Theme Tuesdays: Uncommon Stance

By

-

Sep 11, 2012

Rolling with the tone set by Erik’s feature today I am going to post a selection of platforms not commonly seen within the stance community.

I did something similar before called ‘Untraditional Low‘ but I prefer’ uncommon’ better (there is of course no telling how I will feel about calling it that in two years time).

To be clear I am not saying that everyone should go out and make these platforms common but don’t be against trying something different.

mx62 — Start things off the the Cousin to the Ford Probe

uncommon1 — The second Vera I’ve posted here… well third if you include the one with eyelashes

uncommon3 — I like this Range a whole lot

uncommon16 — I guess sidekicks/trackers/SunnRunner lowered are not that uncommon but one on banded steels sort of is

uncommon_suzuki_forenza — Suzuki Forenza which is apparently an Chevrolet Optra here

uncommon7 — Can you roll a plastic fender?

uncommon15_daweeolanos — Probably the only Daweoo Lanos I will ever post

uncommon2 — Jeff was about to toss this car in a river but now he is going to finish it

uncommon13 — Any excuse to post Mr. King’s truck is a good one

uncommon_18 — Lotus Espirt bagged build is here

uncommon_19 — The only Alfa you will see setup like this… if you ever see it.

uncommon_micra — This Micra is crazy and weird, read about it here

and for no reason at all a Boso Saturn

Weird.

Featured Ride: Erik’s 1994 Probe GT

By

DaveT

-

Sep 10, 2012

15

Stance focused sites –this one included– often feature many of the same vehicles; a clean Civic, a couple bagged Volkswagens, a few 350zs, a vintage truck, and finally plethora of s2000s.

While there is absolutely nothing wrong with builds on more traditional or accepted platforms the audience of stance focused websites –you included– often ask, or in some cases demand, something different and today’s featured ride is exactly that.

Something different.

These days Probe’s are seldom seen on the road and most that are are either completely stock or desperately holding onto styling cues of yesteryear.

Erik’s ’94 however is one of very few exceptions: It’s low, it’s quick, and most importantly it’s clean.

The first time I saw this car was in 2010 and –Stance Is Everything sticker on the lip aside– the car stood out to me because I honestly couldn’t readily recall the last time I had seen a Probe at a show.

After taking in the build for a few moments I introduced myself to then stranger Erik and now almost three years later I am incredibly glad I did.

Erik is easily one of the nicest enthusiasts I’ve met and is the type of person always willing to help someone out if he is in a position to do so.

It’s through him I met contributing photographer Mike McConnell along with most of the guys in Nine-O-Five Rides, and because of him I got the opportunity to spend an evening with the PFAFF tuning 964.

Simply put Erik is a great guy who loves cars, and that passion for cars has been driving force behind this build.

Erik has had this Probe for nine years and during that time it’s gone through numerous exterior, interior, and power train revisions.

Currently the car is sporting a low mileage KL-DE motor with a custom turbo set-up built around a Turbonetics t3/t4 unit.

Running at 7psi with a mild tune this car puts down roughly 265 to the wheels which is a considerable step up from the 164hp these cars were rated at from the factory.

After making such a considerable change under hood Erik figured he would do an equally significant change to the exterior and said farewell to a kit that had been on his car for several years. Opting to bring back the factory bumpers and side skirts.

Once he acquired OEM replacements he had the car resprayed 2012 Ford Sterling Grey Metallic and installed a Mustang Mach 1 front lip.

The aggressive stance (something that is almost virtually non existent among the Probe community) is the end result of several years worth of trial and error.

The wheels are a square 18×9.5 all around with an offset of +35 up front and +15 in the rear and the low is supplied by K Sport Coils. Helping dial everything in are K Sport Ford Focus Camber plates, King6 adjustable rear lateral arms, and camber bolts.

This combination of parts allows the car to sit considerably lower than stock and position the wheels within the fenders via -1.5 degrees of camber up front and 4.5 degrees out back.

Interior wise Erik has changed everything (including the dash) over to black and added black leather Cobra buckets. Finally A stereo setup comprised of Clarion and Alpine components keeps things lively on long drives and for some personal flare he sticker bombed the center console.

