I love when Readers send pictures in to [email protected], I love the fact that people want to be on this site now and that word is getting around. Dan saw his car posted on Part 1 of the Vagkraft 2009 Event coverage post and has been checking out the blog since then and sent some more pictures of his murdered out GLX on Vette Wheels.
Thanks Dan for sending in pictures or your ride and if you want to see your ride here just drop me a line at: [email protected]
I’ve been cruising around a lot of automotive blogs lately and checking out what people are talking about all over the web and doing so I have made connections with 2 great blogs: Buildthreads and Hatchlife. Both of these guys have great taste when it comes to their personal rides (a Datsun 510 and EK hatch respectively) have a great catalog of content.
Buildthreads helps satisfy my hunger for builds and 510s and Hatchlife holds it down for the 5 doors and has it’s heart in the right place since every sticker sold on the site benefits a woman who battling cancer is going through a fight with cancer.
If you are looking for 2 other blogs to take a peek at between my updates be sure to head over and check these guys out.
Keeping in mind with this weeks Theme Tuesday of unique motor swaps here is a cool one I found via google. A MK2 Golf with a Porsche motor under the hood making it rear wheel drive and capable of doing doughnuts (and if you felt like it drifting). Awesome!
Dougnut Video
If the above is not working for you click here to watch VW Doughnuts
More info on this ride can be had at badassdubs.com.
This weekend I am not going to any events, again, but this time it’s due to a wedding however I have a few reader submissions I will post up next week so look out for those and feel free to send in your own as well to [email protected].
See you Monday… if not sooner
With all the shows coming up so quickly and so packed together it’s been pretty hard for me to do these event previews with enough for warning to make them practical, however I figure four days is practically a work week so here are the details on the 3rd official JDMrides.ca meet this Sunday September 27th 2009.
After 2 successful meets JDMrides is having their third and final meet of the season this Sunday September 27th at Richmond Hill Honda. The meet starts at 11 until 5pm.
Since summer is quickly exiting stage left this might be the last time to see a lot of nice imports in one place before they hide away for winter. The event will also have free food and a live DJ so what more could you ask for. Dodge some rain clouds and head out.
I’ve been wanting to make it out to one of these meets for awhile but something always gets in the way (wedding this time) so I won’t be there but I will post up lots of links to photos other people took on Monday.
Note: Since the event is at Richmond Hill Honda they have a no tolerance policy for burn outs high revving, loser laps etc so try to take it easy and not ruin the meet for everyone else.
Video from the JDMrides season opener
No specific local content to post today so I went into the stance folder on my hard drive and dug up a few nice rolling shots. Rolling shots are hard to pull of but when they work out they really work out.
The concept of theme Tuesdays here on Stance Is Everything is simple, every Tuesday I pick a theme and post a collection of vehicles with that theme that meet the stance criteria (modified suspension that fit the vehicles overall theme). This weeks theme Tuesday topic is: Unique local motor swaps
I’ve been to about 25 or so local car shows this summer and one thing that always surprises me is the creativity behind some of the motor swaps I have seen. Some swaps at shows are pretty straight forward and predictable but some enthusiasts must have a screw loose cause these ones are completely off the wall.
It’s this kind of thing that makes the car hobby so appealing to me and since 75% of my viewers are new readers some of these swaps might have been overlooked in my quickly growing catalog of content.
When I saw this car at Scrape By The Lake I thought it was a joke, and looking at it you can see why. The haphazardly installed kit, gold paint, and old English lettering only take away from the swap little turbo 4 that’s under the hood. That being said no one would take this car seriously at a light and it could cost them….
Originally Posted in: Scrape By The Lake Part 2
When I first saw this car at Tuners Against Street Racing I questioned what the heck it was doing there. The wheels were the first tip that some tomfoolery ways afoot and once I got a chance to peak under the engine bay I saw what was up. Who knew this was part of the Fox body chassis?
Originally posted in: T.A.S.R. Coverage Part Two
350 swaps in s-10 Blazers are pretty standard, they are well documented on the web and anyone who doesn’t have the 4.3L (and even those who do) should toss a 350 in their truck. The 454 swap however is a lot less common and way more interesting, it seems brown on brown is the color for sleepers.
