4 SUV . . . for a little more air. Also, an Australian-only Hilux Tiger headlight surround was added for a bit of a custom touch.  All the parts and pieces, and custom bits I needed to restore the Tiger came from the Hilux Shop in Ramintra.

 

The shop removed the bed tie downs, painted the bed insides, and wheel tubs.  The pick-hammered fender flares came out perfect. The craftsmen at MPF Paint Garage did an excellent job on the bodywork and paint at a reasonable price.  Those tires are Raiden HERO 111 265/65R17s.  They are made in Thailand and are pretty much the stickiest tall street "summer' truck tire available.  They bite quite well.

 

The truck went straight from the paint shop to the Ton Upholstery Shop for this simple treatment and new carpeting and insulation.  In keeping with my "muscle car" theme, I retained the bench seat and color combination.  The new OEM door panels cranks and levers are all from The Hilux Shop.  It's clean and comfortable.

 

The first time out of the paint and upholstery shops happened to be the weekend of a big drag race at Bangkok Drag Avenue, so, of course, I had to take it out to show it off.  It was well received.

 

My nicely painted V8 Hilux Tiger comfortably at home.  I was happy with it . . . but something seemed missing . . . . GT stripes?  Sure.

 

I went to my local 'wrap shop' for this color-shifting vinyl stripe treatment.  This young woman at ProWrap in Nonthaburi did an outstanding job.  The nice thing about vinyl stripes is that they are removable . . . and can be changed to a different color.

 

Looking good.

This clip shows the color shift very nicely.  All is well.

 

 

After happily driving this beauty around for a couple of months, I brought it back in to Mactec to begin the next phase of the project:

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The Whipple Supercharger Build

 

I was petty happy driving my 300hp Hilux Tiger around town with the truck 5-speed.  The acceleration was savage and it sounded just right.  However, a chance meeting with one of my former students, Mark Steeb, changed all that.  He happened to mention that his car project plans had changed and that he had a brand new Whipple 2.4L supercharger for sale, with long snout and 8-rib top pulley . . .  already in Thailand . . .  the only one.  At a good price.  Well, my gearhead logic said I should not pass this up . . . so I bought it!

  

If I was going to supercharge my 3UZ I would have to build the short block to take the increased power.  A standard 3UZ is known to have weak top ring lands, generally, when the 400 horsepower level is reached.  Additionally, the connecting rods are quite small and do not handle big power levels at high RPM.

 

So, I started having MacTec order my race-grade internal components for the supercharged  3UZ build .  Traum makes great pistons, so I ordered a set of custom .050 over 10.0:1 pistons with rings, good for the E85 I planned to use as fuel.

 

I ordered a set of Eagle ESP rods and ARP 2000 rod bolts (# CRS5751T3D2000) -good to 850hp, although I do mot plan to get near that - along with ARP cylinder head and main studs, and race bearings.  As can be seen here, the standard rods are very small in comparison to the Eagle rods.

 

 To help get more of that supercharged air, and thus more fuel, I ordered one of the first sets of Kelford 3UZ VVTI cams (208FI) and K-Tech race springs with titanium retainers. These are supercharger cams made for the very set-up I have.  254/264 with 9.6mm and 9.5mm of lift. A big improvement over the standard camshafts. And, of course, with the added benefit of being able to tune the VVTI for extra torque down low.

 

I contacted Bulletcars in Australia about a supercharger intake manifold for the 3UZ VVTI.  There were then no blower manifolds being made by any manufacturer.  At the time, if you wanted to supercharge a 3UZ VVTI you had to cut up a standard intake manifold and fabricate your own blower top. As luck would have it, they said they were working on that very manifold at the time and expected to release it within weeks.  I believe my manifold is the first production 3UZ supercharger manifold they sold.  The only problem was that COVID struck just as it was shipped . . . and it became stuck in a closed-for-COVID  Singapore trans-shipment warehouse for seven (7!!!) months!!!

 

I knew the standard injectors would not be up to the task of fueling my anticipated 600+hp, so a quick consultation with FiveO-Racing got me a set of eight E85-compatible 1250cc Black Ops injectors made to fit my manifold and fuel rails.   1250cc seems like a lot, but, who knows, I may add NOS some day. The rest of the fuel system is made up of an external DW 350IL E85 fuel pump, big E85 MagnaFuel regulator, and Earls race E85 fine fuel filter. All fuel fittings and lines are sized -8.  There is also a LINK flexfuel sensor.

 

 I had my machinist CNC a manifold top plate from billet aluminum.