Taking an underdog chassis and running with it while putting up with comments like “It’s still a…. Why Don’t you…. Have you heard this Probe Joke….” isn’t the easiest thing to do but Erik has proven himself more than up to the task.

After every winter I look forward to hearing what Erik has done to his car and look forward to continuing to document it’s progress here on Stance Is Everything.

Modification List

Body/Exterior

Shaved rear wiper,door locks, rear washer
2012 Ford Sterling grey metallic paint
Quarters and fenders rolled flat
96/97 rear bumper and tails
Mustang mach 1 front lip

Brakes/suspension

Ksport coils
Ford focus ksport camber plates
King6 adjustable rear lateral arms
Camber bolts
626 rear sway bar
Mazda 6 12″ front brake swap
Front and rear strut braces
B pillar floor brace

Wheels/tires

Fast Mistral wheels
18×9.5+35 front
18×9.5 +15 rear
225/40/18 nankang ns2 tires

Interior

Black interior swap
Leather rear seat
Black Leather Cobra buckets
Alpine/ Clarion Stereo
Mx6 steering wheel

Engine/Transmission

Auto to manual swap
Centerforce Clutch
Mx3 flywheel
Civic EK short shifter
Lower km KL-DE motor with stock internals
Turbonetics t3/t4 turbo set
Millenia S injectors
Walbro 255 fuel pump
2.5″ exhaust
Poly mounts
Relocated Battery
Megasquirt tuned piggyback

Thanks to Erik for letting me feature his car, and Elle Marie Photography for helping with the shoot.

WTF Friday: Deciptikarr

By

DaveT

-

Sep 7, 2012

0

Last Saturday I swung by the Roadmates Corn Roast for a little bit and amongst the classics and traditional rods I spotted this version of K.I.T.T. rival K.A.R.R.

Having never really seen a modified screen replica before I did a little bit of investigation on-line later for more info on this build.

Not much was written but a few videos revealed that up until two years ago this Trans Am looked like every other K.I.T.T./K.A.R.R. replica in existence. However after seeing K.I.T.T.’s ‘Attack Mode‘ from the most recent (and terrible) series the owner decided to go a whole lot more aggressive.

deciptikarr3 — The Deciptikarr in all it’s glory

deciptikarr5 — Sorry for the Instagram-esque picture of the rear. By the way I have instagram now @stanceiseverythingcom

deciptikarr2 — A whole lot of tire under this car

deciptikarr4 — Not sure I remember this feature from the original series

The widebody is all fibreglass and bondo and in addition to the sub above there is a huge screen in the trunk.

The wheels (which intrigued me the most) are actually not widened turbo fins with ‘bowling ball’ hubcaps but Cragar Soft 8’s with fiberglass hub caps over top to give them an appearance similar to the ones on the original car.

Finally the dash has also been signed by a the Hoff himself along with a few other actors of the Era (Bo Duke).

deciptikarr1 — I don’t know how people actually drive with this wheel

There was a time I was really into ‘star cars’ so that part of me still find this pretty interesting.

I would love to see someone do up a slammed Ecto-1 but no one seems really interested in doing that….yet.

A video interview with the owner can be found here.

Site Updates

I’ve got a serious backlog of content I am still getting through and I’ve also been dealing with some performance issues on the site lately (load times) so I will probably be doing a mix of catch up and tweaks over the weekend.

Event wise I will be at one of these two events on Sunday not sure which yet…

…one does have free food.

Flashback Friday

Here’s a look back at last years Corn Roast Coverage while I work on this years.

2011 Roadmates Corn Roast coverage here

Event Coverage: Toronto Subaru Club Hypermeeting 2012

By

DaveT

-

Sep 7, 2012

2

When I heard the 2012 Toronto Subaru Club was hosting their annual HyperMeeting the day after Importfest I wasn’t entirely sure I would end up to attending because historically in addition to not having much of a voice, and full capture cards I’ve generally been exhausted the day after IF.

However the last Hypermeeting I had been to was in 2009 and this year my friend and previous featured ride owner Tim Neil let me know he was bringing out his Bat-Berry project so I sucked it up and headed down to Subaru Canada Headquarters.

Hit and run was the original plan but that went out the window as soon as I rounded the corner and saw the turnout. From what I’ve read online the turnout was at least 400 cars and the TSC ended up raising about $8000 for Toronto’s Ronald McDonald House which was matched by Subaru Canada.