Originally posted in: Scrape By The Lake Coverage Part 3
I like Datsuns, 510s and 280z in particular, and I also like American motors so this Datsun is a a match made in heaven in my eyes. The new power plant keeps up with the beautiful exterior and I can only imagine how amazing this car must drive.
Originally Posted on: Scrape By The Lake Part 2
Scrape by the lake had the most diverse motor swaps of any of the shows I had been to. This is swap is straight up insane, and I don’t really know where to begin describing it. I have seen the Northstar in a few cars but never a Cav, I’ve been able to read through the build on j-body.org and this swap was done very very well.
Originally Posted on: Scrape By The Lake Part 2
This motor (from an Acura TL) is not supposed to fit where it is, really one could argue that it doesn’t fit, however it is where it is and this car drives around just fine. I have seen this car at two shows it got there under its own power. This Civic is a testament of what can happen when someone tells a local jdmrides member he shouldn’t do something.
Originally Posted in: 6th Annual Toronto Honda Tech Meet and Vagkraft coverage part 1
Triumphs in the GTA are pretty rare and ones with Vette motors under the hood even more so. An American power plant and British sports car handling, what more could one ask for? Purists be damned.
Originally posted on: Cruisin’ For The Cure 2009
Ever since Initial D AE86’s have not only shot up in value but popularity as well and whenever a car becomes really popular among the tuning crowd people look for ways to make it stand out. Putting a Honda s2000 motor under the hood of this Corolla made it do just that.
Originally posted on Importfest 2009
The motor from the Buick Grand National is without a doubt one of the best motors to ever come out of a domestic. A relatively small turbocharged 6 cylinder that can push out absurd amounts of power fairly easily. While I really like them where the GM factor put them I am not mad that things one made its way into this attractive Camaro.
Originally posted in: 20th Annual Kirkfield Carshow & Parade
This is my favorite swap of the bunch, it’s rare to see someone take a car of this vintage and stature and throw air suspension and a new motor in it without taking away from the originally beauty of the car. This one however is done just right and the owner was a heck of a guy to talk too, picked the car up for a steal put in a new sensor and it became a turn key guaranteed head turner. When asked if it went pretty good he said fast enough to get even an old man like me in trouble.
Originally posted in: 20th Annual Kirkfield Carshow & Parade
On September 13th, the day after Import fest, the 3rd annual Cruisin’ for a Cure charity car show took place at Chingauacousy park in Brampton Ontario. I have mentioned time and time again that I am a fan of charity car shows so I make a point to hit up as many as I can. Cruisin’ for the cure had a pretty decent turn out (although some cars had left by the time I arrived) and a few very unique cars.
The Possum
I saw this car on the road awhile back and wondered what the heck was going on a mural with some dudes face on the front of a tour bus, weird. Well turns out the Possum is a country singer names George Jones, or no show Jones when he is drinking.
Eco Friendly vehicles
Green cars are nothing new, people have been trying to make fuel efficient vehicles for years.
The Skorpion
I really should have talked to the owners of this vehicle but I figured I would be able to figure out what it was via google, product of working on the internet I guess, however I have not been able to figure out anything about this car. Can someone help me out?
Sting Ray
This Sting Ray was pretty wild, I have never seen one with swing up doors before, the flame job is pretty dope though, wonder how old the owner is.
The Triumph
This Triumph was awesome, I would really enjoy a ride in it.
Trucks
Muscle
Street Rods and Hot Rodbs
Some shops do great business due to great pricing, others with a wide selection of products, a few get by with good service, but a great shop does all of these things and this feature shop, Simply Tire, is one of those. My own experience with Simply Tire is proof of this since first experience with them I didn’t receive my product, however what makes this so remarkable is that where other company’s would have accepted one lost customer and bad review in exchange for 10 new ones Simply Tire makes sure to keep every customer they encounter no matter what the cost.