 

I had initially ordered a Ford 5.4 DBW throttle body, but I used some software to compute my air and fuel needs and found I needed more air.  The bigger dual 60mm (top) from the GT 500 Mustang was just the ticket . . . and a bargain compared to aftermarket throttle bodies, especially considering it came with the motor and TPS installed. You can get these from Jegs.

 

This VW/Audi DBW accelerator pedal assembly talks to the Ford GT500 throttlebody via the LINK ECU.

 

My machinist made a CNC bottom blower belt pulley that neatly mated to the 3UZ standard bottom pulley.  Since my Whipple pulley system was an 8-rib design it would not integrate into the standard 6-rib serpentine belt system.  Fortunately the supplied long blower snout placed the blower in a perfect position.  Dumb luck.

 

With the compression and added boost of the Whipple, I felt I needed assurances the spark would be strong and reliable enough, so I added the MSD #8221 coil-on-plugs.

 

The standard Toyota truck transmission, though strong, was not going to be up to the task.  Fortunately the MacTec shop had a brand new G-Force T5 in stock from a customer order that was not picked up.  According to the G-Force spec sheet, "the G-Force T-5 kit will handle roughly 600 hp or 500 ft-lb. or torque in a 3300 lb. vehicle running drag radials at the track with a moderate clutch upgrade." We shall see! The MacTec mechanics made an adapter for  the trans to the KS Racing bell housing. 

 

A Tilton hydraulic throw-out bearing is utilized. 

 

Even though the G-Force T5 trans is strong, I still added a ClutchMasters Flow Control valve  to minimize driveline shock on the trans, drive shaft joints, and rear end. 

  

Although the 3UZ is a very smooth running engine, and I had this engine build balanced, I felt a poly trans mount might help civilize the drive.

 

A Mark Williams transmission yoke was sourced to handle the extra horsepower and torque.

 

BK Racing Clutches made to spec (manufactured in Bangkok) this dual disc and flywheel set up used to handle the anticipated 600+ horsepower.

 

Most of the parts and pieces on the Tiger . . . At this point in time I believed, based on what I read on various Whipple forums, that I might get away with not having an intercooler . . . because "Whipples give cooler IATs than other superchargers."

 

So, I sent the Tiger off to GetTuned Tuning Service dyno shop to install a new LINK ECU and DBW controller to see if Khun George could get a tune on this monster . . . . but it was not to be . . . I established the maximum allowable full throttle IAT limit during testing at 90c . . . and we hit that at only 3500rpm.  Looks like that hot Bangkok air (40c at time of testing) was just too much inlet air temp (IAT) for even the "cooler running" Whipple could deal with.  Looks like I will have to make an intercooler.

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THE INTERCOOLER PROJECT

 

The first thing I discovered in my quest for an intercooler was that nobody made an intercooler for the Bullet 3UZ intake manifold; I would have to make one myself.  First I had to determine how much hood clearance I had to play which would dictate the thickness of the intercooler core and box. I found a box that fit the measurement of the core I wanted and used it to simulate the intercooler.  Yep, that'll do!

 

After couple of e-mails back and forth with Bullet we decided their thick 1UZ intercooler core (+hardware kit) would fit inside the 3UZ manifold if I made a CNC intercooler box.  No problem: this is Thailand! I ordered the Bullet intercooler and hardware kit and it arrived quickly.

 

To cool the intercooler fluid, I sourced a water-to-air heat exchanger and dual fans (only one shown) from Australia . . .  and . . .

 . . . and a Craig Davies water booster pump and their #8002 electronic fan controller.  Now all I had to do was get together with my excellent CNC guy, Khun Kem, to start the CAD phase.

 

I sent Khun Kem the intake manifold, he scanned it, and came up with this!  WOW! Fully o-ringed!  After a little communication back and forth to problem solve the water inlet/outlet design, we had the perfect intercooler.  Notice the thick top plate: this is because it is "hollowed out" on the bottom to allow the compressed air charge to pass through the entire length of the intercooler core, unlike others I have seen that seem to only let air pass through directly under the supercharger outlet.  I'm glad I had the hood clearance to do this.

 

Khun Kem chucked a block of expensive aluminum billet in his CNC machine and came up with this black anodised gem!

 

It's a real beauty!

 

I next challenged Khun Kem to come up with an adjustable idler pulley bracket.  He came up with this . . . it seemed a little elaborate at first, but it also looked very strong.  I said, OK, CNC it!

 

The adjustable idler pulley bracket came back black anodised and fit perfectly . . . and works perfectly. (This is a trial fit.)

 

So, Now I was ready to get back on the dyno at GetTuned Tuning Service . . . . (Notice the intercooler water line location.)

