R&R to Hatyai, Thailand

Pic 1: The Hatyai city view from my hotel room

Recently, I drove to Hatyai (หาดใหญ่), Thailand which is about 1,200 km to and fro from Kuala Lumpur. I took time off and had a 'lil bit of a rest and relax in the second biggest city in Thailand after Bangkok. Co-incidently at the time of my visit (14th - 16th Dec), it was during the birthday celebration of his Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej Rama IX. The Thai King is the world's longest serving monarch and had served 61 years on the throne.

Actually, the King celebrated his 80th birthday a week prior on 5th December 2008 and is celebrated amidst the nation worrying about his fragile health. The King has just recently undergone treatment in the hospital for inadequate blood flow to the brain.

Pic 2: A concert in the city to celebrate the King's birthday

Pic 3: Some display stands on the King's birthday

Pic 4: Some display stands on the King's birthday

Anyway, what about my trip in Hatyai?? Well, I did nothing much when I was there except to gobble up on the excellent local food and had small walks here and there in shopping malls. The food was of course excellent from beef noodles, fresh seafood, dim sum to fried chickens from street vendors.

I also drove to the Hat Yai Municipal Park located on Kanchanawanit Road approximately 6 kilometers from the city center on the Hat Yai-Songkhla Highway. Within the park, there is a statue of King Rama V that is enshrined at the foot of the hill near the aviary, a hill-top Brahman shrine and a jade statue of Guan-yin, the Chinese Goddess situated, at the southern foothill. I did my prayers and wished for a couple of blessings....... The roads at the hills within the park are indeed very touge like.

Oh btw, I did saw some interesting cars while I was there. Came across 2 quite extensively modded A31 Cefiros and also a Toyota TE72 thats modded to almost drift spec look alike.

Do check out some of the pics.......

Pic 5: Fried stuffs from street vendors

Pic 6: Setting off firecrackers at the 4-faced Buddha shrine

Pic 7: Narrow touge roads?

Pic 8: Hairpin turn!

Pic 9: Touge!

Pic 10: At the border town of Sadao...heading back to Malaysian soil

Trust/GReddy Oil Cooler Kit arrived from Japan !!!

The ER34 oil temperature was running kinda high on prolonged high speed runs and also on enthusiastic driving with constant high revs. An oil cooler kit was one of the top priorities on my to-do list when I got the ER34. I have been clocking about 115 degrees Celsius on my 180km/h runs along the highways (yea speed are still limited until I fix my brakes!) and also on 'enthusiastic' drives along the local hill roads.

Overheated engine oil (which lubricates and cools the engine) has adverse effects as the temperature rises. Its efficiency decreases and breaks down the engine internals. Unless the temperature is properly managed, not only the engine oil breaks down faster, it is also a contributing cause of engine failure/blows.

Pic 1: The package via EMS from Japan.

Pic 2: Inside the package has two more boxes. The left box houses the cooler and the right box has all the hoses and fittings inside.

Pic 3: Errr....ok. I will not use it on the street. :P

I ordered the Trust/GReddy Oil Cooler Kit direct from Japan via air freight and it arrived last Friday. It got detained in Malaysian Customs and I only got to clear it out today. Why a week later? Well I was away from the country in Hatyai, Thailand for a couple of days; and it's the Chinese New Year week for God's Sake!!!

Speaking of Hatyai, boy did I had fun there. Chinese New Year celebration over there was splendid. They had dragon dance and lion dance along the main streets EVERY evening accompanied by deafening firecrackers. Later at night, fireworks lights up the sky. Can't say the same about our dear old Kuala Lumpur. Why is it that I'm beginning to like every other place I go to except where I am now? Sigh.......

Pic 4: Dragon dance along the streets of Hatyai

Pic 5: Chinese New Year night markets with lots of yummy food for sale. Heck they even sells fried insects. Nope, did not try 'em. :P

Pic 6: Hatyai City

Oh darn, SORRY strayed off topic a wee bit....

So ANYWAY, if you are wondering about taxes from Customs, well lets say I got that covered. Hehehehe :)

The Trust/GReddy Oil Cooler helps to maintain the engine oil temperature which is stabilized with high heat dissipation characteristics of the oil cooler design and lower pressure loss. The Kit comes with the below:-

Trust/GReddy Oil Cooler Kit (NS1310G / Part No. 12024629)

1) 1 X 13 rows Trust oil cooler

2) 2 X EARL'S steel braided hoses with EARL'S fittings

3) 1 X Plastic heat shealth

4) 1 X GREX sandwich block

5) 3 X Mounting brackets

6) 5 X Nuts

7) 4 X Oil seals / o-rings

8) 4 X Zip ties

9) 9 X Bolt and nuts

10) 1 X Instruction manual

Pic 7: Trust/GReddy Oil Cooler Kit

The best part is the steel braided hoses and its fittings. It's from EARL's, EARL'S is the supplier of high-quality military aircraft specification hoses and fittings that supplies to a spectrum of motorsport including F1, F3, A1GP, Indy, Touring Car, British Superbike, Sidecar and World Rally teams. In short, quality motorsports proven stuffs.

Pic 8: EARL'S hoses and fittings with a plastic heat shealth

Pic 9: EARL'S fittings

The sandwich block has a built in termostat to open/close the valve that leads to the oil cooler depending on temperature. If and when the engine oil is cold, the valve will close and engine oils will NOT flow to the oil cooler. It will re-open only when the temperature rises. Excellent! Wish I had one of those last time when I used to ran an ATF cooler on my previous ride, Project 8110.

Pic 10: GREX sandwich block

The Trust/GReddy Oil Cooler Kit measures 299mm X 185.4mm X 50mm and are mounted right in front of the radiator behind the front bumper. It will sit flush near the drivers side headlights. It has 13 rows as opposed to the other alternative of a 10 rows version. Well I figure 3 more rows would be better isn’t it? Well no harm to be on the extra precaution side eh? :P

Pic 11: Trust 13 rows oil cooler

I'm expecting my oil temperature to hover around 90 degrees Celsius even on all out hard driving after the installation. Actually I have also considered other alternatives before deciding on this unit. Among them are the HKS Oil Cooler Kit (Part No. 15004-AN008) and ASR Inductive Ceramic Coated Oil Cooler.

But at the end, nothing compares to the Trust/GReddy Oil Cooler Kit. :P

Pic 12: Nuts and o-rings

Pic 13: Nuts and bolts & zip ties

Pic 14: Mounting brackets