Plus there was a BBQ, all those things amount to a pretty damn good day close to home.

legacy_black — I’ve seen this car around Mississauga a couple times, it’s awesome

forrester_sti — I’ve always really liked these Forresters

legacy_2 — Ty’s newest daily, you might remember his White STI which he sold

legacy_1 — The owner of this car used to own Ty’s car and they are modified nearly identical

innovative_bay — I didn’t get an exterior shot of this one….

nv_flared_1 — One of several cars on XXRs which have really exploded this year

innovative_front — Last saw this car from Innovative trying to set a record in Grand Bend

gdb1 — No word of a lie I am pretty sure my first bike was exactly like that

gdb2 — This car ended up winning best wheels, Zaubers that were powdercoated by JP at Stripping Technologies

gdb2a — Not a common colour that’s for sure

gdb3 — When John took a picture of this at CSCS I had no idea the colour continued under the hood

gdb_3_bay — Blindingly bright (and hard to expose)

john — Speaking of bright… here’s John Wakely’s WRX

autofestcarshow — Another bright addition promoting the Autofest Car show

bug_eye_2 — I’ll take the one on the right

gdb_cf_3 — The owner of this car obviously has a bit of a CF fetish

gdb_cf_2 — First set of local checker wheels i have seen since the ChopShop ones from a few years ago

gdb_cf_1 — Scared of Heights Support Group

hawk_eye_rotiforms — Draggin flap on Rotiform NUE’s

hawkeye — This car looks incredibly angry

versace — Really regret not taking a closer look at this Hawk Eye from Can Jam Motorsports

grb_varis_kevin — Kevin’s Varis Widebody

grb_sti_1 — I wonder if there is a (rich) person out there who owns all the TE variants…

batmobile_1 — The first debuting of the Bat Berry and somehow I only took two pictures of it

bat_mobile_2 — Still a lot of work left but he admits to being able to see the light at the end of the tunnel

outcast_frs — I completely missed this FR-S at Importfest…

outcast_frs2 — Exhaust tips are a little big but I like the car overall

out_cast_sc — Soon after this shot they took off to do their own photo shoot

outcast_a3_not_mina — After some investigation these wheels are infact not Mina’s

outcast_mazda_3_2 — Ryan’s car fresh off the Importfest floor

outcast_mazda_3 — The same of which could be said for my own car

outcast_miata — Chris builds clean cars and clearly still loves Subarus

outcast_celica_gt4 — I am honestly unsure whether or not I had seen a GT4 in person prior to HyperMeeting

outcast_celica_gt4_2 — I certainly have never seen two in one place before

outcast_celica_gt4_3 — I guess they would have these would have been direct competitors with Subaru?

outcast_gt4_2 — Would have loved to peak under the hood of either of these

I’ve got a couple more photos to edit that might make their way to the fanpage or instagram over the next few weeks.

More from 3SDM

By

DaveT

-

Sep 5, 2012

1

The timing of the guys over at 3SDM is impeccable, they somehow always send over new applications of their wheels when I am just that little bit behind with event coverage and don’t have the time to go searching for new content.

These photos came in on Monday and showcase three cars on their 0.05 wheels.

Seeing 3SDM wheels on Euros is nothing new but it’s a bit of a switch to see them on Subaru.

Last time I said I wasn’t sure if they had a US distrubtor but now their wheels are available through Forge Motorsport.

Canadian distributor soon perhaps?

Theme Tuesdays: One Brands Trash Pt. 2

By

DaveT

-

Sep 4, 2012

0

OEM wheel swapping seems to be growing in popularity and creativity as the years go by.

A few years ago the go to wheel to put on pretty well everything was the Corvette ‘Sawblade’, and while a lot of people are still going that route, I’ve seen plenty of other manufacturers give up their wheels to a variety of different platforms.