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Back with George at GetTuned Tuning Service: Now we are talking some power!  On E85 [tested at E78] his best horsepower LINK ECU set-up yielded 519.628 rear wheel horsepower (@6668 rpm) and 65.769Kgm of torque (475.7 foot pounds) (@ 4853 rpm) - at 0.73 bar boost (10.58 psi).  Very good . . . and the IATs held nicely around 65-75C at the highest RPMs  . . . the intercooler was doing its job. After George fiddled with the VVTI maps in the ECU we had one pull at 68.5Kgm (495.46 foot pounds) of torque.  George tuned at a safe and steady 0.78-0.79 lambda throughout: it's not a race engine.  I'm happy with these results. [The wavey torque graph is typical of these types of dynos.]  We picked up a little belt slip near the end of the session as the [wrong kind of] belt was getting hot and stretchy.  A new Gates RPM belt has been ordered. If you assume a 15% - 18% horsepower loss through the drive train, the dyno shows we made 597.5 - 613.1 horsepower at the engine (and 569.7 - 584.6 foot pounds of torque) . . . in 33.3C (92f) degree temperature and 65% humidity at the time of the dyno test.

George then spent considerable time mapping with various ethanol blends stepped from the E85 all the way down to E20 using the data from the LINK flexfuel sensor.  It still made 435rwhp (500hp - 513hp at the engine) on the E20 with a slightly slipping belt . . . and a fair amount of timing taken out to avoid detonation.

When the new belt arrives, I will go back on the dyno so George can play with the VVTI to see if he can stretch out that torque curve high end.

I bought a new Sigma 50mm f1.4 lens last night with the intention of it being my Bangkok walking around lens for night street work.  I bought mine from a reputable dealer in Ponthip Plaza and promptly went out to do some street testing in the early evening.  I brought along my trusty "plastic fantastic" Canon 50mm f1.8 lens for some comparison shots.  As soon as it got dark I realized my copy of the Sigma 50mm was front focusing to a severe degree.  I walked back to the shop and they immediately replaced it with another copy . . . the second copy is very sharp and focuses perfectly on my subject.  It must be remembered that when shooting at anything under f2.8 the depth of feild is extremely narrow ("paper thin at f1.4) on ANY lens from ANY manufacturer.  That being said, I was extremely happy with the shots I took while walking around the Central World area of Bangkok with my new lens.

Reproduced below are some HAND HELD (that's the idea of a "walking around lens," no?) photos I took with my Canon 5D Mark II full frame camera body and my new Sigma 50mm f1.4 EX DG HSM lens:  The top shots are Canon Raw Files converted to JPEG and then saved as 850px wide JPEG files without any adulteration either in the camera or in PhotoShop 5.5.  The bottom shots are actual pixels at 100% converted from the Canon Raw Files cropped at 850px X 850px and not adulterated in the camera or in PhotoShop 5.5. 

Cropping more than actual pixels (100%) makes no sense in a "for low light conditions" lens.  If you want detail from a long distance from your subject, then get a longer lens, like the Sigma/Canon 85mm f1.4, or the Canon 70-200 L II f2.8.  If you are going to print from Raw files, the 5D Mark II produces 5616X3744 pixel images from the camera . . . but, of course, you would correct/sharpen the images before printing.  I have reproduced the files as they have come out of the camera.

At the bottom of this post are five images that have been post-processed (and reduced to the 850 pixel-width I use I this blog) to give you an idea of why you would want a 50mm f1.4 lens in your bag in the first place.  The Sigma 50mm performs beautifully.

[April 2014 update: There is now an excellent dpreview lab test of this outstannding lens now available on their site.]

Above shot at f6.3.

 

Above shot at f2.8.

 

Above shot at f2.8.

 

Above shot at f2.2.

 

Above shot at f1.8.

 

Above shot at f1.4 - HAND HELD !!!!!

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Tall buildings in Bangkok at night, hand held.  This is why I have an f1.4 lens.

 

For this shot I jammed my camera up against a light pole for stability, but the ability of the lens to capture so much light made for beautiful detail in the shadows at such low light.

 

A lot of people do not know that Bangkok is crisscrossed with canals that still accomodate canal taxis.  This is an available light photo of a MOVING boat in the semi dark.  I have the camera resting on the bridge railing for stability. Set your camera to apature priority (f1.4) and the camera will find the fastest shutter speed.

 

I am on a pedestrain cross-over with the camera against a bridge roof upright.  The point here is the dynamic range a peice of big glass can capture. ISO 100, f.11.