Simply Tire is a sponsor on many of the local GTA message boards so when I needed winter tires for my Mazda 3 I joined a Simply Tire organized group buy on Toronto Mazda 3. Last year however due to Quebec instituting a law that made it mandatory for cars to have winter tires it made it tough for vendors and therefor consumers to get their product. I was a little miffed at the idea that I put a deposit for tires I never received but Allen’s many satisfied customers assured me that he would make up for this.
Winter had long since passed and I had kind of forgot about the whole incident since I did end up with a set of tires (which are for sale) but Allen then sent me an email reminding me that I had a credit with him and that we should work something out to settle up finances and settle our differences. This gesture meant a lot to me considering I had forgot about the deposit and he could have easily kept the money.
So I took the trip down to see Allen and had my calipers painted black and Mazda decals applied with the amount left on my deposit. Both Allen and his wife were courteous, honest hosts and the Simply Tire Shop was one of the nicer ones I have been in and this includes big box tire shops such as Active Green and Ross.
Upon my leaving Allen informed me that I would need new tires for next season, which was 100% true, and that I should come by when I do and he would hook me up with a great price. Knowing I was going to be wheel shopping later in the summer I told him I would be back to get set up with no rollers.
Over the course of the summer I was entertaining a few different wheel ideas and had PM’d Allen about some wheel choices that would work and he was willing to set me up with a great deal on a set of Sportmaxx 002s and tires. Even though I ended up going a different route entirely with my wheels I did go see Allen for tires and as promised he hooked me up with a great deal on tires, centering rings, and lug nuts.
One of the best things about Simply Tire is that when you book an appointment with them you are in within 15 minutes of the time you reserved, with my chronic lateness this has meant that my car has been taken care of as soon as I show up. Simply also has a great waiting room with a flat screen tv, comfy chairs, magazines and free coffee cookies and tea. Since the customers at Simply are also not in as bad a mood as customers at most other automotive shops (due to the great prices) casual conversations are normally going on to help kill your waiting time as well.
Simply Tire is open Tuesday to Friday 10-6pm Saturdays 10-4pm and Sundays from the 10-4 during the months of April, May, June, July & October November, December, and January they are closed on Mondays
Simply is located at:
Simply Tire
515 Champagne Drive,
Toronto, Ontario,
M3J 2C6
The best way to contact them is by far the telephone (416 916 9233) or email at [email protected]. Respone times for phone calls is normally within a few rings and if not then withing 1-2 phone calls this is due to Allen being extremely busy every time I have been to the shop. However once you speak with him he will take the time to answer your questions and accommodate your requests even if it is after business hours.
Email responses are normally within 1-2 days depending on the season, peak times for Simply, like any other tire shop, are very busy so don’t be surprised if you end up dealing with his wife or even mother on occasion, it’s a family affair.
Allen is the type of business owner that works for his customers and therefore the type of shop that Stance Is Everything fully supports.
More Photos from my day at Simply Tire
If the title of this post threw you for a bit of a loop that’s because seeing a bumper car drive down the street would do the exact same thing and yet it seems like this is quite common place in some cities, San Diego in particular. The real question is how did this come to be?
Amusement parks shut down all the time and if the bumper cars do not get sold to another amusement park or fair they are often just sold off to collectors. Some collectors (the lame ones) just put them in their house and stare at them where others slap they body on a custom frame built around a motorcycle motor and drive them down the street.
I am a big fan of the latter type of collector and a big fan of these vehicles.
I wonder if I could find one of these on ebay one day, maybe make a 4×4 version with a roll cage and have some real fun. Let’s hope I never get my hands on one for my own safety.
The BMW 2002 has always been interesting little car in my eyes since had a fairly futuristic name (for when they came out), a small light nimble chassis, and can fly turbo or s14 motor equipped. Tie that in with a unique vintage look and you have a winner of a car. This is why when I saw this build on maxbimmer I figured I would throw it up here for any other possible 2002 fans who read Stance Is Everything.
The 2002 in question has already received a resto-mod a few years ago and that made it an interesting little head turner.
However after being daily driven (I had seen this car in the snow) for a few years the car needed to go under the knife again for some body work so the owner figured it was time to take the car to the next level.
I will be following this build on maxbimmer.com and you are welcome to join me.