Here are a few more examples of people making use of another company’s stock alloys.

onebrandstrash1 — Might as well start off with a sawblade for good measure

onebrandstrash11 — Actually look pretty decent here

vwporsche — Twists on a dub isn’t exactly a new thing but I’ve never seen them on this model

rover — Rover wheels where they never expected to be

onebrandstrash5 — Fair to say these Jeep wheels didn’t expect to be here either

onebrandstrash15 — I can’t imagine Bentley wheels being much cheaper than a set of aftermarket wheels

onebrandstrash4 — X5 wheels seem to be making their rounds

From Importfest, more X5 wheels, these wheels are pretty damn big too 19×9 and 19×10

spencer — Another creative combo from So Fresh Automotive

onebrandstrash6 — Maserati wheels look right at home on this

onebrandstrash7 — Fat Fives on a TI, something I never thought I’d see. Also plate win.

onebrandstrash8 — More used to seeing Escalade wheels on these

onebrandstrash10_pug_x5 — Peugeot on X’s

onebrandstrash12 — This would look a lot better lower but Infiniti wheels look great on this Maxima

Always really loved this combo on this car

onebrandstrash13 — BMW wheels just won’t stay where they came from

zach — Zach’s car is actually currently for sale if anyone is interested

onebrandstrash14 — I’ve heard conflicting things about the safety of running BMW wheels without adapters on s10s

Stance Is Everything at Importfest 2012

By

DaveT

-

Sep 3, 2012

6

To me the most important thing about being a part of Importfest this year was bringing together a group of cars that not only looked good but also represented the audience this site is aimed at.

Looking back I think the 4 vehicles (plus mine) that came out did a perfect job of that.

Parked together Blair, Chris, Ryan, and Sam’s vehicles contrasted each other beautifully while at the same time proving that no matter the platform lower is better.

Blair’s 57

Having a truck in the display was a given from day one because, even though Importfest is far from a truck show, this site has a decent amount of truck content and a fairly large truck driving audience.

I was stoked that Blair from Taylor’d Customs was into bringing the ’57 to Importfest and I feel it brought something different to the show that few were expecting.

blair_scott_holmes — If Blair made a dollar off everyone who asked about the AC he would have been able to cover everyone’s entree fee. -Thanks to Scott Holmes for this shot

blair_inception — You’d be surprised how many people went up to Blair’s truck and tried to put their fingers under the bumper…

blair_clarke_photography — Blair’s 57 via Clarke-Photography

blair_jdm_chi — Blair’s bed setup via JDM Chicago

Ryan’s MK4

Ryan’s Jetta was exactly what I had in mind to fill the euro part of the display so I was glad to recieve his email expressing interest.

After I meeting him in person at Euronited, and seeing how laid back and personable he was, I knew Ryan would fit in well with the rest of the guys showing with SIE at Importfest.

In addition to being modified extensively from front to back his Jetta is absolutely spotless and was without a doubt one of the cleanest cars in the show.

ryan_1 — Ryan took home ‘Baddest Stance Assisted’ as well as the first place Aggressive Fitment award from Stretch & Poke

ryan_2 — Ryan’s show room floor clean engine bay

ryan__3_engine_bay — Not too long before the show he pulled the motor out to paint the block this eye catching yellow

ryan_trophies — In addition to Best Stance and Best Aggressive Fitment, he won Ultimate Jetta, and Baddest Euro

ryan_stretch_poke — Snap of Ryan’s car by Aidan via Stretch & Poke

Sam’s Genesis

Originally the import representing for SIE was going to be Alex’s SC400 but after a delay with his wheels he wasn’t able to bring his car out so Sam ended up filling in for him.

Big thanks go out to Sam for jumping in last minute, his car seemed to be quite among photographers and models alike.

sam_front_women — Sam’s car amidst a flurry of activity

sam_rear — Sam’s aggressive rear fitment

sam_intuned_2 — Fresh paint for the show – photo via Intuned

sam_bearskillz — That Chrome SIE script sticker on Sam’s window is the only one in existence – photo via Bear Skillz

Chris’ 1500

A little over a week before the show will at Stance East let me know that he and his friend Tyler were out for Importfest so I snatched up two of his three spots and set out looking for another truck.