 

This is my best example of why I have an f1.4 lens:  I am in the back of a MOVING TAXI going home and leaned forward to take this shot of the ubiquiteous Buddha-on-the-dashboard . . . an impossible shot.  This is a cropped image.  Remarkable.

Only a 90 mnute drive north of Bangkok . . . . .  but a world away!

Lopburi is has a Monkey Temple, but the monkeys spill over into the nearby commercial district.

Everything in Lopbury is monkey-themed. Even the visitors.

"Monkeys are known for stealing food, yet . . . "

Very healthy coats on these sacred monkeys.

Do the regular passengers of Bus 79 even see the monkeys?

Do the temple monkeys even see the Bus 79 any more?

Comfort in a mother's arms.

Electricity! No problem.

For 250 years this scene has endured.

The most difficult of Mara's temptations is, of course, MonkeyMind.

Life goes on within you and without you.

Contemplative motherhood, simian style.

I spent the morning of Saturday, May 8, 2010 at the Bira Circuit in Pattaya, Thailand with my good friend and racing buddy, Khun Mac.  He has his own company, MacTec, which is the major importer of race car parts to Thailand, in addition to being the Torco Oil franchisee in Thailand.  I could not be racing at all if it weren't for Mac. Mac races in a "one make" class where limited modifications and weight is enforced.  On this day he qualified first in his class.

This is Mac's race car leaving his pit.  It was over 38C (100f) with high humidity at 9:00am when he took to the track.

Mac was off to a very good start until another racer banged his front fender causing both a flat tire and a bent front suspension (tie rod).  After a quick pit stop to change the tire, he rejoined the race in last position, but due to the bent suspension, Mac "couldn't steer", an important aspect of race car control.

It doesns't look like much, but it was enough to shred a tire and bend the suspension.

At the start of the race the yellow band on the steering wheel marked the "straight ahead" position.  You can see how much things were bent with the new off-center position.  No problem, he will repair and race the next day.

The Bira Curcuit is a very well run race track that offers racers many classes in which to participate. Like this Street Truck Class race truck . . .

To Retro Class . . .

To more Vintage Race Class . . . .

To very serious purpose built radical race sedans.

The many races are usually very close.

Race tracks attract guys and their cool cars.  Like this beautiful old choppedd-top Toyota pick-up which was actually entered in the Retro Class.

I am enjoying my life in Bangkok.  I have been enjoying it for over 13 years now.  I enjoy it as much as I did my 10 years in The Congo and my years in London and Singapore. One of the main reasons I enjoy it so much here is the "adventure in meaning" I experience almost every day: the spaces I find myself in. The "perception that comes only with estrangement" when looking up to say to myself, "Look where you are." Today was one of those days.

Here are the photos . . . the narrative will follow.

With my wife and her family at our family Buddhist Temple (Wat) paying respect to the memory of my and their recently departed mothers.

Monks moving about the temple - some construction on site - and some shoes.

A quick stop for Starbucks at the Central Lat Praew shopping mall with my friend Richard.  I picked up a supercharger from New Zealand from him and we had a nice conversation.

Another stop amid the labyrinthine side streets and alleys of Bangkok to a race car chassis shop to make arrangements to restart construction of another racing project - a drag radial class legal 1970 Ford Maverick.  This shop mine as well be located in one of the white spots on the map of the earth; it is remote in every way. I feel as remote when I am here as I did when exploring the upper reaches of the Congo River in the late 70's.

The race shop privy.  12:00 noon. June 6, 2009. Bangkok,Thailand.

Fast food for lunch.  Notice what is on sale here: a shrimp burger, a fried pork strip/rice and cabbage  combination plate, Chinese dim sum, mashed potatoes/gravy/sausages, and Pepsi. I had the chicken steak on a bun.  It was made from fresh chicken dipped in tasty sauce, but was so messy with sauce, oil, wet lettuce, and tomato that I could not keep it all between the bun and not on the table or down my arm, even with my 50+ years of burger-eating expertise.

Another coffee stop . .  and a rare indulgence for me - cherry cheesecake.  I do not eat sugar or carbs . . . . . but a little  now and again . . .  The Thais have a great aesthetic sense: the design in the coffee foam is a piece of art.

 At my trackside race shop with Peter, my friend, chasing down an electrical gremlin that has kept me off the track for several weeks.  We found the problem: mice had been gnawing the insulation off the wiring.  I hate it when that happens.

I stood around in return lane with my friends 'bench racing' and admiring Andy's Bad Boy Street Racer Supra (BBSRS) wide body.  I went home around midnight. It was a good day, filled with interest, some charm, friends, warm feelings, disappointment, and fun.