Dim Sum Express and Pho Hai Kieu

Cars plus...

The little shack that is Dim Sum Express.

Pretty empty. Too hot outside?

Nice pictures.

Paper menu. $1 a piece for most!

Those are some friggin' HUGE har gow and shu mai.

A little too much MSG, but all generally pretty good for take-out.

G35S sedan (V36) on Blitz ZZ-R coilovers as setup by FR Sport/Blitz NA.

Lowered as set by FR Sport.

That's awfully low in back.

Rear suspension.

Raised 9 turns to the maximum ride height (I forget but I think it was -30mm?).

We adjusted the shock height too to match, of course. Note painter's tape we placed to know how much we turned it.

30-way adjuster is a bit of a pain to reach.

Keezer's Project 280ZX (S130).

Raised the front 6 turns from the Blitz set height, rear 9 turns. Looks much better.

Back, now as high as it will go, looks about right-- so much better.

Reasonable height now. Raising the front without pulling the coilover off was a pain-- hint, loosen the brake line bracket and the lower bolt to the swaybar.

Fancy new Kee Wah Bakery in Arcadia.

Apparently Pho Ga is the specialty at Pho Hai Kieu.

Next time I'll get my usual pho dac biet or pho tai.

Inside is definitely a bit worn. Well taken care of tho, and still looks good for a pho joint.

Tasty but I always find the noodles in pho ga too soft. And whoa, metal bowls??

So-so. Next time I'll try the spring rolls.

Slightly greasy, slightly MSG'y, large dim sum at Dim Sum Express. Har gow, shu mai, lo bac guo, and char shu bao were $1 each.

Barely anywhere to sit (it is a take-out place) but cheap prices considering the har gow and shu mai were huge. Lo bac guo and char shu bao were decent enough too. Sadly no pai gut or anything, but next time I may have to try the lo mai gai and the sesame balls.

Dinner that night was at Pho Hai Kieu. I'm not a huge fan of pho ga, as the noodles at most places tend to be overly soft, and that was the case here. Very unique metal bowls and the sliced chicken was actually pretty decent. They specialize in pho ga here, but they also offer regularly beef pho, which I may have to try the next time. Unlike Golden Deli, the interior here is much more conventional for a pho shop-- much more worn and starting to get kinda tacky, but so classic for a pho shop!

Final note for Pho Hai Kieu: skip the egg rolls. Too greasy, not much flavor.

Filled the afternoon itself working on Keezer's G35S sedan (V36). He had Blitz ZZ-R coilovers installed two days ago by FRSport (thanks Alex!) that he wanted to raise up to a more streetable height. Adjusting the rear wasn't bad at all, and at raised up to the maximum possible ride height (which I think is lowered about 30mm/1.25"?) it's about perfect.

Fronts were a pain in the butt to adjust til we figured out you need to loosen the bracket for the brake lines on the coilover and then disconnect the bolt that connects directly to the swaybar. Once you do that, with some strong hands you can rotate the entire body without having to take anything else apart. End result, once raised up +6/+9 turns (front/rear) from the height that Blitz set them at, looked pretty good!

You do have to be careful with the fronts as they can actually be set higher (!) than stock. And the 12kg/mm front (672lb/in), 10kg/mm rear (560lb/in) is surprisingly comfortable on the street. Shocks were at full soft which was probably 2 or 3 notches too soft for such spring rates, but still, something to be fiddled with later; as it was setup, not bad at all!

Keezer has his Project 280ZX running too. The old L28 makes all of 145hp on a good day and the car is long and low feeling compared to contemporary vehicles, but the manual steering and the sound of an old inline-6 suggests a lot of fun. Not sure I want a project like this, but I can definitely appreciate it!