Blair recommended Chris and even though it was very late notice he immedialty agreed. Parking beside his truck on Friday and seeing it in person for the first time I knew it would be a crowd favorite, super nice guy too.

chris_3 — This truck was built by Chris and a few other members of the Touch N’ Down club he is a part of

chirs_1 — Rear tucks just as hard as the front

chris — Notice how nearly everyone’s attention in this photo (except for the models) is focused on how exactly Chris managed those wheels to fit under the hood

chris_4 — Camber played a big part in getting the wheels to tuck so hard

chris_clarke_photography — Chris’ Truck via Clarke-Photography

chris_clarke_photography_2 — Another one via Clarke-Photography

My Car

I actually had never planned to have my car in the show at all but once those two Stance East spots opened up I figured what the hell.

mazda_3_flatbroke — Looks like all that Dr. Colorchip did it’s job on my bumper photo via Flat Broke Status

mazda_3_intuned — Shot by J Kirby from Intuned, nice to meet you dude!

mazda_3_dm — My car via Derek Moore Photography

Chloe and Sharlyn

I’d love to take credit for getting models for the Importfest but this was all Alex, big thanks Chole and Sharlyn for sporting the Stance Is Everything logo on their skin for a day.

model_2 — Sharlyn on the left Chloe on the right via Derek Moore Photography

model_3 — Sharlyn again via Derek Moore Photography

model_5 — Chloe via Derek Moore Photography

model_4 — Chloe via Derek Moore Photography

I honestly couldn’t be happier with how this first year went and when I started this site doing something like this wasn’t even remotely in my mind so I am really stoked these guys were all cool enough to bring their cars out help support the site.

Thanks to them once again as my friend Steve for printing the signs, Lyndsey for designing them, Importfest for making the site a part of the show, and everyone who stopped by to grab some stickers or a t-shirt.

Hopefully next year I can grab a few more spots…

WTF Friday: American 107

By

DaveT

-

Aug 31, 2012

0

This car is pretty old, as are the pictures of it, but I stumbled across it for the first time recently so I have to share it.

“Back in the day” (late 90s early 2000 it seems) before people were putting LS motors in everything they were putting Chevy small blocks into everything*.

As is the case with this 1978 450SL that was converted into a street rod by Brad Martin and an unmentioned professional shop that spent 10 months making it all work.

The picture above is what got me hook line and sinker. The wheels back there in the tubs are 15×14 Boyd Coddingtons with M/T 29×18.5 tires on them, and a narrowed 9″ Ford rear end is in the middle.

The motor was a crate ZZ4 Chevy with 355hp and 406 foot pounds and an auto 350 transmission was backing it.

Brad also stated that the car had stock MB suspension with a modified cross member, new rack, custom motor mounts, custom pan, custom headers, and custom exhaust.

Interestingly enough the car also had Camaro bumpers, and a (more or less) stock interior that retained the climate control.

Around 2002 or so it was being sold for 35,000 and it’s current whereabouts are unknown.

More info can be found here.

I also wouldn’t mind more information on the car below…

*Who am I kidding people are still putting 350s in everything.

Site Updates

I’ve got 1 more Importfest post to drop and it will probably make it up sometime over the weekend. After that I have some Subaru Hypermeet photos to get to and then finally a feature I shot last night.

However as you may already know by now Scion was kind enough to give me the keys to an FR-S for a week so I’ve been spending a lot of time out and about in that which has delayed things a tad.

Look for a review of that sometime after I give it back provided I don’t just drive out to Mexico and vanish.

Flashback Friday

Remember when this:

Looked like this?

2012 Importfest vs 2009 Nextmod opening.

Event Coverage: Importfest 2012 – Part: 2

By

DaveT

-

Aug 30, 2012

7

Picking right back up where we left off here is the second batch of the show day coverage from Importfest.

I actually didn’t intend to do two separate posts but once I started going through the photos I realized that there was no way I was going to be able to keep things in and around the standard 40-50 photos.

I still missed a whole lot of cars too….

Stance East

Two out of three of the Stance East cars couldn’t make it down for Importfest (which is why SIE had 5 spots) but the lone car that did make it was this 1970 Datsun 240Z owned by Richard Desjardins.

se_z — This car is intense, Stance East should stop slacking and feature it

se_z_2 — A shot for the guys at K&N Filters

Team Importfest/ Vossen

While I saw Harvin and Angelo throughout the show Basit I didn’t see at all.

third_batch_vossen — Basit’s car with the new Black Chrome wrap done by Restyle It

vossen_benz — Really wish this car sat even front to rear, it would be perfect

jvc_harvin — Harvin’s car in the JVC booth, on his new(er) Vossen Wheels

Explict Contentz

I hear these guys like to party.

crx_pro — This CRX is too clean for it’s age

explicit_colin_1 — This car recently got a new owner, good luck with the new project Colin

explicit_mazda_1 — Pictures do not do this car justice, at all, the paint job is spectacular in person

explicit_mazda_2 — His new trunk setup is bad ass also, hope to shoot it before the year is out

Gran Turismo

An out of town club known for their builds that feature extensive ICE setups, they had the DBZ car from part one.

honda_widebody_accord — Well done work on this car…

secondbatch_accord — … but the shape of the rear quarter seems a little weird to me

Nine 0 Five Rides

Congrats to Erik, Shayan, and Brandon for taking home awards in their categories I attribute .99% of their win to the Stance Is Everything stickers they all had.

third_batch_tom — Never really looked inside Tom’s car before, so much work in this car

third_batch_e36 — Supercharged e36 on Style 5’s

905_brandon_2 — Brandon’s truck once again

honda_matt_1 — Matt’s S2000 that ended up taking home the best stance (static)

ford_erik_1 — Erik’s Probe, more on this soon

905_shayan_2 — Shayan’s car is dope, I also want to shoot it, the list of cars I want to shoot is ever growing…

905_shayan_1 — That sticker on his hatch is a new combination of vinyls sechemedia and I are playing with. Tinted vinyl over etched glass, it’s actually slightly transparent.

905_mazda_fd — Nice FD from 905’s on Varrstoen rocking Varrstoen caps which I didn’t even know those wheels came with

905_mazda_fd2 — Simple to the point I.C.E. setup

Level One

Closing out the coverage with the vehicles from Level One, you’ve probably seen photos of these cars floating around the net already.

leve_1_gawa — Finally got to meet Galen, always been a fan of his photography, and his Fit is wild

level_1_sti_front — The newest addition to Level One? Amazing.

level_1_dan_3 — Based on photos I didn’t like Dan’s new bumper but seeing it in person changed my mind

level_1_dan_1 — Whoever does Dan’s body work does a great job

second_batch_dan — Rear shot I uploaded to Facebook later in the evening last night

level_1_gold — I take this same pic ever year I think…

level_1_blue_rear — I didn’t know this until recently but James tracks this car

level_1_blue_2 — He does so set up slightly different though

Congratulations to the Importfest team for another successful event and I look forward to being a part of it again next year, check back tomorrow for the last part of the 2012 Importfest coverage which will be dedicated solely to Chris, Ryan, Blair, and Sam who parked with Stance Is Everything for 2012 (along with the lovely ladies who modelled as well)

Event Coverage: Importfest 2012 – Part: 1

By

DaveT

-

Aug 30, 2012

9

I’ve heard people grumbling on message boards that car shows going the way of the dodo due to people showing up to parking lot meets in record numbers but anyone who was at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on Saturday knows that is simply not true.

Meets will always have their place but shows like Importfest are not going anywhere. Proof of this was that at any given time there was a huge line of people waiting to get inside to check out the show.

There was a ton of foot traffic the entire day and anytime something was happening on stage there was a mob of people waiting to catch a models undergarments with their head.

When I wasn’t making a fool of myself on the difficult RC drift course or relaxing in the fold up chairs people watching I took the following pictures.

Because Show Car

Sometimes the easiest way to explain some modifications is… because show car.

300c — I guess the front end swap on this car wasn’t quite finished so this was an interim solution, hopefully the candy red it used to have comes back

chevy_shockwave — Pretty sure this car won ‘Baddest Domestic’

secondbatch_corvette_underhood — This was underneath the plexi cover, a pro charged mill

second_batch_gran_tourismo2 — More from Gran Turismo in part 2 but this car is wild, the triple signal on the bumper is just one of many details in it

second_batch_gran_tourismo — Wouldn’t mind seeing it in all black with no DBZ graphics though…

alien_lex_1 — This Lexus is also car is pretty nuts, wide body, motor work, remote controlled air

third_batch_alien_lex — Racing seats and a screen in the gas cap, because show car

FR-S Tuner Challenge

All of the cars below were competing in the first challenge of the FR-S Tuner challenge the next day, straight from the show floor to autocross track.